Recently in Las Vegas, there was a local pub offering a nice promotion between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. several days a week. Not a great promo and not likely to be repeated, but I’m not interested in providing more details about it than I already have. Suffice it to say it was close enough to where I live and juicy enough that I arranged my sleep schedule so that I was there during the requisite hours most of the days it was offered.
Continue reading It’s a Matter of PrioritiesLife is a Gamble Jason Ladanye episode #7
Jason Ladanye is a professional, award-winning sleight-of-hand entertainer who has performed card magic all around the world for the last twenty years. Prior to magic he was musician who was touring as a keyboard player from the time he was 17, opening for everyone from the Rolling Stones to BB King.
Continue reading Life is a Gamble Jason Ladanye episode #7MGM paralyzed; DraftKings debacle; Mount Airy wins
In a new kind of September 11 attack, MGM Resorts International was felled by a massive cybersecurity breach. From disabling digital room keys to kneecapping credit card systems (forcing transactions to be made in cash), it sent MGM back to the mid-20th century. The company Web site had to be taken offline, internal communications were disrupted and—worst of all for some—slot machines were silenced by the thousands. The higher the tech, the worse the vulnerability. For once, nostalgia for Olde Vegas was justified. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas was spared because it hasn’t been fully integrated into MGM’s master systems yet.
Continue reading MGM paralyzed; DraftKings debacle; Mount Airy winsBally’s opens, Chicago yawns; MGM, tree murderers
Chicago‘s first casino opened to “dozens of people” Saturday. Only dozens? That’s not a good sign for Bally’s Corp. It’ll need to stir up a lot more excitement than that if it’s to make back its nut on $1.7 billion Bally’s Chicago. If Chicagoans couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed for the 8 a.m. debut of a casino conveniently located at Medinah Temple, what does that bode for the megaresort, three years hence? Then again, nobody ever went broke with customers like the gullible group of gamblers who exclaimed, “We’re seniors … We’re in there to get this money.” Still, the images of the early morning opening were distinctly underwhelming. We expected better, frankly.
Continue reading Bally’s opens, Chicago yawns; MGM, tree murderersNew York: Trump out, Bally’s in; North Carolina Lege flops
New York City will be stuck with failed casino owner Donald Trump‘s name on an overpriced public golf course until 2035 … unless Bally’s Corp. can swing a deal to buy the obstreperous mogul out of his lease with the city. This means Bally’s is pivoting back to its first, controversial site choice: Trump Golf Links Ferry Point. Comptroller Brad Lander has already given his thumbs-up to the deal, effective Sept. 21, which gets it over a significant hurdle. After all, the Bill DeBlasio administration had wanted Trump out of their sooner rather than later and the current regime doesn’t seem any less ill-disposed toward the unsavory millionaire. So it’s a done deal, right?
Wrong. The horse is still a long way from the stable. Back in the 1990s, Trump reneged on a franchising deal with the Rank Organization that would have seen Trump Castle rebranded as a Hard Rock casino, an accord that probably would have saved the struggling property. In a fit of caprice (some would say instability), Trump quit the agreement on the night before it was to be announced. The Castle would become Trump Marina, then the Golden Nugget. Could history repeat itself? Given Trump’s insufferable ego, he may well bridle at being quietly ushered out a side door and sabotage the Bally’s agreement. Keep your fingers crossed that he plays well with others this time.
Continue reading New York: Trump out, Bally’s in; North Carolina Lege flopsAre you ready?; Lombardo’s lunacy; The wrath of Wynn
For some football, that is. NFL season literally kicks off tonight with the much-hyped Detroit Lions visiting the champion Kansas City Chiefs. But the on-field action threatens to be overshadowed by the off-field brouhaha surrounding sports betting. (Nor is it a football-only problem.) The league has been talking out of both sides of its mouth on this issue, decrying wagering by coaches and players, yet raking in the dough from a trio of partnerships with sports betting firms. After spending decades bitching and moaning about the threat to its ‘integrity’ posed by legal wagering, the NFL couldn’t get in on the action fast enough. So it’s ill-qualified to occupy the moral high ground.
That being said, there’s no excuse for the dog-ate-my-homework attitude of players caught with their hand in the betting cookie jar. League rules are pretty simple. Don’t bet on pro football and don’t bet (at all) while at team facilities. That’s not rocket science. And although few NFL players could be accused of being rocket scientists, there’s no excuse for not understanding the betting rules, whose critics would have us believe are an arcane formulation that would put advanced calculus to shame.
Continue reading Are you ready?; Lombardo’s lunacy; The wrath of WynnHow Special Is It?
In a recent blog post I wrote:
Another factor that is true for me that isn’t universally true for other players is that I have the ability to figure out and master strategies, and I enjoy doing so. Thinking about, writing about, studying, and playing video poker occupies a much larger part of my waking hours, even after about 30 years of doing this, than these things occupy in the lives of most other players.
Continue reading How Special Is It?Arabian nights; New York stasis of mind; Eataly targeted
Big Gaming having gotten into bed with one ultra-despotic regime (Red China), why not go for broke? That’s the impression left by the widely reported news that the United Arab Emirates has rolled out its first-ever General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, inevitably to be followed by the promulgation of casino and lottery regulations themselves. By all appearances, the Emirates are serious about doing it right. They’ve tapped former Gaming Labs International counsel Kevin Mullally to be CEO of the new authority. In addition to 39 years of legal and PR experience overall, Mullally can boast of three decades in the gaming industry, including leading Missouri to its first self-exclusion program for problem gamblers whilst executive director of the Missouri Gaming Commission.
Continue reading Arabian nights; New York stasis of mind; Eataly targetedLabor Day odds & ends
Casino revenue in Ohio dipped 2% in July, reaching $203.5 million. Before anyone goes all Chicken Little on us, that’s 25% higher than gambling win in 2019. So Ohio’s is a nice problem to have. MGM Northfield Park waxed the competition, garnering $27 million and gaining 6.5%. The only other revenue-positive properties were Jack Thistledown ($16 million, +1.5%) and Hollywood Dayton ($13 million, +2%). Best of the rest was Hollywood Columbus, flat at $23 million. Jack Cleveland continues to impress with $22 million, despite a 3.5% slippage. Hard Rock Cincinnati (pictured) slid 5% but still grossed a respectable $21 million. Bunched together were Miami Valley Gaming ($20 million, -2%), Scioto Downs ($20 million, -5%) and Hollywood Toledo ($20 million, -3.5%).
Continue reading Labor Day odds & endsBook the Super Bowl NOW
First is the Super Bowl, one of the greatest sports, cultural, and marketing spectacles ever.
Then there’s experiencing the Super Bowl in Vegas: sports betting to the moon, celebrities, whales, celebrity whales, best of the best getting down, awesome parties everywhere, prices through the roof.
Then there’s experiencing the Super Bowl, actually happening in Vegas, at Allegiant Stadium.
Continue reading Book the Super Bowl NOW