Quote of the Day

Posted on December 5, 2011 by David McKee

“Only Cirque could screw up Elvis in Vegas … I’m from Vegas, and when you are from here, you watch Cirque and you feel like you’ve been raided.” — producer David Saxe, one of the few dissenting voices permitted in the six-page fellation of Cirque du Soleil that comprised the Las Vegas Sun‘s entire Saturday edition. Discounted tickets for Michael Jackson the Immortal World Tour™ and the accompanying “Fan Fest” at Mandalay Bay are already showing up on Living Social. This newest manifestation of Cirque many not be Continue reading →

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Casinos in Kentucky … soon?; Tenants to Sands: Let my people go!

Posted on December 2, 2011 by David McKee

Per S&G‘s prediction, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) wasted little time after winning reelection before resuming his push for casino legalization. You’d never think that he beat opponent state Senate President David Williams (R) like a drum at the ballot box. Beshear has done a post-electoral flip-flop and now speaks of going the long route, putting casinos to a popular vote, which was Williams’ stance. In other words, he covets the tax moolah but he doesn’t want to take the lead — or the heat — on what’s guaranteed to be a contentious issue. In his first term, Beshear talked a good game regarding casinos during the early months but didn’t take long to lose interest. Whether a whomping 2011 mandate gives him more intestinal fortitude this time around remains to be seen, although this initial augury isn’t very promising.

Add the superlative Mexican restaurant Dos Caminos to the lengthening list of casualties brought on by the cash-hungry policies of Las Vegas Sands COO Michael Leven, the Grinch Who Stole Comps. On Nov. 14, Dos Caminos folded its last tamale and vacated Palazzo, leaving a conspicuous gap on the casino floor. According the the restaurant’s owners, “in late 2008 the Venetian negotiated and granted to Two Roads a long term cash flow rental agreement,” to tide them through the recession. However, the statement continues, Sands welshed on the arrangement and — in time-honored Sheldon Adelson fashion — filed a lawsuit against the restaurant.

$2 Million Mike has hired for the express purpose of cutting costs at Adelson HQ, at a time when the company was undergoing Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Dining, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Racinos, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Taxes, The Strip | Comments Off on Casinos in Kentucky … soon?; Tenants to Sands: Let my people go!

Fight the power

Posted on December 2, 2011 by David McKee

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn are huge admirers of the despotic government of China, which censors the Internet wholesale. So I’m sure they just lurve this particularly piece of legislation, which would curb your and my ability to use a technology (“the Internets”) created with our taxpayer dollars. A trip to the airport now entails examinations that stop just this side of strip-searching. The Senate is all hot and heavy for a bill that would allow the military to detain American citizens without due process. Compared to those infringements, “SOPA” might seem like small beer. But it could seriously crimp the content you’re able to enjoy via this site or Continue reading →

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Quote of the Day

Posted on November 30, 2011 by David McKee

“We do find it disconcerting that it seems virtually everyone is on the same side of the fence. The argument seems to center around the fact that Macau did so well during a period of fiscal tightening in China, just think of the potential when China reverses to loosen monetary policy.” — stock analyst Brian McGill, in an investor note sparked by the report that China will pocket $10.6 billion in casino taxes … more money than Nevada casinos grossed last year.

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Hooters: What next?; PE fools and their money; Deal or no-Deal in Georgia?

Posted on November 30, 2011 by David McKee

It’s all over for the current administration at Hooters Casino Hotel. They’ve given up trying to fight efforts by Canyon Capital Realty Advisors to have the money-losing property sold via foreclosure auction. If Canpartners wins at auction, it may go after additional money by seeking deficiency judgments. Hooters’ hired gun, Innovation Capital, continues to plumb the crevasses for potential new suckers investors, willing to trade shares in the low-value casino for a quick cash implant. (It’s called a “new value plan” but “boob job” would definitely be more like it.) But Tuesday’s raising of the surrender flag pretty much puts the lie to Innovation’s claims of “very active interest” on the part of wannabe financial rescuers. Canpartners has been saying for months that there wouldn’t be any takers for the sagging hotel-casino and it knew whereof it spoke.

