Fun with Math, Columbia Sussex style

Posted on April 2, 2008 by David McKee

If you’ve noticed less blogorrhea from yours truly of late, it’s because I’m currently combing through old “Question of the Day” entries, working on a new cross-referencing system. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t found some interesting stats. For instance, look what’s happened at the Las Vegas Tropicana since current owner Columbia Sussex took over, on Jan. 3, 2007:

• On Jan. 5, the free slot-pull promotion was terminated.

• Wi-fi access has increased in price from $11.99 to $14.95.

• Prices for Titanic: The Exhibition have been hiked. LasVegasAdvisor.com lists the new admission fee as $22, but an online purchase will cost you $24.50. (Ironic Touch Dept.: Even though the Titanic exhibit will soon be moving to Luxor, the Trop’s Web site obliviously shouts, “Returning Due to Popular Demand!”

• As of the summer of 2005, the ratio of maids to rooms at Wynn Las Vegas was 1 maid for every 3.5 rooms. A conservative estimate of the same ratio at the Trop is 1 maid for every 12 rooms  (on some floors, it’s a 1-to-22 ratio).

Yup, when it comes to squeezing a penny ’til it drips blood, you can’t beat Columbia Sussex. Too bad that the “collateral damage” is that the erstwhile “Tiffany of the Strip” has been reduced to a tarnished garnet.

Posted in Columbia Sussex | Comments Off on Fun with Math, Columbia Sussex style

Understatement of the Century

Posted on April 2, 2008 by David McKee

"I understand that there's not a lot of respect for education in Southern Nevada." — David Schwartz, director of the UNLV Center for Gaming Research. For the full context, read Die Is Cast.

Crazy Bonus Stat:

53% of Las Vegas Review-Journal readers (in unscientific online poll) say Joe Torre's Los Angeles Dodgers will have a better season than Joe Girardi's New York Yankees. Well, I saw the Dodgers eke out a win last night against a wretched San Francisco Giants team comprised of rookies and players in the twilight of their careers, and it wasn't impressive. Dodger fans, you're in for a long summer, I'm afraid. (Not that my Los Angeles Angels are looking so hot right now, with the #1 and #2 starting pitchers on the shelf indefinitely.)

Posted in Baseball, Current | Comments Off on Understatement of the Century

Columbia Sussex loses one, wins another

Posted on March 31, 2008 by David McKee

Where to start? Well, Gov. Steve Beshear is about to throw in the towel on his casinos-for-Kentucky push, having decided he couldn’t get it past the House. And remember: That was supposed to be the easy part; the state Senate’s approval and popular ratification were considered to be much greater long shots.

So it’s off the table until 2010, meaning that Columbia Sussex CEO William J. Yung III, having shoveled hundreds of thousands of dollars in Beshear’s direction, has nothing to show for it but some empty buildings in Covington, Ky.

Then today, the Indiana Gaming Commission had to weigh whether to allow Yung to keep his Casino Aztar riverboat (above), in Evansville. Quoth the Courier-Press of Evansville: “By law, the Indiana Gaming Commission may not license a company that has seen one of its gambling licenses revoked in another state.” The vessel’s been on the market since December and no buyer had been identified, perhaps because — under Yung’s errant captaincy — aged Casino Aztar has become the least-visited casino in the Hoosier State and lost almost 250 employees.

IGC Executive Director Ernest Yelton, got his wish though. Just minutes ago, the Carano family’s Eldorado Resorts came to the rescue, bearing a $245 million purchase offer (possibly less, if Casino Aztar doesn’t meet certain benchmarks). Although this spares the IGC from having to actually strip Yung of his license, commission members did split the baby, after a fashion: Columbia Sussex will relinquish day-to-day operations to state-appointed trustee (and former Harrah’s exec) Robert Dingman.

This is something of an experiment for the IGC. A bill that “would have set up a procedure for operating an Indiana casino temporarily if the owner lost its license, filed for bankruptcy or abandoned a riverboat” died in this year’s Indiana Lege for mostly unrelated reasons. So the commission has to move forward into uncharted waters, reliant on a gentleman’s agreement (and power of attorney) from Columbia Sussex.

About the new owner: In addition to owning an eponymous casino in Reno, Eldorado Resorts recently was awarded full ownership of a former Hollywood Casino riverboat in the Shreveport market, which it is currently operating under the Eldorado brand.

