Quote of the Day

Posted on March 1, 2010 by David McKee

“Far more of the African-American community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being devastated by the policies of slavery.” — Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ). Remember, this is the same guy who imagined a railway corridor was being built between Disneyland and the brothels of Northern Nevada.

Posted in Cretins, Current | 3 Comments

Blast from the past

Posted on February 26, 2010 by David McKee

Since we’ve been talking about Archon Corp. this week — and because I didn’t want the last post of the week to be about feet — here’s an old ad for the Wet ‘n Wild water park, whose closure really diminished the Strip, in ways both obvious and subtle. Maybe the Lowden family made more moolah renting it out as a holding pen for Fontainebleau construction — these days, probably not — or extracting endless option renewals from would-be could-be might-be (but maybe not) developer Christopher Milam. Still, a lot of Las Vegans miss it and while this TV spot would never have won a Clio Award, it gives a pretty good sense of what the place was like. Enjoy.

Posted in Archon Corp., Entertainment, Fontainebleau, Marketing, The Strip, Tourism | 6 Comments

Synchronicity @ work

Posted on February 26, 2010 by David McKee

In more senses than one. Harrah’s Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman‘s fascination with fabulous feminine footwear has been the talk of the office at LVA, although I was more intrigued by the bad hair day pictured below. In describing it to a co-worker, I referenced Hans Brinker, whom she Googled, only to find an ad for the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel (“Accidentally Eco-Friendly”) which showed a bathroom sink and somebody washing … a foot. It was a Circle of Life Moment, only in a completely disturbing way. I’m going to have nightmares all weekend, I’m sure.

Posted in Current, Environment, Harrah's, Marketing | Comments Off on Synchronicity @ work

Case Bets: Loveman & ladies’ shoes, CityCenter, Singapore, the Palms and Wayne Newton

Posted on February 26, 2010 by David McKee

Naptime in the casino. If American casinos are less frenetic than those of, say, Macao, the gambling culture in Singapore is very relaxed indeed. Fancy a catnap at your slot machine? No problem! Oh, to see the expression on Sheldon Adelson‘s face when people start sacking out in swanky Marina Bay Sands, which is …

… still a long way from completion, per this Feb. 24 photo. Should we start taking action on the viability of that April 27 soft opening? (It will be followed by a semi-soft opening in June, with really, truly, absolutely final completion promised by the end of 2010 … a full year behind schedule.)

Dr Loveman

I see the Dutch-boy haircut is making a comeback …

Loveman profiled. The CEO of Harrah’s Entertainment has some unusual metrics of casino success, mainly involving women’s footwear. Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Architecture, CityCenter, Current, Entertainment, Genting, George Maloof, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Problem gambling, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, The Strip, TV, Wall Street | 4 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 26, 2010 by David McKee

“I believe the Indian gambling empire is a greater threat to American security than Islamic jihadists.” — anti-gambling zealot Randy Brinson, who’s had issues with the private sector, too.

Posted in Alabama, Cretins, Current, Sheldon Adelson | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 25, 2010 by David McKee

Trump small“I know Carl [Icahn] better than my lawyers and Carl spends nothing. I would be surprised if he spent $3 … If Carl spends 10 cents, it’s a major event.” — exiled, orange-hued casino CEO Donald Trump, dissing rival Icahn during bankruptcy hearings over the fate of perpetually insolvent Trump Entertainment Resorts.

Posted in Atlantic City, Carl Icahn, Current, Donald Trump | 3 Comments

The Pioneer strikes again

Posted on February 25, 2010 by David McKee

PioneerLaughlinRiverView-96Maybe Archon Corp. Treasurer Sue Lowden was right to play down her casino-industry involvement, after all (although gaming executives aren’t hated around here with anything like the passion reserved for bankers). Her family’s Laughlin grind joint, the Pioneer, occasionally makes the news but never in a good way. In the late Nineties, it caused industry colleagues to blush with a TV spot that slammed Native American casinos by deploying negative Indian stereotypes — and you can bet besieged Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) is digging hard for that footage. Five years back, Archon had a nasty run-in with its own shareholders over some nepotistic stock grants. So it was only a matter of time before the Lowdens stepped in it again.

Archon’s annual SEC filing was overdue and when it tardily dribbled out Continue reading →

Posted in Harry Reid, Laughlin, Marketing, MGM Mirage, The Strip | 4 Comments

New Donny in town

Posted on February 25, 2010 by David McKee

As in Clay, Donny Clay, played by the versatile Jason Alexander in The Donny Clay Experience. This delightful one-man show will be a peripatetic and hopefully long-lived visitor to Planet Hollywood … unless Gary Loveman‘s crony Frank Biondi (ex-Viacom CEO) flies into another one of his anti-Alexander tantrums like the one eyewitnessed in Winner Takes All. (Just kidding.)

Viva 1• Oh yeah, there’s this other new show on the Strip called Viva Elvis. Continue reading →
Posted in Boyd Gaming, Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Current, George Maloof, Harrah's, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Movies, Planet Hollywood, The Strip, Tourism | 2 Comments

Case Bets: “Viva Elvis,” Loveman in Macao, Icahn in A.C., etc.

