{"id":2411,"date":"2010-03-01T17:18:29","date_gmt":"2010-03-02T01:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=2411"},"modified":"2010-03-02T14:54:35","modified_gmt":"2010-03-02T22:54:35","slug":"macaos-big-ass-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/macaos-big-ass-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Macao’s big ass-month"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VenetianCasinos in Macao<\/strong> blew way past expectations, raking in $1.6 billion last month (a 70% increase). Stanley Ho<\/strong>‘s SJM<\/strong> widened its lead on Las Vegas Sands<\/strong>, although the latter had more market share (20%) than MGM Grand Macau<\/strong> and Galaxy Entertainment<\/strong>‘s several properties combined. Still, comparing Sands’ market share to those of competitors Wynn Macau<\/strong> and Melco Crown Entertainment<\/strong> (15% and 14%, respectively), it continues to be difficult to be persuaded by Sands’ “Big is More!” strategy, as continued addition of capacity doesn’t appear to be translating into commensurately increased market share.<\/p>\n

(And is Sands actually offering to pledge<\/a> its Singapore<\/strong> casino against restructured debt … or merely projecting a better debt-to-cash-flow ratio once $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands<\/strong> opens? [The latter, most likely.] It Resorts World Sentosa<\/strong> is any indication, Sands execs had better brace themselves for lower-than-expect numbers.)<\/p>\n

Speaking of Wynn<\/strong>, congratulations to longtime design associate Roger Thomas<\/strong> on being tapped to design the green room for this year’s Oscar<\/strong> ceremonies. ‘Cept that it won’t be green; Thomas is going with a black-and-white look, inspired by old Astaire & Rogers<\/strong> musicals. The Academy has chosen well.<\/p>\n

Florida legislators seem<\/strong> to be headed in all directions<\/a> with regard to their next move in their protracted compact negotiations with the Seminole Tribe<\/strong>. If, as they hope, the National Indian Gaming Commission<\/strong> intervenes to shut down the Seminoles’ renegade version of blackjack, it is presumed the tribe will be more tractable to Tallahassee<\/strong>‘s demands. Also, it will be interesting to see what the near-term effects will be of relaxing a usurious 50% tax on private-sector slot houses to a merely burdensome 35%. Some accuse ex-Gov. Jeb Bush<\/strong> of pushing for the higher tax as a circuitous way of killing the casino business in Florida<\/strong>. If so, he damn near succeeded.<\/p>\n

Leaving aside the issue of whether Las Vegas Sands is the right company to develop resort casinos in Florida, it’s a fascinating question as to whether casino-based resorts would be the game changer the hitherto-disappointing Sunshine State market needs. Of course, Vegas-style casinos in someplace like Miami<\/strong> would mean having to allow Vegas-style game offerings at the Seminole properties. Which would put the Lege right back at Square One and render current compact talks — such as they are — an exercise in futility. Once you let the Class III genie out of the bottle, there’s no more telling the Seminoles what they can and can’t have.<\/p>\n

Their horse having fled<\/strong>, the grand poobahs of Atlantic City<\/strong> debate whether or not to fix the barn door<\/a> … or, in this case, the Boardwalk<\/strong>. Major casino owners seem to be absent from the discussion, with Revel Entertainment Group<\/strong> being a noteworthy exception.<\/p>\n

Harrah’s gets off<\/strong>. The casino giant’s punishment for illegal, on-the-sly remodeling work at six Strip<\/strong> hotels? Oh, merely 26 dimes<\/a>. Yeah, that’ll really teach them a lesson. It’s less of a slap on the wrist than a big, sloppy kiss. If at time you get the impression that the casino giants dictate policy to the government, you’re not alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Casinos in Macao blew way past expectations, raking in $1.6 billion last month (a 70% increase). Stanley Ho‘s SJM widened its lead on Las Vegas Sands, although the latter had more market share (20%) than MGM Grand Macau and Galaxy … 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":[65,23,14,117,36,120,7,96,94,62,93,11,33,111,25,12,108,61,32,9,20,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411"}],"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=2411"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2414,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411\/revisions\/2414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}