Rio sold; Best casinos named

Despite rumors that Caesars Entertainment has sworn off trying to sell The Rio (again), it turns out that the Roman Empire was still shopping the resort. It’s been tentatively sold to “a principal of Imperial Companies” for $516 million. If we use the standard casino-industry multiple of 7X EBITDA, that implies that The Rio is doing cash flow of $73 million a year. The official press release somewhat defensively describes the sale price as “a strong sales price to EBITDA multiple.” Caesars got a half-billion for the property, fulfilling Gary Loveman‘s long-held (but previously unrealized) ambition. Mind you, Caesars isn’t get out of the Rio business. It will manage it for “at least” two years and pay $45 million in rent.

The timing, given the impending Eldorado Resorts takeover of Caesars, is interesting and one wonders how much Caesars CEO Anthony Rodio was acting at the behest of CEO Tom Reeg. The latter can take the cash for the Rio sale and start paying down his mammoth Caesars acquisition. The buyer is surely Eric Birnbaum, whose official biography states that he is developing hotels in Las Vegas and Miami. Why build a Vegas hotel when you can buy one, right? Cheaper that way, too. Birnbaum—if it indeed is he—has the option of paying Caesars $7 million to extend its lease into a third year. Given the terms of the sale, we doubt the World Series of Poker (or the annual Star Trek Convention) is going anywhere soon.

However, Rio hints that Caesars Rewards customers might be redirected to the Strip: “This deal allows Caesars Entertainment to focus our resources on strengthening our attractive portfolio of recently renovated Strip properties and is expected to result in incremental EBITDA at those properties.” After all, the deal provides for co-owners ship of Rio guest data and “places no restrictions on Caesars’ marketing activities.” If you ask me, it looks like Caesars made out like a bandit on this. Good work, Mr. Rodio.

Incidentally, one of the benefits of being a Caesars Rewards member is pre-sale access to tickets for Gwen Stefani‘s Planet Hollywood show. Just a Girl pre-sale starts Thursday for the Stefani production, which runs through May 16. All good things must come to an end and this is one such instance.

Caesars Rewards made out like a bandit last week, snaring “Best Players Club. Sheer preponderance had something to do with like but goodies (like the Stefani pre-sale) also helped Caesars win. Riding up Caesars’ coattails in this category were newcomers Ocean Casino Resort and Hard Rock Atlantic City.

We weren’t too impressed with the “Best Show” category, which was restricted to the Las Vegas Strip and suggested some pretty slim pickings. Another upstart was Il Mulino at Hard Rock A.C., voted “Best Casino Restaurant.” Resorts Atlantic City‘s Capriccio was next up and you had to go all the way down to #6 to find a Vegas eatery, Andiamo at The D, although the Strip dominated the bottom five. Best Casino Hotel was Mohegan Sun, judged to be as au courant as possible and outstanding in terms of design. Archrival Foxwoods Resort Casino was number two, followed by Pechanga Resort Casino.

Struggling Del Lago Resort in upstate New York could take consolation in a #4 ranking, just above Encore Boston Harbor (already!) and Harrah’s New Orleans. Vegas didn’t show its face until #7, Venelazzo, followed by Wynncore. Caesars Palace was at the bottom of the list, just below Beau Rivage. (Come to think of it, MGM Resorts International is making a poor showing in this survey.) Derek Stevens could take a victory lap, with The D being named Best Vegas Casino, thanks in part to Sigma Derby. The new-look Stratosphere (OK, The Strat) came in second, followed by Golden Nugget and only then did the Strip weigh in, with Wynncore, Venelazzo, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Caesars Palace. Red Rock Resort took #8, followed by Bellagio and M Resort, in a rare win for Penn National Gaming.

Atlantic City didn’t win Best Non-Vegas Casino, a list topped by Barona Resort & Casino, where loose slots were cited in its favor. Foxwoods and Pechanga followed, Grand Sierra Resort (congrats, Alex Meruelo), Mohegan Sun, Encore Boston Harbor (again!), Resorts World Catskills, which could really use the boost, Atlantis Casino Spa in Reno, Turning Stone and Beau Rivage. Caesars is looking fairly good, Boyd Gaming got shut out entirely, and MGM and Penn have some remedial work to do. Congratulations to all the winners and also-rans.

* We’ve heard nothing about Atlantic City sports books taking action on the Emmy Awards. After all, it’s a sucker bet: Just put your money on who or what won last year (and the year before that) and you can’t miss. As for the snail-powered show itself, can’t Ken Jeong be stopped?