{"id":12322,"date":"2013-12-23T14:18:09","date_gmt":"2013-12-23T22:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=12322"},"modified":"2013-12-23T14:18:09","modified_gmt":"2013-12-23T22:18:09","slug":"adelson-undeterred-winners-and-losers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/adelson-undeterred-winners-and-losers\/","title":{"rendered":"Adelson undeterred; Winners and losers"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m not sure which part of this story is more alarming: That Affinity Gaming<\/strong> was the victim of a widespread identity-theft scheme<\/a> for seven months<\/a> … or that the company didn’t disclose it until late this year. It certainly makes me think twice about spending money on Affinity’s premises.<\/p>\n

\"Adelson<\/a>Not one to be discouraged, Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> is taking his EuroVegas<\/strong> concept on the road and shopping it<\/a> from Athens<\/strong> to Milan<\/strong> (to say nothing of Rome<\/strong>, Paris<\/strong> and elsewhere). It’s unclear from his remarks, but Adelson may have marketing the idea of doing it in onesies and twosies — as was the case in Singapore<\/strong> — rather than trying to carpet-bomb one metropolis with 12 casinos. However, he’s also peddling the integrated-resort concept in Japan<\/strong>, South Korea<\/strong>, Thailand<\/strong> and Taiwan<\/strong> — maybe<\/a> on\u00a0Matsu<\/strong> —\u00a0so he’s got enough to keep himself occupied for the next few years, until New York City<\/strong> or Miami Beach<\/strong> comes into play.<\/p>\n

Adelson is a villain<\/strong> to some but a person who should be a heroine to all of us<\/a> is Nevada Council on Problem Gambling<\/strong> Executive Carol O’Hare<\/strong>. In recent years, one of her nemeses has been Nevada<\/strong> itself, which raided the NCPG budget to plug budgetary. The damage, O’Hare says, has been mended but it — and the percentage of at-risk youth in the Silver State — should be stern reminders of how much work needs doing.<\/p>\n

Macao<\/strong>‘s casinos consistenly flunk air-quality standards. Ergo, players who want to light up may have to do so<\/a> in in airport-style cubicles. Stanley Ho<\/strong>‘s Casino Lisboa<\/strong> is already taking the lead with a trial facility. This is only appropriate, since Sociedade de Jogos de Macau<\/strong> is the most consistently substandard among Macanese operators.<\/p>\n

Farewell soon-to-be-scrapped, Betfair Hollywood Park<\/strong>, symbol of a dinosaur industry<\/a>. The adjoining card room will — no surprise — remain in place.<\/p>\n

It’s already clear<\/strong> who the winner of Internet<\/strong> gambling in New Jersey<\/strong> is: The advertising industry<\/a>. Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> is vowing to “empty out our pockets in marketing dollars” to educate the public and raise brand awareness, as nascent Web casinos race for player loyalty. There’s not a little pressure at their backs. Atlantic City<\/strong> casinos have been told they have to do better “or we\u2019re going to need to start considering alternatives,” according to Atlantic City booster Gov. Chris Christie<\/strong> (R), in an ominous turn of rhetoric.<\/p>\n

Another market that seems<\/strong> to be past its peak is Detroit<\/strong>, where casino-tax dollars maxed out in 2011<\/a>. The long-term trend has been upward but there are warning signs. “To be sure, with $1.4 billion in total gambling revenues last year, the three casinos are still serious cash-generators and in no danger of closing,” writes the Detroit Free Press<\/em>, but the city is heavily reliant upon them to pay for civic services and amenities<\/a>. Even incremental losses to Hollywood Casino Toledo<\/strong> are taking a toll. So, no worries, right<\/a>, Dan Gilbert<\/strong>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m not sure which part of this story is more alarming: That Affinity Gaming was the victim of a widespread identity-theft scheme for seven months … or that the company didn’t disclose it until late this year. It certainly makes … 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":[173,23,34,154,44,117,36,7,67,22,37,171,62,101,71,69,90,12,108,61],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12322"}],"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=12322"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12323,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12322\/revisions\/12323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}