Gaming regulators in Missouri got a little unsolicited advice from Ameristar Casinos as to where to put Casino License #13. Ameristar Vice President of Government Relations & Public Affairs Troy Stremming commissioned a study on the matter. Its shocking conclusion: The best place to put a new casino is … as far from an Ameristar property as possible.
“A Cape Girardeau casino will generate twice the amount of incremental tax revenue for education in the State of Missouri than will be generated by a North St. Louis-area casino and four times more than will be generated by a Sugar Creek casino. When considering gaming expansion, it is critical to distinguish between gaming revenue that a new facility takes from existing Missouri-based casinos and how much it takes from casinos in other states or generates as new incremental gaming revenue,”quoth Stremming.
Nor can one avoid noticing that the casino closest to Cape G., and therefore likeliest to be impacted, is Isle of Capri Casinos‘ Lady Luck Caruthersville. Ameristar’s not-so-altruistic analysis projects $89 million in annual revenue for Licensee #13 — if it’s placed where Stremming thinks it should go. Backers of a casino site in North St. Louis, however, can take heart from Stremming’s projection that it would derive 33% of its revenue from out of state, compared to 19% for Sugar Creek. However, the city fathers of Sugar Creek may not be on such a fast track anyway. Judging by the TV report, their presentation to the Missouri Gaming Commission was closer to a pop fly than a home run.
Horses’ asses. Some of the horsey set in New Jersey are living in a dream world, complete with a phantom casino-industry conspiracy “to build a megacasino at the Meadowlands without horse racing.” If this bunch is, as they claim, the linchpin of the Garden State economy, Jersey is seriously screwed.
Look out Genting! Scarcely had it deposited its $380 million in earnest money with the State of New York, nascent racino developer Genting Bhd found the Shinnecock Indian Nation breathing down its neck. Emboldened by Bureau of Indian Affairs recognition last summer, the Shinnecocks say they want not one, not two but three casinos on Long Island, including a “high-class Monte Carlo-type” one out in the Hamptons. “Reservation shopping” is usually a greatly exaggerated bugaboo but the Shinnecocks’ audacious gambit is surely the most brazen such effort to date.
Fortunately for the competition, land-in-trust applications grind slowly and even if the Shinnecocks should be successful (and it’s a long shot), it will be years before they can mount a serious challenge to Genting’s Aqueduct project or Foxwoods Resort Casino, for instance. But if they get their wishes, New York City suddenly becomes a serious casino market unto itself, which is Very Bad News for everyone else in the region.
Magic bullet? If this game goes mainstream could it be a significant shot in the arm for the casino industry? The early indications are very favorable.
The customer is not king. The jury’s still out on whether Macao can evolve beyond a day-trip market, an Oriental analogue to Atlantic City. (From whence Comrade Steve Wynn complains that the U.S. is a society “dominated by government.” Steve, do us all a favor: Please move to China.)
However, casino scholar Desmond Lam sees one serious impediment between Macao and tourism success: lousy customer service, “undesirably poor by any international standard.” A Mandarin-vs.-Cantonese culture clash is blamed, as is snobbery by Macanese toward their Mainland brethren. Las Vegas casinos have raised customer service to an art form. While Macao isn’t merely “Asia’s Las Vegas™” as Sheldon Adelson would demeaningly have it, there are probably one or two respects in which it could profitably emulate its American rival, especially if longer visitor stays are to be cultivated.
Then again … despite what a friend of mine says is very bad customer service and adverse odds, table games at Charles Town Races Hollywood Casino are clobbering every other property in West Virginia. It’s a red-letter day for owner Penn National Gaming. The latter, having bought half-interests in several Texas parimutuels, is betting against itself in Louisiana. With a license up for grabs, Penn is making a play for the New Orleans market, with an eye to cutting in on Pinnacle Entertainment‘s Boomtown Belle. By berthing its vessel between Pinnacle’s and New Orleans proper, Penn looks to pose a serious threat … albeit one whose proposal so far amounts to “Trust us.”
Ten years strong. A decade into its diversity program, MGM Resorts International is broadening it, as well finding such kindred corporate spirits in Boyd Gaming and Harrah’s Entertainment. The Las Vegas Sun explains why it makes good business sense — sending illiterate racists into a snit on the Sun‘s “Comment” thread.
Two steps backward. Forget about new, destination-caliber casinos in Atlantic City. Dinky, 200-room casinos are to be the rule, so to speak. If this goes into law, there will scant incentive to build another Borgata-like resort. Harrah’s Entertainment, not surprisingly, supports the bill because a bunch of little Aliante Station-like casinos will pose little threat to its own Atlantic City quartet of properties.
