Quote of the Day

Posted on April 10, 2013 by David McKee
“Good writing is economical. I try to keep it as simple, witty and civilized as possible.” — Sir Dirk Bogarde, actor, author and journalist.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Revel: It was all downhill from here

Posted on April 8, 2013 by David McKee

Yeah, Beyoncé is a hard act to follow but who knew that Revel would fall so far, so fast? So enjoy this brief moment when things looked so very promising* …  in the meantime, I’m running down leads on some oldies but goodies: the Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Dining, Downtown, Entertainment, Gary Goett, history, Michael Gaughan, North Las Vegas, Revel, Station Casinos, Tamares Group | 6 Comments

Ohio: Penn recovers

Posted on April 8, 2013 by David McKee

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. Minus 515 machines, revenues at H’wood Columbus last month were now $21 million, including $173/day/slot — not ideal but getting there and a huge improvement on where they were. Since revenue comparisons are still sequential at this point, not year/year, I won’t read much into them. The market, however, continued to trend upward throughout the first quarter, growing by nearly half last month … from $66.5 million to $96.9 million. H’wood Columbus is, however, still being outperformed by the VLTs at MTR Gaming‘s Scioto Downs racino, which were averaging $193 per day.

Penn National Gaming had a bonny month at Hollywood Toledo ($18 million), averaging $227/day at the slots. Holy Toledo, I think we’ve Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Dan Gilbert, Harrah's, MTR Gaming, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Racinos, Wall Street | Comments Off on Ohio: Penn recovers

Illinois: Recovering or grasping a branch?

Posted on April 6, 2013 by David McKee

We’re at a point where we can finally say that Illinois‘ colossal slide in casino revenues has ended … at least until people get into the habit of playing video poker in bars. Reckless legislators like Rep. Lou Lang (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.

In smaller markets, Boyd Gaming was a bit off (-2%) at Par-A-Dice in Peoria while Harrah’s Metropolis (-10%) reeled from Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Current, Economy, Harrah's, Illinois, Isle of Capri, MGM Mirage, Neil Bluhm, Penn National, Slot routes | 1 Comment

Revel: What’s -$2 billion among friends?

Posted on March 22, 2013 by David McKee

Stephen Sweeney (D, right), president of the New Jersey state senate, has the honor of having been the first to call for ex-Revel CEO Kevin DeSanctis‘ head on a platter. Garden State regulators moved quickly to put Mohegan Sun veteran Jeffrey Hartmann in DeSanctis’ place, while the latter and colleague Michael Garrity sail away on $7.2 million worth of golden parachutes. Failure is lucrative, at least if you’re a suit at Revel Group. The latter remains tethered to the casino, despite its haplessness, so that the resort can keep the Revel name. However, given how low the $2.4 billion megaresort has fallen, now worth only $450 million, if ever there was a time to re-brand, this is it. If the prospective, Reno-based owners of Trump Plaza can do it …

Hartmann’s got his work cut out: Revel is looking at no profits until 2017 and its 2014 ROI will be one quarter of one percent (yes, 0.25%). A DeSanctis protegé and number cruncher par excellence, he’ll act as a glorified chief restructuring officer, worrying over matters as small as literally saving money on toilet paper. He doesn’t sound like Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Harrah's, Massachusetts, Neil Bluhm, Revel, Technology, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Goodbye Western, hello SLS … ?

Posted on March 22, 2013 by David McKee

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.

Along came Andrew Donner (below), the transparent stalking horse for Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Dining, Downtown, Economy, M Resort, Marketing, Maryland, Ohio, Penn National, Sahara, Sam Nazarian, Steve Wynn, Tamares Group, The Strip, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Before the fall …

Posted on March 20, 2013 by David McKee

Eight years later, Steve Wynn is still firmly ensconced at the top. Gary Loveman is hanging on for dear life and George Maloof is a sad-faced figurehead. And $2.7 billion for a casino resort (Wynn Las Vegas) looks like frugality after the sums blown on CityCenter, Fontainebleau, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and — oh so nearly — Echelon. Here’s a look back at a time when money was so loose and minds were so giddy that billions were spent to build hotel towers that will be demolished without ever hosting a single guest.

