Union: Where there’s a will, there’s a way

Discontent with casino management is spreading from Las Vegas to the Gulf Coast and beyond. In a Unite-Here teleconference, local union President Marlene Patrick Cooper expressed the general sentiment, saying, “This is a disaster that’s 10 times worse than Katrina. They chose to keep their stockpile of cash for the investors. That came off the backs of these workers.” Added bartender Jaron Ashley, “The money is not the problem. It’s the want-to.” Like their Vegas counterparts, Mississippi casino employees want to be kept on the payroll throughout the duration of the Covid-19 crisis. Bartender Jason McKnight, dialing in from Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, called for casino accountability, “You’re going to go to the government and say, ‘We need a bailout,’” he said. “Well, where’s our bailout?” Indeed, low-interest loans from the guvmint are intended, in large part, to keep workers on the payroll and we’re nearing the moment when the rubber hits the road.

* As the props are kicked out from under Coronavirus testing and ‘normality’ goes out the window, some are being called on the carpet for simply speaking the truth. That would go for the casino industry’s version of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Motley Fool contributor Jeff Hwang, whose well-thought-out think piece on the Covid-19 era caused much pearl-clutching and reaching for smelling salts within the industry. How dare he say those things? Considering how long it took the Las Vegas Strip to come back from the Great Recession, is a 12-to-18-month window of recovery from the present pandemic that radical?

Hwang sat down with Global Gaming Business to expand upon the topic. As a player and consultant as well as stock-picker, he is quick to point out that he actually has a casino-intensive background, unlike many on Wall Street. Not to mention that he’s been working the Strip for the past 10 years. He offers some hard doses of reality that GGB may not have wanted to hear. (Interlocutor Roger Gros seems in deep denial about the gravity of the crisis.) He cites tighter border controls, such as those imposed by Utah: “We’re safe here as long as we can keep people out … I think there’s no chance of opening by May 1.” But, as he acknowledges, the pressure will be tremendous. But can you make people come to Vegas if there’s little testing and no vaccine? Color us skeptical … except for the ‘covidiots’ who are jonesing for Wet Republic to reopen. Generally speaking, Wall Street has shown more sense during the pandemic than has Pennsylvania Avenue. Anybody in the federal government who thinks you can flip the economy back on May 1 like a light switch is an ass.

Marriott International huddled with JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, disclosing that while only 16% of its U.S. hotels are closed—”though that is expected to increase”—occupancy is running at 10% (can you say ‘unsustainable’?). On the upside, “noted that many group customers are temporarily rebooking for later this year, and cancellations for 2021 due to COVID-19 have not been meaningful.” There is promising recovery in China but not in other territories. Marriott is offering deferred payments to franchisees, to free up working capital. Granted, Marriott is allergic to gaming but it provides a useful window into what the resort industry is experiencing.

* This is a devil of a time to be coming to market with a new casino. Besides, “I wish the Herbst Brothers would come back into the gaming industry” said nobody ever. But that’s what they’re doing with Indian Springs Casino, opening soon near Creech Air Force Base. (The original casino was demolished in 2014 to increase Creech’s security buffer.) The Nevada Gaming Control Board approved the Herbsts’ application. They’re shooting for a Memorial Day opening, so at least they’re not rushing into this. The casino will have 75 slots, an electric-vehicle charging station and the first Bob’s Big Boy in Nevada. That’s cause for celebration.

* Eldorado Resorts is going to start doing CEO Tom Reeg‘s favorite thing—sacking employees in droves—this Saturday. We question the timing: Couldn’t Eldorado have waited another two weeks to see if Nevada casinos reopen? Apparently not. What does this say about Eldorado’s cash reserves, as it plows ahead with the Caesars Entertainment takeover? Eldorado is making the move, it says, in anticipation of a three-month shutdown. That’s 15,500 more people who will be hitting the national unemployment rolls. Eldorado management claims to have been so taken by surprise by the pandemic that it couldn’t notify employees earlier, adding, “We are unable to resume normal operations or [say] when you will be recalled.” Isn’t that reassuring?

* On a happier note, if you can’t come to Las Vegas, part of Vegas can come to you. The Neon Museum is presenting a virtual tour of its Tim Burton’s Lost Las Vegas exhibit. After 17 years of living in Sin City, I can say that those Mars Attacks! aliens fit right in. Forget the Strip: If you can only see three things in Las Vegas, make it the Neon Museum, the Mob Museum and the Golden Gate, where it all began. Follow that up with takeout from any of these five venerable Vegas restaurants. But avoid Fresh & Less Market Deli. Cockroaches love it there, or did until recently.