Atlantic City rings the cash register; Adelson loses (again)

Posted on May 26, 2015 by David McKee

Operating profits in Atlantic City don’t tell the whole story: The Showboat was notoriously in the black when Caesars resorts-atlantic-cityEntertainment closed it but the company said it was running at a loss … thanks to interest payments with which CEO Gary Loveman had burdened it. Still, Atlantic City is coming off a very profitable April, up from $39 million last year to $81 million, with Borgata alone contributing $38.5 million worth of good news. “We aggressively reached out [to orphaned players] and the customer base found Borgata to be a nice home,” said President Joe Lupo.

The only money-losers were Continue reading →

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Quote of the Day

Posted on May 26, 2015 by David McKee

“You can go to any country club in Alabama on Saturday night and get into a high-stakes poker game … You let the tribes operate gambling and people perceive that Indians and money are incompatible.” — Poarch Band of Creek Indians Chairman Eddie Tullis, on the hypocrisy of Cotton State policy.

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Louisiana’s bonny April; Nevada Gold now with 100% more Nevada

Posted on May 22, 2015 by David McKee

Golden Nugget Lake Charles continues to be the outboard engine that speeds up Louisiana gaming revenues. The Pelican State was up Louisiana_Flag4% last month — but 13% when Tilman Fertitta‘s casino is added to the tally. It even made inroads upon L’Auberge du Lac, shaving 4% from what that Pinnacle Entertainment property made last year. L’Auberge, however, continued to dominate the market in sheer dollars: $31 million to Golden Nugget’s $18 million. Nearby Isle Grand Palais made a modest gain, while Boyd Gaming‘s Delta Downs was up 3%.

Boyd had the best month of any Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Churchill Downs, Genting, GLPI, Harrah's, Isle of Capri, Louisiana, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pinnacle Entertainment, Racinos, Slot routes, South Dakota, South Korea, Stanley Ho, Tilman Fertitta, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off on Louisiana’s bonny April; Nevada Gold now with 100% more Nevada

Quote of the Day

Posted on May 22, 2015 by David McKee

“There are actual reports posted as to where the ATMs were that cards were used by Kansas residents … at liquor stores, cigarette shops, strip joints. Casinos was another.” — state Sen. Caryn Tyson (R), justifying the state’s crackdown on welfare recipients.

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New York’s big score; Tribe wins in California

Posted on May 22, 2015 by David McKee

Various law enforcement agencies are richer to the tune of $9.6 million after nailing an offshore betting ring that extended all the way to PanamaPanama. The case started humbly enough, with some Albany County jail officers found to be involved with the illegal Internet gambling sites. Joined by other constabularies, the Albany County Sheriff’s Department worked its way up the food chain. The FBI‘s Boston, Miami and Oklahoma branches became involved, conducting literally tens of thousands of wiretaps, not to mention monitoring other forms of electronic communication.

Since the skein began to unravel when Albany officers intercepted Continue reading →

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Sheldon steps in it; Tomato King to the rescue

Posted on May 21, 2015 by David McKee

Las Vegas Sands‘ CEO Sheldon Adelson’s pet piece of legislation, “Restoring America’s Wire Act” turns out to have a raft of unintended Sheldon-Adelsonconsequences, several of which would kneecap the casino industry. For one, it would ban mobile gambling, which is a headline amenity at — you guessed it — Venetian and Palazzo, last known to be owned by one Sheldon Gary Adelson. Local attorney Greg Gemignani also found that RAWA could interfere with server-based gaming. Howard Stutz has the full analysis but suffice it to say it would be very costly for Continue reading →

Posted in International, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Sports, Technology, Tomato King Procacci | Comments Off on Sheldon steps in it; Tomato King to the rescue

Penn “upbeat” about future; Connecticut tribes closer to new casino

Posted on May 20, 2015 by David McKee

Penn National Gaming CEO Tim Wilmott recently broke bread with J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, who found Penn Penn logomanagement “positive and primarily focused on PENN’s robust development pipeline,” which it thinks will produce improved cash flow even before the Tropicana Las Vegas is added to the equation. “Additionally, regional gaming trends can be described as more encouraging than not and our review of April trends and May’s comparison would suggest that they are likely Continue reading →

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MGM rebellion quashed; No ‘Net poker for Mississippi

Posted on May 20, 2015 by David McKee

lionJonathan Litt‘s battle for control of MGM Resorts International‘s destiny is over almost before it was begun. His Land & Buildings firm has dropped its slate of candidates for the MGM board of directors, after failing to gain traction with major shareholders like Kirk Kerkorian and John Paulson. As for Litt’s vision of $55/share MGM stock, Union Gaming analyst Chris Jones dismissed it as Pollyanna thinking.

