{"id":16740,"date":"2015-09-14T14:07:21","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T22:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=16740"},"modified":"2015-09-14T14:07:21","modified_gmt":"2015-09-14T22:07:21","slug":"first-the-good-news-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/first-the-good-news-2\/","title":{"rendered":"First the good news …"},"content":{"rendered":"

Internet<\/strong> gambling revenues were up 16% in Atlantic City<\/strong> last month, for a $12 million haul. Resorts Atlantic City<\/strong> didn’t get \"Harrahs<\/a>much of the action — 6% — but the other four online operators divvied it up pretty equitably. As for the bad news, the Boardwalk was 6% down on a same-store basis. Since Labor Day weekend fell in August last year, that accounts for much of the decline. When the four defunct casinos are factored into year\/year comparisons, the dropoff is a queasy-making 16%. Even without the Showboat<\/strong> in the mix, Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> was really in the dog days, down 17% at its three remaining properties. By contrast, Borgata<\/strong> beat the odds and improved 8% on last year’s performance.<\/p>\n

Tighter hold and slightly greater volume of play conspired to generate a 22% increase in Borgata table revenue. Slot players enjoyed looser holds and reciprocated with 8% more coin-in but the house only saw 2% more win. Online wagering put another $4 million into the kitty. Overall, casinos saw 14% less coin-in and 15% less win. Low table play (-19%) translated into lower winnings, too, -20%. Boyd Gaming<\/strong> and MGM Resorts International<\/strong>‘s property grossed $71 million.<\/p>\n

Trump Taj Mahal<\/strong> was predictably dreadful, falling 24% (to $19 million). At times like this you have to wonder why Carl Icahn<\/strong> \"icahn\"<\/a>wants the place, considering how badly — by his own declaration<\/a> — it is run. However, the Taj’s performance was cast into the shade by a\u00a0run of bad luck at Caesars Atlantic City<\/strong> ($31 million), which plunged 29%. It’s too early to say if the grind-joint repositioning of Bally’s Atlantic City<\/strong> ($23 million) is a winning strategy but August was unkind, seeing a 9.5% decline. Harrah’s Marina<\/strong>, for once, wasn’t a bright spot, off 9% ($35.5 million) either. Tropicana Atlantic City<\/strong> dropped 9.5%, to $28 million.<\/p>\n

Borgata aside, there were a couple of big winners. The Golden Nugget<\/strong> leapt 20% (to $20 million) and Resorts Atlantic City<\/strong> ($18 million) continued its steady upward march, ascending 18%. On a historical note, Glenn Straub<\/strong> is kidding himself if he thinks casino gambling is a viable exit strategy for Revel<\/strong>: A year ago it only banked $12 million, compared to Borgata’s $66 million. With an infusion of Labor Day play, next month’s report should be robust — at least by recent Boardwalk standards.<\/p>\n

* Congratulations to\u00a0Victor Salerno<\/strong>, Lynn Valbuena<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Larry J. Woolf<\/strong>. All three will be inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame<\/strong> during the upcoming Global Gaming Expo<\/strong>. Salerno is a particularly deserving inductee, a real Horatio Alger<\/strong> story. He went from practising dentistry to inventing Computerized Bookmaking Systems and a raft of other sports-betting products, a track that took him to the chairmanship of William Hill US<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Valbuena, a former liaison for the National Indian Gaming Association<\/strong>, chairs both the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations<\/strong> and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians<\/strong>. Woolf made history with his attempt to open the MGM Grand<\/strong> as a non-union casino in 1993 and in his early adoption of ticket-in, ticket-out wagering technology, before going on to found Navegante Group<\/strong>. S&G<\/em> congratulates all three on receiving the American Gaming Association<\/strong>‘s imprimatur of historical importance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Internet gambling revenues were up 16% in Atlantic City last month, for a $12 million haul. Resorts Atlantic City didn’t get much of the action — 6% — but the other four online operators divvied it up pretty equitably. As … 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":[23,60,82,185,7,140,37,11,167,157,74,129,20,21,169],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16740"}],"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=16740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16741,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16740\/revisions\/16741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}