Quote of the Day

Posted on March 15, 2011 by David McKee

“Schumer is Stewie.” — former Providence, R.I. mayor, convicted felon and frequent Family Guy reference point Buddy Cianci in re Sen. Charles Schumer (R-NY). Damn! That’s the best endorsement I’ve ever heard, bar none.

Posted in Current, New York, Politics, TV | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

What $45 gets you in Vegas

Posted on March 15, 2011 by David McKee

As Dr. David G. Schwartz has more or less said, why drop $39/night at the SahaRiviCircus when the folks at Caesars Entertainment can fix you up with a Go Room and a Strip view for $45? (A friend of mine stayed at Bally’s a couple of weeks ago and got hit up with $17 in charges for his in-room safe and wi-fi, so beware hidden “resort fees.”) According to HotelChatter.com, you’ll have to put up with some uncleanliness that is symptomatic of Loveman-era Harrah’s, er, Caesars. But I suppose if we’re going to enjoy low-end rates at mid-market hotels, a Sahara-like experience is the near-inevitable tradeoff.

By the bye, LVA can go HotelChatter.com quite a bit better. It’s part of a new LasVegasAdvisor.com feature that connects readers to a plethora of offers. Happy hunting!

(A Flamingo marketing rep replies: After some research, Flamingo does not have a resort fee, but charges for other things like wifi or a safe, but it’s not required that you pay for these. Resort fees are forced and added to your room charge every day.)

Posted in Architecture, Current, Harrah's, Marketing, Sahara, Technology, The Strip, Tourism | Comments Off on What $45 gets you in Vegas

What makes Sammy run?

Posted on March 14, 2011 by David McKee

Scarcely was the ink dry on Sahara owner Sammy “The Naz” Nazarian‘s announcement of the property’s May 16 closure than rumors began to fly about his endgame for the old gal. At S&G, we’re pretty certain that “The Naz” (™ Chuck Monster) has a three-point plan for the Sahara which runs as follows …

Informed speculation has it that Nazarian’s shutdown of the property is a ploy to get the Culinary Union out and eventually reopen something there as a non-union property. It wouldn’t be a first (see Adelson, Sheldon or Tamares Group [in re Plaza]). Undoubtedly the only reason Columbia Sussex didn’t play that card in its long war of attrition to de-unionize the Tropicana Las Vegas was that ColSux was hurting so badly for cash flow it didn’t dare close the place.

Nazarian’s SBE definitely dared. That might explain why, at a time when the Trop, the downtown Plaza and even Buffalo Bill’s were redoing their hotels at rock-bottom prices made possible Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Boyd Gaming, California, Carl Icahn, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Columbia Sussex, Cosmopolitan, Current, Economy, Fontainebleau, Herbst Gaming, M Resort, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Regulation, Riviera, Sahara, Sheldon Adelson, Tamares Group, The Strip, Tourism, Tropicana Entertainment, TV, Wall Street | 9 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 14, 2011 by David McKee

“It used to be that people were choosing between value and luxury. But since the recession they don’t have to choose: They can get value and luxury in the same place.” — David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV, on the economic factors that left hotels like the soon-to-close Sahara struggling to compete.

Posted in Current, Economy, Sahara, The Strip, Tourism | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Trains to nowhere?

Posted on March 14, 2011 by David McKee

Spurning of federal high-speed-rail money by governors like Rick Scott (R-FL), John Kasich (R-OH) and Scott Walker (R-WI) might mean some of the multibillion-dollar largesse would be rechanneled toward Sig Rogich‘s and Sen. Harry Reid‘s Desert Xpress, bound for Victorville, Calif. (For a state that’s about to attempt to create a Buckeye casino industry, the Ohio refusal might be most counterproductive, as the line would have linked three of the four casino-enabled cities.)

