N.Y. casino expansion pimped

Posted on June 1, 2010 by David McKee

Casinos in the Catskills have been touted as an economic panacea for nigh unto a decade. We all know the ensuing score: much hype, little accomplishment. Still, that has not prevented one New York gubernatorial candidate from dusting this idea off today and making it the newest plank in her platform. “Manhattan Madam” Kristin Davis is projecting $1 billion/year/casino (based on win/gaming position of $250/day) if her proposal is enacted. To pencil out, that would require insane amounts of slot play — as much as $900/day — and Davis’ projected tax haul of $750 million a year implies a revenue projection of $562.5 million/year/casino, which is still one helluva stretch, even if Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, Economy, Election, New York, Pennsylvania, Politics, Taxes, Wall Street | Comments Off on N.Y. casino expansion pimped

Quote of the Day

Posted on May 31, 2010 by David McKee

“So the deuces are all over the place: two and two, with two out, the score tied 2-2 and two pitchers 22 [years old] each.” — Vin Scully, calling Sunday’s Los Angeles Dodgers/Colorado Rockies, demonstrating yet again that when it comes to spinning the narrative of a baseball game he is peerless.

Posted in Baseball, Sports, TV | 2 Comments

“Wynn Agonistes”

Posted on May 28, 2010 by David McKee

Aka Wynn’s Struggle, a melodrama in three acts. In Act I, impervious to irony, Steve Wynn chides Washington, D.C., for overspending, overborrowing and artificial economic stimulation … as though nothing like that happened right along the Las Vegas Strip. He lauds the “stability” of China contra the jittery old U.S. of A. (among other subtly anti-democratic sentiments) but stops short of saying its trains run on time.

Act II: Wynn explains — and simultaneously pooh-poohs — that magical acronym known as “EBITDA.”

Act III: Wynn admits jokingly that he’s “grow[ing] old ungracefully.”

So is this “the end” of a 10-year reinvention of the Desert Inn site? I don’t believe it!

Posted in Current, Economy, Entertainment, Macau, Marketing, Politics, Steve Wynn, Taxes, The Strip, Tourism, Wall Street | 5 Comments

300

Posted on May 28, 2010 by David McKee

“This! Is! Sparta!” Well, no actually. It just means that our Twitter feed, @stiffsgeorges, has finally eked its way to the 300-follower mark. That may not be much to crow about but it’s a gratifying little increment of progress. Speaking of eking …

Rome wasn’t built in a day and when Isle of Capri Casinos realized that a change of management was (over)due, there was no quick fix to an image problem that could be summarized in the company’s nickname: “Pile of Debris.” In this brand-new mini-informercial, Isle management pounds away a couple of value messages that can always be relied upon to resonate with the bread-and-butter gambler — customer service (and lots of it) and time on device (ditto). What the ad delicately sidesteps is the elephant in the middle of the room … Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Isle of Capri, Marketing, Pennsylvania, TV | Comments Off on 300

Quote of the Day

Posted on May 28, 2010 by David McKee

“Now to go with chicken on a stick, every new opening in town has the cast of Fantasy and Anthony Cools. Hope Angelica [Bridges] didn’t get a hernia from that bottle, it’s almost bigger than she is.”

Posted in Current, Entertainment, The Strip | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

The bad guys won

Posted on May 28, 2010 by David McKee

Applying yet another tongue bath to the management and bankers who drove Station Casinos into a brick wall at top speed, bankruptcy Judge Gregg Zive has decreed Fertitta Gaming‘s $772 million* stalking-horse bid “an adequate floor” for the auction of 11 Station properties, a tribal casino-management contract plus unspecified real estate. (As best I can make out, nobody except Station knows what undeveloped land will go into the auction and what lurks nearby in a “LandCo.”) Zive also rolled over for a sugar-pill provision that takes the massive land assemblage surrounding Wild Wild West off the auction block and into the lap of the Station/Deutsche Bank coalition that’s calling the shots in the reorganization.

(* — I’m un-correcting a correction because it turns out my memory is accurate but the R-J‘s reportage was not.)

Never mind that he gave his blessing to a bid that was, in effect, negotiated between Station CEO Frank J. Fertitta III and Fertitta Gaming Managing Member Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Current, North Las Vegas, Station Casinos, Wall Street | 3 Comments

How big is Deepwater Horizon?; How solvent is Archon?

