Casinos
March 12, 2010
Aqueduct Racino deal is officially dead in New York
New York state has officially pulled the plug on a controversial group chosen to run a planned racino at Aqueduct Racetrack. We're pretty sure you could just pull the plug on any casino project if you call it a racino. Racino? We get it but do we have to? Just call it a casino at a former race track or a race track with a casino please.
"The Division of the Lottery has concluded that it cannot issue a gaming license to Aqueduct Entertainment Group," Gov. Paterson's administration said in a statement.
"Therefore, the state has officially withdrawn its support for AEG to develop and operate a video lottery" slots parlor at the racetrack.
More at New York Daily News
February 26, 2010
Wynn Has plan for Foxwoods Casino in Philadelphia
Stephen A. Wynn, chairman of Wynn Resorts, said yesterday that he would go to Harrisburg Wednesday to outline to the state Gaming Control Board his plans for a Philadelphia casino that he said would be "the cutest casino you have ever seen."
Wynn discussed for the first time his ideas for reviving the Foxwoods project in South Philadelphia during a conference call with stock analysts after the release of the Las Vegas company's year-end results.
Wynn Resorts confirmed Tuesday that it had signed a letter of intent to take control of developing and running the struggling Foxwoods Casino project. But the deal is contingent on approval from Pennsylvania gaming regulators. The Foxwoods project is at risk of losing its license for repeated delays since winning one of the city's two slots licenses in 2006.
Via Philadelphia Inquirer
February 19, 2010
Hawaii May Add Casinos to Drive Revenue
Really? Casinos in Hawaii? Why not? I guess they don't have any other revenue possibilities? Does this seem to be a trend? If you add Casinos revenue will come? Let's hope so.
Hawaii has always been known for its sun, sand and surf. It may soon add another attraction: slots. Hawaii is one of the last two states with no legalized gambling, but lawmakers facing billion-dollar budget deficits and hunting for ways increase revenue are thinking about allowing casinos in tourist-filled Waikiki or on Native Hawaiian lands. Proponents say casinos would draw much-needed new money and jobs into the long-troubled, tourism-dependent economy.
Via latimes.com
February 12, 2010
Can CityCenter Save Las Vegas? We Hope So
Another amazing Forbes article about the fate of Las Vegas and City Center. Can it save Las Vegas? Well - we hope so but it's unclear how.
Towering over the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, CityCenter--a joint venture between gaming giant MGM Mirage ( MGM - news - people ) and Infinity World, a subsidiary of Dubai World--opened this week under a dazzling display of fireworks and glitz. The property encompasses 67 acres between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo casinos, and features four hotels, including its flagship, Aria, which is complete with 4,004 rooms, a casino, shops, restaurants, nightclubs and lounges and an Elvis-themed Cirque du Soleil production.
At Can CityCenter Save Las Vegas? - Forbes.com
January 29, 2010
Delaware legalizes table games at its casinos
Looks like Delaware is joining the casino gaming world and truly having the full experience at it's casinos. New Jersey's tiny neighbor to the south now poses a bigger threat to Atlantic City's $3.9 billion casino market.
In a final legislative vote Thursday, Delaware's Senate legalized Atlantic City-style table games such as blackjack, poker, craps and roulette. Gov. Jack Markell immediately signed the bill into law.
Atlantic City is already playing 3rd to Pennsylvania in revenues - what's next? Probably 4th place to Delaware.
At Delaware legalizes table games at its casinos
January 15, 2010
Inside Man - The Man Behind Massachusetts Casinos
Casinos in Massachusetts? There may be no more electric debate coming to Beacon Hill this year, as legislators take up an issue that polarizes the state and its leaders every time it arises. This article (link below) features the man behind making it happen.
Why do we want them? Some covet the new jobs and tax dollars that expanded gambling could bring in; others are troubled by the prospect of adding slot machines and blackjack tables to a state already among the highest in per-capita lottery spending.
But there’s another aspect as well. If casino gambling is legalized - an idea that looks far more likely now that the state’s three top leaders agree on it - it would introduce a whole new industry to the Bay State, attracting international casino developers and demanding a new set of regulations.
At Inside Man
January 8, 2010
Hollywood Casino In Pennsylvania Should Have Table Games by Summer
That's right - it's just a matter of time before these state casinos start rolling the dice It's now just a matter of time before blackjack, roulette, craps and poker are added to Pennsylvania's casinos. Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday signed the bill making table games legal.Casinos can add up to 250 tables each, but it will be far less than that at the Hollywood Casino at Penn National in Grantville; at least for now.
"We're looking at perhaps 40 to 50 tables to start," Penn National spokesman Fred Lipkin said. "It'll be the traditional mix of blackjack, craps, roulette and we'll also be setting up a poker room."
At Hollywood Casino Should Have Table Games by Summer
December 11, 2009
Atlantic City Casino Revenues Experience Double Digit Loss
Remember when the news was always good for caisinos? It seems lately the news is always about losses - and everyone here at Casino Snob is sick of it. Seems the east coast Vegas is experiencing year long decline to put the losses in the double digits.
