This is the last entry on the old blog system.
Please alter your book marks to reflect the new WordPress site:
[...]This is the last entry on the old blog system.
Please alter your book marks to reflect the new WordPress site:
[...]This will be the last S&G posting before we relaunch our new format. In the immortal words of Lt. Col. Jack O'Neill, "Well, I suppose now is the time for me to say something profound. [pause] Nothing comes to mind."
See you over at WordPress.
' [...]From the latest news bulletin "blasted" by the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
"Las Vegas police are investigating a shooting on Sahara Avenue near Nellis Boulevard in which a man was struck in the head by gunfire today.
"Police spokesman Ramon Denby said the man appeared to be seriously injured."
No kidding.
[...]"If C.C. Sabathia starts game one of the World Series, the Yankees will know they have won tonight." -- Fox Sports baseball analyst Tim McCarver, sinking to bathyspheric depths of belaboring the obvious, early in Sunday's game six of the ALCS. (The Yankees won and it probably won't take until' [...]
Look what just fell into the S&G mailbag:
Beginning January 1, 2010 Penn National Gaming will partner with RPM Advertising to develop and execute a brand identity for Hollywood Casinos. The full service assignment will incorporate research, brand development, media planning/buying, creative execution, production services and direct marketing. Penn National, [...]
"Steve Wynn was the worst offender on that score. Last year, he used his aircraft for a $1 million of personal travel, which Wynn [Resorts] shareholders paid for. To do $1 million worth of travel, I worked it out that you’d have to fly to Hawaii and [...]
The time has come, the walrus said, to switch over to WordPress, so regularly scheduled S&G mirth and merriment will be temporarily suspended whilst we learn the new setup. My apologies for the temporary lack of service.
Secondly, thanks to those of you who have been e-mailing Question [...]
One reader asks, regarding senatorial aspirant Sue Lowden's esteemed Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall:
I'm confused (as usual, but...) - Isn't the Pioneer NOT a gambling hall now, its shell hosting an ABC convenience store & various other small shops?
I don't remember if I ever patronized the place when' [...]
"For some people, just being a woman is a pre-existing condition." -- Dr. Nancy Snyderman on the subject of HMOs and their propensity to cover Viagra ... but not in-vitro fertilization or birth control pills.
[...]
Penn National Gaming "has not lost its senses and, [contends] that at the right price and through the right vehicle (and only with a sizable strategic partner who would bring something special to the project, presumably some hotel experience), its involvement in Fountainebleau could make sense.” [...]
I'm buried deep in other projects this week but I wanted to surface long enough to apologize for the recent barrage of spam in our "Comments" threads and e-mail alerts. Judging by some of the URLs involved, it looks like our old nemesis Comrade Spam is back and the Russkie' [...]
"I'd like to keep one strip of that airport as an airport. I think it closed prematurely. I think greed went nuts." -- Atlantic City mayoral candidate Joseph Polillo (I), on what to do with Bader Field. Incumbent Mayor Lorenzo Langford's idea for the former airport is -- wait' [...]
MGM Mirage has announced that it's writing off approximately $1.3 billion (i.e., taking an "impairment charge") against CityCenter, with $348 million of that chalked up to falling real estate values. (Some $174 million of that will apparently be fobbed off on MGM's partners, bringing MGM's writeoff down to [...]
As some may recall, the saga of Goliath, the LVA rescue kitten, had a happy ending. Not only has he found a new, loving home but the hyperactive little fellow (whose new owners renamed him "Murderface") has developed an interest in technology:
"Robin said he’s obsessed with [...]
As promised, Mike Shackleford's WizardOfVegas.com site has launched. It took a while to get the bugs worked out, hence my review of Scarlett & her Seductive Ladies of Magic didn't appear until after the show had closed. However, to the best of my knowledge, you can not only' [...]
A sample conducted by the tag team of TruthPac and Strategic Polling finds support for the Ohio casino initiative backed by Penn National Gaming polling below 50%. Casinos still have a slight edge (48%/43%, with 8% undecided) ... so in theory the ballot measure should squeak through, so long as [...]
