In the casino industry, everything was stirring, including the mice.
Cordish’s revenge. It’s a dish best served by opening Cordish Gaming‘s controversial Arundel Mills gambling hall late next year with a temporary, one-year casino. That means karma comes early for Penn National Gaming and Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) alike. Both tried to bigfoot the Anne Arundel County issue in an effort to get the casino contract away from Cordish and into Penn-owned Laurel Park. Penn’s interference was particularly egregious (one of the few things on which Gary Loveman and S&G would wholeheartedly concur), especially since it had just opened its one allotted Maryland casino. Even Cordish’s temporary casino will be 25% larger than Penn’s permanent one in Perryville — 137% larger as soon as the mind-boggling total of 4,750 slots is crammed onto the floor.
Apropos of Loveman, he was pissing and moaning at Global Gaming Expo about how there aren’t nearly enough casinos in the U.S. One notes with interest that a potential slot parlor in western Maryland has gone begging twice over, for lack of qualified applicants. Time for Caesars Entertainment to put its money where its CEO’s mouth is. After all, it’s got the scratch to buy into Dan Gilbert‘s $1 billion, two-casino project in Ohio (and may be sniffing around online-gambling provider 888.com, which would cost at least $370 million). Meanwhile, co-owner Apollo Global Management has been quietly accumulating an ownership stake in the Twin River racino as the latter emerges from bankruptcy. The Providence Journal‘s description of Apollo is blackly funny, if one considers how Harrah’s Entertainment was doing before Loveman came knocking on Apollo’s door: “[It] specializes in searching out distressed businesses it can buy cheaply, straighten out quickly and sell profitably.” How’s that working out for you, Apollo?
Recycled attraction. It wasn’t on the to-do list of former MGM Grand headliners Recycled Percussion to appear at a Tropicana Las Vegas media event promoting its new gig. The smattering of local scribes who were there got extended looks at Yesterday: The Beatles Tribute and chop-socky show Sideswipe. One is distinctly better than the other.
Fear of spending. One metric doesn’t make or un-make an economic recovery but while I was shopping at Brookstone last night, I heard the store manager complaining about a lack of holiday business this year. He told a co-worker that the Henderson branch had made $30,000 on Dec. 22, 2009 but only half that amount yesterday. It’s a purely anecdotal sort of stat but it’s the kind that burns itself into your memory.
On the other hand, although the Las Vegas area is still paying the price for years of overbuilding, Downtown is finally seeing the development renaissance that was supposed to happen six years ago. Maybe the planned Forest City Enterprises casino-hotel will be the tipping point for one or two Downtown casinos that have outlived their usefulness. S&G maintains that what the city proper needs is better casino product, not just more of it. Along with Tilman Fertitta‘s Golden Nugget, Forest City’s casino should raise the bar. Even so, Downtown is desperately in need of economic diversity, so moving 1,200 Zappos.com employees there was a deal worth doing. If Michael & Jennifer Cornthwaite can bring hipness back to Glitter Gulch, miracles are indeed possible.
Return of the Mob? That’s one of the subplots which led up to an $18 million judgment against a Pennsylvania company which had a no-show “management” contract with Shooting Star Casino in rural Minnesota. Keystone State company Medure Development somehow managed to pocket $10 million without ever having an employee on property. I guess you could call it “virtual” management.
Why is Singapore growing casino-driven tourism even faster than Macao did? TodayOnline.com explains it all. Obviously, it never hurts to already be perceived as a tourist destination.
“Casino patients [sic]” get robbed in a pre-dawn raid.
The Christmas spirit. It’s alive and well in the local gambler who calls himself Robin Hood 702. While online wagering sites have cynically tried to cash in on the notoriety of the Bellagio stickup, Mr. Hood 702 is offering twice as much as the thief stole, both as a reward for turning in a dangerous criminal but also to deter future high-profile banditry in the Vegas Valley. May Santa be good to him.
