Paradox at Revel; Further delay in Massachusetts

Posted on March 17, 2015 by David McKee

Florida developer Glenn Straub remains thwarted in his attempts to purchase Revel. His primary obstacle is Judge Gloria Burns, who seems bent upon charting a course for Revel_lobbypatio_PANOChapter 7 liquidation. Although, out of 20 bids, Straub’s is the only one with money on the table, Burns continues to balk at closing a sale. Her defense is that her hands are tied so long as Revel tenants are appealing Straub’s attempted eviction of them.

In the latest of his delphic utterances, Straub brushed away the court’s inaction as though it were a minor annoyance: “It doesn’t mean anything. There are all kinds of ways to get properties sold.” Given the option of Continue reading →

Posted in Foxwoods, Glenn Straub, Hard Rock International, Harrah's, Macau, Massachusetts, Ohio, Regulation, Revel, Station Casinos, Westgate LV | Comments Off on Paradox at Revel; Further delay in Massachusetts

Is MGM the next REIT?; Bad news for PokerStars

Posted on March 17, 2015 by David McKee

Shares of MGM Resorts International could trade at $55. So thinks hedge-fund boss Jonathan Litt, who has proposed converting MGM into a REIT, a move he says could MGM Grand Macauhalve the company’s massive debt. (Asset sales are part of Litt’s plan.) The casino company’s stock rose 9% in reaction to Litt’s proposition. He plans to nominate four candidates to the MGM board to help make his idea a reality. We’ll be getting more detail from Litt’s Land & Buildings fund later today. Pundit Joel Elconin thinks the MGM board may be behind this, trying to extract more value from its real estate holdings. The stock, he observes, “has been dead money over the past year, stuck in the $17.25 to $28.75 range.” For his part, Litt says “We strongly believe Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, California, Harrah's, International, Internet gambling, Macau, MGM Mirage, PokerStars, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Tribal, Wall Street | Comments Off on Is MGM the next REIT?; Bad news for PokerStars

Roundball is Borgata’s newest draw; Board disses Elaine Wynn

Posted on March 16, 2015 by David McKee

Borgata is ahead of the curve again in Atlantic City. At least it’s thinking progressively, incepting a March Madness-themed free-throw competition as a first step toward skill-based atlantic-city-borgata-hotelgambling. Four hundred people have already plunked $20 each down to play on ad hoc courts. The casino just needs 100 more sign-ups to break even on the prize pool. “We won’t have basketballs flying across the casino,” Borgata Senior Vice President Joe Lupo wryly told the Wall Street Journal. (Lupo has a strong sense of humor. He says LeBron James “definitely” could enter the tourney and “In fact, I wish he would.”) Other innovations are somewhat vague, if promising-sounding, ranging from “Scrabble-like slot machines and tablet-based arcade fare.”

The WSJ reports that “boardwalk ski-ball games or Continue reading →

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Adelson lackey denounces gambling; Scientific’s stumble

Posted on March 16, 2015 by David McKee

In a surprising display of petulance, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R) hung up the phone on members of the National Governors Association when they had the temerity to object to his As Deadline On Debt Reduction Impasse Looms, Super Committee Meets Over WeekendRestoration of America’s Wire Act bill, which would criminalize state lotteries and other forms of gaming currently conducted online. (“Lottery machines often communicate over the Internet, crossing state lines to reach a data center to record that a bet has been made, and this legislation could ban that action,” explains The Hill.) In essence, Chaffetz told the emissaries that if they didn’t didn’t like it, tough luck: Come to Capitol Hill and file your own bill.

“It seemed very odd that you would expect Continue reading →

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The torments of Glenn Straub; Icahn wins another round

Posted on March 13, 2015 by David McKee

“I keep waiting for the elevator doors to open and somebody to walk out carrying bags of money. We keep hearing about people with money wanting to make bids. I haven’t seen revel_0601them yet.” So said Glenn Straub, who continues to suffer an agonizingly slow bankruptcy-sale process for Revel. His tormentors are the phantom bidders who might be out there but, with two exceptions, refuse to manifest themselves. With $82 million in escrow, Straub is the only one who has skin in the game. Los Angeles-based developer Izek Shomov has made “an offer of funds,” which isn’t too impressive in this context. New to the game is private-equity financier Jeffrey Keating. The latter says he’s assembling a Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Cantor Gaming, Carl Icahn, Glenn Straub, Harrah's, Horseracing, Idaho, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, New Hampshire, Politics, Revel, Sports, Technology, Trump Entertainment Resorts, Wall Street, Westgate LV | 2 Comments

Caesars pensioners find sympathetic ear

Posted on March 13, 2015 by David McKee

Caesars Entertainment‘s cutoff of payments to several dozen pensioners drew the attention of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, taking up the bulk of Wednesday’s Caesars-restartshearing. NGCB Terry Johnson member told Caesars attorneys, “The pensioners are an important matter that should not get lost in this discussion.” The group had been told, via a sort of ‘Dear John’ letter that their Supplemental Employment Retirement Plans “are considered a general unsecured pre-petition obligation of the debtor and cannot be paid without specific authorization from the bankruptcy court.”