Just as I said, CityCenter is becoming the mid-market epicenter of Las Vegas. Today's mailbag yielded a $129/night offer for Vdara, plus $50 in amenity credits -- more evidence of the downward pressure CityCenter is exerting on the Strip. But anything that means greater affordability for [...]
To end the week on a note of levity: For the second time this year, both Gov. Jim Gibbons and Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki got it into their heads to be out of state simultaneously. (One senses that they don't consult each other about scheduling or much of anything else.)' [...]
"I predict a rough winter for Vegas. Swine flu may not be a pandemic, but it may really mess with the casino business. It could make the economic downturn look mild." -- a locally based casino-industry expert, in an e-mail to LVA.
... as even Pennsylvania racinos face hard times. It was inevitable that the American appetite for casinos would achieve a saturation point. We've not only reached it, the ongoing depression has pushed us well beyond the point of inelasticity.
' [...]
Contrary to repeated assertions by J.P. Morgan, it would appear that MGM Mirage is putting out promotional specials for Bellagio ... and very aggressively so. Note however, that Steve Wynn's masterpiece is maintaining its price point and Aria is the one having to come [...]
Peepshow star/trainwreck-in-progress Aubrey O'Day likes to speak her mind, for whatever it's worth. Evidently the recklessly candid utterances of Ms. O'Day were worth not one, not two but, yes, three dispatches by Richard Abowitz.
The fascination is understandable, given an interview subject who readily owns up to being [...]
That's basically the message coming out of bankruptcy court, where Fontainebleau ownership requested permission to scrap all conventions and meetings through October 2011. Among many other disclosures in the fast-moving Chapter 11 was the sacking of seven top executives. (A well-kept secret, seeing as the septet had been let [...]
In less than an hour, Steve Wynn is going to make an extra-special, triple-secret, top-hush "entertainment announcement" via a Wynn Resorts Web-cast. Don't tell anyone but ... he's going to reveal that Garth Brooks will be playing Encore.
Which we know partly because it's been the worst-kept secret on the' [...]
Will the last person leaving the Riviera please take down the Charo in Concert, Abra-ca-Sexy! and Tom Stevens posters? Everything about last night's visit to the casino suggested a business that's died but doesn't realize it. Not that it helps to be literally in the shadow of the rotting whale' [...]
"In a lot of places along the coast it looks like the hurricane hit yesterday." -- NBC reporter Charles Hadlock, reporting today on the condition of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, four and a half years after Hurricane Katrina.
[...]Snapping away last night at the 10th anniversary performance of Fantasy, which introduced new cast member Angelica Bridges: a slew of credentialed photographers, wiedling professional-grade equipment ... and Robin Leach, taking pictures with his cell-phone camera. That's right: a fucking Cell.Phone.Camera.
To this the profession of photojournalism has come? Pathetic.
[...]"I'm not Carrot Top, bitch!" -- Wayne Brady, to an audience member who went "commando," accidentally exposing his family jewels.
' [...]
Casino operators in Macao better make the most of the recent relaxation of visa quotas into the enclave. What the government gives with one hand, it partly reclaims with the other. Casino expansion remains out of the question and the minimum age for gambling would go up to [...]
As you know, S&G puts more stock in year/year comparisons than sequential ones, but the most recent set from Atlantic City affords a slender reed of hope. With the help of tighter slots, A.C. held its September decline to 6%, the lowest of 2009 and the smallest drop in over [...]
Or maybe the question should be, What was Steve Wynn smoking before he told CNBC "Money Honey" Maria Bartiromo that Wynn Macau was making more than all other 30 Macao casinos combined? Perhaps he meant his joint is the single-highest-grossing casino in the Chinese protectorate, but his phraseology is misleading:
[...]
You can't play poker for money on the Internet but you can now play the ponies in Illinois via the Web. This is yet another example of legally enshrined hypocrisy under UIGEA, the parting gift of "Slick Billy" Frist and Jim Leach to the American people. (Speaking of Dr.' [...]
