Quote of the Day

Posted on March 2, 2012 by David McKee


It’s not a quote so much as a whole heckuva lotta weirdness. Enjoy.

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Quote of the Day

Posted on February 24, 2012 by David McKee

“We said to Kevin [Antunes], ‘Listen, we don’t want to hear any accordions in ‘Beat It.’ … It’s gotta be Michael Jackson.’ We said to Jamie [King], ‘We don’t want any — and I don’t want to insult anybody — French clowns dancing at a Michael Jackson show.’ ” — Jackson family attorney John Branca on the prerequisites given to Cirque du Soleil® for Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour™. For those who haven’t seen it, be advised that King also directed Madonna‘s controversial Super Bowl halftime show, which may give you an idea of what to expect.

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Slave to SmithCoast

Posted on February 23, 2012 by David McKee

Those nice folks at CityLife must think I did all right by that last cover story because they’ve got me taking the lead on their media blitz vis-a-vis the impending (March 12) opening of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts. The three-auditorium venue is a cause near and dear to the hearts of such gaming-industry figures as Jim Murren (who’s in for $1 million), Don Snyder, Elaine Wynn ($5 million), Diana Bennett and others. It’s also the future home-away-from-home of Clint Holmes, hence my tendency to refer to it as SmithCoast. Anyway, I’m looking at a massive stack of reading materials plus a slew of interviews, hence the intermittent nature of S&G this week. Thankfully, things have quieted down a bit since Steve Wynn went thermonuclear on Kazuo Okada‘s posterior.

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Wynn vs. Okada: The appraisal; Mob Experience returns … like you cared

Posted on February 22, 2012 by David McKee

Wall Street analysts are weighing in on Wynn Resorts‘ preemptive strike against Kazuo Okada last weekend. Surprisingly, J.P. Morgan‘s Joseph Greff rates it as a positive in re Steve Wynn‘s ambitions for expansion into Japan and says it doesn’t hurt him in Macao, either. (So, causing a prominent Japanese businessman to lose face in his own country will have no negative cultural ramifications? Hmmmm … ) Deutsche Bank‘s Carlo Santarelli concludes that the fundamental picture of Wynn Resorts remains the same: “a solid risk reward story with limited expectations and strong free cash flow.” He furthermore noted that Okada knew Wynn’s sleuths were looking into his alleged palm-greasing before he leveled accusations that Steve Wynn was trying to buy influence in Macao, throwing a certain amount of discredit upon Okada’s j’accuse. However, Santarelli appears to walk back his previous remarks vis-a-vis a higher price target for WYNN, which he restates at $148/share. Regardless of how meritorious Okada’s indictment of Wynn was, throwing $135 million at the University of Macau, a gift timed to coincide with the expiration of Wynn’s Macanese casino concession isn’t bribery but it’s as crass, clumsy and heavy-handed a way of currying official favor as any of which I can conceive.

Save the date. Essentially forgotten amidst all the publicity surrounding last week’s opening of the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas, the erstwhile “Mob Experience” at the Tropicana Las Vegas is announcing a March 1 grand reopening. It has been rechristened Mob Attraction Las Vegas (although reader Jeff_in_OKC suggests the more musical “Mobicana Mobarama”) The A/V portions of the exhibit have been “upgraded and enhance[d]” — i.e., they’ve replaced the bells and whistles that got repossessed by Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Cosmopolitan, Current, Election, Entertainment, Harrah's, International, Macau, Movies, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Mob, The Strip, TV, Wall Street | Comments Off on Wynn vs. Okada: The appraisal; Mob Experience returns … like you cared

Malice at MotorCity

Posted on February 22, 2012 by David McKee

Melee at MotorCity Casino Hotel Caught on Tape: MyFoxDETROIT.com

Guests at a MotorCity Casino restaurant got some unplanned entertainment: a floor show to go with their breakfast. The casino says the combatants — who obviously were getting in touch with their inner Ron Artest — have been permanently 86’d from the property. Greektown Casino, which can’t afford to be so choosy, Continue reading →

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Quote of the Day

Posted on February 21, 2012 by David McKee

“I don’t believe in negative campaigning. I believe in saying that my opponents are very good people and I’m confident a lot of them would do a good job, but I would do a better job, and here’s why.” — claims Sheldon Adelson, who’s bankrolled a series of negative ads like the one above. Or this one …
And, yes, Sheldon, you’re “responsible for the content of this ad.”

