Possible Pennsylvania cutback?; Prudes pressured Walker

Posted on January 26, 2015 by David McKee

Once casinos move to fill a vacuum, it’s difficult to push them back. But that’s what Pennsylvania state Rep. Will Talman (R) is trying to do. He’s proposing a bill to close Pennsylvania 064Keystone State casinos nightly between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. As justification, he cites existing laws which require non-casino bars to close between those hours. Casino bars can stay open — they just can’t serve alcohol during that period. Considering that, last year, the Legislative Budget & Finance Committee recommended 24-hour liquor sales in Pennsylvania casinos, I’d give the monied interests the upper hand over Talman. The latter is certainly shooting dice with the state budget by suggesting that casinos close down for one-sixth of their operating hours. Ideology would seem to have gotten the upper hand with him over fiscal sense.

* Speaking of ideology, 11th-hour political pressure on Continue reading →

Posted in International, Iowa, Macau, Pennsylvania, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Slot routes, Tribal, Wisconsin | Comments Off on Possible Pennsylvania cutback?; Prudes pressured Walker

Adelson gives himself promotion; Making Macao family friendly

Posted on January 23, 2015 by David McKee

With Edward Tracy retiring and Rob Goldstein only undertaking the presidency of Sands China on an interim basis, Sheldon Adelson has named himself CEO of Sands Sheldon AChina in addition to Las Vegas Sands. This is viewed as a positive move, centralizing the chain of command that connects Las Vegas, Macao and Singapore. “Business strategy has always been decided by Mr. Adelson all this while, so in terms of strategy, I wouldn’t expect any change,” offered BNP Paribas analyst Goh Shengyong.

Between them, Macao and Singapore represent 88% of Sands’ revenue and Adelson assumes the reins in China at a time of crisis, as casino revenues continue to slide. The government’s anti-graft campaign hasn’t gone away as Adelson predicted it would, and high rollers continue to keep a low profile. With its mass-market orientation, Sands China can say it’s insulated but it’d be kidding itself.

* Casino crisis or not, the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase ranked Macao #1 in the world for Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Economy, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Steve Wynn | Comments Off on Adelson gives himself promotion; Making Macao family friendly

Stir crazy in Massachusetts

Posted on January 23, 2015 by David McKee

For all the restrictions it has placed upon its casinos, there’s one restraint the Massachusetts Gaming Commission wants to ease. It has proposed raising the $600 ‘IRS lockdown’ imposed on slot winners: “a player will not be able to play the machine again Crosbyuntil a casino or slots employee takes down the player’s name, address and 5 percent off of the $600 in winnings for a state withholding tax.” The prevailing lockdown point in the U.S. is $1,200. Commissioners are worried that the inconvenience of a lower jackpot lockdown could impel them to play in Rhode Island or other neighboring states.

“And the whole point of the Massachusetts law was to repatriate Massachusetts dollars that are now being spent in other states, and this runs counter to Continue reading →

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Possible rescue for Delaware tracks; New boss in Atlantic City

Posted on January 23, 2015 by David McKee

Going against Gov. Jack Markell (D), Delaware lawmakers are wrapping up a relief package for the state’s beleaguered racino industry. The tax rate on table games would be cut Delaware leg-hallfrom 29% to 15% and the $3 million licensing fee would be eliminated. The state would also increase its percentage of vendor costs to 43.5%, costing taxpayers an additional $3 million annually. Slot machine revenue would get a 5% credit to offset marketing and capex costs. (“They want us to pay the full thing and that’s not fair,” said one detractor.) A controversial add-on would divert 1% of revenue from the state to the horseracing industry. Main proponent state Sen. Brian Bushweller (D) was forthright in his reasoning, saying, “We’re simply taking too much money. The simple solution to a simple problem is let’s take less money from the casino industry.”

Added Dover Downs CEO Denis McGlynn, “If you want this industry to fight the competition, you have to Continue reading →

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Walker finally acts; Pessimistic about Japan

Posted on January 23, 2015 by David McKee

After numerous delays, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) finally was roused from inaction on the proposed Menominee Nation casino for Kenosha. The governor’s scott-walker1response to the tribe was a firm “no,” predicated upon forecasts of revenue losses from the state’s other tribes, particularly the Potowatomi Tribe and Ho-Chunk Nation. Walker passed the blame to his predecessor, stating “Due to the compacts negotiated by Governor [Jim] Doyle, the current cost to taxpayers of approving the proposed casino project is up to $100 million and the long-term economic hit to the state budget would be a potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.”

