More bad news for Adelson

Posted on February 9, 2012 by David McKee

It’s hard to say which is funnier or more hubristic: Sheldon Adelson‘s ongoing conceit that he could buy the presidency of the United States or his arrant naiveté, thinking that such ham-fisted involvement in the electoral process wouldn’t bring him under a media microscope. Trotting wife Dr. Miriam Adelson out for a lovey-dovey profile in Fortune isn’t going to change that. Reuters reminds its readers today that both the SEC and the Department of Justice are rooting around in Las Vegas Sands‘ business practices in Macao, a subject of which we’ll hear more as Adelson keeps dumping huge bags of money into the machinery of American politics. At the rate things are going, presidential candidates will soon be fielding queries about Continue reading →

Posted in Macau, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson | 2 Comments

China to Cirque: “Pas encore!”

Posted on February 9, 2012 by David McKee

Cirque du Soleil® has laid another oeuf — or Las Vegas Sands has claimed yet another showbiz victim. Its resident show at Venetian Macao, Zaia™, is closing after a 42-month run. Either the touchy-feely, eco-friendly whimsies of Zaia™ were too daft for Chinese audiences or Sands’ tradition of high rental costs were too much for a show that was a poor draw, playing to 40% of capacity. Sands spokesman Ron Reese does well to point out that, in Vegas, a 3.5-year run is Continue reading →

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Economy, Entertainment, Horseracing, International, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pennsylvania, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip, Tourism | Comments Off on China to Cirque: “Pas encore!”

From the mailbag: Florida

Posted on February 8, 2012 by David McKee

From the Sunshine State comes this dispatch from one of S&G‘s far-flung network of reader correspondents. This player is obviously quite familiar with the state of gambling in the great State of Florida …

Mardi Gras Casino opened with $100 reels and video poker … no more. No video poker over $1 denom  (although some 10-play is there at the 99% payback level). Player reinvestment is close to nil and promo budget is niggardly.

Calder [Casino & Race Course] opened with server-based reels up to $100 and 45-line $1 denoms … all of those are all gone too. And they’re Continue reading →

Posted in California, Florida, Genting, Harrah's, Isle of Capri, Marketing, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Tribal, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Adelson does damage control; Caesars IPO Part 2: Boom or bust?

Posted on February 8, 2012 by David McKee

It was “unfortunate” for Sheldon Adelson that he wore the uniform of the United States of America, the country that made him rich? Seriously?

Not many of us would use our spouses as human shields. But then again, not many of us are Sheldon Adelson, who’s been ducking the media for weeks, and who did just that. Somebody, somewhere at Las Vegas Sands must have dialed up Fortune and let it be known that Dr. Miriam Adelson would be happy to take some of the heat off of her suddenly bashful husband. How else to explain this fawning profile of ‘Miri’ by bedazzled Duff McDonald. The central thread of piece is to downplay the extent of the Adelsons’ current electoral largesse (counting in-laws, it’s nearing the $20 million threshold), painting it as pocket change compared to their philanthropic endeavors. McDonald betrays himself with a sniffy line about ‘Miri’ putting her hubby’s “casino lucre to good use.” But he generally stays on message.

It’s the heartwarming saga of a power couple who went from riches to rags (i.e., a net worth of “a mere $400 million” — shocking penury!) and to riches again … thanks to that naughty “casino lucre,” one might add. McDonald politely defers from asking obvious questions. For instance, if one believes that “Saving a drug addict is the equivalent of saving about 20 people. Treating one drug addict reduces his criminal activity, reduces his arrests, reduces his appearances in court, reduces his time sitting in prison, reduces his injecting drugs, reduces him being infected with HIV & Hepatitis C while sharing needles, and reduces his infecting others,” then why aren’t you Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Boyd Gaming, Charity, Cordish Co., Don Barden, Economy, Election, Harrah's, history, Illinois, Indiana, International, Macau, Penn National, Pinnacle Entertainment, Racinos, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | Comments Off on Adelson does damage control; Caesars IPO Part 2: Boom or bust?

