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

Quote of the Day

Posted on May 25, 2010 by David McKee

“I wouldn’t do business with MGM again if they were the last owner on the planet,” — Tutor Perini Corp. CEO Ron Tutor, stating a resolve that will endure until the sands of time run out … or until MGM Mirage has a new project up for bid, whichever comes first.

Posted in CityCenter, Current, MGM Mirage, The Strip | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

It never hurts to complain

Posted on May 24, 2010 by David McKee

We’ve been hearing the odd grumble or three about B.B. King’s Blues Club, but one intrepid LVA reader decided to go a bit farther than that. After posting it on our site, he forwarded his missive to various corporate powers that be. Lo and behold, what follow is the very candid response he received:

Thank you for taking your time to email us about your experience at our BB King’s in Las Vegas. I started BB King’s here in Memphis 19 years ago and I assure you I do understand and empathize with you regarding our product in Las Vegas. We are working daily to try and improve our product. It has been more difficult to produce an authentic experience there than any other location we have due to the union and the “lack of soul” in Las Vegas. We are about to move a Memphis “house band” out there starting June 2nd which will improve the music product significantly. We are working through the service issues and we are getting better although it is far more difficult to terminate employees for poor performance because we must abide by the Mirage‘s collective bargaining agreement. If we can do anything to make up for your poor experience please feel free to email me or call me on my cell phone listed below and I will be happy to try and accomodate [sic] you.

I hope you have a great week-end.

Tommy Peters, President

BB King’s Blues Clubs

I’d call that customer service of the first order. Well done, all!

Posted in Dining, Entertainment, MGM Mirage, The Strip | 3 Comments

X Train derailed; Wynn trumps Trump

Posted on May 24, 2010 by David McKee

It may already be time to stick a fork in the so-called X Train, which would use existing rail lines to carry gamblers from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. According to The Associated Press, X Train is being sued by an adversary that says it had the idea first, even if it’s farther down the alphabet. Would-be rival Z-Train proposes “to target upscale passengers by providing gourmet meals, art exhibits, book signings, fashion shows, among other things. Tickets would cost about the same as airline tickets,” writes the AP’s Daisy Nguyen.

Z-Train flack Bruce Richardson doesn’t appear to have gotten the message that there’s a recession on, sneering at X Train’s target market as “a customer looking for a coach seat and a beer.” Hey, that’s a pretty good chunk of the Vegas market, too, bub (to say nothing of the customer base that it needs to shore up).

X Train’s problems don’t end at intellectual-property issues. Continue reading →

Posted in California, Columbia Sussex, Donald Trump, Downtown, Golden Gaming, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tilman Fertitta, Tourism, Transportation, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Case Bets: Macao, Maryland, Internet casinos

Posted on May 24, 2010 by David McKee

April was a bonny month for Macao, where overall visitation rose 13% and mainland Chinese tourism rose 17%. Now if only Peking would take its hand off the spigot known as visa quotas, we might have some honest-to-god year/year comparisons instead of ones that ought to come with an asterisk due to governmental micromanagement of the Macanese economy.

Slotgate? Accusations of political dirty tricks are being leveled against Cordish Co. The latter is engaged in a nasty tussle with Laurel Park racetrack over who will get one of Maryland‘s five slot houses and Laurel has made an alliance of convenience with local anti-gambling activists. Lengthy indecision by the Anne Arundel County Council, which did  everything it could to avoid taking a stand on slots, created sufficient delay for Continue reading →

Posted in Alabama, Cordish Co., IGT, Internet gambling, Kentucky, Macau, Maryland, Politics, Regulation, Sports, Taxes, Technology, The Strip, Tourism | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on May 24, 2010 by David McKee

“I would tell you that I have the same feelings about legalizing marijuana, not medical marijuana, but just legalizing marijuana. I feel the same about legalizing alcohol. The effect on society is so great that I’m just not a real proponent of legalizing any drug or encouraging any drug abuse. I’m elected by the people to protect, and I think that law should protect.” — Sharron Angle, who wants to be the next senator to represent Sin City, espousing views that sound like they’ve wandered in across the state line from Utah.

Posted in Election, Entertainment, Politics | 1 Comment

You have been warned

Posted on May 24, 2010 by David McKee

Yr. Humble Blogger will be rising shotgun again on the next edition of The Strip Podcast. A sinus headache is enough to sop me cold, so props to Steve Friess for soldiering on despite having one and a nasty cold to boot. IMO, it’s the best of three we’ve done, because we’re finally getting accustomed to each other’s particular rhythm. Regular co-host Miles returns next week and I can tell you he makes doing that show sound as easy as falling off a log, which is hardly the case.

Also, Friess’ amount of preparation far exceeds what makes it onto the air. Topics we didn’t get to include a scoop on the future of Peepshow, among other things, including the next wave of “Trailer Stations.” The latter didn’t make it into “Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week,” but there’s still time.

