“What’s 23% Between Friends?” So asked Credit Suisse analyst Ben Combes as he reported on International Game Technology‘s 3Q19 earnings call. IGT’s $407 million in cash flow exceeded consensus Wall 
Street expectations by 3%. IGT stock vaulted 23% on the news. “We like IGT’s defensive revenues, long-term contracts and stabilizing US gaming business,” Combes wrote. “Offsetting this is ongoing concerns in Italy around taxes, low growth, and a deleverage story that will take time to play out before capital returns increase.” Replacement sales in the U.S. were very strong, up 38%, while lottery and VLT revenues rose 1%. A 12% increase in Italian taxes translated into $127 million less operating income. Mamma mia! No mention seems to have been made of the ongoing Rhode Island political controversy.
* Casino revenues in Detroit were flat last month. MGM Grand Detroit slipped 2% to $49 million. Conversely, MotorCity was up 2%, reaching $39 million, while Greektown was flat at $27.5 million.
* Vesper Bar at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is under wraps for the time being. It is receiving an extensive remodeling but is not going away permanently. It will reopen in late autumn. It’s nine years old, after all. No such luck for family friendly Big Whiskey’s American Restaurant. It lasted a mere nine months at the Cosmo and has closed. So much for the idea of opening a second restaurant in the Las Vegas area. Also on the outs is Plantone’s Italian Market, although that managed to eke out three years at the Cosmo.
* Another Vegas icon goes away as the Hard Rock Café on Harmon Avenue is demolished this week. At least the Neon Museum intervened to save the massive guitar marquee, which has taken up residence in the neon boneyard.
* Former Cincinnati Bengal and Dancing with the Stars contestant Chad Ochocinco has achieved gainful employment as the host of the Bleacher Report Betting Game Show, to be to be taped in Caesars Palace‘s B/R Studio. “The show will be open to the public to participate in a series of fun, interactive games, and the chance to win prizes,” as yet unspecified.
* Preferring a buyout to bankruptcy (not a tough decision), Empire Resorts shareholders agreed to a takeover by Genting Malaysia and Kien Huat Realty III. Not all shareholders were happy campers, contending 
that $9.74 per share was dirt cheap compared to Genting’s predictions of a quadrupled financial performance at Resorts World Catskills. Lawsuits have been filed in Delaware, alleging a breach of fiduciary trust and a failure to seek maximum value for the property. Empire Resorts CEO Ryan Eller and Genting Americas President Edward Farrell said this was “the first step toward fulfilling the promise and potential of New York’s most-prized integrated casino resort destination.”
* M Resort cut a deal with the soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders. M will become the “team headquarters hotel,” which means upstanding citizens like Richie Incognito will stay there prior to home games. Still, it’s a feather in the cap for Penn National Gaming and black eye for anybody else who didn’t make the arrangement first.
* Speaking of team spirit, Marie Osmond will not let an injured knee keep her offstage during Saturday night’s farewell performance of Donny & Marie at the Flamingo Las Vegas. It’s been a great 11-year run and we’re sorry to see them go.
Jottings: In the same week that major-league sports said they’d support wagering in Missouri so long as they got a piece of the action (isn’t that bribe solicitation?), TD Ameritrade disclosed that it might dabble in fantasy sports. The company already provides sports-analytical tools to 
ESPN … Dec. 12 is the date certain for the opening of Horseshoe Southern Indiana‘s new, land-based casino, completing the phase-out of the Glory of Rome riverboat, which metaphorically sets sail on Dec. 9. Caesars Entertainment was thrifty on the replacement, spending only $90 million on the new casino, which will have 1,200 slots and 86 tables, counting poker. Glory of Rome will be sold … sometime.
