Granted, Sam Nazarian had to do something with the Sahara, but so far when SLS Las Vegas makes the headlines it’s with another piece of bad news. F&B offerings have 
been cut back and the nightclub program is struggling. Rationalizes former Revel prexy Scott Kreeger, who now holds the same position at SLS, “we opened the property and the nightlife program heading into a slow season.” (Why?) According to Kreeger, SLS is already regrouping to “come into 2015 with some really strong offerings.”
SLS, which opened targeted to SoCal trust-fund babies and with little understanding of locals casinos is now rather naively counting on business ginned up from the immediate neighborhood to help it turn around. Obtusely, SLS closed its buffet just before the holidays, a time when locals are most wont to crave an evening out and a big spread. “We think the buffet closure is going to be a temporary thing,” says Kreeger ominously (emphasis added). Having parachuted into SLS just as trouble was starting to manifest itself, Kreeger must be hoping he hasn’t leapt from one rescue project (Revel) into another. At least in the days when George Maloof ran it, the Palms knew the trick of attracting hipsters and locals alike. SLS is clearly not managing this.
* “People who gamble drive. It’s as simple as that,” says David Cordish, for whom the secret of a successful regional casino is parking (preferably free) and lots of it. He shrugged off new competition from Horseshoe Baltimore, saying, “We have a suburban market and they have a Baltimore city market, and it’s really not affecting each other.” Indeed, he went to so far as to say of Horseshoe’s impact on Maryland Live!, “I feel very, very confident it’s going to be negligible.” “November is trending exceptionally well,” added Cordish exec Robert Norton, who expects the casino to rake in more gross revenue than last November, despite the new competition.
* If you’ve been wondering about the delay in the commencement of Resorts World Las Vegas, it appears to have to do with the upward creep in the project’s cost, particularly interest rates. Grotesquely overconceptualized and carrying a budget ($4 billion) that is hard to recoup on the Las Vegas Strip, Resorts could easily follow the 
fate of Echelon, whose bones it inherited from Boyd Gaming. “Once operations start, Genting will receive its revenue in US dollars, hence reducing its risks. Moreover, Genting has very strong financial muscle and it wouldn’t be a trouble for it to fund the project,” said one analyst.
“The casino licence will be awarded about nine months before the casino’s opening,” opined CIMB Research, which must not be familiar with the way things are done in Nevada. Historically, the license is issued at the last possible moment. (Steve Wynn has complained about this in the past.) Another firm, UOB KayHian Research predicted, “We are positive on Genting Malaysia’s chances of securing one of the upstate New York gaming licences due to the high licensing fee and employment salaries proposed.” Indeed, with two expensive projects proposed for the Empire State and hugely successful Resorts World New York at Aqueduct Racetrack, Genting is very much the big man on the New York campus.
