Quote of the Day

Posted on June 4, 2010 by David McKee

“I don’t know of an American president who’s resigned. There may have been one.” — radio host Michael Savage. Uhhh … ever hear tell of a fella called Richard Nixon? (I’m one of those Americans who made the mistake of believing Nixon was innocent, rendering the memory doubly fresh. Savage is 20 years my senior, so what’s his excuse for not knowing?)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Blast from the past

Posted on June 4, 2010 by David McKee

If you look carefully, you can find this at the southwest corner of the UNLV campus:

I can’t recall a time when this still served as a water feature — something that’s out of the question nowadays — and it would have lost its sponsorship circa 2005, when the Hilton and Caesars brands were cleft apart by Harrah’s Entertainment‘s acquisition of the latter. The (deliberate?) neglect suggests a corporate anachronism that’s been hidden like the batty old uncle in the attic. It’s one of the few tangible reminders of the half-dozen years or so during which Hilton Gaming peeled Caesars off from Starwood Resorts, then became Park Place Entertainment and then, briefly, Caesars Entertainment, before Hilton devoured the whole thing in one great, oligopolistic gulp.

Posted in Harrah's, history, The Strip | Tagged | 1 Comment

What is “brand equity”?

Posted on June 3, 2010 by David McKee

Isle of Capri execs break it down for us in this newly released video. Of course, the specific components of “brand equity” at Wynn Resorts would be quite different, as they would at Harrah’s Entertainment, etc. Isle was one of the companies that, in its early years, really pushed “branding” before it became a casino-industry buzzword — but then allowed said brand to stagnate, leading to major problems as it entered the 21st century. However, the improved performance of the former Casino Aztar (now a Lady Luck-branded riverboat in Caruthersville, Mo.) is one instance that shows the former Argosy Gaming executive team isn’t blowing smoke about improving its “curb appeal.”

Boy, was I wrong! When developer Brett Torino paid a sky-high price for a small and oddly shaped land parcel immediately south of Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Economy, Harrah's, Isle of Capri, Marketing, Missouri, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 4 Comments

From the mailbag

Posted on June 3, 2010 by David McKee

One S&G reader has — unlike me — been to John Ascuaga’s Nugget and deeply regrets having done so:

John Ascuaga’s Nugget might be the most soul-crushing casino I’ve ever been to, and I know from soul-crushing casinos.  It’s 1985-modern, and doesn’t seem to have been touched since. It’s hard to put into words what it is that’s so disconcerting about the place and gives it the odd vibe. Perhaps it’s that they seem to have too high an opinion of themselves. Maybe it’s like a middle-aged woman who thinks she’s still beautiful but in fact isn’t and never even was? You’re not missing much. It’s a casino I never want to set foot in again.
Posted in Reno | 4 Comments

Another bright idea

Posted on June 3, 2010 by David McKee

Gov. Jim Gibbons proposes deregulating taxicabs. I’m sure he’ll get a big “thank you” from every Vegas visitor who’s ever been “longhauled” to their hotel, usually via the tunnel under McCarran International Airport. Unregulated chiropractors sounds like Continue reading →

Posted in Election, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Regulation, Transportation | 1 Comment

Look who’s getting into the pool-party scene

Posted on June 3, 2010 by David McKee

If you seek a casino pool on the Strip that’s relaxing, quiet and douchebag-free, my experience says, “Try the Riviera.” After all, “tranquil” and “Vegas” needn’t be oxymoronic. But Riv management’s out to change all that …

OK, one doesn’t associate the Riv with the youth scene but you’ve got to applaud them for trying to elbow in on the action, especially with so many Strip pool parties (see LVA‘s rundown) becoming synonymous with “five-figure ripoff.” And it sure beats my proposed Riviera marketing slogan: “Our casino has way more CEOs than yours!”

Posted in Current, Entertainment, Marketing, Riviera, The Strip | Comments Off on Look who’s getting into the pool-party scene

“The CityCenter shuffle”; Atlantic City saved … for now

Posted on June 3, 2010 by David McKee

That’s what subcontractors are calling the maze of paperwork they’ve had to negotiate while laboring on MGM Mirage‘s $8.5 billion metaresort. When it comes to real estate and construction coverage in Las Vegas, there’s Tony Illia and then there’s everybody else. Here, Illia breaks down the subcontractor-payment mess and its effect on minority-owned businesses, in particular.

