New Jersey loses again; From Russia with casinos

Posted on August 26, 2015 by David McKee


New Jersey‘s quest for sports betting came to a bitter, penultimate roadblock before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which deemed the Garden State’s repeal of its sports-betting ban to be a violation of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. The ruling was basically a rerun of prior Third Circuit edicts, with judges Maryanne Trump Barry and Marjorie Rendell frowning upon New Jersey’s law and Judge Julio Fuentes the lone voice of sanity, saying  Continue reading →

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Quote of the Day

Posted on August 26, 2015 by David McKee

“Indian gaming, unfortunately, is the 800-pound gorilla in every room, in every discussion, on every Indian policy, including recognition. Mostly recognition.” — lobbyist Arlinda Locklear, on how tribal policymaking in Washington, D.C., is complicated by politicians and interest groups who have the heebie-jeebies about gambling.

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Back from vacation

Posted on August 26, 2015 by David McKee

My wife and I have just returned from four days’ vacation in Kanab, Utah. We spent our time there volunteering at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, where we washed dishes, folded laundry, picked up poop, fed the inhabitants and socialized with Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, MGM Mirage, Pets, The Strip | 2 Comments

Caesars’ pound of flesh; SLS plays the Red Bull card

Posted on August 21, 2015 by David McKee

Banks and other lending institutions aren’t going to simply forebear while Caesars Entertainment ownership absconds with all the assets. No, they want equity if they’re going to forgive debt and drop caesarscasino_1lawsuits. And if those lawsuits drag the parent company into Chapter 11, so be it. Caesars’ attitude toward creditors has been at times disdainful, with advisor James E. Millstein telling a lawyer, “You’re deluding yourselves in thinking you’re getting that money anytime soon.” Millstein added that Caesars could lose whatever creditor support it has if litigation over potentially fraudulent asset transfers is permitted to go forward. (And, let’s face it, when Total Rewards is “sold” for $0.00, there’s something fishy happening.)

According to the Wall Street Journal, “a bondholder committee proposed a restructuring plan under which Continue reading →

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The Penn National effect strikes again

Posted on August 21, 2015 by David McKee

Penn National Gaming is “making it rain” in Plainview, where it has spent $1.5 million with local vendors since opening. The Plainridge5workforce at Plainridge Park has gone from 100 to 533, with a $14 million payroll. And the state has already collected $10 million in taxes. This would seem like success beyond Deval Patrick‘s wildest dreams but now the dreaded Penn National Effect kicks in, management having engaged in its habitual exaggeration of projected revenue, forecast at $248 million but likelier to come in around $220 million. (See also Baltimore, Horseshoe.)

Area vendors have nothing but good things to say about Plainridge, while Continue reading →

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Those tight slots; A birthday for Horseshoe

Posted on August 20, 2015 by David McKee

When one reads that casino revenues were up in, say, Indiana, despite lower foot traffic, you’ve got to wonder how its done. Applied Analysis has the answer: Slot holds are at “all-time highs,” meaning that some of the economic recovery we’ve been seeing is artificially Parx slotsgenerated. The study was commissioned by the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers, who are to be commended for essentially blowing the whistle on themselves. Except for Florida‘s drop from 9.5% to 6% hold, most states have seen 6% increases in hold since 2007, even as actual slot play fell by double-digit amounts.

Applied Analysis takes issue with Wall Street pundits on the subject of recent comebacks, saying, Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Atlantic City, Baseball, Derek Stevens, Downtown, Economy, Harrah's, Indiana, Maryland, Penn National, Regulation, Tamares Group, Technology, The Strip, Wall Street, WMS Industries | 5 Comments

Optimism at MGM; SLS: The Unhappy Blob

Posted on August 20, 2015 by David McKee

MGM Resorts International sent CFO Dan D’Arrigo to meet with J.P. Morgan analysts, who found MGM execs in an upbeat mood. “We’d characterize the tone of the meetings as positive and Crystals 4investor interest as high,” wrote analyst Joseph Greff. That’s partly because MGM’s bread and butter, convention-goers, have been coming to Vegas in force and October is on course to set a record for group bookings on the Las Vegas Strip. As for other strategic positioning, management is still working its way through the pros and cons of converting to a REIT. As for ongoing asset sales, Crystals (above) is still the property being most aggressively shopped, although the $1 billion price tag may explain why MGM hasn’t found a buyer yet.

