S&G contributor Jeff_in_OKC has been reading the entrails of the recent demise of the Gold Spike (which had seemed to be doing so much better under Spiegel Group) and sees cause for hope. Other nearby casinos weren’t slow to court ex-Gold Spike employees, by the way. Jeff assembles the pieces of the theoretical strategy and — while it requires buyers to have a sudden appetite for casino-hotels — darned if it doesn’t make sense …
In the Kats Report from April 15, John Katsilometes stated that “The Siegel Group is not finished with its deal-making in Las Vegas. It is possible Siegel will shed his other boutique properties — Rumor, Artisan (right) and the Resort at Mount Charleston — and hard-focus his energy on a single downtown resort. A classic Vegas property, something where the company’s entire hotel interests are under a single roof.” Katsilometes also mentions that Siegel might sell the property on Paradise Road, next door north from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino that has been known as Atrium Suites, and Crowne Plaza through the years.This can be a good thing for Downtown. And I am guessing — repeat, guessing — that the property in question is Continue reading
“Like the travel industry, gaming is a complex industry.” — newly elected American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman, making the understatement of the year. Only 38 
No sooner had I confidently predicted that Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh (whoops, wrong Tony) would not be making any gaming related purchased when the shoe mogul pounced on the financially troubled Gold Spike. Showing the acumen that’s made him the most-admired magnate in town (yes, even more than Steve Wynn), 
Yesterday, Hsieh (left)and sidekick Andrew Donner pounced. Hsieh is conferring title of the property upon Resort Gaming Group (of which Donner) is CEO, which is like saying I transferred my toothbrush from my right hand to my left. While the Las Vegas Sun is all gloom and doom about the future of the Spike’s casino, I remain optimistic. “Hsieh [said] he would not be going into the casino business.” Translation: “That’s why I’m turning this over to my good buddy Andy Donner.” However, 
amenities are but a pallid shadow of what competing properties, even Tamares’ own Plaza, have to offer. It’s basically dead without knowing it. The news comes as the Las Vegas Sun reports — or implies — that once-aggressive Siegel Group is having trouble over at the thoroughly remade Gold Spike. The latter was once a vile, indescribable dive that Siegel rescued from Tamares’ neglect. As for the Vegas Club, it’s not a good sign that Tamares is pulling in its horns still further at a time when Derek Stevens (of The D and the Golden Gate) and Terry Caudill (of Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel and the Four Queens) are either executing or announcing various forms of reinvestment and capital improvement. All of them, of course, are trying to keep pace with the state-of-the-art Golden Nugget and the renewed ‘classic cool’ of the El Cortez, which — having helped bring Emergency Arts to fruition — finds itself sitting at Hipster Central.
“But it also must be said that — of all the demands made by organized labor groups in Las Vegas, whether private-sector or public-sector — the demands of the Wynn [Resorts] card dealers is among the most reasonable ever. In opposing the tip pooling policy, they are not asking for extra pay or more generous benefits, but rather to keep the tokes they earn on the job, except where they voluntarily pool that money with fellow employees. Greedy, this is not.” — Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Steve Sebelius on the failure of the Nevada Legislature (yet again) 
One doesn’t really think of going to shore in March, so it’s no surprise that Atlantic City casino revenues were — excluding Revel — down 14% last month. The latter grossed $10 million, pulling it almost dead even with the Golden Nugget and a bit further behind the Atlantic Club. The surprise bulletin of the month is that Colony Capital‘s low-budget, l0w-roller joint (right) posted a totally anomalous 33% increase, the only casino do post better numbers last month. Is Colony sure it wants to sell the place? It looks like Tom Barrack‘s people have finally figured out how to run a casino. Sharp declines marred Trump Taj Mahal (-19%) and all of the Caesars Entertainment foursome (ditto). Holding their own pretty well — defined as a 4% slippage — were Borgata ($52 million in gambling revenue) and Tilman Fertitta‘s Nugget. Coin-in and slot win at Borgata improved even with looser hold. Despite heavier play at the tables, Borgata was as unlucky at the Boardwalk’s other casinos were at the tables, matching the average 13% declivity.
