We could see another shakeout in Macao junket operators. According to Daiwa Securities Group, most of the industry is “struggling just to break even.” Part of that problem is that they’re carrying almost $3,9 billion in bad debt — and you can just bet that 
American casino operators in China are now glad that the Nevada Gaming Commission wouldn’t allow them to issue credit over there, leaving the problem in the laps of the junket operators. Add “stale” debt to the so-called “healthy” bad debt and the hole gets even deeper. Part of the problem is simple: With less VIP play taking place, the volatility of that segment becomes considerably greater. Gross high-roller revenue from baccarat fell 40% last year.
Given the withered high-end market in Macao, junketeers are looking toward overseas markets, as near as Vietnam and as distant as Continue reading
blamed but stock analysts should have seen that coming. (A 
IPO is rather more base than enlarging the company. The already wealthy Fertitta Brothers stand to make out like bandits. As the Las Vegas Sun 
toward the lower end of Wall Street had predicted for the deal and means the Boyd is getting Cannery at an industry-standard multiple of 7X EBITDA (as opposed to the crazy 13X cash flow it paid for Aliante Casino). That takes some of the sting out of the problem Boyd will facing when it starts competing with itself on the Boulder Strip. There, Sam’s Town and Eastside Cannery are only a (long) block apart, separated by a KOA campground. At least the original Cannery (shown) is seven miles from Aliante, ameliorating any North Las Vegas cannibalization. “We view the transaction favorably,” wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli, as well he might, given the Boyd had picked up two casinos for $115 million each, a bargain in today’s market.
DeNunzio, Anthony Gattineri and Charles Lightbody attempted to defraud Wynn Resorts by concealing convicted felon Lightbody’s ownership role in the 35 acres Wynn acquired from them. While the three men are all in danger of spending the next 20 years in prison, Wynn Resorts faces the PR blotch of appearing to have been, at best, willfully ignorant of who owned the land it was buying. Wynn go-between Daniel Gaquin is alleged not to have asked who the owners were. Worse still, Wynn’s Matthew Maddox and General Counsel Kim Sinatra were said to have been informed of Lightbody’s involvement and showed no concern.
camps.” However, he’s found one idea that he’s not only sticking to but has already begun putting into motion: the installation of a ropes course in the former valet-parking area. Later, sand will be trucked in to create a Nikki Beach-like lounging space. The vehicular entrance to Revel will become subterranean. What Straub may not be able to pull off, at least not yet, is reopening the megaresort’s restaurants. He needs to have an operational casino to get a liquor license, 
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 
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