{"id":12230,"date":"2013-12-10T10:26:45","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T18:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=12230"},"modified":"2013-12-10T11:28:55","modified_gmt":"2013-12-10T19:28:55","slug":"mgm-crossing-fingers-and-hoping-bloodbath-in-indiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/mgm-crossing-fingers-and-hoping-bloodbath-in-indiana\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM: Crossing fingers and hoping; Bloodbath in Indiana"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MGM<\/a>After several ups and downs, MGM Resorts International<\/strong> finds itself justthisclose<\/a> to a casino in Springfield<\/strong>, Massachusetts<\/strong>. The state’s equivalent of the Nevada Gaming Control Board<\/strong> urged a finding of suitability<\/a>. Whether the circumspect Massachusetts Gaming Commission<\/strong> agrees hangs upon several factors. One of them is the company’s somewhat cavalier employment of ex-board members Terry Christensen<\/strong> while he was under indictment for felony wiretapping: “Despite his indictment, resignation from the Board and ultimate conviction, Christensen was allowed to engage, on a repeated and prolonged basis, in certain sensitive and non-public corporate matters of MGM Resorts<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

That indiscretion predated the Jim Murren<\/strong> presidency, as did the decision to partner with Pansy Ho<\/strong> in order to get into Macao<\/strong>. Ho fell on her sword for MGM, telling investigators she had little involvement with the gaming \"James-Murren\"<\/a>side of the property. I would have expected J. Terrence Lanni<\/strong>‘s circumvention of the MGM compliance committee back during l’affaire Ho<\/em> to have been an issue in Massachusetts, since it’s what got the company into trouble with New Jersey<\/strong>. (But, early on the report notes, “at times MGM goes beyond what is required by regulators in Macau.”)\u00a0It could still arise, I suppose. But, for the moment, there’s ground for cautious optimism in re<\/em> MGM (and despite some jiggery-pokery by a couple of Brimfield debtors who aren’t part of MGM). And if MGM gets in, then the less scandal-dogged Wynn Resorts<\/strong> has to be a shoo-in for Everett<\/strong>. So, all in all, it’s a good day for Big Gaming.<\/p>\n

Slots on the run<\/strong>. Ever since its opening, Horseshoe Cincinnati<\/strong> has been on a nine-month tear through the southeast-Indiana<\/strong> casino market. Revenue in the \"miami-valley-gaming-fb-600\"<\/a>area is down 25%, and\u00a0Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg<\/strong>, Belterra Casino Resort<\/strong> and Rising Star Casino Resort<\/strong> are tightening their belts. The most significant move is a dramatic reduction in slot inventory<\/a>, as 11% of machines have been removed from casino floors. This may help the casinos but it’s hardly good news for manufacturers: Instead of replacing machines that become dysfunctional or obsolete, southeast-Indiana casinos will more likely just subtract more gaming positions from their inventory. However, three racinos are soon to open in Ohio<\/strong>, so we needn’t fear for the manufacturers overmuch.<\/p>\n

In a rare look<\/strong> inside its books, Affinity Gaming<\/strong> (overlord of the Primm<\/strong> market and owner of Silver Sevens<\/strong> in Las Vegas<\/strong>), reported revenue declines for the year<\/a>. It’s looking at a 2%-3% slippage from last year.<\/p>\n

Meet O.B. Osceola Jr<\/strong>., the matchmaker who put the Menominee Tribe<\/strong> and Hard Rock International<\/strong> together in a casino-development deal. It makes an interesting read<\/a> while we wait for Wisconsin<\/strong> Gov. Scott Walker<\/strong> (R) to issue his oft-postponed decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After several ups and downs, MGM Resorts International finds itself justthisclose to a casino in Springfield, Massachusetts. The state’s equivalent of the Nevada Gaming Control Board urged a finding of suitability. Whether the circumspect Massachusetts Gaming Commission agrees hangs upon … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[173,23,7,62,112,11,71,110,69,30,111,25,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12230"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12230"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12238,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12230\/revisions\/12238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}