Quote of the Day

Posted on April 28, 2011 by David McKee

“When Boyd [Gaming] stopped work on Echelon, everyone thought they were crazy. Now it looks like genius.” — executive from a rival Las Vegas Strip casino operator, overheard at a media event in Town Square recently.

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Current, Economy, The Strip | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Isle answers your questions

Posted on April 28, 2011 by David McKee

In the wake of a March revenue report from Louisiana‘s casinos, a reader asked why the Crown Lake Charles and Grand Palais riverboats report revenues separately, despite being berthed cheek by jowl. My surmise was that they hold discrete licenses. Ergo, separate revenue reports. Through the magic of Twitter, however, I was able to put the question to Isle of Capri Casinos CEO Virginia MacDowell and her marketing chief, Julia Carcamo (above, with office visitor). Ms. McDowell replies: “You are correct re Crown LC and Grand Palais.”

Adds Ms. Carcamo, “The revenues are associated with two licenses. BTW, by coincidence, my first casino job was on the Grand Palais when it was in New Orleans. Small world!” Given the very incremental gain Isle makes by having two boats anchored on Lake Charles, you’ve got to wonder if it’s just a matter of time before Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Dan Lee, history, Iowa, Isle of Capri, Pinnacle Entertainment | 2 Comments

Big Brother is watching you … at Cosmo; Trump vs. Trump

Posted on April 28, 2011 by David McKee

So much for that “right amount of wrong.” The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas put itself on the map with a batch of pervy-looking TV spots touting itself as the Ground Zero of decadence in Sin City. So how much wrong is too much? What about being a pre-operative transsexual and using the ladies’ loo? That’ll allegedly get you barred for life from the Cosmo. If they knew a man in drag was relieving himself in the ladies lounge that would leave a strong implication that they’ve got spycams that can see what you’re doing in the stall. Not a comforting thought.

To its credit, the Cosmo was quick to issue an apology. It even put out a sort-of return invitation, which may or may not undo the PR damage. Jeff Simpson notes that the hotel gives itself an ocean of verbal wiggle room. One convention booking is apparently hanging in the balance and the story went viral so fast The Atlantic posted a photo of CityCenter by mistake, something I am 101% certain isn’t going over well at image-conscious MGM Resorts International. (Too bad the guest wasn’t a transsexual prostitute; [s]he’d have her run of every casino on the Strip.)

The Las Vegas Weekly‘s Kristen Petersen neatly pegs the contretemps as another case of  Las Vegas proving itself “a place that markets itself as a wild, anything-goes destination, but only if you stay within the corporate-sanctioned norm.” One reader pointedly asks how people would act if a “trans” relieved him/herself in the men’s room instead. Nah, nobody would have minded that, would they?

Suicide mission. Do you ever wonder if Trump Entertainment Resorts‘ lead owner, Marc Lasry, just wishes his casinos’ namesake would just shut the hell up, especially after a March shellacking in Atlantic City? (The latter was mainly the fault of Lasry’s hand-picked CEO, Robert Griffin, but still …) Having accomplished his mission of ticking off “the blacks,” Donald J. Trump is now aiming his flatulent rhetoric at gays. Yup, Don, just keep being divisive at a time when the casinos that you and your daughter are paid to promote need Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, CityCenter, Cosmopolitan, Current, Donald Trump, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Movies, Phil Ruffin, Regulation, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism, TV | 3 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on April 27, 2011 by David McKee

“Provocative design and erotic revelry will converge to create a uniquely aesthetic nightlife experience at Gallery Nightclub at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Oversized frames adorn the walls, showcasing original photography depicting voyeuristic imagery as an erotic backdrop for guests. State-of-the-art sound and lighting blanket every room of Gallery, where renowned DJs will spin intoxicating music until the sun rises. Gallery is a place where all the deepest fantasies can be explored.” — from a press release so over the top that even hype-hardened LVA staffers needed smelling salts.

Posted in Architecture, Current, Entertainment, Harrah's, Marketing, Planet Hollywood, The Strip | 2 Comments

Ensign to China?

Posted on April 27, 2011 by David McKee

While U.S. coverage — including ours — of Las Vegas Sands COO Michael Leven‘s recent “fireside chat” tended to focus on his backward-thinking tirade about those confounded new social media, Macau Daily Times zeroed in on the continued vacuum at the top of Sands China, which has gone nine months without a CEO. According to the paper, the leading criterion for the job is an ability to “manage government relations.” Added $2 Million Mike, “The person would have some government experience.”

