Casinos in Atlantic City continue to post revenue declines, as the July number prove. From the AC Press:

Casino revenue sank to its lowest level in 12 years in July, another ominous sign that there will be no summer turnaround for the troubled gaming industry.

In what is ordinarily the biggest money-making month on the casino calendar, revenue generated by slot machines and table games fell 12.7 percent compared with July 2008, according to figures released Monday by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

Altogether, the 11 casinos took in $383 million in winnings, the worst July since 1997. An even more dramatic comparison is this July versus July 2005, when casinos posted an all-time record of $504.8 million in revenue. The 2005 figure is 24 percent higher than this July.

Only Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort saved the industry from the ignominy of having every gaming hall in town suffer a decline. Boosted by a 45 percent jump in table game revenue, the Taj Mahal was up 8.7 percent overall for July.

Atlantic City has stumbled through 11 straight months of declining revenue and is heading for its third straight down year – a stunning slide considering that the first 28 years of casino gambling were consecutively higher.

Atlantic City casino revenue takes 12-year tumble, July figures show

Not good at all, and I don’t see any signs of this getting better any time soon. The institutional response seems to be “Batten down the hatches, ride out the storm.” That would be a great approach if things weren’t changing, but it’s obvious that the gaming landscape of the Northeast has changed considerably in the past two years, and will consider to do so. Further down in the article, there’s a statement that the hotel rooms are full, but day-trippers are staying away. Given that slot parlors have opened across Pennsylvania, one of the city’s primary day-tripper markets, that should be surprising. So maybe it’s time to build more hotel rooms?

Things just look bad. It doesn’t help that the UAW has put up billboards reading “EVERYONE LOSES” in giant type, with smaller type saying “At Bally’s and Caesars,” with a tiny, nearly invisible header that says “When workers are treated unfairly.” Seriously, I didn’t see that header until maybe the tenth time I saw one of those billboards. And they’re everywhere, from US 95 just north of the Philly airport to up and down the Expressway. If that’s not enough, they even had it on a banner plane, flying over the ocean for all of the beach-goers to enjoy. I’m not exaggerating at all when I say that, from a distance and at high speeds, you can only catch “EVERYONE LOSES” before you’ve driven past.

I’m not saying dealer unionization is good or bad–that’s for dealers and only dealers to decide. This just seems like the UAW is just poisoning the waters down in Atlantic City. I can’t think of too many things that are more demoralizing to potential visitors than a big sign saying EVERYONE LOSES. I guess this is the approach that’s brought prosperity and success to the American auto industry, so it should work wonders for Atlantic City casinos.

About the only bright spot for the city is the opening of Revel, which should bring in multi-day visitors who aren’t going to settle for a few hours at a Pennsylvania slot parlor instead. If it’s successful, it’s possible that other operators will finally embrace the “resort model” and join Borgata and Harrah’s. The key, I think, will be doing this in a way that’s not too upscale for the market. There are plenty of people who want to have a few days vacation and don’t mind gambling a bit, but don’t want to pay $200/night for a room or $100 for dinner. Atlantic City could position itself as a mid- to high-market destination resort, with some amenities for high rollers but the bulk of its room and f&b inventory geared at a slightly less affluent demographic. For the foreseeable future, it looks like everyone’s going to be slightly less affluent, anyway.

Not much time to write because of a big project I’m working on, but I’ve posted the latest UNLV Gaming Podcast: it’s an interview done at the Casino Marketing Conference with Nichole Barker and Hetty Fore, who share their expertise about casinos using the “new media” to talk to patrons and potential customers.

You can subscribe in iTunes here, visit the podcast page, or just listen to the mp3 here.

I’ve had reports of troubles with iTunes that I’ve hopefully ironed out, so if you subscribe to the UNLV Gaming Podcast and there aren’t 13 episodes available, please let me know.

Also, this episode marks the debut of opening and closing music and narration. It’s still a work in progress, so I’m open to any and all thoughts on the content and audio quality. Ditto for the interview itself. They were breaking down the room as we started it, so there is some background noise for the first five minutes or so, but it quiets down after that.

