Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli met with a number of casino companies recently and came away with a sanguine prospect for the Las Vegas Strip. As for the operators, “Overall, we felt commentary pertaining to the LV locals market, regional 
gaming markets, and the M&A environment, was bullish, while LV Strip and Macau color was a bit more mixed.” Corporate and convention bookings on the Strip are flat, with no Con-Agg Expo to juice business this year. Individual travel, though, manifests “weakness … We believe bookings for the [New Year’s Eve] period were down y/y and rates followed suit. That said, we believe the period firmed up meaningfully from what was a very soft booking position in the mid November period.”
However, “domestic patron gaming trends continue to exhibit healthy growth … High end play from Asia has been improving, albeit modestly, while gaming spend from Europe and South America remains Continue reading
law-enforcement priority. Beauregard is flying in the face of a majority of Americans who approve of medicinal marijuana and at least a plurality who have legalized recreational use. Sen. Cory Gardner (R), at least, is sticking up for his Colorado constituents, pushing back fiercely against Beauregard’s crusade. Nevadans have yet to see similar profiles in courage from Sens. Dean Heller (R) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D). In the meantime, the Nevada Gaming Control Board looks downright prescient in decreeing, in no uncertain terms, that casino owners steer a broad course away from the Mary Jane business.
“There is no ambiguity here. This is an underlying principle of our democracy. We cannot stand silent. We will not allow any president to achieve by intimidation what our Constitution precludes him or her from achieving in court. We need to respond strongly for Michael Wolff and his book, but also for all authors and all their books, now and in the future. And as citizens we must demand that President Trump understand and abide by the First Amendment of our Constitution.” — MacMillan Publishers President John Sargent, 
means he’ll pocket a tidy $118 million profit, minus the cost of capex improvements. Not only does Revel have a new owner, it also has a new name: Ocean Resort Casino. The buyer is Colorado mogul Bruce Deifik, who intends to have the property on line by summertime (might we suggest he accelerate the process by hiring a casino-management company?). According to Bloomberg, “Deifik said he planned to add an Asian noodle bar and a high-end players’ club.” (Has he been studying the downfall of Lucky Dragon Casino?)
“paves the way for Lucky Dragon to establish new partnerships that will enhance the property.” That would be all well and good if new partners were stepping forward but none seem to be. VitalVegas author Scott Roeben tells me the Dragon was shopped around for a bargain-basement $90 million and found no takers. He explains, “that $90 million asking is based upon what they need to take care of primary lenders and EB-5 (second tier) investors,” adding, “The only nibble brought a bid for six cents on the dollar. Painful!”
share, grossed $47 million for a 2% dip. By contrast, Horseshoe Baltimore had only 17% of market share, grossing $24 million and plummeting 19.5%. The sole gainer other than MGM was Rocky Gap Casino, where Golden Entertainment juiced business 7% for a $4 million gross. Other small fry were not so lucky. Ocean Downs (pre-table games) plunged 9% to $4 million while Hollywood Perryville slipped 5.5% to $6 million. MGM continues to fortunate in the split of play at National Harbor, which only slightly favors heavily taxed slot play, with low-tax table winnings representing 49% of the tally.
measures. To that end, REIT Vici Properties is mulling a stock offering that aims to drum up $4 billion in cash. Of course, not all of the money will go toward retiring Caesars’ massive debts, incurred during the spendthrift Gary Loveman era. Some of the money would be dedicated to expanding the empire. As it stands, the REIT (ticker symbol VICI) owns 
policy and it’s equally wrong if Uncle Sam starts doing it as public policy. (It’s also a kind of reverse socialism but we won’t get into that.) Nobody should have to eke out a living on $2.13 an hour plus tips but that’s the America in which we live. Fortunately, if you find this proposal as odious as I do, you can 
corporate tax cuts
overall revenue 6% downward. Had it not been for that game, the Strip would have been only 2.5% off last year’s pace. The house was damned unlucky at table games, seeing 17% less win ($210 million), inclusive of baccarat, on flat wagering. Overall, Strip winnings were 6%, helped somewhat by a 5% increase at the slots ($270 million) on 3% more coin-in. The most dramatic gains were out in the sticks, with Elko ($23.5 million) up 12% and Carson Valley ($9 million) gaining 11%.
and low interests has led stock pickers to predict that 
for five years but are finding Donald Trump‘s regime more tractable to it than was Barack Obama‘s. There’s still the question of getting the $400 million project past Gov. Scott Walker (R. pictured) but the Ho-Chunk have an ace up their sleeve in the form of an agreement with the state that permits them to build one more casino at an unspecified location. While we don’t expect the path to be free of controversy, the Ho-Chunk seem to have a winning project in hand.
Times, “its backers say that, while the Pentagon ended funding for the effort at that time, the program remains in existence. For the past five years, they say, officials with the program have continued to investigate episodes brought to them by service members, while also carrying out their other Defense Department duties.” If this sounds like something that would be dreamt up by Vegas tycoon and paranormal enthusiast Robert Bigelow your surmise would be precisely on target.
filthy casino lucre, it seems. At any rate, even though L’Auberge Baton Rouge (pictured) has taken mighty chomps out of the competition — especially Hollywood Baton Rouge — the Baton Rouge Area Chamber