Category Archives: Station Casinos

Hotel Hell

Last weekend, my wife and I were subjected treated to what is undoubtedly — without any question — the worst hotel stay of our lives. So-called Affinity Gaming wanted to show off its $8 million retrofit of Primm Valley Resort … Continue reading

Posted in Carl Icahn, Current, Dining, Economy, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Herbst Gaming, Station Casinos | 1 Comment

What’s there to do in Las Vegas? Plus, Adelson screws the pooch again

Besides gambling? Why, I’m so glad you asked. As I point out in the new issue of Desert Companion (available in Planet Hollywood‘s Desert Passage Miracle Mile shopping mall and other places that host Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf franchises), … Continue reading

Posted in Current, Dining, Downtown, Entertainment, Goldman Sachs, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Phil Ruffin, Planet Hollywood, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 2 Comments

You can take the executive out of the casino …

… but you can’t take the casino out of the executive. Case in point, Smith Center for the Performing Arts Chairman Donald Snyder, former prexy of Boyd Gaming. One of the odder components of the $425 million multipurpose venue, known … Continue reading

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Colony Capital, Cosmopolitan, Current, Downtown, Entertainment, Harrah's, Marketing, Station Casinos, The Strip | Comments Off on You can take the executive out of the casino …

Caruso sings, Lerner hallucinates

Since I had one foot out the door en route to Albany when Caesars Entertainment held its Rick Caruso-led media blitz on Project Linq, I’m a bit late to the party. Some of my early reactions can be heard on … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Current, Dining, Downtown, Economy, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Sahara, Station Casinos, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Musical chairs; Perry’s hypocrisy

Those who go around, come around. The newly unveiled management team for the Margaritaville Casino in Biloxi has a distinct aura of déja vu. CEO Tom Brosig used to be Lyle Berman‘s right-hand man at Grand Casinos, whose Biloxi casino … Continue reading

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Current, Harrah's, Illinois, Indiana, International, Louisiana, Lyle Berman, Mississippi, Neil Bluhm, Ohio, Oklahoma, Penn National, Pinnacle Entertainment, Regulation, Station Casinos, Technology, Texas, Tilman Fertitta, Tourism | 4 Comments

Quote of the Day

“I think we’re going to have a very difficult ’08 in our business.” — the late J. Terrence Lanni, foreseeing in late 2007 that to which other CEOs in his industry — most notoriously Gary Loveman and Frank Fertitta III … Continue reading

Posted in Economy, Harrah's, history, MGM Mirage, Station Casinos | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Blast from the past

Thanks go out to reader Greg Askins for putting me onto this evocative TWA travel poster from 1965. Some of you might get a kick out of going back to a time when Yr. Humble Blogger was in short pants … Continue reading

Posted in Arizona, history, Marketing, North Las Vegas, Station Casinos, Tourism, Transportation | 1 Comment

Sheldon Adelson, stiff?

Why would a man whose company shells out $2.5 million a year for a personal security detail balk at paying an extra hundred grand? (Las Vegas Sands has an interesting defense: We didn’t break the law … and, if we … Continue reading

Posted in Cosmopolitan, Economy, Harry Reid, Macau, Regulation, Singapore, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | 1 Comment

It was a dark and stormy night …

… when monsoon season arrived in Las Vegas on July 3, borne upon thunderstorms of exceptional. Caesars Palace had a fireworks display scheduled that evening and, at the appointed time, seemed to have nothing but a damp squib. However … … Continue reading

Posted in Boulder Strip, Entertainment, Harrah's, North Las Vegas, Station Casinos, The Strip, Tourism | 5 Comments

ACH-ooo!; The Admiral’s last voyage

For the second time in a week, Hilton Hotels & Resorts has stripped its name from a Colony Capital casino-hotel. First to go was the Las Vegas Hilton, to be known next year as [your logo here]. Today comes news … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, California, Colony Capital, Columbia Sussex, Current, Dennis Gomes, Economy, Harrah's, history, Macau, MGM Mirage, Missouri, Pinnacle Entertainment, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism, Tribal, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Heard on the Strip …

No formal announcement has been made but scuttlebutt has it that when the Union Plaza reopens downtown, it will have an unusual tenant for the showroom formerly occupied by The Rat Pack is Back! If true, it would mean that … Continue reading

Posted in Boulder Strip, Current, Dining, Downtown, Entertainment, George Maloof, Riviera, Station Casinos, Tamares Group, The Strip | 1 Comment

St. Regis … still stumped; Quid pro Qua

Last autumn, Las Vegas Sands COO Michael Leven floated the idea of capping its St. Regis failsino at its current five-story height, admitting that the skeleton was an “eyesore” along the Strip. The “Stump Regis” was the subject of a … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Boulder Strip, California, Current, Entertainment, Harrah's, Indiana, MGM Mirage, Pennsylvania, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism | 1 Comment

Coming (not so) soon: Wynn Singapore?!?!