And if you’re curious about what I’m working on that’s got me too busy to share my thoughts on Episode V: The Donald Strikes Back, it involves the big project references above and cold-calling several casinos where I don’t have a contact to get some distribution. Since cold-calling is about my least favorite thing to do, I give it another hour or so before I retreat back to analyzing sold hold numbers.

By the way, I don’t recall reading this anywhere, but as far as the Trump stuff goes, there is a connection between Beal Bank and gambling. Andy Beal, the guy who owns Beal Bank Nevada, is a big poker player whose exploits in a famous series of games against some of Vegas’ best players were chronicled in Michael Craig’s The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King.

Colorado casinos are getting ready to start play with more games and higher betting limits. From the Colorado Springs Gazette:

At the Colorado Grande Casino in Cripple Creek, the last security cameras are being placed over the roulette table.

At Bronco Billys Casino, gamblers are laying wagers on blackjack table in the new table games pit.

At the Wildwood Casino, general manager Kevin Werner is planning a pajama party to welcome the changes taking effect at the stroke of midnight Thursday morning.

Thats when the first dice will tumble on the craps tables, the roulette wheel will spin, and bettors will lay down Cripple Creeks first $100 wager. Like the stakes, anticipation is high and a lot is riding on the states Amendment 50 bet.

The changes Colorado voters approved by a wide margin in November could make Colorados three gambling towns destination attractions, high altitude Vegases drawing in the high rollers. At the very least, casino owners and workers are counting on the new games and limits to reverse the slide that started last year.

“Its history,” said Eric Rose, general manager of the Colorado Grande. “Its the biggest thing to happen to Colorado gaming in 17 years.”

via State to launch new games, new limits on Thursday – Colorado Springs Gazette, CO.

I just hope that they keep the popcorn. Colorado casinos are the only ones I’ve ever been in that have complimentary popcorn. It’s the saltiest popcorn I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s still popcorn, which means that it’s good.

On a more analytical note, it remains to be seen if the newly-liberalized gaming rules bolster revenues. This is still a regional market, at best, which isn’t so bad these days, since regional markets are facing the recession better than destination ones. Also, the industry is still pretty small, with gambling only in 3 towns. This may be more of a case of Colorado becoming another Indiana, not another Nevada, or even Mississippi.

Utah is one of two states that has no legal gambling, but that might be changing–online at least. From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Prominent poker players have teamed with big Las Vegas casinos to push for a law legalizing — and heavily regulating — online gambling.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff likes the idea, as long as it doesnt lead to tribal casinos or other forms of gambling in Utah.

"It is going to happen anyway, lets put some regulation in place," he said.

Shurtleff heard a pitch from the Poker Players Alliance during the spring meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General in Washington, D.C.

Shurtleff on legalized gambling: Deal me in – Salt Lake Tribune.

The article is unclear about whether this means online gaming would be OK in Utah, or whether Utah would agree to online gaming as a state option, much as terrestrial gambling is now. If its the former, that’s quite a change from past policies.

I am shocked–shocked–to learn that Congress has chosen to bar casinos from getting any of the nearly trillion dollars in stimulus money that’s floating around. From CNN:

Congress has moved to prevent money from the proposed $825 billion stimulus package from being used for zoos, aquariums, golf courses, swimming pools and casinos, an effort to ensure the bill funds only what it calls the "highest quality" infrastructure projects.

Restrictions added to the stimulus proposal would keep the money from zoo projects, among other things.

Restrictions added to the stimulus proposal would keep the money from zoo projects, among other things.

"The purpose of this bill is to direct funding at projects that are primarily and clearly aimed at benefiting the economic conditions of communities and the public at large," the bill states. "The federal government and all other levels of government are directed to look with a skeptical eye at projects that don't meet that test."

Congress looks to keep stimulus cash from zoos, golf courses – CNN.com.

Let’s play a game. It’s called “what do these things have in common?”

Here’s how it goes: I list a bunch of things, then you tell me what they have in common.

Let’s try: zoos, aquariums, golf courses, swimming pools and casinos–what do they have in common?

This Christian Science Monitor editorial argues with some logic that gambling isn’t the best thing for the economy. But I think the last line is a bit utopian:

One bright spot in this deep recession is that gamblers might be saying "Enough" to the lure of easy money and calling it quits. States, too, should call it quits on lotteries and not peddle this vice.