But whoa! The recent rail debacle in Florida provides fair warning of obstacles that Continue reading →

Posted in California, Florida, Harry Reid, Ohio, Transportation | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 12, 2011 by David McKee


“It might seem unfathomable to the guests who tote giant coolers stuffed with three days’ worth of provisions to their $39-a-night room that the Sahara was once one of the Strip’s great hotels.” — John Katsilometes, on the 59-year-old resort whose storied past was ground into the dirt by all-talk/no-action owner Sam Nazarian.

Posted in Current, history, Sahara, The Strip, Tourism | 1 Comment

R.I.P., Sahara (1952-2011)

Posted on March 11, 2011 by David McKee

Once the Riviera changed hands, the Strip casino for whom mortality seemed most imminent became the Sahara. The ‘death by a thousand cuts’ regime of nightclub impresario and absentee owner Sam Nazarian bled the place to the extent that there was no point going there anymore. It became seedier and dirtier, and large swaths of the hotel-casino — the buffet, the upstairs showroom, two hotel towers — were simply shut down. The symbolic kiss of death came when Colony Capital bought into Nazarian’s SBE. In the casino industry, where CEO Tom Barrack (our Yankee Doodle version of James Packer) goes, disaster soon follows.

The original, Moorish-themed casino floor and the adjacent House of Lords restaurant were beautiful, and possessed Old Vegas cachet in spades. On a personal note, the Sahara was the first casino at which I had dinner after moving to Vegas in January 1999. So there’s definitely a bittersweet feeling that comes with today’s sad news. (One should note that Chuck Monster of VegasTripping.com was first to break the story.) It also has dire implications for the Las Vegas Monorail, whose northern terminus will soon be next to a giant derelict.

As of May 16, the former hangout of the Rat Pack, Louis Prima and (briefly) The Beatles will go dark, Nazarian having deemed the property “no longer economically viable.” He ought to know, his determination to run the place like a grind joint having contributed to its downfall. In the course of making still more empty promises, Nazarian has the nerve to posit “a complete renovation and repositioning.” That’s the same spiel Sam has been spewing since he bought the place for $350 million at the apex of the Vegas bubble and trotted out remodeling plans the following year (below). “The Naz” has barely done jack with the Sahara since then. Why talk of “repositioning” in 2011 when you couldn’t do it in 2008, before the bubble popped?

Contrast Nazarian’s verbal scirocco with the more pragmatic course charted for the Riv by new owner Barry Sternlicht. The curse of the Riv was that late CEO William Westerman had enough cash flow to keep it limping along but too much debt to truly redo the place. Sternlicht and property CEO Andy Choy are mulling a full redevelopment of the Riv but realize this isn’t the moment to go to Wall Street for the billion(s) it will require.

Sternlicht & Co. will give the casino floor and eateries a much-needed spiffing up, then try to hang in there until what has been aptly described as a “lumbering recovery” gathers speed. Compared to Sternlicht’s stark realism, Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Columbia Sussex, Current, Dining, Economy, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Goldman Sachs, history, International, James Packer, Macau, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Morgans Hotel Group, Pansy Ho, Plaza, Regulation, Riviera, Sahara, Stanley Ho, Station Casinos, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, TV, Wall Street | 10 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 11, 2011 by David McKee


“Recall, Italy turned to gaming expansion rather quickly following its earthquake in 2009. While we don’t care to speculate on how these events will impact the process in Japan, we do believe investors may come to the conclusion that the need to raise funds for Japan will have more urgency post these tragic events.” — Wells Fargo gaming analyst Carlo Santarelli, on how the twin blows of earthquake and tsunami may impact the casino industry.

Posted in Current, International | 2 Comments

Good news from an unexpected source

Posted on March 10, 2011 by David McKee

Atlantic City hit the big 3-0 in February: 30 straight months on revenue declivity, says J.P. Morgan (31, according to Wells Fargo). However, the rate of decline (1.4%) was the smallest since April of last year. With Genting Bhd‘s racino at Aqueduct coming on line sometime after June and Valley Forge Convention Center‘s resort casino getting the green light, the Boardwalk isn’t done dodging bullets.

