{"id":1432,"date":"2009-12-01T11:24:48","date_gmt":"2009-12-01T19:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=1432"},"modified":"2023-01-26T04:56:34","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T12:56:34","slug":"is-adelson-mad-trump-trumped-kerzner-booted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/is-adelson-mad-trump-trumped-kerzner-booted\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Adelson mad? Trump trumped & Kerzner booted"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Shelly\"In an interview with Reuters, Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> said Las Vegas Sands<\/strong> might launch operations<\/a> in India<\/strong>, Thailand<\/strong> and Japan<\/strong> as soon as 2010. Given the ropey financial condition of his company<\/a>, the fact that Marina Bay Sands<\/strong> will open at least two months behind schedule (Adelson is predicting March) and his Hong Kong<\/strong> IPO is a dud, the notion that LVS might start building casinos in three additional countries … well, you have to wonder what medications his wife has been prescribing.<\/p>\n

Although he’s great<\/strong> at emitting vast amounts of hot air, former casino mogul Donald Trump<\/strong> is rarely able to back up his loud talk. Such is the case with Trump Entertainment Resorts<\/strong>. Poker player and banker Andrew Beal<\/strong> outplayed The Donald<\/a> for the trio of Atlantic City<\/strong> casinos. Beal Bank<\/strong> and Beal Bank Nevada<\/strong>‘s offer to convert $486 million of debt into an equity stake proved a stronger hand of cards than Trump’s offer of a comparatively modest equity infusion. Congratulations, Mr. Beal — and good luck, given the very mixed bag of casinos you’re on the verge of inheriting.<\/p>\n

Here today, Trop tomorrow<\/strong>. Rarely would one think that the presidency of the Tropicana Las Vegas<\/strong> was preferable to that of Planet Hollywood<\/strong>, but that’s proven the case for<\/a> Thomas McCartney<\/strong>. With Harrah’s Entertainment<\/strong> extending its tentacles toward Planet Ho, McCartney is fleeing the embrace of Gary Loveman<\/strong> for that of Trop CEO Alex Yemenidjian<\/strong>. This is no small coup for Yemenidjian, who has made a number of headlines in very short time.<\/p>\n

Another scummy deal<\/strong> involving a New England tribal casino and South African businessman Sol Kerzner<\/strong> has been uncovered and laid to rest<\/a>. Kerzner and cohort Ken Wolman<\/strong> would have received something quite similar to the 5% rake of gross gambling revenues they currently enjoy at Mohegan Sun<\/strong>. Exit Kerzner, enter Genting Bhd<\/strong>. Of course, there’s still the not-inconsiderable matter<\/a> of getting Massachusetts<\/strong> to approve casino gambling. And while Genting parent Kien Huat<\/strong> has a record of getting things done — running rings around Adelson in Singapore<\/strong>, for instance — its lucrative back-end deals at Foxwoods Resort Casino<\/strong> and Seneca Niagara Casino<\/strong> were the source of lingering resentment. So the Mashpee Wampanoag<\/strong> tribe may have gone from the frying pan to the fire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All that money<\/strong> that’s coming in the front door of Greektown Casino<\/strong>, thanks to improved performance is going right out the back, in the form of much higher-than-average payments to law firms, consultants and restructuring companies. Las Vegas<\/strong>-based Fine Point Group<\/strong> is one of the beneficiaries, mainly because it gets a hefty cut of whatever revenues exceed projections. Those who stand to lose, of course, are the unsecured creditors. Nor are the outgoing owners, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa<\/strong> any too thrilled about the big tab being run up. Fine Point recently suffered a setback of its own when its marketing wiz, Amanda Totaro<\/strong>, was compelled to withdraw her Michigan<\/strong> gaming license application. That’s bound to hurt Greektown down the road.<\/p>\n

\"Rivers
\nA hellish time for expansion<\/strong>. If any doubts remained that this is the worst time in living memory to be opening new casinos, just look to Pennsylvania<\/strong>. Already, casinos in the Pittsburgh<\/strong> area are cannibalizing one another<\/a>. Despite the fact that Rivers Casino<\/strong> sits cheek-by-jowl with the Steel City’s two sports arenas and has been the subject of years of headlines, its marketing director straightfacedly laments, “I kind of feel like we’re Pittsburgh’s best kept secret<\/em>.” (No, people just don’t seem terribly excited by your product, sir.) Meanwhile, thanks to high tax rates, state and local goverments are laughing all the way to the bank.<\/p>\n

Macao booms<\/strong>. Revenues for November<\/strong>, accordingly to a preliminary estimate, were 60% up from last year. No surprise, Stanley Ho<\/strong>‘s 32% market share led the pack. The Macanese government also plans to fill in more of the surrounding bay, increasing the city-state’s size by 12%. According to a J.P. Morgan report, “most of the land will be used for infrastructure (green belts, housing estates, shopping complexes, and public housings) and … none will be used for casinos (though Macau\u2019s current Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-Wah<\/strong> has promised a comprehensive consultation over land use)<\/em>.”<\/div>\n
Closer to home<\/strong>, only one hurdle remains between Penn National Gaming<\/strong> and a Kansas<\/strong> casino. Wyandotte County<\/strong> has endorsed a proposed Hollywood<\/strong>-branded casino for the Kansas Speedway<\/strong>. Now Penn’s love\/hate relationship with the Sunflower State market is in the hands of the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board<\/strong>, with whom Penn has had turbulent relations in the past.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an interview with Reuters, Sheldon Adelson said Las Vegas Sands might launch operations in India, Thailand and Japan as soon as 2010. Given the ropey financial condition of his company, the fact that Marina Bay Sands will open at … 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":[48,23,28,44,42,14,120,7,22,45,62,112,91,69,95,6,111,25,12,108,61,31,19,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1432"}],"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=1432"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32249,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1432\/revisions\/32249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}