Going slow in Pennsylvania

Posted on March 10, 2010 by David McKee

Despite having the highest-grossing “slot parlor” (now don’t that sound genteel?) in Pennsylvania, racino Parx Casino is making a gingerly entry into the uncharted waters of table-game play. While state law would allow Parx to put in as many as 250 tables, it’s going to be content with 54 for now. If Parx, which has reason to be bullish, is displaying so much caution, it will be interesting to see to how many tables Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn are willing to commit. Harrah’s Chester hasn’t set a number for its table complement but it’s increasing its workforce by 50%, with most of the projected 500 new positions reserved for dealers. If you play the tables at Harrah’s Chester, tip generously: Dealer salaries start at roughly $9K/year.

Posted in Current, Harrah's, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn | 2 Comments

Rocky Mountain Low

Posted on March 10, 2010 by David McKee

The Great Recession continues to weed out the sick and the lame of the casino industry. As with Missouri‘s loss-limit repeal, similar measures in Colorado (detailed above) came along too late in the game. There’s only so much state governments can do to prop up the casino industry — and to think that is used to be the other way ’round.

Posted in Colorado, Current, Economy, Missouri, Regulation | Comments Off on Rocky Mountain Low

Pennsylvania: Give Adelson a break; Harrah’s latest excuses

Posted on March 9, 2010 by David McKee

Steve WynnWhile principle dictates that Las Vegas Sands ought to be held to the terms of its agreement with the State of Pennsylvania, recent developments give one pause. Namely, why should Steve Wynn get favorable treatment enjoyed by no other casino developer in the Keystone State?

It’s not a done deal … yet. Although Wynn can charm the birds out of the trees, his famous smile didn’t dazzle the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Understandably skittish after a series of self-inflicted wounds, the PGCB told Wynn to come back when he has a concrete plan. However, even in its present sketchy state, “Wynnwoods” would be a much smaller entity than the Foxwoods-led casino which was approved over two years ago. (If he makes good on his threat to give the place by the pretentious handle “SW,” I SWear I’m going to start referring to it as SW: Based on the casino “Penn’s Landing” by Foxwoods.)

The most obvious reduction is Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Columbia Sussex, Economy, George Maloof, Harrah's, Illinois, Louisiana, Neil Bluhm, Pennsylvania, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Tribal, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 9, 2010 by David McKee

Icahn 2“There will undoubtedly be tough sledding ahead for Atlantic City, especially in light of the increasing competition from neighboring states. However, I believe that Atlantic City, with its beautiful beaches, can again become a premier destination resort.” — Carl Icahn, upon taking control of the Tropicana Atlantic City. Thus ends a three-year ordeal for the property, one year under the mismanagement of Columbia Sussex and two being shopped around as a ward of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. S&G wishes Icahn and his new employees the best of luck.

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Columbia Sussex, Current, Economy, Regulation, Tropicana Entertainment | 3 Comments

News in my backyard

Posted on March 9, 2010 by David McKee

lib-photo-2Well, not literally in it but damn close. From our rear windows we can see the former Liberace mansion that now goes by the name of Las Vegas Villa. It’s a large but otherwise unobtrusive neighbor in a very quiet Las Vegas neighborhood … quiet, that is, except with the northeast runway and the heliport at McCarran International Airport are in heavy employment, much to the fascination of our cats.

Anyway, while I was minding God knows what business, Steve Friess beat me to a story taking place right under my nose. It seems that the King of Bling’s former abode is in foreclosure, which could mean dire things for one of the relatively few historic sites Las Vegas possesses. That’d be a shame, because it brings a lot of cachet to Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, Entertainment | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 8, 2010 by David McKee

“No transaction in our modern society is completely free of government involvement. The food we eat costs less because of farm subsidies. Students attend private universities with the help of Pell Grants and Stafford loans. Our churches and temples can afford to operate in part because they are tax-exempt. And employers who offer health insurance do so because of tax incentives … Either there is no such thing as indirect funding or everything receives indirect funding, but there is no in between.” — Jessica Arons, in an essay entitled, “The World According to Stupak.” Unfortunately, it deals with the philosophy of Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) and not that of casino maverick Bob Stupak.

Posted in Current | 3 Comments

Did my eyes deceive me …

Posted on March 8, 2010 by David McKee

… or was that the skeleton of Echelon which was used to illustrate Nevada’s economic woes in the TV spot that Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) is running this week? That’s no outrage in and of itself: Echelon was a casualty of the Great Recession, even if that wasn’t the main reason it was put into a coma. General Growth Properties‘ bankruptcy and Morgans Hotel Group‘s attempted withdrawal were the primary causative events. However, the ad (which I’ve not been able to find on either YouTube or Reid’s campaign site) then shifts to cheerful footage of CityCenter, for whose completion Reid takes credit.

