Category Archives: Election

While Atlantic City burns …

Posted on May 7, 2010 by David McKee

While Atlantic City burns, Gov. Chris Christie fiddles. After coming into office saying the right things about helping the state’s casino industry, Christie has spent most of first months in office dithering uselessly. Having waited until A) the Revel project … Continue reading →

Posted in Alabama, Atlantic City, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Current, Dining, Donald Trump, Economy, Election, Environment, Harrah's, Louisiana, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Planet Hollywood, Politics, Regulation, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism, Tribal, Wall Street | 4 Comments

Archonomics: Poultry in motion

Posted on April 22, 2010 by David McKee

All of cyberspace has been agog with Archon Corp. Treasurer Sue Lowden‘s chickens for health care proposal. Normally we’d chalk up this kind of Green Acres-inspired policy to spring fever and leave it at that — were it not for … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Archon Corp., Economy, Election, The Strip | 4 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on April 9, 2010 by David McKee

“The late Chic Hecht, a lovely man who also said [Martin Luther King] had ‘not been dead long enough’ to merit holiday, makes Harry Reid look like Cicero.” — Jon Ralston, from his Twitter feed, on Nevada‘s famously malaprop-prone senator, … Continue reading →

Posted in Election, Entertainment, Harry Reid, Politics, Technology | 1 Comment

MGM, Sands & the cone of silence

Posted on April 8, 2010 by David McKee

While Las Vegas Review-Journal Publisher Sherman Frederick was fretting about the “troubling egg caper” in Searchlight, Nev., his newspaper wasn’t losing much sleep over a double-barreled casino scandal. Either a sudden malady had wiped out the gaming desk or somebody … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, Election, Harry Reid, Illinois, Macau, Marketing, MGM Mirage, North Las Vegas, Pansy Ho, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, The Mob | Comments Off on MGM, Sands & the cone of silence

From the S&G Twitter feed …

Posted on April 5, 2010 by David McKee

It’s a crazy day here and I’m deeply enmeshed in reportage (hint: it involves Station Casinos) so I’d like to take up some of the blogging slack by once more pimping the S&G Twitter feed (@stiffsgeorges), which can also be … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Archon Corp., Bally Technologies, Current, Election, Entertainment, Harrah's, Isle of Capri, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Marketing, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, Pinnacle Entertainment, Planet Hollywood, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Steve Wynn, Technology, Wall Street | Comments Off on From the S&G Twitter feed …

Love Train

Posted on March 18, 2010 by David McKee

As in the flowering bromance between Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and mouthpiece-for-hire Sig “The Fixer” Rogich. The former, a longtime supporter of a proposed maglev train betwixt Las Vegas and Anaheim, switched his allegiance to Rogich’s Choo-Choo-to-Nowhere, by the strangest … Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., California, Economy, Election, Herbst Gaming, Politics, Station Casinos, Taxes, Tourism, Transportation | 10 Comments

Exonerating Adelson

Posted on March 17, 2010 by David McKee

While Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson might approve of Gary Kreep‘s recent PAC-tivities, inasmuch as they redound to the detriment of competitor MGM Mirage, he’s not behind them. Or, to put it another way, if Adelson’s been involved it … Continue reading →

Posted in California, CityCenter, Current, Dubai, Election, Florida, Macau, MGM Mirage, Morgans Hotel Group, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho | 5 Comments

Case Bets: Lake Las Vegas, Todd English, the CityCenter smear, Harrah’s Chester, etc.

Posted on March 16, 2010 by David McKee

Far on the outskirts of Sin City, the Kingdom of Make-Believe (aka Lake Las Vegas) is the newest and — in terms of acreage — biggest metaphor yet for the unrealistic expectations and sometimes insane assumptions which have laid our … Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., CityCenter, Current, Dining, Dubai, Economy, Election, Harrah's, Harry Reid, Lake Las Vegas, Laughlin, Macau, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Pennsylvania, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip, TV | 14 Comments

CityCenter: Guilty by association

Posted on March 15, 2010 by David McKee

This new attack ad, fired today, represents the latest salvo in what might be called The War Over CityCenter. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), not having been shy to take credit for CityCenter’s completion, is fair game. Where the ad may … Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, Colony Capital, Current, Dubai, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Harrah's, Harry Reid, International, MGM Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Politics, Regulation, Riviera, Station Casinos, Taxes, The Strip | 2 Comments

