Stiffs and Georges

Y’all remember Baha Mar, that multi-billion-dollar project in the Bahamas that then-Harrah’s Entertainment exited during its IPO? At the time, Harrah’s insisted that there was no connection, but Baha Mar was one of several initiatives — including Margaritaville in Biloxi and a resort in Spain — that were ceased and never heard from again. $3.5 [...]

After a boffo February, the Silver State also posted extraordinary numbers in March. As Deutsche Bank headlined its report, “Different Month, Same Tune.” Analyst Carlo Santarelli cautioned, “we believe the underlying trends are not as strong as the headline would suggest,” pointing toward slippage in slot handle and in table drop (down 10.5%), excluding baccarat. [...]

Subtract one casino from the Tropicana Entertainment portfolio: The River Palms Resort & Casino, in Laughlin, just went for $7 million today. TropEnt CEO Anthony Rodio isn’t pulling out of the Colorado River market altogether. He says the company will continue to maintain its presence at the Tropicana Express (a former Ramada), which has been [...]

What’s an Atlantic City casino worth? Not too bloody much, especially if the name of Donald Trump is emblazoned across the façade. Trump Entertainment Resorts has parted with unloved, unremunerative Trump Plaza and truly for a pittance — $20 million. This is the most rock-bottom resale price yet recorded for an Atlantic City gambling hall. [...]

There are gambling markets … and then there’s Las Vegas. Players opened their wallets — oh, did they ever — and lost big. Casino winnings on the Las Vegas Strip were up 13.5% and Nevada casinos overall did 10% better than last year, for a statewide gross of $943 million. Downtown casino winnings shot up [...]

Having waited too long and spent too much to ever get around to his long-rumored teardown of the Imperial Palace, the CEO/CFO/COB and prexy of Caesars Entertainment, one Gary Loveman, now finds himself perfuming a pig. Despite having more brand names under the Caesars umbrella than you could shake a Total Rewards card at, Loveman [...]

I always hate doing Nevada gaming numbers because A) it’s redundant with the coverage in the local dailies and B) almost every month you have to trot out the caveat that — as was the case in June — the month went out on a weekend, meaning that there’s unreported slot drop that won’t show [...]

“‘Eleven, the Hard Way’ (1961), about a small town that sends a gambler [Walter Matthau] to Reno to try to win it a return to prosperity after the local mine goes bust, seems like a metaphor for all those states that hope a casino economy can replace their lost manufacturing revenue.” — [...]

Never say “never” but a pet casino project of Maryland Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller Jr. is in critical condition. The sweetheart deal, which would gift-wrap a casino for National Harbor in Miller’s Prince George’s County (in return for concessions to existing operators), is pegged at a cost of $1 billion. Considering Maryland’s 67% [...]

Baccarat win on the Las Vegas Strip began the year heavy ($194 million) and dramatic, up 199% from 2011. The whales were back in force, dropping 163% more than the previous January, putting $1.6 billion in play. An early Chinese New Year helped, as daily baccarat drop averaged $50 million, compared to $30 million the [...]

Money problems at Caesars Entertainment are worse than we thought. According to the New York Post, the company is trying to shop as many as 10 Midwestern casinos in order to raise $500 million in development capital. The money would go toward Suffolk Downs (left) and other projects — such as a hotel in China [...]

If today’s numbers from the Nevada Gaming Control Board indicate that December was good for business — especially on the Las Vegas Strip (up 4% … 7% if you take baccarat out of the equation) — January ought to have been great. Why? Because Dec. 31 fell upon a Saturday … meaning that all those [...]

Rushing in where angels fear to tread, Kazuo Okada (right) has broken ground on his $2 billion, two-casino megaresort in the Philippines. You may remember the project as a bitter point of contention between Okada and erstwhile BFF Steve Wynn, who alleges that Okada tried to drag Wynn Resorts into it, by hook or by [...]

If the good news keeps raining down like this, I might have to start using the R-word … as in “recovery.” In November, Nevada’s $880 million gross was good for a 7% upsurge. The Las Vegas Strip beat the statewide average, up 9%. According to a J.P. Morgan analyst report, those numbers “reflect the continuing [...]

October’s revenue figures for Nevada emerged today and it was a good month statewide ($961 million, +8%) and a great one for the Las Vegas Strip ($560.5 million, +13%). Mind you, October 1 was a Saturday, meaning that some Sept. 30 slot revenues may have been rolled into the next month’s tally — per Nevada’s [...]

In 15 years of covering the casino industry, I’ve learned that there are a few, exceptional people who stick by you through thick and thin, and who treat everyone the same, regardless of social standing. One such is Raving Consulting President Dennis Conrad, so the least I could do way of thanking him is to [...]

State Rep. Lou “Death Wish” Lang (D, right) continues to dare, then double-dare Gov. Pat Quinn (D) to veto what’s now a 2.6X expansion of the number of gambling positions in the state of Illinois. Lang has offered a few relatively meaningless concessions (such as: no slot routes at airports) but his demands still far [...]

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. [...]

A shootout at John Ascuaga’s Nugget has left two people wounded and one dead. Hostility between biker gangs is the probable cause. Perhaps the casino took the appropriate security measures but I suspect otherwise. If biker gangs are known to be in the area, a beefed-up and highly visible “prowl” is the only appropriate response. [...]

Guess which city tops the misery index, according to BusinessInsider.com? Yup, good old Las Vegas, where real estate values have totally cratered and employment isn’t looking so hot, either. Any talk of recovery on the Strip looks somewhat relative when placed in the context of what irresponsible developers and borrowers have done to the local [...]