Casino companies rarely admit defeat but Penn National Gaming is bagging it where Hollywood Casino Jamul, near San Diego, is concerned. Hollywood Jamul’s debut was disastrous and Penn’s “essentially exiting” its management contract (as Deutsche Bank 
analyst Carlo Santarelli put it) suggests that business never recovered. As a contributor to Penn’s bottom line, Jamul was a no-show: $5 million in cash flow to date and $400,000 more expected by the time the contract terminates on May 28. “Despite the inconsequential, though negative, financial impact on our estimates/[price target], we view the removal of the Jamul distraction as a modest positive,” wrote Santarelli. Penn also takes a $29.5 million hit from an unfunded loan to the tribe. “At present, PENN has $98 mm of face value debt outstanding to the Tribe and roughly $30 [million] in additional funding requirement obligations, of which $1 [million] have been drawn. Thus, PENN has in total $99 [million] of current loans outstanding to the Tribe and $128 [million] of potential total outstanding commitments. PENN has written down Continue reading
JP Morgan analyst Daniel Politzer took a favorable view of the transaction in an investor note. It should be observed that Churchill Downs is paying separately for each asset, spending 10X cash flow — a very liberal multiple — to get into Pennsylvania but only 6X EBITDA (below industry average) for Vicksburg. As Politzer wrote, Lady Luck “does not really move the needle on EBITDA.” Calling the deal “fair and strategic,” Politzer wrote that “the transaction provides an infusion of cash that could accelerate the company’s next transaction, while also limiting ERI’s exposure to less favorable gaming markets/properties where it sees limited opportunities for incremental EBITDA. We also do not view ERI as leaving much on the table, given that CHDN expects to generate ~$1m in synergies across both properties.”
names of these accusers by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.” It’s easy to say that when knowing that Metro routinely shields the names of plaintiffs in sexual-misconduct cases, the better to protect them from the retaliation that someone like Wynn would likely visit upon him. “It’s revolting that the media repeated such inflammatory claims from events that supposedly occurred four decades ago without the slightest bit of fact-checking or skepticism,” 
Strip’s excuse?) Strip slot revenue was flat at $273 million, on 2.5% less coin-in and despite tighter hold. A 22% drop-off in baccarat play translated into 28% fewer winnings, while all other table games played relatively luckily for the house, down 5% but on 9% less wagering. Table revenue edged slightly past slot win, at $276 million. Despite the Lucky Dragon closure, Downtown revenues were up 2% ($56.5 million) and Boulder Strip casinos banned 7% more ($90.5 million). North Las Vegas was flat at $29 million while miscellaneous Clark County leapt 12% to $105 million. Laughlin was up 3.5% and Reno rode a 14% surge to $45 million and Lake Tahoe was warm: 15% higher and $19.5 million grossed. Elko jumped 17% to $22 million and Carson Valley rose 7% to $8 million. Come to think of it, everybody benefited except the Strip. Perhaps February will see better things — Wall Street analysts appear to be banking heavily on Chinese New Year.
lost her 
than Atlantic City has ever seen.” We’re talking 200 live events in Year One. “When’s the first time someone has done 200 shows in Atlantic City? When’s the last time you saw entertainment on a night other than Saturday in Atlantic City? We’re going to make that commitment,” said CEO James Allen (above left). “You’re looking at the person who just signed Jay-Z and Beyoncé to play Hard Rock Stadium.” His announcement played to rave reviews. Dr. David G. Schwartz, director of the Institute of Gaming Research at UNLV (and an ex-Atlantic Citizen) said “If people get into the habit of visiting Atlantic City for live music, they may continue to do so.”
about sinking $10 billion into the Land of the Rising Tax when you consider how the LDP would punish success: While a 30% flat rate on gross gaming revenues has been proposed, it has been countered with a sliding-scale scheme that would begin at 30% (on $1.4 billion in GGR), continue to 40% billion on $1.4 billion to $2.8 billion and max out at 50% on any revenues above $2.8 billion a year. A Morgan Stanley investor note predicted that such measures, in which one detects the heavy, anti-casino hand of the Komeito Party, “could discourage potential casino operators from investing too much on capital expenditure due to lower return on invested capital.”