“Chickens gained valuable rights in California on the same day that gay men and lesbians lost them.” -- Ronald M. George, chief justice of the California Supreme Court, on the caprices of the state's initiative-and-referendum system. A ballot measure regulating chicken coops was passed in the same election cycle [...]
At least 28,000 have done so over the two years-plus (probably more when you allow for the people still moving here). What are the likely consequences of Las Vegas' pegging its future on a one-trick economy? And is it going to be like one of those Rust Belt cities (like' [...]
As they say on Dancing with the Stars, in no particular order ...
Eight against Harry: For a speedy primer on the myriad challengers to Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), you can't go wrong with Jon Ralston's droll and speedy primer. It even gets props from John Chachas (R-Central Park' [...]
Since the last S&G upload of Mariah Carey performance footage from The Palms drew an above-average number of page views, here's a sequel. Carey presides with great charm over an onstage marriage proposal during last Saturday's show. There's also a nice bit of va-va-voom 92 seconds into the clip.
[...]New Yorker economic columnist James Surowiecki puts current consumer-spending strends in perspective -- and what he finds should gladden the hearts of casino owners. Basically, he finds historical evidence the current tendency toward thriftiness will soon pass. Of course, when Americans' savings rate (now 6%) dipped below 0%, that' [...]
Wrong again. There I was, thinking the proposed $10 million upfront fee for table games in Pennsylvania was a done deal when the GOP-controlled state Senate upped it to $15 million (and if you don't pay by June 1, it goes to $20 million). Chalk that up as a' [...]
"[Steve] Wynn, however, has a slowly worded belief that it's time for people to stop listening to economists and start listening to throaty casino owners, and their astounding oversimplifications. Create jobs and we'll give your business $40,000! Please? Maybe? Please?" -- Huffington Post's Jason Linkins, panning the casino mogul's [...]
Pardon a smallish digression from the world of games to something truly important ... baseball. With painful memories of the '04 and '05 postseason meltdowns acid-etched into my mind, I've not been able to summon the intestinal fortitude to watch either of the first two Red Sox/Angels games. (And postseason' [...]
A few more Congressional pleasantries like this one and we'll be right back to the good old days when political opponents settled their differences with pistols at dawn or simply by beating each other senseless.
' [...]Either rumors of Stanley Ho's death, three weeks ago, were greatly exaggerated or the elderly casino magnate has made the most remarkable recovery since Jesus Christ. (I'm put in mind of a favorite bit of Babylon 5 dialogue in which Capt. Sheridan [Bruce Boxleitner] confirms that he indeed died,' [...]
I want the movie rights to this. 'Nuff said.
We're #1! For an overdue change, Nevada leads the nation in a good category (first item). And, if you scroll waaaaaaaaaaaay to the bottom, there's an interesting bit about and airfare-and-room deal from Wynn Resorts. (Way to bury it, [...]
Only $14 million in cash (plus a $100 million equity infusion), according to The Donald. Bondholders say, we'll see your $115 million and raise you $100 million. The latter would recoup at least some -- but not very much -- of their $1.25 billion debt under their plan, while' [...]
'Cause it's brand-spanking new and somebody just sent it to S&G. Enjoy.
' [...]Ist California kaput? That's the question posed by the The Observer and it makes for troubling reading. If Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV) is right that tourism from California is the carotid artery of Nevada's economy, then the Silver State is -- to put it politely -- screwed. A good [...]
"He doesn't belong here." -- unidentified woman at last night's premiere of A Bronx Tale, in reference to Robin Leach.
' [...]Forbidden by New Jersey law from directly contributing to political campaigns, casino companies are making an end run through Virginia. Harrah's Entertainment, Boyd Gaming and IGT are among those funneling campaign cash into a reverse version on the Underground Railroad. No wonder Gov. Jon Corzine (D) is able to [...]
