![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Auberge-BR-casino-floor.jpg\" "\\"Auberge")
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Casino revenues in the Pelican State were up 2% last month, entirely upon the strength of Pinnacle Entertainment<\/strong>‘s L’Auberge Baton Rouge<\/strong> (above<\/em>). It propelled the Baton Cordish makes love, not war<\/strong>. Despite being nominally opposed to Question 7, the leading casino operator in Maryland<\/strong> has decided it would rather switch than fight. Cordish At least Cordish has the money in his kitty to do additional construction. Imagine being Penn National Gaming<\/strong> and having to fund capital improvements at Hollywood Casino Perryville<\/strong> on top of <\/em>the $40 million that was lost fighting Question 7 and the millions that will probably be wasted on a legal challenge. The court argument is priceless<\/a>: Question 7 should have failed because it wasn’t approved by a majority of all<\/em> registered voters, not just those who actually voted. If ever a lawsuit deserved to be laughed out of court, that’s one.<\/p>\n While Penn was preoccupied<\/strong> with Maryland, it drifted perilously close to losing its lease on the Argosy Sioux City<\/em> riverboat. A land-based casino is in the cards for the near future, but Amazingly, there are still banks<\/strong> — three, to be specific<\/a> — willing to lend money to hand-to-mouth Caesars Entertainment<\/strong>. One analyst implies that the involvement of Victor Drai<\/strong> in converting Bill’s Gamlin’ Hall & Saloon<\/strong> into a strange hybrid to be known as Caesars Drai’s<\/strong> was the winning card in Caesars’ hand. Does this mean Drai will be in first position when the loan comes due? If Credit Suisse<\/strong>, for one, lent the money to Caesars itself, it must have been because it would have taken more effort to burn it instead.<\/p>\n Savior to failure?<\/strong> If there was one thing $2.4 billion Revel<\/strong> didn’t need it was Hurricane Sandy<\/strong>. When a new megaresort posts subpar, also-ran gambling revenues, it’s a problem. Casino revenues in the Pelican State were up 2% last month, entirely upon the strength of Pinnacle Entertainment‘s L’Auberge Baton Rouge (above). It propelled the Baton Rouge market 58% upward, grossing $11 million at the expense of Argosy Baton Rouge … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Louisiana_Flag-300x193.jpg\" "\\"Louisiana_Flag\\"")
Rouge<\/strong> market 58% upward, grossing $11 million at the expense of Argosy Baton Rouge<\/em> (-10%) and especially Penn National Gaming<\/strong>‘s Hollywood Baton Rouge<\/em> (-25%). Still, Pinnacle is growing the “Red Stick” market, not just cannibalizing it. The bright spot in Shreveport<\/strong> (-5% overall) was Horseshoe Bossier City<\/strong>, up 9%. Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> also had a strong month at Harrah’s New Orleans<\/strong> (+5.5%), whereas the rest of the Big Easy market — with the exception of the Fair Grounds<\/strong> racino (+7%) — was in the doldrums. Even Lake Charles<\/strong> had an atypically “off” month, down 5%. Bottom line<\/em>: It was an encouraging October for Pinnacle (+20%) and Caesars (+5%); for Boyd Gaming<\/strong> (-6%) and Penn National, not so much.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Maryland-Live-rendering-300x169.jpg\" "\\"Maryland-Live-rendering\\"")
Gaming<\/strong>‘s enormous Maryland Live<\/strong> slot parlor has already held a big media hoedown to promote its new table-game offerings<\/a>. The slot floor will be thinned out in order to add 150 tables and a poker room, and hours of operation will soon be ’round the clock. A hotel is tentatively planned<\/a> but David Cordish<\/strong> must be smoking something powerful when he says the result will be “a world-class, full-destination casino that will equal and exceed anything in Las Vegas<\/strong> or Atlantic City<\/strong>.” I have a one-word response to that: Bellagio<\/strong>. (Similar — but hype-free<\/a> — plans are being made regarding Horseshoe Baltimore<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/penn-national-gaming.jpg\" "\\"penn-national-gaming\\"")
whether it will be Penn’s or not remains to be seen. Ergo, Penn is belatedly negotiating<\/a> with Sioux City<\/strong> officials, after stiff-arming them for several weeks. (I can’t imagine why.) Although the lease expires Jan. 31, Penn has roughly a month to actually strike a deal with the city. It’s insisting upon a two-year renewal with no increase in the 3% local tax rate. I don’t think that’s gonna float.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/Revel-exterior.jpg\" "\\"Revel")
When it comes up $100 million short on operating costs and needs to borrow more, we’re probably talking “crisis.” And when Sandy washes your fourth quarter into the Atlantic Ocean<\/strong> and even the grind joints are doing better, it’s time to man the lifeboats. (Or at least start thumbing through the book in search of Chapter 11.) Revel has an $850 million loan which, while not due until 2017, already has Wall Street<\/strong> analysts uttering the D-word: “default.” While Atlantic City<\/strong> has needed new, diverse resort product for a decade, a casino-hotel that contains “10 swimming pools [and] 14 celebrity-chef restaurants” but de-emphasizes gambling sounds like an enormous overreach. It’s the CityCenter<\/strong> of the Boardwalk, the crucial difference being the CityCenter has been making its “nut” and Revel hasn’t.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"