Whoever crafted the spot appears willing to push Boyd Gaming under the campaign bus whilst throwing in a big-ass product placement for MGM Mirage. Since Sheldon Adelson has publicly endorsed Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Boyd Gaming, CityCenter, Current, Economy, Election, Harry Reid, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip, TV | 2 Comments

From one Isle to another

Posted on March 8, 2010 by David McKee

haitiLet’s start the week with a salute to a company that’s doing the right thing. Between its Florida and Missouri operations, Isle of Capri Casinos employs some 170 citizens of Haiti. Their salaries go to support family members on the recently earthquake-stricken island. While some casino companies that shall remain nameless pay lip service to their workers, then give them a royal shafting, Isle has shown it’s made of better stuff. It’s encouraged executives to donate to earthquake-relief funds and even paid round-trip airfares so that 14 Isle employees could return to Haiti and be with their families.

While some of the credit for this goes to Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Current, Environment, Florida, Harrah's, International, Isle of Capri, Missouri, Movies, TV | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 6, 2010 by David McKee

“Having now been hit by the worst recession in American history and the worst downturn in gaming revenues in Nevada history, we can simply no longer afford to bear the overwhelming share of the burden for running the state.” — MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman. S&G agrees in general principle, if not in the specific instance (another $32 million for the Nevada Gaming Control Board or 0.3% of the industry’s 2009 Nevada gross) in question.

Posted in Economy, MGM Mirage, Regulation, Taxes | 3 Comments

The best-paying gig in Las Vegas

Posted on March 5, 2010 by David McKee

It probably belongs to any of the army of lawyers toiling for Station Casinos … or for co-owner Colony Capital … or for individual board members, including director Dr. James Nave. The latter — who used to serve on the Nevada State Athletic Commission alongside Lorenzo Fertitta — was charged with heading up the evaluation the Fertitta Brothers‘ and Colony’s offer. (Ironically, had Nave green-lit the $82/share Fertitta offer his detractors said was too low, Station would have be in better financial shape today.) The rest is history — and a veritable mother lode of legal fees.

red_rockAmongst the thicket of law firms — some of whose members are racking up as much as $995/hour — is Washington, D.C. heavyweight Greenberg Traurig (former employer of über-felon Continue reading →

Posted in Boulder Strip, Current, Entertainment, Station Casinos, Wall Street | 4 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 5, 2010 by David McKee

“… only 36,000 people lost their jobs today, which is really good.” — Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). Um, “really good” for whom, might we ask?

Posted in Current, Economy, Election, Harry Reid, Politics | 3 Comments

Best Strip bargain yet? Plus: Loveman’s verbal gymnastics, pool fees, etc.

Posted on March 5, 2010 by David McKee

lukejermayLuke Jermay is a charming English mentalist who does a low-budget but worthwhile show at O’Shea’s. His presentation may not be as polished as that of rival Gerry McCambridge, but what Jermay lacks in razzmatazz, he makes up in personality. Best of all, his show is now free (uh, with the purchase of two drinks, that is). Admittedly, Harrah’s Entertainment ought to pay you to go into O’Shea’s, which is so low on the Strip’s food chain CheapoVegas.com hasn’t even deigned to review it. If Harrah’s owns a casino that’s more like a dumpster with slot machines, I’ve not yet had the misfortune of encountering it. However, free — sort of — admission to Mental may be all the excuse you need to investigate the Harrah’s grind joint so grungy it makes Imperial Palace look like Caesars Palace. Jermay’s show, however, is time well spent … or comped, as the case may be.

On the subject of Harrah’s, my shock at Continue reading →

Posted in Entertainment, George Maloof, Harrah's, James Packer, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, Minnesota, Planet Hollywood, The Strip | 6 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 3, 2010 by David McKee

Steve_Wynn_co_Wynn_t420“Usually it takes people a few days after they know me to not like me.” — Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn, in response to near-riot conditions at his Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board hearing.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

From the mailbag

Posted on March 3, 2010 by David McKee

One S&G reader took great exception to some comments that Harrah’s Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman made to Reuters:

“He said that hotel rates had got so cheap in Vegas — $89 a night for a room at a very nice hotel — that anyone might be tempted to sell their home and move into a hotel.”

Really? With room tax that daily rate is going to be at least about $100/night — or about $3,000 for a month’s stay. And that’s for a small single room with no kitchen and one bath.

Does Loveman have any idea of what “normal” people pay Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Harrah's, The Strip | 4 Comments

The good, the bad & the very ugly photo

Posted on March 2, 2010 by David McKee

For perhaps the first time in his career, Steve Wynn is being called “cheesy.” It’s in connection with his new Philadelphia casino project, the erstwhile Foxwoods. (If, has been mooted, it’s just called “S.W.“, that would be pretentious but not cheesy, IMO.)

