According to The Associated Press, locals giant Station Casinos has snapped up 40 acres in the fast-growing Skye Canyon suburb, in the northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley. Station got the dirt dirt-cheap: 40 gaming-zoned acres for $36 million. The AP speculated that this might be an attempt to cock-block competitors (Boyd Gaming wasn’t mentioned but couldn’t have been out of 
mind either), never mind develop on its own. To our mind, the question is where Skye Canyon falls in Station’s long queue of delayed or deferred projects, led by Durango Station. The company still hasn’t found a buyer, according to the story, for its Texas Lane property near South Point, site of an abandoned project. No word on the Castaways site or the similarly discarded Losee Road parcel. Whatever the case, Station’s land bank can keep the company in new development for at least a decade to come.
You can decide how this squares with Scott Roeben‘s report that the brothers Feritta are Continue reading
month and 15.5% lower at Foxwoods Resort Casino. The glass-half-full perspective is that in September MGM grossed on $18 million at slots compared to $38 million and $47 million at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun respectively. So the tribal casinos still have some incentive to pursue that satellite casino in East Windsor. But, compared to MGM, their current business is gangbusters.
literally going to use its thoroughbreds as stalking horses to creep up upon casino-averse Music City. Wrote JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, “We expect construction will commence in the near future, as the license stipulates Standardbred racing dates will begin in October 2019,” helping drive a projected $40 million in cash flow. Greff assumes 1,500 ‘historical racing’ terminals, opining “We use Kentucky Downs’ ~$233/win/unit/day as a proxy (~60 miles from Oak Grove with, 750 machines), and estimate the gaming facility could generate $235 win/unit/day, which … could imply annual net gaming commissions of $~130m. We believe the hotel will provide a modest EBITDA contribution, as we expect most rooms will be targeted to gaming customers.” $235/win/day per device is above average in the slot world so the prospects for Oak Grove must look pretty green. Even if the sport of kings is on wobbly hooves, historical racing has made it a good investment again.
store basis (i.e., minus Hard Rock Atlantic City and Ocean Resort) while table game win was up 16% but down 10.5% same-store. Borgata ($51 million) fell 8% despite 12.5% higher table win on 11% lower wagering. The decline was driven by a 15.5% tailspin in slot win. The Caesars Entertainment portfolio tumbled 20%, with table win plummeting 30% on 18.5% less wagering — i.e., the house lost — while slot win toppled 15%. Nonetheless, Caesars gave the market a vote of confidence by announcing 
share the same ownership.) Rhode Island has legalized sports betting cautiously: no mobile wagers or prop bets, leaving a wide opening for the black market. However, with neighboring states lagging badly, Rhode Island has the ball and Twin River intends to run with it. Rhode Island may be the nation’s smallest state but it has the highest amount of gambling revenue per capita, and that’s about to get larger: “I see folks from Connecticut, from Massachusetts all coming. New Hampshire. Why not? We’re the only game in town,” said casino boss Mike Barlow, and who’s to argue with him? However, the state is a cinch to miss its $23.5 million tax projection, predicated on a badly blown Oct. 1 opening deadline. Whoops, there went the World Series, a big chunk of the NFL season, and early NBA and NHL games. Lawmakers might loosen up those restrictions on prop and mobile wagers as sports betting is legalized in nearby states, accelerating the race for dollars.
The latest malfeasances are — according to reporter Richard Velotta — “taking wagers from outside the state, taking bets after events had concluded, made incorrect payouts to 1,483 bettors and misconfigured a satellite sportsbook betting station for the 2018 Super Bowl.” CG has pled out on all counts. In addition to the $1.75 million, CG is offering to pony up a $250,000 donation to the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, an offer we can all support.
share (paid for by Penn) and $700 million for the real estate (Vici’s contribution). Greektown has historically underperformed, so we like its chances with Penn’s leadership and data base in command. Penn will be paying $55.5 million a year to rent the hotel-casino from Vici, which shouldn’t be difficult to cover. JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff gives the transaction a rave review: “We view Greektown as a strategic acquisition for PENN, providing exposure to a market it is not in right now (Detroit) with relatively stable operating fundamentals and no supply growth risks. The property should benefit from PENN’s scale, which is now 40+ properties post its acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment.” Penn gains 2,700 slots and 60 table games, in a transaction that Greff expects will throw off $23.5 million in free cash flow per year.
Isle of Capri Kansas City ($5 million). Boyd Gaming had an inauspicious start to its return to the Show-Me State, down 1% at both Ameristar Kansas City ($15 million) and Ameristar St. Charles ($21 million). Eldorado’s outstate properties delivered a very mixed performance with Lady Luck Caruthersville 1.5% down ($3 million), Isle of Capri Boonsville up 1.5% ($6 million) and Isle of Capri Cape Girardeau down 4.5% ($5 million). Penn National Gaming was absolutely flat — $18 million — at Hollywood Casino St. Louis but up 5% in Kansas City, where it grossed $14 million. Harrah’s North Kansas City did almost $15 million in business, a 2% gain. One of Penn’s new trophies, River City, dove 6%, to $17 million, while Affinity Gaming‘s Mark Twain Casino was down 1% to $2.5 million.
and Jefferson County. The Downstream Development Authority of the Quapaw Tribe and Cherokee Nation Businesses both gave heavily to the election drive, and we can expect them to be at the front of the queue when casino bids are taken. Likely to be Out is Caesars Entertainment, which intervened against Arkansas casinos at the last minute and will have to twist itself into a rhetorical pretzel to justify extending the Roman Empire into one more state. In the meantime it looks like the Quapaw will apply in Jefferson County while the Cherokee go for Pope. Meanwhile, the Quapaw 
revenue. However, Driving Arkansas Forward counsel Alex Gray counters that the increased revenue realized from the additions of table games at racetracks — one of which will eliminate dog racing — will more than offset the tax reduction. There’s also some haggling over whether it will take one or two years for the Pope and Jefferson casinos to become active, and start contributing to the state. (I’ll be conservative and take the over.)