Those “very active” theoretical sugar daddies could still materialize at auction and grab Continue reading →

Posted in Colorado, Current, Economy, Election, Florida, Georgia, Golden Gaming, Herbst Gaming, Hooters, Horseracing, Slot routes, Taxes, The Strip, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Sam’s Town: Sound and flurries

Posted on November 30, 2011 by David McKee

At the same time the cast of Viva Elvis™ was getting pink-slipped across town, Boyd Gaming was busting out its new-and-improved version of Mystic Falls, the amusement park centerpiece of Sam’s Town. (Or, to use the official nomenclature, “Mystic Falls Park Sunset Stampede Laser Light & Water Show.”) Upgraded for the first time in 17 years, the renovation might advisedly have extended to include some new versions of the animatronic animals. They’re looking a mite tatty and zombified: scary in not entirely the appropriate way. (Look over right, kids, it’s an irate shareholder!) Boyd boasts that its new laser array offers “more powerful and clearer and projections, while using significantly less wattage.” I can attest to the first part of that statement and applaud Boyd for endeavoring to conserve electricity. We weren’t close enough to see the submersible fountain lights well but there are some impressive 3-D projections as part of the nightly spectacle, along with a new laser on the summit of Mystic Falls Mountain “to project mid-air beam effects throughout the atrium.”

This works as advertised, although making the beams optimally visible necessitates pumping Continue reading →

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“Viva Elvis™”: It’s leaving the building

Posted on November 29, 2011 by David McKee

You’ve got slightly more than a year to catch Viva Elvis™, which Cirque du Soleil® will put out of its box office misery (60% attendance) at the end of 2012, seven years short of its planned, decade-long run. According to the Toronto Globe & Mail, plans for a temporary shutdown, followed by a melding of Viva Elvis™ with Cirque’s fatefully named Zed (left homeless by the Japanese tsunami) have been scrapped. There will be plenty of time to second-guess the marketing and the venue of Viva Elvis™ (a charmless, generic Aria theater with wretched acoustics), and weigh the question of whether seven Cirque shows on the Strip is one too many. But the bottom line is that Viva Elvis™ just Continue reading →

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Entertainment, MGM Mirage, The Strip | 2 Comments

Boyd: Trapped in Florida; Sands muzzled in Singapore; Good vibes in Macao

Posted on November 29, 2011 by David McKee

This is a good time to be in Florida, right? Not if you’re Boyd Gaming and have been trying to unload Dania Jai-alai, souvenir of a half-assed venture into the Sunshine State’s racino market. The company has scrapped an $80 million sale of its Dania asset after the would-be buyer couldn’t scrape the cash together in time. With megaresort casinos looming over the horizon, bankers might have been reluctant to underwrite Dania Entertainment LLC’s decidedly underdog endeavor. Then again, Dania Entertainment might have had its own second thoughts; the odds in this particular David-and-Goliath bout favor the big boys.

Dania’s aspiring owners might also have looked with despair on Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Colony Capital, Current, Economy, Genting, Harrah's, Macau, MGM Mirage, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on Boyd: Trapped in Florida; Sands muzzled in Singapore; Good vibes in Macao

Sanguine Sands; Genting vs. Islamofascism; Arkansas vs. Missouri

Posted on November 23, 2011 by David McKee

Las Vegas Sands dispatched its international overseer, Rob Goldstein (right) and sidekick Dan Briggs to New York as envoys to Wall Street. As reported by J.P. Morgan‘s Joseph Greff, Sands’ outlook is sanguine, particularly with regard to the Singapore and Macao markets. No untoward credit or liquidity issues are anticipated and Sands Cotai Central (whose exteriors look like something Ralph Engelstad would have built) remains on pace to open by late March next year. GDP in China continues to grow by almost 9% and Sands execs don’t think the real estate bubble on the mainland is “still a lot rosier” than the situation back home. There was a lot of chatter about rolling chip volume, which boils down to an anticipated additional $200 million in cash flow from the Four Seasons Cotai. Singaporean gaming, hotel and retail revenues are said to be increasing across the board.

If Goldstein and Briggs said anything relative to ongoing developments in Spain, Florida and Massachusetts, Greff did not deem it worthy of reportage. After all, Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Economy, Election, Florida, Genting, Goldman Sachs, International, Macau, Massachusetts, Missouri, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Taxes, Texas, The Strip, Tourism, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on November 23, 2011 by David McKee


“It was a largely sober, largely tedious evening. This group has clearly seen too much of each other at this point and is now moving into the post-1977 M*A*S*H period.” — Esquire‘s Charles P. Pierce, on what he describes as “the 9,875th of 10,623” presidential primary debates, held last night at Washington, D.C.’s legendary/infamous Constitution Hall. (The Daughters of the American Revolution — to their eternal discredit — wouldn’t allow Marian Anderson to grace Constitution Hall‘s stage, which is how she wound up giving her iconic Lincoln Memorial concert, above. Let freedom ring indeed.)

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Adelson making mischief in Massachusetts?

Posted on November 22, 2011 by David McKee

This just in: Scarcely was the ink dry on Massachusetts‘ new casino law when the state got slapped with litigation. The issue? The law’s “explicit, race-based set-asides that give federally recognized Indian tribes a categorical advantage over all other applicants in seeking a commercial gaming license in Southeastern Massachusetts.” Bay State lawmakers juiced one, unspecified tribe into one of the state’s three casino licenses. It’s a defensive measure to keep the Mashpee Wampanoags from making an IGRA-based end run around the bill and creating a fourth casino resort in Massachusetts. A Wampanoag casino would preclude one in Boston … and guess who hails from the Bostonian suburb of Dorchester? Continue reading →

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Ask Virginia!

