Category Archives: Station Casinos

Nevada in October: It was the pits

Posted on December 10, 2008 by David McKee

Taken at face value, October's revenue numbers for Nevada casinos were calamitous. Looked at in context (i.e., coming off a 10% increase from October '06 to '07) they were … still bad. But I'm going to resist the temptation to … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Current, Downtown, Economy, Harrah's, Lake Las Vegas, Laughlin, Station Casinos, The Strip | Comments Off on Nevada in October: It was the pits

Packer's reverse Midas Touch

Posted on November 25, 2008 by David McKee

Remember what I wrote yesterday about James Packer being bad luck for everything with which he gets involved? Now Station Casinos is the latest victim of his reverse Midas Touch (and he owns a portion of Harrah's Entertainment, too). Maybe … Continue reading →

Posted in Cannery Casino Resorts, Harrah's, James Packer, Station Casinos | Comments Off on Packer's reverse Midas Touch

Atlantic City Death Watch

Posted on November 21, 2008 by David McKee

New Jersey's Casino Control Commission has come out with a grim set of numbers regarding gross operating profitability in Atlantic City's casinos during 3Q08. And, as bad as these numbers sound, once the cost of operation is subtracted, a $121 … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Colony Capital, Donald Trump, Economy, Harrah's, Station Casinos, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off on Atlantic City Death Watch

Control Board changes its tune

Posted on October 9, 2008 by David McKee

Waaaaaaaaaaay back in 2000, the Aladdin 2.0 was struggling into being, and Jack Sommer and London Clubs International were at each others' throats. Sommer's shallow pockets had forced LCI into taking a much bigger stake in the megaresort than it … Continue reading →

Posted in Cannery Casino Resorts, Regulation, Station Casinos | Comments Off on Control Board changes its tune

Lipstick on a pig

Posted on September 30, 2008 by David McKee

That’s how Atlantic City Tropicana conservator Justice Gary Stein is trying to pass off a deal that continues to make a loud “Oink!” He’s trying to spin the media that his $700 million agreement with Cordish Co. is really an … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Regulation, Station Casinos, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off on Lipstick on a pig

Station gets it; In defense of Boyd

Posted on September 25, 2008 by David McKee

Kudos to Station Casinos for agreeing to give its employees first dibs on apartments to be built near Fiesta Henderson. This is a story that fell through the cracks recently but deserves to be highlighted. The land was originally set … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Harrah's, Morgans Hotel Group, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip | Comments Off on Station gets it; In defense of Boyd

E-Can debuts

Posted on August 29, 2008 by David McKee

We got out of the way of the front doors of Eastside Cannery last night just in the nick of time. For all the apprehension about opening new casinos in the current economy (especially when locals' gambling budgets have taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Cannery Casino Resorts, George Maloof, James Packer, Station Casinos | Comments Off on E-Can debuts

Eastside Cannery update

Posted on August 28, 2008 by David McKee

Yesterday, I asked how William Paulos and William Wortman were able to bring in Eastside Cannery (which opens tonight) for 250 million clams — $425 million less than Station Casinos is splurging on Aliante Station. In today’s Sun, Liz Benston … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Cannery Casino Resorts, Current, Harrah's, Station Casinos | Comments Off on Eastside Cannery update

Durango Station, slightly downsized

Posted on August 27, 2008 by David McKee

Station Casinos has filed its latest set of plans for Durango Station and it looks like they’ve pulled back a bit, although you can judge for yourself. Hotel inventory has been reduced from 1,040 rooms, then 1,000, to 726; the … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Cannery Casino Resorts, Station Casinos | 1 Comment

From bad to worse

Posted on August 19, 2008 by David McKee

British Reuters lays out a dire scenario for casino bonds, the second-most-distressed sector of the junk-bond market (only media firms are doing worse). "We believe it probably hasn't hit its bottom," is the grave verdict of Moody's Investors Service analyst … Continue reading →

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Donald Trump, Harrah's, Isle of Capri, Morgans Hotel Group, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on From bad to worse

This is news?; plus Station/Harrah's/Echelon notes

Posted on August 12, 2008 by David McKee

Way back when Vestin Group made a loan to the Castaways that exceeded the doomed casino's appraised value (as revealed by a Vestin-commissioned appraisal that miraculously emerged when the Castaways filed for bankruptcy*), I did some digging into Vestin's financials. … Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Harrah's, Morgans Hotel Group, Station Casinos, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on This is news?; plus Station/Harrah's/Echelon notes

Trop turnaround?

