“What is this ‘Million Dollar Piano’? It’s your basic Yamaha grand fancified with 68 LED screens that run the horizontal length of the piano and display images and patterns to compliment the digital screen behind [Elton] John and band. He’s named it Blossom. Truth be told, it seems more like a tarted-up $100,000 piano; for a million bucks, it should get at least a little airborne.” — Randall Roberts, reviewing Sir Elton’s new Caesars Palace extravaganza for the Los Angeles Times.
Our beloved casino industry runneth over with individuals, companies and even sovereign nations that have a vested interest in the legalization of Internet poker … and more. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX, left) knows this, which is why he’s coming to Global Gaming Expo to peddle his influence on Capitol Hill, such as it might be. For “suggested contributions” of $1,000 a head, G2E attendees will get to rub elbows with Christian Coalition darling (
It looks as though Station Casinos and Manhattan-based developer Fisher Bros. are trying to put back together some of the pieces of their Humpty Dumpty megaproject along I-15. As you recall, the duo had acquired a swath of land (
This is either disingenuous or naive. The widespread use of such gizmos is now legal in Nevada, so there is a theoretical market opening for Paddy Power. But Cantor Gaming, beneficiary of the new law, already has a leg or two up on the market, and has spent the last six years currying favor and influence in Carson City. It’s also firmly entrenched at several major casinos, most notably at Venelazzo. To Cantor, a Paddy Power incursion will be about as welcome as IRA trigger men were in Harold Shand‘s “manor.” (Though if Cantor is Harold Shand, the movie will have a different ending this time.) For the bookmaker, which is currently taking wagers on the Dr. Conrad Murray trial, everything should hinge on whether it can substantiate 
In Caesars’ defense, its St. Louis-area casino saw revenue fall 8% in 2010 and River City continues to cut into its market share. But Caesars’ argument that it’s just not cricket to value Harrah’s Maryland Heights comparably to Ameristar Casinos‘ nearby riverboat in St. Charles looks, at first glance, like a crock. The former grossed $272 million last year, compared to $282 million for Ameristar St. Charles, which was down 6% for 2010 
“I left the toothpaste at home. Every time I’ve tried to put a tube in my bag, alarms go off, and I get body searched, and I have to take everything out of my bag — and then they ask me why I have this big tube of toothpaste. They make you feel like a criminal. But, I love my country, so I sacrifice the toothpaste.” — Las Vegas Review-Journal theater critic Anthony del Valle. Has our nation come down to this: Fight cavities or fight terrorism — but not both?
Alex Yemenidjian‘s efforts to reboot the Tropicana Las Vegas are sputtering quite badly these days. First, there’s the much-reported mess that is the Mob Experience, currently on the lam from foreclosure. Then a three-month extension of Gladys Knight‘s 
I’ve been debating whether or not to give Global Gaming Expo a pass this year and this morning’s dispatch from Deutsche Bank‘s Carlo Santarelli didn’t exactly quicken my pulse. His prediction? A “quiet” G2E, due to slow growth in the industry itself. Instead of significant new product, Santarelli forecasts a variation on what Steve Friess has dubbed The Next Little Thing: upgraded server platforms and new software. “Broadly speaking, we expect product innovation to again take a back seat to the overhang stemming from limited visibility and a lack of reasons for optimism regarding an uptick in replacement activity.” Suppliers, however, need to clearly articulate how they’re going to pivot into Internet gambling, if — or more likely, when — it is legalized, he advises.
Our “Question of the Day” on the Margaritaville Casino, opening early next month within Flamingo Las Vegas ran before we got the design renderings from Caesars Entertainment. So, for those of you for whom the verbal descriptions of the sub-casino were inadequate, these pictures will hopefully be worth a couple thousand words.
A shootout at John Ascuaga’s Nugget has left two people wounded and one dead. Hostility between biker gangs is the probable cause. Perhaps the casino took the appropriate security measures but I suspect otherwise. If biker gangs are known to be in the area, a beefed-up and highly visible “prowl” is the only appropriate response. In Nevada, the “playing” favored by the Hell’s Angels and others is gun play on the casino floor. If a customer or two gets mowed down it the crossfire, well, them’s the breaks.
You read that right: El Bombastico has developed a sudden concern that adding 9,000 slots to Florida‘s existing inventory of 15,000 “will saturate the market with too many games,” in the words of the Miami Herald. In other words, 
It’s amazing what you can do when you simply punt your debt burden a few years down the road. In the case of Caesars Entertainment, it means you’ve got 
“A-list celebrity entertainment and production shows featured in two uniquely distinct Colosseum entertainment venues are planned. Caesars Palace Longmu Bay will host 36 holes of 
Yes, there’s all manner of excitement and intrigue going on in the gaming world — like Las Vegas Sands issuing a dividend to shareholders — but I’ve not had much time for the S&G beat. With everyone at LVA HQ coming down to the wire on the second edition of Eating Las Vegas, I’ve been detailed as a one-man “Question of the Day” task force. Which means you’ve either read about or will soon read 
“But land-based operators, particularly casinos, have one enormous disadvantage: They have all the expenses connected with massive real estate holdings and tens of thousands of employees. Online casinos are cheaper to set up and cost less to maintain, even including the costs of acquiring and keeping patrons.” — I. Nelson Rose, indirectly rebutting Gary Loveman‘s claim that legalized Internet gambling would generate 50,000 jobs in Las Vegas.
Increased funding for education is always the big selling point whenever gambling laws in Missouri are liberalized. This week, schools are finding out 
Pinnacle Entertainment made out like a bandit, getting the tax assessment on its fast-rising River City (+11.5% last month) lopped from $284 million to $139 million. But that was peanuts compared to the markdown Caesars Entertainment got for Harrah’s Maryland Heights, depreciated from $440 million to a mere $152 million.-
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