And a Columbia Sussex that was puffing with pride a year ago, having won a runaway bidding war for Aztar Corp., now must look upon a much-shrunken version of its merged C.S./Aztar empire. It had to surrender Aztar’s Carurthersville, riverboat to Missouri regulators right out of the gate, then lost the Atlantic City Tropicana last December. Now Casino Aztar is going bye-bye, leaving only the LV Trop and a former Ramada Express in Laughlin as the only remnants of Aztar.

For the upside, what the Courier-Press‘ editorial page describes as Yung’s “short, unpleasant tenure in Evansville” is fast nearing an end.

On other fronts … The largest loan in a pool of cross-collateralized hotel loans held by Bear Stearns Commercial Mortgage Securities happens to be that of — you guessed it — Bill Yung! Here’s the techno-speak:

The Columbia Sussex Portfolio (93%), the largest loan in the pool, is collateralized by 14 full-service hotels located in 13 major urban markets with a total of 5,821 rooms. At issuance the portfolio occupancy was 76% with an average daily rate (ADR) of $131 and revenue per available room (RevPAR) of $99.6. At year end (YE) 2007 the portfolio occupancy declined to 65.2% with an ADR of $158.9 and a RevPAR of $99.4. Fitch stressed YE2007 net cash flow (NCF) also declined 6% compared to issuance NCF. The initial maturity date was October 12, 2007. The loan has three one year options to extend, and is currently in the first of the one year extensions with a maturity date of October 12, 2008 and mortgage rate of 6.3%. As a condition of the extension the loan was converted from interest only to amortizing.

A.C. Tropicana workers want a say in who their next boss turns out to be. While I sympathize, given what they’ve been through, New Jersey regulators need to tell Unite-Here Local 54 to take a step back: This is what Justice Gary Stein and, through him, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission get paid to do. After the fiasco that was ‘ColSux,’ they’re unlikely to make the same mistake twice.

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Indiana, Regulation | Comments Off on Columbia Sussex loses one, wins another

Elvis has already left this building

Posted on March 27, 2008 by David McKee

Two days ago, VegasTodayandTomorrow.com broke out the specifics of FX Real Estate & Entertainment‘s Elvis-themed resort, set for the southeast corner of Harmon Avenue and the Strip, gleaned from an SEC filing. Among the principals is Paul Kanavos, previously involved in a protracted, unsuccessful courtship of Riviera Holdings.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal weighs in today, though I doubt its coverage of the project will cause a run-up in FXRE stock (especially when the ‘expert analysis’ of the project comes not from, say, Bill Lerner of Deutsche Bank, but from an Elvis impersonator).

Despite aforesaid impersonator’s unbounded Continue reading →

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That wacky Columbia Sussex

Posted on March 25, 2008 by David McKee

According to The Press of Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex is countersuing its bondholders, which it contends are trying to force the company into bankruptcy or seize an ownership in the Atlantic City Tropicana Casino & Resort. 'ColSux,' you will remember, is the company that is suing the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to regain control of theTropicana (which, under interim management, is finally starting to turn around the revenue landslide that occurred under Columbia Sussex's reign of error).

Even so, Columbia Sussex now complains that voluminous legal filings by Wilmington Trust are impeding the transfer of the Trop back to ColSux subsidiary Adamar ['Ramada' spelt backwards] of New Jersey, thereby "interfering with the company's right to cure a technical default." And impeding Justice Gary Stein's attempts to sell the Trop to one of a trio of potential buyers.

So let's get this straight: When it's not suing to repossess the Trop (or, more likely, collect monetary damages), Columbia Sussex is suing to facilitate the sale of the casino it claims to want back. As usual, if you can figure out what Tropicana Casino Resorts CEO/President/Secretary/Treasurer/Sole Director William J. Yung III is up to, you're a smarter person than I.

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Regulation | Comments Off on That wacky Columbia Sussex

Looking for trouble

Posted on March 21, 2008 by David McKee

Seems that somebody, getting into the spirit of our increasingly Orwellian society, has been doing a few “sneak and peek” searches on the passport records Sens. Clinton and Obama. Those of you with long memories will recall that Bush I functionaries pulled this same dirty trick on a young whippersnapper by the name of Bill Clinton back in ’92. Like father, like son, eh?