Posted on November 22, 2011 by David McKee

Following in the footsteps of Alex Yemenidjian and Anthony Marnell IIII, the CEO of Isle of Capri Casinos, Virginia McDowell, has agreed to take questions from S&G readers early next month. So here’s your shot: Sharpen those pencils and dream up some top-notch queries for the head of a company that’s achieving one of the unlikelier turnarounds in gaming. You can submit your questions either in the “Comment” thread on by e-mail. I’m counting on you.

On the subject of Isle, members of its previous braintrust are back in the news. Former CFO Allan Solomon, ex-senior VP Les McMackin and former development veep Greg Guida have all rebanded (and re-branded) at Foundation Gaming Group (whose Web site could use some work). Although they were swept out of Isle as Continue reading →

Posted in Colony Capital, Current, Economy, Isle of Capri, Mississippi, Ohio, Penn National | 1 Comment

Jack Abramoff, human sewage; Massachusetts: It’s done

Posted on November 22, 2011 by David McKee

Victor Rocha says it best: “Jack Abramoff is still the scum off the earth.” The unrepentant ripoff artist — to call him a snake in the grass would be a slander upon serpents — claims his only failing was to be just a teensy weensy bit overzealous. The problem, he brazenly asserts, wasn’t his conduct but the laws on the books. His Baron Munchausen-worthy assertion that he generated a 75X return on investment for the tribes he bilked reeks of what would politely be called “balderdash.” (S0 that’s why all those Abramoff-tainted tribal governments got drummed out of office! They were making too much money. Yeaaaahhhh, that’s the ticket.) Asking scumbag Abramoff to render judgment on Newt Gingrich is akin to having Lefty Rosenthal opine on the business practices of Donald Trump. By self-aggrandizingly likening himself to Gordon Gekko, Abramoff shows he’s still living in an egomaniacal fantasy land, with sycophantic ABC News talking heads dancing Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, California, Don Barden, Election, Harrah's, history, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Movies, Oklahoma, Penn National, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Taxes, Texas, The Mob, Tribal | Comments Off on Jack Abramoff, human sewage; Massachusetts: It’s done

Election update: Evening the score; A Wynn-Winn situation

Posted on November 21, 2011 by David McKee

It’s five o’clock in Shreveport … or soon will be. Voters in Bossier Parish handed the casino industry a belated 2011 “win,” balancing the ledger in an otherwise disappointing electoral cycle. A Margaritaville-branded casino (employing a Lake Charles boat purchased from Isle of Capri Casinos) received 61% support at the ballot box. For $195 million, developers promise a 400-room hotel, 38 tables, 1,275 slots and a slew of other amenities. Count me among those who are skeptical that this will actually grow the Shreveport market — especially not at that budget — but it’s a gamble voters were willing to take.

Louisiana‘s coming off a rough October, its casinos down 8% statewide. That’s really not good news if Continue reading →

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, Current, Dining, Election, Entertainment, Harrah's, Isle of Capri, Louisiana, Marketing, Pinnacle Entertainment, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment | 5 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on November 21, 2011 by David McKee


“Speaking of loudspeakers, we hate messages from them that we really want/need to hear (contest details, drawing names), but that are more garbled than the ones at our fast food drive-throughs.” — Jean Scott, on that bane of customers, casino noise. I know what she means. The slot-tournament announcements at Sam’s Town (which are helpfully piped into the lavatories) sound like the grownups in a Charlie Brown TV special.

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Morgans: They’re baaaaaaack!; Un-win at Cosmo

Posted on November 18, 2011 by David McKee

Just when you thought it was safe to invest in Las Vegas again, the city went to bed last night to the news that masters of disaster Morgans Hotel Group had purchased nightclub operator Light Group. Given Morgans’ propensity for scandal, disgrace and disaster (including helping to kill Echelon) during its ill-fated Hard Rock Hotel & Casino tenure, executives at MGM Resorts International must have been reaching for the Excedrin this morning. The Morgans gang that couldn’t shoot straight now has footholds in Bellagio, Monte Carlo and Aria. If I were Alan Feldman, I’d pull the covers over my head and stay out of the office for a week — or at least until he can figure out a way to spin this potential PR nightmare as a dream come true.

