Quote of the Day

Posted on October 22, 2020 by David McKee

“Just look at airplanes and restaurants, which we now take for granted as places that should obviously be smoke-free. In the future, we’ll look back at casinos the same way and wonder what took so long.”—Bronson Frick, director of advocacy of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights and the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.

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Quote of the Day

Posted on October 22, 2020 by David McKee

“It was a serious failure for me, as a public figure, to go maskless at the White House.”—former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R).

Posted in Current, Health | 1 Comment

Ill winds in Louisiana; Boyd gets a boost

Posted on October 21, 2020 by David McKee

Gambling win in Louisiana was dealt a double blow last month by those twin vixens Hurricanes Laura and Sally. Hardest-hit as usual was storm magnet Lake Charles, where revenue plunged 65%. Treasure Chest in Kenner lost two days of business, and L’Auberge Lake Charles and Golden Nugget Lake Charles faced costly closures through 9/11. New Orleans win tumbled 31% and least affected was Shreveport/Bossier City, down just 4%. Back in Lake Charles, Isle Grand Palais grossed a tiny $100K, a 99% sky fall. Golden Nugget’s $9 million was a 58.5% plunge but still good enough to lead the market. L’Auberge skidded 68% to $7 million, while Delta Downs downshifted 52% to $6 million.

In the Big Easy, Harrah’s New Orleans’ 43% nosedive was still good enough for a market-dominating $14 million finish. Boomtown Bossier shed 17.5% for an $8 million gross while Treasure Chest salvaged $6.5 million, a 22% dive. Fair Grounds racino dipped 13% to $3 million and Amelia Belle fell 28% to $2.5 million. Up in Baton Rouge, only decrepit Belle of Baton Rouge lost market share, plummeting 37% to $1 million. L’Auberge Baton Rouge gained 7% for $13 million and Casino Rouge ascended 19% to $.5 million.

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Posted in Architecture, Barstool Sports, Boyd Gaming, Caesars Entertainment, Churchill Downs, Donald Trump, FanDuel, GLPI, Golden Nugget, Louisiana, Money laundering, Penn National, Phil Ruffin, Sports, Sports betting, The Strip, Twin River, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on October 21, 2020 by David McKee

“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”—Pope Francis, interviewed in the new documentary Francesco, which premieres tonight.

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The flu

Posted on October 20, 2020 by David McKee

Yes, it’s here and I’ve got it (and, yes, I did get my flu shot beforehand). All of which means it will be another day before I can rejoin you, dear readers. Coming: Bad news from Louisiana, good news from Pennsylvania and maybe a solution to the Bally’s deadlock in Atlantic City. At least yours truly doesn’t have Coronavirus. I was presenting several symptoms so let’s call this a narrow escape.

Posted in Health | 2 Comments

You, me and Derek

Posted on October 19, 2020 by David McKee

Being snowed under with unrelated work today, I thought you might enjoy this interview I conducted with Derek Stevens for Casino Life, available as an online PDF. Please advise me if you experience any technical difficulties.

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Posted in Derek Stevens, Massachusetts, MGM Resorts International, Sports, Sports betting, The Strip, TV | 2 Comments

Sports, Internet buoy Atlantic City; Detroit struggles

Posted on October 16, 2020 by David McKee
Leaning tower of baccarat.

As we predicted, Atlantic City is coming back faster than Las Vegas. It doesn’t hurt that it is not A) primarily a destination market; B) dependent upon conventions; C) reliant upon international travel; or D) at the mercy of the airlines. All that being said, a 15% decline in September for a gross of $190.5 million isn’t that bad. Sports betting netted $45 million and Internet gaming another $87.5 million. Wrote JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, “Casino revenues were pressured by capacity limits and restrictions on F&B offerings.” Table revenues collapsed, it is true, -25.5% while slots were down 9.5%. Borgata was hit hard, falling 31% as table win cratered -49% and slots tumbled -19%. The megaresort is tracking well behind Greff’s projections for last quarter. The Caesars Entertainment quartet slipped 17%, with 16% less slot win and a 20% plunge at the tables. In contrast to Borgata, the CZR foursome is tracking considerably ahead of JP Morgan’s forecast.

The only revenue-positive property was Ocean Casino Resort, rising 27% to $26 million. (And to think that its predecessor, Revel, was such a butt of mockery.) Borgata held onto first place with almost $40 million, Hard Rock Atlantic City ceded little ground (-3.5%), holding onto $28.5 million and second place. Other than Ocean, the steadiest performer was Caesars Atlantic City, down only 2% to $19 million. Harrah’s Resort won $19.5 million but slid 26.5% while Tropicana grossed $20 million on a 22.5% decline. Bally’s, which faces an uncertain future (see below), won $13 million, down 12.5%. Resorts Atlantic City edged ahead of Bally’s with $14 million and a 7% dip while Golden Nugget slid into last place with a 29.5% declivity and $11.5 million gross.