OK, so at least some of the miscreants have been fired. That still doesn’t answer the question of why they did it or erase from their minds (and those of anybody with whom they were in cahoots) what was found out. Or, as the judge is always saying on Law & Order, “You can’t un-ring the bell, Mr. McCoy.”

I’m with Rep. Henry Waxman: I want to know who did this, why and what they were looking for. And if you think it’s a non-issue, well, what if it were your passport file?

[Quickie update: Seems the passport file of Sen. John McCain was breached, too. Either there are State Dept. employees with way too much time on their hands on there’s some sort of bipartisan dirty-trick activity at work. Either way, heads better be rolling. (And does this mean Condi‘s blown her shot at being McCain’s veep?)]

Meanwhile … They’re not letting this guy into the U.S.? Why, he sounds like your average Vegas high roller. Too bad he doesn’t have any “juice.”

Speaking of looking for trouble … Giant undersea spiders, jellyfish with 12-foot tentacles, starfish two feet wide — does this sound like the jumping-off point for a SciFi Original Motion Picture to you? Actually, these are the fruits of recent Antarctic research.

You know where this is gonna lead: Somebody like Tagruato Corp. is gonna start poking around and, next thing you know, we’re getting a visit from Mr. Grumpypants. Don’t make him angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.

Posted in Cloverfield monster, Election, Regulation | Comments Off on Looking for trouble

Plaza still a "go", Tropicana gets new boss, Gibbons still irrelevant

Posted on March 20, 2008 by David McKee

It's Day Five of the "Hell No, We Won't Go" crisis and Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners members Drs. Daniel McBride and Javaid Anwar continue to thumb their noses at Gov. Jim Gibbons. As does board Executive Director Tony Clark. There's little I would I like to see much more than watching a pack of dobermans chase McBride, Anwar and Clark from their offices.

Then again, it's quite a spectacle to see Nevada public officials not only recognizing that The Gibber is a paper tiger but openly daring him to do something about it. For now, we've got a Nevada governor who looks increasingly ineffectual — with 2 3/4 years to go on his term.

"Forging ahead as planned." That's the word on Elad Group's Plaza project, budgeted at $6 billion — with 6,700 units and a casino floor larger even than the MGM Grand's — slated to open in 2011. The Clark County Commission gave Elad the green light yesterday. So, anybody got $6 billion these chaps can borrow?

(For the absolute latest in Plaza designs, see VegasTodayandTomorrow.com)

Columbia Sussex Watch: The first day of Spring also means that William J. Yung III has 12 days to find a buyer and consummate the sale of Casino Aztar, in Evansville, Ind., or risk having it taken away from him when Indiana's gaming commission meets to reconsider Columbia Sussex's license, on March 31.

Meanwhile, Yung has enlisted some adult supervision (and relinquished one of his 21 corporate titles) by installing Scott Butera as president of Tropicana Entertainment. Butera has bounced around these last five years, from UBS to Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts to working for local developer Brett Torino and thence to 15 months with the runaway Cosmopolitan Resort Casino.

To say that Butera's got his work cut out for him at the remaining Trops is a considerable understatement. But he does know the casino business, which appears to be more than can be said of the crew currently calling the shots from Fort Mitchell, Kentucky.

Chips ahoy! Following a well-publicized rollout in Las Vegas, Harrah's Entertainment is taking its $25K gold chip gimmick to Caesars Atlantic City. Hey, if it's working, more power to 'em.

Man bans himself from Atlantic City casinos for life, but wants to play elsewhere, then finds he can't. What part of "self exclusion" do bozos like this fail to comprehend?

Shameless Self-Promotion Dept.: Like real estate ads, I'm inescapable in the Las Vegas media this weekend. So if you're not glutted already, you can read my takes on the new movies Look and Under the Same Moon, not to mention UNLV Opera Theatre's recent staging of Mozart's Cosi fan tutté. Oh, and did I mention last week's DVD review? I didn't? How remiss of me.

