“Some of the restrictions make sense and others, well, let’s just say they are ill-conceived. The fact that restaurants and bars are still being hit with arbitrary and capricious restrictions is maddening, especially when visiting retail stores and seeing how little restrictions are in place. Diners have to make a reservation in advance for a restaurant, but 437 people can walk right into a Costco without the blink of an eye. Our ‘leaders’ are failing us.”—Carson Kitchen owner Cory Harwell on Las Vegas restaurant restrictions.
Covid cramps casino revenues; Trop LV in play … again
Now that the smartest man in the room has left the building permanently, we continue to wait for Wall Street‘s reaction to Sheldon Adelson‘s demise. Hearing none, we move on to varying degrees of decline in regional gaming, once thought impervious to the Covid-19 pandemic. It wasn’t so bad in Missouri, where revenues slipped 8.5%. Boyd Gaming properties held serve, flat year/year but Penn National Gaming took a 24% tumble, while Caesars Entertainment edged 3.5% down. The statewide gross was $134 million, with slots ($116 million) down 7.5% and table games ($18 million) off 13%. Statewide champ was Ameristar St. Charles, up 8.5% to $24 million. Neighboring Hollywood St. Louis plunged 25% to $15 million. Caesars did well at Lumiere Place, up 8% to $14 million. River City (Penn) crashed 29% to $14 million.
Over in Kansas City, only Bally Corp. was revenue-positive at Isle of Capri Kansas City, leaping 18% to $6.5 million. Ameristar Kansas City fell 10% to $14 million and Harrah’s North Kansas City was off 11.5% to $13 million. Penn was slightly more fortunate than in St. Louis, taking in $12.5 million at Argosy Riverside a -14.5% drop. Caesars slipped 8% at Isle of Capri Boonsville, to $6 million, and Century Casinos was 2% down in Caruthersville ($3.5 million) but 14.5% up in Cape Girardeau ($6 million). Independent St. Jo Frontier had an unfortunate month, falling 20.5% to $3 million but Mark Twain Casino jumped 19% to $3 million. Such are the vagaries of small-market gaming.
Since You Asked — Two Worthwhile, but Little-Known, Attractions
In this installment, I write about a couple of miscellaneous non-Strip activities that are fun, but maybe not big enough to warrant their own blog.
The Nevada State Railway Museum in Boulder City is a branch of the Nevada State Museum. It’s about a half-hour drive from the Strip, about 15 minutes short of Hoover Dam if you want to make a fuller day of it. It’s currently open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., but as always during these uncertain times, call ahead (702-486-5933) before you head out.
Tribute to a bad man
Sheldon Adelson‘s Horatio Alger success story came to an abrupt end today, when the Boston Globe broke the news of his death from lymphoma at age 87. Adelson had a good run in the industry, longer than most, and his career—despite a costly money-laundering scandal—was never tripped up the kind of ethical failings that brought contemporaries Steve Wynn and J. Terrence Lanni low. He outlasted all his major competitors on the Strip and successfully steered Las Vegas Sands through two recessions, among myriad other accomplishments. But his reign in Las Vegas as the doge of Venelazzo was not without taint, local, national and international. We’ll get to that in a minute.
Reactions to Adelson’s passing were quick to roll in. The American Gaming Association, with which he had been sometimes at odds, issued the following statement from President Bill Miller, which read in part, “I had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Adelson for more than 15 years, long before joining the American Gaming Association … It is his leadership and generosity that stand out the most to me. There’s no greater example of this than serving his community and prioritizing his employees’ well-being during the last year as our country and industry grappled with the global pandemic … may his memory be a blessing.”
Tonight’s the Night!
Listeners to the GWAE podcast know that Richard Munchkin is one of my favorite storytellers. When a guest on the show takes us through memory lane, it sometimes jogs one of Richard’s stories and I just sit back and listen with enjoyment.