However, the editorial that makes this accusation is written from a virulently anti-casino skew and some of its arguments are downright moronic. You get an idea where the writer is coming from in the first paragraph, with the declaration that “casino gambling in Philadelphia will be a down-market industry, preying mostly on the poor and elderly who can least afford it.” The author tut-tuts that a “Wynnwoods” (as an S&G reader termed it) will be “acres of slot machines and scores of table games aimed at the locals living paycheck to paycheck or on fixed incomes.” Yes, as opposed to all those fine U.S. casinos that sport just a few slots and no table games. We call them “grind joints.”

The idiocy comes into play with the writer’s scandalized declaration Continue reading →

Posted in Cannery Casino Resorts, Economy, Harrah's, Neil Bluhm, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Tribal, Wall Street | 10 Comments

Chronicle of a Black foretold; River City looking good

Posted on March 2, 2010 by David McKee

Randy Black, that is. The CEO who ran the Mesquite market straight into the ground (with a sizable assist from the Nevada Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission) and turned the former Si Redd’s Oasis into a slot route — a pathetic 16 machines — has kept his promise to put Black Gaming into bankruptcy. Under the new arrangement, most of the heavy lifting will be done out of South Point, now that Michael Gaughan has emerged as the power behind Black’s tottering throne.

Publicity ho Black makes a useful front man for the very media-shy Gaughan, who has also installed former Coast Casinos hand Anthony Toti at the levers of power (i.e., chief operating officer). Toti’s been around Black Gaming for a while but Randy B. was pulling all the important strings at the time. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Boyd Gaming, Current, Don Barden, Election, Harry Reid, IGT, Mesquite, Michael Gaughan, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Pinnacle Entertainment, Planet Hollywood, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, TV, Wall Street, WMS Industries | 1 Comment

Sue Lowden, socialist?

Posted on March 2, 2010 by David McKee

Archon Corp. Treasurer Sue Lowden has been called unflattering things in her life (mostly by the Culinary Union) but I’ll bet my soul “socialist” was never among them. Until now. Rival Danny Tarkanian flung the “S word” at her yesterday, according to Jon Ralston‘s Twitter feed. Perhaps Tarkanian was jolted by a poll that shows Lowden with a bigger lead than ever (although, working for the penny-pinching Las Vegas Review-Journal, pollster Brad Coker used an unreliably low sample [300 voters]). To go to the political epithet du jour so early in the game suggests panic over at Tarkanian HQ.

Personally, I never knew that it was standard socialist practice Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Election, Entertainment, Harry Reid, Politics, The Strip | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 2, 2010 by David McKee

“I have a special place in my heart for Atlantic City. Atlantic City will reach new heights when the economy turns around.” — TV star and sometime casino owner Donald Trump, who apparently is privy to economic indicators unavailable to the rest of the world.

Posted in Atlantic City, Donald Trump, Economy | 2 Comments

Macao’s big ass-month

Posted on March 1, 2010 by David McKee

Venetian MacaoCasinos in Macao blew way past expectations, raking in $1.6 billion last month (a 70% increase). Stanley Ho‘s SJM widened its lead on Las Vegas Sands, although the latter had more market share (20%) than MGM Grand Macau and Galaxy Entertainment‘s several properties combined. Still, comparing Sands’ market share to those of competitors Wynn Macau and Melco Crown Entertainment (15% and 14%, respectively), it continues to be difficult to be persuaded by Sands’ “Big is More!” strategy, as continued addition of capacity doesn’t appear to be translating into commensurately increased market share.

(And is Sands actually offering to pledge its Singapore casino against restructured debt Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Economy, Environment, Florida, Genting, Harrah's, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tribal, Wall Street | Comments Off on Macao’s big ass-month

Sands backslides, backpedals in Pennsylvania

Posted on March 1, 2010 by David McKee

Wow, there’s nothing like the rumor of an in-progress sale to light a fire under Las Vegas Sands to restart its desultory Sands Bethlehem. Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson tries to imply that resumption of the hotel is contingent upon getting table games (he’s obligated to build it, table games or no) but this is still a double-reverse from LVS.

When table games were still before the Lege, Adelson led people to believe that he’d restart hotel construction once the games were approved. Then Adelson’s $2 Million Man, COO Michael A. Leven said he “would wait until the end of the year before even considering resuming projects such as the Bethlehem hotel, mall and conference center.” [emphasis added]

Sands Bethlehem

Quite a different story. One can attribute Adelson’s sudden zeal to resume work either Continue reading →

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, Lake Las Vegas, Macau, Massachusetts, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Pennsylvania, Politics, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Taxes, The Strip | 6 Comments