I am happy to report that Stella Stevens' Las Vegas Lady did not make it into our "worst Las Vegas-based movie of all time" poll. (As they say in Chicago, vote early and often.) Crazy Girls Undercover, however, was not so lucky.
' [...]
You know the casino industry's in the crapper when, next week, Spectrum Gaming Group is hosting a conference entitled, Distressed Gaming Properties: The State of the Industry. This is so hot-of-the-presses Spectrum hasn't even got the registration page up ... yet.
Quoth Spectrum's e-mail blast: "With the recession battering' [...]
"Once the markets start believing our company won't go into bankruptcy, our stock will be up to $75 a share again." -- incurable optimist Sheldon Adelson, to Forbes magazine.
' [...]When I first read about this, I thought it was something from The Onion. It's not. (Although it has inspired one online satire already.) My favorite part ...
Combat Harmful Addiction: combating addiction by using modern terms for it, such as "gamble" rather than "cast lots"
'Cuz, you know,' [...]
That's the latest; namely, that Penn National Gaming will put down less than $300 million as a "stalking horse" bid on Fontainebleau. Penn would also be on the hook for the costs of the project's bankruptcy proceedings. Potentially getting a Strip resort for less than 10% of its cost [...]
"The industry is seeking a new equilibrium. The last period was one where people were drunk on the use of capital and used it to solve every problem. Clearly that can't continue." -- Harrah's Entertainment CEO and newly minted fiscal-temperance crusader Gary Loveman.
' [...]Then go hang out at Stack. If they don't like your looks, the in-house goons will be sicced on you. And Las Vegans wonder at the schadenfreude so many people feel with regard to Sin City's current doldrums.
No magic bullet. Liberalization of casino rules in Colorado will' [...]
"Doesn't the IOC realise it will be winter in Brazil in August, 2016?" -- comment Blackberried in by a reader, regarding the award of the '16 games to Rio de Janeiro. Y'know, I'd been wondering about that myself. The average August temperature in Rio hovers between 66 and 78 degrees. [...]
"One of the reasons why we chose this mansion, instead of having something at one of the casinos, was because we wanted to match the glamour of a Playboy/Hugh Hefner party." -- ex-Bunny Lois Sablich, explaining why a reunion of former Playboy Hotel & Casino employees snubbed current Atlantic City [...]
A flurry of good news to end the week, starting in Macao:
September, the first month affected by a relaxation of severe visa restrictions imposed on the mainland, saw a 53% jump in Macanese gambling revenues. In terms of market share, Stanley Ho opened a big lead on Sheldon Adelson, [...]
Mayor Oscar Goodman sounds increasingly motivated to run for governor next year. He's angry, which is good: Nevada needs someone who's nettled about our sorry -- pardon the pun -- state of affairs. (I tried umpteen times to embed the KRNV-TV video but had to admit defeat; sorry again!)
[...]"We should have a recession. People who spend their lives pounding nails in Nevada need something else to do." -- University of Chicago economist John Cochrane, in The New York Times.
[...]For all the brouhaha about Mike Ensign funneling 96 grand to his son's mistress and three of her four family members, the smoking gun (in the form of a canceled check) has not surfaced. Until now:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the [...]
Splendid news, lads (and lasses). Scarlett, Princess of Magic may return to the Riviera in nine months or a year ... that is to say, whenever the economy eventually rebounds. This comes straight from Riv management.
Of course, there's a good chance the Riv itself won't be around in nine' [...]
Just yesterday I was lamenting the dearth of possible fallback positions for entertainers bounced from this or that casino. Heck, even the formerly volatile V Theater is enjoying its first stable lineup of shows since forever.
Sadly, we can add Scarlett and her Seductive Ladies of Magic (aka Abraca-Sexy) [...]
Tucked away around the corner from the Sahara is local institution Pamplemousse. While there wasn't room for describing the massive crudité basket or the alleged "Mob booth," hopefully this chronicle captures some of the preserved-in-amber ambience of P'mousse.
Steve Wynn, house hunter. What could the casino mogul want [...]
