{"id":14432,"date":"2014-08-28T13:52:06","date_gmt":"2014-08-28T21:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=14432"},"modified":"2020-02-24T06:39:12","modified_gmt":"2020-02-24T14:39:12","slug":"recovery-in-vegas-it-depends-on-where-you-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/recovery-in-vegas-it-depends-on-where-you-stand\/","title":{"rendered":"Recovery in Vegas? It depends on where you stand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chips<\/a>July was a mixed blessing for Nevada<\/strong>. Gambling revenue was up 5% along the Strip, down 4% among locals and essentially flat statewide. Strip casinos won big at baccarat, with player losses increasing 16% on 24% heavier play.\u00a0Non-Strip baccarat play was down 5%, with win of almost 1%. Wrote J.P. Morgan<\/strong> analyst Joseph Greff<\/strong>, ” we maintain our positive outlook for the LV Strip and believe the overall recovery will continue as 2014 progresses.”<\/p>\n

Except for the nebulous “Balance\u00a0of Clark County<\/strong>” and “Other” categories, all outlying gaming jurisdictions were down or flat: Downtown<\/strong> (-3%), Laughlin<\/strong> (flat), Reno<\/strong> (-2%), Boulder Strip<\/strong> (-10%), North Las Vegas<\/strong> (-2%), Lake Tahoe<\/strong> (-22.5%), Elko<\/strong> (-10%) and Carson Valley<\/strong> (-4%). It’s rough out there in the boonies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some Wall Street<\/strong> analysts, however, are warming up to<\/a> the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> and cooling on Macao<\/strong>. No wonder MGM Resorts International<\/strong> has been a sleeper, with so much of its exposure being on the Strip, not in China<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

* Isle of Capri Casinos<\/strong> continues to struggle toward profitability, coming in $2.3 million short of the goal — dragged down by $2.5 million in executive severance payments. Casino performance was up, \"mcdowell\"<\/a>hotels were down. Perhaps the most worrisome item<\/a> was what CEO Virginia McDowell<\/strong> described “a decrease in play from customers in the lower segments of our database.\u201d When it comes to bread-and-butter players, they don’t come much doughier than Isle of Capri.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the positive side, six casinos increased their net revenue and three in Missouri<\/strong> saw improved top-tier play. Whether such good news eases the pressure on McDowell to sell Isle remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

* The drama in Wisconsin<\/strong> surrounding the Menominee Tribe<\/strong>‘s pursuit of a Kenosha casino still drags\u00a0onward. In an effort to blackmail \"scott-walker1\"<\/a>Gov.\u00a0Scott Walker<\/strong> (R, left<\/em>), the rival Potawatomi Tribe<\/strong> is withholding $25 million it owes the state in the form of its annual levy. According to the Potawatomi, who grossed at least $377 million last year, the money is a quid pro quo<\/em> for a 50-mile radius of exclusivity, which a competing casino at the Dairyland<\/strong> race track would obviate.<\/p>\n

Upping the ante, the Potawatomi are demanding the refund of $84 million in compact-related payments to Madison<\/strong>. The Walker administration takes a hard line in opposition, arguing that — were the Potawatomi to get a court victory against the state they’d revert\u00a0to their 1989 compact. And poof! There go two-thirds of their 3,000 slot machines<\/a>. The only party definitely making money off this soap opera is law firm Dykema Gossett<\/strong>, which was hired to study the Menominee proposal for $500,000 but which has billed the State of Wisconsin for thrice that amount. Who’s to blame for that sweetheart deal?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

July was a mixed blessing for Nevada. Gambling revenue was up 5% along the Strip, down 4% among locals and essentially flat statewide. Strip casinos won big at baccarat, with player losses increasing 16% on 24% heavier play.\u00a0Non-Strip baccarat play … 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":[88,51,85,76,49,62,11,39,78,79,31,9,20,170],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14432"}],"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=14432"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26177,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14432\/revisions\/26177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}