Sheldon Adelson

Japan fever

japan_flag_01-300x300As the window slowly closes on casino legalization during the current session of the Japanese Diet, a fever seems to be overtaking the casino industry. Normally reasonable people are suddenly hyper-exaggerating their projections for gambling in the Land of the Rising Sun. Bloomberg News quotes MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren to the effect that MGM could make more money in Japan than in Macao. That’s difficult to envisage, but fair enough. However, gaming-analyst projections of a $10 million/year Japanese gaming market — the previous consensus — have gone out the window and giddily sky-high. CLSA Ltd. is projecting $40 million by 2025.

Murren’s not prepared to wait that long, saying, “In Japan, the market has potential of being $20 to $40 billion and there would be far fewer integrated resorts than in Macau.” Really? So soon? Former Japan Tourism Agency boss Hiroshi Mizohata predicts that visitation, sparked by casinos, will triple by 2030.

Happy anniversary for Adelson; Penn’s legal woes

Sands MacaoSmashed entrance doors, overburdened and broken escalators, and 40,000 customers … it was all in a day’s work when Sands Macao opened — can it really be 10 years ago next week? Time flies when you’re Sheldon Adelson. Although Stanley Ho vented some private, xenophobic remarks about Adelson, publicly he told reporters something very prophetic. “The cake is going to be bigger and bigger, and we all could have a share,” he said — and he was right. Adelson’s accomplishments included taking the aura of sleaze off Macao, upgrading customers’ expectations of a casino property and elevating the importance of the mass-market player. Or, as legislator Jose Maria Pereira Coutinho puts it, “Sands brought us a different way of gaming. It brought color, cultural exchange and an example for other operators of a path for doing something different.”

MGM National Harbor: Icon or overkill? You decide

MGM Resorts International‘s National Harbor project literally hasn’t gotten off the drawing board and yet it’s already stirring controversy. The beef mainly involves five oversized LED screens, the largest of which would be 60 by 100 feet. MGM has similar signage at CityCenter and they’re like weapons of mass messaging, not at all subtle. (It is Las Vegas, after all.)

MGM MD 1In this case: “The county prohibits outdoor advertising such as the electronic billboards, and the amount of signage planned at the casino is 10 times what’s typically allowed under the county’s zoning regulations, planners said.” Queried Prince George’s County Planning Commission member John P. Shoaff, “I am not certain that five are necessary.” “It’s like beauty: It’s in the eye of the beholder,” countered fellow commissioner Dorothy Bailey. MGM surrogate Arthur Horne held the winning card, arguing that “it’s part of the overall design … and it’s something they believe is important to the aesthetics and the operation of the building.”

Adelson: I’m nice, really; Casinos go to pot

Sheldon AThree hundred people turned out yesterday at UNLV to hear Sheldon Adelson hold a rap session with the kids about the evils of online gambling. Adelson’s animus, it turns out, was his father’s propensity to gamble his money away at Boston-area racetracks. So why isn’t Adelson trying to get horseracing banned? (Or slot routes or tribal casinos … ?) I know, I know: Stop trying to make sense of it. Where you see a cell phone or a computer, Sheldon sees a little casino. “I am in favor of it as a form of entertainment. But I am not in favor of it exploiting the world’s most vulnerable people,” he said, adding with deliberate irony, “I know I am a Republican and I am not supposed to be socially sensitive, but I am very socially sensitive.” It’s not clear whether anybody asked Adelson to elaborate on his belief in the mystical powers of brick-and-mortar casinos to deter disordered gamblers.

“The integrated resort is my contribution to the industry,” Adelson said, referring to Venetian Macao. Again, he didn’t explain why casino megaresorts like MGM Grand, which preceded his arrival on the scene didn’t qualify. (Oh, and Sheldon: You look so cute when you make those air-quote gestures.)

