Category Archives: Atlantic City

Crisis point in Atlantic City

Posted on August 19, 2010 by David McKee

If nothing else gets recalcitrant legislators off their duffs and behind Gov. Chris Christie‘s intervention on behalf of Atlantic City, maybe these numbers will. In the last quarter, only four casinos turned a profit. Harrah’s Entertainment‘s Showboat and Harrah’s Marina … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, Colony Capital, Donald Trump, Economy, Harrah's, Penn National, Politics, Sahara, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off on Crisis point in Atlantic City

Peril on the Strip

Posted on August 19, 2010 by David McKee

You wouldn’t know if from the wrap on Luxor’s west side, but Angelica Bridges is out as Fantasy headliner, replaced by Lorena Peril (late of Sin City Bad Girls at the Las Vegas Hilton). This alone is sufficient to bump … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, CityCenter, Donald Trump, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Goldman Sachs, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism, Tropicana Entertainment | 1 Comment

Suicidal in New Jersey

Posted on August 18, 2010 by David McKee

Atlantic City can just plain go to hell. That’s the message from several prominent — or simply loud — Democratic lawmakers who say Gov. Chris Christie‘s rescue plan for the city is spinach and to heck with it. Noisiest of … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Entertainment, Genting, Harrah's, Horseracing, Internet gambling, Marketing, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Politics, Racinos, Singapore, The Strip, Tourism, Tribal, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Who needs M most?; Station’s glass jaw

Posted on August 17, 2010 by David McKee

In a shocker of a scoop, The Newspaper That Must Not Be Cited revealed yesterday that a $700 million stake in $1 billion M Resort was being shopped around by the resort’s lead banker. While this probably says more about … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, California, Carl Icahn, Colony Capital, Cosmopolitan, Current, Downtown, Economy, Kansas, M Resort, Maryland, MGM Mirage, Michael Gaughan, North Las Vegas, Ohio, Penn National, Pinnacle Entertainment, Riviera, Station Casinos, The Strip, Tourism, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | 8 Comments

The Summer of Love(man)

Posted on August 12, 2010 by David McKee

It may be hard to believe in retrospect, but at the time of Harrah’s Entertainment‘s LBO, some analysts thought it would be partly amortized by selling off the company’s regional properties. That prompted me to write something to the effect … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Australia, Current, Detroit, Dining, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, history, Horseracing, Kansas, Marketing, Ohio, Racinos, Regulation, Station Casinos, Taxes, Tourism, Tribal, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Ameristar up for grabs

Posted on August 11, 2010 by David McKee

Having been in “stay the course” mode ever since the death of company founder Craig H. Neilsen, locals giant Ameristar Casinos is putting itself on the block. According to the New York Post, the company has hired an investment bank … Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Current, Harrah's, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, MGM Mirage, Missouri, Penn National, Pinnacle Entertainment, Regulation, Station Casinos, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Atlantic City: It could be worse

Posted on August 10, 2010 by David McKee

Considering that table games were up and running in Delaware and gradually rolling out in Pennsylvania, it comes as a pleasant surprise to see that Atlantic City was only down 5% in July. Frankly, I was expecting much worse, especially … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, Colony Capital, Columbia Sussex, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, Horseracing, Macau, Marketing, MGM Mirage, New York, Pansy Ho, Pennsylvania, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Technology, Tourism, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | 4 Comments

Case Bets: New Jersey; A lucky guy; Genting’s good fortune

Posted on August 9, 2010 by David McKee

Garden State Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) may have excluded sports betting as a new revenue source for the state’s besieged casino industry. As expected, state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D, left) tuned the governor out and continues to pursue legalization of … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Colony Capital, Cordish Co., Current, Donald Trump, Downtown, Economy, Genting, Harrah's, International, Macau, New York, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Singapore, Sports, Tamares Group, Tourism | 1 Comment

Gone baby, gone

Posted on August 5, 2010 by David McKee

“[T]he confidence that ­property prices and stock markets would permanently defy gravity” is a phrase that perfectly encapsulates how the casino industry got itself into its present pickle. In what other mindset could an industry convince itself that it could … Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Cannery Casino Resorts, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Cosmopolitan, Current, Dining, Economy, Encore, Entertainment, Environment, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, history, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Regulation, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Taxes, The Strip, Tourism, Wall Street | 4 Comments

