Mohegan Sun scolded; Atlantic Club’s death throes

Posted on December 24, 2013 by David McKee

City fathers in Palmer, Massachusetts, have had a sudden falling-out with Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority. They’ve accused Mohegan Sun of deliberately tanking the Nov. 5 election through “a deliberate pattern of delay Mohegan Palmer nightand mismanagement.” As such, they’ll be joining the raft of groups trying to block a new Mohegan Sun/Suffolk Downs alliance in Revere. The deal Mohegan Sun has cut with Revere is sweet: $33 million down, $25 million-$30 million per year. It’s difficult to imagine the supportive Revere electorate suddenly executing a volte-face and rejecting such terms.

The new casino will have 4,000 slots, 100 table games and poker. That is, if Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Cordish Co., Hard Rock International, Harrah's, Indiana, Massachusetts, Mohegan Sun, Regulation, Revel, Steve Wynn, Taxes, Tilman Fertitta, Tropicana Entertainment, Trump Entertainment Resorts | Comments Off on Mohegan Sun scolded; Atlantic Club’s death throes

SLS to get oddball neighbor?

Posted on December 24, 2013 by David McKee

Everybody’s entitled to a dream, however implausible. Back when Christopher Milam was plotting to build the Silver State Arena on the former Wet ‘n Wild site, we had a lot of problems with Milam’s concept. However, it seems the essence of simplicity and realism compared to what local businessman Jackie Robinson is pitching for the same site. It’s another classic example of a project that’s driven by fear, so it tries to be everything to everybody.

Robinson wants to build a 22,000-seat arena that could house major-league sports. So far, so good. However, he wants to incorporate a spa, nightclub, a LasVegasArena_Exteriorwedding chapel and possibly hotel rooms. What a freakish agglomeration of things to throw together. The notion is as cumbersome as the name: All Net Arena & Resort. (“Honey, let’s stay at the All Net!”) “Robinson has ties to the NBA and has interest in bringing a team to Las Vegas,” reports the Las Vegas Sun, but does the NBA have an interest in bringing a team here? That’s the operative question. Robinson’s plans also call for a retractable Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Archon Corp., Sam Nazarian, Sports, The Strip | 2 Comments

And it’s … MGM again

Posted on December 23, 2013 by David McKee

MGM RenderingAdd Massachusetts to the roster of states where MGM Resorts International has been approved to operate. It received the unanimous assent of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission earlier today. “The Commission … finds that the Applicant has satisfied its burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that it meets the standards for suitability,” reads just a tiny bit of the MGC’s 12-page decision. Next up for MGM, licensing and the award of the western-zone casino concession, in Springfield, where MGM intends to invest.

MGM’s victory in Maryland last week was a 5-2 vote, with the other two votes going to Greenwood Racing. Fittingly, Penn National Gaming was shut out entirely, having campaigned against casino gambling in Prince George’s County last fall then having thegall to vie for the lone license.

Posted in Current, Election, Greenwood Racing, Maryland, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Regulation, Steve Wynn, Uncategorized | Comments Off on And it’s … MGM again

Adelson undeterred; Winners and losers

Posted on December 23, 2013 by David McKee

I’m not sure which part of this story is more alarming: That Affinity Gaming was the victim of a widespread identity-theft scheme for seven months … or that the company didn’t disclose it until late this year. It certainly makes me think twice about spending money on Affinity’s premises.

Adelson portraitNot one to be discouraged, Sheldon Adelson is taking his EuroVegas concept on the road and shopping it from Athens to Milan (to say nothing of Rome, Paris and elsewhere). It’s unclear from his remarks, but Adelson may have marketing the idea of doing it in onesies and twosies — as was the case in Singapore — rather than trying to carpet-bomb one metropolis with 12 casinos. However, he’s also peddling the integrated-resort concept in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan — maybe on Matsu — so he’s got enough to keep himself occupied for the next few years, until New York City or Miami Beach comes into play.

Adelson is a villain to some but a person who should be a heroine to all of us is Continue reading →

Posted in Affinity Gaming, Atlantic City, California, Dan Gilbert, Detroit, Environment, Florida, Harrah's, Horseracing, International, Internet gambling, Japan, Macau, New York, Ohio, Penn National, Problem gambling, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Stanley Ho | Comments Off on Adelson undeterred; Winners and losers

Quote of the Day

Posted on December 23, 2013 by David McKee

MGM MD 1“This can be the most commercially successful resort outside of Las Vegas, from a profit standpoint.” — MGM Resorts International CEO James Murren, on the company’s winning bid at National Harbor, on the doorstep of Washington, D.C.

