When we first heard about a Las Vegas Strip restaurant tacking an “optional” Covid-19 fee onto its diners’ checks we knew that A) this was the beginning of a bad thing and B) it would spread like a virus. So it has. The offending restaurants continue to claim that the charge will be 
removed upon request and offer the excuse of helping “offset restrictions on our business resulting from the COVID-19 crisis.” Hey, a lot of Americans’ livelihood was restricted by the ongoing pandemic and you don’t see them using it an excuse to jack up prices. Your salaries aren’t increasing and you can’t tell The Man you’re going to start imposing “crisis fees” on him because you need the money. This is exploitation, plain and simple. The offending restaurants are Mon Ami Gabi, Joe’s Prime Steak, Seafood & Stone Crab and El Segundo Sol. Two of those were favorites with my wife and friends. No more. We suggest that if you find these imposts as noxious as we do that you take your business to a different eatery. Parent company Lettuce Entertain You is pleading poverty, saying, these levies—and others doubtless to follow—are “a necessary step during a time when unanticipated costs have jeopardized the survival of our business.” Which is worse: Whingeing about the unfairness of the free-enterprise system or hitting your customers up for charity?
Joe’s Prime Steak, by the way, grossed $22,264,200 in 2018, with an average check of $77/person. Susan Stapleton reports that other, off-Strip restaurants are trying to sneak in on the trend, with Lotus of Siam imposing a 3% healthcare surcharge, while two Mexican-food chains are 
hitting you with $2/order levies for anything with beef. At least that’s a more upfront way of doing things than the snake-in-the-grass methods employed by Lettuce Entertain You. Then there are those “concession and franchise fees”—too many to enumerate—which are not only charged but, to add insult to injury, taxed. JRS Hospitality, the villain in this scenario, claims these muggings “partially offset increasing operations and labor costs in the high-impact resort corridor.” If our heart doesn’t always bleed for the Strip during the present crisis, it’s this damned nickel-and-diming that’s largely to blame. Any negative rebound on Lettuce or JRS is just karma in action, otherwise known as the free market.
* Good news for Caesars Entertainment. It will be able to reopen Horseshoe Hammond at 6 a.m. on June 15. The resumption of business does come with a number of caveats, as you might expect. While the slot inventory appears not to have been downsized, slots “will be arranged to 
allow for social distancing; table games will be offered as non-smoking and with limited seating; and guests will be required to wear masks while playing table games.” Not only will the sports book remain closed, so will the poker room, steakhouse, buffet and valet parking. Horseshoe Hammond promises “more frequent cleaning and sanitization. Team member temperature checks and screenings will be conducted daily, and team members will be required to wear masks, which will be provided by Caesars. Guests will be provided masks and will be strongly encouraged to wear them throughout their visit.” Oh, and you’ll be carded upon entry … a minor inconvenience and not always a bad idea.
* Premature euphoria about Coronavirus proved to be just that, as the Dow Jones shed 1,800 points yesterday. News of increasing Covid-19 death tolls was blamed. A potentially premature reopening of the 
economy is prompting a new wave of the pandemic and the market was caught unawares. “Not surprisingly, a lack of preventative behavior has led to a resurgence in Covid-19 cases around the country and the stock market is having another gut check,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of Independent Advisor Alliance told the Boston Globe. By contrast, Allianz Investment Management‘s Charlie Ripley said, “We think the recovery is largely underway, but there is still some considerable uncertainty on the path we have ahead.” Still, new unemployment claims are rising (up 1.5 million last week). Gaming stocks got caught in the stampede and trended downward.
* Speaking of stampedes, Golden Entertainment is experiencing one at its Las Vegas properties and not in a bad way. JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff writes, “GDEN’s reopened Nevada gaming operations (ex-Strat) are generally performing at/above pre-COVID-19 levels, reflecting strong 
pent-up demand.” Slot routes are leading the way, followed by Golden’s smaller casinos, with The Strat bringing up the rear. Occupancy was 40%, exceeding management’s 30% expectation and Fourth of July weekend looks to be 80% full. Golden resumes operations in Maryland June 19 when Rocky Gap Resort returns to action. Golden’s positive outlook is partially based on the assumption that the Las Vegas Raiders will be playing with fans in the stands, partly on the return of convention business in the fall and early 2021.
Wrote Greff, “For the Strip to return to prior peak, there will likely need to be a full recovery in group/convention demand and the high-end international player needs to return (which may take a while). More 
properties opening on the Strip and sooner than expected is a positive sign (though it adds more capacity for Strat to compete with), and GDEN would assume that operators would not be opening more properties without a clear path to breakeven/profitability.” Demand from locals is described as “solid,” being predicated on a customer base that is two-thirds retirees on fixed incomes. Golden doesn’t expect to have to compete with a lot of promos.
He added, “the company is currently seeing more volume with less labor, with slot performance (GDEN’s highest margin business) particularly strong. In Laughlin, GDEN has seen strong demand, similar/above pre-COVID-19 levels, despite one of its three properties there not reopening (Colorado Belle).” As for Golden’s bread and butter, slot routes, they’re reporting record amounts of win/unit/day, a demand level possibly exacerbated by the disabling of every other machine. (Social distancing, y’know.) It’s also been business as usual in Montana, which reopened on May 4 and Golden hopes that a thirst for new tax revenues will cause other states to legalize slot routes. CEO Blake Sartini is definitely earning his paycheck.