Posted in Boyd Gaming, CityCenter, Cosmopolitan, Economy, Fontainebleau, George Maloof, history, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Wall Street | 4 Comments

Somebody Sent Us These II

Posted on March 20, 2013 by David McKee

Continuing a very occasional series, here are some casino-related ephemera that have washed up on the shores of cyberspace. For instance …

… only about 25% of the rooms at the newly announced Gansevoort Las Vegas will enjoy this particular Strip view. Guess which ones will command the premium price points? And how many Strip hotels will be able to boast that the best views are to be had from the bathroom? Now there’s a marketing hook! But not as compelling …

… as all-you-can-eat caviar. For that kind of culinary largesse, I’d gladly drop $38 at Bellagio on a buffet dinner. Of course, you’d need a wheelbarrow to get me back to the garage … especially after that theoretical, $8 “bucket of Bloody Marys.” However, you still have to go to New York City if you want to drop $666 on the Douche Burger, a caloric atrocity that seems tailor-made for the more uncouth elements of the Sin City clientele. A Strip restaurant that cross-pollinates a David Lynch TV series with Hooters seems like a hoax in the making. But Twin Peaks is the real thing and but one of many. Satire is quickly becoming impossible, especially …

… when it comes to bizarrely imitative architecture. China has us hopelessly Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Australia, Boyd Gaming, Current, Dining, Economy, Genting, Harrah's, International, MGM Mirage, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 1 Comment

Trump: No longer WARN’d

Posted on March 19, 2013 by David McKee

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: Trump meekly revoked the fatwa, leaving it for Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Current, Donald Trump, Economy | 4 Comments

Exit Drai’s, enter Gansevoort

Posted on March 19, 2013 by David McKee

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, as well as with various and sundry members of the Kardashian species, so it ought to fit right in on the Strip. Judging by its New York City Hotels, Gansevoort is accustomed to working in tight spaces (as little as 250 square feet), so remaking the ex-Barbary Coast shouldn’t be too difficult. The hotelier says its style is both “lush” and “minimalistic.” Those two qualities sound like a contradiction in terms to me, but let’s cut the new guys some slack. Drai will still Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Current, Entertainment, Harrah's, history, Marketing, Michael Gaughan | 1 Comment

Now it can be told …

Posted on March 19, 2013 by David McKee

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 (it runs through March 31). This is a love child I’d been incubating since last September and now it is toddling into the world on its own feet. None of Pinter’s works had been staged in Las Vegas since 2008, although some inferior imitators of his style have held the stage recently, and this wickedly witty and erotic drama seemed the perfect “comeback” vehicle. It’s also been the culmination of eight pretty heady months of theatrical activity. The latter’s been pretty hard on my bank account but incalculably gratifying from a spiritual standpoint. It’s also enabled Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Entertainment, history, The Strip | Comments Off on Now it can be told …

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 19, 2013 by David McKee

… week, month, year! We don’t have Stew Man Group here in Las Vegas — but we should!

Posted in Entertainment, The Strip, TV | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Revel: Don’t cry for him, Argentina; Are Twinkies the new Caesars?

Posted on March 13, 2013 by David McKee

Revel Atlantic City‘s day of deliverance is at hand: CEO Kevin DeSanctis has been ousted, along with Chief Investment Officer Michael Garrity. But there’s no need to shed tears over their fate. They will continue “developing amenity projects” for Revel (since they’ve done such a bang-up job to date) and will retain their sinecures with holding company Revel Group, which had entrusted them with the $2.4 billion megaflop’s leadership. DeSanctis’ replacement is Jeffrey Hartmann, a 16-year Mohegan Sun veteran who was sacked by Mitchell Etess last fall, after less than a year as CEO, as part of a larger workforce massacre. Hartmann now gets to stage a grudge match with Etess, who’s trying to re-re-invent Resorts Atlantic City (not well: -22% last month), which the late Dennis Gomes reinvented not so long ago.