Posted on May 28, 2010 by David McKee

This weekend, millions are fleeing a disaster of biblical proportions — I speak not of the epochal Deepwater Horizon spill but of Sex and the City 2.

However, while we’re on the subject, Gulf Coast casinos can take at least some modest cheer in the fact that the mega-spill has not washed up on their beaches and is, in fact, oozing in the opposite direction. But just how big is the Oil Spill from Hell? The Biloxi Sun-Herald has a nifty application that superimposes Deepwater Horizon on your city. If you dropped the spill atop Las Vegas, it would cover nearly all of Clark County, as well as chunks of Nye and Lincoln counties (laying waste to the Oldest Profession), stretching from St. George, UT, to Death Valley, with a tentacle extended toward Prescott, AZ.

On a more sober note, once the devastation to the Gulf economy sets in, it’ll be very hard on the wallets of Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Current, Economy, Election, Entertainment, Environment, Laughlin, Louisiana, Mississippi, Movies, Politics, Station Casinos, Technology, The Strip | 4 Comments

Harrah’s, Penn & pols play chess in Ohio

Posted on May 27, 2010 by David McKee

Even as Harrah’s Entertainment was closing its purchase of an Thistledown Race Track, lawmakers were moving to foreclose the prospect of racinos in that state. This doesn’t preclude Buckeye State voters for approving as many as seven racinos this fall, but some lawmakers seem to think that slots at the tracks merely prolongs an irreversible decline in the horseracing industry.

Ohio leaders are still figuring out some seemingly critical issues — like how the 33% tax rate will be applied: to winnings or (get this!) handle. The latter notion isn’t just preposterous, it’s downright anti-business. Also, unheedful of Kenny Rogers‘ adage, lawmakers are counting their money while still sitting at the table … before it’s even in hand, in fact. No casinos have been built, no revenue has been received and — thanks to the nebulous tax structure — it would be foolhardy to even guesstimate how much the Lege will have to spend. But they’re quarreling over the as-yet-nonexistent dollars anyway.

Penn National Gaming and Dan Gilbert‘s Rock Ventures did wrest some valuable concessions Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Harrah's, Horseracing, Ohio, Penn National, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Taxes | Comments Off on Harrah’s, Penn & pols play chess in Ohio

Murren snubs Gibbons, goes to Peking

Posted on May 27, 2010 by David McKee

Even Gov. Jim Gibbons has realized the futility of his ill-conceived attempt to play The Great Mediator in the MGM Mirage vs. Perini Building war. As a courtesy, CityCenter CEO Bobby Baldwin met with Midnight Jim, to basically tell him that MGM would do what it’s already said it would do, both via the media and in court filings. The company didn’t even think it sufficiently momentous to announce that the gubernatorial tete-a-tete was taking place (although if I were a Perini representative, I would spin that as Baldwin creeping in secret to grovel before Gibbons, shamed by all the high-profile media coverage Perini itself had drawn).

MGM CEO Jim Murren clearly didn’t think spending quality time with Midnight Jim warranted rearranging his schedule. He was getting face time with someone who has actual power, Continue reading →

Posted in California, CityCenter, Current, Economy, International, Labor, Macau, MGM Mirage, Midnight Jim Gibbons, The Strip | Comments Off on Murren snubs Gibbons, goes to Peking

“Wow”

Posted on May 27, 2010 by David McKee

No, that’s not the sound of the Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s Jennifer Robison going weak in the knees at the sight of CityCenter again. It’s J.P.Morgan‘s analysts getting turned on by early numbers from Marina Bay Sands. So excited were they that they put out a “buy” recommendation on LVS, calling its Singapore strength “underestimated.”

JPM’s research indicates Marina Bay is doing $3.6 million per day, even without e-roulette or 75% of its hotel rooms, let alone a “meaningful” marketing effort. That daily figure, were it to remain consistent would extrapolate to $1.3 billion in Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Economy, Entertainment, Genting, International, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Marketing, Massachusetts, Melco Crown Entertainment, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Tourism, Tribal, Wall Street | Comments Off on “Wow”

Quote of the Day

Posted on May 27, 2010 by David McKee

“I grew up on the Nevada Palace breakfast. The house I was raised in is only about a mile away, on Hacienda and Nellis. We used to come up here a lot in high school during the graveyard hours and soak up the beer with bacon and eggs. Miss that place.” — local playwright and actor Ernie Curcio on the notoriously smoky casino that made way for Eastside Cannery. Nevada Palace figures prominently in Curcio’s 2009 play, Rambis.