Now danged if that doesn’t sound like outgoing Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), who’ll have Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Donald Trump, history, Macau, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Technology | 1 Comment

Steve Wynn, victim?

Posted on April 27, 2011 by David McKee


Is the casino mogul the victim of, as he says, “prejudice”? You decide. Dealers and nightclub employees whose tips he’s confiscated may not be passing him the crying towel, however.

Posted in Current, Economy, Election, International, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 4 Comments

Losee Station bites the dust

Posted on April 26, 2011 by David McKee

We’re just past two years to the day when S&G predicted, “Good luck finding any takers” at $39.5 million for the old Castaways site. Even now, at a priced-to-move $8.3 million ($414K/acre), it’s not budging. The site’s threefold curse is, of course, location, location, location. This was a purchase Station Casinos didn’t need to make, shouldn’t have made, paid too much — and now it’s proving damned near impossible to unload. (It was quite a different story when Station was offloading acreage near Boulder Station and Sunset Station.)

What’s more — but only slightly — more surprising is that CEO Frank Fertitta III has run up the white flag on bitterly and long-sought “Losee Station,” an attempt to box in Boyd Gaming‘s planned Park Highlands failsino, a Gary Goett project that’s still down and out after years of trying. As luck would have it, Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Current, Economy, Gary Goett, Station Casinos, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Not priced to move; The end of Southern Highlands

Posted on April 26, 2011 by David McKee

Recently I was asked about the future of the Key Largo Casino, long defunct — a casualty of last decade’s condo craze. The photo above is some handiwork of Colliers International and I’ve borrowed it to illustrate the excellent geographical position of Key Largo: just west of Terrible’s and a couple blocks north of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. So you could develop some critical gaming mass here, especially since the land still has an unrestricted gaming entitlement.

Trouble is, the owner wants $5.95 million/acre, and the structure’s been sitting derelict so long you’d Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Cannery Casino Resorts, Columbia Sussex, Current, Economy, Gary Goett, M Resort, Penn National, Regulation, Station Casinos, The Strip, Warner Gaming | 1 Comment

New era at the Riv

Posted on April 25, 2011 by David McKee

It sure looks at lot like the old one, especially with Robert Vannucci still calling the shots over there, according to the grapevine: “Experience action-packed wrestling as Lil Macho Man, Tiny Terminator, Lil Rampage, Nasty Boy, Baby Chucky, Lil Devil and more go head-to-head at the Riviera …” Or maybe you could just stay home at watch The Terror of Tiny Town, Hollywood‘s first (and last) all-midget Western musical.

Word is the Riv’s going all-out with an “old Vegas” marketing position. Proof positive: The next headliner will be Rich Little (5/25-6/12) at a perfectly reasonable $30 a pop. David Brenner is rumored to be not far behind. Credit Riv ownership and management with making the best of the hand they’ve been dealt. They’ve certainly got a more realistic idea Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Current, Economy, Entertainment, Marketing, Movies, Pets, Riviera, Sahara, Sports, The Strip, Tourism, TV | 12 Comments

Austerity, MGM style; Only in Nevada

Posted on April 25, 2011 by David McKee

Despite a decidedly underwhelming financial performance in 2009, MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren managed to take home $13.75 million in overall compensation. Last year, he had to make ends meet on $9.8 million. Snarkiness aside, this actually shows that — at least to some extent, the system works. The shriveled worth of MGM stock in ’09 (disproving my faith in it, as proclaimed on Face to Face with Jon Ralston) came back to haunt Murren in the form of much-reduced stock-option values last year. That’s one way to motivate your executives, for sure.

When MGM is staring at a $1.4 billion loss, th0ugh, one might question a $4.3 million bonus in Murren’s Christmas stocking. True, the share price improved 35% in 2010 but I’ve seen MGM give out much smaller gratuities in profitable years. ‘Nuff said.

