In another sign of a faster-than-expected Las Vegas comeback, room rates on the Strip for the May 23-29 period are reported to be flat with 2019. Midweek numbers are mildly down (-17%) but counterbalanced by higher weekend rates (+18%) than two years ago. This is a big achievement and a rapid one. Only Wynncore is missing out on the bounty, -2% weekdays but -45% on the weekend. MGM Resorts International is just 2% off the midweek pace and +22% on weekends. Caesars Entertainment is down 36% weekdays but 28% higher on the weekend, while Venelazzo is not feeling the midweek love (-27%) but rebounding +63% on weekends. The midweek numbers at MGM and Wynn may have been goosed by the fact that there’s finally a convention in town but it looks like the window may have closed in Sin City for travelers seeking a room-rate bargain.

Vital Vegas is doubling down on its insistence that the Palms Casino Resort has been sold to the San Manuel Tribe, despite an absence of confirmation from either Station Casinos or the analyst boys on Wall Street. A sale would be a plus for Station investors, as it would remove a dead weight from Station’s balance sheet, provide a one-time cash infusion and accelerate the company’s refocus on what it does best: build quality locals casinos. (Will Durango Station ever be constructed?) Scott Roeben reports that the San Manuel got the Palms for $660 million, which wouldn’t even cover the $690 million Station put into renovating the place, although it would recoup the $312.5 million purchase price. So, capex aside, the Palms is now worth considerably more than when Station got it for a fire-sale markdown. That’s the glass half-full perspective.

Silver State casinos grossed $1 billion last month, with the Las Vegas Strip down 9% from 2019 to $501.5 million but locals-derived win vaulting 23%, leading to a 4% statewide increase on pre-Coronavirus numbers. The silver lining for the Strip was that win was 44% higher than in February, while locals improved 38%. The numbers were undoubtedly helped by a March 15 increase to 50% capacity in casinos, with further improvements likely in May (80%) and June (100%). Strip slot win was “flattish” which is actually impressive considering that coin-in plunged 29%. Slots kept $239 million on tighter holds. Probably the best news for Strip casinos was that baccarat is back, as win grew 32% on 29% more wagering and an exponentially higher hold. Other table games sucked wind, down 33% on 27% less handle.

Downtown casinos grossed $71 million, a 21% gain, while North Las Vegas nudged up 2% to $26 million. The Boulder Strip leapt 37% to $96.5 million, while miscellaneous Clark County hopped 19% to $133.5 million. Laughlin was modestly down, -4%, grossing $48 million, Reno jumped 18% to $59 million and Lake Tahoe rocketed 51.5% to $26 million. As for those Strip results, they can be chalked up to still-anemic visitation. Tourism was down 40% from March 2019. Hotel occupancy was 55.5%, compared to 2019’s 91.5%. Average daily rates fell 27% to a wallet-friendly $104, while revenue per room was $58. Thanks to a dearth of conventions, midweek occupancy stood at 48%. Air traffic still has a long way to go, down 42%, but highways saw as much as 7% more vehicles heading into and out of Nevada. There’s a ways to go but we’ll take numbers like these when we can get them.

Remember the Harmon Hotel? That Sir Norman Foster-designed tower that had to be amputated at half the intended height in 2008 because of incompetent construction? The only Las Vegas resort ever to be dismantled without having hosted a single guest? MGM Resorts International would probably prefer that it be forgotten. All that remains is a two-acre patch of bare ground. But MGM has cleverly monetized the Harmon site, selling it for $40 million/acre to a partnership led by Brett Torino. If that’s not a record for Las Vegas Strip real estate it’s pretty darn close. And the $80 million will buy a lot of salve for the $348 million wound left by building—and then unbuilding—the Harmon.

Torino’s plan for the site is a retail mall, crowned with a giant video screen, such as the one that makes nearby Harmon Crossing such a standout and an ad-revenue magnet. Evidently the Strip is not so glutted with retail that it can’t support another mall, although the owners of adjacent Crystals must be looking askance at this latest turn of events. Should the Torino project generate foot traffic, though, the most likely beneficiary will be The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, just a pedestrian bridge away.

Say what you like about Michigan, it’s giving New Jersey and Pennsylvania a literal run for their money in Internet gambling. Win/day is just over $3 million, close behind the Keystone State’s $3.15 million and challenging the Garden State’s $3.65 million. Sports betting handle last month was $359.5 million, which (before promotional outlays) translates into $32 million in revenue, a figure dwarfed by $95 million in i-gaming win. Market leader in handle was FanDuel/MotorCity Casino with 30% ($107 million), followed by BetMGM‘s 26% ($92.5 million), DraftKings‘ 21% ($76.5 million) and—losing a bit of ground—Barstool Sports‘ 11% ($39.5 million). Others showing up on the radar were PointsBet/Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians ($14 million), William Hill/Grand Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians ($11 million), FoxBet/Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians ($7 million), BetRivers/Little River Band of the Ottawa Indians ($5 million), Twin Spires/Hannahville Indian Community ($3 million) and WynnBet/Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians ($2 million).

As for win, it broke in BetMGM’s favor ($9 million), with FanDuel posting $8 million, DraftKings $6 million and Barstool $5 million. Of the also-rans only PointsBet and William Hill cracked the $1 million mark. Said one analyst, “The top three have separated themselves from the pack, but BetMGM has differentiated itself in generating heavy action while preserving its win with less in promotions.”