Continuing its thrust into North Las Vegas, a suddenly acquisitive Boyd Gaming has obtained Aliante Casino Hotel & Spa. Unlike its surprise, if still unconfirmed, swoop upon Cannery Casino Resorts, here Boyd is snapping up a property we knew was on the market. For $380 
million, Boyd gets what it cost Station Casinos $662 million to build. (Station lost the property in a debt-for-equity swap.) Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli writes that the deal “fills a geographic hole in the locals portfolio.” Boyd expects cost savings of $8 million right off the top by integrating stand-alone Aliante into a larger corporate whole. At its present rate of cash flow, Aliante will give Boyd a 4% return on investment, so Boyd better have a lot of B Connected members up in that neck of the woods, which is at far north end of development in the Las Vegas Valley. Indeed, by paying almost 13X cash flow for a locals casino (nearly twice the going rate), it could be argued that Boyd got taken to the cleaners, possibly motivated by the chance to taunt Station by obtaining one of its former trophy properties. Santarelli thinks Boyd could almost double Continue reading
area of the city, which is emerging as a hub for technology start-ups, attracting affluent professionals with money to gamble.” Although Boyd has land in the north part of the valley, a deal with Cannery would relieve it of the obligation to build up there … a far costlier proposition. The mooted deal is somewhat of a curate’s egg because Eastside Cannery is only a couple of blocks south of Sam’s Town, mainly separated by a KOA RV park. True, Boyd has three casinos in close proximity in downtown Las Vegas, but they’re all popular with the Hawaiian crowd. What Boyd intends to do with this apparent redundancy on the Boulder Strip remains to be seen.
out three Granite Gaming Group properties, including Mermaids, as well as La Bayou and strip club Topless Girls of Glitter Gulch. So if you want to have a chocolate-dipped frozen banana, head on over to Mermaids before Stevens closes it (and the other two properties) 
who might benefit from delaying the convention center expansion, well, let’s just say that will eventually come out,” writes Smith. And who might want to screw things up for the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, which has been a thorn in his side for years? Preserving one Riviera tower (To what end? And who’s paying for it?) would run a cart and horses through the 
Trades Council President William T. Mullen 
current names. But, as part of reverting to being publicly traded, Station is becoming Red Rock Resorts, like a big-ass version of its flagship property. The Fertitta Brothers, who paid themselves a tidy $460 million to be bought out of managing the company through a third-party entity, are launching an IPO 
for June. Not only is he racing the clock, he may be fighting another adverse circumstance: Since the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority owns the Riviera, there is some question as to whether Clark County would have the standing to intervene in the demolition, regardless of how many signatures Engel collects. In the meantime, the demolition contractor “will have to wrap the building in plastic and chisel away the finish and haul the debris away to prevent asbestos particles from becoming airborne during a planned implosion.” The Riviera, y’see, hails from that era when we thought asbestos was a good thing (sort of like methadone when it was introduced). Engel wants to preserve at least one of the Riviera towers, as a gesture acknowledging old Las Vegas, though I’m not sure it would serve any purpose. Besides, he’s left it a bit late. The Neon Museum has already removed 
casino (up to 10,000 slots) in Chicago, with the proceeds dedicated to “public pensions, capital expenditures and education.” As in previous legislatures, Rep. Robert Rita (D, left) is the point man for the expansion of gambling. It may sound like a big idea but it’s nothing compared to a parallel bill in the state Senate that would authorize five additional casinos and add racinos (600 gaming positions if in Cook County, 450 elsewhere) to the state. Its chances in the House are deemed slim. One potentially affected property, Rivers Casino, isn’t taking this lying down — or at least 
on his promise of a $100 million capex infusion into the failing property. New boss Anthony Rodio (right) likened it to his situation when he took over the Tropicana Atlantic City: “The place had just come out of bankruptcy, employee morale was horrible and the customer base was shrinking. All those things are happening now at the Taj Mahal.” Unfortunately for Rodio, Icahn will only give him $15 million to remediate the most egregious shortcomings of the property. These include leaks in the Chairman Tower (named after Donald Trump, not Mao Tse-Tung) and refurbishment of 150 rooms that are evidently in too much disrepair to be rented at present.
proponents of the smoking ban on the city council had six votes, the expected seventh, swing vote failed to materialize and the ban went down, 6-6. This is good news for area casino operators, Pinnacle Entertainment (whose L’Auberge Baton Rouge is pictured), Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. and Tropicana Entertainment. Perhaps the city councilors were thinking about the fate of Harrah’s New Orleans, which has seen a 10% revenue decline since succumbing to a Big Easy smoking ban, while revenue at Boomtown New Orleans and Treasure Chest, in neighboring Jefferson Parish, is up 6% over the same time frame. “To be fair, Harrah’s New Orleans had been losing share and underperforming prior to the implementation of the smoking restriction as well,” writes Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli. Still, it’s a rare victory for smokers, and for those who believe that smoking and gambling go hand in glove.
the insistence by several tribal power players on a “bad actor” clause that would keep PokerStars out of the Golden State. That faction’s hand was strengthened by recent insider-trading charges against CEO David Baazov for insider trading, seemingly to validate the argument that this particular leopard can’t change his spots. Stallings, whose private-sector allies include Bicycle Casino, acknowledges as much. “It does raise if not red flags, caution flags. It does raise issues of corporate governance,” he told CardPlayer.com. “The resurgence of poker as a viable online game depends on California,” Stallings said. “One more hurdle does 
“This casino project takes a significant piece of property off the tax rolls, and this is a problem for a county that has the dubious distinction of having the highest percentage of tax-exempt properties in the whole state. I think if you sign this agreement tonight, you’re at risk of selling your soul, if not the heart of St. Joseph County, for two cents on the dollar and some shiny lollipops.” — casino opponent Kelly Havens, speaking against a Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians 
18%. The entry of PokerStars wasn’t immediately felt, as Resorts Digital‘s market share stood at 12%. behind Borgata ($4 million, 28%), Caesars Interactive (20%), Golden Nugget (20%) and Tropicana (20%). Borgata slots were flat, despite 2% higher coin-in, while a 1.5% dip in table wagering triggered a 14% falloff in casino win. The house definitely lost last month. Borgata’s $54 million haul represented a 4% decline from last year. On a citywide basis, slot performance was almost exactly like Borgata’s: flat, despite 1% more handle. Table play was also flat, with the casinos losing 6.5% on a year/year basis.
history now that Vegas High Roller sexpot Chloe Scordianos 
$280,000 at Trenton in an effort to slow casino-expansion legislation. Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts International paid $170,000 to one lobbying firm, but MGM has been spreading its bets across the board: It was part of seven-casino consortium that paid $175,000 to politically connected Optimus Partners and it also paid $83,000 to former governor Jim Florio‘s Kaufman Zita firm. “I think the money we’ve seen spent to influence these issues will be dwarfed by what we see this year,” predicts Gordon MacInness of New Jersey Policy Perspective, which opposes casino expansion.
casinos — Revel, Showboat, Atlantic Club and Trump Plaza — jettisoned, profits not only steadied, they improved. Last year’s $547 million operating profit represented an increase in excess of 40%. Carl Icahn‘s people, however, need to keep their eye on the ball. While the boss was chasing Trump Taj Mahal, profits at Tropicana Las Vegas fell 22%. New Jersey Casino Control Commission Chairman Matt Levinson called 
Alabama law. However, paid daily fantasy sports contests are in fact illegal gambling under Alabama law.” With those words, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange told DraftKings and FanDuel -
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