Posted on February 24, 2010 by David McKee

Viva Elvis vs. Love. The Sun‘s John Katsilometes pivots it to a question of “Whose music is better?” I’m not going there but I think he really nails why one show seemed right up Cirque du Soleil‘s alley while the other finds the troupe creatively befuddled: “The music of The Beatles is far better aligned with the obtuse, groundbreaking sense of entertainment that has made Cirque an international phenomenon and the dominant entertainment production company in Las Vegas.”

Another trenchant point is that some Viva Elvis songs are warbled live “and as such by someone who is not Elvis Presley.” The way I see it, Cirque either needed to go whole-hog with this or not at all. The half-and-half compromise means that, even as garbled by the horrid Aria showroom sound system, the live performers who alternate with Presley’s recordings are constantly vulnerable to unenviable comparisons, not to mention raising the vexing, recurrent question of why song X was aggressively re-arranged and song Y was left relatively intact.

Thank you, Sun, for reprinting a photo of one of the show’s best ‘WTF?’ moments: Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Carl Icahn, Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Current, Don Barden, Donald Trump, Economy, Entertainment, Harrah's, Indiana, International, Isle of Capri, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Penn National, Pennsylvania, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Tribal, Tropicana Entertainment | 5 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 24, 2010 by David McKee

“Hong Kong teen leaves granny in morgue after gambling funeral cash” — link (defunct, unfortunately) on GamingFloor.com.

Posted in Current, International, Problem gambling | 2 Comments

Adelson, Earl & a paper tiger

Posted on February 24, 2010 by David McKee

LVSANDS SINGAPORE CASINOOpening a drowsy eye, the Las Vegas Review-Journal belatedly took note of Las Vegas Sands‘ Singapore project, although the story was just a puff piece (perhaps because its writer used to toil in Vegas’ PR shops, including a stint at R&R Partners). The quotes from CEO Sheldon Adelson (and probably those of his $2 Million Man, Michael Leven) are explicitly cobbled in from a press release and from what orifice did the R-J pull this assertion?: Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Current, Economy, Genting, Harrah's, Lake Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Wall Street | Comments Off on Adelson, Earl & a paper tiger

This just in: Wynn goes to Philly

Posted on February 23, 2010 by David McKee

As of this moment (i.e., while I’m typing), Hunter Hillegas‘ blog has what neither the Las Vegas Sun nor the Las Vegas Review-Journal do: the breaking news that, yes indeed, Wynn Resorts is riding to the rescue of the hapless Foxwoods-in-Philadelphia casino. Wynn’s official announcement is extremely circumspect as to the extent of the company’s remit as managing general partner, although the terms “decisive leadership” and “superior quality of design” spring to mind (see below).

FoxwoodsHow do you spell ‘fugly’? F-o-x-w-o-o-d-s

It also makes no mention of Foxwoods, which either portends an ownership shift or is simply a snub of Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Current, MGM Mirage, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Tribal, Wall Street | 5 Comments

Case Bets: Boyd speaks, Kansas stalls & problem gamblers get the shaft

Posted on February 23, 2010 by David McKee

Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith weighs in on the subject of emerging markets. Significant by its omission: Florida. Boyd got its fingers burnt down there and knows better than some in the industry that it’s not the Land of Opportunity (except for the Seminole Tribe, that is).

Sophie Gibbons’s Choice. In his proposed budget, Gov. Jim Gibbons offers this depraved scenario: Either push problem gamblers under the bus or take it out on the young, the lame or the elderly. What’s the likelihood that, once confiscated, that treatment money is ever coming back? If you answered, “When Hell freezes over,” congratulations, you win the door prize. I’d much sooner sell the Governor’s Mansion (and dispose, if at all possible, of the archaic requirement that the chief executive reside in Carson City year-round) than make that morally insupportable Sophie’s Choice.

Like nearly every policy proposal to come off the governor’s desk, this is short-sighted and counterproductive, rife with hidden costs. Or to put it another way, you know Midnight Jim has gone off the deep end when Sheldon Adelson is Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Current, Detroit, Economy, Florida, Kansas, Lyle Berman, Midnight Jim Gibbons, Politics, Problem gambling, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Tamares Group, Tribal | Comments Off on Case Bets: Boyd speaks, Kansas stalls & problem gamblers get the shaft

“The worst riverboat casino in the world”

Posted on February 23, 2010 by David McKee

stl_admiralThat’d be the President, symbolic flagship of Pinnacle Entertainment‘s fleet. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an excellent story, laying out the complexities surrounding the Missouri Gaming Commission‘s legally dubious move to shut the old ship down. There are no heroes or villains here. Pinnacle’s handing of the President is clearly a cynical charade but regulators are wading deep into a gray area in their efforts to scuttle the boat. The story doesn’t make clear whether or not the President’s license is “portable” to another location (Pinnacle clearly believes it is), which would allow Pinnacle to annex the coveted Chain of Rocks area.

