Quote of the Day

Posted on March 22, 2010 by David McKee

MACAU-HO/“For two days in a row, the [American Gaming Association] Internet site that aggregates gaming industry stories has totally ignored all of the stories about the [New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement] report on the relationship between MGM Mirage and the [Stanley] Ho family. That’s approximately what I expected from this dreadful trade association, but I’m still amazed when I see it.” — e-mail received last Friday from an S&G reader. Dr. Ho was the recipient of a “Vision Award” at the AGA’s most recent G2E Asia.

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, G2E, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho, Regulation, Stanley Ho | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Wynn gets schooled

Posted on March 22, 2010 by David McKee

Wynn on FoxHaving displayed a breathtaking and uncharacteristic ignorance of the facts on the ground vis-a-vis Philadelphia‘s two casino projects, Steve Wynn is being offered a one-on-one tutorial from Mayor Michael Nutter. The latter says he’s looking forward to learning about Wynn’s plans, too: a not-so-gentle hint that Nutter would like something more substantive than what Wynn has offered to date. Wynn Resorts has a clear vision of how it wants “Wynnwoods” porte cochere to look but the concept gets a bit vague once you step over the conceptual transom.

A Wynn-fusion would lift Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Current, Pennsylvania, Politics, Regulation, Steve Wynn | Comments Off on Wynn gets schooled

A Cosmopolitan by any other name …

Posted on March 22, 2010 by David McKee

cosmopolitan-las-vegas… is still a long way from completion. A silly lawsuit has been settled, an extremely cosmetic change of name has been agreed upon (meaning that Cosmo The Casino is the de facto winner over Cosmo The Mag). We’re told to expect an opening in the vicinity of all-important New Year’s Eve … which gives owner Deutsche Bank eight months to find Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas a management company and get it approved. Hilton Hotels is all well and good but it’s been out of gaming a while now. It does, however, have a powerful brand name and a huge customer base … no small consideration when you have 2,995 rooms to fill.

The Cosmo, incidentally, has a Lamont Cranston-like ability to Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, CityCenter, Cosmopolitan, Current, Dining, Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Politics, Station Casinos | 3 Comments

Face of the Week

Posted on March 19, 2010 by David McKee

DSCN1831

Mr. Bit (1993-2010). Rest in peace, buddy.

Posted in Animals, Current, Pets | 2 Comments

Please stand by

Posted on March 19, 2010 by David McKee

TS_PleaseStandBy

It’s been brought to my attention that some readers are having problems with our subscription interface, which seems to lead you to a “Comment” page. Thankfully, our IT department has added some explanatory prose which will hopefully make joining the S&G RSS feed easier. It’s still not as simple as the one for Jean Scott‘s Frugal Vegas, but that’s the consequence of using different formats, made by different designers. I promise to investigate whether it’s possible to make our sign-up function even easier but I hope that the solution we’ve devised makes life easier for you.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming …

Posted in Technology | Comments Off on Please stand by

Case Bets: Gibbons vs. gaming; Pansy Ho; R-J shocked, shocked!; Rat Pack not back

Posted on March 19, 2010 by David McKee

First off, a hearty S&G salute to Steve Friess, named “Best Blogger” by the readers of Las Vegas CityLife. (Yes, I was nominated but didn’t even make it into second place. I’ll live.) As you scroll — and scroll — down the page, you’ll incidentally come across a bit of my deathless prose in re the “Best Local Theatre Director” and “Best Local Theater” categories. You’ve got to be an early riser to beat Friess to a story, so congratulations on an accolade well and truly earned.

Gibbs“Gross receipts tax? Bah!” That’s the gist of a recent policy speech by Gov. Jim Gibbons. Which means that if the state of Nevada is subjected to another four years of Gibbons’ rule, the multi-billion-dollar shortfall projected for 2011 is probably coming out of the hide of the casino industry. That’s been Midnight Jim’s default strategy whenever he needs to find a few extra dollars under the sofa cushions, so Big Gaming had better bend over and prepare to pay more while all non-mining businesses continue to enjoy a free ride (or even 50% tax rebates).

Gibbons’ answer to the current revenue crisis is — brace yourselves — to boost tourism. If he’s got any ideas on that score (other than saying we should blow off China) he should have been busting them out two years ago, although I suspect he has “wind in his sleeves,” to borrow a Chinese colloquialism.

