{"id":24333,"date":"2019-06-14T09:52:54","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T17:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=24333"},"modified":"2020-10-19T06:55:30","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T14:55:30","slug":"case-bets-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/case-bets-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Bets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>* Shares in Australian casino company <strong>Star Entertainment<\/strong> tumbled after it disclosed that the <strong>U.S<\/strong>.\/<strong>China<\/strong> trade war is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-star-entertainment-group-outlook\/australias-star-sees-profit-down-as-u-s-china-trade-tension-shrinks-bets-idUSKCN1TC023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">impinging on profitability<\/a>. \u201cThe <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-24334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Trump-191x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"128\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Trump-191x300.jpg 191w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Trump-96x150.jpg 96w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Trump.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/>very large VIPs continue to travel but they don\u2019t take as many risks as they have in the past,\u201d said Star CEO <strong>Matt Bekier<\/strong>. It&#8217;s not that they&#8217;re hurting in the wallet from Trumpian tariffs but \u201cThe potential trade wars have just created a level of uncertainty and they\u2019re not as aggressive in their outlook as they might have been in the past.\u201d Star shares took a 17% beating (Star&#8217;s worst decrease ever) after the company revised profit guidance from $390 million down to $377.5 million, well below consensus expectations of $413 million.\u00a0\u201cThe update from the company has been quite poorly received,\u201d said one analyst, displaying masterful understatement.<\/p>\n<p>* <strong>New York State<\/strong> will throw its four new, upstate casinos a bone in the form of <!--more-->sports wagering late this summer. Regulations <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/markets\/new-york-approves-sports-betting-in-4-upstate-casinos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">have been green-lit<\/a> that will enable <strong>Resorts World Catskills<\/strong>, <strong>Tioga Downs<\/strong>, <strong>Rivers Casino<\/strong> and <strong>Del Lago Resort<\/strong> to take sports bets. (Tribal casinos are getting in on the action, too) It&#8217;ll be small change at first: Mobile wagering is still becalmed in the Lege. American sports betting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apnews.com\/68fd70c5946342a1b52488051f3197f6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has reached the $8.9 billion mark<\/a>, probably more when you factor in the states that haven&#8217;t reported May revenues, to say <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-20868\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/New_Mexico.svg_-300x200.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/New_Mexico.svg_-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/New_Mexico.svg_-150x100.png 150w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/New_Mexico.svg_-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/New_Mexico.svg_.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>nothing of <strong>New Mexico<\/strong>, which doesn&#8217;t report them ever. Wow, time\u2014and money\u2014sure flies in the speedy year since the overturning of the <strong>Bradley Act<\/strong>.\u00a0\u201cFrom a company standpoint, we went through a merger, opened a retail destination and started online all within months of PASPA\u2019s repeal and a year later, we are the market leader. It has been a proud moment for all of us,\u201d said <strong>Fan Duel<\/strong> CEO <strong>Matt King<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>* <strong>Mohegan Gaming &amp; Entertainment<\/strong> is expanding its reach to take over operation of <strong>Casino Niagara<\/strong> and <strong>Fallsview Casino Resort<\/strong> in <strong>Ontario<\/strong>.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4934\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/flag_canadian_maple_leaf-300x222.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/flag_canadian_maple_leaf-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/flag_canadian_maple_leaf-150x111.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/flag_canadian_maple_leaf.jpg 370w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>MGE CEO <strong>Mario Kontomerkos<\/strong> marked the occasion by promising &#8220;several hundred million&#8221; in capex maintenance. MGE beat out the <strong>Ontario Lottery Corp<\/strong>., <strong>Hard Rock International<\/strong> and <strong>Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> in competitive bidding last year to run the casinos. MGE will be responsible for all tax and upkeep costs, in return for keeping the casino revenue, in a term scheduled to run 21 years.<\/p>\n<p>* It was a hard-luck week for <strong>Melco Resorts &amp; Entertainment<\/strong>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ggrasia.com\/melco-resorts-philippines-delisted-tuesday-from-pse-firm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">delisted<\/a> from the Philippine stock exchange. Melco had been warned of delisting if it didn&#8217;t meet a 10% threshold of public ownership. Melco didn&#8217;t and out it went. The company had contemplated a voluntary delisting last yet but it ran aground on the shoals of stockholder opposition.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere in the <strong>Philippines<\/strong>, gamblers are being warned to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ggrasia.com\/kidnap-risk-of-casino-play-loan-sharks-philippine-govt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stay away from loan sharks<\/a>. The latter are known to take hostages as a form of ensuring repayment. \u00a0Recently, three Chinese citizens were held in a\u00a0\u201chotel room in <strong>Para\u00f1aque City<\/strong>\u201d for not repaying their gambling debts. A mostly Chinese syndicate enticed the threesome to play at a Philippine casino with the promise of having their action underwritten. When they lost money, they were abducted and told to phone home to China for ransom. In <strong>Macao<\/strong>, this is just <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ggrasia.com\/macau-cracks-down-as-gambling-related-1q-crimes-up-14pct\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the cost of doing business<\/a>. Macanese authorities assure the media that the majority of their kidnappers and hostages are from out of town. What a relief.<\/p>\n<p>* An <em>S&amp;G<\/em> thank-you goes out to <strong>FedEx Corp<\/strong>., which is holding a <strong>Tunica<\/strong> job fair to provide a soft landing for workers left jobless by <strong>Penn National Gaming<\/strong>&#8216;s closing of <strong>Resorts Casino<\/strong>. Employment in Tunica is at a third of pre-Great Recession levels.<\/p>\n<p>* Congratulations to the <strong>Toronto Raptors<\/strong> for the first <strong>NBA<\/strong> championship won by our good neighbors to the north. And boos to the NBA itself, which <a href=\"https:\/\/madison.com\/sports\/baseball\/professional\/cut-of-the-action-nba-mlb-using-data-to-chase\/article_43094bbc-1d46-5509-bb58-1eb919ce7bba.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cut off data streams<\/a> to sports books, in an attempt to screw up their prop bets and payouts. It&#8217;s part of a cheesy movement to extort &#8220;integrity fees&#8221; from sports.\u00a0We like the attitude of\u00a0<strong>Jimmy Vaccaro<\/strong>, director of sports relations for <strong>Rivers Casino Pittsburgh<\/strong> and <strong>Las Vegas<\/strong> veteran:\u00a0&#8220;My database in my brain is just as much or more than the database that they can send out.\u00a0People like me have been doing it for their entire life and it always comes out about the same, we hold about the same percentage wise &#8230; We don&#8217;t need help. What are they going to offer me\u00a0that I can&#8217;t already see? We don&#8217;t need their database that bad.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>* Shares in Australian casino company Star Entertainment tumbled after it disclosed that the U.S.\/China trade war is impinging on profitability. \u201cThe very large VIPs continue to travel but they don\u2019t take as many risks as they have in the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/case-bets-26\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[103,266,14,120,22,189,62,35,167,253,101,69,192,242,74,243],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24333"}],"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=24333"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28555,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24333\/revisions\/28555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}