This news comes close upon the heels of another depressing month for Atlantic City, down 12.5% in February (worse still when Revel’s $9 million is taken out of the equation). However, taking competition and storm damage into account, Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli wrote, “The strangest thing about February results is that we think they were better than expected.” Slot win was -18% but table revenues grew 1%, despite Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, Colony Capital, Current, Dennis Gomes, Dining, Donald Trump, Downtown, Economy, Harrah's, Internet gambling, Movies, Station Casinos, Tilman Fertitta, Tribal, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | 2 Comments

“Someone needs to burn this place to the ground”

Posted on March 8, 2013 by David McKee

It seems potentially very funny … but isn’t Bradley Cooper getting rather dark and tragic for this sort of thing? He looks like a Quentin Tarantino protagonist who’s been parachuted into a Disney picture.

Posted in Marketing, Movies, The Strip | Comments Off on “Someone needs to burn this place to the ground”

North Strip: SLS yes, F-blew no, Riviera maybe

Posted on March 7, 2013 by David McKee

S&G contributor JeffInOKC returns from a too-long absence with some thoughts on one of our favorite topics, the North Strip …
It is common for us to hear the term “Too Big to Fail,” but I think the true story of Fountainebleau is “Too Big to Succeed.” The original plan for the property was doomed. But the boomtown mentality of the time placed scales on many people’s eyes and rendered them blind to the realities of the situation. A resort that size and scale will take at least five years to find its footing and get to where it was no longer losing money. That assumes the owners would have real operational experience at something near that scale and a very large customer base at any level, but especially at the high end. Steve Wynn with Kirk Kerkorian‘s bankroll would have had trouble making it work.
• In that regard, I see the Cosmopolitan as being very similar, with one major difference: Cosmo was NEVER intended to wind up as anything other than a part of CityCenter. I will go to my grave convinced that it was conceived with the intent of making it a part of CityCenter, that it can never make money as anything other than a part of CityCenter. I will be surprised if it will ever show a profit, even after any service on the cost of construction is removed. Cosmo’s explanation of it’s financial performance is “Just the right amount of wrong” and it will ultimately wind up being a part of CityCenter. As far as the current condition of the Fontainebleau physical plant goes, I have no fears about some kind of waterlogging or weather deterioration having made it unusable, or having any real effect for at least Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Boyd Gaming, CityCenter, Cosmopolitan, Current, Fontainebleau, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Riviera, Sahara, Sam Nazarian, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism | 4 Comments

No surprise: MGM abandons Ho Tram Strip

Posted on March 7, 2013 by David McKee

As of June 3, MGM Resorts International‘s involvement in Vietnam‘s long-troubled Ho Tram Strip will be a closed chapter in the company’s history. This morning, Pinnacle Entertainment announced yet another delay — shocking! — in MGM Grand Ho Tram Beach, which Jim Murren‘s subsidiary, MGM Hospitality, was to manage. MGM, sensibly, never put real money into this Vietnamese chimera. Pinnacle, however, did and nearly $25 million of its $116 million investment is gone with the wind, undoubtedly to be followed by Continue reading →

Posted in Current, International, MGM Mirage, Pinnacle Entertainment, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Sahara Sam’s SLS surrealism

Posted on March 6, 2013 by David McKee

Kudos to Chuck Monster for finding this fanciful rendering of SLS Las Vegas, presumably designed to mislead would-be EB-5 Visa investors from China and points East. Shazam! The former Sahara has miraculously floated down the Strip and over to Koval Lane, where it will sit opposite bargain paradise Ellis Island Casino, a popular haunt for Las Vegas Advisor staffers and other bargain hounds. Wow! I’m amazed how $400 million raised mostly from obscure overseas sources (and subject to visa-approval contingencies) can rewrite the geography of Las Vegas at a snap. Even Steve Wynn never managed that trick! As for the rendering, it’s so daffy, it makes me wish it were true. (Does it rise to the level of a “material misrepresentation” to investors?) And when is “Sam the Sham” Nazarian going to file for that long-promised gaming license? Whaddya wanna bet somebody has to bail him out of this project?

Posted in International, Sahara, Sam Nazarian, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 2 Comments

Adelson: Yes, we did! Wait, no, we didn’t! Well, OK, sorta … but not really!

