That’s how Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli headlined his investor note alerting stockholders to the news that Wynn Resorts CEO/Chairman Steve Wynn has opted to step down. One can only speculate, but Carrie Geer Thevenot‘s long-buried Las Vegas Review-Journal report on Wynn’s “I love grannies” 
sexcapade was the pinkie-shove that sent Wynn tumbling into a rapidly deepening abyss. The move does not imply an acceptance of responsibility on Wynn’s part. He blamed it on “an avalanche of negative publicity … in which a rush to judgment takes precedence over everything else, including the facts.” Wynn Resorts President Matt Maddox moves into the void — and it is a big one — left by Mr. Wynn’s departure. “Steve Wynn is an industry giant. He is a philanthropist and a beloved leader and visionary. He played the pivotal role in transforming Las Vegas into the entertainment destination it is today,” said board member Boone Wayson by way of a goodbye note. Wayson also implied that the Wynn brand will remain on the company’s various and sundry casinos, tainted though it is. One analyst wrote, “We think it stays in Macau, but we are less certain in Boston and, to a lesser degree, Las Vegas.”
While Wynn’s resignation removes some of the regulatory pressure faced by the company in Macao and Nevada, it’s far from being Continue reading
angle is concerned, an offer of $19.45/share isn’t going to cut it when Vici is trading for $21, as it is. Victorious Vici CEO Ed Pitoniak gloated understandably and rightly: “There is growing interest in gaming real estate as a real estate asset class worthy of institutional investment.” He added, “We are fortunate to be a point where that interest is growing strongly.” Gaming analyst David Katz laid out a scenario whereby Vici and tenant Caesars International could buy, say, Wynn Resorts by bidding for it in tandem. (Needless to say, MGM and MGM Growth Properties could execute the same pincer movement.) How long do you think it will be before Sheldon Adelson forms a REIT?
7%, which I guess is a silver lining of sorts. The only casino in the state to gain business was perennial leader Rivers Casino, up 3.5% to $35 million. (Isn’t that nicely symmetrical.) Down south, Harrah’s Metropolis suffered an absolutely catastrophic month, plummeting 29.5% to $5 million. Returning to the northern casinos, Harrah’s Joliet was the closest thing Rivers had to competition, grossing $13.5 million (-9%). Penn National Gaming grossed $9 million at Hollywood Aurora (-11%) and $9 million at Empress Joliet (-9%). At Grand Victoria, co-owner MGM Resorts International grossed $12 million, a 5% slippage.
know we’ve been headed towards very bleak budgets. Well, we’re there now,” said state Sen. Morgan McGarvey (D). Added state Rep. Jerry Miller (R), “It’s much more palatable than a tax increase.” True that, but this idea has come up in Lege after Lege and always fallen short. “This would free up tax dollars now going to pensions to be spent on other things in the budget,” Miller said and he’s proposed a bill that would dedicate all “casino gaming” revenues to the state’s sagging pension fund. Would casino companies cotton to something so confiscatory?
quashed the story. (Ah, the high ethical standards of the Sherman Frederick era.) Not only did the paper require that the two witnesses in question 
of them off during the Great Recession (although it did cut some of them to part-timers), Wynn not so subtly reminded them that he could fire all their asses at a moment’s whim. He referred to the company as a “family,” although 
a sentiment that he would have done well to have remembered when he was raiding his dealers’ tip pool to compensate pit bosses. The plea comes as an increasingly unpopular Wynn 
Carlo Santarelli still advised caution for the near future, writing, “While [Chinese New Year] generates a lot of hype, the month around the holiday has often tended to bring about disappointment as the periods into and post the holiday tend to offset the primarily mass strength during the holiday.” There was n0 breakdown of how market share was divided among the six operators, so we should hope for greater clarity in the future.
reporting that the University of Iowa “announced plans to remove Wynn’s name from the school’s vision research institute in light of sexual misconduct allegations against Wynn.” The $25 million endowment by Wynn, made in 2013, 
games fared much better, up 7.5%. A slight increase in coin-in was enough to propel slot revenues up 6%. (Tighter holds helped.) Locals casinos saw flat slot revenue on 4% more coin-in but table game wagers were 6.5% higher, leading to 12% greater win.
when prominent Nevada casino figures got into trouble elsewhere, whether it was Clifford Perlman being found too mobbed-up to operate in New Jersey or Station Casinos being chased out of Missouri with regulators nipping at its heels. Not so this time. “After completing our review, the Nevada Gaming Control Board is conducting an investigation with regard to the allegations of sexual misconduct involving Steve Wynn. The Nevada Gaming Control Board will conduct its investigation in a thorough and judicious manner,” stated Chairwoman Becky Harris, enduring a trial by fire in her first month on the job.
been pushing for these as a means of summoning security when their members are assaulted by guests. In one such appalling incident, a Boulder Station housekeeper was doing her job when a “man stormed the room, punched the woman in the face, closed the doors and assaulted her. The victim told police that she yelled, but the man only hit her harder.” A similar incident led to an arrest at Bally’s. The so-called panic buttons are already standard hotel issue in New York City, Seattle and Chicago.
present, a share that would have cost you $201.30 on Jan. 26 now goes for $163.48. The stock is also 
waiting for the favourable opinions from related technical departments,” said the Macao Government Tourism Office. Fire-safety and other related clearances are believed to be at the heart of the delay. Nomura Securities blamed a “governmental approval backlog, although we believe that most of it is a local management decision.” It thought MGM could have met its original, Jan. 29 deadline but only with “a herculean effort.” Nomura believes MGM will take hotel bookings for Chinese New Year (Feb. 16) which, in the understatement of the week, it called “an important revenue window no operator wants to miss.”
victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and elder abuse,” according to her office. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R) was close behind, promising a $1,ooo donation would go to a nonprofit instead. And that’s just the beginning. (Donations from Mrs. Wynn, Andrea Hissom, are being kept.) For time time being, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller (R) is hiding his head in the sand — presumably hoping the matter will go away. Nursing a one-point lead over challenger Rep. Jacky Rosen (D), he is probably loath to unilaterally disarm. A senator Wynn hasn’t lavished cash upon, Susan Collins (R), stated “I don’t even think it’s a close call to return the money. They’re very serious allegations, and should be treated as such.”
in with $731 million. Even though recovering from three cracked ribs, CEO Sheldon Adelson had to like those numbers. He’s even been approached to sell Sands Macao, but waved that off. “Our strategy to build integrated results towards scale and diversity is clearly paying dividends … I’m very optimistic and I’m very, very confident about the growth of Macao,” he told investors.