MGM taketh away, planning to eradicate any remaining 3:2 blackjack from its Strip casinos, as well as trying to “capture” more resort fees. Thanks, guys. Greff projected that the company’s forthcoming Macao casino would make a “reasonable” Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Churchill Downs, CityCenter, Eldorado Resorts, Georgia, Harrah's, Louisiana, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pinnacle Entertainment, Sam Nazarian, SLS Las Vegas, The Strip, Tilman Fertitta, Wall Street | 2 Comments

It’s Galaxy’s turn to take a hit; Tohono O’odham file suit

Posted on August 20, 2015 by David McKee

Add Galaxy Entertainment to the companies taking on the chin in the Macao economy. The casino firm just posted a 46% drop in cash flow Galaxy-Macau-e1352360709345-300x300for 2Q15. Leading by example, Chairman Lui Che Woo announced a freeze in executive salaries as the primary austerity measure. He also became the latest casino boss to say Macao has “almost hit bottom.” Hey, if enough CEOs keep saying it, somebody’s eventually bound to be right, no? Although China International Capital Corp. analyst Chris Kwai called Galaxy’s numbers “solid,” he’s not buying into the ‘build it and they will come scenario for 2016. “Individual new opening will not bring too much of an upside in the entire market,” he hedged. “But once it added up all the casinos next year, people will be more fond of going to Macao.”

Aside from the emaciated VIP play, Macao casino bosses also have to worry about a possible Continue reading →

Posted in Arizona, Cosmopolitan, Dining, Economy, Galaxy Entertainment, Harrah's, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Philippines, Regulation, The Strip, Tribal | Comments Off on It’s Galaxy’s turn to take a hit; Tohono O’odham file suit

SLS: Closed by 2016?

Posted on August 19, 2015 by David McKee

That’s the stark implication of some remarks by owner Stockbridge Capital Partners about SLS Las Vegas, which continues to generate negative return on investment. Howard Stutz took a deep sls-picdive into the numbers and he must have required a bathysphere to find them. In 2Q15, SLS lost $49 million, for a grand total of $84 million year to date. Stockbridge made three cash infusions, for a total of $13 million, during the summer months, when one would expect SLS to be performing at its best.

Stockbridge said it would keep picking up the tab through Dec. 31, leaving the distinct impression that Continue reading →

Posted in Cannery Casino Resorts, Dining, Entertainment, Genting, Harrah's, IGT, Isle of Capri, James Packer, Marketing, Mississippi, Mohegan Sun, Neil Bluhm, New York, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Revel, Sam Nazarian, Sheldon Adelson, SLS Las Vegas, Taxes, The Strip, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on August 19, 2015 by David McKee

“It is now safe to say the American casino industry has recovered, and the new normal is growth again.” — Fantini’s Gaming Report CEO Frank Fantini, on revenue upticks at Midwestern and tribal casinos.

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Massachusetts: Penn has a hit; Arms race in New York

Posted on August 19, 2015 by David McKee

First-month numbers are in for Plainridge Park and the racino run by Penn National Gaming took in an average of $467/slot/day Penn logo(including a $6.15 million gross its first week). That’s an absolute blockbuster figure in an industry where $200/day is the desired average. So they’re metaphorically off and running at Plainridge. It has Massachusetts all to itself for as much as three years but already some doom-and-gloom remarks are being made. “What they need to do is build up some kind of loyalty to keep people coming back after MGM’s Springfield casino and Wynn Resorts’ $1.7 billion Everett casino open with all the bells and whistles,” said Boston College boffin Richard McGowan.

