Although it cost casino owners a couple of days’ business, the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee inflicted scarcely any damage compared to Hurricane Katrina. (Safety measures taken in post-Katrina years helped.) Since the Louisiana casino market has been in an upward trend during recent months, a brief interruption of business — while hardly desirable — will be only a hiccup in what’s been a pretty upbeat narrative of late. Lee’s inopportune timing, however, will put a dent in Biloxi‘s drive-in lucre … albeit probably less than expected, judging by the news from Beau Rivage.
“The Plaza can compete on price and the fact they now have significantly less urine in their carpet but that’s not going to be enough,” Hillegas concludes. However, the overall tenor of his report leaves me bracing for the worst (i.e., Chapter 11). Visitor Ted Newkirk describes opening night as “business as usual.” Uh-oh. Tamares didn’t even spring for an opening-night media event. I had business elsewhere that evening but there are many other columnists, TV shows and bloggers who could — and would — have made hay from just a teensy bit of privileged access.
On the other hand, the frequently severe Chuck Monster (whose wrath has memorably been visited upon The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas) 
After getting into, then out of the incompetent Lewis Katz/Ed Snider casino consortium in Philadelphia, “direct discussions” are being held by Caesars Entertainment to reenter the moribund project. Its backers are asking for — guess what? — yet another two-month delay to get their act together. (A two-century delay might be insufficient.) 
Besides gambling? Why, I’m so glad you asked. 
“Harrah’s does not own a casino concession or subconcession in Macau. Some gaming observers believe Macau might issue new gaming concessions after 2009 and Harrah’s could transform the [$578 million Macau Orient] 
… but you can’t take the casino out of the executive. Case in point, Smith Center for the Performing Arts Chairman 
“We have a waiting list of 2,000 names. So we are moving ahead with a second tower which will have a 35 percent price increase.” — Donald Trump, at the 
Since I had one foot out the door en route to Albany when Caesars Entertainment held its Rick Caruso-led media blitz on Project Linq, I’m a bit late to the party. Some of my early reactions can be heard on KNPR-FM‘s State of Nevada. (It’s amusing to hear how uncomfortable the host gets when I lay into Caesars’ braintrust and the shabby state of its portfolio.) The hoo-ha over the “observation wheel” remains a mystery to me, especially when the far-less-obstructed view from the rival Howard Bulloch Ferris wheel is taken into account. Spending 30 minutes crammed into a gondola with 40 other people doesn’t sound like fun to me, and I love gondola rides. As for its name, “The Vegas High Roller” … oy! Nobody spells “class” with a capital “K” like Gary Loveman, whose signature project this will be.
When casino revenues weren’t as bad as expected, earlier this summer, one Atlantic City property executive called it a light at the end of the tunnel. Elsewhere, S&G reader American Gaming Guru pithily remarked that the light was an oncoming train called Aqueduct. When the Guru couldn’t foresee was that Atlantic City is now 
Amazingly, casino bosses like Trump Entertainment Resorts CEO Robert Griffin and Caesars Entertainment‘s East Coast viceroy, Don Marrandino (left), were actually 
Those who go around, come around. The 
Among those who were left without a chair when Gary Loveman stopped the music was Karen Sock. A longtime veteran of the Mississippi casino industry, Sock was scheduled to helm the Jimmy Buffett-style reinvention of Grand Casino Biloxi, a plum that was lost amid Loveman’s blundering. She subsequently resurfaced as part of Alex Yemenidjian‘s proposed management team for a Des Plaines, Ill., casino project (which the state awarded to Neil Bluhm instead). Being GM of a $48 million grind joint in Biloxi doesn’t have quite the cachet of either the vanished Des Plaines or Harrah’s/Margaritaville prospects … but it’s a job.
“Might be worth seeing, even if Anthony Cools is involved.” — early reaction to Swingers, the new dueling pianos/miniature golf nightclub at the Plaza, which opens both Swingers and Waiting for Godot on Sept. 1.
After screwing the pooch in the previous legislature, it looks as though Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA) and state lawmakers 
“Some of the newspaper’s operations hadn’t been re-evaluated in decades, [Publisher Bob] Brown said.” — a reference to the stagnant 18 years the Las Vegas Review-Journal spent under Brown’s recently expelled predecessor, Sherman Frederick. The latter’s years of inattentiveness are now costing many R-J employees their jobs.
Ever-vigilant in his watch over “The Borg” (aka Caesars Entertainment), Vegas Tripping author Chuck Monster has been keeping a gimlet eye on the revival of Project Linq. Granted access to internal Caesars documents, Mr. Monster reveals that the much-needed makeover of the O’Shea’s/Imperial Palace 
Revenue growth accelerated at Station Casinos in 2Q11, with cash flow up 8.5% (compared to +4% for the year so far). Keeping room rates steady at an average of $71 appears to have boosted occupancy, up from 81% to an impressive 88%. The repurchase of Green Valley Ranch has helped push long-term debt to $3.2 billion but Station’s raking it back in on the casino floor. Slot revenues rose 7% and table winnings were up 18%. So either the hold percentages were hella tight or players are playing very loosely. Liberalized coupon policies and a huge marketing push also worked to the benefit of the F&B department, which raked in 12% more than in 2Q10. Station endured much damage to its image — some of it self-inflicted — but it’s been working hard to reverse perceptions, as last quarter’s results attest.-
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