Still, slot revenue increased for the first time in three years and handle was up, which it hasn’t been since the end of 2006. Weak hold percentages took table-game revenues down 13%, though. And it could be argued that, after a disastrous February last year (-16%), there wasn’t that much farther to fall. Last year, $258 million would have been good only for second-to-last status, with the market hitting bottom in December, at $237 million.

Congratulations are in order, first of all, to Resorts Atlantic City, where the new regime of Dennis Gomes produced a 16.5% revenue increase last month. Even hard-to-sell Atlantic City Hilton managed to show a 4% upswing, while Trump Marina is just Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, Colony Capital, Current, Dennis Gomes, Donald Trump, Economy, Genting, Harrah's, New York, Ohio, Penn National, Racinos, Tourism, Tropicana Entertainment | 1 Comment

Station, Greenspuns part company

Posted on March 10, 2011 by David McKee

For quite a while the relationship between Station Casinos and Greenspun Corp. has been in the “Can This Marriage Be Saved?” category, as the two bickered over the ownership and management of their casino joint ventures. Today they’re Splitsville and it’s division-of-property time. Although the ‘Spuns can still buy back into Green Valley Ranch, for now Station has sole custody of the $550 million Henderson-area megaresort, which will enter bankruptcy under a deal cut with creditors. The accord includes a provision whereby Fertitta Entertainment gets hired to manage the place, too. Sweet!

While $500 million is a slight discount compared to what the Fertittas and Greenspuns poured into the Ranch over the years, it’s still a steep price: Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Current, Entertainment, Harrah's, Marketing, North Las Vegas, Penn National, Station Casinos, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Vegas in January: Dazed and confusing

Posted on March 10, 2011 by David McKee

It’s not as though there aren’t signs of hope for the Nevada economy. And even as empty storefronts continue to proliferate and housing prices tank in Las Vegas, there’s a “green shoot” or two, if you look for them. The billboard industry has been in a terrible slump, with prime space are going empty or being rented to small-time outfits. However, the row of blank billboards that used to line the route to McCarran International Airport is giving way to actual advertising, a positive augury that’s been long overdue.

Then we look at January’s gaming revenues and … sigh! For four Januarys in a row, they’ve been down (not to mention three sequential months of slippage). Since the decrease was less than 1%, let’s be charitable and call it “flat.” In spite of that, the public purse made out pretty well, with tax collections up 15%. But the headline will surely be the Strip’s really “blah” month, down 2.5%, with one less weekend day but also with the brand-new Cosmopolitan. And yet … visitation was up 9%, lifting ADRs by Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Cosmopolitan, Current, Downtown, Economy, history, IGT, Lake Tahoe, North Las Vegas, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Taxes, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, Wall Street | 3 Comments

This just in: NV ponders ‘Net bets

Posted on March 10, 2011 by David McKee

While certain politicians and even casino executives continue to keep a finger in the dike that protects Americans from — gasp! — gambling online, the dike is fast crumbling around them. Nevada is the latest state to join the jailbreak. Just minutes ago, the Las Vegas Sun‘s Jon Ralston (left) posted the text of a bill, the creature of PokerStars.net, that would allow online casinos to set up shop in Nevada. The lengthy document has already been heavily redlined and amended, so there’s clearly been active behind-the-scenes debate over its contents. At first glance (and scarcely more than a glance), it talks of creating interstate — and potentially international — compacts with other jurisdictions that permit online wagering.

That’s a good deal more ambitious than what New Jersey lawmakers voted to do. Ditto a proposed, intrastate Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, Economy, Harrah's, International, Internet gambling, Iowa, Politics, Regulation, Taxes | Comments Off on This just in: NV ponders ‘Net bets

Wynn hearts Pinnacle; Harrah’s demands aesthetic restraint

Posted on March 9, 2011 by David McKee

Now that former Mirage Resorts CFO Dan Lee is long gone from Pinnacle Entertainment, too, former Lee boss Steve Wynn seems to have changed his opinion about Pinnacle. While I (erroneously) thought that Pinnacle CEO Anthony Sanfilippo‘s erstwhile ties to Harrah’s Entertainment and the sheer megatonnage of Total Rewards itself made Caesars Entertainment a shoo-in for Pinnacle’s hinted-at marketing alliance, turns out I was quite wrong. Wynn’s casinos will now cross-market to the top 2% of Pinnacle’s million-player database.