Posted in Election, Marketing, Sheldon Adelson | 1 Comment

Wynn vs. Okada: Payback Time

Posted on February 20, 2012 by David McKee

Looks like Kazuo Okada brought a knife to a gunfight with Steve Wynn. The latter has spent the last year having former FBI boss Louis Freeh and sundry investigators check up on Okada — and what a lot of dirt did Freeh’s sleuths find. Allegedly, Okada was showering state-run Philippines Amusement & Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) and other officials  with gratuities here and there, from South Korea to Las Vegas, and even disclosed the palm-greasing to fellow Wynn Resorts directors. (Government corruption in the Philippines? Noooooooooooooooo!) Wynn board member — and former Nevada governor — Bob Miller proclaimed himself “deeply disturbed” by Okada’s trail of largesse. It can’t have come as too much of a shock, however, since top Filipino gaming regulator Cristino Naguiat stayed at Wynn Macau two years ago on Okada’s dime. Nagiuat’s excuse? “[T]o learn more about the casino business.” Yes, you see, first you become a regulator and only then do you figure out what the hell you’re regulating …

Naguiat himself passed the buck to “previous management” while raising the — distant and unlikely — possibility that Okada’s Filipino gaming license could get nixed. (Does anyone still wonder why American casino companies give the Philippines a wide berth?)

As his company’s stock took a dive, Okada responded by calling the PAGCOR flap a big misunderstanding and the 12-month internal probe “rushed.” (PAGCOR also denies any improper conduct on its part.) But it’s obviously a carefully orchestrated internal coup. The Freeh report’s findings give Wynn Resorts the bylaw justification it needs to forcibly liquidate Okada’s ownership stake. The buyout is being financed with a $1.9 billion IOU (plus 2% interest) and Okada can’t collect until 2022. It furthermore gives Wynn cover for taking back the shares at a “fair value” that happens to be a 31% discount to where they are currently trading. This preemptive strike is fortuitously timed to strip Okada of his voting bloc just when he’s trying to install four directors of his own choosing on the Wynn board. Instead, shareholders will be voting on Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Election, Florida, Genting, International, Macau, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Wall Street | 4 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 20, 2012 by David McKee

“It is hard to value Caesars [Entertainment] based on traditional financial measures because it has consistently lost money since its 2008 leveraged buyout by a group led by Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital. It carries $22.5 billion of debt and burns cash.” — Barron’s Associate Editor Andrew Baryis pans the recent IPO. As though to rub salt in the wounds, he recommends Ameristar Casinos and Pinnacle Entertainment as superior investment plays. Even should Internet poker be legalized in the U.S., “Caesars needs a lot to break right for its stock to score,” Baryis concludes.

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Las Vegas: What’s next?

Posted on February 16, 2012 by David McKee

If I had a crystal ball for Las Vegas’ future, I’d be a wealthier man. Not having one, I consulting some fellows far more perspicacious than myself. In no particular order they include Dennis Conrad, scholars Bill Eadington, Eugene Moehring and David G. Schwartz, Hunter Hillegas, bond analyst David Hargreaves, publisher Charles Anderer, and former Clark County CFO Guy Hobbs. (Taking a break from his McKnight Fellowship, Steve Friess lent me some helpful background on Macao that, regrettably, didn’t make it into the story.) With so many visiting experts, there much good material that hit the cutting room floor, so S&G readers can look forward to “outtakes” this week’s CityLife cover story. My apologies to Arthur Miller, from one of whose plays the title was shamelessly snurched. (There’s also a Luis Buñuel reference, for those who enjoy such arcana.)

Golden handshake: The producers of Broadway‘s troubled Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark have reached a settlement with cashiered director Julie Taymor (The Lion King). Ms. Taymor walks off with a bundle of royalties and 8 Legged Productions has one less encumbrance dangling over the show’s head. Since Spider-Man is one of the highest-grossing plays on B’way (making in excess of $1.2 million per week), it’s slightly mystifying that it would be fast-tracked to Vegas as Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Economy, Entertainment, history, Macau, MGM Mirage, Movies, New York, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip, Tribal | 4 Comments

Sands’ new strategy: Blame Genting; Big Gaming backs Romney

Posted on February 15, 2012 by David McKee

First, the good news. Las Vegas Sands is signaling that it is not going to take its ball and come home from Florida, regardless of what lobbyist Nick Iarossi said last week. However, Sands’ emissary to the Sunshine State, Andy Abboud, unleashed his wrath upon Walt Disney Co. and the Florida Chamber of Commerce for acting out of — gasp! — “selfish financial self-interest.” You mean, like your boss does when the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority horns in on the business-meeting market?

