“What’s 23% Between Friends?” So asked Credit Suisse analyst Ben Combes as he reported on International Game Technology‘s 3Q19 earnings call. IGT’s $407 million in cash flow exceeded consensus Wall 
Street expectations by 3%. IGT stock vaulted 23% on the news. “We like IGT’s defensive revenues, long-term contracts and stabilizing US gaming business,” Combes wrote. “Offsetting this is ongoing concerns in Italy around taxes, low growth, and a deleverage story that will take time to play out before capital returns increase.” Replacement sales in the U.S. were very strong, up 38%, while lottery and VLT revenues rose 1%. A 12% increase in Italian taxes translated into $127 million less operating income. Mamma mia! No mention seems Continue reading
Japanese megaresort at $12 billion, while Fitch Ratings thinks it will be closer to $15 billion—more than double the cost of the world’s most expensive casino, Marina Bay Sands. The Motley Fool reports that Goldstein “believes it should serve as a gut check for the industry to really consider whether it can get the appropriate return for investors by spending that kind of money.” We’ve long been skeptical of the pie-in-the-sky returns projected for Japanese casinos and this only bolsters our caution. Sands recently pulled out of the race for Osaka (leaving Genting Group, Galaxy Entertainment and “Osaka First” MGM Resorts International), choosing to put its bet on Tokyo. Markets smaller than Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka appear to be falling by the wayside.
shuttle stops at the airport, other MBTA stations and anywhere else that a Wynn shuttle happens to lay over, usually 15 times a day. “The casino is a brand-new neighbor, and it’s already wearing out its welcome,” said CLF Massachusetts Director Alyssa Rayman-Read, who accuses Encore of violating both federal and Bay State clean-air laws. Wynn Resorts, for its part, rather meekly agreed to comply with state law vis-a-vis idling buses.
Only Hollywood Toledo blew it, down 1.5% to $16 million. The biggest gainer was Hollywood Dayton, leaping 14% to $10 million. Just a tenth of a percent behind was Jack Thistledown, grossing $12 million. Hollywood Mahoning Valley also impressed, jumping 10.5% to $11 million. In sheer dollar volume, MGM Northfield Park‘s $21 million (up 2%) led the state, while Hollywood Columbus was a distant second with $18.5 million (also up 2%).
“There’s also an argument to be made that in a state with such high poverty rates—almost half the state’s residents are on Medicaid and one in four is on food stamps—it’s unconscionable to offer folks yet another avenue to lose the rent. Ditto for adding still another group of people who haven’t put in the sweat and tears of training to those who can make a buck on the backs of unpaid college athletes.”—editorial in the Albuquerque Journal, inveighing against Isleta Resort & Casino‘s 
Mr. Wynn of rape. Palleggi adds that Elaine Wynn gave the Journal the names of 150 women to ask about her husband’s sexual misconduct. Where there’s that much smoke there’s bound to be a modicum of fire. (Elaine Wynn denies the allegations.) The testimony comes as Steve Wynn tries to snuff out a lawsuit by former hairdresser Jorgen Nielsen that now-CEO Matt Maddox and others at Wynn Resorts engaged in espionage against him for having taken a public stand against Mr. Wynn. “They say Nielsen is a self-described close friend of Elaine’s and thinks she’ll benefit from his efforts,” reports Bloomberg.
get by with once-a-day Amtrak service.) Gov. Charlie Baker (R) has had a change of mind and now supports at least 
$90 million to build, you’re getting a heck of a bargain. Of course, you’ll have to forego the 1,620 slot machines and 63 gaming tables (the gaming license goes to Terre Haute) but you can fit at least 2,900 of your friends and relations aboard Trump Princess. Broker Storti Marine Services is also selling Caesars Entertainment‘s Glory of Rome riverboat, former home to Horseshoe Southern Indiana. When The Donald got out of Hoosier State gambling, he sold his vessel to Don Barden for $253 million. And people wonder why Barden went bankrupt. (Could Trump go to 
$99 million also beat expectations. It will be a year before the Brazil lottery contract is incepted, with upfront payments spread out over an eight-year period. In addition to new lottery contracts in Florida, Italy and Turkey, Scientific was able to pay down $55 million in debt (still leaving the company heavily leveraged). Overall, gambling revenue was up 1.5%, social-gaming revenue was up 9% and lottery revenues rose 6.5%. R&D expenses were curbed 5% and “other” fell 64.5%. So it’s not like Scientific isn’t trying to 
“You’re in China now, sir, where time and life have no value.”—Henry Chang (Warner Oland) in Shanghai Express, written by Jules Furthman. It’s my favorite Marlene Dietrich picture and my wife’s least favorite.
“focus exclusively on the transfer of real estate and have no bearing whatsoever on the property’s management or operations … These transactions have no impact on employees, partners or the guest experience.” Springfield Mayor Dominic J. Sarno intends to hold MGM to that, saying he would enforce MGM’s host-community agreement. Also, it’s not as simple as transferring the deed to MGP. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has to approve the REIT sale, as it did earlier with Plainridge Park.
monetization plans, ability to meet its 2020 targets, and a healthy LV Strip market.” Among other things, the Bellagio sale was described as an initial, not late, step in deriving money from real estate sales. In case you were wondering what MGM was going to do with all that money, its priorities are “(1) reduce debt, (2) repurchase shares (on its 3Q call, MGM said it will repurchase $750m of shares by year-end 2019), and (3) provide dry powder for growth investments down the road.” #3 is a very low priority as no major capex projects are planned. Getting leverage down to 1X equity was described as “paramount.”
and mass growth there remains in attractive growth territory.” A renovation of part of Wynn Macau‘s casino floor is expected to improve results in late 2019. On the Las Vegas front, the opening of the new convention center is also expected to move the needle and “allow it to grow high-margin room revenues and capture more share of the group segment.” The reopening of the golf course is also anticipated to help drive table-game revenues.
the tables, plunging 36%, which negated a slots gain of 6%. Since slots are taxed at a much, much higher rate in Maryland, that’s not the direction in which MGM wanted to go. Its market share was 41.5%, compared to Maryland Live‘s 33.5%. The latter gained a percentage point to close out the month with $47.5 million in the kitty. Horseshoe Baltimore, with 13% market share, grossed $19 million for a 9% decline. Ocean Downs was up 9% to $7 million, Hollywood Perryville was flat at $6 million and Rocky Gap Casino was up 6.5% to $5 million.
gambling, its experiments with high-end nightclubs have been less than auspicious. Anyone remember Cherry at Red Rock Resort? I thought not. Yesterday, Palms brass released a statement saying that the KAOS nightclub was closing “effective immediately. While Palms has experienced exceptional growth across the gaming and non-gaming segments of the business, the expense side of the business has been challenging to date, due in large part to the entertainment and fixed cost structure associated with KAOS.” Ergo, Station will “reassess the programming and use of the space,” which will be diverted to meetings and special events while the reassessment moves forward. (KTNV-TV confirmed the news, throwing in a copy of an internal Station memo, one that offered a soft landing for potentially terminated KAOS employees.)-
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