Where some riverboat casino operators are concerned, mooring oneself to Wynn Resorts would seem a very incongruous fit. (Can anyone seriously imagine Wynn dropping anchor with Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Current, Dan Lee, Harrah's, Indiana, Internet gambling, Isle of Capri, Louisiana, Marketing, Missouri, Penn National, Pinnacle Entertainment, Planet Hollywood, Regulation, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tourism, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Boyd: The rest of the story

Posted on March 9, 2011 by David McKee

There’s a bit of scuttlebutt going around about Boyd Gaming retracting coupon offers. To wit, from the S&G mailbag: “There’s this story going around, Suncoast/Boyd advertised in the [Las Vegas Review-Journal], and gave 10x points coupons for every Wednesday in [March]. When some video poker players tried to play after redeeming the coupon, they were trespassed by management. That’s right, for playing a coupon advertised in the R-J.”

I put the matter to Boyd, whose official response is as follows: “Some known advantage players, who redeemed 10X coupons after play on high-limit poker machines, have been advised that they would no longer be welcome at the Suncoast. These players had been previously warned about using multiplier coupons in this manner at the property.”

While “advantage play” on a computer-randomized machine sounds oxymoronic, I’m sure Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Current, Downtown, Lake Tahoe, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, TV | 5 Comments

“V”

Posted on March 8, 2011 by David McKee

That’s about the extent and substance of the campaign of Las Vegas mayoral aspirant Victor Chaltiel, a suddenly ubiquitous, Peter Lorre-like figure who has manifested himself as major civic figure as suddenly as if he’d been beamed down from space. His bizarre TV spots feature blissed-out supporters flashing obscene gestures and chanting “V for Victor.” His bio reveals that he’s a Harvard MBA (uh-oh), a venture capitalist (at least he’s not in private equity) and one of his startups “specializes in reducing healthcare costs by fighting fraud, waste and abuse.” (Translation: Drowning your doctor in paperwork.)

He’s also a crony of Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson, which may explain why he’s able to afford such an extensive — and expensive — media presence … although it appears highly unlikely at the present time that dollars are going to turn into votes. All King Sheldon’s horses and all his men won’t be sufficient to put this Humpty-Dumpty onto Oscar Goodman‘s soon-to-be-vacated mayoral throne. (And if I’m wrong, you’ll see me eat my words in this space.)

The mystery is why Adelson would bother with the mayoral contest at all. Sands’ casinos sit outside city lines and, except for the Adelson Educational Campus, out on the ritzy far-west side of town, he’s never seemed to give a tinker’s damn about anything happening north of Sahara Avenue.  This appears to be another grudge match with local unions and maybe a big mitzvah to an old friend. (Chaltiel’s Web site is larded with anti-union dog whistles like “simply throwing more money at the problem [education] is not the answer.”)

El Señor Sheldon, meanwhile, is promising to build 12 casinos in Spain at an overall cost of $20 billion — has the man gone Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Boyd Gaming, Current, Don Barden, Downtown, Economy, Harrah's, International, Marketing, North Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, Politics, Station Casinos, The Strip, TV, Wall Street | 4 Comments

An Ensign afterthought

Posted on March 7, 2011 by David McKee

By spending tens of thousands of dollars to defend the (mis)conduct of Sen. John Ensign, not only do the CEOs of Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts appear to condone it, they open themselves to questions about their own views on business ethics. Would they approve of Ensign-like shenanigans within their own executive suites? With Ensign benefactor Sheldon Adelson‘s company presently under investigation to answer the question of whether or not it’s running a rogue operation in China, this is a very unpleasant thought to try and sleep upon. Many other casino executives may have felt “there but for the grace of God” twinges of sympathy for ex-Nevada Landing manager Ensign — but they didn’t feel compelled to make big-buck donations to the cause of getting his butt out of a self-inflicted sling. Why did Sheldon & Steve consider it imperative to, in effect, proclaim “You’re our kind of guy”?

