Genting needs to get worried, very worried about over budgeted Resorts World Catskills. New casinos promoted in upstate New York by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) are grossly underperforming. The three already in operation need an incredible 4Q17 to make good 
on their aggregate $599 million revenue projection — right now they’re $377 million short. The latest casino to under-report is Del Lago Resort & Casino, which had bragged it could bring in $263 million in Year One but has only grossed $88 million so far, on pace for a $143 million gross. To compound the indignity, Del Lago has the largest slot floor of the new trio and is generating a subpar $155/win/slot/day. Tioga Downs is doing average business: $197/slot/day and Rivers Casino is actually outperforming, at $222/slot/day, despite falling short of projections.
Ironically, “Projected earnings were one of the criteria used in the approval process by the [New York State] Gaming Commission in awarding licenses after state voters approved state-sanctioned, non-Indian gambling in a 2013 statewide referendum,” according to the Finger Lakes Times. The new casinos are entrants in an already-crowded field, what with six racinos and six tribal casinos (soon to become seven) competing for business. Cuomo, who predicted a tax windfall of $325 million so far has only $70 million to show for himself.
Looking for a silver lining, Del Lago General Manager Jeff Babinski said, “From many aspects, Del Lago … has been a wonderful success story in less than nine months. We are 
employing nearly 1,500 people from the region. We are spending hundreds of thousands in dollars every month buying local vegetables, fruits, wine, beer, meats and other supplies and services … we have already proven to be a great community steward and economic generator for the region.” That sound you hear is Babinski whistling past the graveyard. The real question is whether the new upstate casinos get can by on half the business they expected. With their revenue taxed at a burdensome 45% on slots, we think they’re going to be hard-pressed to make ends meet.
* It looks like Penn National Gaming is going to stand pat on the Tropicana Las Vegas. A long-awaited Phase II of 
reinvestment in the property has been discarded outright, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli. In the near term, Robert Irvine‘s new restaurant is doing well — 1,000 covers a day — and additional F&B concepts yet to be implemented are “an Asian grab-n-go concept as well as a buffet concept by the end of the 1Q18.” Elsewhere, Hollywood Jamul continues to be a millstone around Penn’s neck as refinancing the construction outlay hangs fire.
* Installing metal detectors at casino entrances is just the beginning in a laundry list of security questions the gaming industry will have to — or ought to ask itself. For instance, even if Mandalay Bay staff had known Stephen Paddock was checking in with 34 guns, they would have had almost no legal recourse but sit by and hope for the best. On a more self-involved level, Las Vegas has to worry that it might lose its allure as a convention and meetings destination. (Only Orlando outpaces it.) As one CEO says, security “is now part of the DNA of meeting planning.”
* Good news for the Wilton Rancheria and Boyd Gaming. 
Gov. Jerry Brown (D) has signed off a Lege-approved gaming compact, clearing the last hurdle to a Boyd-managed casino at the “ghost mall” near Elk Grove, California. Few specifics of the $400 million project are available, although we know that 300 hotel rooms are planned. Congratulations to the Wilton people and to Boyd.
