Rose prophetic re: Macao

Posted on April 5, 2010 by David McKee

Pansy Ho 28While Las Vegas newspapers have been reticent regarding the regulatory can of worms opened by recent findings about the Macanese operations of Las Vegas Sands and MGM Mirage, veteran gaming legal analyst I. Nelson Rose has felt no such compunction. In a March note to investors, he wrote (in part): Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Detroit, Economy, Illinois, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, Pansy Ho, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, The Mob | 1 Comment

Phrase of the Day

Posted on April 5, 2010 by David McKee

“Elongated length of play metrics.”

That’s Wall Streetspeak for, “We think additional hotel rooms [at City of Dreams] are causing people to stay and play longer.” I expect we’ll be hearing a lot about ELPM “going forward,” as they say … as though “going backward” were a viable option.

Posted in Current, Economy, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, Tourism | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on April 3, 2010 by David McKee

“Their counter argument, that it’s unwieldy to interject a third party into the relationship between worker and employee, is generally akin to a highwayman lamenting the intrusion of a beat cop into the relationship between mugger and victim.” — CityLife Editor Steve Sebelius, on labor unions and their detractors.

Posted in Labor | 4 Comments

Could Steve Wynn jilt Philadelphia?

Posted on April 2, 2010 by David McKee

stevewynn_300What’s Steve Wynn supposedly doing in Atlantic City this weekend and why is he allegedly kicking the tires on casino properties there? Well, it is a buyer’s market and half of Borgata is up for grabs (as would be Trump Marina were it not enmeshed in bankruptcy proceedings). Pinnacle Entertainment‘s got a slew of empty land and if Wynn feels like a trip down memory lane, he could buy out the Atlantic City Hilton from creditors RAC Atlantic City Holdings. After all, he built the place 30 years ago as the Golden Nugget but it’s has been in a deep slide in recent years under the stewardship of Nicholas Ribis and hapless Colony Capital. But one of Wynn’s greatest strengths is that he doesn’t live in the past, so take that into consideration.

Then again, a $1.2 billion equity stake in Revel is suddenly on the market and Wynn could probably pick it up for nickels on the dollar, perhaps as little as $200 million-$400 million. However, where’s the incentive to Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Colony Capital, Current, Donald Trump, Entertainment, International, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho, Pennsylvania, Phil Ruffin, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Regulation, Steve Wynn, The Strip | 10 Comments

The trio that ate Las Vegas

Posted on April 2, 2010 by David McKee

Attention all Vegas-friendly gourmands: Huntington Press has inked a pact with three of Sin City’s top food critics. Al Mancini (Las Vegas CityLife), John Curtas (KNPR-FM/KLAS-TV/Las Vegas Weekly) and Max Jacobson (Vegas Seven) have been signed to pen Eating Las Vegas: The Top 50 Dining Experiences. The book is intended to fill the void left by the defunct Michelin Guide. It’s promised that the book’s survey will range from hidden gems to the most famous restaurants on the Strip … although I hear that Pamplemousse didn’t make the cut. Heck, I’m still trying to persuade local scribe Dave Surratt to make P’mousse the subject of an original play, with powerhouse actor Erik Amblad portraying a maitre’d. There are relatively few experiences in Las Vegas that one could describe as unique but P’mousse is definitely among them, way up there.

Posted in Current, Dining, The Strip | 2 Comments

From the mailbag

Posted on April 2, 2010 by David McKee

Our Los Angeles correspondent has a few things to say about Commerce Casino, whose craptastic new TV commercial was recently featured on S&G, to much derision.

Ever see the billboards in L.A. trying to get people to bring their home games to Commerce with the message “don’t break the law, come here!”?

Here’s another golden Commerce marketing job.  They have these poker classes/training for the uninitiated (which, let’s face it, are going to be primarily women). They call it the Commerce Casino University of Poker. Yes, C-CUP.  Great way to attract your largest untapped market.


Posted in California, Marketing, TV | Comments Off on From the mailbag

My work is done

Posted on April 2, 2010 by David McKee

What is left to be said about Harrah’s Entertainment after this brilliant April Fool’s satire by Pulse of Las Vegas? Through humor, it says in a few paragraphs what pages of earnest analysis labor to convey. My favorite part encapsulates Harrah’s buy-then-neglect business model thusly:

“It’s perfect for them if you think about it,” said one travel consultant we spoke to. “There’s very little upkeep. Maybe some sweeping, but come on, it’s basically a big hole in the ground.”

Jeez, how am I ever going to improve on that?

Posted in Current, Harrah's | 1 Comment

Las Vegas is beaten at its own game …

Posted on April 2, 2010 by David McKee

Royal Casino SPA & Hotel Resort from Vivid Cafe on Vimeo.