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Posted in Atlantic City, Caesars Entertainment, Detroit, DraftKings, FanDuel, Golden Nugget, Hard Rock International, Internet gambling, MGM Resorts International, Mohegan Sun, New Jersey, Ocean Resort, Penn National, Regulation, Revel, Sports betting, Twin River, Wall Street | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on October 16, 2020 by David McKee

“Truth suffers, but never dies.”—St. Teresa of Avila, whose day it is.

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Massachusetts’ mixed message; Much ado about Circa

Posted on October 15, 2020 by David McKee

Even if Congress beats the odds and passes another megabuck stimulus bill before the election, it won’t provide more than a short-term shot in the arm for gaming, which saw a bubble of increased discretionary spending but is now backsliding. Take Massachusetts. Gaming receipts were down 12% last month for an unimpressive gross of $70.5 million, thanks in part to constraints on attendance (one-third of capacity). Most of the money—$43 million—was won by Encore Boston Harbor, with slot win up 7% on 12% higher coin-in (those punters beat the house). Slot win was $23.5 million, as Encore had a good month at the tables, too: $4,553 win/table/day compared to MGM Springfield‘s anemic $933. (Table numbers at both should improve this month with the reintroduction of roulette.) However, Encore narrowly ceded the slot win/pay crown to Plainridge Park‘s $276-per-slot vs. Encore’s $247, with MGM at a subpar $184. Have you noticed that we’ve not heard about Connecticut‘s planned Tribal Winds casino in a long time? Have Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun decided that MGM is a paper lion?

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Posted in Connecticut, Derek Stevens, DFS, Downtown, DraftKings, e-sports, Economy, Foxwoods, Harry Reid, Health, Massachusetts, MGM Resorts International, Mohegan Sun, Penn National, Security, Sports betting, TV, Wall Street, Wynn Resorts | 1 Comment

Trop in trouble; Sands has a plan; Super Bowl to Vegas?

Posted on October 15, 2020 by David McKee

We know that the Tropicana Las Vegas is being positioned for a sale (potentially to Twin River Holdings) but does that alone explain the pink-slipping of 828 employees, a drastic move? Placed in the context of other cutbacks, like the Encore partial shutdown, it suggests that things on the Las Vegas Strip are much worse than casino CEOs would have us believe. The Trop’s wasn’t the only bad news. 96 Mon Ami Gabi staffers are out of jobs, as are 53 at Paris-Las Vegas‘ Eiffel Tower Restaurant. The Trop sackings take effect today, implying a panic move, while the Paris restaurant employees have until Dec. 15 to find a new footing. Both eateries have announced they will stay in business (hard to conceive otherwise, given their popularity and high profile). As for the Trop, it is is claiming that “The [Covid-19] impact on our business was not reasonably foreseeable until now.”

We’re not sure we’re buying that. Penn National Gaming had months in which to survey the landscape, especially as it delayed Trop reopening until a full quarter after Gov. Steve Sisolak’s June 4 resumption edict. “These significant drags on our business will likely continue for the foreseeable future,” concludes General Manager Mike Thoma. This news comes on the heels of a spate of layoffs at Tao Restaurant, Tao Nightclub, Beauty & Essex, Marquee Nightclub and Lavo. We knew that Las Vegas was hurting midweek but the latter group of dismissals implies that now-crucial weekend business is not up to par.

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Posted in AGA, Caesars Entertainment, Charity, Cirque du Soleil, Conventions, Dining, Economy, Entertainment, G2E, Health, Las Vegas Sands, Louisiana, MGM Resorts International, Penn National, Planet Hollywood, Politics, Resort fees, Security, Sports, TV, Wynn Resorts | 1 Comment

Tommy, 2000-2020

Posted on October 15, 2020 by David McKee

Thanks to all the readers who have sent on- and off-list condolences for the loss of Tommy. Here he is in fine fettle, either saying that he covets my baked potato or (more likely), “Where are my table scraps, dammit?” He was a hungry boy and relentless in his demands for pre-dawn feedings. Ignore his loud demands and you would get a nip on the ear. Now the house is quiet and an enormous presence has left us. But Tommy has gone to a better place and for that (and the years he gave us) we are happy.