“The issue will be addressed Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Harrah's, Louisiana, Marketing, Massachusetts, New York, Racinos, Regulation, Revel, Tribal, Tropicana Entertainment | Comments Off on Caesars pensioners find sympathetic ear

Honeymoon over in Atlantic City; Resistance in Connecticut

Posted on March 13, 2015 by David McKee

All the gains Atlantic City casinos had been making from the downsizing of the market came to an abrupt end last month. Gambling revenues dove 16% and same-store revenues Golden Nugget ACfell 2% (yes, even the Borgata‘s). Luck simply was not on the casinos’ side. Coin-in at the slots was 11% less and revenue fell 14%. Table play decreased by 22% and casino win was 19% less. Online play chipped in $10 million. Borgata’s slight dropoff, on a $45 million gross, was attributable to 12% less win (and despite an increase in wagers). All was fine in the slot realm, where coin in was up 5% and win rose 2%.

In the aggregate, it was a terrible month for Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Bally Technologies, Boyd Gaming, Foxwoods, Harrah's, Mohegan Sun, Politics, Riviera, Scientific Games, Shuffle Master, The Strip, Tilman Fertitta, Tropicana Entertainment, Trump Entertainment Resorts, Wall Street, WMS Industries | 1 Comment

The clock is running in Japan, Florida, Connecticut

Posted on March 11, 2015 by David McKee

japan_flag_01-300x300Major casino companies are beginning to lose patience with Japan‘s impotent government and are casting their eyes toward South Korea. “This will take leadership. At some point someone is going to have to say ‘this is important to us, let’s push this thing forward’, “I think it does lose the momentum of a significant opportunity… so we would look elsewhere.” said MGM Resorts International President William Hornbuckle. Also reported to be getting antsy is Las Vegas Sands, which had been prepared to invest $10 billion in Japan.

In a desperation move, casino proponents are trying to Continue reading →

Posted in Florida, Foxwoods, Hard Rock International, International, Japan, Marketing, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Mohegan Sun, New York, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip | Comments Off on The clock is running in Japan, Florida, Connecticut

Elaine Wynn prepares for battle; Sunny days in Detroit

Posted on March 11, 2015 by David McKee

“The company’s success has been one of my life’s main passions, and I bring that attitude to my role as a director each and every day.” So wrote Elaine Wynn, as she gears up for a Elaine Wynnproxy fight to remain on the board of directors of Wynn Resorts. She’s facing long odds. A faction led by former Nevada Gov. Bob Miller is seeking to remove her for reasons the Las Vegas Review-Journal summarized as “he language in a longstanding stockholders agreement, potential conflicts of interest, and her lack of independence under Nasdaq listing standards.”

Without her, the Wynn board becomes a boys’ club, a fact Elaine Wynn has not been hesitant about underlining: “This appalling lack of diversity would be highly inappropriate at any public company, and would be especially unacceptable at Wynn Resorts. The exclusion of any diverse voices from the board is not just a symbolic misstep, it’s bad business.” The glass ceiling on the Wynn board is evident in the compensation discrepancy. Miller rakes in $506,209, compared to Ms. Wynn’s $72,000.

Continue reading →

Posted in Dan Gilbert, Detroit, Economy, MGM Mirage, Ohio, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on Elaine Wynn prepares for battle; Sunny days in Detroit

Adelson vs. lottery; Big weekend at SLS

Posted on March 11, 2015 by David McKee

Proving that gaming is the only taxable udder on which the Nevada Legislature dares tug, Assemblyman Harvey Munford has proposed a state lottery. The purported use of lottery Munfordproceeds would be to help senior citizens and support public education. “The Las Vegas Democrat said the resolution would help increase state revenues without burdensome tax increases,” reported one newspaper, but it’s not like Nevadans are sitting on an unlimited pile of money. Whatever goes into a lottery will come out of other sectors of our economy. (To become law, the bill would have to pass two consecutive legislatures and the 2018 election.)

