Category Archives: James Packer

“Wow”

No, that’s not the sound of the Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s Jennifer Robison going weak in the knees at the sight of CityCenter again. It’s J.P.Morgan‘s analysts getting turned on by early numbers from Marina Bay Sands. So excited were they … Continue reading

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Economy, Entertainment, Genting, International, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Marketing, Massachusetts, Melco Crown Entertainment, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Tourism, Tribal, Wall Street | Comments Off on “Wow”

Motley Crew

(Editor’s note: Whoever labeled the photo at left misplaced the captions. FF3 is the guy having the good hair day and brother Lorenzo is the one with the handkerchief in his breast pocket.) In my 15 years of following the … Continue reading

Posted in Ameristar, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Cannery Casino Resorts, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Current, Downtown, Economy, George Maloof, Goldman Sachs, James Packer, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Station Casinos, Tourism, Wall Street | 6 Comments

Blasts from the past

Steve Wynn‘s been taking himself a mite too seriously of late, which makes me wonder whatever happened to this guy? At least the “hair helmet” look is a thing of the past. Sadly, so too is the Golden Nugget Atlantic … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Harrah's, James Packer, Marketing, Phil Ruffin, Steve Wynn, The Strip, TV | Comments Off on Blasts from the past

Macao’s best month ever

Pace T.S. Eliot, April was not the cruelest month for Macao. Quite the contrary: The protectorate posted gambling revenues of $1.72 billion, a single-month record. Galaxy Entertainment (whose new Cotai Strip™ pleasure palace is pictured, above) brought up the rear, … Continue reading

Posted in Current, Economy, International, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn | Comments Off on Macao’s best month ever

Harrah’s red-headed stepchild

If we (you, me, everybody) had a dollar for ever time we heard a rumor that Harrah’s Entertainment was putting The Rio on the block, we could pool enough moolah to amortize CEO Gary Loveman‘s recent $100,000 pay cut. Our … Continue reading

Posted in Archon Corp., Atlantic City, Current, Economy, George Maloof, Harrah's, International, James Packer, Laughlin, Planet Hollywood, Station Casinos, The Strip, Wall Street | 10 Comments

From the S&G Twitter feed …

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 …

Phrase of the Day

“Elongated length of play metrics.” That’s Wall Streetspeak for, “We think additional hotel rooms [at City of Dreams] are causing people to stay and play longer.” I expect we’ll be hearing a lot about ELPM “going forward,” as they say … Continue reading

Posted in Current, Economy, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, Tourism | 1 Comment

Mania in Macao

Las Vegas casino floors nearly look somnolent compared to the intense baccarat play captured by CNN at Melco Crown Entertainment‘s megaresort, City of Dreams. For added fun, one gets a bit of James Bond (Sean Connery) throwing down against “smug … Continue reading

Posted in CityCenter, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Movies, The Strip, TV | 1 Comment

Best Strip bargain yet? Plus: Loveman’s verbal gymnastics, pool fees, etc.

Luke Jermay is a charming English mentalist who does a low-budget but worthwhile show at O’Shea’s. His presentation may not be as polished as that of rival Gerry McCambridge, but what Jermay lacks in razzmatazz, he makes up in personality. … Continue reading

Posted in Entertainment, George Maloof, Harrah's, James Packer, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, Minnesota, Planet Hollywood, The Strip | 6 Comments

Macao’s big ass-month

Casinos in Macao blew way past expectations, raking in $1.6 billion last month (a 70% increase). Stanley Ho‘s SJM widened its lead on Las Vegas Sands, although the latter had more market share (20%) than MGM Grand Macau and Galaxy … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Economy, Environment, Florida, Genting, Harrah's, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tribal, Wall Street | Comments Off on Macao’s big ass-month

Case Bets: “Viva Elvis,” Loveman in Macao, Icahn in A.C., etc.

Viva Elvis vs. Love. The Sun‘s John Katsilometes pivots it to a question of “Whose music is better?” I’m not going there but I think he really nails why one show seemed right up Cirque du Soleil‘s alley while the … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Current, Don Barden, Donald Trump, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, Indiana, International, Isle of Capri, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Tribal, Tropicana Entertainment | 5 Comments

Sheldon Adelson, TV star

There I was, wrapping up a two-day “staycation” with dinner at Metro Pizza when I looked up and … let’s say I’m lucky I didn’t choke to death from shock at what I saw. There was Las Vegas Sands potentate … Continue reading

Posted in Archon Corp., Current, Economy, Entertainment, International, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Sports, Steve Wynn, The Strip, TV, Wall Street, Wayne F. Newton | 1 Comment

Harrah’s: too big to fail

Take a good look at that fresh-faced man to the left. His name is Jonathan Halkyard and he’s the CFO of Harrah’s Entertainment. If he seems like a kid who’s running up a reckless tab on Dad’s credit card, blame … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Harrah's, Herbst Gaming, James Packer, Lake Tahoe, Melco Crown Entertainment, Ohio, Planet Hollywood, Racinos, Station Casinos, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on Harrah’s: too big to fail

Caveat emptor!

Casinos are a good investment — provided they’re outside the United States. That’s pretty much the bottom line, as seen through the rose-colored spectacles of blogger Martin Spring. He likes Genting Bhd and Internet-casino operator bwin Interactive Entertainment. Fine with … Continue reading

Posted in Genting, International, Internet gambling, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, Wall Street | Comments Off on Caveat emptor!

Aren’t we glad?

When given lemons, make lemonade. When hit with a throat infection, lay low and scrounge around for S&G fodder. So it is today — and I didn’t have to scrounge very far. While Las Vegas didn’t dodge too many bullets … Continue reading

Posted in Alabama, Architecture, Atlantic City, Bally Technologies, Carl Icahn, Dubai, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, IGT, Illinois, Indiana, James Packer, Pennsylvania, Planet Hollywood, Regulation, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Transportation, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street, WMS Industries | 3 Comments

Feast or famine

While we in Las Vegas struggle to reconcile long nightclub lines and (depending on which casino you visit) full gaming floors with but smallish increases in revenue and visitation, it’s one big-ass Christmas over in Macao. Revenue skyrocketed 63% last … Continue reading

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, Harry Reid, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, The Strip | Comments Off on Feast or famine

Macao’s big bounce

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

‘Tis the season

Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson cuts the ribbon on Boot Hill Casino. The gentleman at the rear in the red tie is the Kansas Lottery’s Ed Van Petten, taking time out from carrying water for Mike Ensign. Having been on the … Continue reading

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Archon Corp., Boyd Gaming, Cannery Casino Resorts, Carl Icahn, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Columbia Sussex, Don Barden, Donald Trump, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Environment, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, Harry Reid, Internet gambling, Isle of Capri, Jack Binion, James Packer, Kansas, M Resort, Macau, MGM Mirage, Neil Bluhm, Oscar Goodman, Penn National, Pets, Phil Ruffin, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, Tribal | 8 Comments

Loveman loves him some Macao

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

Case Bets: The Wayner, G2E, Packer & Kerzner

Say what you like about Wayne Newton‘s Once Before I Go at the Tropicana Las Vegas, it has the biggest band you’ll see on the Strip: 20 strong, plus backup singers. Most Strip headliners have to make do with one-third … Continue reading

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Atlantic City, Australia, Carl Icahn, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Entertainment, G2E, Genting, International, James Packer, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Planet Hollywood, Problem gambling, Racinos, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Tribal, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off on Case Bets: The Wayner, G2E, Packer & Kerzner