Posted in Animals, Pets | 5 Comments

Missouri wilts; Encore closes (sorta); Station upgraded

Posted on October 14, 2020 by David McKee

Pent-up demand and stimulus checks appear to be sputtering across the Midwest. Missouri casinos were down 7.5% last month, grossing $129.5 million. Slots ($112 million) were off 6% and table games tumbled 17%. Top grosser in the state was Ameristar St. Charles, down 5% to $20.5 million. Penn National Gaming slid 21% at Hollywood St. Louis ($15 million) and 11% at River City ($16.5 million). Caesars Entertainment did comparatively well at problem child Lumiere Place, off 6% to $11.5 million. Twin River Holdings was actually revenue-positive at Isle of Capri Kansas City, up 5.5% to $5.5 million, while supposedly impoverished Harrah’s Kansas City was steady at $15 million. Ameristar Kansas City skidded 12% to $13.5 million and Argosy Riverside dipped 3% to $12.5 million. Outstate, Isle of Capri Boonville did Caesars no favors, falling 8% to $6 million, while Century Casinos was flat in Caruthersville and off 2% in Cape Girardeau. Independent Mark Twain Casino was revenue-positive, up 4.5% to $3 million.

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Posted in Australia, Boyd Gaming, Caesars Entertainment, Century Casinos, Downtown, Economy, Hard Rock International, International, James Packer, Marketing, MGM Resorts International, Missouri, Mohegan Sun, Palms, Penn National, Regulation, Sports, Sports betting, Station Casinos, The Strip, Transportation, Twin River, Wynn Resorts | Comments Off on Missouri wilts; Encore closes (sorta); Station upgraded

Quote of the Day

Posted on October 14, 2020 by David McKee

“The [Robert] Bork hearings presented to the public a serious discussion of the meaning of the Constitution, the role of the court and the views of the nominee. Subsequent hearings have presented to the public a vapid and hollow charade, in which repetition of platitudes has replaced discussion of viewpoints, and personal anecdotes have supplanted legal analysis.”—Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, writing in 1995.

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Funny biz at Trump International

Posted on October 13, 2020 by David McKee

With his golf-course-and-hotel empire bleeding cash, Donald Trump needed some quick moolah to juice his 2016 presidential campaign. And where did he get it? From the coffers of Trump International Las Vegas, according to tax documents obtained by the New York Times. To be fair, The Donald had asked Deutsche Bank for a loan—and been rejected. (He’s not what you’d call a good credit risk.) He said the money would go toward a golf course in Scotland. Bankers thought differently and were proven right. Over the next four months, Trump dumped $30.5 million in stock. He then “engineered a sudden financial windfall,” courtesy of Trump Int’l LV. In a bit of ‘structuring,’ co-owner Phil Ruffin funneled $21 million in a series of payments to his business partner.

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Posted in California, Donald Trump, Election, history, Internet gambling, Money laundering, Phil Ruffin, Real Estate, Taxes, The Strip, Transportation | 2 Comments

Optimism for MGM, Churchill Downs; Cheap rooms = riff-raff

Posted on October 13, 2020 by David McKee

Although they remain relatively pessimistic on Macao, analysts at JP Morgan like MGM Resorts International sufficiently to raise their price target on its stock to $24/share. The primary reason was “better than expected trends” at MGM’s regional U.S. casinos, followed by a higher cash-flow estimate for the Las Vegas Strip. Finally, MGM’s online-gaming prospects looked good enough to goose the stock to two-dozen dollars. “We could conceivably become more positive on MGM as an investment at lower levels, but look at current valuation as giving fair value to its regional portfolio, a multi-year LV Strip recovery (we think commences in 2H21/4Q21), value for [MGM Growth Properties] and Macau, as well as its longer-term sports betting/iGaming opportunity,” wrote Joseph Greff. Note that Greff says MGM is just going to have to hang in there on the Strip for another full year. Then things get better.

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Posted in Caesars Entertainment, Churchill Downs, Current, Entertainment, Horseracing, Illinois, Internet gambling, Law enforcement, Macau, MGM Resorts International, Paragon Gaming, The Strip, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Now for something completely different …

Posted on October 13, 2020 by David McKee

I lucked into this clip from MGM’s It Happened in Brooklyn and it’s too good not to share. Duetting with Kathryn Grayson, Ol’ Blue Eyes isn’t completely idiomatic in his Italian diction (surprisingly) but his classical musicianship is absolutely spot-on. Enjoy these four minutes of Frank Sinatra at his finest.

Posted in Entertainment, history, Movies | Comments Off on Now for something completely different …

Kings for a day; Covid’s casino kingpin

Posted on October 12, 2020 by David McKee

As you know, DraftKings is the current darling of Wall Street, its stock hovering around $50/share. Today Credit Suisse analyst Ben Chaiken initiated coverage with an “outperform” rating, putting a $76/share price target on the stock. He even went to far to call the stock “undervalued.” Given what we’ve seen from DKNG so far, that does not strike us as the least bit over-optimistic. Wrote Chaiken, “the structural growth story is still in its infancy. DKNG has access to only ~18% of the population with mobile betting, and line of sight opportunity to a few other states. As was seen following ‘08/’09, the legalization of land based gaming almost doubled, and we think a similar dynamic could occur post-COVID with sports betting, as states look to fill in budget gaps.”

