Category Archives: Derek Stevens

Hard May in Illinois; Buyer found for F-blew?

Posted on June 7, 2016 by David McKee

Casino patrons in Illinois are spending a bit more these days but there were 8% fewer of them last month, leading to a 6% revenue decline, partly due to one fewer weekend this year. On an individual basis, casinos tended … Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, Derek Stevens, Detroit, Downtown, Fontainebleau, GLPI, Harrah's, Illinois, MGM Mirage, Neil Bluhm, Penn National, Slot routes, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Transportation, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | Comments Off

Derek Stevens’ latest gambit; Hard quarter for Sands

Posted on April 21, 2016 by David McKee

Tilman Fertitta, move over. Derek Stevens is now downtown Las Vegas‘ biggest power player. Even though he has two operational casinos (The D and Golden Gate), plus one in mothballs (the Las Vegas Club), he’s expanded his acreage further by … Continue reading →

Posted in Derek Stevens, Downtown, Macau, Pennsylvania, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, The Strip | 2 Comments

Up and down the Strip

Posted on November 17, 2015 by David McKee

SLS Las Vegas is finally doing better, if by “doing better” you mean losing only $39 million in a full 3Q15 as opposed to the $46 million lost in the truncated (five-week) 3Q14. Stockbridge Capital Partners continues to have to … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Cosmopolitan, Derek Stevens, Downtown, Economy, Fontainebleau, Genting, Harrah's, James Packer, Lucky Dragon, LVCVA, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Riviera, Sam Nazarian, Sheldon Adelson, SLS Las Vegas, Tamares Group, Taxes, The Strip, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Caesars on the brink; MGM gives Massachusetts a surprise

Posted on September 24, 2015 by David McKee

For want of $2 billion from Caesars Entertainment Operating Co., creditors are withholding their support for the reorganization scheme CEOC intended to present in bankruptcy court. A last-minute solution seems unlikely, if only because junior bondholders like Appaloosa Management and Tennenbaum Capital … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Derek Stevens, Downtown, Harrah's, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Neil Bluhm, Ohio, Penn National, Regulation, Scientific Games, Tribal, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Georgia on their minds; How to kill a casino

Posted on September 14, 2015 by David McKee

MGM National Harbor President Lorenzo Creighton dangles some shiny objects and big numbers before Georgia newspaper readers, promising even bigger things for Atlanta, as MGM Resorts International tries to counter lawmakers’ congenital opposition to gambling with suasion and seductive dollar … Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Culinary Union, Derek Stevens, Detroit, Downtown, Economy, Georgia, Horseracing, International, James Packer, Maryland, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Taxes | Comments Off

Those tight slots; A birthday for Horseshoe

Posted on August 20, 2015 by David McKee

When one reads that casino revenues were up in, say, Indiana, despite lower foot traffic, you’ve got to wonder how its done. Applied Analysis has the answer: Slot holds are at “all-time highs,” meaning that some of the economic recovery … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Atlantic City, Baseball, Derek Stevens, Downtown, Economy, Harrah's, Indiana, Maryland, Penn National, Regulation, Tamares Group, Technology, The Strip, Wall Street, WMS Industries | 5 Comments

So long, Las Vegas Club

Posted on August 17, 2015 by David McKee

The countdown has begun toward a Wednesday closing of the Las Vegas Club. It’s surprising that it took five years for new co-owner Derek Stevens to persuade Tamares Group to part with the casino, considering how flummoxed Tamares was at … Continue reading →

Posted in Derek Stevens, Donald Trump, Downtown, Election, Internet gambling, Sheldon Adelson, Tamares Group | 1 Comment

Vegas Club rescued; Straight talk from Steve Wynn

Posted on August 14, 2015 by David McKee

Good news for fans of the Las Vegas Club (and you know who you are): Its long Tamares Group nightmare will soon be over. Tamares has sold the Vegas Club to the D owner Derek Stevens and his brother for … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Derek Stevens, Donald Trump, Downtown, Economy, Golden Gaming, Macau, Penn National, Regulation, Steve Wynn, Tamares Group, The Strip, Wall Street | 3 Comments

White knight for Caesars?; Missing the Blarney Stone

Posted on July 10, 2015 by David McKee

Caesars Entertainment may have to cede more equity in Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. in order to get junior creditors behind a Chapter 11 restructuring. A Paulson & Co. initiative reportedly aims to do exactly that. In tandem with Canyon Partners and … Continue reading →

Posted in Dan Gilbert, Derek Stevens, Detroit, Downtown, Economy, Harrah's, Internet gambling, MGM Mirage, Sports, Wall Street | Comments Off

