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New player in NYC; Big splash in Atlantic City

Look out Manhattan casino aspirants: There is a new player in the game. It’s Larry Silverstein, the real estate mogul behind the redevelopment of the World Trade Center area post-9/11. He’s proposing Avenir, a mega-budget project that would erect two 46-story towers above the casino podium, which itself would entail 600,000 square feet of gaming and related amenities. High in the sky, a 1,000 concert hall would be on the 45th floor of one of the towers, which will be connected to the other via a lofty skybridge. Silverstein has a strategic location—just north of the convention-centric Javits Center and four blocks west of Times Square. What’s more, Silverstein owns the land outright, which clears a few hurdles. Avenir could be a category-killer and there’s more …

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Michigan, Pennsylvania strong online; Mega-Jottings

Our vacation has taken us to the wilds of Michigan, so today’s report will start there. Detroit‘s three casinos raked in $105 million last month, a 1.5% decline from May of last year. But it was a terrific month for Hollywood Detroit, which captured business from its competitors, up 7.5% to $23 million. MGM Grand Detroit ceded 1.5% but made $49 million, while MotorCity‘s $32 million represented a 7% shortfall. While Penn Entertainment‘s Greektown gain was not as spectacular as those of January and February (16% and 12% respectively) the comparisons have been strongly positive all year, signaling that Penn has turned the place around.

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There’s a Reason

The following is a true story, other than the names of the gamblers. It happened at Harrah’s Atlantic City a number of years ago. Since I’ve played little at this particular casino, and always as a tourist rather than a local, I might have some of the details wrong. But the gist of this story is accurate and might provide fodder for thought and discussion.

Amy and Bo lived not too far away from Atlantic City, and drove to visit this casino perhaps three weekends a month — except when they were on cruises (which they enjoyed a lot) or were otherwise busy. They played single-line $1 Double Double Bonus mostly, but sometimes went for the $2 game or perhaps $1 Triple Play.

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All Atlantic City, all the time; Gone to the dogs; Mega-Jottings

The former Trump Marina looks sadly outmoded next to Borgata and Ocean

Although terrestrial casino revenue dipped 2.5% last month, New Jersey casinos made out like bandits online, with i-gambling up 19% and sports betting leapt 33.5%. In Atlantic City the gross was $227 million at traditional casinos, as a sharp decline in table revenue (-8%) pulled the Boardwalk down. Borgata slipped 4.5% but still led the market with $60.5 million. Hard Rock Atlantic City felt a chill, off 6.5%, but banked $39 million nonetheless. Ocean Resort was the usurper, jumping 17% to $30 million. Among the Caesars Entertainment flotilla, only Tropicana Atlantic City held its ground, flat at $21.5 million. Harrah’s Resort ceded 10% to fall to $19 million whilst volatile Caesars Atlantic City slid 9.5% to $18 million—not a good look for a high-roller joint. Everybody else was bunched way to the back, trailed by the Golden Nugget with $12.5 million (-1%), as Resorts Atlantic City made $13.5 million (-5%) and Bally’s Atlantic City managed $13 million on a 4% gain.

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Trop’s fate sealed; Massachusetts up, Louisiana down

Now that the fix is in for the Oakland Athletics to get a vanity stadium in Las Vegas, the bosses of the Tropicana Las Vegas are losing no time in getting what’s really important: Imploding the old girl. Of course, they could be jumping the gun. Not a word has been breathed about how the A’s, who have consistently pled poverty to excuse their craptastic product, intend to come up with their share of the stadium money, which totals $1.1 billion. We expect some tin-cup rattling to occur once the state, Clark County and Vici Properties are too fully committed to back out. If Nevada gets off with a $380 million subsidy, it will be lucky.

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Case Bets

Congratulations, Las Vegas Golden Knights. For the second time in a year, Las Vegas has announced itself as a major-league city by bringing home a championship trophy. First it was the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA, now the Knights, who slammed the door last night on the outmatched Florida Panthers, 9-3. (Nothing says “hockey” like Florida against Nevada.) Even better, they did it on the home ice, clinching a 4-1 Stanley Cup triumph—the second time the Knights have been in the cup finals in their six years of existence. No NHL team has won Lord Stanley’s cup so quickly. Now the pressure is on the dysfunctional Las Vegas Raiders to do more than merely appear in a playoff game. They’ll get eight prime-time TV slots next season. Let’s hope they do Sin City proud.

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I Almost Threw It Away

Bonnie and I have been married nine years now, and she turned 80 years old June 3. From the get-go, she knew I was a professional gambler, and it became clear to me early on that she had no potential to understand advantage gambling. But she enjoys the meals, cruises, and other traveling that my profession brings me, and my life works better with her in it. 

One of the things we did early on was to insulate her from the gambling swings. The bulk of each of our assets are not commingled and file taxes separately. She had some assets of her own coming in — as had I. Our wills are set up that she gives her money to her heirs, and I give money to mine. We have a “Bob and Bonnie account” for household expenses and we each contribute to it.    

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Indiana, Missouri down; Mega-Jottings

Indiana has joined the growing litany of states with disappointing May casino receipts. The statewide gross of $196.5 million represented a 7% drop-off from last year at this time. Only two casinos defied the trend. French Lick Resort leapt 14.5% to $7.5 million and tribal Caesars Southern Indiana rose 7% to $22 million. Not even Hard Rock Northern Indiana was immune to the blahs. It slipped 7% to a still-impressive $34 million. Horseshoe Hammond couldn’t take advantage, plummeting 15% to $24.5 million, while nearby Ameristar East Chicago plunged 15% to $15 million. Blue Chip got slammed -16% to $10 million. Down south, Bally’s Evansville (above) slid -7% to $13.5 million.

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