Stiffs and Georges

Revel Atlantic City’s day of deliverance is at hand: CEO Kevin DeSanctis has been ousted, along with Chief Investment Officer Michael Garrity. But there’s no need to shed tears over their fate. They will continue “developing amenity projects” for Revel (since they’ve done such a bang-up job to date) and will retain their sinecures with [...]

“America might be better off it it dropped bombshells on Gloria Allred and Donald Trump, rather than the other way around.” — Charles C. W. Cooke, on the mercifully almost-over election cycle.

Former Resorts Atlantic City underboss Aaron Gomes might want to change his travel plans. Scarcely had he announced his departure from his late father’s casino than his new gig, Sydney’s troubled Star Casino, looks very doubtful. Gomes had planned to join former Borgata prexy Larry Mullin, But now Mullin is on the way out, effective [...]

Earlier today, I penned a 1.5-page Question of the Day on the recent past and dubious future of the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, which I habitually type as “Las Vegas Hilton.” Even if one confines the narrative to the last 15 months, or roughly the period after Hilton International informed Colony Capital that it [...]

Stick a fork in the Dennis Gomes legacy at Resorts Atlantic City. Son Aaron Gomes is not only leaving but going halfway around the globe, to team up with former Borgata exec Larry Mullin and reboot Jupiters Gold Coast Casino, Down Under. He’ll have $625 million to spend on the Jupiters’ relaunch, which must [...]

OK, let’s take a deep breath and remind ourselves that one swallow doesn’t make a spring and one month doesn’t determine history’s verdict on a casino, but there’s only a single word for $2.4 billion Revel’s first full month of operation: poor. The megaresort grossed $17.5 million, making it the eighth-place finisher for June. So [...]

Just when it seemed hope was lost … The D is reintroducing Sigma Derby to Downtown. In one fell swoop of utter brilliance, owner Derek Stevens has staked a prohibitive claim to Gaming Executive of the Year. To be completely honest, slot machines bore me. But I’ve never seen an electronic game — anywhere! — [...]

You might call it “UFC Smackdown”: Police were summoned to Wynncore in the pre-dawn hours of last Saturday to break up the proverbial “domestic disturbance.” Former Playboy model and current UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste (née Arianna Lopez) and boyfriend Praveen Chandra (who, whatever else he may be guilty of, is culpable of having the [...]

It was a thankless day for Boyd Gaming: It exceeded Wall Street’s expectations for 1Q12 and stock analysts yawned in the company’s face. Wrote Deutsche Bank’s Carlo Santarelli, “the fundamental setup … remains tough,” due to a highly competitive locals market in Las Vegas, where Boyd has lost market share, and the incoming impact of [...]

Good news for Trump Plaza: It’s off the “death watch,” having dramatically reversed its fortunes last year. Although revenues continue to decline, gross operating profit swung from a $2 million loss in 2010 to a nearly $3 million gain last year. This is terrific news for Trump Entertainment Resorts, which has been effectively subsidizing the [...]

Deutsche Bank’s Carlo Santarelli took a jaunt down to Atlantic City to check out Revel, the biggest noise on the Boardwalk in almost a decade. He thought … well, let him tell it: “From the check in reception area, complete with pool, foosball, and air hockey tables and an expansive lounge seating area, [...]

Caution, thy name is Moody’s Investors Service. So if Moody’s is bullish on the near-term future of Las Vegas, I guess we can well and truly believe that a recovery is here … well, on the Strip. Away from Las Vegas Boulevard, you still might mistake us for postwar Baghdad. In fact, the local NBC-TV [...]

That shriek of dismay you hear from the direction of Atlantic City is the screech of hotelier Curtis Bashaw (left). What is the cause of his umbrage? The discovery that a hotel room in A.C. can be had for as little as — brace yourselves — $19. Get over it, Curtis. Out here, I can [...]

There are few real characters in the casino industry anymore. Dennis Gomes (1944-2012) was one of them. His recent death put a premature “full stop” on one of the most colorful and wide-ranging careers gaming has seen. After all, how many people can claim to have been a casino regulator in both New Jersey and [...]

Good news is busting out all over, starting in the unlikeliest place … Atlantic City. Ye Olde Boardwalk was up 4% last month, its first revenue-positive month in 15 quarters. Even a 10% fall in table drop couldn’t put a damper on things, thanks to higher slot drop (7%) and hold, as well as strong [...]

First, the good news: Borgata — accounting for more than one-fifth of the entire market share — continues to vastly outpace the rest of the Atlantic City market. Last month, it raked in $50 million for a 2% gain, driven by strong slot play … and despite looser hold (8.3% vs. 8.9%) than A.C. overall. [...]

No surprise that Borgata remains in a class by itself among Atlantic City resorts. It finished October at 0.0% deviance from last year, as flat as “flat” can be. The lone gainer in the market was Resorts Atlantic City, up 9% and showing positive results for the sixth time in 10 months, an achievement unmatched [...]

In one of the most Pyrrhic victories in casino-industry history, Colony Capital has managed to prevent foreclosure of the former Atlantic City Hilton. But the cost of victory outweighs the gain. Colony got itself out of this scrape by giving away its Bally’s Tunica and Resorts Tunica casinos, regarded as the best performers in Colony’s [...]

Our beloved casino industry runneth over with individuals, companies and even sovereign nations that have a vested interest in the legalization of Internet poker … and more. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX, left) knows this, which is why he’s coming to Global Gaming Expo to peddle his influence on Capitol Hill, such as it might be. [...]

As the hours tick away toward this week’s expiration of labor agreements at nine Atlantic City casinos, managements are all but daring Culinary Union parent Unite Here to strike. Caesars Entertainment had the brass to declare it was continuing “to negotiate in good faith” … without actually conducting any negotiations. The market having literally been [...]