Singapore surges to all-time highs

Posted on February 7, 2012 by David McKee

Thanks to Marina Bay Sands (left) and Resorts World Sentosa, the city-state of Singapore posted record levels of tourism (13 million souls, a 13% increase) last year. While overall tourism-related revenues leapt 17%, entertainment spending — which of course includes gambling — was $4.4 billion, for an eye-popping 37% increase. In their eagerness to cash in, however, Las Vegas Sands and Genting Berhad have gotten a little careless. Both have been fined for waiving the $80 admission fee that Singaporean citizens are legally required to pay. Sands got slapped with a $204,000 fine while Genting will have to write Singapore a $104K check to cover its bad behavior.

Posted in Current, Economy, Genting, International, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Tourism | Comments Off on Singapore surges to all-time highs

Bluhm, Boyd win in Illinois, everyone else loses

Posted on February 7, 2012 by David McKee

Well, not quite but the headline pretty much gives you January’s narrative in a nutshell. After backing out the contribution made by Neil Bluhm‘s new, category-killing Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, gambling revenue from the Land of Lincoln was a feeble $96 million last month, for a same-store comparison of -11%. The most damning statistic is that more people were visiting casinos last month (admissions rose 17%) but per-visitor spend remains flat. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn‘s office should run off copies of Carlo Santarelli‘s sobering revenue breakdown and beat every pro-expansion legislator soundly over the noggin with it. If gamblers continue to spend less, leaving casinos to fight over a stagnant pool of money, all large-scale casino/racino/slot-route expansion is going to accomplish will be to spread the existing misery.

And I do mean misery: Caesars Entertainment‘s take was down 11%, Penn National Gaming‘s fell 19%, as did MGM Resorts International‘s. Rivers Casino is absolutely sucking out the Chicagoland market, its $30 million leaving everyone else eating Bluhm’s dust. MGM’s Grand Victoria Elgin, Hollywood Aurora (-24%), Empress Joliet (-19%) and Harrah’s Joliet (-12%) are all getting their butts kicked, no two ways about it. And that’s what just one new casino can do to the region. Imagine a few more casinos (including one in downtown Chicago) and five racinos, and it gets too ugly Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, Columbia Sussex, Culinary Union, Current, Harrah's, Illinois, International, Internet gambling, MGM Mirage, Neil Bluhm, Penn National, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Slot routes, Tilman Fertitta, Tropicana Entertainment, Wall Street | 1 Comment

And then there were three; What’s next in Florida?; New problem for Illinois

Posted on February 6, 2012 by David McKee

While the rest of America was betting on a little thing we call the Super Bowl …

Unless it can find somebody to relieve it of a fourth and final gaming license, in southeastern Kansas, the Sunflower State’s casino-expansion program reached fruition last Friday. That’s when Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway revved the engines of its $411 million racino. Penn National Gaming operates the facility on behalf of the state lottery. After many years and false starts, Kansas’ grand scheme doesn’t look so impressive in the cold light of reality. Other than Penn, most major operators begged off and the concept of a state-owned casino industry is an experiment unlikely to be repeated.

What makes the Kansas Speedway casino particularly interesting is that International Speedway Corp. is looking for gambling revenues to prop up auto races. I hadn’t realized the sport was in so much Continue reading →

Posted in Election, Genting, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Penn National, Politics, Racinos, Sheldon Adelson, Sports, Taxes, Tribal | 2 Comments

Adelson’s perfidy and big karmic payback

Posted on February 6, 2012 by David McKee

Last Saturday, Sheldon Adelson personally presided over the Special Supplemental Sheldon Adelson Presidential Caucuses (an event hijacked from the state GOP) at the Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson Educational Campus … and stepped in it again. Adelson’s footpads, according to Richard A. Oppel Jr. of the New York Times, told caucus goers “they had to sign a legal declaration under penalty of perjury that they could not attend their daytime caucus because of ‘my religious beliefs’ … Mike Dicicco, a [Ron] Paul supporter who drove more than half an hour from Henderson, Nev., said he was asked whether he was Jewish by a poll worker.” (NB: The evening caucus was ostensibly also scheduled for the benefit of Seventh Day Adventists.)

