Category Archives: MGM Mirage

A “sudden malady” it was

Posted on April 12, 2010 by David McKee

Last week, when pondering the largely (in the case of the Las Vegas Review-Journal) or completely (in the instance of the Las Vegas Sun) botched coverage of the simultaneous Macao scandals afflicting Las Vegas Sands and MGM Mirage, I puzzled … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Macau, MGM Mirage, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Technology | 3 Comments

Caveat lector!

Posted on April 9, 2010 by David McKee

It appears that Harrah’s Entertainment‘s big buffet offer, encompassing seven Strip properties, isn’t quite as good as it sounded to us at LVA at first blush. A fellow staffer writes: “I have a feeling that the Harrah’s buffets are keeping … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Dining, Harrah's, Marketing, MGM Mirage, The Strip | 8 Comments

Harrah’s ups the ante

Posted on April 9, 2010 by David McKee

Yr. Humble Blogger is a fan of the Las Vegas buffet scene — and owns the waistline to prove it. Starting Monday, Harrah’s Entertainment ratchets up the temptation factor by keeping seven of its Strip buffets open round the clock. … Continue reading →

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Current, Dining, George Maloof, Harrah's, M Resort, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Planet Hollywood, The Strip | 2 Comments

Flat in IN, coming back in IL

Posted on April 8, 2010 by David McKee

Despite being 2.5% below last year’s casino revenues, J.P. Morgan is calling the results in Illinois the best out of the previous 16 months. In other words, the decline was the smallest since November of ’09.  The restoration of Penn … Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Boyd Gaming, Cordish Co., Current, Don Barden, Economy, Harrah's, Illinois, Indiana, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho, Penn National, Pinnacle Entertainment, Racinos, Regulation, Tribal, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off on Flat in IN, coming back in IL

This just in: Wynn jilts Philadelphia

Posted on April 8, 2010 by David McKee

On Monday, Steve Wynn was making nice with Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and vowing to glad-hand every civic leader in sight. He had a full set of renderings for how his Wynn Resorts makeover of the mortally wounded Foxwoods project … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Cannery Casino Resorts, Current, Don Barden, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Neil Bluhm, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Taxes, Tribal | Comments Off on This just in: Wynn jilts Philadelphia

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

Gold Strike Tunica exonerated; “Trek” frittered away

Posted on April 6, 2010 by David McKee

The honor of MGM Mirage‘s Gold Strike Tunica has been restored by reader Sin City Cyn, who writes: “Speaking of resort fees … I promised to report back on the pool fee situation at Tunica’s Gold Strike. I’m happy to … Continue reading →

Posted in Colony Capital, Current, Downtown, Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, Station Casinos, Tourism, TV | 5 Comments

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 …

Rose prophetic re: Macao

Posted on April 5, 2010 by David McKee

While Las Vegas newspapers have been reticent regarding the regulatory can of worms opened by recent findings about the Macanese operations of Las Vegas Sands and MGM Mirage, veteran gaming legal analyst I. Nelson Rose has felt no such compunction. … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Detroit, Economy, Illinois, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, Pansy Ho, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, The Mob | 1 Comment

Could Steve Wynn jilt Philadelphia?

Posted on April 2, 2010 by David McKee

What’s Steve Wynn supposedly doing in Atlantic City this weekend and why is he allegedly kicking the tires on casino properties there? Well, it is a buyer’s market and half of Borgata is up for grabs (as would be Trump … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Colony Capital, Current, Donald Trump, Entertainment, International, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho, Pennsylvania, Phil Ruffin, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Regulation, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 10 Comments

Las Vegas is beaten at its own game …

Posted on April 2, 2010 by David McKee

Royal Casino SPA & Hotel Resort from Vivid Cafe on Vimeo. … by Riga? I want to hop the next plane to Latvia after seeing this extremely sexy short film (approx. 7 minutes) showcasing the Royal Spa & Casino, which … Continue reading →

Posted in International, M Resort, Marketing, MGM Mirage, The Strip, TV | Comments Off on Las Vegas is beaten at its own game …

Confidence or desperation?

Posted on March 31, 2010 by David McKee

Casino operators must be feeling very bullish about recent, incremental increases in visitation to Las Vegas, even though customers continue to spend less. (This is the new business model which the industry as a whole is loath to acknowledge: being … Continue reading →

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Pennsylvania, Phil Ruffin, Planet Hollywood, Sahara, The Strip, Tribal, TV | 2 Comments

$290 million for Borgata

Posted on March 29, 2010 by David McKee

That’s what MGM Mirage’s half is expected to bring and it won’t happen until next year, according to J.P. Morgan‘s latest set of estimates. We could debate whether or not MGM should have started shopping the place a year ago, … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Current, Economy, Harrah's, International, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho, Regulation, Station Casinos, The Strip, Tourism, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | Comments Off on $290 million for Borgata

Now this is different …

Posted on March 29, 2010 by David McKee

Conventional wisdom in Las Vegas held that big fights drove big business. But who ever heard of a marquee boxing match being offered as a loss leader. That’s how MGM Mirage is promoting “The Rivals: Hopkins vs. Jones.” I’m not … Continue reading →

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

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 29, 2010 by David McKee

“At Bellagio, MGM is offering no promotions.” — from this week’s J.P. Morgan “LV Strip Room Rate Survey” … and from every week’s such survey seemingly since time immemorial, making Bellagio the only MGM Mirage Strip hotel of which this … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, MGM Mirage, The Strip, Tourism | 3 Comments

A clarification, a continuation & a poll

Posted on March 25, 2010 by David McKee

Firstly, in defense of both LVA and our research department, they’ve been following the subject of resort fees since the June 16, 2007 Question of the Day. These past couple of weeks we’ve been trying to get a handle on … Continue reading →

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, Current, Dining, Economy, Encore, Entertainment, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Tourism | 1 Comment

Aria wants your business, Las Vegas

Posted on March 24, 2010 by David McKee

From the Twitter feed of Aria: Every Wed night at The Deuce @AriaLV open champagne bar from 10-11pm and half price bottles for #LVlocals! Showing the locals some love! They’ll probably be hanging out here instead.

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Economy, Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Phil Ruffin, The Strip | 3 Comments

Re$ort fee$: the latest

Posted on March 23, 2010 by David McKee

Poor MGM Mirage; it can’t stay out of the news these days. At the moment, our LVA research staff is trying to get the skinny on the spread of “resort fees” through the company’s Strip properties. (Stock analysts love them … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, Harrah's, Marketing, MGM Mirage, The Strip, Tourism | 26 Comments

MGM & Stanley Ho: The consequences of desperation

Posted on March 23, 2010 by David McKee

Contrary to the confident prediction of Las Vegas Review-Journal Publisher Sherman Frederick, the ramifications of the report of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement on the relationship between MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho and father Stanley Ho have been as … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, International, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho, Regulation, Stanley Ho, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Case Bets: Maryland, Foxwoods, problem gambling

Posted on March 23, 2010 by David McKee

It’s not even been 18 months since Maryland voters gave their assent to slot houses — a time in which the state has to erect a regulatory apparatus, vet applicants, and then wait for the latter to get up and … Continue reading →

Posted in Cordish Co., Current, Economy, Kansas, Marketing, Maryland, MGM Mirage, New York, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Politics, Problem gambling, Racinos, Regulation, Taxes, Tribal | 1 Comment