Category Archives: Boulder Strip

The biggest losers; The Facebook factor

Posted on April 30, 2012 by David McKee

There’s a new power player in gaming and it’s … Brookfield Asset Management? The Canadian lender is already calling the shots (along with Warner Gaming) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, a $1.5 billion quagmire into which Morgans Hotel … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Carl Icahn, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Current, Dubai, Entertainment, Goldman Sachs, Hard Rock Hotel, Harrah's, IGT, International, Internet gambling, Laughlin, Morgans Hotel Group, Pinnacle Entertainment, Steve Wynn, Wall Street, Warner Gaming | 1 Comment

The Trop and the truth; Crock of Vegas

Posted on April 5, 2012 by David McKee

Black Hawk Down author Mark Bowden has penned a gripping account of how veteran racetrack executive Don Johnson (no, not that one) cleaned the clocks of the Tropicana Atlantic City, Borgata and Caesars Palace Atlantic City, to the tune of … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, Columbia Sussex, Donald Trump, Downtown, Election, Entertainment, Harrah's, Horseracing, Internet gambling, Pennsylvania, Sheldon Adelson, Tropicana Entertainment | 3 Comments

The whales of January; Shrinking Hooters

Posted on March 8, 2012 by David McKee

Baccarat win on the Las Vegas Strip began the year heavy ($194 million) and dramatic, up 199% from 2011. The whales were back in force, dropping 163% more than the previous January, putting $1.6 billion in play. An early Chinese … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, California, Current, Downtown, Economy, Entertainment, Hooters, Lake Tahoe, Laughlin, Movies, North Las Vegas, Reno, Tribal, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Vegas’ December: Better than it looks?

Posted on February 9, 2012 by David McKee

If today’s numbers from the Nevada Gaming Control Board indicate that December was good for business — especially on the Las Vegas Strip (up 4% … 7% if you take baccarat out of the equation) — January ought to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Current, Downtown, Economy, Lake Tahoe, Laughlin, Massachusetts, North Las Vegas, Reno, Rhode Island, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | Comments Off on Vegas’ December: Better than it looks?

When executives attack: The Quickening

Posted on January 24, 2012 by David McKee

OK, you’ve heard the sound bites, read the correspondence, seen the over-the-top tactics. Now Station Casinos and the Culinary Union have to make their case to a higher authority: Jon Ralston. (Historical footnote: When Ameristar Casinos bought Station out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Archon Corp., Boulder Strip, Culinary Union, George Maloof, Missouri, North Las Vegas, Station Casinos, TV | Comments Off on When executives attack: The Quickening

Belated Christmas presents, Part II

Posted on January 11, 2012 by David McKee

If the good news keeps raining down like this, I might have to start using the R-word … as in “recovery.” In November, Nevada‘s $880 million gross was good for a 7% upsurge. The Las Vegas Strip beat the statewide … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Boulder Strip, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Current, Detroit, Downtown, Economy, Goldman Sachs, Lake Tahoe, Laughlin, MGM Mirage, North Las Vegas, Reno, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Birthday wishes and congratulations

Posted on January 9, 2012 by David McKee

OK, so we’re six months early but this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Eldorado, which opened in downtown Henderson on July 1, 1962. Locals casinos wouldn’t become an industry unto themselves for years yet but the Eldorado and … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, history, MGM Mirage, Problem gambling, Station Casinos | 1 Comment

More treat than trick

Posted on December 9, 2011 by David McKee

October’s revenue figures for Nevada emerged today and it was a good month statewide ($961 million, +8%) and a great one for the Las Vegas Strip ($560.5 million, +13%). Mind you, October 1 was a Saturday, meaning that some Sept. … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Current, Downtown, Economy, Lake Tahoe, Laughlin, Mesquite, North Las Vegas, Pinnacle Entertainment, Reno, Tamares Group, The Strip, Tourism | 1 Comment

Sam’s Town: Sound and flurries

Posted on November 30, 2011 by David McKee

At the same time the cast of Viva Elvis™ was getting pink-slipped across town, Boyd Gaming was busting out its new-and-improved version of Mystic Falls, the amusement park centerpiece of Sam’s Town. (Or, to use the official nomenclature, “Mystic Falls … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Cirque du Soleil, Dining, Entertainment, Oscar Goodman, Station Casinos | Comments Off on Sam’s Town: Sound and flurries

Station: We love ourselves

Posted on October 27, 2011 by David McKee

If you live in the Las Vegas area, you’ve been exposed to the months-long “We Love Locals” ad blitz with which Station Casinos has been attempting to shore up its image. The company’s heedless expansionism, exorbitant executive salaries, its LBO … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Current, Economy, Marketing, Movies, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, TV | 2 Comments