Lottery’s lure lost | csmonitor.com.

I’d like to meet the state legislator who proposes eliminating the lottery and either cutting school budgets even further or raising taxes to offset the difference. It may very well be that, long term, funding would be better secured without a lottery, but I don’t think there’s a politician left who thinks past the next election.

See, for example: David Patterson’s formula for New York’s continued prosperity: more gambling in bars, restaurants, and racetracks!

I’ve got an issue with this New York Times editorial. See if you can guess why:

Asked to choose between the casinos and the health of the people who work in them, Atlantic City has sided with the casinos. The City Council voted in October to allow smoking in the city’s gambling parlors for at least another year — a complete cave-in to the industry and a cruel insult to hundreds of dealers, waiters and other casino workers who will continue to be exposed to the demonstrable risks of secondhand smoke.

Editorial – Gambling With Lives – NYTimes.com.

No, it’s not the fact that the Times editors are lambasting City Council for lacking “political courage.” At this stage of the game, that’s like an impassioned treatise claiming that rain is wet. It’s the “gambling parlor” thing. I know that they’ve got to work in a synonym or two for “casino,” but you can’t call something that’s 80,000 square feet and has 4,000 slot machines a “parlor,” can you? A quick web search turns up two definitions:

# reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
# living room: a room in a private house or establishment where people can sit and talk and relax

I guess it’s technically a “parlor” in the first sense of the word, but I think of a “parlor” as more intimate and more refined than most giant casinos.

My personal style suggestion is the more proletarian and raw-boned “gambling hall,” which I think is closer to the mark. “Gambling palace” also works, if you want to be more grandiose. “Gambling den” is fine with me, too, even though most of them took out their wood paneling a long time ago.

Just to give you an idea of what I’m working with, I wanted to post this letter from my Homeowners’ Association. It’s probably no better and no worse than most HOAs, but they went a little “nuts” with the “quotation marks” and capitalizing Common Nouns.

newsletter

My favorite is the desperate plea not to “FEED THE PIDEGONS!”

I’ve teased out the hierarchy of importance:
1. Somewhat important: “in quotes”
2. More important: “In Quotes, Capitalized”
3. Extremely important: “IN QUOTES, ALL CAPS”

Now, I’m afraid that I’ve been “infected” by the “quotes bug” and I’ll keep on “doing” this “ALL DAY.”

Try it, it’s “fun.”

But all I can think about is this Chris Farley bit.

That reminds of the Plaza trial. David McKee mentioned the Tamares attorney ‘channeling the feelings of the downtown Plaza, keening that, “I can’t be known as the old Plaza, I can’t be the cheap Plaza, I can’t be the bad Plaza.”‘

That’s pretty funny, but it would have been better if they’d have just played that clip.

Which raises the question: if you were to anthropomorphize the major casinos of Las Vegas, who would play who? Go ahead, play the game: pick prominent actors/personalities who could represent the casinos. I haven’t a clue myself, but I’d love to hear what other people think.

I’ve been watching reruns of Classic Trek lately (that’s Star Trek: The Original Series for purists, or The One With Kirk and Spock for those with a non-geek awareness of the show), and it gave me an idea: what if the new wave of Las Vegas casinos and condos is Star Trek: The Next Generation to the existing Strip’s Original Series?

I’m going to have to break out some Trek abbreviation in the course of this piece, so here is some explanation: the 1960s show is “TOS” and the 1980s/1990s one is “TNG.”

Also, I want to make it clear that I’m not making any grand statements about the evolution of casinos on the Strip as objectively considered based on criteria like hotel size and numbers of casinos. I think that the changes we’re seeing today pale in comparison to the birth of the casino resort in the 1940s/early 1950s, the Great Leap Forward in size that followed the International (1969), the growth of the middle market in the 1980s, and the whole Mirage Revolution of the 1990s. I’m talking about perceptions among current visitors to the new casinos coming online–and the renovation of existing ones. If you consider the average tourist probably has a personal memory of the Strip going back to the mid-1990s, I think you can make a case that he or she is seeing something very different now.

Now that I’ve pointed out the flaws inherent in my analysis and bored some of you off this post, let’s have some fun and start analogizing!

