GLPI gets a racino; Reckless casino rhetoric

horseAfter over a year of litigation, Gaming & Leisure Properties has come to terms with Cannery Casino Resorts over the sale of Meadows Racetrack, near Pittsburgh. (Next step for GLPI, find an operator. Penn National Gaming? Pinnacle Entertainment?) Considering that GLPI’s initial purchase price was $465 million, that the latter has been knocked down to $440 million and that the racino has grossed $247 million thus far this year, the settlement looks like a win-win-win for GLPI. We don’t know why Cannery was so eager to be rid of such a lucrative asset, but it’s been GLPI’s good fortune that it did.

* Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley (below) are fond of likening the banking industry to a casino, and I think O'Malleythey owe casinos an apology. The casino industry hasn’t been remotely as scandal-ridden as the banking one, even with severe money-laundering fines being levied on Las Vegas Sands and Caesars Entertainment. Those penalties were chicken feed compared to the $2.5 billion in fines laid on Deutsche Bank for wire fraud and gaming the monetary system. True, Deutsche Bank is part of the casino industry, thanks to its stake in Station Casinos, but unless the Nevada Gaming Control Board belatedly decides to act, there’s nothing to be done about that. As the father of Maryland‘s casino industry — albeit a reluctant papa — O’Malley in particular should know better and temper his rhetoric.

* Congratulations to Boyd Gaming, which Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli has finally upgraded to a “buy,” alluding to (unspecified)

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acquisition opportunities and improvement in the Las Vegas locals market. As long as congratulations are in order to Boyd, last night we had dinner at Suncoast’s newest eatery, Briggs Oyster Co. It’s a cozy hole-in-the-wall diner, so reservations are recommended and it’s worth the drive. Briggs serves up the biggest, meatiest bivalves I’ve ever seen and its tomato bisque is to die for. Sushi lover can look forward to an extensive and tasty selection, too. We then adjourned to the theater, where we enjoyed Secret in Their Eyes, which was deeply engrossing.

* Given the premium paid for the Las Vegas Review-Journal by a still-undisclosed buyer, heavy suspicion in Sin City is that the Daddy Warbucks behind the purchase is Sheldon Adelson. If so, it will be a chilling day for journalism in Vegas. Already, an R-J story about the purchase has been censored by the new ownership. And anybody who’s had the stones to stand up to Adelson — like John L. Smith — would have cause to fear for their jobs.

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