Adelson’s religious test had its ironic side: “Sharon Saska, who said she arrived too late to her regular caucus on Saturday to vote before it adjourned, left after she was refused entry because Continue reading →

Posted in Dining, Election, Florida, Macau, MGM Mirage, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Caesars IPO: It’s baaaaaack! Adelson: I’ll take Taiwan

Posted on February 3, 2012 by David McKee

In a pathetically underwhelming announcement, Caesars Entertainment is planning to float an IPO of 1.8 million shares, priced to move at a modest $8-$10 per share. Which means, best-case scenario, that CEO Gary Loveman will raise $18 million, tops, from the offering … a drop in the bucket of his development aspirations, which include $550 million Linq, two in-progress casinos in Ohio, a possible third one in Baltimore and a racino at Suffolk Downs near Boston. Besides, Loveman tried this in the fall of 2010 — at much higher offering prices — and bombed.* Since then, Caesars’ enterprise value has fallen Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Current, G2E, Harrah's, International, Macau, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Penn National, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Epic failure in Florida; Epic blowhard in Vegas

Posted on February 3, 2012 by David McKee

Neither the very conspicuous efforts of Genting Berhad and Las Vegas Sands nor the quieter ones of Wynn Resorts and Caesars Entertainment were sufficient to overcome entrenched conservatism in the Florida Legislature. State Rep. Erik Fresen (R) waved the surrender flag, having failed to get his bill out of committee. The chairman of House Rules Committee added, with a loud, mossbacked harrumph that he had scored a “resounding victory for those of us who have opposed this assault on Florida‘s family friendly economy.” While there are four weeks remaining in the legislative session and Genting has vowed to make a last-ditch stand, gambling expansion appears to be dead, buried and forgotten — at least until early 2013. A state Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff (R), technically remains alive. But since it would expand the parameters of gambling much farther than Fresen’s bill would have, its chances in the lower house are nil. An amendment that would have allowed parimutuels the same repertory of games as destination resorts was withdrawn, further weakening the Fresen bill’s chances of passage. The racino/fronton industry ultimately threw in with predictable opponents like Disney World and former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman — as did the Seminole Tribe, which currently enjoys a monopoly on certain table games.

Whilst puffing their chests and congratulating themselves, the hard-liners might want to stop and remember that Florida’s gray-market gambling industry — Internet cafes and maquinitas parlors — continues unabated, an issue they have now failed to address. They’ve also rejected at least $6 billion in investment. Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson didn’t help matters by rampaging through the Sunshine State with a serious of stormy, divisive ads on behalf of pal Newt Gingrich, energy that would have been better spent working the GOP side of the aisle in Tallahassee, not stirring up intra-party discord. But it now seems pretty clear that, once he realized he wasn’t going to get a state-sanctioned casino monopoly, Adelson opted to sulk on the sidelines of the gaming debate.

If at least three of the Big Four in gaming came out losers, the industry had its winners. The Seminoles, obviously, staved off a major competitive threat. Mardi Gras Racetrack & Gaming Center and Isle of Capri Casinos‘ Pompano Park racino (left) lived to wager another day, and numerous little parimutuels enjoyed a David-and-Goliath moment. But the big boys came frustratingly close to victory and now have to root against the Florida economy, because future travails are their best hope of gaining admission.

Donald Trump came to Las Vegas yesterday, said some stuff and received the appropriate amount Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Election, Genting, Harrah's, Internet gambling, Isle of Capri, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tribal | 1 Comment

Donald Trump, drama queen

Posted on February 1, 2012 by David McKee

His Trumpness will manifest himself to the assembled media tomorrow, shortly past noon, at Trump International, just off the Las Vegas Strip. Oooohhh, the excitement! The failed casino operator will make “a major announcement” that’s too major to be announced right yet. Ever the craven opportunist and media whore, Donald Trump is expected to confer his dubious benediction upon Mitt Romney (or throw his weight behind Newt Gingrich, according to Nathan Baca, and retweeted by Jon Ralston and Steve Sebelius). Or perhaps he’s going to endorse himself. The Donald could be about to toss his comb-over into the ring, right on the eve of the Nevada caucuses. If the mainstream media was finding Sheldon Adelson a target-rich environment, Trump would Christmas, Easter and the Fourth of July all rolled into one supersized package.

