Category Archives: Current

Random Downtown observations

Posted on January 5, 2010 by David McKee

On the way back from a fine dinner at the Bay City Diner (good food, better service, plus the $2.99 shrimp cocktail), a few off-the-cuff observations were made. A) Damn few people Downtown, even for midweek. B) The Plaza may … Continue reading →

Posted in Cretins, Current, Downtown, Pennsylvania, Politics, Taxes, The Strip, Tilman Fertitta | 2 Comments

Damsel in distress

Posted on January 4, 2010 by David McKee

Until 2005, when Harrah’s Entertainment devoured Park Place Entertainment, its flagship property in Las Vegas was The Rio. Since then the lady has fallen upon hard times. During the period 2007-09, while Harrah’s CEO Gary Loveman blew hundreds of millions … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, Penn National, Regulation, Wall Street, World Series of Poker | 4 Comments

Case Bets: Mohegan Sun, Alabama, Weidner, Dubai & a big bet on MGM Mirage

Posted on January 4, 2010 by David McKee

Could default or bankruptcy be in the offing for Mohegan Sun? The tribal supercasino’s attempts to get out from under an onerous fee arrangement with Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman are not only facing heavy weather, Mohegan Sun is also … Continue reading →

Posted in Alabama, Carl Icahn, Charity, CityCenter, Current, Dubai, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Riviera, Sahara, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Taxes, Technology, The Strip, Tribal, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Macao’s big bounce

Posted on January 4, 2010 by David McKee

Why is this man smiling? Gambling revenue in Macao jumped a whopping 48% last month, as customers left $1.4 billion in casino coffers. No surprise, Stanley Ho‘s casinos continued to maintain their 30% market share, followed by Sands China at … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn | Comments Off on Macao’s big bounce

Mutiny!

Posted on December 31, 2009 by David McKee

One of the dirty little secrets of the “cruise to nowhere” business is that these vessels are crewed with seamen imported from foreign countries. (Americans, despite being citizens of one of the preeminent seafaring nations, apparently aren’t good enough.) So … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Boyd Gaming, CityCenter, Current, Economy, Florida, Harrah's, International, MGM Mirage, Ohio, Penn National, Planet Hollywood, Regulation, Riviera, Sahara, Station Casinos, The Strip | Comments Off on Mutiny!

Case Bets: Casino Jack, Harrah’s, Trump, Recovery?

Posted on December 30, 2009 by David McKee

It’s another sad chapter, in the tattered and disgraceful saga of Sun Cruz Casinos. As you recall, this now-idled cruises-to-nowhere fleet was briefly owned by Jack Abramoff, by dint of a tiny bit of fraud. That’s one of the many … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Florida, Harrah's, Laughlin, MGM Mirage, Neil Bluhm, Pennsylvania, Planet Hollywood, Station Casinos, The Mob, The Strip, Tribal | Comments Off on Case Bets: Casino Jack, Harrah’s, Trump, Recovery?

Good news, bad news

Posted on December 30, 2009 by David McKee

Analysts at J.P. Morgan report that rates for mid-January (1/17-23) are +7% from the same period last year, mostly on the strength of better midweek ADRs. Unfortunately, this increase comes against a prior-year period when rates tumbled 38% … but … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, Harrah's, Sheldon Adelson, Wall Street | Comments Off on Good news, bad news

Back on the air

Posted on December 30, 2009 by David McKee

After a Yuletide hiatus occasioned by the need to relocate S&G‘s offsite base of operations (meaning that I can now boast of a bedroom window with a view of the Tropicana), I’m back and scrambling to catch up. My new … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Cirque du Soleil, Current | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on December 24, 2009 by David McKee

“This irresponsible legislation will bankrupt the state of Nevada and leave every working Nevada family out in the cold in the New Year.” — Gov. Jim Gibbons, in familiar Chicken Little mode. The context is irrelevant … this is Midnight … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, Harry Reid, Politics | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