The Tamares shuffle

Posted on August 4, 2010 by David McKee

Musical chairs continue at Tamares Group‘s downtown Las Vegas collection of crumbling casinos. Bobby Ray Harris is out as casino manager and Anthony F. Santo is in. Otherwise, it was the same old song and dance. $20 million worth of … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Current, Downtown, Harrah's, history, International, Regulation, Station Casinos, Tamares Group, Transportation, Tropicana Entertainment | 2 Comments

East Coast winners, losers; Angle’s strange bedfellows

Posted on August 4, 2010 by David McKee

I’ve become well and truly tired of writing about Massachusetts and its political establishment’s inability to get its act together on casino legalization. Suffice it to say that with Gov. Deval Patrick and House Speaker Robert DeLeo (left) firmly entrenched … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Harrah's, Horseracing, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Politics, Racinos, Sheldon Adelson | 5 Comments

Bad quarters for MGM, Boyd

Posted on August 3, 2010 by David McKee

Undershooting Wall Street‘s expectations for 2Q10, MGM Resorts International missed analyst projections and also took a big-ass writedown on CityCenter (above) consigning $1.2 billion to the dustbin. Hotel occupancy was up from 85% to 93% overall (although RevPAR slipped a … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, CityCenter, Current, Downtown, Economy, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism, Wall Street | 5 Comments

CityCenter: Can’t stop the bashing

Posted on August 3, 2010 by David McKee

Won’t someone please give Sharron Angle a hammer so she can go over to Aria and start smashing windows or something? (If it lets more light into that damnably dank casino floor, she’s got my vote.) The woman’s carrying a … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, CityCenter, Current, Economy, Election, Harrah's, Harry Reid, MGM Mirage, Movies, Reno, Steve Wynn, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Fertittas win: Boyd calls it quits

Posted on July 30, 2010 by David McKee

Boyd Gaming threw in the towel today, ending its pursuit of two-thirds of Station Casinos‘ assets. This makes it virtually a shoo-in that sock-puppet bidder Fertitta Gaming will prevail at the upcoming bankruptcy auction. The latter, a front for Station … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Colony Capital, Current, Economy, Herbst Gaming, MGM Mirage, Regulation, Station Casinos, Wall Street | 6 Comments

Like I’ve been saying …

Posted on July 27, 2010 by David McKee

… strength in hotel rates is a top-down proposition, with such “recovery” as we’re seeing being driven by high-end product. The renewed strength in the business-travel sector also jibes with reports we’ve been getting from Las Vegas Sands and MGM … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Economy, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Chris Christie, rock star

Posted on July 22, 2010 by David McKee

New Jersey‘s outspoken governor lays down some righteous grooves at Meadowlands, including telling the horsey set what it needs to hear: “I don’t have the money to be subsidizing failure.” Gov. Chris Christie on New Jersey horseracing: this industry has … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Columbia Sussex, Current, Economy, Entertainment, Goldman Sachs, Horseracing, Movies, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Taxes, Technology, Tourism, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on July 22, 2010 by David McKee

“The commission’s vision for revitalizing Atlantic City is encouraging. One thing we know is we can no longer use Band-Aid approaches in an attempt to heal a city suffering with a gaping wound.” — state Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D), … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, Economy, Encore, Politics, Steve Wynn, Wall Street | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Atlantic City: Christie’s coup d’etat

Posted on July 21, 2010 by David McKee

Last week, I tried to work up a piece entitled, “Atlantic City, R.I.P.” After all, the Boardwalk had just come off a catastrophic June, impacted by table games in Delaware. Since table games were in process of sweeping Pennsylvania, from … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Columbia Sussex, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, history, Horseracing, International, Internet gambling, Macau, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Stanley Ho, Taxes, The Mob, Tourism | 6 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on July 20, 2010 by David McKee

“The numbers speak for themselves. We’re down over [25%] over the past two years. And I hear some people in town say, “Well, don’t panic” … well, when do we panic?” — state Sen. James Whelan, former mayor of Atlantic … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, Economy | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Your questions, answered

Posted on July 16, 2010 by David McKee

Paul Shanahan writes (in part): I think Fontainebleau would have looked much better if it was around 500 feet high instead of being close to 730 feet. It looks bulky and just kind of bizarre down there at the north … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Current, Donald Trump, Environment, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, Massachusetts, Michael Gaughan, Mississippi, Ohio, Racinos, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Mob | 5 Comments