Litt couldn’t resist taking a victory lap anyway, issuing a self-congratulatory statement that read, in part:  Continue reading →

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Ghosts of projects past; Alabama rethinks gambling

Posted on May 18, 2015 by David McKee

With so much Las Vegas Strip acreage either in flux (Tropicana Las Vegas, Hooters Casino Hotel) or newly on the market (“Project Jackpot”), CBRE Las Vegas has been moved to unleash Las Ramblas60.5 acres on Harmon Avenue that were the graveyard of three victims of the condo bubble. The centerpiece is the land optioned for a George Clooney-planned resort called Las Ramblas, which “called for 11 towers encompassing a 4,400 room luxury hotel, condominium residences, a spa and health club, nightclubs and a casino.” That pipe dream burnt out in 2006, right on the verge of groundbreaking. Next door was another bust-o-rama, Continue reading →

Posted in Alabama, Hard Rock Hotel, history, Hooters, Penn National, Planet Hollywood, Racinos, Taxes, The Strip, Tribal | 1 Comment

Loveman’s best decision; New face at Bellagio

Posted on May 18, 2015 by David McKee

Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman‘s decision to pull out of the troubled Baha Mar metaresort may represent one of the best judgment calls he ever made. The $3 billion BahaMar_Vert_TM_RENDERED GOLD_4CBahamas resort has missed three deadlines to open and has received the rather dubious governmental assurance that it’s “too big to fail.” (Rule of thumb: Those enterprises which are too big to fail generally do just that.) “It can’t sit there idle it must eventually open,” said a desperate minister of state. Whistling past the graveyard, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe said that when Baha Mar eventually opens, “the same enthusiasm will be there because of what it represents. It will require a tremendous amount of marketing, and a lot of events centred around the opening, but it will be outstanding.”

In the meantime, Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Genting, Harry Reid, International, Macau, MGM Mirage, Sam Nazarian, South Korea, The Strip | 1 Comment

Massachusetts: And then there were two

Posted on May 18, 2015 by David McKee

Last Thursday, casino boosters from Somerset were expected to show up a Massachusetts Gaming Commission hearing and ask for yet another delay to get Crosbytheir act together. Instead, they surprised the MGC and the rest of us by simply pulling out of the running. Crossroads Massachusetts never had a firm plan and, worse yet, didn’t have the money it needed. “Nothing surprises me in this business. We never know who is in or out until the last minute,”said an unfazed MGC Chairman Stephen Crosby.

The MGC also gave provisional permission for KG Urban Enterprises to move towards a June referendum, provided that Continue reading →

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Quote of the Day

Posted on May 14, 2015 by David McKee

Wisconsin state seal“Wisconsin cannot have it both ways. The state must entirely prohibit poker within its borders if it wants to prevent the [Ho-Chunk] Nation or any other Indian tribe from offering poker on the tribe’s sovereign lands. When the state decriminalized hosting poker for taverns, it could no longer deny that game to tribes as a matter of federal law.” — U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Diane Wood, handing a victory to the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Ho-Chunk tribe, and a defeat to Wisconsin’s attempts to strip the tribe of its video poker machines.

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Behind the Showboat sale; Cosmo comeback

Posted on May 14, 2015 by David McKee

During its crusade to drive Stockton University out of the Showboat, the CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts, Robert Griffin airily informed Stockton Showboat_Atlantic_Cityrepresentatives that they should buy Trump Plaza instead — puncturing TER’s public posture that college kids should be kept far away from its casinos. Turns out that Showboat wasn’t Stockton’s first choice on the Boardwalk: It tried to buy the Atlantic Club from TJM Properties at a steep markup. Stockton would have paid $23 million for what TJM got for $13.5 million.

Fortunately, someone at Stockton was minding the mint. Numbers were run and Continue reading →

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New life for the Trop?; Paragon’s latest trophy

Posted on May 14, 2015 by David McKee

David G. Schwartz muses on the brave, new world at the Tropicana Las Vegas — soon with 100% more Penn National Gaming. He assesses it as a win for both parties. trop-picPenn gets a foothold at a strategic crossroads on the Las Vegas Strip. The Trop gets hooked up to Penn’s player database. When it comes to incentivizing players, Penn never before had a pot of gold at the end of its rainbow. Not even M Resort counts. Once it finds a nightclub formula that works (as Schwartz points out, Onex Corp. had three swings and struck out), maybe it can work on the entertainment, which currently consists of secondhand goods like Raiding the Rock Vault … well named, since the Trop purloined it right out from under Westgate Las Vegas‘ nose.

