Steve Wynn‘s conference calls tend to be dramatic and yesterday’s was no exception. El Steve announced a 2,500-room hotel for the old New Frontier/Plaza/Alon site. Breaking 
precedent, he would join it with Wynncore by virtue of the Las Vegas Strip‘s first enclosed pedestrian bridge, an air-conditioned “umbilical.” Explained the magnate, “With our room rates, we operate 50-to-60 percent margins in the hotels. So I want to add more rooms.” The move comes while Wynn Paradise Park is in its nascent stages, giving Las Vegans the chance to see Wynn build two luxury hotels simultaneously. It won’t be cheap to stay there: Think $400/night. For that outlay you get two bathrooms and an 80-inch TV. In the face of a 1.5% slippage in Las Vegas-derived revenue, Wynn challenged Wall Street. “You have to ask yourself, investment community, do you believe that Las Vegas, Nevada, will for the next decade or two continue to be a major destination city in the United States of America and the world?”
In another market where Wynn Resorts competes with itself, Macao, yesterday’s results were healthy, with Wynn Macau — which just weathered a $6 million heist — and newcomer Wynn Palace posting almost identical cash flow, and El Steve openly musing about a Phase II of Wynn Palace. (Already!) “We believe 4Q17 results were an exclamation point on the continued ramp at Palace, most notably in the mass segment, and with market strength, and several property specific 
benefits on the come, we believe sequential growth is likely to continue,” wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli. “Total Macau property EBITDA of $376m was 10% above our $341m, reflecting 4Q mass [gross gaming revenue] outperformance … as well as momentum in the VIP segment, where 4Q VIP GGR +55% y/y vs. the market’s +22%,” added JP Morgan‘s Joseph Greff. Casino revenues at Wynn Las Vegas fell 14%, mostly because of bad luck for the house at the tables. The Paradise Park convention center is presently budgeted at $350 million. No number has been placed on the 1,500-room, five-restaurant casino resort that will accompany it. Expect that information later this year, when Wynn Resorts reveals final renderings of the project. Incidentally, if you’re trying to envision the size of Paradise Park’s custom-made lake, picture the Bellagio lagoon — then double it. As for his newest project, we nominate that it be called “Wynn Frontier” … which has got to be an improvement on “Wynn West.”
* If Indiana casinos, chafing at their 27% tax rate, are expecting any sympathy from South Bend, host city of Four Winds Casino, think again. South Bend has been juiced into 2% of the casino’s profits, apparently removing any pressure for the Pokagon Band to compact with the Hoosier State. Perhaps even more galling to competitors is that, free of a tax burden, Four Winds Casino has, according to Spectrum Gaming Group, an “enormous marketing and pricing advantage, particularly in slot payout rates.” Boyd Gaming‘s David Strow scoffed at the new competition, saying, “We have seen several new casino properties open in this region over the last 10 years, and Blue Chip has continued to compete successfully each time over that timeframe.”
What’s more of a problem for Indiana is that, as competition proliferates in neighboring 
states, the amount of gambling revenue available for the state budget is steeply diminishing. Instead of cursing the darkness, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Tim Brown (R) said, “I have told people we will just deal with the activity that we can estimate and that’s what we’ll plug into our formula. We’re not going to try and necessarily make it so that it can make up a certain percent of the budget.” It’s nice to hear from a grownup in politics for a change.
* Speaking of new competition from out of state, a bill to expand Illinois‘ industry by six casinos was making progress in the Lege but has hit a brick wall in the House. “If you go to an Indiana casino, right over the border, you’ll see 95 percent of the license plates are all 
Illinois plates. Last year, a little over $1.5 billion left Illinois and went to our five surrounding states for gaming. Other states are building casinos right on the border of Illinois and they’re marketing and attracting Illinois people that go there and spend their money,” said proponent state Sen. Dave Syverson (R). Of the opposition in the lower house, he fumed, “We just need the speaker to allow a vote in the House. The last two years he hasn’t allowed his members to vote on it. But if he would allow a vote, this thing would pass and we could be up and running.” Well, not for a few years, construction timetables being what they are, but we get the idea.
* Stadium gambling is coming to Dan Gilbert‘s casinos. An arena with “table games, giant video displays and a live DJ” is being built at Jack Cleveland, to be followed by a 
similar installation at Jack Cincinnati. It is hoped that the arenas will help reverse Gilbert’s declining fortunes by drawing in new, more electronically oriented gamblers. “Synergy Table Games has been successful at our Detroit property and we are confident that our Ohio guests seeking a more interactive and social gaming experience will enjoy it as well,” stated Gilbert exec Brian Eby in a press release.
* It’s a scandal that 279,000 Southern Nevadans struggle with “food insecurity.” Bravo all the more to MGM Resorts International for teaming with Three Square Food Bank to donate surplus food to the needy. MGM has been tinkering with a precursor of this at Aria for the past two years. When all the bugs have been worked out, MGM will share its protocols with its competitors, hoping to inspire some charitable competition.
