Let it (not) snow!; BP screws casinos

With Atlantic City currently in white-out mode, casino executives must be studying next weekend’s forecast and hoping that it holds true. A few days of above-freezing temperatures ought to give the Boardwalk a chance to melt and shovel its way out from under last weekend’s torrential snowfall. Much is riding on favorable conditions: Casinos are reporting near-capacity bookings in their hotels and at peak rates, too.

New Year’s Eve weekend also marks the official relaunch of Resorts Atlantic City under the Roaring Twenties theme chosen by new CEO Dennis Gomes. And whoever though the Tropicana Atlantic City would bounce back to the extent of being able to stage a $350/head bash for high rollers and a smallish number of guests? At three of the four Caesars Entertainment properties, boss Don Marrandino‘s flair for entertainment is paying off. Only Bally’s Wild Wild West lacks a marquee performer to compete with the likes of B.B. King (Harrah’s Marina), Sarah McLachlan (Caesars Atlantic City) and Maroon 5 (Showboat). Not be outdone, Borgata counters an invitation-only performance by Frankie Valli, for that extra filip of exclusivity.

Of course, if a blizzard should happen to strike after the New Year’s guests are all checked in, that might not be so bad for business, either. An “attaboy” goes to every Atlantic City casino for keeping employees safe by providing overnight accommodations, with an extra pat on the back to the Caesars foursome, which comped rooms to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center staffers. That’s the true spirit of Christmas.

What a stunning contrast to go from Caesars’ suddenly bullish Atlantic City casinos to its Reno one, whose New Year’s Eve celebration will be the most wallet-friendly in memory. As in, “free.” Or, if you don’t mind dropping $20, rival John Ascuaga’s Nugget rings in the new year with an all-female AC/DC cover band. It’s definitely different.

Next stop, Singapore? That’s among the markets being eyed for the next Playboy Club. If so, one has to like Marina Bay Sands‘ chances of landing the franchise, given the existing relationship between Sands Macao and the rabbit head.

Shafted again. Those charming blokes at British Petroleum have already messed up business for Gulf Coast casinos with their little Deepwater Horizon mishap. Now the Gulf Coast Claims Facility is sticking it to casino workers directly. I don’t need to draw a picture of why fewer customers = less income in the tipocracy that is the casino business. However, in yet another instance of the selective opprobrium which is doled out to the gaming industry, casino workers are being “redlined” out of the BP compensation pool (you know, the mandatory payout that lovable Sharron Angle deemed “a slush fund”). And, as anyone in Las Vegas could tell you, even if visitation numbers hold steady, that’s no guarantee that tourists’ spending is as lavish as in days of yore. Whoever’s to blame for (morally?) selective compensation it would behoove fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg to right this wrong, stat.