Borgata or bust; ‘LVH,’ Jacko & Sinead

First, the good news: Borgata — accounting for more than one-fifth of the entire market share — continues to vastly outpace the rest of the Atlantic City market. Last month, it raked in $50 million for a 2% gain, driven by strong slot play … and despite looser hold (8.3% vs. 8.9%) than A.C. overall. Among Wall Street analysts, Joseph Greff of J.P. Morgan was in the Glass Half-Full Dept., reporting that Borgata had exceeded his expectations. Deutsche Bank‘s Carlo Santarelli took the opposite tack, having pegged Borgata to gross $2 million more than it did, in a traditionally weak month.

Although no reasons were cited in analyst reports, Caesars Atlantic City was also favored by Dame Fortune, grossing $29 million and leaping 18% from last year. Borgata neighbor Harrah’s Atlantic City also had a warm November, grossing $33 million (+3%). Resorts Atlantic City‘s $11 million was meager by comparison but good enough for a 10% gain. Dennis Gomes‘ reinvention of Resorts is going better than Carl Icahn‘s people are doing at the Tropicana Atlantic City, whose numbers continue to seesaw, down 10% last month.

Donald Trump-flagged casinos once again testify to the nonexistent brand equity their orange-hued pitchman brings them. Even recently augmented Trump Taj Mahal had an unfortunate month, down 27%, while employees at miserably grossing Trump Plaza (-32%) might want to start filing applications for jobs at forthcoming Revel. A good thing for Tilman Fertitta that his Las Vegas and Laughlin branches of the Golden Nugget chain can carry the ex-Trump Marina awhile: It was down 23%, having its second-worst month of the last 23. (Look on the bright side: It didn’t gross any less than the month before, so perhaps bottom has been struck.) The Plaza, Nugget and “ACH” all performed in the worrisome, sub-$10 million range.

In the case of what analysts still refer to as the Atlantic City Hilton, the recent “victory” of Colony Capital is Pyhrric indeed: down 17% for a market-lagging $8 million. Barring a forced transfer of ownership, it would be a shock if the “ACH” is still in business this time next year. Revel’s opening could easily tip at least two casinos into the “closed” category. There’s going to be a big “supply shock” and the Boardwalk‘s bottom-feeders (with the exception of inexpensively run Resorts) aren’t positioned to withstand it.

Speaking of Colony, it’s whipped up a new Web site for the “Las Vegas Hotel & Casino” — aka, LVH — the casino formerly known as the Las Vegas Hilton. And … it’s just as craptastic as the new moniker and ultra-blah logo. It asks, “Why Choose Us?”

Why indeed?

OK, that was weird. Even as Las Vegas weddings go, this one will rank high on the “colorful” meter. But it was still far more dignified than that psyche-scarring Steve Wynn wedding video. Let’s hope for Ms. O’Connor that the fourth time is the charm.

Michael Jackson, reviewed. Here’s my “family friendly” take on the Cirque du Soleil spectacular (minus some observations inappropriate to a consumer-oriented Web site). I’ll admit to being totally foxed as to why MGM Resorts International agreed to let Cirque tour this thing for 9-10 months prior to setting up permanent shop at Mandalay Bay. Dozens of U.S. and Canadian cities are slated to see a 120-minute version of Immortal that will have to be heavily trimmed for two-a-nights on the Strip. So far, Vegas is the only city where Immortal has received favorable reviews, so the brand equity of the show could be damaged goods long before the March or June 2013 return to MBay (to say nothing of dissipating the “only in Vegas” cachet associated with something like Love or O). Cirque’s tour schedule is insanely ambitious, zigzagging back and forth between coasts, and I fully expect a substantial reduction in either the number of tour dates or the scope of the show somewhere out on the road.