Category Archives: Sheldon Adelson

Case Bets: Packer & Ho, Sands Bethlehem, MGM Mirage, Ameristar, Penn, Harrah's, etc.

Posted on June 3, 2009 by David McKee

• Smashing guitars — but not over each other’s noggins — James Packer and Lawrence Ho christened City of Dreams. The younger Ho downplayed expectations of foot traffic, saying his $2.4 billion megaresort could get by on far fewer visitors … Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Cordish Co., Current, Detroit, Economy, Election, Harrah's, Horseracing, Iowa, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Maryland, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Wall Street | Comments Off

Reid rewarded, Trop rescued

Posted on June 3, 2009 by David McKee

… Sen. Harry Reid's (D-NV) efforts on behalf of the casino industry have not gone unrewarded. If you can follow this formatting garble, you'll see that his donors include not only Tim & Tom, late of the Golden Nugget, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Current, Economy, Election, Harrah's, Macau, MGM Mirage, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | Comments Off

Rumble in Macao

Posted on June 2, 2009 by David McKee

Although an oft-promised loosening of visa restrictions by Peking stubborny refuses to materialize, an air of cautious hopefulness has crept back into Macao now that City of Dreams has opened on schedule — and it looks dazzling. Aggressive revenue projections … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Cannery Casino Resorts, Cosmopolitan, Current, Economy, Genting, George Maloof, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Planet Hollywood, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Taxes, The Strip | Comments Off

Pansy Ho: time for Plan C

Posted on May 22, 2009 by David McKee

In my usual cart-first, horse-later fashion, I elicited a legal opinion regarding the scenario I postulated the other night: MGM Mirage spinning off either its Atlantic City holdings or MGM Grand Macau into a quasi-autonomous entity, much as Sheldon Adelson … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Taxes | Comments Off

Quote of the Day

Posted on May 21, 2009 by David McKee

A certain casino. "The old timers will remember the time, and not that long ago, when casinos just looked at your action and rewarded you accordingly. They figured everyone wins at least part of the time, and they knew that if … Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Economy, Morgans Hotel Group, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn | Comments Off

Solving the Pansy Problem

Posted on May 20, 2009 by David McKee

Amidst today's crush of news, I forgot at least one other potential solution to l'affaire Pansy. Perhaps MGM Mirage can have its cake and eat it as well, by taking a page from Sheldon Adelson's playbook. It'd be a transparent … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, MGM Mirage, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho | Comments Off

Exit, pursued by a bear market

Posted on April 17, 2009 by David McKee

Aside from the occasional murmur by Wynn Las Vegas prexy Andrew Pascal, executives at Wynn Resorts keep a low (read: invisible) profile. Even the most assiduous follower of the casino industry would have trouble naming Wynn’s CFO off the cuff. … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Economy, Encore, Harrah's, IGT, Illinois, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pinnacle Entertainment, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off

Icahn vs. Kerkorian II; Ho hearts Adelson

Posted on April 17, 2009 by David McKee

Yesterday saw some intemperate spluttering in newspaper comment threads, along the lines “How dare the Wall Street Journal report the news? It might damage stock prices!” (One hothead even bruited the possibility of a libel suit.) All of which was … Continue reading →

Posted in Carl Icahn, Economy, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, Wall Street | Comments Off

First, some good news

Posted on April 16, 2009 by David McKee

In a refreshing change of pace comes news of a casino that’s on schedule for its opening. OK, so it’s in Dodge City, Kansas, but we’ll take good news wherever we can get it these days. Whoever thought avionics firm … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Economy, Entertainment, Herbst Gaming, Kansas, Labor, LVCVA, Marketing, Mesquite, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, The Strip | Comments Off

Texas afterthoughts

Posted on April 10, 2009 by David McKee

My apologies for leaving regular readers high and dry on Thursday. I was KO'd by a viral infection of some sort. Between that and a couple of doses of Zicam, I spent most of the day drifting in and out … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Massachusetts, Sheldon Adelson, Taxes, Texas | Comments Off

The (real) Bridge of Sighs

Posted on April 7, 2009 by David McKee

… and if you look closely you can see Venetian Macao executives loyal to Brad Stone being led off to suffocate in the piombi or drown in the pozzi. OK, so I totally made that last part up; too many … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Sheldon Adelson | Comments Off

MGM Mirage sells family jewels

Posted on April 6, 2009 by David McKee

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

Adelson in the details

Posted on April 3, 2009 by David McKee

Nearly lost amidst a flurry of news stories about Las Vegas Sands hoping to jump-start construction on its stalled Cotai Strip™ (with the help of new equity partners) was this snippet from Sands' president of Asian affairs, Stephen Weaver. Rents … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Columbia Sussex, Macau, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Wall Street | Comments Off

The Unlucky Club & other Case Bets

Posted on March 26, 2009 by David McKee

Did somebody build the inaptly named Lucky Club (above) over an Indian burial ground? A deprivation of access is but the latest indignity suffered by this North Las Vegas grind joint. While it was still the Speedway Casino, it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Current, Economy, Encore, Entertainment, Lake Las Vegas, Marketing, Politics, Problem gambling, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip | Comments Off

Casino apocalypse

Posted on March 19, 2009 by David McKee

I'm deeply imbedded in other projects today. In the meantime, by way of In Business Las Vegas and GamingFloor.com (source of yesterday's Harrah's Entertainment time warp, too) here's the answer to the question, "How many casino failures can you pack … Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Cannery Casino Resorts, Colony Capital, Cosmopolitan, Current, Economy, Harrah's, Herbst Gaming, James Packer, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off

Death, taxes and Station Casinos

Posted on March 18, 2009 by David McKee

It’s all but certain that the unenviable steeplechase to be the first major gaming company to declare bankruptcy in 2009 will be won by … Station Casinos!* (On Tax Day, no less.) None of the company’s three rescue scenarios does … Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Donald Trump, Economy, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Taxes, Wall Street | Comments Off

Nationalize the casinos?

Posted on March 12, 2009 by David McKee

Some news stories are too far-out crazy to ignore. This week, it’s XinhauNet‘s prognostication that Uncle Sam will go into the casino business any day now. Or, as the over-imaginative reporter puts it, “some people are talking about the possibility … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Economy, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip | Comments Off

Big bounce in Pennsylvania

Posted on March 5, 2009 by David McKee

Casino revenues in the Keystone State leapt 14% from February of Leap Year to this year, at least at six of the state's seven casinos. (Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course is excluded; it wasn't open a year ago.) … Continue reading →

Posted in Cannery Casino Resorts, Harrah's, James Packer, Neil Bluhm, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Sheldon Adelson, Taxes, Tribal | Comments Off

Wall Street swoons for Sands

Posted on March 4, 2009 by David McKee

That must have been some mighty tasty Kool-Aid that Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson was ladling out at the Reuters Travel & Leisure Summit yesterday. Had we not been hearing it from other news sources, one wouldn't put much … Continue reading →

Posted in Don Barden, Macau, Neil Bluhm, Pennsylvania, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Wall Street | Comments Off

Casino commercial of the year

Posted on March 4, 2009 by David McKee

Although Sheldon Adelson‘s taunting of the president may have seemed very clever at the time, the joke might be on the mogul. Check out this inspired TV spot, dreamt up for the grand opening of the permanent racino at Indiana … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Economy, Indiana, Marketing, Sheldon Adelson | Comments Off