Wishful thinking. They must be drinking some mighty good Kool-Aid over at The Economist. A Pokergeddon think piece starts off with the plausible contention that the crackdown might act as a spur toward intrastate online gambling (thereby skirting all those nasty UIGEA issues). Then it spirals off into the cuckoo-sounding premise that — with federal indictments hanging over Absolute Poker, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker (and with Wynn Resorts and Station Casinos scurrying to put daylight between themselves and their here-today/gone-tomorrow online partners) that this will finally inspire Congress to rise up and legalize Internet poker.

There’s not a degree of difference on the i-poker issue between Poker Players Alliance Chairman Al D’Amato and Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Environment, Harrah's, Internet gambling, MGM Mirage, Midnight Jim Gibbons, North Las Vegas, Politics, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip, TV, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Meet $2 Million Mike; The Big Easier

Posted on April 25, 2011 by David McKee

Casino podcasts (MGM Resorts International‘s in particular) have been razzed in the past for a lack of content. No such gripes about Las Vegas Sands‘ latest offering, 10 minutes in the company of COO Michael Leven (who derives his nickname from being paid a higher base salary than Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman and as much as MGM CEO Jim Murren). The generic-sounding — and distracting — background noise sounds like it was either piped in afterward or the interview was conducted at Tao Beach, probably the former.

Bullet points include a new wait-and-see attitude toward Japan and higher-priority status for Hanoi and South Korea. The COO also offers the rationale for Sands’ proposed $21 billion investment in Spain, particularly in Barcelona. Leven takes a more conciliatory line toward the current Spanish government, previously dissed Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Current, Economy, Florida, Harrah's, International, Isle of Capri, Louisiana, Macau, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Pinnacle Entertainment, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Trump plays the Strip

Posted on April 25, 2011 by David McKee

It looks like Phil Ruffin tired of Mystere and needed a new clown show.

In other news: Bad tidings for Steve Wynn; his presidential candidate of choice, Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) is folding his tent.

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, Current, Donald Trump, Election, Entertainment, Marketing, Phil Ruffin, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 8 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on April 23, 2011 by David McKee

“I first met Donald Trump a couple of months ago at a cocktail party. Someone introduced us, and he immediately started in on a speech about how beloved he was among blacks. He said that everywhere he went, blacks were telling him to run for president and that some hip-hop stars had told him that he was the most popular white man among black people … I was stunned — a smirk frozen on my face. Why this speech? Why me? He had made a quick racial calculation and gone for it.” — New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow, on the 800-lb. albatross around Trump Entertainment Resorts‘ neck.

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, Donald Trump | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

A tense time for Mike Ensign

Posted on April 23, 2011 by David McKee

His son’s resignation from the U.S. Senate isn’t going to get former Mandalay Resort Group big shot Mike Ensign out of the hot seat. As yesterday’s New York Times, the Senate Ethics Committee may yet refer its findings to the Justice Department and those findings might very well be that the famous $96,000 concubine-payoff moolah “could represent an illegal campaign contribution by [Sen. John] Ensign’s parents.” That’d be a felony, folks, and would write finis to Ensign Senior’s attempts to get back into the gaming industry (and would dampen any hopes Junior has of landing a cushy sinecure with financial supporters Steve Wynn or Sheldon Adelson). Of course, returning to the casino biz is low on the Ensign family’s to-do list this weekend, well below “Stay out of jail.”

Posted in Current, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn | 2 Comments

Poker Stars & the Gang of 48

Posted on April 22, 2011 by David McKee

In the wake of Pokergeddon (dubbed “Grey Friday” by the online-casino community), a new source of hubbub is the missing $14,000, bread that Poker Stars allegedly laid on nine Democrats in the Nevada Assembly (including, sadly, the otherwise-admirable James Ohrenschall, defender of problem gamblers). Where did the vanished lucre go — and whose reputations will be in flames before all this is over? The 14 dimes in question are chicken feed when set against the 300 grand it cost Poker Stars to buy the Nevada Legislature.

Like Capt. Renault discovering gambling in Rick’s Café, political consigliere to Gov. Brian Sandoval (R, pictured), Mike “Darth” Slanker was shocked — shocked! — to discover 10 grand in the governor’s campaign kitty and returned it forthwith. (Perhaps I’m being too Machiavellian but methinks former federal judge Sandoval was put wise to the Justice Department indictment that landed on Poker Stars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker like a ton of bricks.) It will not elevate the low esteem in which Nevada lawmakers are held that their best defense is to claim they didn’t know it was offshore money. If true, you could sell this crew the Brooklyn Bridge … 48 times over.