Posted on August 12, 2008 by David McKee

While the New Jersey Casino Control Commission continues to bobble the sale of the Atlantic City Tropicana, at least its stewardship has arrested and perhaps finally the property's decline. While a 5.5% decline in business is nothing to crow over, … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Colorado, Columbia Sussex, Donald Trump, Harrah's, Kansas, Station Casinos, Tribal | Comments Off on Trop turnaround?

Ola, Amigo!

Posted on August 4, 2008 by David McKee

As of yesterday, I'm a newly minted Amigo card holder, having joined Station Casinos' spinoff players club for its Fiesta properties. (Chalk up a very modest victory for Fiesta's spirited marketing efforts.) Why Station, having put nearly a decade of … Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Boulder Strip, George Maloof, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Station Casinos, The Strip | Comments Off on Ola, Amigo!

Honey, I shrank Lake Las Vegas

Posted on July 30, 2008 by David McKee

Saying that a potentially ruptured pipe could drain Lake Las Vegas and turn it into one big-ass mud puddle in the desert conjures up quite an image. It’s also effective rhetoric if you’re trying to stampede the bankruptcy court into … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Herbst Gaming, Lake Las Vegas, Pets, Station Casinos | Comments Off on Honey, I shrank Lake Las Vegas

Vegas Right Now = Bargain Country

Posted on July 2, 2008 by David McKee

While the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority may blanch from peddling bargain-oriented messages, we don’t. While it wasn’t that long ago that some of us were mourning the apparent demise of on-Strip bargains — or redefining said bargains as … Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Harrah's, LVCVA, Macau, MGM Mirage, Riviera, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on Vegas Right Now = Bargain Country

Denial in the suites

Posted on July 1, 2008 by David McKee

Gary Loveman must be working on his stand-up act. In today’s Wall Street Journal, he calls the present economic pickle “the toughest environment we’ve faced.” It might not be quite so difficult had Loveman not steered Harrah’s Entertainment (and its … Continue reading →

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Harrah's, Isle of Capri, Penn National, Station Casinos, Wall Street | Comments Off on Denial in the suites

"Casino Bonds Crush Harrah's"

Posted on June 3, 2008 by David McKee

That’s Bloomberg, bearing the dire news that casino junk-bond debt is “generating the worst return for investors as companies from … Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. to Herbst Gaming Inc. risk bankruptcy under the weight of their debt.” With a return of … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Detroit, Donald Trump, Harrah's, Herbst Gaming, Indiana, Station Casinos, TV, Wall Street | Comments Off on "Casino Bonds Crush Harrah's"

Bargains? Shhhhhhhhhhhh!

Posted on May 28, 2008 by David McKee

Liz Benston takes a look today at the newest message from the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority and finds the LVCVA “thinks it’s bad form to make references to ‘affordable’ and ‘cheap.’” Oh yes, God forbid anybody should think … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, California, Downtown, Harrah's, LVCVA, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, The Strip | Comments Off on Bargains? Shhhhhhhhhhhh!

Wynn tells Wall Street where to go

Posted on May 2, 2008 by David McKee

Not so long ago, Steve Wynn stated an obvious truth: The our deepening recession would impact Las Vegas sooner or later. Wall Street promptly punished him by selling down Wynn Resorts stock. Fast-forward a few months and now it’s the conventional wisdom … Continue reading →

Posted in Columbia Sussex, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on Wynn tells Wall Street where to go

Same as it ever was?

Posted on May 2, 2008 by David McKee

Nothing lasts. I’m finding that out the hard way as the acid in the paper labels in my CD collection eat through the discs, gradually rendering them unplayable and sending me into a race between preservation and catastrophe. (When last … Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Columbia Sussex, Harrah's, Herbst Gaming, Station Casinos, The Strip | Comments Off on Same as it ever was?