Things continue to look up for the Boardwalk. Last month, Atlantic City casinos showed a 2.5% revenue increase on a same-
store basis. Toss the dead weight of Trump Taj Mahal out of the year/year comparison and the growth is an impressive 6.5%. Better days really seem to be ahead for Atlantic City, if they’re not already here — and the reinvention of the Taj as Hard Rock Atlantic City should grow the market further. As for Glenn Straub at Revel, he’s drifted off into irrelevance.
Market leader Borgata grossed $70 million (+8%), with table revenue up 23% on only 3% higher volume — the house played very lucky. By contrast, slot handle was up 6% but Continue reading
much better than that. Despite this recent debacle, owner TPM Properties has actually found a buyer for the bounced-around ex-casino. Unfortunately, 
Mahoning Valley (pictured, $9 million) shot up 14%. Slot/win/day ranged from $196 in Columbus to $300 (150% of industry average) in Austintown. By contrast, Dan Gilbert‘s “Jack” brand had mixed results, up 3% to $16 million in Cincinnati, but down 3% to $9 million at Thistledown and 2% down to $17 million in Cleveland. Is it just me or should that strategically placed casino be doing better?
stocks of both Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment Group 
to say that the Floyd Mayweather/Conor McGregor fight helped. $70 million was wagered on it, with the books keeping nearly $20 million. It also shows how much money is to be made from sports betting if only the Supreme Court can persuaded to strike down the Bradley Act. September is expected to be as good but not as much as August, in part because a big ticket fight 
room for two or three days. That would have triggered a whole bunch of alarms here, and we would have — on behalf of the guests, of course — investigated for safety.” Wynn personnel, he said, 
a way to become relevant after spending years snarled in debt, then in bankruptcy. 
may or may not make a deal difficult/hamper value creation, exist.” He calls the deal “sensible” in theory and the potential synergies “considerable,” identifying $28/share as a target price for the deal. Pinnacle shares, at the moment, are trending downward ($23.82 at last check). There will be a certain amount of addition by subtraction, with Penn likely to have to divest itself of least one casino in Pennsylvania, another in Missouri, while “Mississippi could be reviewed with scrutiny.”
in the disposition of the property by the courts for the conflagration, “If the courts would have ruled on Friday like they were supposed to, this wouldn’t have happened,” was Duncan’s cryptic comment. Clark County was the latest party to bid on the site, ponying up $5 million against two other bids in bankruptcy court. However, whether the county is still interested now remains to be seen, “The fear on that was that it was going to continue to be a fire hazard,” said city spokesman David Riggleman, explains the ultimate demolition.
poker “whale,” one who didn’t blanch at wagering $100 a spin. Not only was he good at beating the house, his sniper’s nest at Mandalay Bay 
on their aggregate $599 million revenue projection — right now they’re $377 million short. The latest casino to under-report is Del Lago Resort & Casino, which had bragged it could bring in $263 million in Year One 
be a while before we see money like this bet on a fight again,” said Betfair‘s Katie Baylis. Indeed. Betfair took in its biggest handle ever: $79 million, of which $16 million was wagered in the last five hours before the slugfest. In Las Vegas, sports books logged $65 million in bets, $15 million more than the tainted Mayweather/Manny Pacquiao bout. (The latter had a torn rotator cuff yet the fight was allowed to proceed as scheduled.) The match had a ripple effect on casino play, which saw revenues up 16% in the Las Vegas area and even 10.5% higher in tiny Mesquite. The Nevada Gaming Control Board‘s Michael Layton said, “This fight was a tremendous event from a gaming win perspective for not just sports wagering but also table games and slots.”
follow. “Las Vegas is a target city. We have hardened the target at the Wynn,” he told a local TV station. Frankly, we’d prefer airport-style metal detectors but Wynn strategy of giving his security team the latitude to study guests at check in and check bags when it seems warranted is one with which we can’t argue. Reports Bloomberg, “The new security protocol, put in place after Sunday’s mass shooting nearby, is likely to become the norm on the Strip and possibly beyond.”
methods, latest in engineering. But in order to do that, we really have to pick a location that is top tier — near major cities with a huge population and also high potential for tourists. We don’t think Tokyo is going to happen. It’s such a fantastic city but it’s a city for government, for financial … it’s less casual when you go to Tokyo. I think the government is thinking of using the integrated resorts as urban revitalization, so I think they’re looking at Yokohama.” — Melco Resorts & Entertainment CEO Lawrence Ho, 
permanent tweaks to security measures, 2) an increase in operator costs related to enhanced security measures, and 3) a likely softening, to some degree, in peak period demand (New Year’s/Events) … While there is a different feeling in Las Vegas since Sunday night and hotel security is heightened with a more visible police presence on and around casino floors, as well as some 
a reorganization that will leave Caesars creditors $10 billion lighter in the wallet. The consummation of the deal 
“There were probably some elements of the Chinese government that thought Macao was growing too quickly. Maybe people like [Sheldon] Adelson and the like were getting rich too quickly.” — Richard McGregor, author of The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers, on the ongoing anti-graft crackdown that has taken such a big bite out of the Macanese economy.