Not so fast, says Endeavor AC about yesterday’s report that its purchase of the Atlantic Club was defunct. The would-be purchaser says it has “a very 
strong and creditable private equity source to finance the acquisition and development of the Atlantic Club property as an indoor waterpark resort.” Failing that, “Endeavor is also actively considering other sites in Atlantic City.” Endeavor is already pretty seriously committed, having spent several months paying the carrying costs on behalf of Atlantic Club owner TJM Properties. It’s also publicly committed to invest up to $160 million building the water park onto the back end of the Atlantic Club (and has bought some adjoining real estate) and revive the dormant hotel. The plan was to open the water park late this year or early next year, but TJM has thrown a monkey wrench into the works. We’d advise Glenn Straub to keep pushing forward on his water-park plan for Revel.
* 2015 went out like a lion in Maryland, with near-record gaming grosses, including a second-best-ever $27 million from Horseshoe Casino Baltimore. The latter has both shaken off the ill effect of the Freddie Gray riots and 
adjusted to meet players’ greater-than-anticipated appetite for table games. Maryland Live still managed to gross double the amount that Horseshoe did, and the addition of a hotel and meeting center can hardly be expected to hurt business. Compared to Horseshoe and Maryland Live, the Free State’s other casinos made pocket change but all were up by healthy percentages. Penn National Gaming‘s Hollywood Casino Perryville grossed $6 million (+5%), Ocean Downs did $4 million (+15%) and Golden Gaming‘s Rocky Gap Casino Resort took in $3.5 million (+14%). Neighboring states may be saturated with gaming but Maryland just keeps on growing.
New Horseshoe General Manager Erin Chamberlin says that the casino’s reputation for being in a bad neighborhood is “more of a perception than a 
reality. The safety around the stadiums is really quite good.” Chamberlain got yanked from Planet Hollywood and parachuted into Baltimore late last year when previous GM Chad Barnhill defected to Dan Gilbert‘s Rock Gaming. She’s a logical choice for the market, though. She spent six years working her way up the executive ranks at Bally’s Atlantic City and Caesars Atlantic City, so she ought to be well-versed in the dynamics of an East Coast market, particularly one that contains a lot of former Atlantic City players.
* Shocker! Japan‘s government has decided to delay a bill rescinding the nation’s ban on casinos yet again. This time the wheezy excuse is that it’s better to wait until after this year’s House of Councilors elections, slated for next summer, lest it disrupt relations among Nippon’s ruling coalition. Frankly, unless Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ever gets a mandate big enough that he doesn’t have to lean on the casino-wary Komeito Party, this thing is never going to happen. Casino companies lobbying for preference in Japan are just spinning their wheels.
* Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem is Lady Bountiful for Northampton County, which is taking applications for $1.6 million in gaming-derived grant money. Past allocations have gone to address problem gambling and to build a police station, more evidence of the beneficial effects that have followed the nationwide spread of the casino industry.
* How can SLS Las Vegas be the 12th-most Instagrammed place on the Las Vegas Strip when it’s undoubtedly the least-patronized casino-hotel on the Strip? And where’s the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign? The people who make up these lists must be just pulling rankings out of their nether orifices.