Incidentally, if you hear I’ve eviscerated by a letter bomb, it’ll probably be because I dissed Danny Gans in the podcast and the notion that only Steve Wynn is (just barely) more deserving of “Walk of Fame” recognition. I guess it’s still too early to mess with the Legend of St. Danny, even though other people he preposterously outpolled are just as dead as he.

Speaking of Friess, one of last week’s “Quote[s] of the Day” has grown legs. It’s a lesson in why it’s not good to use verbiage whose meaning you don’t really grasp.

What does “Camp Vegas” mean? I dunno; it used to spell “Liberace” but that’s not what R&R Partners has in mind. Maybe something closer to “Don’t market to anyone over 30”? Or “Vegas: It’s not uncool”? You be the judge:

Instead of cutting its ad budget after this campaign has been crafted, maybe Continue reading →

Posted in Election, Entertainment, Marketing, Slot routes, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, TV | 1 Comment

You read it here first …

Posted on May 21, 2010 by David McKee

“Mmm-hm,” muttered a Tropicana Las Vegas official when I asked if the exhibit which will be taking up half the newly vacated Trop pavilion (former indoor tennis courts that look like an airplane hangar) was indeed Antoinette Giancana‘s long-mooted Mafia museum. So Mayor Oscar Goodman‘s pet project for downtown will have some serious South Strip competition, after all. Now if only copies of Ms. Giancana’s February 1987 Playboy spread were to be on sale in the gift shop …

(CBS-TV‘s Let’s Make a Deal has has scuttled back to Los Angeles, after less then nine months of production at the Trop. For this we lost Guiding Light?)

MGM Mirage is rolling out a new online booking engine that’s multilingual: Italian, Spanish, French, German, Japanese … but not Chinese. At least not yet. (Korean and Portugese are also in the works.) A Kirvin-Doak spokesman says that Chinese-language booking is available at the individual Bellagio and MGM Grand Web sites but Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Current, Entertainment, International, MGM Mirage, Technology, The Strip, TV | Comments Off on You read it here first …

Quote of the Day

Posted on May 21, 2010 by David McKee

“Fremont [Street] Experience was ahead of its time but now it’s having its renaissance … Now, if you go down there on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday [night], it’s the new Bourbon Street, only a lot cleaner.” — MEET CEO Paul Maddux, who recently opened a high-tech, mid-size exhibition space downtown.

Posted in Architecture, Downtown | 3 Comments

The Ribis Factor

Posted on May 21, 2010 by David McKee

Today’s a hectic one: four bylines due and not much time for S&G. However, I am the beneficiary of some number-crunching conducted by a reader, who’s been following the decline and fall of Colony Capital‘s two Atlantic City casinos under the captaincy of Nicholas Ribis, a former casino underboss for Donald Trump. In a parable of America’s recent economic collapse, Resorts Atlantic City (left) was purchased by Colony and Ribis for $140 million in 2001. There was a brief uptick in profitability the next year and since then it’s been downhill almost without interruption.

Nine years later, encumbered with a $360 million mortgage (talk about being “upside down on your house”!), Resorts was forfeited to its creditors, although Ribis somehow managed to remain at the helm. Perhaps it’s because he’s a silver-tongued orator but more likely it’s due to the fact that creditors aren’t casino people, so anybody with experience — particularly in the Atlantic City market — is likely to get the benefit of their doubt. I think American_Gaming_Guru lurks here and as (s)he’s pointed out elsewhere, even if Resorts’ mortgage was extinguished and the casino is no longer living on borrowed money, with an $18 million loss last year and another -$7 million in the first quarter of 2010, it’s existing on borrowed time.

The Atlantic City Hilton, bought in 2005 for approximately $255 million and also placed under Ribis’ stewardship, isn’t faring much better. Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Colony Capital, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Entertainment, George Maloof, Harrah's, Marketing, Mississippi, Planet Hollywood, Politics, Racinos, Taxes, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on The Ribis Factor

That’ll show ’em!

Posted on May 20, 2010 by David McKee

What do you do if a group of conventioneers is discomfited during their stay at your brand-new, “grand slam home run,” unfinished $5.7 billion megaresort? Sue the bastards! That ought to work wonders for Sheldon Adelson‘s convention traffic. (True, the lawyers sued first … but does Las Vegas Sands really benefit by throwing more fuel on the fire?)

Premature exuberance? If were noon and the thermometer read 120 degrees, were R&R Partners CEO Billy Vassiliadis to proclaim, “The sun is shining,” I’d still glance out the window just to be sure. When it comes to bringing the B.S., there’s nobody like Billy V. Just a few months back, he wrung his hands before the Legislature, saying a $32 million (or 0.3%) tax increase on the casino industry to bolster Nevada Gaming Control Board funding would be a back-breaking financial burden. What’s more, he darkly imputed, there was something unseemly about the casino industry bearing the cost of its own regulation.