Did Pansy Ho really only put $100 million into Continue reading →

Posted in Colony Capital, Columbia Sussex, Economy, Entertainment, Macau, Midnight Jim Gibbons, New York, Pansy Ho, Regulation, Sahara, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Taxes, Technology, The Mob, The Strip, Tourism | 3 Comments

Signs of the Times

Posted on March 19, 2010 by David McKee

Seen today outside The Rio on Flamingo Road: Two chicks holding handmade, barely legible “Car Wash” signs. What the … ? Was this an official Rio event? There’s no mention of it either on the casino’s Web site nor on its desultory Twitter feed. (I can hardly wait for President Marilyn Winn to bring this “Who cares?” style to Planet Hollywood.) It took a little poking around on Google but, yes indeedy, there’s a car wash The Rio today, manned by the Chippendales dancers. Last year, Sapphire dancers did the wax-on/wax-off honors but there’s been a little, uh, problem with law enforcement in the interim.

But still … two handwritten placards? You know Harrah’s Entertainment is truly on its uppers when management can’t spring for a professional sign-making job or even a humble stencil.

Posted in Current, Entertainment, Harrah's, Marketing, Planet Hollywood, Regulation, Technology, The Strip | 2 Comments

Cloud 9 brought to earth

Posted on March 19, 2010 by David McKee

We’ve been enjoying [sic] an unusually blustery winter in Las Vegas. All that’s missing is Eeyore. Well, him and now the Cloud 9 sightseeing balloon. This piquant Strip attraction met a tragic end yesterday. (Douchebaggy Fox 5 doesn’t permit video embeds. Sorry. Too bad the video-shooting spectators didn’t think to ejaculate “Oh, the humanity!”)

Cloud 9 had already been grounded for a week or so after Continue reading →

Posted in Current, M Resort, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, TV | Comments Off on Cloud 9 brought to earth

Hard Rock LV: Trouble on Paradise

Posted on March 18, 2010 by David McKee

Ed Scheetz: architect of disaster

It was with great swagger that Morgans Hotel Group captured the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in 2006. Newbies to the Vegas market, Morgans has had a rough education during the intervening years. Its most recent quarterly report shows how losing less money doesn’t mean you’re necessarily doing better. Casino revenue, never the strongest pillar of the HRH, was down 18%. Not only that, Morgans found itself flinging Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, Herbst Gaming, Morgans Hotel Group, Wall Street | 10 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 18, 2010 by David McKee

macau_gran_lisboa“These tall edifices produced a disturbing impression, for they were held to invade the realms and to jeopardise the composure of the feng-shui. These were the spirits of wind and water … all that needs to be said about them is that they were extremely temperamental and easily took umbrage if the delicate balance of their interests was upset.” — Peter Fleming, writing about a very different China, circa 1860-1900, in The Siege at Peking.

(Above, Stanley Ho‘s Grand Lisboa hotel-casino, prior to its completion.)

Posted in Architecture, International, Macau, Stanley Ho | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

What are …

Posted on March 18, 2010 by David McKee


… three casinos, two golf courses, a shooting range, a bunch of condos and some miscellaneous real estate worth? If they’re in Mesquite and they’re owned by the disaster area that is Black Gaming, they’re worth no more than $90 million in toto. Yet somehow CEO Randy Black was able to leverage them up to $253 million, an upside-down asset-to-value ratio that’s going to leave a lot of creditors twisting in the wind. The secured creditors want to keep Black’s casinos up and running, while his unsecured debtors would evidently prefer Continue reading →

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Economy, Entertainment, Marketing, Mesquite, MGM Mirage, Station Casinos, The Strip | 4 Comments

Love Train

Posted on March 18, 2010 by David McKee

Sig's choo-chooAs in the flowering bromance between Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and mouthpiece-for-hire Sig “The Fixer” Rogich. The former, a longtime supporter of a proposed maglev train betwixt Las Vegas and Anaheim, switched his allegiance to Rogich’s Choo-Choo-to-Nowhere, by the strangest of coincidences, at the very moment that the Sigmeister was lining up casino bosses to endorse Reid’s troubled reelection bid.

Since Rogich has been carrying water for Reid by the tubful lately, the senator is returning the favor by yanking $45 million in federal seed money out from under the maglev project and redirecting it to local highway improvement. The good news is Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., California, Economy, Election, Herbst Gaming, Politics, Station Casinos, Taxes, Tourism, Transportation | 10 Comments

Exonerating Adelson

Posted on March 17, 2010 by David McKee

sheldon-adelson_170x170While Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson might approve of Gary Kreep‘s recent PAC-tivities, inasmuch as they redound to the detriment of competitor MGM Mirage, he’s not behind them. Or, to put it another way, if Adelson’s been involved it would have to be in extremely stealthy and incremental fashion. Since “stealth” and “Adelson” are mutually exclusive terms, we’re probably safe to clear his name in l’affaire Dubai. Besides, whatever you thought of Adelson’s defunct Freedom’s Watch PAC, its ads always had solid production values … unlike the low-budget Kreep-helmed crudities currently going viral across the Internet.

