![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Ameristar-St-Charles.jpg\" "\\"Ameristar")
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Sometimes I feel Gary Loveman<\/strong>‘s pain — and that of Anthony Sanfilippo<\/strong>, Virginia McDowell<\/strong>, Peter Carlino<\/strong> … When they look at the kind of numbers states like Missouri<\/strong> are generating, they must want to shake a fist It was a terrible month<\/strong>, though, for Penn National Gaming<\/strong>. Not only is it reeling from a big drop in business aboard Alton Belle<\/em>, in Illinois<\/strong>, itsrecently acquired Hollywood St. Louis<\/strong> plunged 24%. But Argosy Riverside<\/em> was flat for the month, showing itself to be immune from the marketing malaise that has afflicted so many Penn-owned casinos of late. If you back out Isle of Capri Cape Girardeau<\/strong>, the Isle of Capri Casinos<\/strong> flotilla is down 6%, but that’s nothing. Caesars Entertainment<\/strong>‘s sale of the former Harrah’s Maryland Heights<\/strong> was a terrible mistake, plunging the company to fifth-place standing in the Show-Me and depriving it of $18 million in revenue last month alone. Caesars’ share of its two Ohio<\/strong> casinos in May came to $8 million in revenue — and June was worse yet<\/a>. The cream of the jest would be if Loveman decided to get back into Missouri … and had to buy Lumiere Place to do so.<\/p>\n Also feeling dropsical<\/strong> were our friends in Atlantic City<\/strong>, whose casinos took another 13% dip last month. The best that Joseph Greff<\/strong> at J.P. Morgan As usual, Trump Plaza<\/strong> is the dregs of the marketplace, grossing a crummy $7 million, down 24%). And the Caesars quartet came within a whisker (Harrah’s Atlantic City<\/strong>‘s -9.5% slippage) of double-digit declines across the board. Years of pettiness and infighting (epitomized by Donald Trump<\/strong>) are causing everyone on the Boardwalk to pay dearly now.<\/p>\n Sometimes I feel Gary Loveman‘s pain — and that of Anthony Sanfilippo, Virginia McDowell, Peter Carlino … When they look at the kind of numbers states like Missouri are generating, they must want to shake a fist and say, “Gamble, … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/sanfilippo-inside-small-140x150.jpg\" "\\"sanfilippo-inside-small\\"")
and say, “Gamble, damn you!” At least five years into the Great Recession, Wall Street<\/strong> tells itself comforting bedtime stories of “pent-up demand” while consumers clutch their pocketbooks as tightly as ever, at least when it comes to gambling. On a same-store basis, The State of Misery was well-named last month, down 10%. It’s no wonder that Pinnacle Entertainment<\/strong>‘s Sanfilippo (right<\/em>) was so quick to put Lumiere Place<\/strong> on the block to placate the Federal Trade Commission<\/strong>: Who wouldn’t trade a casino that grossed $12.5 million (-13%) last month to get one (Ameristar St. Charles<\/strong>, pictured above, down 5% in June) that grossed $22 million instead? Throw in Ameristar Kansas City<\/strong> and its $17 million (-10%) and Pinnacle stands to gain far<\/em> more than it loses.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Borgata-300x200.jpg\" "\\"Borgata\\"")
<\/strong> could find for a silver lining was a mere 7% falloff in table game revenues at Borgata<\/strong>, versus 16% citywide. But there were a few other hopeful notes. Resorts International<\/strong> was flat, year over year. And, despite a 23% dropoff from last year, Revel<\/strong> shows signs of momentum, creeping past the Golden Nugget<\/strong> ($11 million, now in second-from-last position) and just a few decimal points behind Resorts ($11.6 million vs. $12 million). It’s got a ways to go before catching the Atlantic Club<\/strong> ($13 million). It figures that Colony Capital<\/strong> would be down to its last casino before it figured out this weird, funky “gaming” thing.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/lion.jpg\" "\\"lion\\"")
Congratulations<\/strong> to three MGM Resorts International<\/strong> executives who got new, loftier titles (and, we hope, corresponding pay increases today). Two of them date back to the Mirage Resorts<\/strong> era, before MGM engorged Steve Wynn<\/strong>‘s company. Alan Feldman<\/strong> is upped to vice president of global government and industry affairs (read<\/em>: lobbyist), while Jenn Michaels<\/strong> is boosted to senior vice president of public relations, with an emphasis on new-media strategies. The one non-Mirage veteran is Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications Clark Dumont<\/strong>, a relative newbie, having joined MGM two years ago. A variety of PR and internal- and external communications departments will now report to him. S&G congratulates all three on their new portfolios and wishes them luck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"