Better slot play, stronger restaurant business and greater hotel occupancy (which drove up rates) conspired to improve American Casino & Entertainment Properties‘ revenue and profitability in 2Q16. Net revenue — i.e., not profit — is on a 10-month upward roll, driven in part by a 3% increase in room rates and 4% higher slot winnings. ACEP, owner of the Stratosphere, bucked the Las Vegas trend of generating higher revenue through non-gaming amenities. With 5% fewer people visiting the sightseeing pod atop the tower and spending 8.5% less, a 10% in pod-derived revenue was the consequence. Business was flat for ACEP’s Arizona Charlie’s grind joints but the company was successful in inducing more people to stay at the Aquarius in Laughlin, where hotel revenues rose 8.5%, even though gambling winnings were only 2% up.
* Nevada is coming justthisclose — but not quite — to allowing direct use of debit and credit cards for all forms of casino play. Instead, state regulators are pondering the extension of loyalty-card wagering accounts (already in play for mobile and online gambling, as well as sports betting) to slots, table games and that high-roller pastime, bingo. In addition to transfers from credit and debit cards, the wagering accounts 
could be loaded with funds by cash, personal checks, cashier’s checks, wire transfers and money orders, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. If you’ve got cash, I don’t see why you’d convert it to a wagering account but I suppose the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the industry want to cover all the bases. The NGCB has held one workshop and will revisit the issue within another couple of months. From these, an amended set of several existing regulations should emerge. To broaden the appeal of the idea, Nevada Resort Association President Virginia Valentine suggested that customers could/would use wagering accounts to pay dinner and other non-gaming expenses. Now that seems to defeat the purpose of the exercise. But, from a consumer-protection standpoint, there aren’t any red flags to wave and, since the idea has already been partially implemented in the Silver State, there appears to be no good reason not to extend it across the full spectrum of gambling.
* New NHL franchise owner Bill Foley has registered three team names with the league and none of them, thank God, is “High Rollers,” “Gamblers” or “Blackjacks.” Foley’s preferred name, “Black Knights” was blocked by copyright issues, so he’s fallen back on three avian alternatives. “Nighthawks” enjoys a dual advantage, referring both to an indigenous Nevada bird and to the stealth bombers that operate out of Nellis Air Force Base … and Foley is big on military allusions. Whatever it’s called, the team is music to the ears of MGM Resorts International, which will host at least 44 hockey games a season at T-Mobile Arena.
* It’s not everyday that a company announces profitability that beats analysts’ consensus and the resignation of its CEO, but Amaya Inc., best known as the parent company of 
PokerStars, isn’t just any old firm. The boom in business was actually bad news for Amaya employees, as management announced that staffers around the world would be on the chopping block. Outgoing CEO David Baazov (left) will now have more time not only to pursue his attempted LBO of Amaya but help attorneys prepare his defense against an indictment for insider trading. (He also resigned from the board.) Rafi Ashkenazi, who had been pinch-hitting for Baazov during the latter’s leave of absence, gets the CEO’s job on an interim basis. It’s unquestionably impressive that Amaya, which subscribed 2 million new customers, has been able to absorb the Baazov-related hits and perform better than ever.
* Whoops. Better check those player IDs at the door, Sands Bethlehem. The casino is $39,000 lighter in the wallet after three underage players were caught by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board either playing slots or boozing it up. (The cost/benefit analysis seems to have favored paying the occasional penalty over monitoring admissions.) The fines somewhat overshadowed the three-year renewal of Mount Airy Casino Resort‘s license. The resort, which employs 1,100 Pennsylvanians, has grossed $1.6 billion in slightly less than nine years. Congratulations.