Speed forward to mid-May and there’s old Billy, going on about how it’s nigh upon a year since the Las Vegas economy bottomed out and it’s now in “rebound.” People who live in the reality-based community have a word for that — one not polite to utter Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, LVCVA, Marketing, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Taxes, The Strip | 1 Comment

The Hard Rock: fatal attraction

Posted on May 20, 2010 by David McKee

If you’d like to spend time playing casino games in solitude, you might try the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. For instance, while S&G does not condone this sort of thing, you could have fired off a blunderbuss in either the new or old casino areas last night, secure in the knowledge that you wouldn’t hit anybody. I counted four tables in play in the new casino area and it wasn’t much better, if at all, on the original gaming floor. While we’re not getting $24/midweek-night offers anymore, rooms at the HRH remain one of the better bargain plays in town, if you know where to look.

At a cursory glance, the casino’s 1Q10 report seemed a head-scratcher, full of contrariwise indicators. ADRs up on lower occupancy? Wider losses on higher revenues?

The one-sentence explanation is that 56% higher revenues aren’t sufficient to keep pace with 71% higher expenses. Or, to put it another way, the Hard Rock has outgrown its ability to support itself. Oh, and then there’s the small matter of $1.2 billion in long-term debt (on a $770 million acquisition) and $19 million in quarterly debt servicing, sustainable numbers for a megaresort … provided you’re not several blocks off the Las Vegas Strip.

On the bright side, the vast bulk of construction expenses are now in the rear-view mirror. The new version of The Joint is driving a Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Current, Dining, Election, Entertainment, Morgans Hotel Group | Comments Off on The Hard Rock: fatal attraction

Hey, Gary Loveman …

Posted on May 20, 2010 by David McKee

… would it effing kill ya to send CFO Jonathan Halkyard down to Home Depot and pick up some Sherwin-Williams to slap on the old Paris-Las Vegas balloon? (If you think she looks bad from this angle, you should see her from the West Flamingo Road side.) I was going suggest buying the paint at Walmart, what with Harrah’s Entertainment being thrifty and all, but — as a good Democrat — you wouldn’t hold with shopping there, I’m sure.

Not amused. “Which of these un-honored notables deserves a star on the Vegas Walk of Stars,” asks Steve Friess‘ latest Stripper Poll. Amazingly, Steve Wynn only holds — as of this writing — a narrow, two-vote lead over Danny Gans. The late Gansmeister one fewer vote than Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Dining, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 7 Comments

Good grief!

Posted on May 20, 2010 by David McKee

Some day, in the not-so-distant future, MILF-y Archon Corp. underboss Sue Lowden may make a distinguished addition to the U.S. Senate. As the secretary-treasurer of a casino company (one that aspires to build a sports arena on the Strip), she’s coming off like former beauty queen she is and the beneficiary of nepotism she might well be. Seriously, how many competent casino executives would make a boneheaded mistake like this? Politics may be Ms. Lowden’s métier (although she seems to be on the verge of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory) but it’s no longer possible to take her seriously as the business luminary which she has been painted. If her husband weren’t the CEO and primary shareholder of Archon, we’d all be saying, “My god, who gave that person keys to the executive suite?”

(As for the arena project, Archon is by nature a landlord, not a developer. If Paul Lowden got the $350 million he seeks to borrow, would he know what to do with it?)

You can stick a fork in “Epicentre,” the once-mooted meta-mega-über-duper resort envisioned by Harrah’s Entertainment. As one of the suitors for that Clark County-backed sports arena, CEO Gary Loveman is offering Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Election, Harrah's, Politics, Sports, The Strip, Transportation | 4 Comments

Once before I go

Posted on May 19, 2010 by David McKee

… to the Tropicana Las Vegas, that is. As you can see from this video and the accompanying story, Onex Corp. is making good on its promise to reinvest in the dowager, its first significant makeover since the early Reagan administration. At first blush, things definitely look different — and brighter. The Trop was a pretty murky place during the neglectful Columbia Sussex interregnum. However, I think the best solution for the fetid Island Tower is implosion. (Hey, fewer rooms = higher rates, no?) Also, the planned removal of the barrel-vaulted, stained-glass ceiling over the table game pit is a [expletive, expletive, expletive] crime against architecture. There’s nothing truly like it in Vegas and we’ll probably never see it again. I don’t think even Dr. Lonnie Hammargren could find room for it in his massive do-it-yourself mansion, just off Sandhill Road.

Still asking. As of this moment, nobody has ventured a guess regarding yesterday’s trivia question (involving UNLV‘s Dr. David G. Schwartz and a DVD bonus feature). C’mon, I know some of you are heavy consumers of Vegas-set movies and TV. I’m counting on you!

