Category Archives: Detroit

MGM Mirage sells family jewels

Desperation has well and truly hit the fan at MGM Mirage. The company’s Strip casinos may not be priced to move … but it’s said to be quite a different story where MGM Grand Detroit and Beau Rivage are concerned. … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Current, Detroit, Economy, Illinois, James Packer, Macau, MGM Mirage, Phil Ruffin, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on MGM Mirage sells family jewels

Case Bets: MGM Mirage, Harrah's, Wynn, Shuffle Master, Taxes

As we wait for the MGM Mirage earnings report, signs of desperation mount. If the company is willing to cast away a pearl like new, costly and high-yielding MGM Grand Detroit, what isn’t sacred? Not even the corporate jet, provided … Continue reading

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Current, Detroit, Economy, Goldman Sachs, Harrah's, Labor, Lake Tahoe, Louisiana, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, Pinnacle Entertainment, Shuffle Master, Steve Wynn, Taxes, Technology, Wall Street | Comments Off on Case Bets: MGM Mirage, Harrah's, Wynn, Shuffle Master, Taxes

'Gang' at Encore

Yesterday saw an unusual — but altogether pleasant — change in the Vegas Gang routine, as we taped “on location” from a seventh-floor room in Encore, overlooking Echelon and the increasingly ominous Fontainebleau (so disproportionately massive it looms over its … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Cloverfield monster, Current, Detroit, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, Illinois, Macau, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, Phil Ruffin, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, The Strip | Comments Off on 'Gang' at Encore

'Gang' at Encore

Yesterday saw an unusual — but altogether pleasant — change in the Vegas Gang routine, as we taped "on location" from a seventh-floor room in Encore, overlooking Echelon and the increasingly ominous Fontainebleau (so disproportionately massive it looms over its … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Cloverfield monster, Current, Detroit, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, Illinois, Macau, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, Phil Ruffin, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, The Strip | Comments Off on 'Gang' at Encore

Lanni: The official story

My favorite exchange in one of my favorite current TV series, Mad Men, takes place when weasel-like junior exec Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) goes to rat out his boss, Donald Draper (Jon Hamm), to company owner Bertram Cooper (the cunningly … Continue reading

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Current, Detroit, Harrah's, International, MGM Mirage, Phil Ruffin, Regulation, Station Casinos, The Strip, TV | Comments Off on Lanni: The official story

What'$ in a name?

A reader recently enquired as to what became of the plan to re-name Harrah's Entertainment as Caesars Entertainment. When I asked Harrah's as to whether that was still on, no response was forthcoming. My questioner wanted to know, "Do you … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Detroit, Economy, Harrah's, Herbst Gaming, Indiana, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip | Comments Off on What'$ in a name?

Happy anniversary, you're fired

That was essentially the message conveyed to several dozen workers at MGM Grand Detroit as the hotel-casino passed its first anniversary. Such cutbacks are usually routine in the industry and this one affected but a fraction of a percentage of … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Detroit, Gary Goett, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Tribal, Wall Street | Comments Off on Happy anniversary, you're fired

Alaska nixes gambling; Politics here, Harrah's there

With Alaska and its governor all over the news of late, I got to wondering what had become of that ballot initiative, backed by bar owners, to expand gambling in Alaska. As it happens, the initiative was voted down, the … Continue reading

Posted in Alaska, Detroit, Election, Internet gambling, Kansas, Politics, Tribal | Comments Off on Alaska nixes gambling; Politics here, Harrah's there

Case Bets: MGM Mirage, Ameristar, Penn National

It almost goes without saying right now that any earnings report is going to come in slightly below Wall Street’s consensus. That’s just the way the dice are bouncing these days. Such is the case with MGM Mirage, where Strip … Continue reading

Posted in Ameristar, Colorado, Detroit, Harrah's, Illinois, Indiana, MGM Mirage, Penn National, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on Case Bets: MGM Mirage, Ameristar, Penn National

"Casino Bonds Crush Harrah's"

That’s Bloomberg, bearing the dire news that casino junk-bond debt is “generating the worst return for investors as companies from … Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. to Herbst Gaming Inc. risk bankruptcy under the weight of their debt.” With a return of … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Detroit, Donald Trump, Harrah's, Herbst Gaming, Indiana, Station Casinos, TV, Wall Street | Comments Off on "Casino Bonds Crush Harrah's"

This just in …

So Tropicana Atlantic City trustee Justice Gary Stein wants to toss the existing bids for the property … possibly because better ones are being dangled before him. As a consequence, he wants to restart the clock, which would push the … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Detroit, Donald Trump, Macau, MGM Mirage, Regulation | Comments Off on This just in …

Need casino furniture, cheap?

When I visited Detroit, the official position of MGM Grand Detroit was that its vacated temporary casino (formerly an IRS building) could be re-activated as a casino, if MGM so chose. I guess they chose otherwise. Yes, this roulette table … Continue reading

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Detroit, Downtown, Florida, Louisiana, Tribal | Comments Off on Need casino furniture, cheap?

Case Bets for St. Valentine's Day

Liz Benston crunches the numbers on the much-touted "40,000 new rooms" and finds only two-thirds that many. I mean, 26.6K hotel rooms isn't shabby but, if you threw the numbers together the way civic boosters do (mixing completed projects with … Continue reading

Posted in Detroit, Downtown, Election, Louisiana, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn | Comments Off on Case Bets for St. Valentine's Day