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Donald Trump, Harrah's, Indiana, Marketing, Movies, Politics, Problem gambling, The Strip | Comments Off on Plaza still a "go", Tropicana gets new boss, Gibbons still irrelevant

Stalemate at The Orleans; Big Easy has big month

Posted on March 19, 2008 by David McKee

It’s been almost nine months since the majority of Boyd Gaming‘s stagehands voted to unionize. Since then, they’ve been subjected to a managerial smackdown and their elected representative, IATSE, is virtually powerless to alleviate the situation — or even to get a contract out of Boyd. IATSE has been similarly impotent with regard to Blue Man Group‘s stagehands.

Let’s face it, for all the anti-labor huffing and puffing in the pages of the Hooterville Times, er, Las Vegas Review-Journal, unions don’t have that much clout in this town, with the notable exception of the Culinary … and even it couldn’t do beans for Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Columbia Sussex, Election, Harrah's, Louisiana, Pinnacle Entertainment, The Strip | Comments Off on Stalemate at The Orleans; Big Easy has big month

Exodus from L.V. Trop continues

Posted on March 19, 2008 by David McKee

There will soon be even fewer reasons (not that there are many left) to visit the Las Vegas Tropicana. Instead of having to navigate a defunct escalator to see Bodies … The Exhibition or Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, you'll be able to cross the street and see them at Luxor.

True, the moribund state of affairs at the Trop is aptly symbolized by a doomed ocean liner and a display of cadavers. Previous owner Aztar Corp. basically ignored the place and, following its reign of benign neglect, the malign neglect of Columbia Sussex seems bent on finishing the job. But visitors to Bodies ... and Titanic will now be spared the marathon trek to the far end of the Trop if they want to see these shows. (To be honest, I thought Bodies … would freak people out and be a disaster. Boy, was I ever wrong.)

Sadly, the move to Luxor means it's curtains for the Imax theater (so see those Imax movies while you still can; they're pretty damn cool). Ditto the arcade and the King Tut exhibit. In the latter instance, MGM Mirage may be accomplishing two things in one fell swoop: Bringing in a pair of revenue-generating exhibits and dispensing with what may soon become a money drain. After all, the Egyptian government has made it clear they'd like Luxor (the casino) to compensate them for displaying replicas of Luxor (the historical landmark).

This should almost complete the de-theming of Luxor. Except that it's still a pyramid. Not much that resort President (and certifiably cool guy) Felix Rappaport can do about that, short of resorting to dynamite.

Update: David Schwartz's take on this is better than mine. Yes, it's the world's first death-themed casino resort! I feel lucky already.

Posted in Columbia Sussex, MGM Mirage, The Strip | Comments Off on Exodus from L.V. Trop continues

Meet Bill Yung

Posted on March 19, 2008 by David McKee

That preening Master of the Universe wannabe you see above is Columbia Sussex CEO William Yung III, subject of a lengthy (and deeply unflattering) exposé in the Louisville Courier-Journal. The article basically explains what Missouri Gaming Commission Director Gene McNary meant when he cryptically told the Kansas City Star‘s Rick Alm that “There were things turned up in the investigation that did not comport with law-abiding behavior.”

On a more humorous note, the Courier-Journal article refers to Yung as a “gambling czar.” In an industry dominated by the likes of Kirk Kerkorian, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Gary Loveman, and various and sundry Fertittas, Yung is — at best — more like a minor aristocrat whose estates are slowly going to seed. (His casino employees could certainly identify with the serfdom.)

Put on a happy face: New Jersey authorities are doing the best they can to spin the paltry number of bids (at best, three) for the Atlantic City Tropicana as a big win. We still don’t know if Colony Capital actually put in a formal offer, although this newspaper didn’t get the memo about the Mohegans’ high-profile pullout.

A casino that was projected as selling for in excess of $1 billion could now go for considerably less. “Given where they are [relative to the market], if you were a bottom-feeder, you’d wait ’til the last dog was hung,” says a source familiar with the situation, adding that the condition of the Trop may have scared off buyers: “It’s basically three crummy properties and one great one smushed together.”

To nobody’s surprise, the New Jersey Lege passed a $90 million, three-year subsidy for the Garden State’s horse racing industry, to be funded by Atlantic City casinos. You might say that the casinos are the horse in this case, lumbered with an overweight jockey in the form of the state’s struggling tracks.