Posted in Boulder Strip, Entertainment | 1 Comment

Motley Crew

Posted on May 26, 2010 by David McKee

(Editor’s note: Whoever labeled the photo at left misplaced the captions. FF3 is the guy having the good hair day and brother Lorenzo is the one with the handkerchief in his breast pocket.)

In my 15 years of following the casino industry, I have never seen the system gamed so openly, shamelessly and cynically as in the farce that is the Station Casinos “reorganization.” For instance, it appears that the bankruptcy court will permit the Station “PropCo,” a massively encumbered four-casino entity, to cherry-pick two key pieces of real estate. (More assets for the same amount of debt? Sweet!)

Also, although it’s willing to plunk $950 million-plus onto the table, Boyd Gaming was ruled out as stalking-horse bidder — a term that takes on a whole new meaning in this context — because it wanted to perform Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Cannery Casino Resorts, CityCenter, Colony Capital, Current, Downtown, Economy, George Maloof, Goldman Sachs, James Packer, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Station Casinos, Tourism, Wall Street | 6 Comments

When in doubt, attack

Posted on May 26, 2010 by David McKee

With New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie waffling and threatening to sidle over to the horsey set, granting them their long-held wish for racinos, former Atlantic City mayor and current state Sen. James Whelan (below) launched a preemptive strike. He wants to kick the $30 million subsidy that is extorted from paid by brick-and-mortar casinos out from under the racing industry that uses it as a crutch. In so doing, Whelan made an argument that’s long overdue: “That’s what happens in a capitalist society. If there’s no demand for a product, why should we as an industry and as a society feel obligated to prop it up?”
Mind you, S&G has long been of the opinion that horse racing has been “selected out” by economic evolution and if it needs regular “fixes” of slot money, there’s something fundamentally wrong. The risk in Whelan’s audacity is that it may push Christie even further into the arms of the track lobby and/or that the latter will become even more militant in their demand to be hooked up to the IV that is slot play. It should also be noted that Whelan is the prime mover behind the misguided notion that the way to turn around Atlantic City is to append casinos to small hotels (turning it into the Macao of America), which is certain to further dilute the market. If anything is quantifiably demonstrable about Atlantic City — and many things are — it’s that the Boardwalk needs more gaming positions like it needs a hole in the head.

Posted in Atlantic City, Horseracing, Macau, Politics, Racinos | 1 Comment

Gary Loveman, pauper

Posted on May 26, 2010 by David McKee

Count Harrah’s Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman among the victims of the Great Recession. His total compensation for 2009 plummeted over 85%. The $1.9 million base pay is old news; the ex-prof also had to settle for a mere $3 million in bonuses and $1 million in other goodies. But it’s not like he isn’t earning the dough.

In many respects, Loveman is the casino industry’s most overrated CEO, steering an erratic, ADD-plagued course ever since he took the helm. However, having seemingly painted himself into a corner with a $30 billion LBO, Loveman’s forestalled bankruptcy, renegotiating debt, reworking deadlines and generally clubbing creditors like so many baby seals. The perverse genius of the LBO was that, owed so much money, Wall Street was at Loveman’s mercy. His company might be under siege but he’d taken the bond market hostage and wired the building
Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Cosmopolitan, Economy, Election, Harrah's, Horseracing, Ohio, Penn National, Racinos, Technology, The Strip, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Case Bets: Singapore; Reid vs. tribes; Lady Luck, Take 3; Mob war, etc.

Posted on May 26, 2010 by David McKee

Tourism to Singapore jumped 20% last month, surpassing expectations. Resorts World Sentosa and — no surprise — the opening of Marina Bay Sands are credited for the success.

Another stumbling block has arisen to the casino market in Massachusetts. A bill wending its way through Congress thanks to Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK, left) would make it easier for Native American tribes to take land into trust (the prerequisite to casino development). This would upend both a U.S. Supreme Court ruling and possibly even a Bush administration edict that restricted off-reservation casinos to a somewhat arbitrary 250-mile “commuting distance.”