"Instability is an inherent and inescapable flaw of capitalism." -- 20th century macroeconomist Hyman Minsky, who cautioned against the phenomenon of a "euphoric economy."
[...]It's official: "Pit Bull of Comedy" Bobby Slayton has snarled his last at the Tropicana Las Vegas. Thus endeth a brief, inauspicious reign by Anthony Cools over the Trop's upstairs showroom. A well-placed source advises LVA that Beatles tribute show Penny Lane was pulled after EMI hit it with a [...]
Meet Wilbur Ross. He's an investor of all trades with an appetite for distressed assets. And he's turning his sights to the casino industry. In particular, he's drawn a bead on "companies [who] are also looking at selling assets in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau to support [...]
Presumably foiled once again by the Comment-Eating Server, reader kerr_mudgeon writes:
From the article about the A.C. contract settlement: "In his praise of the deal, Don Marrandino, the Eastern Division president of Harrah's, appeared to refer indirectly to tortured negotiations with the United Auto Workers involving dealers, which have degenerated into' [...]
• Steve Wynn is accelerating his timetable for developing on the Cotai Strip™. If Wynn continues to learn from his early miscalculations (and I see no reason to expect otherwise), a gaming-centric Wynn Resorts property on Cotai is a far better bet than Sheldon Adelson's retail- and hotel-heavy business' [...]
"Mr. Taylor, do you want to be heard?" -- Judge Susan B. Handy to accused cheating-ring mastermind Richard "Mister Casino" Taylor, moments before Taylor barfed all over Handy's courtroom floor.
Any well-furnished casino that doesn't try to monetize its fine appointments is missing a revenue opportunity. However, it's one thing to covet the lovely furnishings of, say, the Sky Lofts at MGM Grand. It's quite another to check into a hotel room in a struggling Nevada market (hint: think blood-red' [...]
Regarding the punting of casinos from Penghu, the great minds of Wall Street put on their thinking caps and came up with the following, as paraphrased by the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "analysts said the vote could be a viewed as a positive indicator for Macau's gaming market, eliminating a' [...]
Reader kerr_mudgeon writes, a propos the return of "What Happens Here, Stays Here":
But it's still way better than the one they ran on TV in Los Angeles years ago featuring a bunch of well-dressed women walking into a casino, called "the wrecking crew"... as if their feminine power would [...]
Pay taxes, that is. Two Indiana racinos are pushing back against a tax rate that averages 38%. Considering that the two tracks -- one run by Cordish Gaming -- are the newbies on the Hoosier State scene, one could fairly ask them, "Didn't you know what you were getting into?"' [...]
... but maybe not long for long. A momentary uptick in the price of PokerTek stock temporarily rescued it from penny-stock status. But after decisive rejections of dealer-less poker in both Las Vegas and Atlantic City, the future of PokerTek as anything other than a marginal supplier looks bleak.
Vegas [...]
"With his ruddy nose, droopy eyes and imposing belly, the mayor might not be much of a looker, but the middle-aged woman behind the counter blushes, and tattooed men jump up from their brown leather armchairs and grin like schoolboys. 'Hey Oscar,' yells one of them. [...]
In case you've wondered whether Columbia Sussex's endgame in its interminably protracted -- and often preposterous -- negotiations with the Culinary Union was to provoke a strike at the Tropicana Las Vegas, the company's actions elsewhere leave little doubt. (I have it on good authority that ColSux had drawn up' [...]
Five dimes worth of damage, $40,000 bail -- and all to wrest a measly two grand from some vending machines at Harrah's Atlantic City. That's the losing bet made by two security guards. Couple this with the floormen who destroyed their careers for a comparably picayune sum of [...]
Since one might as well not have existed without being bookmarked, re-Tweeted and blogged, S&G has a Twitter feed that should be open for business as of this moment. Since Twitter is ampersand-hostile, it's just StiffsGeorges. I'm still working on who to "follow," although Joel McHale was a no-brainer.