It looks as though the MGC is going to have to swallow its pride Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Current, Missouri, Pinnacle Entertainment, Politics, Regulation | 4 Comments

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 23, 2010 by David McKee

“I don’t have any claim to being a bright individual.” — Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, who seems bent on proving his point.

Posted in Current, Midnight Jim Gibbons | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Introducing Planet Harrah’s

Posted on February 23, 2010 by David McKee

Newly Harrah’s-ized Planet Hollywood has got a new Web site. OK, it’s a little rudimentary by 2010 standards but we’re in the top of the first inning here. (If for some reason the page doesn’t show in your browser, the promo code for $99/night suite rate is “tower.”)

Fans of Peepshow will be happy to see that performances resume on March 1. One presumes this means a near-total recasting of the show, its previous set of performers having been sent on a multi-month hiatus. Whatever Peepshow 4.0 looks like, it will probably bear only a passing, downsized resemblance to the Mel B./Kelly Monaco extravaganza of a year ago.

Two other observations: The lead image, unfortunately, is shot from an angle that maximizes the architectural incongruities of Planet Ho. In the wayback, circa 2001, Robert Earl toyed with encasing the half-hearted “Moorish” look of the hotel tower in a big glass cube. One can easily see how that concept might have been impractical (imagine a micro-climate between the glass sheath and the tower proper) but it’s Planet Ho’s aesthetic fate to always be stuck somewhere betwixt fish and foul.

Also, how did Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall get to be Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Architecture, Cirque du Soleil, Current, Entertainment, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Technology, The Strip, Wayne F. Newton, World Series of Poker | 12 Comments

Penn: “You stupid darkness!”

Posted on February 22, 2010 by David McKee

In one of my absolute favorite Peanuts strips, Charlie Brown finds Linus out in the night, carrying a taper. Asked to explain, Linus replies that it’s better to light a single candle than curse the darkness. Cut to Lucy, elsewhere, yelling, “You stupid darkness!”

That moment of cartoon eloquence was brought to mind by a hot-off-the-Internet e-mail from J.P. Morgan, whose analysts sat down with Penn National Gaming management. I quote, “management sounds frustrated with the current state of the regional gaming consumer (i.e., the customers are coming, by and large, and visitation is flat with year over year levels, but spending per visit and time on device continues to remain below year ago levels).”

Forgive me for going all-caps on Penn but Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Economy, Maryland, Ohio, Penn National, Pennsylvania, The Strip, Wall Street | 3 Comments

Case Bets: Wynn in Philly, topless in Vegas, Pegasus crashes

Posted on February 22, 2010 by David McKee

It’s a slow news day in the industry, though not without its amusing elements. For instance, the Philadelphia Inquirer devoted a significant amount of ink to the weighty question of whether half-dozen casinos in the greater Philly area might be far too many. (Never mind that Atlantic City, way out on the coast, has 11 … possibly 12, if Revel gets the tax breaks it’s seeking.)

Much of the grumbling comes from the usual suspects — activists who never wanted casinos in the first place and casino owners who get pissy at the prospect of competition. Seriously, to hear Parx Casino, the state’s revenue leader, howl about the threat posed by a comparatively small “resort” casino in Valley Forge, is like seeing a gladiator cowering at the sight of a mouse. Cowboy up there, Parx.

What’s more interesting is the re-emergence of private-equity mogul Ira Lubert as a potential casino owner. As S&G covered back in July of ’08, Lubert had quite a shell game going. Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic City, Cannery Casino Resorts, CityCenter, Current, Economy, Entertainment, Genting, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Neil Bluhm, Pennsylvania, Racinos, Regulation, Sheldon Adelson, Singapore, Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn, The Strip, Tribal | 1 Comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 22, 2010 by David McKee

adelson_t200“The buck stopped with me. But if you don’t get the right information, it’s difficult to make common-sense decisions.” — Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson, passing the buck for his company’s near-collapse onto former LVS executives.

Posted in Economy, Macau, Sheldon Adelson, Wall Street | 1 Comment

‘Viva Elvis’: It’s here and …

Posted on February 22, 2010 by David McKee

… it’s one giant, steaming heap of merde. Cirque du Soleil is clearly just doing this one for the bread and it shows. Desert Companion Editor Andrew Kiraly‘s baneful summation of Cirque’s oeuvre as “arid pretension” never seemed more appropriate. Congratulations, CityCenter, you now have the theatrical counterpart to Crystals: pompous, overpriced, dysfunctional and largely empty. MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren is to be congratulated for sticking with The Lion King when Cirque coveted the Mandalay Bay showroom. Now, if only he’d go one step farther and rethink MGM’s exclusive “content provider” relationship with his clown-shoed business partners from Montreal.

More interesting than the show itself is the degree of veto power that Priscilla Presley exercised over the stage presentation. At least there are no contortionists Continue reading →

Posted in Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Current, Entertainment, MGM Mirage, The Strip | 6 Comments