Case Bets: Greektown, Adelson, Philadelphia & Stanley Ho

If a management company increases your revenues in the teeth of the Great Recession — and despite your casino’s well-publicized financial problems — what do you do? Kick them out, of course, if you’re Greektown Casino and you’ve no further use for rescuer Fine Point Group. Day-to-day operations could soon revert to the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the folks who firmly entrenched Greektown in last place in the Detroit market.

Sands New Bedford? The former whaling port’s proposed casino is the handiwork of a Manhattan-based developer who looks a lot like a stalking horse for a certain Sheldon Adelson. Subterfuge isn’t Adelson’s style but, given his myriad commitments worldwide, perhaps it’s just as well if he lets KG Urban Enterprises do the heavy lifting and simply runs the casino. The project’s also likelier to get done on time that way. To let Las Vegas Sands take the lead would probably be what Adelson calls “ill-advisable.”

(Take note, in the Forbes interview, of how CEO Adelson deftly puts all blame for his company’s recent adversity on a few, conveniently departed “bad managers [who] financed our expansion by borrowing against future assets (casinos) that generate income, rather than taking out normal project finance loans.” Present-day Sands execs, watch your backs!)

Glitz is overrated. Racino Philadelphia Park (now enhanced with the hideously named Parx Casino — another blow to literacy) maybe “lacks the glitz of competitors in Bethlehem and Pittsburgh – both with $800 million casinos.” It’s also doing significantly better than either of those more-expensive facilities.

While SugarHouse has finally gotten started and Foxwoods continues to fart-ass around, both casino projects may soon find that Greenwood Racing Chairman Bob Green has stolen an insurmountable march on them. Habits are hard for gamblers to break and Green’s got a habit-forming lead on his Philadelphia competitors. But don’t hold your breath waiting for Pennsylvania legislators to approve table games (or markers). They continue to mosey along like they’ve got all the time in the world.

On the mend. S&G sends get-well wishes to Stanley Ho. The elderly casino baron has been on the receiving end of many an S&G verbal dart over the years but, frankly, the gaming world would be a much, much duller place without him. Despite a recent public appearance, Ho is still hospitalized and comments by Steve Wynn make it sound as though the elderly plutocrat is unlikely to resume directorship of SJM soon or possibly ever. Which is surprisingly melancholy news.