The Potowatomi were quick to reward Walker for his decision, releasing Continue reading →

Posted in California, International, Japan, PokerStars, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Taxes, Tribal, Wisconsin | 1 Comment

The man who couldn’t make up his mind

Posted on January 22, 2015 by David McKee

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has become the Hamlet of the casino industry, torn between varying tribal interests and uncommitted to decisive action. He’ll have to make Hamletsome decision on the Menominee Nation‘s Hard Rock International project in Kenosha by Feb. 19 because that’s all the time Washington will give him. If Walker’s long-awaited decision can be predicted from recent developments, the Menominee are in for a disappointment. One could so far as to say that Walker’s people are drafting a compact that’s designed to fail.

Already, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has struck a provision whereby the Potowatomi Tribe would be reimbursed by the state for revenue shortfalls. Now a compact provision calling for the Menominee to make the Potowatomi whole is drawing scrutiny. Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch advised Walker that the state could be doubly exposed in a Potowatomi court challenge of the compact. One, Continue reading →

Posted in Hard Rock International, Louisiana, Pinnacle Entertainment, Regulation, Taxes, Tribal, Wisconsin | 1 Comment

Straub wins again; Delaware, racinos at an impasse

Posted on January 22, 2015 by David McKee

Revel is Glenn Straub‘s — if he wants it. HQ nightclub, ACR Energy Partners and other Revel tenants saw their objections swept aside at a bankruptcy hearing yesterday. Judge Jerome revel-appeal-720x340Simandle wrote that “the court notes that, the palpable risk of losing a ready buyer demonstrates, without more, a risk of substantial harm” when there was a bid on the table, a risk too great to take. The plaintiffs fear that an earlier ruling by Judge Gloria Burns that Revel can be sold “free and clear of liens, claims, encumbrances and interests,” means they could be evicted and their investments eradicated. But Straub’s Polo North Country Club said it would rather forfeit a $10 million deposit than humor the dissidents.

“The land that we have the right to occupy would have been sold to Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Delaware, Glenn Straub, Politics, Racinos, Revel, Taxes | 1 Comment

Mohegan Sun ambushes Wynn

Posted on January 22, 2015 by David McKee

Pursuing by lawsuit what it could not win on merit, Mohegan Sun has piled onto the scrum of litigation against the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for having awarded a Massachusetts GamblingBoston-area casino license to Wynn Resorts (which had no comment). Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority CEO Mitchell Etess felt no shame at playing the victim card. “We were the most injured party. Yeah, this was bad for Revere and for those workers losing their jobs,” he shrugged. “But we were really not treated fairly at the end of the day, and it was time for us to stand up for ourselves.”

Mohegan Sun, in its filings, asserts that Steve Wynn was awarded several mulligans in the application process while Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Massachusetts, Mohegan Sun, Regulation, Steve Wynn | 1 Comment

New chief at Resorts World; Pay cut for Wynn

Posted on January 21, 2015 by David McKee

In a change of horses that might kick-start development of dormant Resorts World Las Vegas, boss Christian Goode is out, replaced by Gerald Gardner, a former top aide to Resorts World LVNevada Gov. Brian Sandoval. The groundbreaking for the project has now been formally pushed back to sometime in 2Q15. “Creating something substantial that will be a draw to both locals and visitors alike is no easy feat, and we want to get it right,” Genting Group Vice President of Corporate Communications Michael Levoff said by way of explanation. He added that Genting has been quietly at work on “utility relocation” and on the permitting process.

Since Genting’s resort aspirations in Florida and New York have come a-cropper, the company will Continue reading →

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Straub holds Revel hostage; Caesars cutbacks begin

Posted on January 21, 2015 by David McKee

Revel continues to be a bone of contention. Utility supplier ACR Energy Partners is leading a group of creditors attempting to block the sale of Revel to Glenn Straub. The revel_0601latter, they assert, could simply walk away from all contracts, claims, liens and leases on the property. In turn, Straub attorney Stuart Moskowitz argues that, for $10 million, his client could just scuttle the deal. “My client would say, ‘I’d rather lose $10 million now than bleed $5, $6, $7 million a month for the next three years’,” he explained. Revel nightclub tenant Idea Boardwalk counters that it will lose its whole $16 million investment if Straub’s purchase is consummated.

