Excessive Access? The casino industry gets closer and closer to the day when it simply hooks up a suction hose to your bank vault. While Global Cash Access doesn’t want to interface bank cards with slot machines — it would be too difficult — it’s pitching the notion of ATMs that dispense slot tickets directly to consumers. Are chips next? (Just think of the floor employees casinos could eliminate.) When you compare this to previous Global Cash Access ideas that the Nevada Gaming Commission has nixed, it looks suspiciously like a distinction without a difference … and the NGC’s previous objections dwindle into mere sophistry. The notion of routing bank-to-slot money through an intermediate wagering account is another concept that will soon be on the docket.
If the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling has no problem with what GCA is proposing, I bow to its superior wisdom in such matters. (Actually, the wagering-account concept is less worrisome than ATMs disgorging casino scrip.) The trouble may lie not with the message but the messenger. GCA has been repeatedly in hot water in Arizona but recently shrugged off a lawsuit filed by former GCA executives. (Disclosure: Some fellow at GCA supposedly tried to get me fired from Casino Executive back in ’99 for referring in print to some of its employees as “tellers,” but my publisher — the late Bob Bradley — was a gentleman of the old school and stood behind me.)
Harrah’s Entertainment recently severed several ties to GCA, potentially putting the company into a “death spiral.” If the Gaming Commission and the Problem Gambling Council approve GCA’s concept in theory, perhaps they should think carefully before putting their eggs into GCA’s basket. Oh sorry … too late now.
Marriage made in Heaven? The $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan doesn’t have a customer database-marketing setup. Marriott International doesn’t have a casino. Put ’em together and — voila! — you’ve connected the Cosmo to 32 million potential guests. Well done. More seriously, this addresses a major worry about the Cosmo. It also enables the megaresort to outsource certain marketing operations, making this a significant coup for Cosmo CEO John Unwin. Like I said, well done.
Topsy-turvy. A “good” quarter at the Riviera is defined as losing less money than last year. In a microcosm of the Strip economy, more people are staying at the Riv but gambling much less. While bankruptcy may erase a debt burden so badly structured Continue reading
It still looks like Resorts Atlantic City is the casino most likely to close in that market, on pace to lose nearly $22 million this year. That’s the monumental challenge facing prospective new owner Dennis Gomes. In unadjusted dollars, the casino’s revenue has fallen 60% since 1978. Throw in the fact that it’s the oldest operational casino on the Boardwalk and you’ve got your work cut out for you. UNLV technomage David G. Schwartz has 
Though it’s supposedly not driving up room rates, convention business has become a much bigger part of Wynn’s business model, up to 17.5% of overall room sales from 12% last year. Sands is around 25%, by comparison, and says it expects to be up to a 30/70 convention/other room-occupancy ratio next year. According to a J.P. Morgan investor dispatch, Sands execs “noted that forward bookings for 2H10 and 2011 are increasing and pricing trends appear to be stronger, especially on weekends.”
There won’t be casinos in Massachusetts this year and 
A big shout-out goes to the S&G subscriber who has the best solution yet for reviving interest in Atlantic City: 
If nothing else gets recalcitrant legislators off their duffs and behind Gov. Chris Christie‘s intervention on behalf of Atlantic City, 
“We have a reputation for senior executives who haven’t lasted that long.” — Las Vegas Sands COO Michael Leven, 
Palazzo #1. No, Steve Wynn, I don’t get it either. Then again, I’ve not stayed in a Palazzo hotel room. (The Venetian‘s rooms wear their 11 years — venerable by Vegas standards– lightly, however.) Readers of Travel + Leisure voted Palazzo tops among Vegas hotels and 18th overall, in a poll to determine the “Top 50 Hotels in the Continental U.S. and Canada.” Palazzo prexy Rob Goldstein opted for grace over bragadoccio, deferring credit with the statement, “The fact that this award is generated from the magazine’s readers and our guests shows the public recognizes the quality of The Palazzo – which is a true testament to our dedicated staff.” Sands not only has reader accolades but rising ADRs to point toward as metrics of Palazzo’s popularity. (Three Wynn-created hotels also got love from T+L readers, with Wynn Las Vegas, Bellagio and Encore finishing at #20, 31 and 40, respectively.)
Here at S&G, we think the Caesars brand is more than worthy of the Queen City. Others 
Atlantic City can just plain go to hell. That’s the message from several prominent — or simply loud — Democratic lawmakers who say Gov. Chris Christie‘s rescue plan for the city is spinach and to heck with it. Noisiest of the bunch is sports-betting fixated state Sen. Raymond Lesniak. Challenging the federal sports-wagering ban isn’t tilting at windmills, in our opinion, though Christie will have none of it.
One swallow doesn’t make a spring — unless you write for USA Today. Columnist Kitty Bean Yancey cherry-picked a lone statistic from the most recent set of Nevada Gaming Control Board numbers are proclaimed 
“The people who come to Vegas are not going to be the people who want to explore art galleries. There was a brief moment where I thought Vegas would grow into that. But I turned out to be mostly wrong about Vegas. This town dreamed big, but Vegas is built for middle-class gamblers and not the tastes of the casino executives.” — art critic and former provocateur-at-large Dave Hickey on the failure of art galleries to take root on the Las Vegas Strip. The Cosmopolitan‘s CEO, John Unwin, 
I’m sure I speak for some of colleagues in the biz when I say that, on certain subjects, we feel like we’re writing the same story over and over again. (Which is provides yet another reason for our collective fascination with Steve Wynn: his unpredictability.) Case in point: the turbulent economic dynamics of the Las Vegas Strip.
Results are in for the first quarter of a fully operational Resorts World Sentosa and they point to a $2.5 billion gross this year, $1.5 billion in cash flow and an ROI of 32% at the $4.74 billion metaresort. J.P. Morgan‘s Joseph Greff describes the 58% profit margin as “much better than anything experienced in U.S. markets (to our knowledge).” With all four of its hotels up and running, Resorts World grossed $632 million last quarter, more than withstanding the challenge posed by Marina Bay Sands‘ opening.