Category Archives: Tropicana Entertainment

Don't do it, Alex!

Posted on June 25, 2009 by David McKee

Noooooooo! That was my reaction upon reading the Mike Weatherford shocker that the Tropicana Las Vegas may be putting many of its future entertainment eggs in the basket of Anthony Cools. The latter produced an ultra-craptacular topless show, Ooh La … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Entertainment, Harrah's, Internet gambling, Macau, MGM Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Regulation, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

Harrah’s Azov?

Posted on June 18, 2009 by David McKee

Bloomberg News reports the following: Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s biggest casino company, may build a resort on the Azov Sea, Vedomosti reported Tuesday. Harrah’s may join U.S. construction company Asati in building a complex in Azov-City, one of four gambling … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska, Atlantic City, Charity, Colony Capital, Columbia Sussex, Culinary Union, Harrah's, International, Regulation, Tropicana Entertainment | 1 Comment

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

Margaritaville wastes away

Posted on June 2, 2009 by David McKee

In an utterly (not) shocking development, the interminably protracted sale of Trump Marina has given up the ghost. This deal was on life support for months, so today’s bulletin merely ratifies the inevitable. The would-be reinvention of the Marina as … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Colony Capital, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Harrah's, Silverton, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

The MGM/Pansy Ho verdict: It's in and it's bad

Posted on May 19, 2009 by David McKee

After nearly four years of investigation, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has released its long-awaited “suitability” findings on MGM Mirage joint-venture partner Pansy Ho. As MGM itself reported to the SEC yesterday, “While the report itself is confidential, … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Columbia Sussex, Cosmopolitan, Current, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, Macau, MGM Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Regulation, Stanley Ho, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | Comments Off

Perp Show

Posted on May 14, 2009 by David McKee

If you're bald, weight 285 lbs. and have one arm in a cast, you're not exactly inconspicuous. So how was it that that such a hefty man was to infiltrate a VIP area of Planet Hollywood and bust into Peepshow … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Cirque du Soleil, Colony Capital, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Politics, Regulation, Taxes, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

Case Bets: Caesars, Criss Angel, Lance Burton, Earl & Lani and Trent

Posted on May 13, 2009 by David McKee

Seen last night by an S&G source, Pit One at Caesars Palace empty save for one or two baccarat players. It’s just a small indicator of a larger disconnect that I hope to address later. PR flack Robin Leach has … Continue reading →

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, Colony Capital, Current, Economy, Encore, Entertainment, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

You know it's a bad day …

Posted on May 11, 2009 by David McKee

… when the company riding to your rescue is Columbia Sussex. Had Tropicana Entertainment not farmed out operation of the Horizon in Lake Tahoe to its William J. Yung III‘s company, it might have been closed outright. As matters stand, … Continue reading →

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Lake Tahoe, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

Trouble waiting to happen?

Posted on May 8, 2009 by David McKee

Not to belittle acts of violence that occur in or near casinos, but we don't make a practice of reporting them in LVA. That's partly because people seem to need little excuse to kill one another and would just as … Continue reading →

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Current, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

Bleak Horizon

Posted on May 5, 2009 by David McKee

Anybody who thought Columbia Sussex CEO William J. Yung III was exiting the casino industry, let alone going quietly, got a bracing dose of reality today. The older of Tropicana Entertainment‘s two leases in Lake Tahoe, the Horizon, is in … Continue reading →

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Lake Tahoe, Regulation, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

Harrah's takes out the garbage; Yemenidjian's return

Posted on May 5, 2009 by David McKee

Congratulations — I think — to new Harrah's Entertainment General Counsel Timothy R. Donovan. A graduate of The Ohio State University, Mr. Donovan comes to Harrah's by way of the garbage industry. Considering that picking up the trash around Harrah's … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Atlantic City, Current, Harrah's, Indiana, Regulation, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

Chump change for Trop

Posted on April 29, 2009 by David McKee

While there has been no shortage of bad decisions in the casino industry of late, the Dunce of the Year winner for 2008 and presumptive favorite for 2009 has got to be Tropicana Atlantic City conservator Gary Stein. This former … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Cordish Co., Donald Trump, Economy, Regulation, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

Case Bets: Isle exits U.K.; no room at the Trop; Carlino channels Astaire, etc.

Posted on April 24, 2009 by David McKee

Isle of Capri Casinos is coming up for air, literally extricating itself from underneath Ricoh Stadium in Coventry, U.K. As part of CEO James Perry‘s attempt to refocus a company that spread itself too thin under his predecessor, he’s walking … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, California, Colony Capital, Columbia Sussex, Current, Detroit, Economy, Florida, Goldman Sachs, Illinois, International, Isle of Capri, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Regulation, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | Comments Off

Pinnacle: the untold story

Posted on April 21, 2009 by David McKee

Is waxing and buffing the Pinnacle Entertainment limo a prerequisite for scoring an interview with its CEO? This small masterpiece of selective omission is more interesting for what it elides than what it says. The article parrots Dan Lee as … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Ameristar, Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Columbia Sussex, Entertainment, Harrah's, Illinois, Louisiana, MGM Mirage, Missouri, Pinnacle Entertainment, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

Mandalay Bay is best in LV

Posted on April 6, 2009 by David McKee

It may be tempting fate to mention this, but online voters like Mandalay Bay best among Strip casinos … or, at bare minimum, dislike it the least. Voters in the Steve Friess "Stripper Poll" on which casino most ought to … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

Case Bets: Kansas update, Cordish's push, Penn's prudence, taxing sex

Posted on April 3, 2009 by David McKee

Details of Lakes Entertainment‘s just-under-the-wire entry into the Kansas casino derby are beginning to emerge — and it looks a bit half-assed. Particularly non-confidence-inspiring was the admission, “We’re going to go find the cash.” If somebody as flush as Phil … Continue reading →

Posted in Cordish Co., Harrah's, Horseracing, Kansas, MGM Mirage, Taxes, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

Trop snoozes, loses

Posted on March 26, 2009 by David McKee

Like a hot potato, the Tropicana Las Vegas continues to bounce from Columbia Sussex to Tropicana Entertainment and now maybe into the hands of Alex Yemenidjian. (This management-contract arrangement looks more like laying the groundwork for a sale … if … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Architecture, Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Current, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, Indiana, Marketing, Technology, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | Comments Off

Strike at the Trop

Posted on March 2, 2009 by David McKee

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Harrah's, Regulation, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 24, 2009 by David McKee

"[Columbia Sussex CEO William J.] Yung showed a callous disregard both for New Jersey casino auditing regulations and for the requirement that any Atlantic City casino be a 'first-class facility of exceptional quality.' "But if the restructured Tropicana Entertainment can … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Regulation, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off

How desperate is Scott Butera?

Posted on February 19, 2009 by David McKee

Perhaps sensing that the Tropicana Atlantic City is slipping irretrievably from his grasp, Tropicana Entertainment CEO Scott Butera has taken his case to the media — seeking an audience with the editorial board of The Press of Atlantic City, no … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Colony Capital, Marketing, Regulation, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off