ACR’s Craig Martin contends that, with Revel in hand, Straub would Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Dining, Glenn Straub, Harrah's, Revel, The Strip, Trump Entertainment Resorts | 1 Comment

Politicians desert Atlantic City; Cuomo dreams on

Posted on January 20, 2015 by David McKee

Despite four years of yeoman’s work repairing and altering Atlantic City‘s image, the Atlantic City Alliance is being abandoned like an orphan on the church steps. State Senate SweeneyPresident Steve Sweeney (D, left) blamed the casinos for killing it off and Borgata President Tom Ballance confirmed that the ACA had become a low priority: “Atlantic City is on the brink if bold actions are not taken in the very near term” … actions that don’t include the ACA.

Added state Sen. James Whelan (D), “things have changed now. We’re in an emergency situation, and there are more urgent needs for the money the alliance had been using could be put to better uses, even if it means no one is promoting the resort as a whole.” The ACA’s remaining $30 million will be rechanneled into either shoring up Atlantic City’s finances or financing “a development agency to attract new business and homes here,” according to The Associated Press.

Gov. Chris Christie‘s envoy to Atlantic City, Jon Hanson, pronounced the ACA’s work Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Cordish Co., Harrah's, Marketing, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Politics, Tourism, Wall Street | Comments Off on Politicians desert Atlantic City; Cuomo dreams on

Casinos slump in Illinois, boom in Arkansas

Posted on January 20, 2015 by David McKee

Never mind that Illinois casino admissions were down 1.4 million last year and the state’s gambling houses brought in $87 million less than in 2013. Politicians are preparing to try Raunerand ram another big gaming expansion through the Legislature, counting on the support of new Gov. Bruce Rauner (R, right), who is said to be “open” to persuasion. In the plan currently being floated, Arlington International Racecourse would get 1,200 slots and casinos would go into Lake County, Chicago, Rockford, Danville, and an undesignated southern suburb of the Windy City. Legislators continue to imagine that more gambling will be the panacea to Illinois’ financial problems, all evidence.

“Gambling expansion would just sift people from one place to another and would not increase revenue,” said  Continue reading →

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Celebrity Caesars investors get clipped

Posted on January 20, 2015 by David McKee

caesars-palace-02As the opposing sides entrench for an acrimonious battle over the assets of Caesars Entertainment, a few early losers are emerging. Unsecured creditor Robert DeNiro‘s Nobu in Caesars Palace is owed $459,964 and loud-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay can yell all he wants but he’s probably out $307,479. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

In better news for Caesars, the merger of its WSOP.com with 888poker.com (which uses the same software) has pushed the former to the lead in New Jersey gaming traffic, with a 50% increase. 888, also known as Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Charity, Dining, Harrah's, Internet gambling, New York, Reno, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, World Series of Poker | Comments Off on Celebrity Caesars investors get clipped

Indian givers in D.C.; Mixed bag for Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun

Posted on January 19, 2015 by David McKee

Arizona‘s congressional delegation continues to single out the Tohono O’odham Nation for being too successful. Sens. John McCain (R) and Jeff Flake (R), and Reps. Trent Franks and West Valley ResortPaul Gosar are trying yet again to legislate the Tohono O’odham’s $400 million casino project out of existence. Other tribes in the area must feel proud that they can get two senators and a brace of congressmen to carry water for them. As Arizona Republic columnist E.J. Montini wrote of the nervily worded Keep the Promise Act, “Members of the U.S. government, which has broken just about every treaty ever made with the nation’s many tribes, is now trying to tell one of them to ‘keep the promise.'”

As Montini writes, the Tohono O’odham never promised not to build a casino on off-reservation lands, ones the acquired as a make-good for the flooding of ancestral lands in the 1980s. The tribe was simply smarter than its adversaries and pounced on Continue reading →

Posted in Arizona, Economy, Foxwoods, Geoff Freeman, International, Mohegan Sun, Politics, Regulation, Sports, Tribal | Comments Off on Indian givers in D.C.; Mixed bag for Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun

Sands scores in Pennsylvania; More nonsense from Trump

Posted on January 19, 2015 by David McKee

Pennsylvania isn’t anywhere near done with building casinos but it is feeling market saturation. A $40 million decline in slot winnings pushed casinos to sub-2013 levels. The proliferation of casino product did not help. “When I came here six years ago, there were Sands Bethworksfour casinos within 175 miles of the Meadows. Now there are 12. There are more casinos and not much growth in population,” lamented Meadows Racetrack & Casino Vice President Sean Sullivan.

