Eldorado Resorts CEO Tom Reeg just had a sit-down with Joseph Greff and his JP Morgan colleagues, and clued them into Eldorado’s plans. “We came away encouraged by management’s 
upbeat tone and positive commentary on Reno trends … and long-term plan to continue growing the company through accretive acquisitions,” mainly from “distressed funds” and illogical casino owners, Greff wrote. Job One is to optimize revenue in Reno, Black Hawk and Indiana to make up for flat performance by Isle of Capri-branded properties. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have negatively impacted revenue performance at Isle Pompano and the Isle-branded Lake Charles riverboat that is being spun off to a tribal buyer.
Some 200 Floridians are feeling a double whammy from Irma, having been pink-slipped by Eldorado several weeks ago. The estimated savings: $5 million. Reeg also thinks Eldorado can get by with a much smaller executive structure than Isle’s, as upper management at Eldorado currently consists of 15 people compared to Isle’s 100. “Money-losing buffets” are also being phased out in favor of food courts. On the plus side, “We came away encouraged by management’s upbeat tone and positive commentary on Reno,” where Eldorado will reinvest $40 million in the Silver Legacy, Eldorado, and Circus Circus trifecta.
The new marketing approach will be “minimalist … where the basis for evaluating efficacy is profitability, a departure from the 
status quo of diving higher casino traffic via blind promotions.” Outside agencies need not apply: Eldorado is insourcing all its marketing. As for Reno, “the economic backdrop remains encouraging [with] unemployment, wage growth, construction jobs all trending in right direction.” Being fond of Reno, we like hearing that.
* It’s a buyer’s market in the Philippines as casino regulator Pagcor prepares to sell 17 owned-and-operated casinos, starting next year. In total, Pagcor has 13 full-service casinos and 35 satellite facilities. This could be a big opportunity for companies currently operating in the archipelago, like Melco Resorts & Entertainment or Bloomberry Resorts. U.S. operators, however, will probably continue to shy away from a market that banned Steve Wynn simply because he dared litigate against Kazuo Okada. Then again, with global expansion a high priority, Caesars Entertainment CEO Mark Frissora could be a wild card in the deck.
* Having declared the Seneca Nation to be in breach of compact, New York State now goes to arbitration against the tribe. The latter has been withholding gambling proceeds from the state, claiming its period of mandated revenue-sharing has expired while Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) maintains it still has several years to run.
