M Resort and Tropicana Las Vegas are no longer the charity cases of Penn National Gaming. The company made a point of 
lauding them during this week’s earnings call, with JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff characterizing their performance — along with that of New Mexico‘s Zia Park — as “solid” and Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli reporting that they “experienced property records as marketing refinements drove meaningful margin enhancements.” Back East, Penn is nailing down sites for its two satellite casinos in Pennsylvania, from which it expects to achieve an impressive 15% ROI. Penn predicted the Trop, Plainridge Park, its Ohio racinos and its Kansas City casino would outperform through the balance of the year. No word, however, on the postponed (canceled?) phase two of Tropicana renovations.
* 2Q18 was “the quarter most having been waiting for” from Boyd Gaming, according to Santarelli. Why? Boyd “delivered its strongest quarter in some time.” Its Valley Forge Resort Casino 
and Pinnacle Entertainment-related acquisitions are expected to close by year’s end. The Midwest and South properties are “poised to benefit from a strong consumer trends across most markets, furthered by continued marketing initiatives.” And the Downtown properties, Boyd’s heart and soul, have weathered everything Las Vegas could throw at them, including disruption from Project Neon and Derek Stevens‘ construction activity, not to mention the temporary closure of the California Hotel‘s rooms.
For Greff, Boyd was “executing on all fronts.” Downtown was only “in line” with projections but for Wall Street that was a victory. Other Las Vegas properties posted 11% higher cash flow than last year. Greff wrote, “All three downtown properties 
recorded double-digit revenue and adjusted [cash flow] growth, and the California Hotel and Casino benefited from recent renovations. Visitation to Downtown Las Vegas remains strong, driven by recent property improvements, as well as new projects and amenities, and results were partially offset by significantly ”
Eastward, results from Illinois slot routes are starting to trickle in (the acquisition closed late in the quarter) and Blue Chip is handling competition from Four Winds Casino better than expected. Anticipated cannibalization is $7 million-$8 million, no longer $12 million-$15 million.
* Now that Geoff Freeman has cleaned out his desk at the American Gaming Association, his five-year tenure is playing to 
mostly rave reviews. There are, however, dissenters. (We’re looking at you, Jan Jones Blackhurst.) Also, now that tribal gambling engenders more revenue than private-sector casinos and gaming is reeling from the #MeToo movement, it continues to be a glaring oversight that the CEO search committee contains only one tribal member and no women at all.
* As Las Vegas Sands suddenly covets the North Korea market, Frank Legato is inspired to some particularly amusing satire. (I won’t spoil his punchline about Sheldon Adelson.)
I love Boyd and all their properties. But, I do hope Eastside Cannery picks up after their renovations are done. I would hate to think of Boyd using it as Sam’s Town overflow, and nothing else.