The unkindest cut

Posted on December 23, 2009 by David McKee

And for something totally random … Whilst gathering my thoughts this morning, I was watching a bit of MSNBC coverage of the latest Washington scandal. At the very moment a Roll Call reporter was saying Democratic senators would try “to … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Politics, TV | 3 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on December 23, 2009 by David McKee

“Anyone who tells you they are expanding or improving on their existing property is lying. No one has any money right now to do that. We’re all just grinding it out, operating, trying to stay smart and ahead of it … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, George Maloof, The Strip | 9 Comments

Case Bets: Greektown, Adelson, Philadelphia & Stanley Ho

Posted on December 22, 2009 by David McKee

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Detroit, Macau, Massachusetts, Neil Bluhm, New York, Pennsylvania, Racinos, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, Tribal | 3 Comments

Loveman loves him some Macao

Posted on December 22, 2009 by David McKee

By now the saga of Harrah’s Entertainment‘s Macanese golf course is the stuff of legend: a $578 million golden albatross around the company’s neck and a metaphor for the company’s misfortune-prone international strategy. While some of CEO Gary Loveman‘s ventures … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Current, Harrah's, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Maryland, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, Wall Street | 1 Comment

I’m not a prude but …

Posted on December 21, 2009 by David McKee

… doesn’t this push the envelope a bit far, even by Vegas standards? After all, a long time ago (i.e., pre-AIDS), “bathhouse” had but one connotation and not an especially sanitary one. So this ad for Mandalay Bay, tacitly promoting … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Marketing, MGM Mirage, The Strip | 14 Comments

Free $100K @ Harrah’s

Posted on December 21, 2009 by David McKee

Yes, there is such a thing as “free money,” leastways if you’re Mount Hope, N.Y., resident Sheila Baisley. She is no doubt saying stuff like, “Yum-O!” and “Delish!” after she won $100,000 in credit from Harrah’s Entertainment on the Rachael … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip, TV | 3 Comments

Earth to Adelson, Earth to Adelson …

Posted on December 21, 2009 by David McKee

Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson claims he can finish his two resuscitated Cotai Strip™ casinos (below) and build three more in the next five years. Let the record show that Adelson currently also has casinos in various states of … Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, Cordish Co., Current, Economy, Florida, International, Macau, Maryland, MGM Mirage, Movies, New York, Pennsylvania, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, The Strip, Tribal | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on December 21, 2009 by David McKee

“No, we’re here to look at the art.” — sightseers, to a doorman in the North Valet area of Aria who’d asked if the couple was there to pick up a car. It’s a sentence probably not often heard heretofore … Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, Current, MGM Mirage, The Strip, Tourism | 4 Comments

CityCenter: succes d’estime

Posted on December 18, 2009 by David McKee

Enough procrastination! Such is the immensity and information overload that is CityCenter, that it may be some time before this spectator can fully wrap his brain around what is — for better or worse — the Strip’s equivalent to that … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, CityCenter, Current, Detroit, Dining, Encore, IGT, International, MGM Mirage, Movies, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, TV | 7 Comments

CityCenter giblets

Posted on December 17, 2009 by David McKee

While I’m gathering my thoughts — and notes — from yesterday’s Orgy o’CityCenter (and trying to maintain a Cone of Deafness, as far as other commentators), here are a few stray tidbits: Even MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren can’t hide … Continue reading →

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Cosmopolitan, Current, Donald Trump, Dubai, Economy, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, TV | 3 Comments

We have a winner!

Posted on December 17, 2009 by David McKee

S&G reader Dawn was the first to guess which state in our great nation has the second-most casinos (after Nevada, natürlich). It’s the Sooner State, Oklahoma — where the wind comes sweeping down the plains, as native Jeff in OKC … Continue reading →

Posted in Arizona, Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Current, Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Oklahoma, The Strip, Tribal | 2 Comments