Politics making strange bedfellows and all that, S&G woke up to find Sheldon Adelson
enjoying connubial bliss with President Barack Obama. Both are pushing for military intervention in Syria, swimming against the tide of American public opinion. And to think that Adelson spent $68 million on failed presidential candidates last year when he could have obtained a partner for his warmongering tendencies simply by supporting the incumbent. But hey,the infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands has just been named the finest in the world. Congrats, Shel.
Did Icahn overpay? It’s looking like Carl Icahn‘s purchase of Lumiere Place was priced above the industry median of 7X cash flow — and for an underperforming casino at that. Icahn shelled out $260 million. However, Pinnacle Entertainment also took a haircut, given that Lumiere Place carried a book value of $401.5 million. If it weren’t for the tax writeoff that Pinnacle can take, one would be tempted to call this a lose-lose scenario.
According to yesterday’s Press of Atlantic City, the Golden Nugget may be back on 
the market and soon. The Nugget has consistently been one of the lower-grossing casinos in the market and some think that owner Tilman Fertitta will pull the chicken switch. Then again, today the Nugget announced an online-gambling partnership with Bally Technologies, which will run both terrestrial and Internet gambling off one platform. Fertitta’s also reached across the ocean to tap former Betclic CEO Thomas Winter to oversee i-gaming operations for all of Landry’s casino properties. Today’s disclosures certainly make it look as though Tilman is in it for the long haul.