Posted in Economy, Maryland, MGM Mirage | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Curtains for Atlantic Club; Foxwoods rides again

Posted on December 23, 2013 by David McKee

hilton-atlantic-city-casino-hotelIn a curious bankruptcy-court resolution, the Atlantic Club Hotel was sold to two buyers. Tropicana Entertainment — probably getting the better part of the deal — paid $8.4 million for the gambling equipment and player database. Caesars Entertainment spent $15 million for the hotel furnishings. It will simply close the place and pay to mothball it. Strange as it may seem, Caesars does have the cash on hand for this superficially frivolous purchase, despite all its troubles on Wall Street.

Atlantic Club waitress Pat VanWoeart was in deep denial, saying, “We knew someone would buy us, but we just didn’t expect someone would buy us to cut out the competition, because we are Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Foxwoods, Harrah's, Massachusetts, Regulation, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tribal, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street, Wisconsin | Comments Off on Curtains for Atlantic Club; Foxwoods rides again

Is Loveman insane?

Posted on December 20, 2013 by David McKee

There are two bids on the table for Colony Capital‘s grind-joint Atlantic Club Hotel and one of them is from — wait for it — Caesars Entertainment. Now you’re lovemansaying to yourself, “Hey, David, isn’t Caesars in the process of selling the Claridge Hotel?” Why it sure is, so why it suddenly wants more rooms after recently wanting fewer defies ready explanation. As for gaming positions, Caesars plans to remove them. Why Caesars is suddenly hot for this charity case? A bid from Tropicana Entertainment is also supposedly reposing in the bankruptcy court’s “in” box, by the way.

The real losers in this are the casino’s employees, all of whom will be without jobs as of an especially lucky Jan. 13. If they’re fortunate, Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Current, Harrah's, history, Tropicana Entertainment | 4 Comments

Revel to be sold?; Ryan weighs in on Menominee

Posted on December 20, 2013 by David McKee

Revel.jpgColor me stupid but I figured that, with a new marketing team in place, to say nothing of a new CEO, Revel Resort was going to stay its new course awhile. Turns out the property was dickering with prospective buyers as far back as June. Talks are close to fruition, the New York Post reports, with Hard Rock International to purchase Revel. It makes sense. Hard Rock scrapped its own build-it-from-scratch casino plans in Atlantic City earlier this year. But purchasing Revel, Hard Rock can get a lot more casino — and potentially for far less money.  “Hard Rock, if it reaches a deal to buy the 1,399-room Revel in the next several weeks, will likely shut it down for a renovation and a Hard Rock re-flagging , according to a source close to the matter,” reports Josh Kosman. So much for the work of Fine Point Group and current CEO Scott Kreeger. Someday, somebody is going to have a business plan for Revel and stick to it. As for now, it’s a Chinese fire drill. Is it any wonder the place has had so many troubles?

Hard Rock’s interest in Revel may be a stalking horse: Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, Hard Rock International, Maryland, MGM Mirage, New York, Politics, Racinos, Revel, Tribal, Wisconsin | 2 Comments

And it’s … MGM

Posted on December 20, 2013 by David McKee

MGM MD 2This news is so hot off the wires Howard Stutz has only had time to tweet it but Prince George’s County has chosen MGM Resorts International for its new casino license. Pleas by Greenwood Racing for an extension had been brushed off. If the $952 million MGM property is half as impressive in the flesh as it is in renderings, it should be something. Prince George’s County allied itself with the cream of the industry in its choice. Penn National Gaming, meanwhile, has to figure out what it’s going to do with Rosecroft Raceway, an infelicitous acquisition.

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, MGM is inching toward a finding of suitability, the first big step toward licensure. Difficulty in obtaining surrounding-community agreements may require binding arbitration and push the final selection back into March.

Posted in Current, Greenwood Racing, Maryland, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Regulation | 2 Comments

Poster cuts his losses; Showdown in Lansing

Posted on December 19, 2013 by David McKee

Gaming executive Tim Poster has bounced hither and yon, and now he’s asking to be bounced to the outer fringes of the casino industry. His attorneys will not be challenging the Nevada Gaming Control Board‘s finding of unsuitability and will Tim_Posterask the Nevada Gaming Commission to ratify it. Poster will still be able to work as a casino consultant but not in any meaningful executive role. A gaming license is out of the question. During his tenure at the Golden Nugget, Poster came off as a doofus, but his counsel is valued in the corridors of Wynn Resorts and Ultimate Poker. But his NGCB hearing was pretty ugly and Gaming Commission proceedings promised to be even uglier, as the NGCB hadn’t unloaded its full dossier on Poster. Even so, it’s only a matter of time before we see him again, in some capacity and sooner rather than later, I reckon.