[...]As much as I like to tease the CineVegas film festival, it brightens up June like nothing else in town. So it is with a heavy heart that I report it has decided to cancel its 2010 season. (This year it had already been trimmed from a fortnight to six [...]
During his absent-minded interregnum as Tropicana Las Vegas CEO Scott Butera nearly denuded the casino of on-property entertainment. Only the hasty re-signing of Xtreme Magic left the Trop with a show in the house. Over time, Butera's people added a slew of second- and third-tier acts.
When Lyle Berman leapt into the reopened bidding for Kansas casino licenses, S&G expressed some skepticism. Why? Because Berman's Lakes Entertainment got into the bidding before it had any financing underway. Now Berman is basically saying, "Trust me," to Kansas regulators. Seems that he's been able to round up the [...]
Do you think that Peepshow's producers are just maybe beginning to regret hiring loose cannon Aubrey O'Day? The former insta-band member canceled her second-ever performance of Peepshow because somebody (surprise, surprise) snapped a photo of her, topless, and posted on -- where else? -- the Internet. And don't bother' [...]
Without further ado, we present S&G's much-hyped interview with Tropicana Las Vegas CEO Alex Yemenidjian, a trim, nattily attired man of impeccable manners and refreshing directness, as you will see. I led off with questions from the readership ...
Nelson asks, “What’s your game plan for motivating the staff into [...]
Our Comment-Eating Server has been at it again, so here are a few reader remarks that got devoured in cyberspace (where no one can hear you scream at your computer) ...
With regard to "Gambling Scandal Ensnares Eight More":
This is disgraceful! How dare the Federal government interfere with private [...]
If you are on Twitter, you're unlikely to find a feed more entertaining than that of Richard Abowitz. He's been lobbing a series of verbal artillery shells at new Peepshow headliner Aubrey O'Day. For instance, the Fidel Castro-admiring Ms. O'Day had her picture taken -- and published -- next' [...]
... says the Motley Fool, in essence. Even Borgata, which posted a higher operating profit year/year, is deemed merely to suck less than everybody else. I'm not sure I'm with the Fools on this one. For instance, shouldn't Sands Bethlehem be doing better than fifth among Pennsylvania casinos, especially' [...]
Tomorrow morning, I have scored some precious face time with Tropicana Las Vegas CEO Alex Yemenidjian. The ostensible topic of the media event is "Special Guest," er, Wayne Newton.
But screw that. Let's find out what else is going on at the Trop, particularly in terms of capital [...]
"It's a good thing Paul Revere wasn't running for governor the night the British were coming. If that event had taken place in Nevada, he would have been shot by his fellow residents for having the audacity to suggest a large problem was on the horizon." -- Las Vegas Sun' [...]
A reader drew my attention to this:
Or as the official Harrah's Entertainment press release reads:
"There have been more than 100 major conservation projects across Harrah's properties, from installing energy efficient indoor and outdoor lighting to reducing water consumption by hundreds of millions of gallons every year. In the past [...]
Last week, Audit Integrity identified the 20 companies most at risk of bankruptcy (minimum market capitalization: $1 billion) and the lone gambling operator on the list was Las Vegas Sands. On Friday, Business Insider piled on. Pruning Audit Integrity's list of any firms with market cap below $3 billion, [...]
It's not quite on the global scale of the Ultimate Bet brouhaha, but the Tran Organization's conspiracy to fleece dozens of U.S., Canadian and tribal casinos is racking up an amazing head count. To date, federal prosecutors have already nailed 31 scalps to their wall, not counting three other individuals [...]
Galaxy Theatres' multiplex at The Cannery has scrapped all its big-screen showings of Monday Night Football, it was announced today, one week into the NFL season. Perhaps the incessant jabbering of Jon Gruden sent patrons screaming out onto the casino floor.
"Historic Announcement" at Trop: New CEO Alex Yemenidjian has booked' [...]
"This is the most exciting time in Vegas's history." -- Zowie Bowie frontman Chris Phillips, last night at the Monte Carlo. Yes, but how much more of this excitement can we handle?
[...]