COO Michael Leven was also on hand to address the student body. He told reporters

Affleck banned from HRH; Sands Bethlehem reprieved

You can do all manner of despicable things in a casino if you’re a high roller … but count one lousy card and you’re toast, mister. That’s the message being sent by Warner Gaming after it banned Ben Affleck from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino “for life.” Leaving aside the ludicrous verbal overkill, aren’t celebrities winning big supposed to be valuable advertising? Besides, there’s nothing remotely in the neighborhood of cheating if you’re counting cards — just using mathematical skills to achieve an advantage. The execs at Warner had the choice of having sweating an advantage player or recapturing their lost “where the stars play” image … and decided to make the tightwad move. There’s no way the Hard Rock comes out of this ahead in the court of public opinion.

Sands BethlehemLas Vegas Sands has taken the “for sale” sign off Sands Bethlehem. It’s promising new investment in the property and has appointed a new president, former Marina Bay Sands senior veep Mark Juliano. The latter’s probably better known from his tenure as CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts or prexy of Caesars Atlantic City. So, needless to say, he knows the competition. Sheldon Adelson‘s desire to be shot of Sands Bethlehem never made much sense, as

Scott deal a dud?; Storm on Capitol Hill

Rick_Scott1Slim and none appear to be Florida Gov. Rick Scott‘s choices for a special session next month to ratify a casino compact with the Seminole Tribe. Legislators who note that the current compact doesn’t sunset until next year wonder what’s the rush. Others fear that Scott has given away the store — an impression not helped by the deep secrecy in which negotiations have been cloaked. State Democrats, kept in the dark, wonder why they should do anything to help the GOP governor. And private-sector casino interests don’t see any goodies forthcoming for them. Sheldon Adelson has turned off the Scott cash spigot, as has Donald Trump. Solons fear that South Florida megaresorts are off the table, as it parimutuel expansion. They also fret that not only will the Seminoles keep blackjack, their game repertory will expand to include craps and roulette. (Of course, if destination casinos were legalized with those games, the Seminoles would have to be given them, too.) What looked like bold initiative has turned into an embarrassing gubernatorial face-plant.

Speaking of Adelson, 10 conservative groups opened a verbal can of whup-ass on his

Crowded field in New York; Big numbers at Hakkasan

Seal_of_New_York.svgAwash in $22 million in application fees, New York State now enters the next phase: The winnowing of the field either through lack of financing or the formation of alliances. After all, there are property owners with no operating experience and some operators with no place to hang their hats yet. Also, the minimum capital investment has yet to be decided upon and promulgated. That alone could find some candidates to be all hat and no cattle. Then there are mystery applicants like Hudson Valley Gaming and Capital Region Gaming. (They share the same legal representation, we know that much.) Och-Ziff Real Estate and Rolling Hills Entertainment LLP are also homeless for the time being. Nor is the aegis for David Flaum‘s Albany-area casino known at this point.

Saratoga Raceway & Casino‘s satellite project in East Greenbush has already

It’s good to be Sheldon Adelson

AdelsonPosting a 21% increase in revenue, Las Vegas Sands reported 97 cents/share in earnings (Wall Street had expected $0.94). No surprise, Macao was the primary driver. Analysts were also pleased by a $810 million buyback of Sands shares, bolstering the stock price. Profitably also grew at Marina Bay Sands, in Singapore, up 10% ($435 million). Overall profitability rose 36%. Net revenue was down 7% at the company’s Las Vegas properties and Sands Macao was flat. But Venetian Macao reported 36% growth and Four Seasons Macau & Plaza Casino was up 66%, while Sands Cotai Central made do with 41% growth. Revenue growth — as opposed to profit — was relatively modest at Marina Bay Sands, up 5%. Red-headed stepchild Sands Bethlehem was down 6%.