Lousiana riverboat gets third chance. The Hollywood Shreveport riverboat casino couldn’t make a go of it under the now-forgotten Hollywood brand and then turned turtle while under Penn National’s stewardship. Now, Reno-based Eldorado, which has been running the place for three years, has been approved to take full control of the vessel, which is worth roughly $40 million.

BoSox take a stand. When there’s a players’ strike, managers and coaches have to toe ownership’s line and work with the scabs. But when Boston Red Sox ownership tried to shortchange its coaching staff, the players threatened to boycott the season opener unless their coaches were properly compensated. Now that’s team spirit.

On the other hand …

Steroid-lovin’ union boss Don Fehr is demanding — nay, insisting — that, by golly, somebody better hire “Balco Barry” Bonds or there’ll be consequences ‘n stuff. Hmmmm, let’s see: a decrepit, 43-year-old, surly, steroid-using player who clanks up the plate wearing a veritable suit of armor, can’t play defense and is under federal indictment? Nah, I don’t see any problems there. No distraction whatsoever.

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Horseracing, Louisiana, Sports | Comments Off on Meet Bill Yung

Scant interest in A.C. Trop

Posted on March 18, 2008 by David McKee

So the deadline for bids on the Atlantic City Tropicana has come and gone, and there are only three bids on the table. Or maybe two.

Though I may have a dollar figure on the Cordish Cos. offer later today, even if it doesn’t match the shrouded-in-mystery Joseph Palladino bid ($1.1 billion, including capital improvements), Cordish can be safely described as the company to beat. It built Atlantic City’s The Walk retail mall and former Trop exec Dennis Gomes — on whose watch the Trop’s generally admired The Quarter was built — is Cordish’s point man. Gomes enjoys long familiarity with both the Trop and the overall Atlantic City market, dating back to his Trump Taj Mahal years, and he’s a former regulator, to boot. (He helped bust the Vegas skimming operation that became the subject of Nicholas Pileggi‘s Casino.)

Even if the Palladino offer doesn’t turn out to be smoke and mirrors, his arrogance may be his undoing. Saying you won’t disclose your investors unless your bid is accepted wouldn’t fly in Nevada, so what is Palladino smoking to think that New Jersey’s even-stricter regulators will swoon at his feet?

As for the third offer, Colony Capital‘s $850 million, it may turn out to have been pure rhetoric. It’s 50/50 that Colony didn’t follow up with a formal bid (just as occurred the last time the Trop was on the market). I’m guessing Colony didn’t follow up and — if so — it’s looking like a company that talks big but doesn’t put its money where its mouth is.

In Colony’s defense, the double-whammy of sleepy Aztar Corp. and cheapskate Columbia Sussex is said to have left a plethora of deferred-maintenance issues at the Trop. (Based on my experience of its Vegas counterpart, I can believe it.) Also, did Colony expect the bottom of the credit markets to fall out when it first threw that $850 million figure out there?

Unless Palladino is just fronting for those blushing violets (not!) Steve Wynn or Sheldon Adelson, I’m saying this is a slam dunk for Cordish, regardless of the dollar amount. Besides, you’ve got to love the guy who gave Atlantic City the tic-tac-toe-playing chicken.

‘Gaters rule! You can’t beat a tic-tac-toe playing chicken, but it pleases me no end to report that Stargate: The Ark of Truth is still #1 on Amazon’s DVD list, a week after hitting stores. Unfortunately, this also means that thousands of Americans will be seeing my cameo appearance in the DVD ‘extras’ and wondering, “Who the f@#& is that dweeb?”

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Movies, Regulation | Comments Off on Scant interest in A.C. Trop

A.C. Trop to go begging?

Posted on March 17, 2008 by David McKee

You have to wonder after reading this story, which suggests that — out of a field of two-dozen potential suitors for the Atlantic City Tropicana — virtually everyone is heading for the tall grass. Or maybe it's an en masse fake-out and some "surprise" bids will sneak across the transom at 4:59 p.m. EST.

To get a recurring annoyance out of the way, I don't know why reporters keep dragging Harrah's Entertainment into this. With four casinos on the Boardwalk already, Harrah's would undoubtedly stir antitrust concerns if it made a play for the biggest hotel in the market. As for MGM Mirage, does anyone seriously think it's got the the time or the interest in bothering with the Trop when it's got a $5 billion dollar Atlantic City project of its own on the drawing boards?

