{"id":9980,"date":"2012-10-30T11:52:06","date_gmt":"2012-10-30T19:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=9980"},"modified":"2012-10-31T09:48:14","modified_gmt":"2012-10-31T17:48:14","slug":"cosmo-yes-we-have-gambling-election-special-2-palm-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/cosmo-yes-we-have-gambling-election-special-2-palm-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Cosmo: Yes, we have gambling!; Election Special 2: Palm Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For the umpteenth time, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas<\/strong> has been obliged to go to the media and say, ‘Yes, we not only have gambling but we actually like it, we really do.’ It’s a message that got kicked under the furniture during the run-up year in which the Cosmo promoted itself like a high-end S&M club. The upbeat narrative of CEO John Unwin<\/strong> was somewhat undercut by the lack of enthusiasm exuded by Deutsche Bank<\/strong> spokesdominatrix Mayura Hooper<\/strong>, who sternly told Vegas Inc<\/em>. that the $3.9 billion hotel was strictly “an investment” — and neither long-term nor strategic, at that. Hooper did everything short of slap a “For sale” sign<\/a> on the property, which is eking out a 2% ROI for the bank.<\/p>\n

\"\"Still, the anemic gaming-revenue stream has finally drawn blood: As I expected, upper-level space has been cannibalized to provide more gaming positions, in the form of the high-end Talon Club<\/strong>. (Expect more of this.) Overall revenue was up a third in 1Q12, driven largely by ADRs, which sit around an enviable $257\/night. For some historical perspective, when Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> opened The Venetian<\/strong> in 1999, he was routinely able to command $269\/night. The Cosmo has another substantial property upgrade in the works, one that will be in line with its marketing position. In the meantime, the customer is king, given that slot players are being rewarded with premium food and liquor, the better to incentivize time on device. Whoever eventually buys the Cosmo, they’ll be getting the spiffiest used car on the lot, that’s for sure.<\/p>\n

On the other side of the coin<\/strong>, tribes in Arizona<\/strong> are discovering that they’re having to put more emphasis on amenities to bolster gambling revenues that aren’t quite as good as they look. True, Arizona tribes took in 5% more this fiscal year than the one before, for a $1.8 billion haul. Gambling numbers haven’t been that high since 2009, but the per-slot revenue have been diluted by the addition of 1,500-plus machines (or 68 per casino), according to the East Valley Tribune<\/em>. So, to give tourists more of a reason to spend, the addition of hotel rooms, golf courses and good restaurants has been the order of the day. It’s night and day from the Cosmo, where gambling is the tin can tied to the rear fender.<\/p>\n

\"\"Election Special 2<\/strong>: Citizens of Florida<\/strong>‘s Palm Beach County<\/strong> could take a huge first step<\/a> if they approve slot machines in a Nov. 6 ballot question. The issue then becomes a political football in the next Lege, up in Tallahassee<\/strong>, where lawmakers face increasing pressure to expand gambling in the Sunshine State. While an “aye” vote might bring new investment over the long haul, the near-term consequence will be to put as many as 800 slots into the Palm Beach Kennel Club<\/strong>. Opposition is, all too predictably, headquartered in Orlando<\/strong>, the Buttinski Central of Florida casino issues. Slots at parimutuels haven’t been a bonanza for anyone, although Isle Casino & Racing<\/strong> ($120 million last year<\/a>) is experiencing better days, so the Rooneys will likely have the Palm Beach action to themselves. But that’d be 100% more than the county is seeing presently and you’ve got a business owner willing to pay a 35% tax rate, too.<\/p>\n

S&G<\/em> urges a “yes” vote on this issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the umpteenth time, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has been obliged to go to the media and say, ‘Yes, we not only have gambling but we actually like it, we really do.’ It’s a message that got kicked under … 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":[109,66,28,18,14,26,36,85,53,111,12,31,9,19,20,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9980"}],"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=9980"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9988,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9980\/revisions\/9988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}