Abboud having played the role of outraged carpetbagger, Iarossi turned on Genting Bhd., the favored whipping boy of casino proponents and opponents alike. Even though Sands had spent considerable money on lobbyists like himself, Iarossi felt no compunction about being the pot who called the kettle black. It was Genting‘s lobbyists who were to blame, he asserted, with their “big money splash.” Skepticism about the viability of Genting’s $4 billion, Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Colony Capital, Current, Donald Trump, Downtown, Economy, Election, Florida, Genting, Goldman Sachs, Harrah's, International, Internet gambling, LVCVA, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Tamares Group, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Cosmo woe; MGM lurves Ameristar

Posted on February 15, 2012 by David McKee

As new casino boss Thomas McCartney tries to stabilize the sinking ship that is The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, he’s tossed overboard some human ballast in the form of casino employees. (Thirty full-time dealers are alleged to have been pink-slipped.) This could be a case where Cosmo had too many dealers on the floor at any given time. That’s one of the business mistakes that London Clubs International made while trying to run the Aladdin: overstaffing the gaming floor. It’s a bit of lore that McCartney might have absorbed when he was running the Aladdin’s Planet Hollywood reincarnation. In the last two quarters, the Cosmo has spent almost as much in promotional allowances (hard to believe, I know) as it has grossed in its casino. Ergo, if you’re looking to cut costs, why not start with your least remunerative department? Still, old-time Vegas casino execs must be rolling in their graves.

Follow the ‘Star. Although Caesars Entertainment‘s answer to lacking a player-capturing presence in regions like New England, Ohio and the Mid-Atlantic states has been to commit itself to new bricks-and-mortar casinos, MGM Resorts International may be inventing a better mousetrap. For a pittance, it’s getting to steer Dan Lee‘s in-progress Mojito Pointe casino, in the premier Louisiana market, Lake Charles. Now comes a reciprocal player-incentive alliance with Ameristar Casinos, thereby extending MGM’s corporate tendrils into Iowa, Indiana, Missouri and Colorado. There are more goodies in the deal Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Colorado, Cosmopolitan, Dan Lee, Dining, Election, Harrah's, history, Illinois, Indiana, International, Iowa, Lake Tahoe, Louisiana, Marketing, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Missouri, Movies, Ohio, Planet Hollywood, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip | 1 Comment

Okada vs. Wynn, Round Two; Nevada wins, players lose

Posted on February 14, 2012 by David McKee

Having spent all weekend and most of yesterday laboring over an in-depth think piece for CityLife (a future-of-Vegas thing), I’ll admit to being pretty well fried. But the news never sleeps — much as one might wish otherwise, sometimes — so I’ll do my best for you.

Kazuo Okada either won or lost his first skirmish with Wynn Resorts last week, depending on which newspaper you read. Perhaps wary of displeasing a big advertiser, the Las Vegas Review-Journal spun the outcome as a Wynn-win situation, based on the fact that Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez (right) restricted Okada’s process to “reasonable” limits, pending some “serious questions” she had about certain requests (Translation: No fishing expeditions for Mr. O). But if you read the Las Vegas Sun, it’s apparent that Okada won far more than he lost in Round Two. While Steve Wynn can still designate certain documents as “confidential” and off-limits to Okada, the court will have the final say on what’s cricket and what isn’t. At first blush, Gonzalez appears Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Cretins, Current, Dining, International, Macau, Marketing, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Taxes, The Strip, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 14, 2012 by David McKee

“It’s one of the imperatives of the Las Vegas hype machine that we never allow ourselves to dwell on our mistakes, publicly or privately. How many people remember Avenue Q at Wynn? Hairspray at Luxor? Columbia Sussex at the Tropicana? The Hacienda casino? It’s as if these things never existed, and they’ve been swept from the collective Las Vegas psyche that’s always focused on looking to the next play.” — David G. Schwartz, director of UNLV‘s Center for Gaming Research writing in the Two Way Hard Three blog.

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Entertainment, history, MGM Mirage, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 3 Comments

Crack is whack, Gary; Footing the CityCenter bill

Posted on February 13, 2012 by David McKee

It will be some time before we know what drugs were in Whitney Houston‘s system when she perished last weekend. More to our S&G purpose is the question of what pharmacological experiments Caesars Entertainment executives were conducting  when they entered top-hush negotiations with the troubled singer in 2009. According to designer Andy Walmsley (who ought to know), a residency show was being talked up for Paris-Las Vegas. Think about it: Whitney Houston. 2009. Anybody see a problem here? This Nov. 24, 2009 performance gives an idea of what we could have expected … although, in truth, Strip audiences have sat contentedly through worse, much worse.

Seriously, you’ve got to be kidding when you propose a headliner act anchored — if that is the operative verb — by a former superstar, adrift and whose Continue reading →

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Idle worship in Vegas

Posted on February 12, 2012 by David McKee

Making a pilgrimage to Lourdes is so 20th century, especially when you can go to Planet Hollywood and worship at the feet of a Jersey Shore cast member. No word on whether last weekend’s manifestation of the inexplicable cultural artifact known as “Jwoww” to her acolytes caused the blind to see, the crippled to walk or madmen to come to their senses. Probably the other way around, from the look of things.