Mohegan Sun has taken a powder and it looks as though Pinnacle Entertainment (whose Boardwalk megaresort project is currently in abeyance) is doing the same. Colony Capital's Owen Blicksilver is doing his usual "no comment" thing, and most everyone else (Cordish Cos., Ameristar, the Bashaw/Barr duo) is following suit. What's more, The Press of Atlantic City suggests that the Trop's asking price may be in freefall.

True, there's a $950 billion offer on the table from what is aptly described as "a mysterious New York investment group." I'd be be surprised if this particular bid doesn't evaporate upon closer inspection by Bear Sterns, hired to perform due diligence for the State of New Jersey. Plus, the Trop may just be too dilapidated and too damn old to take on right now.

Then again, Columbia Sussex CEO William Yung III might get the courts to enjoin the sale altogether, pending the outcome of his lawsuit against the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. I'm sure the NJCCC's potential can't-sell-the-Trop predicament will cause him no pain, personally. (His bondholders, though, may take a different view, seeing as they're counting on that Trop-sale cash he promised them.)

Posted in Ameristar, Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Pinnacle Entertainment | Comments Off on A.C. Trop to go begging?

Need casino furniture, cheap?

Posted on March 13, 2008 by David McKee

When I visited Detroit, the official position of MGM Grand Detroit was that its vacated temporary casino (formerly an IRS building) could be re-activated as a casino, if MGM so chose. I guess they chose otherwise. Yes, this roulette table could yours for a mere thousand clams. Come on down!

Bankruptcy in Bossier City. There’s been a malaise in that Louisiana market ever since Class III gaming started to make inroads in Oklahoma, threatening Bossier City‘s key feeder markets, like Dallas-Fort Worth. Now an ex-Isle of Capri riverboat casino has hit a financial shoal.

Blackballed on the Strip? Or maybe you’re just having a hard time breaking in? No matter. The Seminoles need a few good dealers (3,650, to be precise) and they’re going at least as far as Atlantic City to find them, maybe even to Las Vegas, they say. (I mean, we’ve only got, what, six Columbia Sussex properties here? The Seminoles will have those 3,650 dealers in nothing flat.)

But if you’re really hard up for comedians (and maybe too cheap to buy an ad), you can always put your phone number in a Las Vegas Review-Journal and risk being inundated by every bad standup comedian with an Internet connection, a mouse and a telephone. Heck, Fitzgerald‘s did. That’s 702/388-2400 and ask for Gene Sagas. I’ll be expecting S&G‘s usual 10% commission if you get the gig, OK?

Posted in Columbia Sussex, Detroit, Downtown, Florida, Louisiana, Tribal | Comments Off on Need casino furniture, cheap?

Stat of the Week

Posted on March 13, 2008 by David McKee

According to a report filed by private detective Jim Perry of Perry Investigations, on the evening of Sept. 1, 2007, he spent two hours conducting surveillance at the Tropicana Resort & Casino, between 8:15 and 10:15 p.m. During that time, Perry observed only one security guard “in the casino and outside of the casino.”

Two hotel towers, 46 table games, 1,280 slots, 61,000 square feet of casino alone* … and one security guard. To quote Pvt. Hudson (unforgettably played by Bill Paxton) in Aliens, “I feel safer already.”

*–Figures obtained from the 2006-07 Casino City’s North American Gaming Almanac.

Posted in Columbia Sussex, The Strip | Comments Off on Stat of the Week

This week in Columbia Sussex

Posted on March 11, 2008 by David McKee

"Things are a little murky." That's how the Cincinnati Enquirer describes the Did-he-or-didn't-he issue of whether Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear met with million-dollar booster and Columbia Sussex CEO William Yung III, whose desire for a Cincinnati-area casino is the worst-kept secret in the Bluegrass State. (Beshear does, for the record, acknowledge hobnobbing with several players in the horseracing industry, but not with Yung.)

However, a game of keep-away involving records of visitors to the governor's office is clouding the issue. For some, the whole matter is starting to look rather seamy. And, considering the ethical sinkhole that swallowed the administration of Beshear's predecessor, can you blame them?

Having proclaimed for all to hear that the arrival of Pinnacle Entertainment would write finis to one of their riverboats, Penn National and Columbia Sussex have to decide whether to put up their dukes or cut and run. Not that they have to hurry: Pinnacle's Riviere project is still two-plus years away.