Still, the casinos and racinos finished the year strong, especially Sands Bethlehem. There, a $21 million gross pushed the Las Vegas Sands casino to its best year ever. (And to think Continue reading →

Posted in Cantor Gaming, Donald Trump, Macau, Massachusetts, Michael Gaughan, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Sports, Steve Wynn, TV | Comments Off on Sands scores in Pennsylvania; More nonsense from Trump

Quote of the Day

Posted on January 19, 2015 by David McKee

“At least we are not Detroit.” — Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, trying to put a positive spin on the Boardwalk‘s lean times.

Posted in Atlantic City, Detroit, Economy | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Caesars bankruptcy stymied; Big Total Rewards payday

Posted on January 19, 2015 by David McKee

Just when it looked like Gary Loveman & Co. were going to get away with murder in the Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. bankruptcy, U.S. District Judge Shira caesarscasino_1Scheindlin said, in essence, ‘Not so fast.’ Judge Scheindlin found the movement of assets and stripping of guarantees from creditors to be in violation of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939. The guarantee removal is “an impermissible out-of-court restructuring,” she ruled, precisely what the act “is designed to prevent.” Caesars endgame was to but CEOC “into bankruptcy while protecting Apollo Management LP and TPG Inc. from CEOC’s creditors.” She added that the companies’ bobs and fakes were “an impairment of the right to sue for payment.”

Bankruptcy may be a headache for Caesars management but it’s a happy day for Total Rewards members. In an e-mail blast Continue reading →

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Loveman succeeds: Caesars bankrupt

Posted on January 15, 2015 by David McKee

Loveman fluffyNot wasting any time, CEO Gary Loveman put Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. into Chapter 11 today, filing the motion in Chicago to circumvent a Delaware lawsuit. (The reason for the Windy City filing may go a lot deeper than proximity to Harrah’s Joliet; legal precedents in that district could allow Caesars to stiff its creditors.) The company provided this handy primer as to which assets were and weren’t in the doghouse. In a video message, Loveman promised business as usual, including the preservation of all Total Rewards point accruals and procedures. Laudably, he also vowed not to claw back any salaries or benefits. He did try to shift the blame for Caesars’ crash-and-burn to the Great Recession and away from his truly reckless LBO, which crushed the company under unsustainable debt.

In the end, Loveman got the support of 80% of bondholders, well more than Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Delaware, Economy, GLPI, Harrah's, Illinois, Lake Tahoe, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Penn National, Pinnacle Entertainment, Racinos, The Strip, Tilman Fertitta, Wall Street | Comments Off on Loveman succeeds: Caesars bankrupt

Atlantic City hangs in there; Mississippi mulls i-poker

Posted on January 15, 2015 by David McKee

When it comes to Atlantic City it literally is a question of whether the glass is half-empty or half-full. The city’s casinos are 48% off their 2006 high of $5.2 billion. In 2014, the decline atlantic_city_boatwas slowed somewhat by $123 million in Internet gambling revenues. Even so, the industry is opting to look at the 2014 glass as half full, considering that revenues fell only 4.5% despite the closure of four casinos. Israel Posner, executive director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality & Tourism at Stockton College, called it “an absolutely remarkable result for a year that saw so much tumult in the gaming market.” Those casinos, such as the Golden Nugget and the Tropicana Atlantic City, that saw revenue gains attributed it to capex investments that kept their properties fresh for customers.

Looking back over 2014, the Nugget led all gainers, up Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Colony Capital, Economy, Harrah's, Horseracing, International, Mississippi, Politics, Revel, Sports, Tilman Fertitta, Tropicana Entertainment, Trump Entertainment Resorts | Comments Off on Atlantic City hangs in there; Mississippi mulls i-poker

Boffo Christmas for Borgata; ColSux loses again

Posted on January 14, 2015 by David McKee

There wasn’t a lot of Christmas cheer to be had in Atlantic City, where citywide gambling revenues fell 13%. However, for the surviving operators, the take was up 7% on a “same-Borgatastore” basis (i.e., discounting the casinos that have closed). Online gambling chipped in $11 million of the $180 million Boardwalk gross, in a 23% increase from November.

Citywide, slot revenue and handle fell 14%, while table game play was off 20%, resulting in a 11.5% revenue slide. (In other words, the casinos played relatively lucky.) Borgata revenue was up $13 million, for Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, Columbia Sussex, Harrah's, history, Internet gambling, Kentucky, Mohegan Sun, Tilman Fertitta, Tropicana Entertainment, Trump Entertainment Resorts | Comments Off on Boffo Christmas for Borgata; ColSux loses again