One of our favorite investment banks, JP Morgan, has initiated coverage of Caesars Entertainment, providing us with further transparency of the company’s performance. The price target is a lowly $16/share, which presumably reflects the company’s recent, shall we say, financial 
difficulties. It certainly is not reflective of the company’s brand equity (great) and asset portfolio (very strong). Analyst Daniel Politzer listed an array of positive factors, starting with Las Vegas Strip capex maintenance “that should lift ADR and improve customer mix.” He added that “stable fundamentals and domestic gambling-consumer strength bode well for the hub-and-spoke Total Rewards system. Margins at outlying properties are expected to improve thanks to “more efficient marketing/promotional spend.” Ten billion dollars’ worth of real estate could be sold to gaming REITs (read: Continue reading
believe 
got a rude wakeup call yesterday. Some 99% of Culinary members voted to authorize a June 1 strike, if necessary. That’s almost 50,000 employees hitting the bricks at 34 casino-resorts, both on the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown. Protection of immigrants with temporary status is one of the Culinary’s hot-button issues, as well as what union boilerplate describes as “the Union’s economic proposal seeks to provide workers a fair share of the employers’ enormous anticipated cash flows and Trump tax windfalls.”
schools in the nation and needs to re-orient its priorities. Now, from his bully pulpit, 
Catskills finally be having an effect? It’s hard to say, although one suspects the answer is “yes.” Sands Bethlehem tumbled from $22 million in April 2017 to $17.5 million last month — 
work with the leagues. I think the leagues can be powerful partners when it comes to putting the illegal market out of business, when it comes to speed to market, when it comes to creating consistency across state lines … We’ve had good discussions to date; I expect those discussions will continue, to see if we can find common cause.” — American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman, 
Connecticut to rival casino bids (
yesterday in the Golden State and sports betting is where it’s at. And if, as studies show, the black market for sports betting is as high as $400 billion, that’s prime territory for all the major players in California, whether they be tribal casinos, card rooms or horse tracks. It’s not like California politicians haven’t been trying: In the last six years, four sports-betting bills were introduced but none ever made it to Gov. Jerry Brown (D). Assemblyman Adam Gray (D) is taking a different tack this time, calling for a constitutional amendment, which would require a popular referendum.
sword, saying, “I do not want my candidacy to detract from the important progress we have made throughout the organization, including the ongoing refreshment process this Board has initiated,” a process that makes Steve Wynn cronies like Hagenbuch expendable. In addition to pressure from Mrs. Wynn, the company’s largest shareholder, Hagenbuch was blown raspberries by Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, both of which urged shareholders to give Hagenbuch the heave-ho. “Hagenbuch was part of a legacy board that oversaw material failures in governance and risk oversight,” wrote ISS.
Palace and Harrah’s Philadelphia. On paper, Vici is paying $507.5 million and $241.5, respectively, for the two assets. However, thanks to lease-modification hocus-pocus, the purchase price 
while they’re on the property. There’s good demand for the nearly 400 new slot machines we’ve put in over the last few months. We’re always working with vendors and the state to get the newest popular games approved.” — Ameristar East Chicago Assistant General Manager Noah Hirsch on the 
(+10.5%). Slot handle was down 3.5%, as was revenue, while a tiny increase in table wagering produced 12.5% more winnings for the casinos. Borgata stumbled, down 9% to $53 million, although all Atlantic City casinos would like to trip so badly. The culprit was a 39% plunge in table winnings ($9.5 million), while slot revenue grew 2% to $42 million. It had the second-best share of Internet-gambling revenue — 20% — although well behind Golden Nugget‘s 35% share.
week, then left the room so former senator Norm Coleman could hit Adelson up for seven figures. Whatever Coleman said, it must have been persuasive. Adelson whipped out his checkbook and made a very “george” donation indeed: 
make it tough for everyone to survive?” That’s peppery gaming analyst Larry Klatzkin, worrying about the impact of two new megaresorts on a newly rightsized Atlantic City market. The concern of the moment seems to be that Ocean Resort and Hard Rock Atlantic City could be Two Much of a Good Thing. “I think Hard Rock will be very additive to the market; perhaps [Ocean Resort] will be as well,” says Deutsche Bank Securities‘ Andrew Zarnett, one of the savviest of gaming analysts. Ocean owner Bruce Deifik has certainly learned from his predecessors’ mistakes: He’s concentrated the gaming floor and added a buffet. He also, thanks to Glenn Straub, won’t have to pay external power bills anymore. Ocean Resort owns its power plant. Hard Rock enjoys no such luxury, though it has added a gas station, car wash and convenience store to the former Trump Taj Mahal area.
a thorough effort to better articulate its vision,” wrote Deutsche Bank‘s Carlo Santarelli. While most of the talk focused on stock repurchases, there was some discussion of softer convention business from Microsoft and CON-AGG. “Management noted that the goal today is not necessarily to expand the mix of convention, but to improve the quality of the mix,” Santarelli observed. As for cap-ex reinvestments, “Management noted that Bellagio could use some TLC, while MGM Grand can be re-oriented, and the south end of the Strip could be ‘re-imagined.'”
recent accomplishments … MGM also did a credible job of laying out a case for future consistent growth on the LV Strip (professional sports teams, E-sports, buildout of strip convention/group capacity, and targeted returns), and we see reason to be optimistic here, as this represents ~65% of MGM’s [cash flow] and is a key driver of investor sentiment.”
between Fonfa and his creditors as to what the boutique casino is worth. He says $143 million, they say $60 million or thereabouts. Fonfa hopes to sell the Lucky Dragon via a foreclosure court auction, although such a turnover has been postponed at least once. Fonfa’s explanation of the widely varying valuations was a cryptic, “It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.” Snow Covered Capital is exposed to the extent of $50 million in loans to Lucky Dragon and a $60 million sale price would cover its nakedness nicely.-
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