But if Hollywood and the Belle of Baton Rouge (soon to be displaced by Amelie Bell [above]) stay put, it's a tacit admission that their parents' anti-Pinnacle campaign tactics were a bunch of B.S. Or so implies the Baton Rouge Business Report. An analyst hired by Penn crunches the numbers and concludes that Belle has the better profit margins, ergo the better chance of eking it out in a post-Pinnacle market. Penn could counter-attack by bringing Argosy Lawrenceburg downriver from Indiana, greatly increasing its Baton Rouge capacity.

But New Orleans-based gaming analyst Nicholas Danna "says [Columbia Sussex] has shown a tendency to overpay for properties, making it harder to reinvest in what they have." He notes, though, that Baton Rouge is a market with considerable room for growth, compared to New Orleans (Belle's former home).

Back in Atlantic City, there are still only two bidders for the Atlantic City Tropicana, although the others may be waiting until next Monday, hoping to slap down a last-second bid that catches the competition unawares. However, since trustee Justice Gary Stein isn't held hostage to "maximizing shareholder value," he doesn't have to take the highest offer. (By contrast, Aztar Corp. had little choice but to sell its assets to Columbia Sussex, even if it knew full well what depredations would follow.)

According to Richard Perniciaro, director of the Center for Regional Business & Research at Atlantic Cape Community College, as paraphrased by NJ Biz, desiderata include "stability, cash to invest and experience in both gaming and working with labor unions. “ In other words, somebody 180 degrees from Columbia Sussex's CEO. Despite the paucity of bids on the table, analysts are starting to doubt that Stein can have the sale wrapped in June (his deadline has already been extended once)

Tropicana execs and overseers, meantime, are forecasting a rosier future, as part of their sales pitch, according to a 36-page memo intercepted by The Press of Atlantic City. Part of the turnaround is to be achieved by restaffing player-development and marketing staffs that Yung decimated. These aren't pie-in-the-sky estimates.

According to the document, it will take more than two years to restore revenue levels to pre-Columbia Sussex levels. And though 300 staffers will be added by year's end, employment levels at the A.C. Trop will still be only 85% of what they were before Yung's minions got in and started slashing away.

Posted in Atlantic City, Columbia Sussex, Kentucky, Louisiana, Penn National | Comments Off on This week in Columbia Sussex

Spitzer: It's the hypocrisy, stupid!

Posted on March 11, 2008 by David McKee

So New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer had sex with a prostitute. Yes, Mrs. Spitzer should brain him with an iron skillet, kick his philandering ass out of the house, divorce him … and that’s just for starters. But, as someone who favors decriminalizing and even legalizing sex-for-pay, let’s not get distracted by who”Client #9″ paid to do the nasty, how many times and with whom. Heck, by the time you read this, Spitzer’s political career could be history.

What makes this a story is that, after years of being the white knight of Wall Street, Spitzer has become Gov. Humpty Dumpty, and you know what happened after Mr. Dumpty’s great fall (off of a wall, no less). Spitzer was also pursuing a vendetta against his chief political adversary, Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Election, Politics | Comments Off on Spitzer: It's the hypocrisy, stupid!

Billie: Odd Man Out; Tilman Fertitta Gets Miffed

Posted on March 11, 2008 by David McKee

For one month at least, you’ve got a reason to read Playboy for the articles (well, three if you count Kurt Vonnegut’s essay on the firebombing of Dresden and new fiction by Dog Soldiers author Robert Stone).

Controversial former Seminole chairman James Billie is the subject of a lengthy profile. He’s plotting a return to the directorship of the tribe now that it’s flush with Hard Rock and Class III gambling cash. Author Pat Jordan‘s story is a sentimentalized apologia for Billie, told almost exclusively by Billie and his sympathizers (NIGC Chairman Phil Hogen makes a cameo appearance).

To hear Jordan tell it, all that stands between Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Tribal | Comments Off on Billie: Odd Man Out; Tilman Fertitta Gets Miffed

Atlantic City, the glass half-full

Posted on March 10, 2008 by David McKee

Normally a 1.5% jump in casino revenue wouldn’t be cause for dancing in the streets and maybe today’s numbers aren’t reason to get carried away. Given that there’s a quadrennial aberration (i.e., Feb. 29) in play, the +0.1% in slot revenues can probably be discounted outright. But with tables up 4.9%, we see continuing evidence of Atlantic City being reinvented as a tables-driven market. Slots, after all, you can get in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and (sort of) in New York.