Remember, these are the guys who have the HRH fighting to keep its name after Rehab pool parties dragged the Hard Rock Café escutcheon through the mud, much to the chagrin of the Seminole Tribe. When the scandal-plagued Seminoles have a legitimate ethical beef with you, you’ve sunk pretty darn low.) MGM may have gotten into bed with Sam Nazarian‘s nightclub chain by choice. Its de facto partnership with Morgans is akin to a shotgun wedding. Maybe they can still close that Monte Carlo sale …

Hilariously, Morgans CEO Michael Gross boasted that he believed “the acquisition of the Light Group will position us to … drive average daily rate growth at existing hotels.” Hahahahahahaha! Oh, you kidder, you! That’s what then-CEO Ed Scheetz said when he overpaid for the HRH. Remember how he was gonna increase room rates and EBITDA? During Morgans’ reign of error, ADRs and cash flow fell significantly. (Light Group already does business with Morgans at the latter’s Delano South Beach, in Miami Beach.) A full $18 million of the $46.5 million due Light Group’s owners is contingent upon Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Cosmopolitan, Current, Entertainment, Florida, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Morgans Hotel Group, Sahara, Technology, The Strip, Tribal, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Hold that recovery!

Posted on November 17, 2011 by David McKee

Just when things were looking good … I mean, after many a premature prediction of economic recovery, room-rate trends on the Las Vegas Strip were looking like change in which one could believe. J.P. Morgan projections for the fourth quarter (including all-important New Year’s Eve, of course) show a 24% improvement in weekday ADRs and an 8% uptick in weekend ones. A year ago, upward movement was comparatively measly: 7% midweek and 1% on weekends. Even the traditionally sucky Thanksgiving-to-Christmas lull is trending nicely.

Quarter by quarter, the Strip has posted consistent room-rate growth for the past year. Starting in 1Q11, weekend rates have improved 11%, 8% and 3%, respectively, while midweek ADRs have hopped along +6%, +3% and +13%. Cosmopolitan continues to maintain some of the highest prices on the Strip ($206-$304/night) and all major operators are experiencing better weekend rates … except Steve Wynn (above), whose Wynncore is projected to see a 9% decline in 4Q11. Midweek/weekend splits for the other Big Three are expected to be as follows: MGM Resorts International 13%/4%; Las Vegas Sands 34%/12%; Caesars Entertainment 38%/20%. The glut of mid-market exposure which initially looked like the weak underbelly of the Park Place Entertainment takeover may prove to be Caesars’ saving grace with wallet-conscious customers … that and a ban on “resort fees.”

However … a source in the real estate community is hearing from bankers than the much-dreaded “shadow inventory” of foreclosed homes may Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmopolitan, Current, Economy, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism | 4 Comments

Ameristar goes East; Colony’s secret formula revealed

Posted on November 17, 2011 by David McKee

Yesterday morning, Wall Street was advised by Ameristar Casinos that the latter had forked over $16 million for land in Springfield, Massachusetts. Given that Ameristar has been in extreme-caution mode since the death of founder Craig H. Neilsen and the ouster of CEO John Boushy, this is significant news. For a company as risk-averse as Ameristar to be willing to wager $585 million in total investment (land + $85 million licensing fee + $484 million construction budget) is the biggest vote of confidence that market’s gotten yet. It also says that Ameristar’s no longer remaining passive, waiting for somebody to come along and buy it.

In a nearly anticlimactic development, Bay State lawmakers sent the final casino-legalization to Gov. Deval Patrick for his stamp of approval. There was a bit of last-minute hanky-panky when solons slipped some extra money for the horsey set into the law but Patrick managed to claw some — but not all — of that equine slush fund back. (One of the rejected ideas would have been to raise the tax rate on the lone slot parlor to 54%.) Penn National Gaming had been sniffing around the old Westinghouse site that Ameristar is purchasing, but where it hesitated Ameristar pounced, netting 41 contiguous acres. Hopefully the few picturesque vestiges of Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Architecture, Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Current, Detroit, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Movies, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Tribal | 3 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on November 17, 2011 by David McKee

“The Attorney-General’s kind remarks are noted and appreciated. I’ve spoken to Ed Burns and we are prepared to go to work on season six of The Wire if the Department of Justice is equally ready to reconsider and address its continuing prosecution of our misguided, destructive and dehumanizing drug prohibition.” — David Simon, co-creator of what many regard as the finest series in TV history, in response to Attorney General Eric Holder.

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Blast from the past

Posted on November 14, 2011 by David McKee

Today I’m busy on “Question of the Day,” Desert Companion and CityLife fronts simultaneously. As irrational compensation, here’s the one scene from Ocean’s Eleven that, more than any other, must be preserved for posterity. It’s also a nice look at the Sahara back in its glory days, before the succession of Paul Lowden, Bill Bennett and Sam Nazarian turned it into the biggest grind joint on the Strip. But let’s forget that for now and bask in the greatness that was Dean Martin.

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