Steve Wynn‘s next big project won’t be in Japan … or Philadelphia … or Boston. According to the tycoon, his “next goal in life” will be to open a Singapore megaresort. Yeah, the same Singapore out of which Wynn bailed … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, California, Genting, George Maloof, Harrah's, International, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, North Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Tourism, Transportation | 1 Comment

They’ve seen the future …

… and it’s Singapore. That’s good news if you’re Sheldon Adelson, less auspicious if you’ve got a weak track record as a developer (coughCaesars Entertainmentcough). And if Chad Mollman‘s correct, does this mean Steve Wynn has soured on his proposed … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Election, Harrah's, Harry Reid, International, Internet gambling, Massachusetts, New York, Pokergeddon, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Texas, Tourism, Tribal | 1 Comment

After the flood; New captains at Tropicana Entertainment

What used to be the Horizon riverboat in Vicksburg is back in business as Grand Station (no relation to Station Casinos, in case you were wondering). While nearby riverboats owned by Neil Bluhm and Ameristar Casinos rode out the high … Continue reading

Posted in Ameristar, Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Columbia Sussex, Dennis Gomes, Harrah's, Indiana, Marketing, Mississippi, Neil Bluhm, Penn National, Station Casinos, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off on After the flood; New captains at Tropicana Entertainment

“[sic] semper tyrannis”; Sahara Sam’s rummage sale

One quickly becomes inured to mobile billboards in Las Vegas, lurching about the streets. (The billboards, not me.) But the one I saw this morning en route to work was an eye-grabber: “No mas en Stations [sic]” it read. The … Continue reading

Posted in Culinary Union, Current, Downtown, Marketing, Sahara, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Tamares Group, The Strip | 1 Comment

Ruffin it; Atlantic City: up in smoke?

“Nightclubs — we just didn’t fare well with them. There are so many nightclubs. Everyone’s got just one or two. Ours were just marginal.” That’s Treasure Island owner Phil Ruffin‘s argument for repositioning the pirate place for a mid-market, middle-aged … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Cirque du Soleil, Dennis Gomes, Donald Trump, Economy, Entertainment, Environment, Hard Rock Hotel, Harrah's, history, Horseracing, Kansas, Macau, Marketing, Massachusetts, Morgans Hotel Group, New York, Pennsylvania, Phil Ruffin, Politics, Problem gambling, Racinos, Regulation, Station Casinos, The Strip, Tilman Fertitta, Tourism, Tribal, Wall Street, Warner Gaming | 1 Comment

Atlantic City: Fertitta in, Trump out; Inside Pokergeddon

Trump Marina became “RUMP Marina” this week (watch the video), as workers began removing vestiges of the Donald J. Trump era from the property. New owner Landry’s Restaurants is wasting no time putting its Golden Nugget imprimatur on the last-place … Continue reading

Posted in Ameristar, Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Cordish Co., Current, Dining, Downtown, Economy, Harrah's, history, Horseracing, Illinois, International, Internet gambling, Isle of Capri, Marketing, Penn National, Regulation, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Wall Street | Comments Off on Atlantic City: Fertitta in, Trump out; Inside Pokergeddon

R.I.P., House of Lords; Boyd’s best asset; Poll party

My missus and I were going to make a farewell visit to the Sahara‘s charming fine-dining spot on Sunday. However, our reservation has been canceled because House of Lords will be closing a day early. The reason? They’re running out … Continue reading

Posted in Boyd Gaming, CityCenter, Cosmopolitan, Downtown, Entertainment, history, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Michael Gaughan, North Las Vegas, Station Casinos, Technology, The Strip, TV, Vdara Death Ray | 2 Comments

Kasich screws casinos; Adelson screws the pooch

Our next-to-worst fears for Ohio have come to pass: Caesars Rock Ohio has temporarily pulled the plug on both its Cincinnati (above) and Cleveland casinos. It’s the latest escalation in a war between developers and state government, which wants to … Continue reading

Posted in Cannery Casino Resorts, Current, Economy, Hard Rock Hotel, International, Kansas, Macau, Marketing, Ohio, Penn National, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Taxes, The Strip, TV, Wall Street | 3 Comments