Oh, don’t worry about that. Penn’s already Continue reading →

Posted in Genting, Harrah's, Internet gambling, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, New York, Penn National, Racinos, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Technology, Tribal | Comments Off on Massachusetts: Penn has a hit; Arms race in New York

So long, Las Vegas Club

Posted on August 17, 2015 by David McKee

The countdown has begun toward a Wednesday closing of the Las Vegas Club. It’s surprising that it took five years for new co-owner vegasclub-pic2Derek Stevens to persuade Tamares Group to part with the casino, considering how flummoxed Tamares was at what to do with it. “There will be some demolition and renovation,” Stevens says, “several months down the line.” Reopening the Club will be complicated by the fact that Stevens bought neither Continue reading →

Posted in Derek Stevens, Donald Trump, Downtown, Election, Internet gambling, Sheldon Adelson, Tamares Group | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on August 17, 2015 by David McKee

wilmott“I joked with people a year ago no one wanted to be in regional gaming and everyone wanted to be in Macao. And a year later, it has really flipped.” — Penn National Gaming CEO Tim Wilmott, whose company’s stock price has risen 70% in the last year.

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Poker outlawed in Wisconsin; A new game in New York

Posted on August 17, 2015 by David McKee

Score one against private poker games and score one for tribal casinos, which are now the only places in Wisconsin where one can legally play poker. As Poker News put it, ” the fact remains even poker-cardplaying poker for pennies against grandma constitutes a crime.” A crowdfunded lawsuit by poker players challenging state law met with a not-unsympathetic but ultimately negative verdict from Judge Richard G. Niess. Saying his “hands are tied” by a 1964 legal precedent, Niess ruled, “I’ve got to say that poker is such a rich topic on so many levels. It’s as much a part of the American fabric, I think, as Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Genting, Macau, New York, Regulation, Technology, Tribal, Wisconsin | 2 Comments

Vegas Club rescued; Straight talk from Steve Wynn

Posted on August 14, 2015 by David McKee

Good news for fans of the Las Vegas Club (and you know who you are): Its long Tamares Group nightmare will soon be over. Tamares LV Clubhas sold the Vegas Club to the D owner Derek Stevens and his brother for a undisclosed $40 million pricc. Details are thin on the ground, particularly as to Stevens’ intentions. However, given the vast improvements he wrought at the D and Golden Gate, optimism is warranted. In a cover-your-ass announcement, Tamares tried to paint its retreat from the increasingly threadbare Vegas Club as the kind of Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Derek Stevens, Donald Trump, Downtown, Economy, Golden Gaming, Macau, Penn National, Regulation, Steve Wynn, Tamares Group, The Strip, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Kabuki comes to Vegas

Posted on August 14, 2015 by David McKee

Here’s a preview of the half-hour Kabuki spectacle Fight with a Carp, which will play five performances at Bellagio over the next three nights. A special, 165-square-foot stage has been erected in the Bellagio lagoon for the show, which is synopsized as “a handsome samurai … falls in love with a beautiful maiden … only to discover she is actually a giant carp’s spirit taking the form of a woman to seek revenge against humans for killing her carp lover.” In other words, just another day at the koi pond. MGM Resorts International is to be commended for this effort to spread the appreciation of Kabuki theatre.

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Quote of the Day

Posted on August 14, 2015 by David McKee

“I wondered how in the world we would protect it. And it’s like putting a Renoir in Disneyworld.” — Elaine Wynn, on the genesis of the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art.

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Yesterday in Las Vegas

Posted on August 14, 2015 by David McKee


The rains came — with a vengeance.

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What they did to your luggage

Posted on August 13, 2015 by David McKee

Whee! I feel like I’ve just been on El Loco at Circus Circus‘ Adventuredome.

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Studio City in trouble; Tribal clash in Massachusetts

Posted on August 13, 2015 by David McKee

Melco Crown Entertainment is in Eeyore mood these days, darkly muttering about a “contingency plan” for Studio City if the Macao government doesn’t give it 400 table games. As far back as its 2014 Lawrence Hoannual report, the company was making noises about bankruptcy at the $3.2 billion megaresort, a rescue project that Melco Crown (unwisely?) took over from its original developer. It has threatened to default on a $1.4 billion loan, stating, “In the event that we are unable to meet these conditions, it may constitute an event of default under the Studio City Project Facility.” Melco Crown is also reeling from an 83% decline in second-quarter profits.

While Lawrence Ho has admitted that he could get Studio City up to 400 tables by moving some inventory over from other Melco Crown properties, he thinks special treatment is in order, saying,  Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Election, Galaxy Entertainment, Geoff Freeman, Internet gambling, Isle of Capri, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Massachusetts, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, Neil Bluhm, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tribal | Comments Off on Studio City in trouble; Tribal clash in Massachusetts