{"id":18453,"date":"2016-06-30T12:51:09","date_gmt":"2016-06-30T20:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18453"},"modified":"2016-06-30T12:51:09","modified_gmt":"2016-06-30T20:51:09","slug":"vegas-weak-on-strip-robust-in-locals-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/vegas-weak-on-strip-robust-in-locals-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegas: Weak on Strip, robust in locals play"},"content":{"rendered":"

One less weekend and a tough comparison with last year’s Mayweather-Pacquiao<\/strong> charade translated into a weak May for both the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong>, down 12%, and Nevada \"slotcasinos in general, 4.5% off the pace. There were some sort of bright spots. Slot coin-in on the Strip was down 8% but the machines held tight, their winnings only 2% weaker than last year’s. But table wagering not only plummeted 24%, the house played very unluckily, off 20%, a number even worsened when baccarat is excluded. There was 28% less baccarat play and 18% less win.<\/p>\n

However, the bullishness on the locals market displayed by Boyd Gaming<\/strong> and Station Casinos<\/strong> was validated by a strong locals performance, up 15%. North Las Vegas<\/strong> led the way, vaulting 28% upward, with the Boulder Strip<\/strong> close behind at plus 26%. Downtown<\/strong> was no slouch, posting 13% growth and the remainder of Clark County<\/strong> chipped in a 4% increase. Outstate markets performed more erratically, with Reno<\/strong> down 5% and Lake Tahoe<\/strong> veering 15% to the worse. Laughlin<\/strong> was up 2% but Elko<\/strong> and Carson Valley<\/strong> were down 5% and 6%, respectively. Deutsche Bank<\/strong> analyst Carlo Santarelli<\/strong> wrote that the Strip numbers were far worse than forecast (-4%), adding — ominously? — that baccarat volumes have been down for eight consecutive months now. On the locals side, the house was lucky at the slots, winning 20% on flat handle and shrugging off a 13% decline in table game revenue (on 11% less wagering).<\/p>\n

* In the casino industry, 40 years is an eternity, so it’s only fitting that Palace Station<\/strong> is busting out a fireworks display<\/a> to mark the milestone. The casino, which expanded in endearingly haphazard fashion, began life as a motor inn with a 100-slot casino attached. Over the years it’s morphed into something very much more than that. While neither as roomy or glamorous as its successors in the Station Casinos chain, Palace Station has remained beloved among patrons and employees, surviving a flood of Biblical proportions and even the notoriety of the bust that finally put O.J. Simpson<\/strong> in jail where he belongs.<\/p>\n

* Pennsylvania<\/strong> is now one vote away from Internet<\/strong> gambling, the state House of Representatives having approved i-gaming 114-85<\/a>, sending the matter to the state Senate. Daily fantasy sports, that unspoken form of gambling<\/a>, were also approved for the commonwealth. The primary obstacle to online gambling is Gov. Tom Wolf<\/strong> (D), who desperately needs to close a budget gap but vaguely says Internet gambling revenues must be “sustainable and recurring,” nor harm the state lottery. That’s a high bar of proof for untested industry to clear, so we hope Wolf sees reason and signs the legislation, should it pass the Senate.<\/p>\n

* Stanley Ho<\/strong>‘s Shun Tak Holdings<\/strong> has been sitting on some valuable parcels of Macao<\/strong> land since 2007 and the government may want them back<\/a>. Managing Director Pansy Ho<\/strong> said the company is evaluating its options should that happen. It’s particularly hard to fight City Hall in Macao, as Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> learned when it repossessed one of his Cotai Strip<\/strong> sites. If Shun Tak’s plans for the land are to build more casinos, that will run headlong into the government’s oft-stated desire for continued diversification of the Macanese economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One less weekend and a tough comparison with last year’s Mayweather-Pacquiao charade translated into a weak May for both the Las Vegas Strip, down 12%, and Nevada casinos in general, 4.5% off the pace. There were some sort of bright … 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":[88,60,51,37,76,49,62,207,78,110,95,79,12,61,57,9,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18453"}],"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=18453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18454,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18453\/revisions\/18454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}