Posted in Entertainment, Harrah's, Planet Hollywood, The Strip, TV | 2 Comments

Lee, Nazarian go to market; IGT goes Disney

Posted on February 10, 2012 by David McKee

An S&G source says Creative Casinos CEO Dan Lee has arranged mezzanine financing and may soon go to the bond market to raise capital, presumably for Mojito Pointe for potentially for ventures elsewhere. The Lake Charles market draws heavy play from Houston‘s Vietnamese-American community, I’m told, and Mojito Pointe manager-to-be MGM Resorts International already has a presence in Vietnam. Lee’s old company, Pinnacle Entertainment is also going into ‘Nam so it would be true to form for Lee to crash Pinnacle’s party … again. Sahara owner Sam Nazarian (left) is also said to be schlepping a $450 million bond offering around, to finance a makeover of Sam’s Place. We hear he’s had trouble finding takers in Los Angeles but, if successful, plans to re-skin the buildings and market the Sahara as an alternative to the Cosmopolitan … although the jury’s still out on the Cosmo’s business model, even at one of the best intersections on the Strip.

International Game Technology continues to remake its image under CEO Patti Hart. CFO Pat Cavanaugh has been ousted in favor of former Walt Disney Imagineering Treasurer John Vandemore. His previous employers include Goldman Sachs — presumably during Continue reading →

Posted in California, Cosmopolitan, Current, Dan Lee, Entertainment, Goldman Sachs, IGT, International, Louisiana, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Pinnacle Entertainment, Sahara, The Strip, Tourism, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 10, 2012 by David McKee

“On my watch, we fought hard and prevented Massachusetts from becoming the Las Vegas of gay marriage.” — Mitt Romney, speaking earlier today. Unfortunately, Nevada voters have twice prevented Las Vegas from becoming “the Las Vegas of gay marriage.” Our lo$$.

Posted in Current, Economy, Election, Massachusetts, The Strip, Tourism | 1 Comment

Fire sale at Caesars; Harvey vs. The Mob

Posted on February 10, 2012 by David McKee

Money problems at Caesars Entertainment are worse than we thought. According to the New York Post, the company is trying to shop as many as 10 Midwestern casinos in order to raise $500 million in development capital. The money would go toward Suffolk Downs (left) and other projects — such as a hotel in China or a Baltimore slot parlor–  to which the company is already committed. From what I’ve heard elsewhere, this might not be the only asset sale in the works.  When contacted by reporter Josh Kosman, Caesars declined to comment on his report, so we’ll take that as a “yes.” In his attempt to extend the reach of Caesars’ empire and tap new sources of revenue, CEO Gary Loveman is evidently having to cannibalize his regional casinos, severing the Total Rewards tree from its roots. The counter-argument is that Caesars in overexposed in the Midwest and does well to cut back there in order to reinvest in Ohio and points eastward.
This is actually a scenario I’d heard floated on Wall Street back when then-Harrah’s Entertainment went all LBO on us: That Apollo (Mis)Management and Texas Pacific Group would ease their debt load by chopping the company into pieces, in true corporate-raider fashion. That didn’t happen but now, if Kosman’s story is on the money, Loveman’s expansion strategy has overextended the company. And … 10 casinos to raise $500 million? That’s not just pathetic; Continue reading →

Posted in Harrah's, Harry Reid, Illinois, Indiana, International, Iowa, Isle of Capri, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Reno, The Mob, Tribal, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Vegas’ December: Better than it looks?

Posted on February 9, 2012 by David McKee

If today’s numbers from the Nevada Gaming Control Board indicate that December was good for business — especially on the Las Vegas Strip (up 4% … 7% if you take baccarat out of the equation) — January ought to have been great. Why? Because Dec. 31 fell upon a Saturday … meaning that all those New Year’s Eve weekend slot revenues won’t show up for another month. (The contents of hoppers would have been tallied on Jan. 2, per standard operating procedure.) As Deutsche Bank‘s Carlo Santarelli points out, slot hold was low but it’s almost always low that time of year, due to industry accounting practices. Having an additional weekend day last December obviously didn’t hurt the numbers either. J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff predicts January revenue growth of around 5%, although it’s not clear if he’s referring simply to the Strip or the whole state of Nevada, which was up 2% in December.

Even without those New Year’s Eve numbers, slot revenue rose 6% on larger handle, the ninth such Continue reading →

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Quote of the Day

Posted on February 9, 2012 by David McKee

“Is this the type of company people mean when they say government should be run like a business?” — Las Vegas Review-Journal reader “hermit,” on the subject of Caesars Entertainment‘s IPO.

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