… by Riga? I want to hop the next plane to Latvia after seeing this extremely sexy short film (approx. 7 minutes) showcasing the Royal Spa & Casino, which appears to be the Baltic equivalent of M Resort, right down to the Cohiba-smoking douchebag who Continue reading →

Posted in International, M Resort, Marketing, MGM Mirage, The Strip, TV | Comments Off on Las Vegas is beaten at its own game …

A comment on “Comments”

Posted on April 2, 2010 by David McKee

test-patternDue to an as-yet-inexplicable malfunction in our blogging software, all comments, regardless of provenance — yes, even mine — are shunted directly into “Spam.” Since I no longer receive notification of the arrival of a comment that may require moderation (a safeguard to keep spammers at bay), I have to irregularly go into “Spam” and fish out your comments. Hence the delayed gratification factor when a well-composed mini-essay on, for example, the Columbus casino saga doesn’t appear until hours after you’ve posted it. All I can do at this moment is promise to keep working the problem from our end (the software designer, a Dutchman, has been of no assistance whatsoever) and hope you don’t feel shut out of the discussion.

On another note, I continue to warily circle the issue of Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Entertainment, Harrah's, Ohio, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, TV, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on April 1, 2010 by David McKee

“I am the one person who when I call, John Ensign will answer.” — Doug Hampton, husband of Sen. Ensign’s mistress, to execs of BioDiesel (a company trying to convert casino cooking oil into car fuel). It looks like Mrs. Hampton wasn’t the only person being pimped out.

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

S**t hits MGM, Sands fan

Posted on April 1, 2010 by David McKee

MGM Grand MacauLocal newspapers — and bloggers — have been slow to pick up on a couple of Reuters dispatches that show — as some doomsayers prognosticated — that involvement in Macao is coming back to bite the U.S. casino industry in the butt. Specifically, the Nevada Gaming Control Board is developing “investigative product” on the relationship between Sands Macao and the alleged triad kingpin Cheung Chi-tai. Regulators in Pennsylvania, meanwhile, will neither confirm nor deny that they’re looking into the triad matter but that the suitability of operators is under “ongoing” scrutiny. (I’ll take that as a “yes.”)

Sheldon Adelson may get off with a few fines — and might even been gift-wrapped an excuse to Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, CityCenter, Detroit, Illinois, Macau, Mississippi, Pansy Ho, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, The Mob | 5 Comments

Wynn & the Ship of Phools

Posted on April 1, 2010 by David McKee

wynnphillyWhisking in just under the wire, Wynn Resorts submitted its financing package for the soon-to-be-ex-Foxwoods casino project in Philadelphia. Evidently Steve Wynn has thought better of slugging his new casino “SW,”* as reflected at left in the photo taken by Steve Friess (but subsequently yanked from the VegasHappensHere.com Web site at Wynn’s request; it’s still on view at PlanPhilly.com).

The concept replicates some of the design features of Encore Macau, its elegant portico and façade hint at a 19th century aesthetic that would highly appropriate to Philadelphia, and a broad greensward sweeps down toward the Delaware River — or so it would appear, since the design is one best appreciated from a distance.

(* — Employing a suddenly coined “off-brand” for the property sends the implicit message that the City of Brotherly Love isn’t good enough for the “Wynn” imprimatur, a PR pitfall the mogul needn’t risk. Besides, what good is the equity of the Wynn brand if you don’t leverage it? If Wynn flack Maureen Garrity is prophetic in her suggestion that Wynn might keep his name off the casino, the underlying connotation that Philly is somehow beneath him doesn’t bode well for the future. I’m not sure Wynn HQ has realized yet that it’s not dealing with the eternally pliant Clark County Commission and worshipful Vegas press corps here.)

So it’s all good, right? Apparently not. Wynn was warned Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Cannery Casino Resorts, Macau, Neil Bluhm, Pennsylvania, Politics, Regulation, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Tribal, Wall Street | 7 Comments

Sands’ strength, weakness inseparable

Posted on March 31, 2010 by David McKee

sheldon-adelsonKa-ching! The price tag on Marina Bay Sands has just gone up again. According to a Singapore Press Club and Asia Journalism Fellowship panel discussion, the über-megaresort has now hit the $6 billion mark. One participant pegged Sands’ 12-month gambling revenues at $1.8 billion (or $5 million per day) and, given the cost overruns on this behemoth, Las Vegas Sands shareholders have got to be saying, “Preach it, brother!”