Mind you, Atlantic City is still -4.4% from last year’s pace. And $384 million, while scarcely chicken feed, is a good ways off of the Boardwalk’s highest month: $504.8 million in July ’05. On a happier note, casinos are likely to be insulated from any further government shutdowns in Trenton.

Except for Trump Plaza’s 13.8% jump, few of the upward fluctuations were dramatic, with second-best going to Harrah’s Marina, closely followed by the same company’s Showboat and — a little further back — Caesars Atlantic City, putting three of Harrah’s four properties in the “plus” column for the month. Led by Trump Plaza, those properties were distinguished by dramatic gains at the tables. Except for the Plaza, revenue declines at the slots tended to keep all the other gainers in the single-digit column.

It would have been a banner month for all three Trump Entertainment Resorts casinos (at a time when the company could really use some good news) were it not for Trump Taj Mahal getting clobbered at the tables (-11.4%), for an average Trump gain of 6.1% (still better than Harrah’s Marina). Borgata, as usual, had a good month, up 3.4% and leading the market in volume of win ($60.88 million). Low man on the win volume totem pole was Trump Marina, at $18.67 million.

Not only was Resorts Atlantic City near the bottom of the win-volume spectrum, it posted the worst revenue decine, -7.8%. (A $2.8 million gain at Trump Plaza was the closest February came to a dramatic revenue fluctuation.)

Although it’s still in seventh place, in terms of win, the Tropicana finally appears to have stanched the bleeding. Under the guidance of among others, a returning Pam Popielarski, a state-appointed transition team has slowed the catastrophic revenue slide that characterized the mismanagement of ousted operator Columbia Sussex. A bad month at the slots wiped out a gain at the tables. However, given the Trop’s recent history, a -3.7% Y/Y decline really is cause for dancing. May the turnaround continue.

Posted in Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Columbia Sussex, Donald Trump, Harrah's | Comments Off on Atlantic City, the glass half-full

Treasure hunt for Columbia Sussex story

Posted on March 7, 2008 by David McKee

A lengthy item on the latest twists and turns in the Columbia Sussex saga, begun Wednesday and finished today, has — through a quirk of our blogging software — posted not as the most recent item but somewhere over on the next page. My apologies for the inconvenience. Here's the short cut.

Posted in Columbia Sussex | Comments Off on Treasure hunt for Columbia Sussex story

Moulin Rouge project puts cart before horse

Posted on March 6, 2008 by David McKee

A group hoping to revive the long-faded glories of the Moulin Rouge hasn’t found construction financing. But no matter: They’ve signed a casino-management team; Epic Gaming, a company whose only other ongoing concern is a tribal casino in Oklahoma, with 550 slots. This is not a choice of operator that leaves one brimming with confidence.

Epic used to go by the handle of Ellis Gaming. Although founder Shawn Ellis is long gone, his team of heavy hitters is still in place. With the likes of former Caesars exec John Groom on board, theoretically Epic has the sort of braintrust that could reimagine the Moulin Rouge as someplace hip and sexy … although its Bonanza Road neighborhood is anything but. Even someone who works there keeps drawing attention to its “vacant and burned buildings, repair shops, a United Parcel Service distribution center and a homeless shelter.”

Epic recently pursued one of the casino licenses up for grabs in Kansas but its application was unceremoniously swatted away. As for the developers, they expect that a hoped-for rezoning (skedded for April 2) will lure construction money out of the woodwork. Under the newly unveiled arrangement, Epic will get to keep all the gambling revenue — unless or until Moulin Rouge Development Corp. or Republic Urban Properties obtains a gaming license.

It’s a business model that’s quickly becoming, if not prevalent, very popular along the Strip (as at the Sahara) … although you’d have to have an MGM Mirage-like revenue stream (60% non-gaming) to make it pencil out, and Harrah’s Entertainment just reported softness in precisely that segment of its Vegas business.

Posted in Downtown, Kansas, Tribal | Comments Off on Moulin Rouge project puts cart before horse