As for as-yet-untapped California, it “alone represents 12% of the U.S. population vs DKNG’s existing penetration of ~18% … DKNG is the only pure-play US mobile sports betting name. While there is concern over valuation by some in the investment community, we don’t think that it fully captures the accelerating growth pipeline available to DKNG or the earlier stage in its own lifecycle relative to peers.” Chaiken’s bet is, he acknowledges, not without risks. States have to keep on legalizing sports betting—we’re not too worried on that front—and major-league sports have to keep plugging away in the face of Covid-19, which is much more of a question mark. Just ask the NFL. Perhaps, as Colin Jost suggested on Saturday Night Live, we should make NBA Commissioner Adam Stern the next president. He knows how to maintain an impenetrable Covid bubble … and was the first commish to get on board with legitimate sports betting, to boot.

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Posted in Atlantic City, Australia, Brazil, Caesars Entertainment, California, China, Crown Resorts, DraftKings, Economy, FanDuel, Golden Nugget, Health, IGT, Illinois, Internet gambling, Japan, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas Raiders, Las Vegas Sands, Law enforcement, Lotteries, Louisiana, Macau, Maverick Gaming, MGM Resorts International, Nebraska, Rush Street Gaming, Sports, Sports betting, Technology, The Strip, Tilman Fertitta, TV, Twin River, Wall Street, Wynn Resorts | 1 Comment

Caesars pleads poverty; FBI descends on Vegas

Posted on October 12, 2020 by David McKee

News sources are reporting “mass layoffs” at Caesars Southern Indiana, one of the company’s more successful properties. As many as 200 staff have been given their walking papers, not just in the poker room but vital departments like servers, bartenders, valets and hosts. That’s a severe move and Caesars management is sending mixed signals. In a Zoom call with employees, it reportedly blamed an “uncertain business climate,” yet told the media that it “intends for the furloughs to be temporary, but it is possible that the furloughs could be a permanent layoff.” While some of the terminated workers received severance, others did not, a cruel and capricious move on the surface. Two possibilities present themselves: One is that Caesars S.I. really does have a difficult row to hoe and management is trying to trim around the edges.

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Posted in Caesars Entertainment, Canada, Cosmopolitan, Derek Stevens, Donald Trump, DraftKings, Economy, Entertainment, Health, Indiana, Las Vegas Sands, Law enforcement, Marketing, MGM Resorts International, Missouri, Nevada, Penn National, Planet Hollywood, Resorts World LV, Security, Sports betting, Stanley Ho, Tourism, Transportation, Wall Street, Wynn Resorts | 6 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on October 12, 2020 by David McKee

“The people that don’t have to walk in our building—whether it is the league office, whether it is the NFLPA—they don’t care. For them, it is not about our best interest, or our health and safety. It is about, ‘What can we make protocol-wise that sounds good, looks good, and how can we go out there and play games?’”—New England Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty, ripping both the NFL and NFL Players Association for their handling of Covid-19.

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

What ails Illinois?; Trump Plaza comes down

Posted on October 9, 2020 by David McKee

In a month that saw Ohio casino revenues grow 6% and Iowa almost 1% (to $119.5 million), Illinois casinos plummeted 27% to a measly $82 million. Even a sub-50% capacity restriction doesn’t begin to explain away the problem. Predictably, Rivers Casino Des Plaines suffered least, down 8% to $34 million. This is proving to be one of many astute investments by Churchill Downs. At the other end of the spectrum, how does Argosy Belle stay afloat? Its $2 million gross was a 51% drop-off. New Twin River Holdings property Jumer’s Casino Rock Island looks like a turkey, barely reaching $3 million and tumbling 45%. Good luck recouping the $120 million purchase price on those kind of numbers. Nearest to Rivers Casino was Grand Victoria, grossing $9 million (-26.5%), while Harrah’s Joliet fell 42% to $8.5 million and Harrah’s Metropolis (above) slipped 21% to $4.5 million. A recent player at Metropolis called it “a very distant outpost of the Caesars/El Dorado empire. Lots of deferred maintenance here in the Midwest …” Deferred maintenance at a Caesars Entertainment property? The ghost of Gary Loveman must still be calling the shots.

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Posted in Arizona, Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Caesars Entertainment, Carl Icahn, Churchill Downs, Dining, DraftKings, FanDuel, Full House Resorts, Illinois, Indiana, Internet gambling, Iowa, MGM Resorts International, Michigan, Penn National, Politics, Rush Street Gaming, Spectacle Entertainment, Sports betting, Twin River | 1 Comment