Bad PR for gaming

Posted on March 12, 2010 by David McKee

Mike Ensign‘s 96 dimes of hush money to his son’s mistress’ pimp daddy (aka Doug Hampton) and “Casino Jack” Abramoff make cameo appearances in this attack ad (found via @RalstonFlash). Throw in the heavy-handed meddling in casino affairs of Gov. … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Election, Iowa, Marketing, New York, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Reno, Sahara, TV | Comments Off on Bad PR for gaming

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 12, 2010 by David McKee

“Even I was surprised at the amount of work it requires to be governor.” — Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV), upon filing for reelection.

Posted in Current, Election, Midnight Jim Gibbons | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

This is getting nasty

Posted on March 11, 2010 by David McKee

Update: S&G sends its condolences to Sen. Reid after his wife and daughter were severely injured in an automobile accident this afternoon. Back when Archon Corp. Treasurer Sue Lowden (left) threw her hat into the 2010 U.S. Senate race, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., CityCenter, Current, Economy, Election, Harry Reid, Labor, Laughlin, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, TV | 1 Comment

Did my eyes deceive me …

Posted on March 8, 2010 by David McKee

… or was that the skeleton of Echelon which was used to illustrate Nevada’s economic woes in the TV spot that Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) is running this week? That’s no outrage in and of itself: Echelon was a casualty … Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Boyd Gaming, CityCenter, Current, Economy, Election, Harry Reid, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip, TV | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 5, 2010 by David McKee

“… only 36,000 people lost their jobs today, which is really good.” — Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). Um, “really good” for whom, might we ask?

Posted in Current, Economy, Election, Harry Reid, Politics | 3 Comments

Chronicle of a Black foretold; River City looking good

Posted on March 2, 2010 by David McKee

Randy Black, that is. The CEO who ran the Mesquite market straight into the ground (with a sizable assist from the Nevada Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission) and turned the former Si Redd’s Oasis into a slot route — … Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Boyd Gaming, Current, Don Barden, Election, Harry Reid, IGT, Mesquite, Michael Gaughan, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Pinnacle Entertainment, Planet Hollywood, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, TV, Wall Street, WMS Industries | 1 Comment

Sue Lowden, socialist?

Posted on March 2, 2010 by David McKee

Archon Corp. Treasurer Sue Lowden has been called unflattering things in her life (mostly by the Culinary Union) but I’ll bet my soul “socialist” was never among them. Until now. Rival Danny Tarkanian flung the “S word” at her yesterday, … Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Election, Entertainment, Harry Reid, Politics, The Strip | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 16, 2010 by David McKee

“Because of the [Gov. Jim] Gibbons and [Sen. John] Ensign thing, people come up to me at every event and say, ‘Can he keep it in his pants?’” — Amy Tarkanian, wife of senatorial aspirant Danny Tarkanian, articulating the new … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Election | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Buy a Vegas condo, get a political donation

Posted on February 15, 2010 by David McKee

A piquant news item, cobbled together from two @RalstonFlash tweets: “This is embarrassing: George Maloof, tapped to host POTUS for DNC fundraiser this week in LV, gave $2,400 to [Sen. Harry] Reid foe [Danny] Tarkanian in Sept. Maloof gave to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Election, George Maloof, Harry Reid, Politics | 2 Comments

A funny thing happened …

Posted on February 8, 2010 by David McKee

I was touring the Erotic Heritage Museum, when my guide, doctoral student Amanda Morgan, made the following observation: “As you know, Nevada is very conservative. If you look at the population of people in Las Vegas and looked at the … Continue reading →

Posted in California, CityCenter, Election, MGM Mirage, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Politics, The Strip, TV | 4 Comments

Lowden’s interesting omission

Posted on February 4, 2010 by David McKee

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is Archon Corp. Treasurer Sue Lowden‘s newest ad spot. I saw it on the tube this morning and was struck by the euphemistic way it gets around having to describe her as a “casino executive,” … Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Election, Marketing, Politics, TV | 5 Comments