(probable cost: $500 million). American diplomats are on the verge of operating out of temporary offices in the ancient city, but Adelson and Donald Trump are committed to giving them something more permanent. The potential sticking point is whether a private citizen like Adelson can just whip out his checkbook and foot the cost of a government project. This is a more constructive — pun intended — Adelson foray into diplomacy than his last one, in which he 
He’s applied to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement for a “statement of compliance.” Blatstein is 
Course. Yes, we’ve moved to Georgia, in furtherance of my wife’s career. There’s no casino gambling closer than Harrah’s Cherokee, up in the Great Smoky Mountains, but Georgia has lottery that’s big business, as well as keno. So it’s a start. I’ve played my cards close to the vest regarding my new zip code but felt that the time had arrived to come clean. I hope you do not resent me for my caginess nor feel that S&G has suffered from the transplantation: A Wall Street analyst note reads the same in Eastern time zone as it does in Pacific Standard Time. I thank you for your readership in the past and hope it continues into the bold new future. (And no, I still can’t get you into Augusta National, Ken Van Vechten.)
would preserve the greatest amount of value. Conceivably someone like Station Casinos could snap up Lucky Dragon and mothball it, simply to keep competition off the market. However, both Station and Boyd Gaming found Lucky Dragon no threat to their Asian-centric Palace Station and Gold Coast casinos. Besides, as Union Gaming analyst John DeCree puts it, Lucky Dragon is going to have to “broaden” a business plan that “caters to only one customer segment.” Given the number of creditors with claims upon the property and the unlikelihood of recouping the casino’s $143 million cost, EB-5 investors will almost surely find themselves left out in the cold. You can count out Derek Stevens as a potential rescuer. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal was “in a pretty tough location.” (A reputed policy of sweating comps can’t have helped.)
has been eclipsed.) Over in Macao, Greff wrote, “
anger” category, a good place to be. We’re also 29th in vanity, which you could guess from the way a lot of people around here dress. However, we’re way up #1 for greed and laziness. I’d never think of Las Vegas as the capital of sloth but apparently so. We’re fourteenth in lust but fifth in jealousy, which suggests a lot of people are suffering from Iago‘s green-eyed monster for no good reason. We’re fifth in gambling addiction percentage-wise but, even with marijuana now legal, don’t show up on the radar for problem drug use. That’d be Vermont. Alarmingly, we’re third in violent crimes per capita. (Maine is the safest state.) But even with all those comped drinks, we’re somewhere in the middle for problem drinking.
three casinos succumbed to the Penn National Effect, promising the biggest revenues imaginable. This left them little room for error when cold reality began creeping into the numbers. In this case the shortfall was some 39%. New York State should take this lesson into account when accepting bids on the New York City market a few years hence. “We’re responsible for a huge increase in tourism in the region,” said Del Lago General Manager Jeff Babinski, in defiance of the evidence — a worst-ever performance last month.
kind of thing, had it been implemented at Mandalay Bay, could have caused the discovery of butcher Stephen Paddock‘s one-man arsenal before he went full-automatic on a Jason Aldean concert crowd. Caesars is also considering — and ought to — giving panic buttons to employees for situations in which they feel endangered. Think of what a few well-placed panic buttons might have prevented at Wynn Resorts. It’s not a Vegas-only policy but one that Caesars will implement globally. Similar policies have been adopted at other casino-resort companies but not always with this degree of stringency. (In some, a room can go two days without a mandatory check.) Culinary Union workers were originally to be tasked with combining housekeeping with security, but Caesars sensibly revised the policy when the Culinary balked.-
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