It’s sure as the sunrise that the Nevada Resort Association will pose opposition to the Munford proposal but Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Entertainment, GLPI, Harrah's, Illinois, MGM Mirage, Missouri, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Regulation, Sam Nazarian, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip | 1 Comment

Trump’s hollow victory; Seminoles make new friends

Posted on March 10, 2015 by David McKee

In a display of either weakness or stupidity, Carl Icahn has caved in to Donald Trump and reached an agreement to keep the TV star’s name on Trump Taj Mahal. As anyone trumpwho’s followed the dwindling of the Trump empire from three casinos (don’t forget the ex-Trump Marina) to one in the last several years could see that the Trump brand is played out, discredited on the Boardwalk. Why Icahn would want it instead of simply calling it the Taj Mahal or seeking a prestigious hotel affiliation is anybody’s guess. As things stand, the only way to be rid of the pestilent Trump name would be for the Taj to close for three months and I don’t think anybody wants that.

What’s more, Trump wrested $172,000 from Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Donald Trump, Florida, Harrah's, Marketing, Ohio, Penn National, Politics, Tribal, Trump Entertainment Resorts | 3 Comments

Caesars’ pension woes

Posted on March 10, 2015 by David McKee

Caesars Entertainment got the boot in a big way from the National Retirement Fund, which bounced the company’s three Atlantic City casinos from membership. It also
Caesars ACdemanded $462 million from the company for “alleged withdrawal liability.” Although the NRF voted to kick Caesars out back in January, it waited until last week to take court action. “We did not start this. Caesars started this, and had Caesars not done what they were going to do, and did do, we would never have taken those actions,” said NRF Chairman Jim Brubaker.

He said the fund was motivated by the fear that Caesars was going to put its best assets, including Continue reading →

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Big Gaming speaks

Posted on March 9, 2015 by David McKee

Last week, the great and powerful of the casino industry attended a show-and-tell at the  J.P. Morgan Gaming, Lodging, Restaurant & Leisure Management Access Forum. Here’s what they had to say …

Wynn Resorts: The company is looking to make a big splash with Wynn Palace, taking significant market share from the competition. No doubt knowing that what gets said on Wynn-MacauWall Street is heard back in Macao, President Matt Maddox and CFO Stephen Cootey said they were confident of they’d get a “very fair” allocation of table games when the time comes for them to be doled out. They also plan to comp considerably more rooms to their mass-market customers.

“Real pricing power” was the description of conditions on Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Economy, Genting, James Packer, Japan, Louisiana, Macau, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Ohio, Penn National, Politics, Problem gambling, Rhode Island, Singapore, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on Big Gaming speaks

Belt-tightening in Macao; Adelson gets his wrist slapped

Posted on March 9, 2015 by David McKee

Given the steep plunge in casino revenues over the past eight months, Macao casino operators are talking about taking cost-saving measures. Although its mass-market focus Sands_296096340shelters it from the worst of the downturn, Sands China is mulling cuts in its entertainment and marketing budgets. “We’re not looking to take it apart, the whole structure, but reexamine where those opportunities to run it cleaner and better,” said Las Vegas Sands President Rob Goldstein, adding that the company’s shopping mall is actually performing better than ever.

Over at Wynn Macau, even more stringent measures are allegedly being promoted. The company is supposedly urging its employees to take unpaid leave. When this reached the ears of Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong, he responded that the casino should be offering additional, paid training instead.

* Sands China, meanwhile, got spanked in Continue reading →

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GLPI makes play for Pinnacle; Caesars aims to dismantle casino

Posted on March 9, 2015 by David McKee

Gaming & Leisure Properties‘ track record to date has been unimpressive, its big acquisition play being underperforming Casino Queen in East St. Louis. Contrast that pinnacle_logo_lrwith GLPI’s boastful talk that the phone would be ringing off the hook with purchase opportunities the moment its REIT separation from Penn National Gaming cleared. Well, it looks like GLPI has stopped waiting and decided to stir up some action on its own. It has offered to buy the physical assets of Pinnacle Entertainment in an all-stock transaction. (REITs are all the rage; even MGM Resorts International is toying with one.) Pinnacle shareholders would get 0.55 shares of GLPI stock for every Pinnacle share they own, along with one share in a spun-off Pinnacle operating company. This represents approximately $36 a share and a 30% premium to last week’s closing price. (When negotiations with Pinnacle began on Jan. 16, it was a 59% premium.)

