{"id":15558,"date":"2015-02-19T10:48:48","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T18:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=15558"},"modified":"2015-02-19T11:34:10","modified_gmt":"2015-02-19T19:34:10","slug":"tilman-fertittas-blockbuster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/tilman-fertittas-blockbuster\/","title":{"rendered":"Tilman Fertitta’s blockbuster"},"content":{"rendered":"

When looked on Ye Olde Same Store Basis, gaming revenues in Louisiana<\/strong> are good enough, up 4%. Add Tilman Fertitta<\/strong>‘s Golden Nugget Lake Charles<\/strong> to the mix and revs shoot up 17%. No, \"GoldenNugget<\/a>that’s not a typo. The Nugget is proving to be the perfect confluence of owner, location and timing. It’s also a rising tide that’s lifting L’Auberge Lake Charles<\/strong>, up 6.5% ($28 million). Golden Nugget pulled in $23 million and even stimulated business at Delta Downs<\/strong> (+4.5%) and Isle Grand Palais<\/strong> (+6%), as the Lake Charles<\/strong> market completely eclipsed New Orleans<\/strong>, $78 million to $47 million. For someone who was mocked as a naif when he bought the Las Vegas<\/strong> Golden Nugget, Fertitta has proven himself to be a natural for the casino business. (Contrast Fertitta to Gary Loveman<\/strong>, who had two casino licenses in the Lake Charles market and chose to liquidate them … and still has a job.)<\/p>\n

Pinnacle Entertainment<\/strong>‘s L’Auberge Baton Rouge<\/strong> continued to put distance between itself and the competition, grossing $13 million (+1.5%), although more modest gains were \"Harrahs_NO\"<\/a>made by Tropicana Entertainment<\/strong>‘s Belle of Baton Rouge<\/strong> ($5 million, +5.5%) and GLPI<\/strong>‘s Hollywood Baton Rouge<\/strong> ($5 \u00a0million, 2%). In the Big Easy, Harrah’s New Orleans<\/strong> far outgrossed the rest of the market ($26 million), despite a 2% slippage. Its competitors’ gains came in various sizes, from a modest 2% aboard Pinnacle’s Boomtown New Orleans<\/strong> to 12% at Boyd Gaming<\/strong>‘s Treasure Chest<\/strong> ($8 million), with Churchill Downs<\/strong>‘ Fair Grounds<\/strong> racino growing 9% on a $4 million gross.<\/p>\n

Two outlying Boyd properties fared well. Amelia Belle<\/strong>‘s $4 million represented a 12% growth in business, while Evangeline Downs<\/strong> took in $8 million for a 15%.<\/p>\n

In the crowded Shreveport<\/strong>\/Bossier City<\/strong> market, Horseshoe Bossier City<\/strong> was king of the castle, with a $16 million gross, despite a 5% slippage. That wasn’t nearly as bad as the 14% tumble taken by Sam’s Town Shreveport<\/strong> or even the 8% dropoff at Caesars Entertainment<\/strong>‘s Louisiana Downs<\/strong>. Rising 27% on a $12 million gross was Margaritaville<\/strong>, while El Dorado Shreveport<\/strong>‘s $11 million haul was good for an 8% gain. There’s plenty of vitality in Louisiana’s major casino markets (with the possible exception of Baton Rouge<\/strong>) but, from here on out, Lake Charles is where it’s at.<\/p>\n

* Elsewhere, Loveman continues to stiff-arm disenfranchised creditors. Wilmington Savings Fund Society<\/strong> filed a demand for immediate restitution of $3.8 billion in debt. In a “Dear John” letter to the SEC<\/strong>, Caesars told Wilmington to bugger off<\/a>.<\/p>\n

* In its attempt to diversify its economy, Atlantic City<\/strong> is importing a bit of Las Vegas<\/strong> and a touch of the Fremont Street Experience<\/strong>. The city has approved an extension of Steel Pier<\/strong> to hold a Ferris wheel<\/a>, along with a zip line. Anything that gives people a new reason to visit Atlantic City is a good thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When looked on Ye Olde Same Store Basis, gaming revenues in Louisiana are good enough, up 4%. Add Tilman Fertitta‘s Golden Nugget Lake Charles to the mix and revs shoot up 17%. No, that’s not a typo. The Nugget is … 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":[23,60,176,51,4,190,7,85,84,30,111,129,21,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15558"}],"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=15558"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15562,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15558\/revisions\/15562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}