Two other notes of interest: Perini Building makes the hollow-sounding claim that it’s entitled to every dime because Harmon Hotel (left, as photographed by Jeff_in_OKC) “can be repaired.” Considering that the structural integrity of what was to have been a 48-story Sir Norman Foster-designed building was so badly compromised it’s now an unsightly stub, the term “repair” seems deeply inadequate for what’s lacking. Also, both a chat with Gov. Jim Gibbons and a (considerably more important) June 9 summit meeting with subcontractors have been entrusted to Continue reading →

Posted in Aristocrat, Atlantic City, CityCenter, Economy, Internet gambling, MGM Mirage, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Politics, Sports, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Taxes, The Strip, Tourism, Wall Street | 1 Comment

I stand corrected

Posted on June 3, 2010 by David McKee

Kudos to the reader who caught my boo-boo regarding casinos built over interstate highways:

Regarding a U.S. casino sitting astride a highway, please note that John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks (outside of Reno) sits astride Interstate 80.

He went on to say some nice things about S&G my Strip Podcast guest shots, which was awfully kind. I will readily confess to never having been in Sparks. I did spend a couple of days in Reno once (great city, BTW) but didn’t make it out to the legendary Nugget, which was regarded at the time — 1999 — as being one of the best-marketed casinos in the industry. As for the Nugget’s unusual — and very advantageous — positioning, I can only echo the late, great Johnny Carson and say, “I did not know that.” I stupidly figured that some tightass in D.C. would have thrown a fit about sinful gambling being conducted atop a sacrosanct federal highway and that would be the end of that. Like I always say, you learn (or should learn) something new every day.

Customer 1, Ruffin 0. Finally, a Treasure Island guest fought The Man and won. Yes, somebody actually refused to pay one of those onerous “resort fees” Continue reading →

Posted in Harrah's, Marketing, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Missouri, Phil Ruffin, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Reno, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, Wall Street | Comments Off on I stand corrected

Quote of the Day

Posted on June 3, 2010 by David McKee

“The first requirement alone creates an oxymoron by requiring proof of ‘good moral character.’ If they had good moral character they would not be reporters in the first place.” — truer words were never spoken, in this case by Las Vegas Review-Journal Editor Thomas Mitchell, on the absurdity of a proposed Board of Michigan Registered Voters. So are ya gonna sue me for linkin’ to yer blog, Mitch? I dare ya! I double dare ya!

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

So much news …

Posted on June 2, 2010 by David McKee

… so little time. East Coast casinos are stepping up their Asian-American marketing … and people are complaining? Don’t do it and you’re culturally insensitive. Do it and you’re predatory. This is one of those perception battles casinos will never win.

Just this weekend, after reading and viewing reports of the greater-than-expected debauchery — to say nothing of the mind-boggling spending; $3,500 for a cabaña? — that accompanied the opening of Encore Beach Club, I told my Dad, “It’s like the last days of the Roman Empire out here.”

The joke was on me. Today, Caesars Palace tweeted the known universe that it has instituted “Caligula Mondays,” starting next week. (Does this mean it will feature Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Boyd Gaming, Economy, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, Indiana, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Missouri, Penn National, Phil Ruffin, Riviera, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tropicana Entertainment | 2 Comments

There are fairies at the bottom of his garden

Posted on June 2, 2010 by David McKee

Trying to cling to state redevelopment subsidies, Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan says the city can have its cake and eat it, too. Given the obstacles outlined in this report — and in previous S&G dispatches — I’ll have whatever Flanagan’s drinking.

Posted in Current, Massachusetts, Tribal | 1 Comment

Harrah’s $1.5B Bratislava bet; Marina Bay Sands booms; Falcons swoop upon Hilton, etc.