Posted in Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 1, 2012 by David McKee

“The chief danger heralded by the Adelson-Gingrich relationship aren’t the particulars of [Sheldon] Adelson’s politics. It is the prospect of an individual being willing, able, and legally permitted to fund an entire campaign and essentially to purchase an elected office.” — Marc Tracy, of Tablet, on the Las Vegas Sands CEO’s preferred investment of the moment — which has now swelled to just shy of $19 million, thanks to an additional $1 million or so from the Adelson kids.

Posted in Current, Election, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Case Bets: Okada in Manila; Big shots fall hard

Posted on February 1, 2012 by David McKee

Rushing in where angels fear to tread, Kazuo Okada (right) has broken ground on his $2 billion, two-casino megaresort in the Philippines. You may remember the project as a bitter point of contention between Okada and erstwhile BFF Steve Wynn, who alleges that Okada tried to drag Wynn Resorts into it, by hook or by crook. Now Okada says he “is in talks to get a local partner.” That’s a euphemism for, “I’m in too deep, would somebody please bail me out?” We’ve heard close variants of it from Morgans Hotel Group, when it overpaid for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, and from Las Vegas Sands when it had committed to a retail mall at Sands Bethlehem and found money running short. The fact that Okada is rattling his tin cup up and down the archipelago speaks to the leeriness major gaming operators display toward the Filipino gambling industry. Genting‘s Hong Kong subsidiary is pursuing a casino of its own … but is spreading the risk among a multiplicity of partners.

Wynn may need to choose his friends more carefully. First Okada, now UFC thug Alistair Overeem, who brought Encore free publicity — of the let’s-find-the-crime-scene sort — when he shoved a woman Continue reading →

Posted in Cretins, Current, Encore, Hard Rock Hotel, International, Morgans Hotel Group, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Reno, Sheldon Adelson, Sports, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn | Comments Off on Case Bets: Okada in Manila; Big shots fall hard

Adelson denies having influence

Posted on January 31, 2012 by David McKee

Contrary to what the Washington Post reported and what Clark County GOP Chairman Dave Gibbs told The Associated Press, the man runs Las Vegas Sands says he had little or nothing to do with the rescheduling of Saturday’s Nevada Republican caucus out of deference to Orthodox Jews. (Turns out that Seventh Day Adventists will also benefit from the newly extended caucus schedule.) In a well-sourced Howard Stutz story for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Through his spokesman, Ron Reese, Adelson denies having “involvement” or even “input,” and didn’t “personally offer” (as Stutz puts it) to host the caucus at the Adelson Educational Campus. Adelson was at a meeting where Philip Kantor, an Orthodox member of the school’s board, raised the issue and that the mogul also called state GOP Chairwoman Amy Tarkanian regarding the matter.

That leaves a lot of wiggle room as to what constitutes “involvement” or “input.” However, Adelson is the picture of forthrightness compared to Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Election, Florida, Genting, Massachusetts, Sheldon Adelson | 1 Comment

“Luck” you!; A new gaming bonanza?

Posted on January 30, 2012 by David McKee

Last week, Mandalay Bay hosted an advance screening of the pilot episode of Luck, which debuted on HBO last night. If it was hard to follow on the ginormous MBay screen, I cannot imagine how impenetrable it seemed on a humble TV set. Before the showing, an HBO executive rhapsodized about the “elevated writing” of showrunner David Milch (Deadwood), which expressed itself in three ways: A) obscure gambling argot; B) conversations about goat testicles and the like; C) “Fuck you, you dumb fucking dumbfuck” sorts of badinage. Set in the demimonde of horseracing, Luck manages to simultaneously deglamorize the Sport of Kings and make it viscerally thrilling. It owes the excitement to director/executive producer Michael Mann‘s fondness for tiny HD cameras, which enable him to obtain all manner of improbable in-race perspectives (sort of like being Jiminy Cricket on a jockey’s shoulder). Unfortunately, Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, California, Horseracing, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Pinnacle Entertainment, Problem gambling, Racinos, South Carolina, Taxes, Tribal, TV | 5 Comments