Since Colliers International hasn’t been able to move Gary Goett‘s 100 gaming-enabled acres on St. Rose Parkway and I-15, at $1.25 million per acre, he’s still got time to rethink his decision not to build his Southern Highlands megaresort (left), complete with a mini-ripoff of Wynn Las Vegas, architecturally speaking. But Penn National Gaming continues to entrench at M Resort. (M’s much-touted, sprung-structure pavilion can best be described as “butt ugly” and is unfortunately the closest part of M to the street.) Colliers will split off the 51 acres closest to M, if it likes your offer, and sell those to you. Of course, you can forget Goett’s 1,200 approved condo units and I doubt anybody will build 2,700 hotel rooms far, far south of the Las Vegas Strip, even in a renascent market. Penn has talked about expansion at M, but more in the nature of additional amenities, not rooms.
Although Jon Woodrum has been a minor fixture of the Las Vegas casino scene for decades, he and son Mike Woodrum are trying to cash out of the Klondike Sunset Casino for a tidy little $3.5 million. It appeared last summer that 
Decimation of the slot floor at Hollywood Columbus proved to be just what the doctor ordered, “given the initial lackluster start and relatively low investor expectations,” as J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff writes. 
(D), who think “casino” and see a bottom less pile of money, ought to spend some time poring over March’s result. A monthly gross of $149 million hardly suggests “pent-up demand” just a-waitin’ to burst forth. However, the Chicago area seems to have stabilized at long last. There were small declines at Penn National Gaming‘s Empress Joliet and MGM Resorts International‘s Grand Victoria riverboat. However, Harrah’s Joliet and Penn’s Hollywood Aurora improved, as did Rivers Casino in Des Plaines. The latter led the market both in gross ($38 million) and improvement (10%). Even though casino admissions fell, per-visitor spend rose 5%, another heartening metric.
Stephen Sweeney (D, right), president of the New Jersey state senate, 
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than right: When Tamares Group made an indiscriminate splurge on downtown Las Vegas real estate in 2004, it was banking on a construction boom that never took place. It also found itself with several casinos and slot-route locations for which it never had any strategy. But Tamares sure was in the right place at the right time when Fremont East started becoming the place for trend-conscious locals (and some tourists) to hang out. For instance, if you’re enjoying an affordable, spicy meal at Le Thai, you are dining on Tamares-owned property. Also under Tamares’ ownership was the ancient and defunct Western Hotel, a locals casino that had long enjoyed (?) one of the roughest reputations.
… as all-you-can-eat caviar. 
So it was Trump Plaza, denials to the contrary, that issued last week’s inflammatory layoff notice to 1,434 workers. Trump Entertainment Resorts had posted a WARN Act notice, informing all workers at the Plaza that, as of May 10, they might lose their jobs … then tried to blame prospective owner Meruelo Group for the bulletin. Turns out there was a fair amount of “bull” in the document, all right: 
Although East Coast-based Gansevoort Hotel Group isn’t a household name around Las Vegas, it soon could be, if a planned collaboration with Caesars Entertainment comes to fruition. The latter had briefly planned to re-do Bill’s 
Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon as a clubber-oriented hotel/nightclub in collaboration with Victor Drai. Called “Caesars Drai’s,” the new theme — a debasement of the Caesars brand if ever we saw one — debuted to widespread indifference and vanished in, oh, about five minutes. Having evidently thought the matter over more carefully, Caesars has now brought in hipster-friendly Gansevoort. The highly rated Gansevoort brand is one that’s experienced with the pool-party-and-DJ scene, 
One of the things keeping me away from the S&G desk of late has been a trifle called Betrayal by Harold Pinter, which I’ve been staging for Las Vegas Little Theatre Studio and which opened last Friday (
Revel Atlantic City‘s day of deliverance is at hand: CEO Kevin DeSanctis