Do people really fall for the Undercover Boss ruse when Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Internet gambling, Maryland, MGM Mirage, Mohegan Sun, Regulation, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Tribal | Comments Off on Poster cuts his losses; Showdown in Lansing

Quote of the Day

Posted on December 19, 2013 by David McKee

“All I can say is the process is continuing.” — Atlantic Club Hotel COO Michael Frawley on the casino’s slow-moving bankruptcy auction, which encountered a new obstacle yesterday.

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Current | 1 Comment

Etess, Wynn cross swords & other Case Bets

Posted on December 18, 2013 by David McKee

Mitchell_EtessMohegan Tribal Gaming Authority CEO Mitchell Etess is A-OK with Massachusetts casino regulation, as he made clear in a recent interview. (Mohegan Sun is vying for a casino license at Suffolk Downs.) “I think everybody who got into this process had the opportunity to review the law before we began doing anything, and so I don’t know why all of a sudden you would feel that there’s things that you don’t like,” said Etess, taking a not-so-muffled pot shot at Steve Wynn. Among Wynn’s complaints had been that the Bay State’s regime didn’t square with the “arithmetic of gaming establishments,” Whatever that means. (Wynn isn’t saying.)

If he wants lower taxes, he should have thought of that sooner. Besides, he pays more in Macao and would have paid yet more in Continue reading →

Posted in Alabama, Japan, Massachusetts, Melco Crown Entertainment, New York, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Taxes, Tribal | 1 Comment

A good week for Packer, Wynn and Caesars

Posted on December 18, 2013 by David McKee

packerJames Packer didn’t get permission to open a casino at his planned, $400 million resort in Sri Lanka (though he may have gotten something better) — but he wasn’t forbidden, either. The Sri Lankan government is keeping its options open even as it encourages resort development. The big idea is to encourage international-local partnerships in which the native contingent would hold the gambling concession. Local businessman Dhammika Perera is keeping one concession for himself (Queensberry), farming out another to John Keells Holdings — and seeking a U.S. or Asian partner for the third. (Gary Loveman, do you have Perera on speed dial?) Sri Lanka’s Buddhist community isn’t taking this especially well but it looks as though Packer will have the last laugh.

Steve Wynn, in a relaxed, professorial mood, waxed expansive with Boston-area media earlier this week. He made his attitude toward Continue reading →

Posted in Florida, Harrah's, International, James Packer, Macau, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Regulation | Comments Off on A good week for Packer, Wynn and Caesars

Genting, Steve Wynn & so much more

Posted on December 17, 2013 by David McKee

Resorts World LV-1Genting Group has narrowed its price target for finishing Resorts World Vegas. It will spend between $3 billion and $4 billion to complete the project (for which it has already paid $350 million for land). For a post-recession Vegas that’s a high price point. Look at the struggles endured by $4 billion Cosmopolitan. Ever discreet, MGM Resorts International keeps the returns on its $8.5 billion (at minimum) CityCenter very much on the QT. At one point, Genting was talking about a $7 billion Resorts World LV, which isn’t an investment — it’s suicide, especially on the North Strip. The silence and gloom shrouding the Echelon site are not to be taking for a sign of Genting having second thoughts, though. “The Genting folks take a longer-term view of their investments. They are not in any rush,” Wells Fargo Securities analyst Dennis Farrell told Howard Stutz. Certainly, the metrics of Vegas’ gradual recovery ought to be encouraging to Genting. A $2.65 billion grab bag of projects is rising to meet the incremental new demand.

He bombed on the Las Vegas Strip with Fontainebleau but Jeffrey Soffer is going to try again in Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, Colorado, Current, Dubai, Economy, Florida, Fontainebleau, Foxwoods, Genting, Internet gambling, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Mohegan Sun, New York, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Racinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on December 17, 2013 by David McKee

Posted in Massachusetts, Regulation, Steve Wynn | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Falling out in Philly; Falling apart at Caesars

Posted on December 17, 2013 by David McKee

sugarhouse-casinoSugarHouse Casino has finally said what needed to be said: The Philadelphia market is tapped out for casinos. It’s not entirely a  disinterested stance; SugarHouse is finishing a $155 million expansion and vulnerable to new competition. But the numbers have shown, for some time now, that the saturation point has long since been reached. “Revenues will be split, resources will be strained, capital improvements will be postponed, and employees will lose their jobs as casinos cut costs,” argue SugarHouse attorneys.

