Strip casinos had the impossible task of keeping up with last June’s baccarat tally (when revenues shot up 155%) and, as might be expected, 
fell off the pace. The volume of play plunged 43% and revenue tumbled 57%. As for other table games, wagers were down 4.5% but the house held its own, with revenues flat from last year. Wrote J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, “we expect the market to continue to experiencing volatility in baccarat play given a likely slowdown in Chinese players.”
The contraction in baccarat play contributed mightily to a 16% decline in Strip gaming revenues. Even slots disappointed, with 4% higher coin-in accompanied by good luck for players: slot revenues slipped 4%. Elsewhere in the state, where baccarat is a non-factor, revenue was off 8%. There were almost insignificant decreases in Reno (-2%), Elko (-1%) and miscellaneous Clark County (-1%), which includes jurisdictions like Mesquite and Primm. Vacationers, however, came to play at Lake Tahoe, where revenues shot 44% upward.
Laughlin saw a 5.5% increase, while the Las Vegas locals market continued its soft recovery, with downtown Vegas rising 2% and the Boulder Strip enjoying a 6% boost. Comparisons, at least for baccarat, are expected to remain difficult for the remainder of the summer, so keep the champagne on ice.
* Those who value tradition will be heartened to know that the Crazy Girls “No ifs and or …” bas-relief, with its seven pairs of brightly polished buttocks, has arrived safely at new home Planet Hollywood.
* Jason Ader is at it again. The activist investor is credited for pushing Bwin.Party into the arms of 888. Ader’s actions in the Bwin 
affair followed a familiar pattern: build up an ownership stake (5%), launch a frontal assault on corporate leadership and field a quartet of dubiously independent candidates for seats on the company boards. As was the case in Ader’s war with then-International Game Technology CEO Patti Hart, he succeeded in placing one of his proxies on the board.
When the 888 deal was announced, Ader took a victory lap: “I brought 888 into the process to maximize shareholder value because I believe not only are 888 the best buyer for this company but that its management team will realise significant long-term synergy value for our shareholders with the least amount of execution and regulatory risk.”
Meanwhile, like a dog trying to take down an elephant, cash-poor GVC Holdings is bidding $1.5 billion to trump 888’s purchase price for Bwin.Party. The latter’s board already ashcanned one offer from GVC. Now that the latter no longer has Amaya‘s cash to draw upon, it looks like an even riskier proposition (Amaya and GVC would have split Bwin.Party between them). Investor advocate though he may be, Ader now may be forced into arguing to shareholders to stick with 888.