Illinois’ news bad even when it’s good

Posted on May 8, 2015 by David McKee

Illinois‘ casino lobby hopes to stave off (potentially disastrous) expansion, currently working its way through the state house. Unfortunately, last month’s results didn’t give it much ammunition. Revenues were down only 1%, which in any other context would be relatively … Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Derek Stevens, Downtown, GLPI, Harrah's, Illinois, Kansas, Neil Bluhm, Oscar Goodman, Penn National, Riviera, Slot routes, Sports, Wall Street | Comments Off

Lone Star illegality; Showboat hits shoals

Posted on April 1, 2015 by David McKee

Texas lacks the will to legalize casino gambling, yet it shrugs off a black-market version of it that is estimated to generate $1.9 billion a year. Under Texas law, you can own slot machines so long as their “payout” is … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Derek Stevens, Glenn Straub, Harrah's, Regulation, Sports, Texas, Tilman Fertitta, TV, Unite-Here | 1 Comment

Why the Riviera deal stinks

Posted on February 18, 2015 by David McKee

Occasional S&G contributor Jeff in OKC shares some blunt sentiment about this week’s biggest story: the planned sale and demolition of the Riviera, the most venerable casino on the Las Vegas Strip: I’m 56. A 100% pure Baby Boomer, born in 1958. … Continue reading →

Posted in California, Derek Stevens, Economy, history, LVCVA, Riviera, Tourism | 8 Comments

Wynn faces sore loser in Boston

Posted on January 6, 2015 by David McKee

Steve Wynn was finally able to close a $35 million deal on the site of his Everett, Massachusetts, casino project. That’s good, because Wynn has to deal with new perfidy from Boston Mayor Martin “McCheese” Walsh. The latter’s long silence … Continue reading →

Posted in Derek Stevens, Downtown, Massachusetts, Politics, Regulation, Steve Wynn, Tamares Group, Technology | 1 Comment

Sold down the river; Wynn makes critical offer

Posted on September 5, 2014 by David McKee

For sale: One casino riverboat, heavily used. Penn National Gaming asked for — and received — dismissal of a bankruptcy petition, opting to sell the Belle of Sioux City on the open market. You might think it would be difficult … Continue reading →

Posted in Derek Stevens, Dining, Downtown, Entertainment, Iowa, Massachusetts, Penn National, Regulation, Steve Wynn, The Strip | Comments Off

Case Bets for a Monday morning

Posted on June 2, 2014 by David McKee

Because Vegas is starved for retail along the Strip (ha!), Caesars Entertainment has been beavering away busily on Grand Bazaar Shops, in front of Bally’s Las Vegas. Vital Vegas has been sussing out the progress of the mall and it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Culinary Union, Derek Stevens, Entertainment, Foxwoods, Harrah's, Internet gambling, Mohegan Sun, Revel, The Strip | Comments Off

And then there were fewer; The Culinary’s empty threats

Posted on May 20, 2014 by David McKee

Scratch two names from the mad scramble for a New York State casino. The vaguely interested Rolling Hills Entertainment is out but it was a long shot. Of greater consequence is Pinnacle Entertainment‘s abandonment of its pursuit of the Albany … Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Churchill Downs, Culinary Union, Derek Stevens, Downtown, Harrah's, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Pinnacle Entertainment, Racinos, Tamares Group, Taxes, Terry Caudill | Comments Off

Dramatic turnarounds in Massachusetts; Tribe-on-tribe conflict in California

Posted on March 19, 2014 by David McKee

Hopes that the Mashpee Wampanoags have for a casino got a big lift on March 12. That’s when Interior Department Solicitor Hilary Tompkins ruled that tribes not recognized before 1934 weren’t excluded from casino eligibility. In her interpretation of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, California, Culinary Union, Derek Stevens, Downtown, Goldman Sachs, Harrah's, Horseracing, Massachusetts, Mohegan Sun, Regulation, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Tamares Group, Terry Caudill, The Strip, Tilman Fertitta, Tribal | Comments Off

Meet Derek Stevens

Posted on March 18, 2014 by David McKee

Posted in Architecture, Derek Stevens, Downtown, Economy, Marketing | Comments Off

Case Bets: Massachusetts, Biloxi, Betcoin and Cosmo

Posted on January 22, 2014 by David McKee

In a TV interview, Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby tipped his hand, indicating that approval of MGM Springfield is far more likely than not. However, the MGC might be making some demands of its own, above and beyond what … Continue reading →

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, Cosmopolitan, Derek Stevens, Downtown, Entertainment, Harrah's, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, New York, Regulation, Taxes, Technology, The Strip | Comments Off

A ‘bit’ of progress

Posted on January 21, 2014 by David McKee

You can’t use bitcoin to gamble in Vegas … yet. But Derek Stevens is bitcoin-enabling both the Golden Gate and The D to accept the cyber-currency in selected parts of his properties, starting Jan. 22. Stevens is crediting customer input … Continue reading →

Posted in Derek Stevens, Downtown, Economy, Indiana, Macau, New York, Ohio, Racinos, Technology, Tourism | Comments Off