Neil BluhmNeil Bluhm‘s people also cannily point out that Greenwood Racing and Penn National Gaming may be ineligible because of their racino ownerships. (Greenwood, owner of Parx Casino, would be getting a second bite of the Philadelphia apple.) Then there’s Mr. Everywhere, Ira Lubert, who owns pieces of two casinos and would have a portion of a third. Bart Blatstein‘s The Provence casino is drawing ire from Congregation Rodeph Shalom, Friends Select School and Mathematics, and the Civics and Sciences Charter School, posing a potentially serious obstacle. Kiddies and casinos don’t mix and if that’s the perception of The Provence, Blatstein’s chances may be fading.

It’s not even been a week and already the wheels are coming off Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Greenwood Racing, Harrah's, Internet gambling, Maryland, Massachusetts, Neil Bluhm, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tilman Fertitta | 1 Comment

Bad news for Adelson; Wynn OK’d

Posted on December 17, 2013 by David McKee

SheldonI don’t know if Sheldon Adelson deserves the credit, but it looks like his anti-Internet-casino jihad has driven Big Gaming closer together. Wynn Resorts and Station Casinos and Churchill Downs have all joined the American Gaming Association. AGA prexy Geoff Freeman has already spoken out (indirectly) against Adelson and just substantially grown his constituency. To land three big operators at once is quite the coup de theatre and reinforces the ideological isolation of Las Vegas Sands and its sultan. It’s not been a good week for Sheldon. (Note that Monte Carlo’s casinos gross less than 1% of the projected cost of EuroVegas.)

Wynn EverettThere’s very little standing between Wynn Resorts and a Massachusetts casino license after the Massachusetts Gaming Commission‘s executive branch deemed Wynn suitable. “It seems like they run as buttoned-up an operation in Macau as pretty much can possibly be done,” said MGC Chairman Stephen Crosby during a hearing during which Steve Wynn was seeing periodically dozing off. While awake, he Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Geoff Freeman, International, Internet gambling, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn | Comments Off on Bad news for Adelson; Wynn OK’d

The case against Crosby

Posted on December 13, 2013 by David McKee

As expected, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission fired off a broadside against Caesars Entertainment. It defended its Investigations & Enforcement Bureau as “comprised of seasoned investigators, [who act] independently to protect the public interest.” That’s partly a defense of the IEB against charges it bowed to pressure from MGC Chairman Stephen Crosby and partly to justify any differences of opinion the body might have had with consultants Spectrum Gaming Group.

CrosbyBased on what I’ve read of the IEB’s report, Caesars and the MGC would have had issues, but no deal-breakers. (Except for Arik Kislin, whose background is seamier than Gary Loveman would like you to believe.) So now Caesars is suing Crosby for “tortious interference,” or kicking the ball off the fairway. The civil rights suit also protests “reputational and economic injury. Caesars wants the suitability report sealed, which is rather like asking the genie to return to the bottle, the document having been widely disseminated via PDF. (I’ve read a fair amount of it myself.)

(In an accompanying letter to Suffolk Downs, the Commission writes it Continue reading →

Posted in Election, Florida, Foxwoods, Harrah's, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Regulation, Steve Wynn, Tribal | 1 Comment

Hasta la vista, EuroVegas

Posted on December 13, 2013 by David McKee

His demands having been rejected by the Spanish government, Sheldon Adelson has renounced EuroVegas, his $30 billion grand folly of 12 hotels, six casinos and 18,000 slots in Spain. Considering his hard-nosed stance that the company Sheldononly concentrate on projects that can generate a 20% ROI, it’s always been difficult to understand why Adelson indulged in this white elephant as long as he did. Evidently Adelson upped his demands at the last minute, bringing an end to negotiations. One such obstacle was Adelson’s request for national exclusivity, along with governmental subsidies. Even with unemployment running at 26% (worse in younger demographics), the Spanish government decided it could afford to say “no.” Ironically, an attempt by Adelson to ban Internet gambling brought his project down.

So could Wall Street, which reportedly balked at having to foot $20 billion of the project cost. Adelson said  Continue reading →

Posted in Greenwood Racing, International, Japan, Maryland, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Sheldon Adelson, Wall Street | Comments Off on Hasta la vista, EuroVegas

‘Twas the toga before Christmas

Posted on December 12, 2013 by David McKee

While it was saying “Bah, humbug!” to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, along with a lump of coal, Caesars Entertainment released this cheerful swatch of Christmas kitch to the public. (Special thanks to those entertainers — like Taylor Hicks — who clearly practiced their parts.) Mac King and I both are alumni of Macalester College, in St. Paul. Obviously, he has put his degree to better use than have I. And finally, congratulations to Veronic, whose Bally’s residency has been extended through 2014. Job well done.

Posted in Current, Entertainment, Harrah's, The Strip | Comments Off on ‘Twas the toga before Christmas