Las Vegas Advisor

Posted on September 15, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

MGM limping back; Atlantic City follies; Wall Street Jottings

Hobbling back onto the Web today, MGM Resorts International offered a limited version of its normal Internet service. You can do research for your next MGM stay but you can’t book it directly or access MGM Rewards, as of 10 a.m. Our man in Atlantic City confirms that, at noon, he found Borgata‘s reservation system to still be defunct. Borgata was able to contact customers to inform them that four promotional events were being postponed. During yesterday’s edition of State of Nevada, someone identifying themselves as an MGM employee called into say that direct deposits of worker paychecks (due Wednesday) were two days overdue and if there was further delay there would also be “trouble.” (A walkout?) Either CEO Bill Hornbuckle or one of his lieutenants evidently was listening, as Hornbuckle contacted the local dead tree of record to say that paychecks would be issued today. As of lunchtime nobody has made a liar of him. (Speaking of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, it duly tried to spin the crash of Las Vegas Grand Prix hotel rates as nothing much.)

Posted on September 14, 2023September 26, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

On and off the radio

During this morning’s stint on KNPR-FM‘s State of Nevada, we were only able to cover a fraction of the scheduled questions. So we had the idea of answering here what was not asked there. Let’s take it away …

Why do you think hackers targeted a major casino company over, say, any other multibillion-dollar company?

Because, as Willie Sutton famously said, “That’s where the money is.”

What MGM Rewards member data might the hackers be so interested in?

What aren’t they interested in? Every bit of personal data that they can get their grubby mitts onto. If we were an MGM Rewards member, we’d be changing computer passwords, etc., nonstop today.

Posted on September 13, 2023September 26, 2023 by David Mckee — 2 Comments

MGM crippled; Illinois & Indiana report; Bally’s shaky in Chi

Different day, same story for MGM Resorts International, brought to its knees by a cbyer-assault of still-unknown provenance. The FBI has been brought in although, per standard operating procedure, the G-Men aren’t commenting on what went down. MGM is daintily referring to the attack as a “cyber issue,” but its 28 casinos nationwide may face a long road back to recovery. UNLV‘s Yoowhan Kim is of the firm opinion that it was a ransomware raid that MGM was asked for “several million dollars” to resolve the ‘issue,’ one that may have been years in the making. Kim delicately implies that a cost/benefit analysis will come down in favor of paying up.

Posted on September 12, 2023September 12, 2023 by Bob Dancer — Leave a comment

It’s a Matter of Priorities

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.

Posted on September 12, 2023February 7, 2024 by Richard Munchkin — Leave a comment

Life 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.

Posted on September 12, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

MGM 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.

Posted on September 11, 2023September 18, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

Bally’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.

Posted on September 9, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 2 Comments

New 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.

Posted on September 7, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

Are 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.

Posted on September 6, 2023September 6, 2023 by Bob Dancer — Leave a comment

How 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.

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