It’s official: Wynn Resorts will start tearing up its Las Vegas Strip golf course on Jan. 3, 2018. Not much is known about what will 
replace it, as the budget hasn’t been set, and plans for the Wynn Paradise Park hotel won’t be unveiled until next spring. Wynn told Wall Street analysts “it is now seeing little in the way of disruptions from the events of 10/1 … [3Q17] results were strong across the board, including the nightclub business, where Wynn benefited from several headline events.” (In a laudable move, the company donated $8 million to Hurricane Harvey and Typhoon Hato victims.)
Wynn’s Macao results “reflected a stronger VIP performance and margin ramp at Wynn Palace, which offset softer than anticipated performance at Wynn Macau,” wrote JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, with Wynn Palace doing $4 million in cash flow a day. The Palace did better than Greff expected, Wynn Macau worse. The death of gambling in Las Vegas has been greatly exaggerated, per Greff’s observation that casino and nightclub revenue drove Wynn’s Strip numbers last quarter.
Boyd Gaming also reported 3Q results yesterday and came in right on the button despite hurricane-related disruptions. Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli wrote that 
“management has not seen, nor does it anticipate, a meaningful impact from the 10/1 events on BYD’s locals operations.” The Aliante Casino and Cannery Casino Resorts acquisitions were a pricey 10X cash flow, based on their recent performance. In other words, Boyd paid a premium to have a presence in North Las Vegas. In addition to paying down $73 million in debt, Boyd brought the California Hotel tower back online, resulting in a 15% increase in Downtown cash flow.
* Can you imagine an 85-inch television set? (I wish I had one for watching This is Cinerama on DVD.) That’s just a sample high-roller amenity in the newly revamped Palace Tower makeover at Caesars Palace. Caesars put $100 million into the project, 
which entailed redoing 1,181 rooms and suites, with some of the latter sprawling to 4,085 square feet. You might as well read about it because you and I (well, not you, Geoff) will never stay in one of those suites. Private elevators whisk premium guests to villa kitted out in “Imported stone and hand-distressed hardwood flooring [with] Hand-tufted, custom-designed,100 percent wool area rugs and carpets imported.” They also boast “high-tech toilets.” Seriously, how high-end can evacuating one’s bowels be? There doesn’t seem to be much room for improvement on Thomas Crapper‘s great gift to humanity.
