If pressed for a prediction, I’d say 2011 will be a good year for the Strip, not so much for the rest of the Silver State. Just when I was feeling a bit queasy about November’s gaming revenues, Dr. David Schwartz took a gander at them that made me feel like Sunny Jim. Acknowledging two months of declining baccarat play, he writes, “that’s bad news, since general levels of play aren’t rising.”
An $822 million statewide gross — for a 6% decline — makes it the second-weakest month of 2010 and “the worst November since 2003.” Of all major jurisdictions, only North Las Vegas had a good month (greatly to the delight of Station Casinos, no doubt), up 3.5%, while Laughlin stayed flat. Slot win on the Strip (+10%) and the Boulder Strip (+0.5%) was largely manufactured through tighter holds and the increasingly prevalence of penny slots (which is tantamount to the same thing). Actual slot handle was down in both jurisdictions. Sports bettors came out ahead, with underachieving NFL teams costing sports books $2 million-plus. Downtown took another hit, off 8% from last year.
Heavy table play out on Boulder went for naught as locals casinos hit a terrible run of bad luck. There was a bit less play on most Strip tables (though it was a terrific month where craps was concerned) and the Boulevard’s lifeline — baccarat — saw $129 million less being wagered. Weakness in that game along was enough to move the Strip from revenue-positive to negative for the month. So Strip baccarat play wilts as it ascends in Macao — and while Steve Wynn‘s Vegas baccarat room is out of commission. Coincidence?
Schwartz’s critique of the waning fortunes of the greater Reno area (-21% in the city, -19% countywide), which I foolishly thought had struck bottom, are so dire I can’t Continue reading
Or so Ed Snider‘s Philadelphia Entertainment & Development Partnership claims in a new petition to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control, asking for its license back. Snider’s group 
Short of pouring kerosene over his five existing properties and then setting them ablaze, it’s tough to imagine a more surefire course toward disaster that Loveman could chart other than leaping back into the Philly fray. However, since the Caesars board is stacked with fund managers, the CEO can continue to run amuck — though you have to wonder how East Coast chief Don Marrandino (left) feels about the on-again off-again threat his boss is posing to Caesars’ already-beleaguered casinos out there. It’s certainly not making his job easier.
“The industry we’ve seen these last couple of years isn’t a cash machine that’s impervious to economic changes. All these tax increases are going to be coming off the bottom line, which means less money for reinvestment.” — MGM Resorts International spokesman Alan Feldman, decrying 
Even outgoing Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) has thrown in the towel on a second Philadelphia casino. Now that he no longer has to gratify “george” campaign donors, Rendell says 
Although much lauded in the past as an entrepreneur, the Desperate Housewives star and her advisers apparently 
Basically, Illinois solons — with the possible backing of vacillating Gov. Pat Quinn (D, left) — would like to pile the equivalent of the entire Mississippi casino industry onto the Land of Lincoln’s already strained gaming infrastructure. The only sure winners in this scenario are the slot makers. International Game Technology, favorite son WMS and Bally Technologies could make nearly half their 2010 quota off Illinois alone if lawmakers’ dreams come true, increasing the extant slot inventory fourfold and then some, followed by a 30% increase in 2012 and 7% more slots the year after, for an eventual 80,100 gaming positions.
It’s amazing what a transformative effect a night’s stay at Venelazzo will have. After stopping by Sheldon Adelson‘s little pied-a-terre, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (left) 
“Jim Gibbons … started out wanting to be governor because there was an office called governor and he was next in line. But instead of being changed by the experience, of rising above himself, his pride and his stubborn ideology, Gibbons sank beneath them.” — Las Vegas CityLife Editor Steve Sebelius 
Fresh from pouncing on MGM Resorts International‘s half of Borgata, investor Leonard Green is at it again. This time his target of opportunity is the Palms. According to reporter Beth Jinks, embattled owner George Maloof is dickering with Green for continued operational control 
You can tell a lot about a neighborhood by looking at the front of the houses. If the houses have porches and are close to the street, you can bet that you’ll see people stopping by or saying “hi” as they pass by. But if the houses have walls and are set well back from the street, that’s a clear sign that company is usually not welcome—except by invitation, of course.
“Suppose Prohibition of alcohol had just been repealed. The hypothetical owner of the first and only liquor store in a state would make a fantastic return on investment. But soon, if there were no government controls, there would be liquor stores throughout the state, as there are few barriers to entry. Excess profits would disappear and returns on investment would descend to normal levels, after a large number went bankrupt and that over-supply disappeared.” — I. Nelson Rose, making an indirect response to Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman‘s contention (at Global Gaming Expo 2010) that the casino industry can sustain McDonalds-like proliferation.
… but not to the point of having 0-0 teams in the playoffs, as this ESPN graphic would have us believe. Thankfully, the Kissing Suzy Kolber blog archived this great moment in TV sports, so we can be assured that we were not hallucinating under the influence of too much Jon Gruden.
“I am not allowed to mail a lottery ticket from my home in Encino to a friend in Las Vegas, because federal law does not want the good people of Nevada hearing about the evils of California‘s legal gambling.” — I. Nelson Rose, on arcane restrictions “passed in response to the Louisiana Lottery scandal, and other problems in the late 19th century” and still on the books over a century later.
Once again the blogosphere has caught the MSM napping. Report On Vegas informs readers that the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is having a rough time meeting its bills (this was the augury of doom for Barrick Gaming‘s short-lived stewardship of six Tamares Group casinos downtown). Manager Morgans Hotel Group is going through a transitional period and lame-duck CEO Fred Kleisner got a lump of coal from Santa Claus, in the form of a $53 million loss on the year. Kleisner was spotted in Las Vegas, huddling with HRH CEO Joseph Magliarditi, who continues to try and woo the locals crowd.