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Architecture, Columbia Sussex, Current, Movies, The Strip, Tourism, TV | Comments Off on Once before I go

Quote of the Day

Posted on May 19, 2010 by David McKee

“Sir, it’s a line charge. It’s the privilege of phone service, even if you don’t use it.” — response of Sam’s Town and Palms desk personnel to a patron’s complaint about being charged a dollar a day for the phone(s) in his room(s). Just wait ’til you’re charged for the privilege of having a bed, running water, maybe even for the Gideon’s Bible in your room.

Posted in Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Economy, George Maloof, The Strip, Tourism | 1 Comment

News flash: And then there were three

Posted on May 19, 2010 by David McKee

If you’re headed through Mesquite, take a good look at the former Si Redd’s Oasis, which Black Gaming CEO Randy Black wants to demolish — in a metaphorical demonstration of what he’s done to that market (another beneficiary of the “liberalized” regulation that Gary Loveman lurves). Actually, the idea is probably not Black’s but that of power-behind-the-throne Michael Gaughan.

With the Oasis gobbling up copious acreage for the sole purpose of sustaining 16 slot machines — making it surely the largest slot route location in Nevada — there’s considerable incentive to repurpose the property or sell the land to reduce Black Gaming’s $253 million debt load. At some future point, Black’s Virgin River Convention Center will supposedly revert to its origins as a casino … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, Harrah's, Mesquite, Michael Gaughan, Regulation | 1 Comment

Paging Gary Loveman …

Posted on May 19, 2010 by David McKee

When it comes to bankruptcy, the Fertitta Brothers are pikers compared to magician Steve Wyrick, whose eponymous “entertainment complex” went “Poof!” last Dec. 10. At the time, Wyrick harangued LVA for announcing the closure, saying his return was imminent. We’re still waiting. In the meantime, his army of debtors — led by Miracle Mile Shops — is out over $54 million.

However, since Miracle Mile is symbiotically attached to Planet Hollywood, now owned by Harrah’s Entertainment, perhaps Wyrick can ask Gary Loveman to negotiate pro bono with his creditors. Let’s see: $54.355 million in debt against $93,157 in assets? Loveman’ll have those debtors taking two-fifths of a penny on the dollar and thinking they got a heckuva deal.

Groovy new casino promo? Maybe MGM Mirage could have “Nostalgia Night” out at the Gold Strike in Jean and hand these (above) around in memory of the property’s once (and future?) general manager. Who says infamy is priceless? Actually, it’s worth $5.95, tax-free.

Getting back to Gary “Fashion Emergency” Loveman for a moment, Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Current, Election, Entertainment, Harrah's, Macau, Maryland, MGM Mirage, Pennsylvania, Planet Hollywood, Regulation, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Mob, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on Paging Gary Loveman …

Tribal gambling comes to Ohio?

Posted on May 19, 2010 by David McKee

Voter approval of a quartet of casinos last November theoretically opens the door to Class III tribal gambling in Ohio. However, this pitch from the Delaware Tribe is likely to bounce in front of the plate and roll all the way to the backstop. To dispose of the elephant in the room, the Delaware band lives in Oklahoma — a bit of a commute. The basic plan is to build a casino on the cheap ($150 million), then sit back and rake in the money. Were Ohio not currently a casino-less state, that $800 million revenue projection would be good for a laugh, little more.

Either getting the land taken into trust (after having it certified as ancestral territory) or trying to enter the market as a management company looks like a “stretch” of global dimensions. And even if all of that broke in the Delawares’ favor, some of their business partners have shady backgrounds that wouldn’t pass regulatory muster. Nice try, but this project looks dead on arrival.

Posted in Ohio, Oklahoma, Regulation, Tribal | 1 Comment

More political football at CityCenter

Posted on May 18, 2010 by David McKee

Due to the Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s bizarre campaign to secede from the Internet, we dare not even link to an excellent Howard Stutz rundown of MGM Mirage‘s attempt to gain the high ground in the fractious “Who screwed up CityCenter” debate. (If you see the story but value your sanity, avoid the “Comments” thread, a sewer of anti-Semitic filth.)

In addition to slamming a countersuit into Perini Building, MGM has extended an olive branch to subcontractors, in the form of a payment offer. This defuses a political time bomb for the company. Archon Corp. Secretary-Treasurer Sue Lowden (left) had fronted a rally of CityCenter subs (footage that S&G featured last week), wisely sidestepping the Perini/MGM fight to position herself as Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Archon Corp., Boyd Gaming, CityCenter, Current, Economy, Election, Harry Reid, Labor, MGM Mirage, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Movies, Politics, Problem gambling, Regulation, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation | 1 Comment