Dear Floridians …; Mission unfinished; Blue skies

Posted on January 30, 2012 by David McKee

Sarah Palin says, “vote for Newt, annoy a liberal, vote Newt.” I say, “Vote Newt, please, because the concurrent stream of Sheldon Adelson stories is a blogger’s dream come true. Keep that gravy train going!” (Besides, it’s had the side benefit of getting people talking about Space: 1999 again. Loved that show.) OK, I’m being facetious. S&G never, ever, ever endorses candidates — though, as a public service, I’m always happy to point on which ones are pro- and anti-casino. (More on that below.) But these last couple of weeks, watching Sheldon try to play Machiavellian mastermind and simultaneously scuttle for cover like a palmetto bug, have been great fun. It would be a pity to see it end quite so soon.

Speaking of which … how might Adelson’s funding of a scorched-earth campaign against — to use the newest meme — “Massachusetts liberal” Mitt Romney backfire upon the mogul’s years of efforts to get a casino in his home state? Could this have something to do with Adelson’s ambivalence toward the Bay State while everyone from Steve Wynn to Ameristar Casinos is Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Atlantic City, Current, Election, Environment, Florida, Harrah's, International, Louisiana, Marketing, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Penn National, Politics, Problem gambling, Sheldon Adelson, South Carolina, Steve Wynn, TV | 3 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on January 30, 2012 by David McKee

“[I will] prove over the next several months that people power can beat money power” … said the man who just took $10 million from Sheldon Adelson. (Perhaps that’s where he got the kosher-food talking point.)

Posted in Current, Election, Sheldon Adelson | 1 Comment

Trump: Get away

Posted on January 27, 2012 by David McKee

There are serial exaggerators and then there’s Donald Trump. An S&G reader forwarded an e-mail invitation to enter a contest whose grand prize is a two-night stay at Trump Toronto. Its touted value: $50,000. Considering that the winner’s airfare will only be covered up to $1K, that leaves 49 grand to cover two weekend hotel nights, a helicopter tour, a free breakfast and dinner, plus a comped spa treatment. Wow. I never realized that Toronto in late January was such a hot ticket. I might be wrong (though I doubt it) but you’d have a hard time running up a $50,000 tab in Vegas for all of the aforementioned, Continue reading →

Posted in Dining, Don Barden, International, Marketing, MGM Mirage, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation | 2 Comments

The clueless Adelson; A happy birthday; Big Brother Penn

Posted on January 27, 2012 by David McKee

Yes, it’s yet another exciting episode of The New(t) Adventures of Sheldon Adelson. When, in typically unsubtle (read: crass) fashion, the casino potentate began pouring kegs full of money into the current presidential race, it was bound to set off sparks. Equally predictably, those sparks lit a fuse that would eventually detonate a powder keg right under Sheldon’s tuchus. What ABC News is reporting isn’t anything with which you, dear reader, aren’t already familiar but the mainstream media is going to have a field day with it. The ensuing, disingenuous and half-truthful attack ads will practically write themselves. And if the mega-successful Adelson is genuinely “puzzled” by the spotlight he’s turned upon himself, he’s not quite as smart as we thought.

Happy birthday, Steve Wynn. The once (and future?) nemesis of Adelson turns 70 today and ABC just gift-wrapped him an extra-large present for the occasion. The timing could not be more ironic if you scripted it.

Yes, it’s true that smoking is hazardous to your health (just ask the Surgeon General), creates a disgusting stench, can drive away customers, and definitely distressses your property faster and increases costs for things like HVAC systems. All that being said … Continue reading →

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Current, Election, Environment, Harrah's, M Resort, Macau, Missouri, Ohio, Penn National, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn | 3 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on January 27, 2012 by David McKee

“We are sending you this email because you are over 50 and are retiring soon or already enjoying your retirement …” — message received from Nevada Benefits. “Over” 50? “Retiring soon”? “Enjoying [my] retirement”? The hell I am!

Posted in Current | 1 Comment