{"id":18534,"date":"2016-07-21T11:33:26","date_gmt":"2016-07-21T19:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18534"},"modified":"2022-07-04T03:44:53","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T11:44:53","slug":"tribal-gaming-reaches-new-high-new-concept-for-railroad-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/tribal-gaming-reaches-new-high-new-concept-for-railroad-pass\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribal gaming reaches new high; New concept for Railroad Pass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year was the best ever for tribal casinos, up 5% from 2014, coming in just a bit shy of $30 billion. Recent efforts to align tribal and private-sector casino interests come at a time when the tribal sector could plausibly achieve revenue supremacy. The latter have the advantage of not being beholden to Wall Street<\/strong> and the grail of maximizing shareholder returns.\u00a0“They’re not really profits,” Cabazon Band of Mission Indians<\/strong> member Brenda Soulliere<\/strong> said of tribal revenues. “They’re funds that<\/p>\n

come to the tribal government and the tribal government is able to provide basic things that people take for granted like education, health care, things like that.” Soulliere added that the increase in tribal gambling dollars was a rising tide that lifts all boats, saying,\u00a0“To hear the revenue numbers are finally turning around for Indian county usually means for the rest of the country too.”<\/p>\n

* An election race that we visited last week is going well for gaming proponents. “Keep the Money in Nebraska<\/strong>,” bankrolled by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska<\/strong>, has collected far more signatures than are necessary to make it onto the ballot. Furthermore, the initiative is running ahead in the polls, with 53% support<\/a>. This ballot question, which would legalize six racinos in the Cornhusker State, definitely ought to be passed.<\/p>\n

* Tropicana Evansville<\/strong> has begun the process of transitioning into a land-based casino, as demolition work began to make room for the new facility, which will add a pair of restaurants, along with a 45,000-square-foot gaming floor (the riverboat will, of course, be retired). That’s bigger than the existing Tropicana Evansville and we don’t know if this squares with Gov. Mike Pence<\/strong>‘s insistence on “no expansion of gaming” in the state, but it’s a moot point now, Pence having signed the riverboat-to-land transition legislation (and we’re very glad he did). WFIE-TV has the video<\/a> of the site clearing. A December 2017 opening is envisioned.<\/p>\n

* There’s a glimmer of hope coming out of Mississippi<\/strong> casinos. Last month, Mississippi River<\/strong> casinos, long a source of woe, were up 2%<\/a>. Gulf Coast casinos were up 1%, although their revenues overall were higher (not to mention being a market that’s been in expansion, not contraction). Where Mississippi is concerned, we’ll take any good news where we can get it.<\/p>\n

* \u201cWe don\u2019t provide any services for [truckers]. So we might as well do that.\u201d Thus spake Railroad Pass Casino<\/strong> owner Joe DeSimone<\/strong> on his newly approved travel plaza, \"railroad-pic\"which will have 100 truck pull-ins, some sort of Kwik-E Mart<\/strong>, restaurants and a place for truckers to wash up. DeSimone, who is making good on his promise to upgrade Railroad Pass, envisions creating synergy between the truck stop and the hotel-casino: \u201cThe casino will market with the truck stop, and the truck stop will operate with the casino.\u201d DeSimone envisions being done by New Year’s, whereupon it becomes a question of waiting until the I-11 Boulder City<\/strong> bypass supersedes U.S. 95, bringing business to his doorstep<\/a>. At the time of his purchase of Railroad Pass from MGM Resorts International<\/strong>, it may have seemed that DeSimone was plucking low-hanging fruit but it turns out he’s a man with a plan.<\/p>\n

* Modest as ever, gaming mogul Kazuo Okada<\/strong> has changed the name of his Philippines<\/strong> megaresort to Okada Manila<\/strong> and has set a soft opening for late this year. This must come as a relief to the Filipino government, as it seemed Okada would never be finished with the $2.4 billion project. It will outdo all other casinos in the country in its square footage, and will host \"Tiger-Resort-Okada-Manila-Bay-Resorts_01-e1402018244904\"3,000 slot machines and 500 table games. The hotel sounds a bit like Mandalay Bay<\/strong>: a y-shaped, gold-colored skyscraper. In a one-up of former best buddy Steve Wynn<\/strong>, Okada will have a dancing-fountains show that will be the second-largest in the world, outdone only by one in Dubai<\/strong>. \u201cOkada Manila has the potential to compete with the entertainment and gaming giants from across the region with its best natural resources\u2014its hospitality and warmth. Here, expect an effortless integration of the Japanese omotenashi\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 people\u2019s respectful demeanor, passion for creativity and hunger for innovation\u2014and the Filipinos\u2019 hard work, hospitality and cheerful spirit, in terms of quality service,\u201d proclaimed project prexy Steve Wolstenholme<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In a truly intriguing twist on the beach-club culture, Okada Manila will bring its pool indoors, enclosing it under a glass dome, with the requisite cabanas and bungalows. The Cove<\/strong> will also have dining rooms, jacuzzis and karaoke rooms. Las Vegas<\/strong> definitely hasn’t caught up with that, never mind its colossal scale (occupancy: 4,500). Okada is really looking to beat Macao<\/strong> and Vegas at their own game and, with VIP players fleeing Macao for other countries, he might have invented the proverbial better mousetrap. The new administration in Manila<\/strong> wants to privatize casino operator Pagcor<\/strong> but that might be a little more difficult now that Pagcor has posted a $52 million revenue gain for the first half of 2016. Half of that goes to the government treasury. The latter is at odds with Pagcor<\/a> for alleged underpayments in previous years. Pagor, not surprisingly, denies the allegations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year was the best ever for tribal casinos, up 5% from 2014, coming in just a bit shy of $30 billion. Recent efforts to align tribal and private-sector casino interests come at a time when the tribal sector could … 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":[65,134,14,26,68,188,62,11,35,156,192,25,100,20,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18534"}],"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=18534"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31353,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18534\/revisions\/31353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}