Marina Bay’s downtown location and speedy ramp-up of convention business are also cited as factors that might propel it past Resorts World Sentosa (cost: $5 billion). What should worry both casinos is Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Current, Economy, Macau, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, The Strip, Wall Street | Comments Off on Sands’ strength, weakness inseparable

Portrait of a Pioneer

Posted on March 31, 2010 by David McKee

As Bernie Goldstein‘s son points out in this three-minute featurette, the Goldstein family didn’t know beans about riverboat gambling when they got started — but neither did anyone else. What made the difference for Isle of Capri Casinos was, among other factors, that Goldstein pere learned the industry better than some of his competitors and also crafted a strong brand identity. The filmlet understandably skips over the “Pile of Debris” era when Goldstein and his fellow executives lost their path and arguably fell behind the times. However, the overarching achievement outweighs the near-downfall. With Isle actively shopping for a Vegas presence, this history lesson obtains particular timeliness.

Posted in Isle of Capri | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 31, 2010 by David McKee

“It costs nothing to say something kind. Even less to shut up altogether.” — actor Nathan Filion, whose series Castle was just renewed by ABC (hurrah!).

Posted in TV | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

“It’s not Vegas”

Posted on March 31, 2010 by David McKee

Unfortunately, that’s all too evident from this TV spot, which looks an awful lot like the ones you’d see for a second-tier Las Vegas locals casino like the El Cortez or Renata’s, or maybe a P.T.’s Pub. If I were Commerce Casino, I’d stash this ad in late-night time slots and rethink my message.

Posted in Boulder Strip, California, Downtown, Marketing, TV | 1 Comment

Confidence or desperation?

Posted on March 31, 2010 by David McKee

Casino operators must be feeling very bullish about recent, incremental increases in visitation to Las Vegas, even though customers continue to spend less. (This is the new business model which the industry as a whole is loath to acknowledge: being willing to trade improved visitor volume for less spend-per-visit. Vegas needs to take a page from Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, of all unlikely places.)

Although Planet Hollywood‘s Peepshow is now bereft of a co-headliner, a live band and several of the original cast members, that didn’t deter Continue reading →

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, Current, Donald Trump, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Pennsylvania, Phil Ruffin, Planet Hollywood, Sahara, The Strip, Tribal, TV | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 30, 2010 by David McKee

“[Grand Casino], which is situated virtually on the Swiss and French borders, is no longer protected by border guards because Switzerland recently joined the Schengen visa-free area in Europe.” — Which is how 10 hoodlums struck a Basel casino in a dramatic predawn smash-and-grab raid and made a clean getaway. OK, so who do we cast in the movie version? And what great “product placement” for Audi, too.

Posted in Current, International, The Mob | 1 Comment

There are no triads in Macao

Posted on March 30, 2010 by David McKee

OB-BB375_Macau__20080221142644Yeah, and if you believe that, boy, do I have a dandy bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. Not only are triads alive, well and operating in Macao, they succeeded in infiltrating Sands Macao, according to a detailed investigative report by Reuters.

At the center of the drama is alleged triad leader Cheung Chi-tai, who is not only accused of being a frequent and ominous presence in Sands’s VIP rooms but is incontrovertibly a profit participant in the casino. His company — I’m not making this up — Jumbo Boom Holdings invested in Neptune Holdings, which in turn lent capital in VIP-junket operators in return for a cut of their profits. Although Reuters doesn’t explicitly connect the dots, the connotation of its report is that Cheung believed a Sands dealer (presumably one of those in the Chengdu room that Cheung allegedly oversaw) was colluding with “God of Gamblers” Siu Yun-Ping to cheat the house … i.e., Cheung.

The dealer in question was targeted initially to have his arms and legs broken before Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, Florida, International, Macau, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Stanley Ho, The Mob | 2 Comments

Solitude at Trump

Posted on March 30, 2010 by David McKee

As the old saying goes, I have so much to do that I am going to bed. Actually, no, but I’m still wrapping my feeble brain around the double-whammy of the Station Casinos bankruptcy proposal and the brewing triads-at-Sands Macao brouhaha. Also, while sorting through six years of paperwork last weekend, I found a printout of the Penn-Praxis report that essentially razzed Philadelphia‘s waterfront casino proposals and called for Foxwoods, in particular, to return to the drawing board. I’ll admit to having seriously contemplated mailing it to Steve Wynn, who clearly should have been boning up on that document during his last trip to Philly rather than taking his girlfriend for a ride on the corporate jet.

In the meantime, chill out with this soothing video of Trump International, which actually gives quite an accurate representation of the place … right down to the poignant sparsity of patrons. As a reader wrote, “It’s amazing what $35 a night gets you.” Hey, if you can nab one of those rooms for less than $100/night, why look elsewhere?

Posted in Donald Trump, Economy, Macau, Pennsylvania, Phil Ruffin, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, The Mob, The Strip, Tourism | 7 Comments