Meanwhile, employees at Resorts Atlantic City have good reason to be nervous. Invocations of the WARN Act by new ownership usually mean that it’s going to try and de-unionize the place. Dennis Gomes is going to be off to a bad start with his employees if this is his opening salvo — although he is at pains to disavow it. Amen to that.
Questions:
– Is there something inherently bad about 200-room hotel casinos in Atlantic City? Is there something inherently good about 2,000-room hotel casinos in Las Vegas?
– It appears that the WARN Act at least warns the AC employees that they might be fired (although I would hate that to happen, especially if it’s designed to weaken/kill employees’ unions). Was there supposed to be something similar in place for the 400 Plaza LV workers? Yeah, Tamares said they’d be moved to their other properties, but what is that “promise” worth?
I hope EZ Baccarat catches on in Vegas. Then again, I hope they don’t greedily corrupt it, like with 6/5 blackjack, that some serious gamblers just stay away from the tables.
As for: “The Las Vegas Sun explains why it makes good business sense — sending illiterate racists into a snit on the Sun’s “Comment” thread.” Read some of the Comments attached to the Wynn story. It appears that many readers are so dense that they think our American government is more communist/socialist/leftist/corrupt than Wynn’s version of that business paradise, Communist China.
Maybe Wynn should offer them free or discount trips to that other “workers’ paradise” so they can gamble in his casinos – but not be able to use the Web to tell us “real Americans” about China because the Communist censors have cut off their access to the Internet.
Matter of fact, I wonder if Mr. Wynn, while he is in China, has an underling toting a bunch of devices (Iphone, Blackberry, teletype, telegraph key, etc.) in his/her “communications vest” that he can use to talk to his people in Las Vegas in the hope that he’s not being snooped on by his hosts.
I used to respect Mr. Wynn for his business success with the Golden Nugget & Mirage. Now I agree: “Steve, please move to China.” Stay there, live there, do business there according to their ever-changing laws and fiats. We’ll welcome you back when you say “I’m sorry”. If they give you preferential treatment, and you’re happy there – well, we’re happy for you to stay there. You are welcome to apply for a visitor visa to the USA at any time; get in line at the US Embassy.
A couple of thoughts…Is that pic above taken at PNK’s new River City casino? I did not actually play the video. Beautiful casino they built there.
On Ameristar’s study..I thought the state asked the gaming companies to conduct the studies? Am I wrong on this one? On a side note, Pinnacle should have never given up the license to begin with. But I guess when you are getting squeezed by the state when you are opening a new facility a few weeks away, you basically have no choice. How wonderful it must be to be a casino operator in MO!
“Horses’ asses”..YUP!
“Two steps backward” I do not agree with you there. The bill will only allow 2 of them. Vegas has them (as you suggested in mentioning Aliente). However, I would guess that Aliente has more than 200 rooms? Regardless, I have been to Aliente and believe me, AC would be well served by such a development. They need more modern, relevant and fresh developments to attract new and old (minus the oxygen tank crowd) customers back to the resort. Although laying off police in mass numbers is not a very good way to do that considering the city already has a bad reputation/perception/reality of high crime. They should start there…Giuliani style!!!
On Resorts….Although I would not like to see it happen (lots of people loose their jobs), it would probably be a great business move for Dennis to “allow” the current owners (banks) to let it happen (close the place for a while and let the unionized and tenured workers walk away and then re-apply). Out with the old..in with the new. The old way certainly was not working.
With respect to 200-room hotels in Atlantic City, the present conventional wisdom holds that destination-quality properties like Borgata are the only thing that’s going to keep bringing customers to A.C. Secondly, there’s even less incentive to proceed with projects like Revel if “boutique” casinos are the new trend. Lastly, as long as I can remember, Atlantic City has been lamenting that it can’t draw major events because it doesn’t have the critical mass of hotel rooms that Vegas does … but why build hotel rooms if you don’t already have that convention business? It looks like the city fathers are doomed to perpetually chase their tail on that issue.
Re: Steve Wynn’s China lurve, let me just say the U.S. government could never dictate and micromanage the number of people allowed into Vegas from neighboring states — something Peking has done to Macao with impunity.
Dragon bac has been at the Monte Carlo and MGM for at least the past year I believe. At one point all of MGM’s $25 tables moved to dragon bac. Monte Carlo had only one of it’s two tables on the floor set up for it, and it usually only ran in the evenings.
It’s nice, the no commission makes it a lot more open for new players, and since dragon hands are a push for the bank, there’s no loss there either. House edge is slightly less due to that push, but I’d highly recommend it.
I installed Opera, checked this page and others, and found all to be displaying as intended. I’m not sure what the problem is but I hope you’re having better luck with the site.