It’s not exactly news to Bay State lawmakers that states can’t dictate the number of tribal casinos — although it’s a revelation to some of the anti-gambling bluenoses up there. However, should 2-3 tribal casinos be thrown into the mix along with two state-sanction casino resorts, that diminished the up-front fee that Massachusetts can shake down request Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Archon Corp., Downtown, Genting, Harrah's, Harry Reid, Massachusetts, Movies, Oklahoma, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Slot routes, Taxes, The Mob, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, Tribal | 6 Comments

The Movable Buffet returns!

Posted on May 26, 2010 by David McKee

Once listed as one of S&G‘s “Seven Essential Web Sites,” Richard Abowitz‘s blog was briefly — and misguidedly — terminated by the Los Angeles Times. Thankfully, the LAT has had a change of heart. Abowitz returns with a profile of Rio/Bally’s Las Vegas/Paris-Las Vegas/Planet Hollywood President Marilyn Winn. In addition to vouchsafing some insights into the Harrah’s Entertainment corporate culture, Abowitz discloses that Winn was a protégé of the late Claudine Williams. She (Winn) says Harrah’s does regular mystery-shopper surveys to optimize performance. Judging by what my correspondents and sources tell me, that secret-shopper reportage must be going straight into the circular file.

Anyway, Abowitz is back and that’s cause for celebration, IMO.

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

Quote of the Day

Posted on May 26, 2010 by David McKee

“I’m an artist. I’m not like other people.” — lachrymose Dancing with the Stars winner Nicole Scherzinger. You want fries with your ego?

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

Shel & Bill, together again; Coup for HRH

Posted on May 25, 2010 by David McKee

As though yoked by karma, Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson and former sidekick William Weidner — the Jon & Kate Gosselin of the casino industry — seem destined to remain unwillingly chained together through eternity. Most recently, they’ve been named as co-defendants in a shareholder lawsuit. Basically, it accused Sands management of crashing the stock price through incompetence and of making misleading statements.

With regard to the second matter, it looks like another instance of Sands being out of touch rather than deceitful. If Adelson uttered some moonshine about Chinese visa restrictions having minimal impact on Sands’ Macao operations, it’s just another case of Sheldon living happily in his own parallel universe, one in which everything goes Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Downtown, Economy, Genting, Harrah's, Herbst Gaming, M Resort, Macau, Marketing, Massachusetts, Morgans Hotel Group, Pennsylvania, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Texas, Tilman Fertitta, Tourism, Tribal, Wall Street | Comments Off on Shel & Bill, together again; Coup for HRH

Monte Carlo: running on empty

Posted on May 25, 2010 by David McKee

Confronted with this rather desperate plea from Monte Carlo, a colleague asks, “One of the stranger press releases in a while — the best they can find to up-sell the MC is to pitch it as a way to get to CityCenter and Bellagio?”

It also makes me wonder if, MGM Mirage pronouncements to the contrary, if the company has really stopped stovepiping its Strip properties. Old habits die hard and when you’re trying to prop up occupancy rates at Aria, it’s a heckuva time for Monte Carlo to put out the message, “Stay next door, where it’s cheaper!” (Certainly, if you’re looking to dine well — but affordably — “Monte” has it all over CityCenter.)

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Dining, Marketing, MGM Mirage, The Strip | Comments Off on Monte Carlo: running on empty

When in doubt, hire a chef

Posted on May 25, 2010 by David McKee

That increasingly dubious X Train project doesn’t have first dibs on Union Pacific tracks, after all. And the on-board gambling (which S&G never took seriously) has been ixnayed. So whaddya do when you need a quick jolt of publicity? Hire a celebrity chef, what else? Rick Moonen has more “cred” with foodies than, say, Wolfgang Puck, the Ronald McDonald of fine dining. However, Moonen’s cuisine is definitely upscale and a big X Train selling point is affordability. Signing Moonen when so many basic issues (like, uh, financing) are unresolved is — to cite an even more time-honored form of transportation — putting the cart before the horse.

Posted in California, Current, Dining, Marketing, Tourism, Transportation | Comments Off on When in doubt, hire a chef