Posted on June 2, 2010 by David McKee

With almost no exception other than The Newspaper That Shall Remain Nameless, a $1.85 billion Metropolis project headed up by Harrah’s Entertainment has flown completely under the radar of the U.S. media ever since its announcement last October. Oh, some European bloggers took note of the megaresort, which will sit astride a highway (a daring design touch that no U.S. casino will ever achieve). But the mainstream media is starting to pick up on the story, which will grow legs if Harrah’s continues to be coy about the size of its monetary commitment to Metropolis.

While there’s definitely heft to the argument that, given the shriveled U.S. casino market, it makes sense to go where the money is (i.e., Eastern Europe), that point might resonate more convincingly were it not coming from a company that’s been poor-mouthing its creditors no end. Or, as Stern Agee bond analyst David Hargreaves put it, “HET’s post-LBO history has been a string of false promises … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Current, Economy, Environment, Genting, Harrah's, International, James Packer, Labor, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, Tribal, TV, Wall Street | 2 Comments

When bad things happen to bad people … plus Cher

Posted on June 2, 2010 by David McKee

Two of the three casinos that say they were stiffed for $822,000 by ex-Boston Celtic Antoine Walker are now owned by Harrah’s Entertainment. The unlucky third is Red Rock Resort. Back “in the olden days” (a Sue Lowden-ism that’s quite catchy) — which S&G would define as anything preceded the Harrah’s and Station Casinos LBOs — “whales” were often the beneficiaries of rebates on losses. The casino would write part of a marker off as bad debt, in the interests of luring a large player back and further vacuuming the dollars from his wallet. Now with Harrah’s and Station not only looking under the sofa cushions but overturning the furniture in search of loose change, those days of “george” treatment are gone. Walker, like Terrance Watanabe, might have been forgiven in the wayback but Great Recession-era casino companies are breaking out the brass knuckles.

As you may recall, you can forget about betting on Celtics games if you’re in a Harrah’s property because the company forfeited that sports book action so that CEO Gary Loveman could own a piece of the team. (This is what I mean when I refer to Harrah’s old “pet rock” board.) Since Mr. Walker was a former employee of “his” team, seems the least Loveman could do is write a check to cover his Planet Hollywood and Caesars Palace losses. In any event, Harrah’s is doubly out: both of Walker’s money and that of NBA bettors who can’t lay down their bucks on a Celtics game at a Harrah’s casino anymore. (Harrah’s also won’t take your NBA bet if it “doesn’t like the lines” you bet into or if it deems it too late in the season to take wagers or some of the other B.S. excuses that our Jeff Haney ran into at the House of Loveman.)

It was quite a shock when douchebag real estate mogul Luke Brugnara was bidding on bankrupt Fontainebleau. Given Brugnara’s history, I’m surprised the bankruptcy judge didn’t fall over laughing. This was a guy who had to go to lender-of-last-resort Continue reading →

Posted in Cretins, Economy, Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Movies, Planet Hollywood, Regulation, Sports, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Taxes, The Strip, Tourism | 3 Comments

Rearranging the deck chairs

Posted on June 2, 2010 by David McKee

Although bankruptcy at the Riviera is more a matter of “when” than “if,” the only casino in town with three CEOs hasn’t stopped trying on the entertainment front:

In a town that has Frank Caliendo and Terry Fator, any impressionist is battling for distant third place. (Very distant. Like, you know how far away Neptune is? Yeah, about that distant.) This does not stop Mr. London’s publicists from making some brassy claims …

“Among the ‘ICONS’ that are part of London’s fascinating repertoire are Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond [hey, the Riv used to have Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Don Barden, Downtown, Entertainment, Harrah's, Movies, Planet Hollywood, Reno, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip | 1 Comment

Advice from Uncle Sheldon

Posted on June 2, 2010 by David McKee


We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Posted in Sheldon Adelson | Comments Off on Advice from Uncle Sheldon

Politics, gaming getting hopelessly muddled

Posted on June 2, 2010 by David McKee

Primary day in Nevada is less than a week away and that’s far too long for my taste. If I had a dollar for every robo-call I’ve received and every expensive-looking flier that’s found its way into my mailbox (and thence straight to the trash), I could take a month off. Archon Corp.’s Sue Lowden was observed by a conservative Washington Post blogger persuading a mobile-billboard owner to replace strip-club ads with ones of her smiling visage. (In typically furtive Archon style, she called a press conference today with 15 minutes advance warning. You can take the girl out of Archon but you can’t take the Archon out of the girl.)