We could hang around for an answer but I suspect we’d be better off waiting for Mr. Godot to keep his appointment.

Posted in Current, Macau, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn | 1 Comment

Pay no attention to the man behind the bow tie

Posted on March 7, 2011 by David McKee

While high-speed rail might be no more than a partial solution to expediting access to resort cities like Las Vegas and New Orleans, at least one of its naysayers used to be a vocal advocate. Who? Why none other than that nattering nabob of negativism, George F. Will. Seems he once thought rapid rail transit was not some nefarious socialistic scheme (tarring every train buff as a pinko in the process) but a capital idea, just grand, by Jove! And it would get some of those confounded flying machines out of the sky, too, he argued.

Again, I remind y0u that this is the same Geo. Will who once also huffed and puffed about having to sit in Vegas traffic jams, a by-product of the automobile that he now venerates as a vehicle of individual expression. (I really ought to write a faux Will-esque essay, fatuously decrying the horseless carriage as a manifestation of anti-social behavior and incivility; just look at all those fender-benders and all that “road rage,” by thunder!) Perhaps someone could bend time and introduce the 2011 edition of Mr. Will to his 2001 incarnation. If consistency is a hobgoblin of small minds, Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Transportation, TV | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 7, 2011 by David McKee

“Still, would it surprise anyone to find out if this really was how business was conducted over there? Secret investigations of your enemies? Bribes? Kinda exactly how I imagine things might work when billions are on the line and your regulator is a semi-corrupt authoritarian state. But hey, what do I know …” — Hunter Hillegas, on the SEC investigation of charges and countercharges involving Las Vegas Sands and its Chinese sphere of influence.

Posted in Current, International, Macau, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Wall Street | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Banzai, Caesar!

Posted on March 7, 2011 by David McKee

Although it will be putting its noble name to on the soon-to-be-ex-Centurion Tower at sprawling Caesars Palace, Nobu Hospitality will only pony up an (unspecified) portion of the (unspecified) cost. Actually, the Associated Press and Las Vegas Review-Journal differ on this but I’m giving Caesars Entertainment the benefit of the doubt that it’s making Nobu shoulder at least part of the burden. However, Nobu sure got the better end of the deal. Caesars will be the one managing the hotel and carrying its staff on payroll. (Existential question: Is “a non-binding letter of intent” worth the paper upon which it’s written?)

In essence, CEO Gary Loveman is renting the Nobu brand and largely footing he bill. With his company hemorrrhaging red ink, it seems to defeat the purpose of bringing in Nobu if the latter scoops up the cream of the guest crop while Harrah’s Caesars pays the freight. Isn’t the point of Continue reading →

Posted in Dining, Harrah's, International, The Strip, Transportation, TV | 2 Comments

“Hi, I’m John Ensign, your casino host”

Posted on March 7, 2011 by David McKee

In development that was a foregone conclusion to everyone but Sen. John Ensign (R) himself, the former casino executive and prospective heir to the Mandalay Resort Group fortune of Mike Ensign, announced his retirement from politics today. The former general manager of the Gold Strike and Nevada Landing grind joints in Jean (1991-4) was looking at brutal poll numbers, fundraising insufficient to even be called “anemic,” a Senate Ethics Committee investigation and frequent verbal slights from fellow GOP senators (including confessor and gynecologist Tom Coburn), for whom he couldn’t die soon enough. An ungrateful business, politics.

Papa Mike’s own attempt to get back into the casino biz, in Kansas, was overshadowed by revelations that he’d channeled 96 dimes in hush money to a “Johnny Casino” concubine and her cuckolded husband — a “pattern of generosity” that was elaborately structured to avoid taxation by the IRS. Ensign senior and junior, having helped ruin each Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Election, Florida, history, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Texas, The Strip | 3 Comments