Anthony Marnell III answers your questions

Posted on July 6, 2011 by David McKee

Anonymous: What happened to the self-serve soda fountains? [They] actually became a Health Department issue. They’re very expensive to maintain and the public had basically worn them out. There were lots of problems with the syrup and things falling down … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Dining, Economy, Entertainment, M Resort, Marketing, Penn National, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, Tribal, Wall Street | 2 Comments

It was a dark and stormy night …

Posted on July 5, 2011 by David McKee

… when monsoon season arrived in Las Vegas on July 3, borne upon thunderstorms of exceptional. Caesars Palace had a fireworks display scheduled that evening and, at the appointed time, seemed to have nothing but a damp squib. However … … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Entertainment, Harrah's, North Las Vegas, Station Casinos, The Strip, Tourism | 5 Comments

Heard on the Strip …

Posted on June 30, 2011 by David McKee

No formal announcement has been made but scuttlebutt has it that when the Union Plaza reopens downtown, it will have an unusual tenant for the showroom formerly occupied by The Rat Pack is Back! If true, it would mean that … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Current, Dining, Downtown, Entertainment, George Maloof, Riviera, Station Casinos, Tamares Group, The Strip | 1 Comment

St. Regis … still stumped; Quid pro Qua

Posted on June 28, 2011 by David McKee

Last autumn, Las Vegas Sands COO Michael Leven floated the idea of capping its St. Regis failsino at its current five-story height, admitting that the skeleton was an “eyesore” along the Strip. The “Stump Regis” was the subject of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Boulder Strip, California, Current, Entertainment, Harrah's, Indiana, MGM Mirage, Pennsylvania, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism | 1 Comment

The Strip in April: Down and yet up; Gettysburg: The south loses again

Posted on June 9, 2011 by David McKee

According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, casino revenue in the state was down 2% in April … except that it wasn’t. Since the month ended on a Saturday, slot revenue from the last two days of April got slopped … Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, California, Current, Economy, Harrah's, Illinois, Indiana, International, Isle of Capri, Lake Tahoe, Pennsylvania, Politics, Regulation, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, Wall Street | Comments Off on The Strip in April: Down and yet up; Gettysburg: The south loses again

Sands: Pump up the volume; Nevada’s new casino tax; Cannery’s secret weapon

Posted on June 1, 2011 by David McKee

As in “VIP volume.” That’s what Las Vegas Sands has to do in order to monetize some of its Macao assets, according to a J.P. Morgan report that appeared this morning. In the course of meeting with Sands honchos, Joseph … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Cannery Casino Resorts, Economy, Herbst Gaming, Macau, Marketing, North Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, Pennsylvania, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Taxes, The Strip, Tourism, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Losee Station bites the dust

Posted on April 26, 2011 by David McKee

We’re just past two years to the day when S&G predicted, “Good luck finding any takers” at $39.5 million for the old Castaways site. Even now, at a priced-to-move $8.3 million ($414K/acre), it’s not budging. The site’s threefold curse is, … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Current, Economy, Gary Goett, Station Casinos, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Let’s do the Time Warp

Posted on April 8, 2011 by David McKee

Hallucinations are not considered a symptom of fibromyalgia but I sure thought I was seeing things yesterday when noon-hour TV newscasts led with Union Village. Somebody obviously thinks it’s still 2007, as they’re proposing a $1.5 billion, 171-acre hospital-cum-retirement-community complex … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Current, Economy, Harrah's, Lake Tahoe, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Tourism, TV, Wall Street | 1 Comment

If you don’t look like this …

Posted on April 1, 2011 by David McKee

… don’t even think about trying to book a hotel room on the Strip or in Downtown. Las Vegas doesn’t want you, although you might be permitted to stay out on the Boulder Strip or someplace really out of sight … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Current, Regulation, Station Casinos, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation | 1 Comment

Florida rejects Adelson; Mixed signals from Cosmo; Station’s quixotic quest

Posted on March 31, 2011 by David McKee

It’s all over — until 2012, anyway — for Sheldon Adelson‘s heavy-handed push to ram a set of “destination resorts” through the Florida Legislature. A poison-pill amendment, attached at the behest of parimutuels, would let existing slot houses go to … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, CityCenter, Cosmopolitan, Current, Economy, Entertainment, Florida, International, Macau, North Las Vegas, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism, Tribal, Wall Street | Comments Off on Florida rejects Adelson; Mixed signals from Cosmo; Station’s quixotic quest