Overall, Atlantic City's casinos took in$299.3 million in revenue for November, down 13.4 percent compared with the same month a year ago. Slot winnings declined 9.5 percent to $206.8 million, while table game revenue plunged 21 percent to $92.5 million, according to figures released Thursday by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
Good luck Atlantic City - we're going to hang in there with you and hope for an amazing 2010.
Via PressofAtlanticCity.com
November 13, 2009
Casinos and Tax Revenue for States - Who Wins?
Yeah - who really wins when the revenues are in the toilet?
In Las Vegas, house prices have dropped 55 percent since peaking in August 2006, and the foreclosure rate is seven times the national average. Gigantic new condo towers sit nearly empty (real-estate pros call them "see-through buildings"), and unemployment tops 13 percent. The recession has sent casino revenues plunging 20 percent from two years ago.
"Up until the '90s, we never suffered with the downturn of the economy," William Thompson, a professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and an expert on the casino business, told me.
The sad plight of "Sin City" is a morality tale for other municipalities seeking economic salvation through gambling. And it is against this dark vision that Ohio voters just approved casinos in their state.
At National Ledger - Casinos and Tax Revenue for States - Who Wins?
November 6, 2009
Casinos Coming to Ohio Very Soon
The casinos are coming, and their coming to Ohio. Voters on Tuesday reversed the decision they made on four earlier occasions and said they’d allow casino gambling in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo. The vote was a reflection of just how receptive people have become to any promise of new jobs, however dubious the numbers.
At Get ready to be disappointed about casinos
October 30, 2009
Beacon Hill in Boston Struggles With Casinos
Why is this so hard? What won't Massachusetts do to get their gambling act together? Well - apparently discuss it until they do nothing. Times are tough all over, and jobs from the State's dog tracks to budget shortfalls have casinos back on Beacon Hill's mind - what are they considering?
- Save the Massachusetts economy with resort destination casinos.
- Save jobs at the state’s dog tracks by allowing slot machines.
- Save the state from itself by blocking casino expansion.
Read the full story at The Boston Globe, but we'd like to see at least the Dog Tracks fixed and get some of those job back.
October 23, 2009
Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun Take Hit As Fewer People Play the Slots
Yep - they're still down on revenues as fewer people play the slots. I think this is to be expected for at least the next 6-12 months, but since I'm headed to the woods tonight I'll see what I can do to help their revenue.
Slot revenues continued to tumble at the two Connecticut casinos as gamblers spent fewer dollars on the one-armed bandits last month.
Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Grand reported that slot revenues in September fell by nearly 3 percent to $54.8 million, down from $56.4 million a year ago, the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
Mohegan Sun saw slot returns slip to $59.4 million last month compared to $67 million one year ago, an 11 percent dip and the 16th consecutive month of declines.
Via BostonHerald.com
October 9, 2009
Las Vegas Builders Say No More New Casinos For The Next Decade
We do hope you like the current casinos in Las Vegas, because that's what you can look forward to for the next 10 years or so. There simply will be no new casinos built due to overbuilding, and of course the wonderful economy we're in.
No newly built Mount Rushmore facade, no Mini Grand Canyon indoor shopping avenue, no Godzilla-shaped hotel—nothing new to delight the vulgar parts of your optic nerve. The Wall Street Journal says after a decade in which casinos spent more than $30 billion on expansions, they're now going to pay off debt and focus on "branding, marketing and customer loyalty."
The bad economy abruptly ended a boom period earlier this decade when visitations, gambling, and room rates were all climbing. Now casinos are loaded with debt and searching for more cost effective ways to bring in business.
The new approach represents a challenge for an industry that has relied on glitzy casino and hotel openings as one of its primary draws. "It's the theme-park dilemma," says Robert LaFleur, an analyst for Susquehanna Financial Group. "You've got to build a new roller coaster. Everyone likes to go but you need a reason to keep them going back."
Via Consumerist
October 2, 2009
Foxwoods Casino and Tribe's Fortunes Linked
Want the history of the new in trouble Foxwoods casino? This Boston Globe article outline it and the current state of affairs at the Foxwoods Casino.
When the doors at Foxwoods first swung open in 1992, more than poker fanatics and bingo mavens began trekking to the sparkling new casino nestled in the thick forests of the Mashantucket Pequot reservation.
Dozens of Pequots traveled from as far away as California and Hawaii to their native lands in southeastern Connecticut. Many came for the promise of a steady job, and to reconnect with a tribe that had come close to extinction. But Foxwoods did not just help revive the Pequot nation; it made it fabulously wealthy. Within a few years, Foxwoods was the world’s largest and most successful casino resort, an entertainment mecca that racked up more than $1 billion annually.
Read at Foxwoods casino, tribe’s fortunes linked - The Boston Globe
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