As a determination on its suitability in Massachusetts comes down to the wire (and opening date of Encore Boston Harbor is set for June 
23), Wynn Resorts is trying to reap some positive karma. It has abandoned its pay-for-parking policy. Not only will short-term parkers get to use the Wynn garages for free, so will overnight guests. The policy change goes into effect tomorrow. Let’s hope Wynn’s example spreads to Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts International and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
As for MGM, if you thought the worst of the job-cutting was over, think again. KTNV-TV announced that MGM will be whacking another 1,000 employees (and $80,000 in payroll) by June, making them hit the pavement in the heat of summer. (Last week’s axe fell upon the managerial ranks.) We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: This is unbecoming conduct for a company that made billions of dollars in profit last year, mostly thanks to tax cuts. Las Vegas pizzeria Evel Pie, meanwhile, is doing its part by giving free pizza to the victims of last week’s round of layoffs.
Caesars had news of its own, namely that Mariah Carey will be returning in February to the Colosseum (prefaced by a half-dozen 
Christmas concerts in December). Carey’s last Strip residency was a shambolic affair, much reliant on electronic trickery to make it seem like her hard-worn voice still possessed the bloom of old. However, if you have an appetite for masochism or are the sort of person who slows down to look at automobile wrecks, by all means attend: Tickets go on sale May 10.
* While we’re on the subject of MGM, its 1Q19 results are out and the company would have missed Wall Street‘s cash flow projections were it not for a robust contribution from Macao. “Las Vegas 1H outlook is 
strong, with our forward room rate, convention attendance and air capacity all positive. Further, we still think there is room for margin expansion in the Regional casinos,” wrote Credit Suisse analyst Ben Combes. Volatile baccarat play hurt MGM’s Strip properties, which did $404 million in cash flow. A 3% increase in room revenues helped soften the blow. The Mansions at MGM Cotai, its primary high-end attraction, has finally opened and Combes reports that market share is growing (as was needed).
MGM Springfield “continues to ramp,” which is a nice way of saying it’s short of expectations. Are baccarat players averse to American football? Combes attributes the Strip baccarat debility to the close proximity of Chinese New Year and the Super Bowl.
JP Morgan‘s Joseph Greff was less enthusiastic, although he liked the regional performance. He termed the Macao numbers “a push,” with better mass-market play offset by some legerdemain with high-end 
margins. On the Las Vegas Strip MGM “fell short of our below-consensus estimate, with a more sizable negative variance on baccarat volumes (the magnitude surprised us, not the direction of this segment) and, to a lesser degree, lower hold.” Going forward, baccarat is “still challenged” but “group and entertainment segments appear bright.” MGM is sticking by its cash-flow targets although Greff thinks they need to ratchet down their expectations.
* Downtown scuttlebutt has it that the Vue Bar at The D will undergo three weeks of renovation starting June 1. Derek Stevens will want to get this completed on time, as there’s nothing to cast a pall over Fourth of July celebrations like having one of your primary amenities off line.
* New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) doesn’t pussyfoot around. He’s predicting that the Garden State will top Nevada in sports wagering by sometime next year. Alluding to ill-fated World Cup and NHL wagers 
he placed, Murphy told an audience, “I may regret those first bets, but I don’t regret for one second the leadership that New Jersey provided during the legal challenge, nor the leadership we are providing today in the growth of the U.S. legal sports betting industry.” He allowed that tax revenues to date have been merely “a drop in the bucket” of the state budget, but went on to say, “We are in the early days of what’s expected to be a multi-billion-dollar market, and that’s just the operators’ profits from hundreds of millions of dollars of bets.” We hope he’s right.
* Morgan Stanley analyst Praveen Choudhary is advising tempered expectations with regard to casino revenue in Japan. He says an “optimistic” scenario is $9 billion a year. Even that is 
predicated upon casinos being placed in large cities. If they go to smaller locales revenues could shrink to $4 billion. (That’d be a $1.4 billion return on investment, to be divided three ways.) Casinos are unlikely to work with VIP junketeers, Choudhary predicts. “Japanese ambivalence about gaming, the likely insistence of Japanese ownership, or at least partial ownership, and the country’s internal political divisions have all made adoption of the so-called Singapore model seem unlikely,” adds Frank Fantini. We’ve thought for a while that the industry is drinking its own bathwater about Japan. It’s nice to know we’re not alone.
* Macanese casino operators were hoping that their concessions would be extended beyond 2022. No dice, says Chief Executive Fernando Chui. It looks more and more like the enclave is preparting to rebid the lot.