“From the time of Confucius … nobody has been able to

Caesars: The day after

New York resort developers may be reeling from the sudden entry of Caesars Entertainment into the picture, but that doesn’t mean they’ve given up the fight. After all, Caesars’ move only impacts the Catskills region, not the Capital one nor the Southern Tier. A direct Caesars rival, Genting Group stalking horse Empire Resorts has sent its $1 million in earnest money to the state. Several other groups, including Foxwoods Resort Casino, could do so before the end of business today. The owners of the Nevele resort are reported as having sent in their check, too. Two Southern Tier contenders, Tioga Downs and Traditions at the Glen Resort are getting into it, too. Not doing so are the Visram Brothers, whose Vista Hospitality Group was flirting with two sites in Binghamton. The Visrams have thrown their support to

Gambling: It’s not what it used to be

DSCN1276Nevada‘s casino industry is still in the Great Recession, if profits and losses are anything by which to go. Posting their fifth consecutive year of losses, they were $1.35 billion in the red, on $24 billion in revenues. No surprise, slots and tables produced a two-to-0ne mix of revenues. The losses themselves may be explicable by the Strip’s drift away from gambling as a revenue generator, down to 37% of the total. Downtown’s $18 million loss was chicken feed compared to the $1.4 billion in red ink on the Strip. The big winner was Laughlin, whose profits shot up 289%. Profits in “rest of Clark County” were down 100% but still $120 million. Reno also had a 100% revenue decline but eked out the tiniest of profits (less than $1 million). Lake Tahoe was not so fortunate, as casinos there lost $90 million.

It’s what’s for dinner. Craving a steak in Las Vegas? Here are 10 recommendations and I can

Cosmo: The right amount of money; MGM learns Arabic

Cosmo 1978A camel is a horse designed by a committee, the saying goes, and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas resembles nothing so much as a camel — and Deutsche Bank executives are accused of dabbling in its design. If Bloomberg News‘ sources are correct, Deutsche Bank has tired of The Cosmo and is taking its dromedary to the bazaar. The bank would endure a severe haircut on the resale, marking The Cosmo down to $2 billion or maybe even $1.5 billion. That will only begin to cover a $3.5 billion loan that Deutsche Bank made to its own, Cosmo-owning subsidiary, Nevada Property 1. (The structure of deals within the casino industry sometimes veers into surrealism.)

But who will buy, especially as the Cosmo continues to bleed red ink? MGM Resorts International has often been mooted as a potential acquirer, especially

Big names flock to New York; Reno rebounds

Neil BluhmIt’s starting to get seriously competitive in upstate New York, where Neil Bluhm‘s Rush Street Gaming has been seen canoodling with a Schenectady casino project. Others who have been circling the upstate market with interest include newcomers Churchill Downs and Hard Rock International. All of this betokens a sudden conviction that there’s gold in them thar hills. One of the odder proposals, involves David Flaum‘s E23 project near Albany. Last week, Pinnacle Entertainment was being bruited about as a developer. Now there’s will be a 20,000 OTB parlor. The $845,356 Question is why Flaum would go in with Capital District OTB, which lost that amount in 2012. Why not take some money out back and just burn it?

$2 billion. That’s where Penn National Gaming CEO Tim Wilmott thinks Ohio can get to by 2019 or 2020, after a disappointing, $1.1 billion haul last year. “There’s no question Ohio will be a $2 billion casino state,” sayeth Wilmott,

Mr. Leven, your tinfoil hat is ready

Leven 2Given the chance to make some friends and influence people in Washington, D.C., instead Las Vegas Sands COO Michael Leven chose to spit in their eye. He made the rather wild claim that the present administration wants legalized Internet gambling “so the Internal Revenue Service can collect taxes to fund a federal government whose spending is out of control,” reported the Las Vegas Review Journal. While we fit Leven for a tinfoil hat, one might note that online play has been so paltry to date that taxes from it wouldn’t begin to cover the foreign aid we pay … oh, let’s say Israel. On the off chance that you care, Leven uttered various and sundry other political positions, which you can read here. As for Leven’s boss, Sheldon Adelson, he might want to look to the money-laundering beam in his eye rather than the mote in U.S.-licensed online casinos’.

