Last autumn, Las Vegas Sands COO Michael Leven floated the idea of capping its St. Regis failsino at its current five-story height, admitting that the skeleton was an “eyesore” along the Strip. The “Stump Regis” was the subject of a May 27 LVA “Question of the Day.” Scarcely had we published it when a sharp-eyed LVA subscriber espied workmen atop the St. Regis’ stump. Was Leven going to finally take action?
No, the laborers were up on the high steel in preparation for cloaking it in circus tent-like drapery intended to create Continue reading
Although Illinois‘ casino industry has fallen and can’t get up, 
Scarcely had I flayed the Las Vegas Sun‘s Anthony Marnell III interview in S&G than I was most graciously contacted by M Resort, offering the chance to ask the questions the Sun didn’t. More to the point, this is your chance to ask Mr. Marnell questions about M (above), about Penn National Gaming, about mobile gaming (an M specialty), about the economy … about anything germane to the casino business in Las Vegas, in short.
“I don’t know how I could have been so wrong. How could I think the market would be so small?” — HSBC regional gaming analyst Sean Monaghan, on the 18-22% ROI achieved by Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa. If it makes you feel any better, Sean, that goes double for me.
… at the Flamingo Las Vegas pool area, last Saturday. One is a beach ball and the other two belong to 
As everyone knows, both Palms Casino Resort and M Resort recently changed hands, the former going to a pair of hedge funds and the latter to Penn National Gaming. Penn broke with industry tradition by keeping property CEO Anthony Marnell III and his management team at the helm. Although M’s financial performance has been disappointing, to say the least, Penn is a company with zero operational experience in Las Vegas, so keeping the same crew at the helm makes pretty obvious sense. The desert around Vegas is metaphorically littered with the bones of 
It doesn’t matter to state Rep. Lou Lang (D, right) that Illinois‘ casino revenues are puny compared to those of neighboring Indiana or that St. Louis-area players are defecting in droves. He wants racinos and more casinos, by golly, and won’t stop until he gets them. Never you mind the economic consequences. Sounding like a free-market conservative on cocaine, Lang offers a point of view that one hopes doesn’t sway Gov. Pat Quinn. Per Lang’s reasoning, Starbucks is allowed to proliferate, regardless of who might be driven out of business. Ditto car dealerships. However, Lang’s self-serving analogy trips over its own shoelaces. There’s no law of which S&G is aware that says a state can only have X number of Starbucks and Y amount of Mercedes-Benz showrooms.
Not long ago, S&G was musing aloud at the oddity of Isle of Capri Casinos running two riverboats on Lake Charles, one of which grossed only $1 million or so a month. That seemed rather an extravagance. Somebody at Isle must have similarly, because the company is selling its Crown Casino vessel to Paradise Casino. The latter is an aegis of Silver Slipper Gaming, which also owns a racino in Louisiana, as well as an eponymous casino in Bay St. Louis, Miss.
Paradise proposes to hoist anchor and move Crown Casino to Bossier City — and build a hotel — rather than stay on Lake Charles and duke it out with Isle’s Grand Palais, Pinnacle Entertainment‘s L’Auberge du Lac and Dan Lee‘s $400 million Mojito Pointe, 
But if Lake Charles is competitive, what to make of Paradise Gaming’s plans to drop anchor in Bossier City? That market’s been hit hard by the emergence of Class III tribal gaming in Oklahoma and the intra-market competition promises to be stiff. However, a local economist predicts 
Steve Wynn‘s next big project won’t be in Japan … or Philadelphia … or Boston. According to the tycoon, his “next goal in life” will be to open a Singapore megaresort. Yeah, the same Singapore out of which Wynn bailed when the first round of “integrated resorts” was being bid out, mid-decade. Which means that Goal Number #1 for Wynn Resorts is a good six years off, by which time $5.7 billion Marina Bay Sands will almost surely have broken even, and both it and Resorts World Sentosa will be well established and profitable.
Maloof outmaneuvered. As expected Palms Casino Resort President George Maloof (left, with friends) is putting the best face he can on 
In case we didn’t get the point, Amodei titles another video jeremiad simply “
In addition to extracting heavy tribute from the four casinos in progress (ROC assented to $110 across 10 years, 
“I dunno if Jesus can save Harrahs, but I don’t like his chances to save Full Tilt Poker.” — S&G reader Vincent Oliver, in a Tweet referencing both Pokergeddon and Harrah’s Tunica‘s sudden popularity with Christian evangelicals.
Just a quick note to offer “Happy Birthday” greetings to two friends of S&G. One is my nephew, Andrew Maloney, who turns 11 today. It seems like just yesterday he upstaged my 40th birthday by taking his first unaided steps (with his shoes in his hands rather than on his feet). Frankly, I was grateful for the distraction. Cunning kid: He waited until he had a big audience — a half-dozen McKees and Maloneys — to spring it on us.
For those of you waiting for Boyd Gaming to do something with all its undrawn credit, the moment has arrived. Having surveyed the chips on the board, Boyd has pounced upon … IP Casino Resort Spa (née Imperial Palace Biloxi) 
So this is a canny move on Boyd’s part, getting into a market where it presently isn’t and obtaining a casino that’s gone from laggard to leader. IP’s also the first gambling house that southbound drivers pass, so Boyd’s sitting pretty on this deal … pending revelation of the EBITDA multiple at which it purchased the IP. (It definitely makes more sense than continuing to putz around with Dania Jai-Alai in Florida.) With Caesars Entertainment still in a post-Katrina daze and Pinnacle Entertainment having fled the market entirely, Boyd has seized the initiative. It remains in possession of $1.1 billion in undrawn credit and if Ameristar Casinos goes back on the sale block, expect those billion-plus chips to be pushed to the middle of the table.
Retail therapy. Boyd isn’t the only company pulling out the checkbook this week. Melco Crown Entertainment has swooped in to rescue long-in-abeyance Studio City, buying a 60% share in