{"id":27566,"date":"2020-07-20T08:59:58","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T16:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=27566"},"modified":"2020-08-26T06:18:47","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T14:18:47","slug":"casinos-unleash-culinarys-wrath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/casinos-unleash-culinarys-wrath\/","title":{"rendered":"Casinos unleash Culinary’s wrath"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Las Vegas<\/strong>‘ casino industry seems to be behaving counterintuitively, reopening casinos and hotels (Vdara<\/strong> is the latest) at a time when visitor demand is softening. JP Morgan<\/strong> analyst Joseph Greff<\/strong> reports today that, for the July 11-18 period, Clark County<\/strong> casino visitation levels were at 56% of where they were pre-Coronavirus<\/strong> and lower than they had been for the previous month (62%). Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> casino companies seem more than willing to trade hotel capacity for the appearance that things are Better Than Ever. Outside of Nevada<\/strong>, the regional sector also slipped, down by 4% over the same comparison periods. Wrote Greff, “Results, to us, reflect, the resurgence<\/a> in COVID-19 cases, and while the data in NV doesn\u2019t clearly illustrate this, we believe the LV Strip is underperforming the LV Locals segment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greff continued, “We assess demand levels at casinos by analyzing both the number of visitors and the duration of their visits. We still are seeing median visit length at\/above February levels in certain jurisdictions, which we believe is indicative of higher quality, more dedicated players.” Clark County was up 7% (Mississippi<\/strong> did even better, at 9%) while Louisiana<\/strong> players are cutting their visits short, 11% briefer than normal. Time on device in Missouri<\/strong> and Iowa<\/strong> is pretty much the same as before. Explained Greff, “We view this most recent batch of visitation data as a modest step backwards, though not entirely surprising given the continued increase in COVID-19 cases (which has resulted in certain casinos\/card rooms re-closing) and a slower\/decelerating recovery<\/a> in credit card spend.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Perhaps our credit cards are maxed out and perhaps we’re leery of a Las Vegas that one local describes as “overwhelmed and terrified<\/a>.” Rarely reticent, the Culinary Union<\/strong>‘s Bethany Khan<\/strong> said, \u201cIt\u2019s even more troubling that Covid-19<\/strong> in Nevada is disproportionately impacting communities of color,\u201d especially in the hot-weather months in which epidemiologists and politicians alike told us the virus would abate. Public-health boffin Brian Labus<\/strong> of UNLV<\/strong> thinks Gov. Steve Sisolak<\/strong> (D) is on the right course: \u201cThe problem comes down to the fact that people didn\u2019t take the social distancing seriously when we reopened … the mask mandate will have a big dent on cases.\u201d (At least it seems to have finally gotten Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman<\/strong> [I] to stop running her damn fool mouth.) Adds Labus, \u201cYou have to remember the kind of people who are coming to Las Vegas right now. It\u2019s the people who are the least concerned about this outbreak right now\u2014least likely to follow the social distancing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study in the New York Times<\/em> ranked Nevada as the ninth-most-infected place in the world, just ahead of Panama<\/strong> and Brazil<\/strong> for Covid-friendiness (Florida<\/strong> and Arizona<\/strong> led the parade of disgrace). Depending on whether you see the test tube as half-full or half-empty, 77% of Nevada hospital beds are in use as are 40% of ventilators. Complicating matters, some of those beds are going to out-of-state patients. An emergency room doctor who opted to remain nameless put a pox on all officialdom’s houses, saying, \u201cThis is uncharted waters and it seems like everyone in Las Vegas has been too lax about the pandemic … People here in Las Vegas don\u2019t see this pandemic as an issue\u2014well, once the hospitals are filled and there is nowhere to go, they will realize they should have been more careful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without exactly calling for a casino shutdown, Khan called for Sisolak and the Lege to “do more” to stem the spread of the pandemic. More testing is hinted at, as it greater stringency in mask wearing. One of the most cavalier of properties, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas<\/strong>, gets name-checked. \u201cMy mom has been in the hospital for almost a week and is barely able to breathe on her own. She was exposed to someone who had Covid-19 at work,\u201d said the daughter of Cosmo housekeeper Stella Kalaoram<\/strong>. \u201cNow, my dad, my younger teenage brother, and I are all positive for Covid-19 and we are really worried. I\u2019ve watched my mom\u2019s health get worse every day since early July when she got the positive test and it\u2019s hard for my family because we can\u2019t even visit my mom in the hospital right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union reiterated its “Culinary Clean” agenda, which doesn’t look encouraging<\/a> in terms of casino compliance. As far as guvmint ‘doing more,’ the union is trying to get the Adolfo Hernandez Bill <\/a>(named after a deceased Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> worker) into the legislative hopper. In essence, it would enshrine “Culinary Clean” into law. It’s a very good idea, although our hopes for passage are dim. By the way, if you think Las Vegas is bad just try Los Angeles<\/strong>, where even the most stringent anti-Covid measures seem to be failing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Diana Bennett<\/strong> is out, former casino regulator Mark Lipparelli<\/strong> is in as the new gaming operator at Westgate Las Vegas<\/strong> (which outsources its casino<\/a>). Bennett, whose Paragon Gaming<\/strong> rescued the Westgate’s operation several years ago, still manages several casinos, from the sublime (Hard Rock Lake Tahoe<\/strong>) to the ridiculous (Oyo Las Vegas<\/strong>). Lipparelli is chairman of Galaxy Gaming<\/strong> and brings some veteran casino talent to Westgate, namely former WMS Industries<\/strong> CFO Scott Schweinfurth<\/strong> and Bruce Rowe<\/strong>, late of Caesars. We have to wonder at Paragon’s ouster, particularly in favor of a relative newbie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jottings<\/em><\/strong>: August 3 is the magic date when Station Casinos<\/strong> reopens poker rooms at Red Rock Resort<\/strong>, Boulder Station<\/strong> and Santa Fe Station<\/strong>, with restricted tables<\/a> … Did you know that Caesars is still stuck with a golf course in Macao<\/strong>? It’s one of Gary Loveman<\/strong>‘s strangest legacies. Also, incoming CEO Tom Reeg<\/strong> will only commit to the Atlantic City<\/strong> market for five more years<\/a>. Doesn’t that inspire confidence? … The Las Vegas Raiders<\/strong>‘ inaugural tilt in Allegiant Stadium<\/strong>, a preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals<\/strong>, may not happen<\/a>. NFL preseason games are anything but a certainty at this point … This just in<\/em>: The Caesars takeover by Eldorado Resorts<\/strong> is a done deal. You can read the official propaganda here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Las Vegas‘ casino industry seems to be behaving counterintuitively, reopening casinos and hotels (Vdara is the latest) at a time when visitor demand is softening. JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff reports today that, for the July 11-18 period, Clark County … 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":[109,244,56,66,151,14,199,36,283,153,22,86,76,241,84,62,35,39,207,212,33,74,57,38,184],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27566"}],"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=27566"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27829,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27566\/revisions\/27829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}