East Coast report; “Best growth story in gaming” is who?

As we rummage through our mailbag, we find a number of dispatches from our East Coast correspondent, who recently helped prop up the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City with a three-night stay. He was drawn by a giveaway at Ocean Casino Resort (above): “They were having this odd gift of an ‘outdoor folding stool.’ Of course we had to have one. This week Boscov‘s (regional department store) had this ad showing the true value of the item: $4.99, with making a $15 purchase. I never knew the Illitch Family was so generous.” Throw in a mingy $30 of free play and it’s still not a George offer. That’s not how you get to number-one status, Ocean.

Speaking of promotions, Bally’s Atlantic City is touting “another free dinner at Guy Fieri’s, and a ‘meet and greet’ with someone from the Godfather film with drinks and prizes, including five violin-shaped vodka bottles.” That throws down the gauntlet to the Nugget, which is responding with “a ‘cocktail party’ with drinks and prizes (but no food). I can understand with the high price of food and ‘supply chain issues’. Perhaps Tilman Fertitta could ask Golden Nugget’s employees to go to some ‘food pantries’ and try and get some food for Nugget’s Elite level players.”

Also on the agenda was a host party at Bally’s. It was held “in their Ocean Ballroom (smaller than their primary ballroom). There is an ocean view if standing up near the window. It was nicely handled, and they gave out prizes during the event and later between 10-12 p.m. in the casino. This was the same room that ‘olde Caesars’ had their annual Diamond Dinner quite a few years ago.” To judge from the reports we receive, Bally’s is finally upping its game. Witness an event in their high-limit slot room: “They had a bunch of great food items served at your favorite slot machine. Nobody went hungry and they had two drink servers for that area. Every 15 minutes, they called a player’s name. It started at 9 p.m. About 10 p.m. they called my wife’s name and she spun the ‘wheel of fortune’ and won $2,000 free slot play. Most people won $250 to $1,000 free slot play.” Hey, if we won $2K in free play at Bally’s we’d hang out there, too.

“Since you had to use the free play within 72 hours, she was up to the challenge and, for the first time, spent the entire day at Bally’s. She was able to ‘sweat’ the free play and managed to take out more than that by Sunday afternoon. The food in the VIP lounge was better but not yet equal to the other player club lounges.” OK, so there is some room for improvement at Bally’s. But it sounds like Bally’s Corp. is trying a bit harder to woo players, with improved grosses the last two months to show for it.

Tilman Fertitta, meanwhile, might also want to hire someone to dust the glass globes that hang over the Nugget’s lobby. Our reporter says, “This particular set of globes is directly over the escalators. I can’t imagine what it would cost to put up scaffolds after closing down the escalators.” Our friends also visited the Golden Nugget’s coffee shop (and sometime members’ club) on Monday late morning. “A few minutes later, General Manager Tom Pohlman walked by, the first time I/we saw him in public. The nearby food server confirmed it was him and said: ‘He’s hiding behind the wall.’ I would have said hello but he was now with someone else, either a meeting,or lunch, so I left him alone.”

Last Saturday, The Press of Atlantic City‘s banner headline was “AC councilman charged with fraud.” Writes our faithful scribe, “Seems he collected unemployment dollars while being a councilman and had a side job as a ‘driver.’ Then there’s the silly thing about voter registration fraud and lying to the FBI. The FBI is getting so picky these days.” Indeed. Also, there’s an Atlantic City-focused Web site, which is following the construction of Bart Blatstein‘s Showboat water park. It’s shaping up nicely, if the exterior is any indication. Would that more casino operators in Atlantic City (Borgata excepted) had this kind of imagination.

Back in Philadelphia, Cordish Cos. is wisely timing its Philadelphia Live promotions so as not to interfere with Atlantic City’s peak periods. Last Thursday it held “a host event with a buffet, drinks, and prizes.” Keep ’em coming.

A “Golden Ticket to Billionaire’s Row.” That’s what Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas called Churchill Downs, as he initiated coverage with a “Buy” rating and $300/share price target. Mind you, that’s predicated on all of CHDN’s growth projects being up and running by year’s end. Aside from the obvious “crown jewel,” the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs has grown into quite a company: 12 casinos spread across 10 states, 12 slot-route locations (aka “historical horse racing”) and 14 OTBs in Louisiana. Asserting that Churchill Downs was “just scratching the surface,” Jonas wrote, “As sports teams, leagues and high-end brands see record valuations, we see scope for CHDN and its iconic Kentucky Derby race (or rather brand) to appreciate accordingly. The company has admirably expanded into the HHR subsegment of gaming, extending its moat in Kentucky but also setting CHDN up as the best growth story in gaming.”

To hear Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) tell it, the Silver State is losing the arms race in terms of approving and deploying new casino games. Dana Gentry asked around and found a wide amount of agreement, from UNLV Distinguished Fellow Alan Feldman to Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Kirk Hendrick himself. Craig Ferreira, acting executive director of UNLV’s International Center for Gaming Regulation, adds an especially valuable perspective, saying, “a lot of people just don’t understand the due diligence process, and that it can take some time … They don’t think about all the stakeholders that regulatory bodies have to answer to, to ensure that products and services are safe from a consumer protection standpoint. With gaming and gambling products, you’ve got to deal with Responsible Gambling issues, money laundering issues.”

Still, Nevada’s regulatory resistance to cashless gambling and mobile sports-betting registration means that the state is falling behind its peers, technologically and monetarily. Lombardo’s choice of fossils like Hendrick and George Assad draws fire from consultant Richard Schuetz, who says, “You wouldn’t say ‘I’m going to do a technology startup’ with this group.” Nor is NGCB more helped by Lombardo dumping verbally on the notoriously underfunded regulatory body, one whose budget has not kept pace with the growth of the casino industry. Also, you have greeheads like short-tenured NGCB chair Brin Gibson, who recently sniffed at his $142,961 pay packet, saying, “it was sufficient. But it’s not what I could have made.” Leaving Gibson’s ingratitude aside, it’s high time Lombardo put the state’s money where his mouth is.

Noted Las Vegas chef and global humanitarian José Andres was profiled by Esquire. Says Andres, “I have a feeling when you get more, “it’s almost like The Lord of the Rings, right? Precious, right? In the moment you get something, the gold blinds you and it’s something that you want more of.” That’s a message Big Gaming would do well to internalize. As Andres says, “Don’t ask for pears from the elm tree.”