Another GOP bigwig, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) scored a victory last week. No, not re-election (not yet, anyway). The U.S. Department of the Interior gave him permission to punt the Dairyland Greyhound Park decision from

Kill Phil and other pleasantries

Cards 2That’s what Borgata would like to do to poker pro Phil Ivey. It is suing him after he cleaned them out of nearly $10 million at the baccarat tables. The suit contends that Ivey and a co-conspirator discovered a flaw in cards made by Gemaco and resorted to a cheating tactic known as “edge sorting.” Gemaco may be familiar to you because it’s already being sued by the Golden Nugget Atlantic City for providing packs of unshuffled cards. In Ivey’s case, quirks the printing on the back of the cards made some of them identifiable. (Borgata has been a pretty easy ‘mark’ for cheats lately.) Ivey’s Mandarin-speaking spokesman, Cheng Yin Sun, allegedly gave “special instructions” to the dealer on how to layout the cards, on grounds of “superstition.” Both Gemaco and an anonymous Borgata employee are also listed in the lawsuit.

As The Associated Press reports, “The cards have rows of small white circles designed to look like the tops of cut diamonds, but the Borgata claims some of them were only

Tropicana Bethlehem?; One acre and a casino

bethlehemLas Vegas Sands‘ waving of the white flag over its Sands Bethlehem casino may have finally yielded a buyer. Having stated publicly, however, that $1 billion was the asking price may have limited Sands flexibility to negotiate (not to mention potentially chasing off viable suitors). Also, the rumored buyer is Tropicana Entertainment and its owner, Carl Icahn, doesn’t like to spend big. Sands Bethlehem’s interim president, Douglas Niethold, is on such a short leash he can’t tell the mayor of Bethlehem whether Sands has had talks with anybody, period.

Fears in Bethlehem extend beyond wild rumors of snakes on

In defense of Sheldon Adelson

Sheldon AA disclaimer: I tend to agree with Jeffrey Compton that Sheldon Adelson‘s “actions seem nothing but ego-driven overkill.” And by getting into bed with Bible Belt religious conservatives — to whom any form of gambling, not just on the Internet, is anathema — he’s entering dangerous territory. Does he think it’s necessary to destroy the village in order to save it? However, I think Compton assigns too much destructive potential to both Sheldon’s jihad against progress and GOP speechwriter David Frum‘s recent jeremiad on Las Vegas. Could Sheldon “bring down the entire industry like – wait for it – a house of cards”? I very much doubt it. Gambling is a states’ rights issue, it’s become deeply embedded in the fabric of our society and it’s here to stay, barring some totalitarian nightmare. And, after reading Frum’s column described as “overwrought … one of the nastiest anti-Las Vegas (and anti-gaming) commentaries I have read in a very long time,” I was almost disappointed to find the piece relatively mild.

Frum is relevant, in case you were wondering, because he was a speaker at last weekend’s Adelsonmania at Las Vegas Sands. While Frum might accused of schadenfreude, his analysis of Las Vegas’ fall and slow rise tracks with

Adelson: Crassness and classiness; Could online poker flop?

Last weekend’s GOP kaffeeklatsch, hosted by Sheldon Adelson, was such a self-abasing lap dance by the celebrity attendees that this Andy Borowitz satire doesn’t feel like much of a stretch.

Adelson2_2_12That being said, Adelson is making his presence felt in the philanthropic realm with the formation of Sands Cares. The first million dollars take the form of a donation to Clean the World. The admirable mission of this charity is to recycle waste products — such as used soap and shampoo — into hygiene products for underprivileged countries. Las Vegas Sands has made a lot of money off the Third World so it’s nice to see it giving some of it back. Sands Cares also wrote a five-year, $7 million check to the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at UNLV. Interim UNLV President Don Snyder has really decimated the degree program over there, so the Harrah College could definitely use Sands’ cash, which go toward founding a Center for International Hospitality & Gaming Education.

Said Sands President Michael Leven, “we want to be recognized globally in terms of

Quote of the Day

Sheldon“When did the guy who makes Donald Trump‘s hair look natural get veto power over every word Republicans say about Israel?” — Jon Stewart, on Sheldon Adelson‘s clout.

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