Posted on March 5, 2013 by David McKee

“On the U.S. side … we view the State of Nevada as having uninspiring oversight of activities occurring in Macau. For every gap of oversight that exists from the Nevada Gaming Control Board or Nevada Gaming Commission, the U.S. Federal Government may fill it … If the Nevada Gaming Control Board and Commission were to continue showing tame oversight of activities that occur in Macau, then those governmental entities risk losing their own legitimacy as the industry continues to globalize. The U.S. federal government will most certainly fill any illegitimacy of Nevada’s regulatory activities, just as it did in the 1970’s and early 1980’s when [it] was forced to purge organized crime out of Nevada when it became evident that the State of Nevada was having difficulty in doing so itself.” — Jonathan Galaviz, from a summarized version of a recent Galaviz & Co. research report.

When Mr. Galaviz published those words, last month, they may have seemed alarmist. After reading a news story like this, they sound chillingly prophetic. If the states can’t handle rogue elephants like Las Vegas Sands, are we going to have to whistle in the feds? In defense of Nevada regulators, a string of gubernatorial administrations — both Democratic and Republican — has starved the NGCB of funding, even as the casino industry ballooned to undreamt-of dimensions. Nevada regulators have to ride herd on a 21st century industry using a budget predicated on the pre-Steve Wynn era. Outsourcing the testing of games to private labs may free up some money for extra auditors and inspectors, but it’s only a step in the right direction.

Galaviz calls Nevada regulation “uninspiring,” “tame” and borderline illegitimate. For those of us who cover it regularly, “supine,” “toothless” and “willfully blind” would be closer to the truth. (Mr. Galaviz is being exquisitely diplomatic and admirably gentlemanly in his choice of words.) Silver State regulators don’t speak truth to power: They cower before it. There will be Winter Olympics in Hell before an operator of consequence loses his license, no matter how great the provocation.

In the case of Sands and its misadventures in China, the company’s March 1 10-K filing is a veritable all-you-can-eat buffet of Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, history, International, Internet gambling, Macau, Movies, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, The Mob, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Ader vs. IGT: Hart wins, Adelson loses

Posted on March 5, 2013 by David McKee

This just in … the long-awaited showdown at the International Game Technology shareholder meeting has taken place and seven of the eight incumbents were re-elected, including two heavyweight allies of beleaguered CEO Patti Hart: former Harrah’s Entertainment CEO Phil Satre and former Nevada governor Bob Miller. Only director David Roberson got the boot, with Ader Investment Management President Daniel Silvers being elected in his place. Two other Jason Ader-backed candidates lost. Hart is safe to continue pursuing her innovative or erratic (depending on your perspective) strategies for growing IGT. Ader continues to hold a small position (3%) in IGT stock and now has a foothold in the boardroom, so he’s not done making mischief by any means. Neither is Sheldon Adelson, for whose derriere-garde efforts to thwart Internet gambling Ader has acted as a catspaw. In that respect, both men are on the losing side of the war. Adelson is accustomed to being on the wrong end of history by now but Ader still has a chance to salvage his reputation, as opposed to joining the Mossbacked Anachronism Brigade.

Posted in Current, IGT, Internet gambling, Sheldon Adelson, Technology, Wall Street | Comments Off on Ader vs. IGT: Hart wins, Adelson loses

Resorts World LV: Look familiar?

Posted on March 5, 2013 by David McKee

A reader in Arizona asks the question that was on my mind yesterday and probably yours, too: “Is it just me … or does this look like just a copper/gold-colored version of CityCenter?”
Agreed! (With a large helping of Mandalay Bay slopped around the front and sides. Look, if you want originality, you don’t phone up Paul Steelman.) Not only that, it vaguely resembles Jim Murren‘s original “bubble drawings” for CityCenter, with “Aria” now moved to the Strip and “Veer Towers” out back along Industrial Drive. The double-amputee on the south side represents Morgans Hotel Group‘s abortive, two-hotel participation in Echelon (a Mondrian and a Delano) and a sixth hotel tower (let’s call it “Mandarin Oriental”) stands where General Growth Properties‘ retail mall would have been. Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Architecture, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, CityCenter, Current, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Genting, history, Macau, MGM Mirage, Morgans Hotel Group, Movies, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip | 3 Comments