Update via @RalstonFlash: “Funniest part of Lowden conf call w/15 mins notice: 3 media types covering race were on [KNPR-FM‘s State of Nevada] at the time of notice.” Perhaps Archon can start holding investor calls in comparable “ambush” fashion. That’ll cut down on the pesky questions from D.E. Shaw and other long-suffering shareholders.

Lowden’s lone supporter of consequence in the casino industry, Sheldon Adelson, played the Fox News circuit, his ostensible subject being “Saving Las Vegas.” Considering that Adelson has basically turned his back on Vegas — and on his unfinished St(ump) Regis tower — we’re wondering if Fox couldn’t find anybody less likely to have the answer to “What ails Vegas?” and settled upon Sheldon. I’d have gladly put up with another of Steve Wynn‘s anti-Washington, D.C. rants instead, if only because he’s the lone mogul on the Strip who didn’t run into the embrace of Disaster with arms wide open … which gives him some moral authority on the topic of where the Strip went off course.

Warning: Fox don’t need no stinking RealPlayer, so if you don’t have the latest iteration of Adobe Flash (a horrid, memory-devouring Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Current, Economy, Election, Labor, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, TV, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Poultry in Motion

Posted on June 1, 2010 by David McKee

PETA is not amused — but you will be as the Best.Casino Promotion.Ever rolls into Pittsburgh. We speak of course of the Tic-tac-toe-playing chicken, Ginger. Given a choice between working the casino circuit, being cooked for dinner or laying eggs ’round the clock on some factory farm, S&G would say Ginger got a better deal than most of her feathered friends. (No Sue Lowden jokes, please.)

Posted in Animals, Archon Corp., Current, Entertainment, Marketing, Neil Bluhm, Pennsylvania | 3 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on June 1, 2010 by David McKee

“There is little doubt such a division [of Station Casinos], if it were to occur in the absence of a rational and comprehensive business approach, could create economic disaster for many parties.” — Judge Gregg Zive, tipping his hand on the (foregone?) outcome of the Aug. 6 bankruptcy auction.

Posted in Station Casinos | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Gulf Coast: Oh $#!%!

Posted on June 1, 2010 by David McKee

This just in: Blobs of tar are washing up on Mississippi‘s Gulf Coast shoreline and an oil slick has been spotted to the south of Pascagoula. It’s not the total wipeout for coastal casinos that was Hurricane Katrina but it’s very ominous all the same.

Posted in Current, Environment, Mississippi | Comments Off on Gulf Coast: Oh $#!%!

Case Bets: Station, Macao, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, Encore 2x, etc.

Posted on June 1, 2010 by David McKee

$864.5 million: That’s the magic number if you want to put in an opening bid on 11 Station Casinos properties (plus unspecified land and some tribal-casino-management contracts) come Aug. 6. Boyd Gaming‘s already made it clear that it’s good for that and more but the sweetheart deal approved by Judge Gregg Zive enables Station insiders to buy the company for $92.5 million less — an 11% discount.

Unless Boyd puts its money on the table and draws sock-puppet stalking-horse bidder Fertitta Gaming into a bidding war, it looks like game, set and match to the Fertittas. It would be interesting, though, to see how high Boyd could get Fertitta Gaming to go. Its backer, Colony Capital, is no slouch when it comes to throwing good money after bad, so it would be morbidly amusing if Colony CEO Tom Barrack got taken to the cleaners … again, paying top dollar for the same assets, two times running.

Ka-CHING! Preliminary indications are that casino revenues in Macao were up 99% (no, that’s not a typo) from May 2009 and +24% from this past April. The Macanese market continues to heat up something fierce, to the tune of Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Bally Technologies, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Colony Capital, Current, Economy, Encore, Entertainment, Harrah's, Horseracing, International, Isle of Capri, Macau, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Pinnacle Entertainment, Racinos, Regulation, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Taxes, The Strip, Tourism, Tribal, Wall Street | 1 Comment