Although Kreep’s PAC has aided a couple of candidates (Florida senatorial aspirant Marco Rubio, as well as Rep. Duncan D. Hunter) who are inimical to tribal-casino interests, Continue reading →

Posted in California, CityCenter, Current, Dubai, Election, Florida, Macau, MGM Mirage, Morgans Hotel Group, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho | 5 Comments

Mania in Macao

Posted on March 17, 2010 by David McKee

Las Vegas casino floors nearly look somnolent compared to the intense baccarat play captured by CNN at Melco Crown Entertainment‘s megaresort, City of Dreams. For added fun, one gets a bit of James Bond (Sean Connery) throwing down against “smug lummox” Emilio Largo (a dubbed Adolfo Celi) in the best — IMO — 007 film, Thunderball. Well, maybe second-best to Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Movies, The Strip, TV | 1 Comment

This just in: Stanley Ho is mobbed up

Posted on March 17, 2010 by David McKee

Stanley Ho 440Yeah, I know … no shit, Sherlock. With the notable exception of the Las Vegas Business Press‘ Matt Ward, precious few journalists have been willing to come forward and report what everybody’s tacitly agreed, ever since the Macanese casino market was opened to Occidental operators: That ancient Sociedade de Jogos de Macau oligarch Stanley Ho is cozy with the Triads, who conducted a reign of terror in Macao prior to the imposition of Chinese rule. A former casino regulator once asked me, with considerable dismay, how the Nevada Gaming Commission could approve MGM Mirage‘s purchase of a casino subconcession from such a sleazy figure. I was and remain stumped for an answer.

Now the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has officially stated what the rest of us only implied or whispered. The 78-page report is hot off the Internet and Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Current, International, Macau, MGM Mirage, Pansy Ho, Regulation, Stanley Ho, The Mob | 3 Comments

And the winner is … Mohegan Sun

Posted on March 17, 2010 by David McKee

Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs is on pace to become the first Pennsylvania casino to deploy table games. A hearty S&G congratulations to the Mohegans and a big “WTF?” to WNEP-TV and its eccentric video-embed format.

Posted in Current, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Tribal, TV | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 17, 2010 by David McKee

“[I]t kind of brings people together. It gets people involved, and it’s nice if you’re new and you don’t know a lot of people. It can be positive if you do it right.” — Republican National Congressional Committee staff member Jeff Brown on the subject of March Madness vis-a-vis lost productivity.

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

Todd English, P.D.Q.

Posted on March 17, 2010 by David McKee

First of all, huge thanks to all who have sent their condolences regarding Mr. Bit. We’re all in quite a funk at home. Rascal‘s reaction was the most heartbreaking. When we brought the empty cat carrier back, he ran up, looked inside it, then rubbed up against it, clearly wondering where his old sparring partner was.

Secondly, a happy St. Patrick’s Day to all, especially those of you who trace their roots to the Emerald Isle. I’d wish you “the luck of the Irish” but history shows that “lucky” and “Ireland” are two terms rarely found in the same sentence, alas.

prnphotos090648Thanks to reader kerr_mudgeon for passing along the review and photos of Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, CityCenter, Current, Dining, Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Pets, The Strip | 5 Comments

Mr. Bit, 1993-2010

Posted on March 16, 2010 by David McKee

DSCN1877Another of my cats crossed the proverbial Rainbow Bridge today, ending 14 years of faithful companionship. Our vet says we did the right thing but that doesn’t lessen the sense of betrayal, even though Mr. Bit could no longer eat without pain and was losing the ability to stand upright. His once-mighty haunches had completely atrophied and my chubby little pal was a wisp of his youthful self. I choose to mark his passing with this photo, taken a few weeks ago, as it seems to express where he was at that moment: leaving the material world and heading into Eternity.

Thanks for the adventure, pal. We’ll lift a glass to you tonight at Todd English P.U.B. (A hideous coinage, no?) Your lovably obstreperous personality can never be replaced and will always be missed.

Posted in Animals, CityCenter, Current, Dining, Pets | 17 Comments

Capping Macao

Posted on March 16, 2010 by David McKee

HotelLisboa

Compared to the acrimony currently flowing on the Strip, a stunning new policy directive from across the Pacific practically qualifies as “happy-talk news” …

With casino revenues increasing at a jet-propelled pace, China has yet again applied the brakes to Macao‘s casino industry. However, instead of limiting access to the protectorate, it’s putting a lid on casino development per se. Basically, if the government of Fernando Chui hasn’t signed off on your project already (a process that moves at glacial pace), you’re stuck with what you’ve got. As reported by Reuters, the immediate ramifications of Chui’s proclamations aren’t evident but Macquarie Securities analyst Gary Pinge cut to the chase: “We believe that the underlying message is no further casinos will be built on Macau in the foreseeable future.”

The Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s Howard Stutz shines a light through some of the opacity surrounding Chui’s speech, which puts a damper on Continue reading →

Posted in Current, International, Macau, Plaza, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, Tourism, Wall Street | 6 Comments