Case Bets: Cosmo, Penn, California, Caesars, Boyd, etc.

It’s reinvention time at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, where management is investing $100 million-plus into upgrades of most of its rooms. If you don’t constantly reinvest in your resort project, you end up with Imperial Palace, er, Linq. (Given Gary Loveman‘s infatuation with the letter Q we’re lucky we didn’t end up with The Qromwell.) In-room iPads will act as “virtual concierges,” performing a variety of tasks from making reservations to regulating the temperature in your room. This is the latest in a series of rolling renovations to The Cosmo. It’s paying off, too: return on investment was up 25% in 1Q17 and is expected to be 200% higher by year’s end.
* The numbers are in for Plainridge Park and it set a record for slot handle last month, with coin-in of $194.5 million, translating into a gross of $15.5 million. At a slot/win/day rate of $399 a machine, Plainridge makes Penn National Gaming a very proud papa.

* If the California Legislature approves, the Wilton Rancheria Tribe of Miwok People will be able to move forward on a casino in the “ghost mall” of Elk Grove. Although Uncle Sam didn’t recognize the current tribal members as aboriginals until 2009, the tribe was disenrolled in 1958, which means it still meets the threshold of 1934 federal recognition codified in Carcieri v. Salazar. Assemblyman Jim Cooper (D) notes that the Wilton band suffers from 60% unemployment and only a 14% college-graduation rate. He writes, “For people who have endured so much hardship, finally having land of their own and government-to-government agreements to move forward amounts to progress that all of us should embrace.” Amen to that.

* In a bold play for the China market, Caesars Entertainment is accepting WeChat payments for myriad services at Caesars Palace and 15 other company properties (with more coming online next year). Caesars had already been allowing Chinese customers to employ WeChat to book rooms. All this stuff helps, particularly with brand awareness with the Chinese community. That said, I don’t think it materially moves the needle in terms of incremental revenue, at least not right away,” Union Gaming analyst John DeCree told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Still, it represents a step forward for CEO Mark Frissora‘s campaign to reinvent Caesars as a tech-savvy company.

* Watche “Bob” Manoukian may have been cleared for a second Pennsylvania gaming license but that doesn’t mean that Philadelphia Live is out of the woods. One court challenge is likely and SugarHouse Casino is gearing up to file another. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia market is getting along just fine with the casinos it already has.

* Happy 20th birthday to Blue Chip Casino, Hotel & Spa and to Boyd Gaming for making it an iconic property. Fun fact: Blue Chip sits on the largest hull of any riverboat casino in the U.S. Just reading the description of the spa makes me want to book a trip there.