(Speaking of Westgate, it’s fallen to Continue reading →

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April is the cruelest month for Atlantic City

Posted on May 13, 2015 by David McKee

Not only did players put dramatically less money onto the tables and into the slots but Atlantic City casinos had a run of bad luck last month. All of these factors contributed to CaesarsBallysACa 17% decline. When the four closed casinos are subtracted from the equation, the dip was a more-acceptable 4%. Slot coin-in fell 8% and win slipped 10%; table play was 20% off and casinos won 31% less. Borgata (down 3%) defied the trend to an extent, winning 1% more at the slots on 9% higher coin-in. Table play was rough, though, with 4% less wagered and 12% less won by the casino.

Internet play was a bright spot, rising 11% for a Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Entertainment, Harrah's, Internet gambling, MGM Mirage, Mohegan Sun, The Strip, Tilman Fertitta, Tropicana Entertainment, Trump Entertainment Resorts | 1 Comment

Long road back for Macao; Phua case becomes a federal obsession

Posted on May 13, 2015 by David McKee

Macao‘s status as shorthand for “corruption” got another bump this week when it was announced that former bureaucrat Li Huabo had gambled away $4 million in the casino Venetian Macaoenclave, then absconded with $16 million in stolen. As deleterious as that news may be, the real concern is erosion in the mass-market segment, those steady bread-and-butter players upon whom companies like Sands China is so reliant. “Not only is spend per visitor falling, Macau’s visitor arrivals had also fallen 4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2015, worst decline since  visa restrictions in 2008-09,” wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Karen Tang, who projects lower mass-market traffic extending into the coming years.

Hoteliers have particular reason to be concerned, given Continue reading →

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Caesars rethinks pensions; Bluhm wins in Massachusetts

Posted on May 13, 2015 by David McKee

Caesars Entertainment has been feeling the heat for cutting off pension payments to 340 current and former executives. By lumping them in with other unsecured creditors, it gave caesarscasino_1itself a rationale for the severed payouts, leaving the pensioners to face the prospect of modest, long-delayed recompense. But now, while not doing a full 180, Caesars will resume payments to most of the unfortunate 340. “The reopening of the pay spigot comes after a federal prosecutor [Paul Fishman] started asking why the payments had stopped — and the executives threatened to sue the casino operator,” the New York  Post reports.

“Any participant who missed a payout between the suspension of payouts in January and now will receive a ‘catch up’ distribution with Continue reading →

Posted in Foxwoods, Harrah's, Massachusetts, Neil Bluhm, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip | 1 Comment

Glenn Straub: The Omega Man

Posted on May 13, 2015 by David McKee

Glenn Straub‘s public image as an ADD-afflicted flake won’t be helped by a recent Bloomberg Business story that outlined the latest twist in his ever-shifting plans for Revel: StraubStraub wants to turn it into a hotspot for cryogenics, of which he is an apostle. “I’ll extend your quality of life by an extra 20 years, guaranteed. If we don’t extend your life and you don’t feel more comfortable, don’t pay,” Straub promises. After every polo match he plays, Straub indulges in a session of cryogenic cold-temperature treatments, zapping his body with nitrogen vapor cooled to minus-260 Fahrenheit, augmented by weekly blood transfusions. Straub would like to live to 100 and believes there’s a substantial Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Donald Trump, Florida, Revel, Sports, Tourism, Transportation | 2 Comments

Et tu, Harry?; It’s a new era in Manila

Posted on May 12, 2015 by David McKee

Now that Sen. Harry Reid (D) has one foot out the door on Capitol Hill, he’s turning on the casino companies — particularly Caesars Entertainment — that helped him stay in harry-reid-shooting-riflepower five years ago. Just when Sen. Lindsey Graham‘s mooted bill to outlaw Internet gaming seemed to have quietly evaporated, Reid stirred new life into the issue. While he used to favor a carve-out for online poker, Reid’s abandoning even that token form of support for Big Gaming. “I haven’t made up my mind — but I’m going to look closely into banning it totally. I’m going to take a hard look at it. It would be something I would certainly consider strongly.” Thanks a lot. To paraphrase an NRA chestnut, if Internet poker is outlawed, Continue reading →

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Adieu, Monte Carlo; Sunny April in Detroit

Posted on May 12, 2015 by David McKee

Judging from how it bastardized the Strip facade of Monte Carlo, it’s clear MGM Resorts International doesn’t quite know what to do with the place. CEO Jim Monte Carlo fence.jpgMurren tacitly confirmed this recently when he said MGM was studying myriad options for the property, up to and including rebranding it as something else — hopefully not a  meaningless tag like Aria or Vdara. Some hints to Murren’s thinking were his reference to Monte Carlo as the “gateway” to The Park and the new MGM/AEG arena, characterizing the hotel as the cradle to the sports venue.

If MGM is going to sink millions into reinventing Monte Carlo, it’s also likely to push it into a higher price tier. Given its proximity to the arena, Continue reading →

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