(In this respect, the Reel PAC scandal reminds me of a low moment in Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Election, International, Internet gambling, Mississippi, Politics | 5 Comments

Oaf of Office III

Posted on April 22, 2011 by David McKee

… an occasional series. S&G keeps referring to Donald Trump‘s glass jaw — an obvious liability to his phony/delusional political aspirations. Obligingly, The Donald served up a characteristic hissy fit after Caesars Palace headliner Jerry Seinfeld canceled an appearance at a Trump-flagged event. Oh snap! That 2012 presidential field must be quaking in its boots.

Phoenix to Vegas and thence on to Reno (and points beyond) via interstate highway? Since the proposed I-11 would improve travel times for as much as 9% of Las Vegas‘ visitor base and sundry, additional I-15 improvements would make life easier on the important SoCal drive-in crowd, I find it difficult to disagree with Continue reading →

Posted in Arizona, Charity, Cretins, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Election, Harrah's, Marketing, Oscar Goodman, Politics, Reno, Sheldon Adelson, Tourism, Transportation, TV | 3 Comments

Blockbuster month in Pennsylvania; Resurgence in Atlantic City; Douchebag of the Decade

Posted on April 20, 2011 by David McKee

You want good news? We’ve got your good news right here: Casino revenues in Pennsylvania rocketed 24% last month. (35% if you include SugarHouse but that’s an apples-to-oranges metric.) Since, on a same-store basis, slot winnings were just slightly down, the infusion of table games into the Keystone State industry has proven a real “force multiplier.” Only Presque Isle racino didn’t post a double-digit increase, up “merely” 9%.

Sheldon Adelson continues to dig himself out of his Sands Bethlehem (above) hole. Players lost a staggering 44% more there than last year and Sands’ $32 million haul has it nipping at the heels of Harrah’s Chester Downs ($33 million, +16.5%). Nobody has a prayer of catching state favorite Parx Casino ($44 million, +21%) but Sands and Harrah’s may find themselves challenged by Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Cannery Casino Resorts, Cretins, Current, Dennis Gomes, Dining, Donald Trump, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, Marketing, Neil Bluhm, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip, Tribal | 3 Comments

Marriott’s master plan?; Cosmo blows?

Posted on April 20, 2011 by David McKee

Last week, we were discussing United Coin‘s assertion that a Marriott-branded hotel-casino may be erected on the acre formerly occupied by the old Sport of Kings gambling parlor. I recently had a chance to scope out United’s Little Acre and am more puzzled than ever by the slot route-operator’s claim. The footprint of the site might barely hold a hotel tower (with a very small gaming floor — I mean tiny) but there’s no room whatsoever for the all-important parking garage. The latter would be a valuable asset during conventions, when parking along Convention Center Drive becomes a lucrative source of ancillary revenue for hotels and office towers nearby.

Besides, there’s already a Marriott not even a half-block away. Perhaps what the hotelier hopes to do is Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Cosmopolitan, Current, Dining, Economy, Entertainment, LVCVA, Sahara, Tourism | 4 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on April 20, 2011 by David McKee

“I didn’t know the R-J had TV — thought it was just another thing they didn’t believe in.” — a reader’s reaction to the Review-Journal‘s bizarre Web telecasts, providing your daily minimum requirement of ‘WTF?‘

Posted in Current, Technology, TV | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

The Flim-Flam Man

Posted on April 20, 2011 by David McKee

If anything salutary emerges from Donald Trump‘s “cynical branding exercise,” it’s that it may finally expose an epic “scam” once and for all. I refer, of course, to the Trump-generated myth that he is a successful casino operator. True, he might have been — decades ago — although history suggests otherwise. While “thousandaire” Trump’s potential political rivals might not care how many times his gambling empire has gone into bankruptcy, the media is certain to have a jolly good time digging through the dustbin of history.
For instance, did you know that Trump was reduced at one point to sending casino boss Nick Ribis around to his siblings, rattling the tin cup to keep The Donald operational? Or that his net worth is routinely inflated by exponential amounts (as much as 63X)? Or that he diverted bank loans to his businesses into alimony payments? Or that his casinos bled red ink for at least Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, California, Charity, Cretins, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Election, Indiana, Marketing, TV, Wall Street | 6 Comments