As envisioned by GLPI, Pinnacle CEO Anthony Sanfilippo wouldn’t be out of a job but Continue reading →

Posted in Entertainment, GLPI, Harrah's, Illinois, Mississippi, Penn National, Pinnacle Entertainment, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Foxwoods returns to Massachusetts … maybe

Posted on March 6, 2015 by David McKee

In the slow-simmering competition for a southeastern Massachusetts casino license, Foxwoods Resort Casino has just turned up the heat. It will wed spinster KG Urban, foxwoodswhich brings a waterfront New Bedford site to the nuptials, while Foxwoods will provide the operational expertise. “We couldn’t have found a better choice for an operator — no one knows the Massachusetts and New England regional market better than the Mashantucket,” effused a KG Urban statement. The seemingly good news comes as KG Urban is having a falling out with Mayor Jon Mitchell, who wants the project — slated for an abandoned power plant — redesigned.

“We are in discussions with the developer about whether a casino makes sense at Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Foxwoods, Horseracing, Illinois, Massachusetts, Neil Bluhm, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Tribal | Comments Off on Foxwoods returns to Massachusetts … maybe

Caesars wins some, loses some; Dotty’s drives Station batty

Posted on March 5, 2015 by David McKee

“I don’t have any authority to disband a committee that the U.S. trustee has appointed,” said Judge A. Benjamin Goldgar, handing a victory to the second-tier debtors in the caesarscasino_1Caesars Entertainment bankruptcy. Caesars had sought to have the creditors’ watchdog committee dissolved into one representing unsecured creditors. As the Wall Street Journal summarized, the committee has “challenged the legality of several prebankruptcy transactions [Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.] made with its parent company.”

At issue are transactions which transferred $6 billion in assets to other Caesars branches. Paradoxically, the second-tier lenders want to probe the matter on their own while Caesars has called for an independent examiner. So has a group of bondholders and unsecured creditors represented by Wilmington Trust. The second-tier bondholders allege that Continue reading →

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Straub spurned again; Union vs. Icahn, Round Two

Posted on March 5, 2015 by David McKee

Revel has been snatched from Glenn Straub‘s grasp, at least for another week, even though Revel AC has switched its position from contentious opposition to Straub to support. Or, as Revel_1340Revel attorney John Cunningham said, they have “82 million reasons” to close the deal. However, Los Angeles-based DTLA Development Group is singing a siren song to Judge Gloria M. Burns. DTLA’s position is that Revel can keep Straub’s $10 million deposit, thereby making their $80 million “offer of funds” the superior bid. Fired back Straub attorney Stuart Moskowitz, “You have no bond, no guarantee, nothing submitted to the court. It’s illusory.” Despite not having been given access to Revel, rival bidder Izek Shomof proclaimed, “We love it, that’s why we’re very interested.”

Straub was not impressed, saying, “This guy from Los Angeles doesn’t know a thing, and I don’t believe he’s a real bidder. He was not there when Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Glenn Straub, Revel, Trump Entertainment Resorts, Wall Street | 1 Comment

IRS money grab; Nastiness at Wynn

Posted on March 5, 2015 by David McKee

Gaming is a “soft target” for politicians and the Obama administration is looking into a backdoor method of engorging more gaming taxes. It is “considering” (but not yet imposing) Slot reelslower thresholds for the “IRS lockdown” on winnings at keno, bingo and slots. In the case of slots, the proposal is fiendishly clever: If you hit a $1,200 jackpot or higher, you would no longer be taxed on that win alone but on any other winnings from the same, 24-hour period. (Ah, the downside of the player’s card!) The official mumbo-jumbo is here.

The taxmen are also considering halving the Continue reading →

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Fear and loathing in Washington; New goodies at Borgata

Posted on March 4, 2015 by David McKee

Sheldon Adelson sock puppet Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R) would be holding his much-ballyhooed hearing on Internet gambling today, had Mother Nature not intervened and forced a postponement. When it Chaffetzhappens, it’ll be pretty much the kangaroo court you’d expect. His star witness is rabid and troglodytic University of Illinois boffin John Kindt, who has advocated for the federal seizure of all tribal casinos on the grounds of “allegations of misuse, non-accounting, and even malfeasance involving gambling revenues in Native American operations.” Blithely ignoring tribal sovereignty, he would convert them to “educational, cultural, and business facilities.”

But Kindt doesn’t just reserve his wrath for aboriginals. Known for his dodgy research claims, Kindt idolizes the anti-gambling policies of Vladimir Putin and advocates the criminalization of gaming. Compared to the despot-slurping Kindt, the other witnesses are practically Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Economy, Entertainment, Horseracing, International, Internet gambling, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Taxes, The Strip, Tribal | 1 Comment