With that in mind, Richard’s brother Jake made a long post on Facebook in late December that caught my eye. It was about blackjack in the early 80s and their team was playing in Atlantic City somewhere. At that time, there was no device law in the New Jersey gaming statutes and so it was completely legal to use electronic devices inside the casino. Teams tried various forms of computers to assist them in playing blackjack and other games. At that time, computers were very primitive relative to today, and often this involved pressing buttons with your toes and getting tiny shocks on your leg to tell you what to do. There would be wires running up your legs to your battery pack. All kinds of things could and did go wrong with this, but in general the process was successful enough that casinos finally banded together and lobbied the state legislature to ban electronic devices used to predict the outcome of casino games.
Continue reading Tonight’s the Night!Quote of the Day
“The presidency is an act of faith. Nobody can do it.”—presidential historian and John F. Kennedy biographer Richard Reeves.
Sports betting impresses in Iowa; Harness racing resumes
Sports betting in Iowa crossed the $100 million threshold in handle last month and that was without some key players like BetMGM, which launched earlier this month. Wagers are expected to vault now that Gov. Kim Reynolds‘ stay on mobile registration has expired. Bookmakers captured $7.5 million on $105 million in bets in December. “What Iowa’s sports betting industry has achieved, becoming the seventh-largest market in the U.S., in spite of a significant handicap like in-person registration has been impressive,” said PlayUSA analyst Jessica Welman. 2020 handle reached $575 million despite Reynolds’ restriction and a depleted menu of collegiate and major-league sports. Online wagering is also expected to grow this year from 70.5% of the mix to something like Indiana’s 85%.
Iowa casinos had a relatively good December, down only 6% for a statewide gross of $121.5 million, driven mainly by a 22% revenue increase at the racinos. Ameristar Council Bluffs grossed $13 million, down 12%, Diamond Jo Dubuque slipped 17% to $5 million and Diamond Jo Worth gained 14% to end at $8 million. Isle Bettendorf grew 12% to $6 million while Isle Waterloo was flat at $7 million. Harrah’s Council Bluffs tumbled 32.5% to $4 million and Horseshoe Casino fell 20% to $13 million. The state’s top grosser was Prairie Meadows racino, plunging 25% to $14 million. The misfortunes of the big dogs were offset by success stories at small casinos that included a 54% moonshot at Rhythm City, closing the month at $10 million.
Quote of the Day
“The moment people don’t feel it is in their interest to act democratically, democracy is just lost. The Constitution cannot save it. It’s not going to leap out of its case in the National Archives and start attacking people.”—George Washington University professor Michael Miller, on authoritarianism in America.
Half-a-loaf Cuomo; Ohio implosion
Cuomo giveth, Cuomo taketh away. After dropping hints of expansive sports betting in New York State, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) unveiled a proposal that was considerably less than ‘george.’ There will be one ‘skin’ and it will be answerable to the state lottery. Only the four, struggling, upstate casinos will be eligible to participate and the tax rate may be as high as 50%. The only silver lining for the industry is that the winner of the license competition will be the only game in town, enabling them to spend little or nothing or promotion. Due to its extensive ties within the Empire State, DraftKings has to be considered the early favorite. The state’s three tribal casinos are on the outside looking in and that’s bound to be a source of contention. Explaining his parsimony, Cuomo said, “I’m not here to make the casinos a lot of money. I’m here to raise funds for the state,” to the tune of $500 million in tax receipts a year.
Twilight of the God
Sheldon Adelson hasn’t left the building at Las Vegas Sands but the exit door has opened. Moments ago the company announced that the 87-year-old plutocrat would be taking a leave of absence for treatment of lymphoma. Adelson has been battling the disease since March 2019. COO Rob Goldstein ascends to the post of acting chairman/CEO. Goldstein knows the industry like the back of his hand and Sands isn’t expected to miss a step. As JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff puts it, “Mr. Goldstein, 65, has been at LVS for ~25 years in a number of executive positions and is universally respected–and liked–by investors, casino operator peers, employees and, importantly, the Adelson family, which owns a majority/controlling stake in LVS.” Yes, Sheldon, like his pal Donald Trump, values personal loyalty above all else (keeping then-President William Weidner on even after, according to Adelson’s sworn testimony, he breached his fiduciary duties). Goldstein also adds the duties of acting chairman/CEO of Sands China to his portfolio, meaning his desk will be very full for some time to come. We wish Adelson a speedy recovery, as do the many politicians whose careers depend on his largesse.