TOS was a true product of the 1960s. It’s got a garish color palette, partially because TV execs wanted to make the most of that new innovation, color television. This leads to some interesting design choices: Starflleet officers wear bright, primary colors that look great on TV but probably aren’t what a group of military space explorers would actually wear. The acting was completely over the top. The special effects ranged from cheesy to laughable. Everything about the show was larger than life. But it was a great show that meant something to millions of fans.

How about the Strip circa 2000? It’s garish, brash, and basically larger than life. There’s a lot of kitsch out there, and it’s hard to take much of the place seriously. Still, it’s a lot of fun, and people love it.

Then, you’ve got TNG. The ship is bigger, and family friendly, with much, much more impressive technology. The colors are muted. Instead of boldly charging into space and seducing or being seduced by green chicks, the crew does an awful lot of diplomatic back-and-forth. There’s still lots of cool stuff, but it feels less like a wild adventure.

What about the Strip as it’s currently being reimagined? I think we can date the change precisely: July 10, 2003, when the fun skull and bones sign came down at Treasure Island. In its place we got a snazzier, more sophisticated electronic marquee.

Since then, there’s been a real move away from loud colors and cheesy entertainment on the Strip. Even the casinos that opened in the 1990s have replaced their loud carpet with earth tones. In general, casino interiors are looking much less fanciful and more subdued…almost smaller than life.

That’s just the interior. How about the outside? The casinos that went up in the 1990s looked outrageous: a pastiche of the New York skyline, a giant glass pyramid, a huge medieval castle. Since Wynn, sheer glass towers have dominated. Looking at the new crop, you’ve got City Center’s six-pack, all of which are sheathed in glass; the Fontainebleau, Encore, and the Planet Hollywood timeshare. With the exception of Palazzo and the forthcoming St. Regis, you’ve got a lot of “futuristic” glass buildings going up. And I forgot Trump’s gold glass tower. It’s impressive, but, with the exception of Wynn/Encore, not exactly fanciful.

What does this mean? On on hand, it’s a sign of maturity: Vegas has arrived, and we don’t need exploding volcanoes to get people’s attention. On the other hand, it’s not as exuberant as it once was.

I don’t know what all this means. No, wait. Let me rephrase that: I don’t…KNOW what all this MEANS. OK, I’m done channeling Shatner. Is there a big lesson here? Probably not? Am I trying to be the millionth person to say that Las Vegas used to be more fun? No, that’s not my point. I’m just trying to use an analogy that demonstrate the qualitative shift in Vegas in the past few years.

By most objective measures, TNG was a better show than TOS. It ran more than twice as long. It had a much bigger budget, and a far more consistent set of world-building guidelines. Episodes seem to move much faster–most TNG stories have an A plot, which usually unfolds on the planet’s surface, and a B plot, which more often than not involves Data back on the ship trying to understand what it means to be human, while TOS stories just plug away at a single plot for an hour. The recurring villains were way cooler–Q vs. Harry Mudd. Both shows had bad ideas–Spock’s Brain and the Ferengi stick out–and I don’t want to get into which one had more misfires. But the point is that on paper TNG is clearly the superior show. (Even though, the Clarinet of Spock notwithstanding, TNG could never do humor the way TOS could.)

But there are a lot of people who couldn’t stand TNG when it debuted, and while popular it never achieved the iconic status of TOS. “Beam me up, Scotty” is a phrase that virtually everyone knows. I’m not sure how many people could tell you who Geordi Laforge is, but it’s definitely far, far fewer. Twenty years from now, I doubt Hot Topic will be selling t-shirts with Captain Picard’s picture on them.

Does it come down to technical excellence versus passion? Execution versus imagination?

There are some lessons for casino designers here. Never underestimate the power of fun and creativity. Fans can tolerate cheap sets, ludicrous aliens, and hammy acting if they think there’s a point to it, if its all in good fun. They may be less forgiving of perfection.

P.S.–2 days later, I had another thought. In TOS, the captain usually led the away team, so he was often the first one a planet’s inhabitants got to meet. In TNG, the captain rarely goes on away missions. That’s smart, because I doubt that a real starship would send all of its senior officers into harm’s way routinely, but it means the captain gets less screen time.

Back in “the old days,” casino owners commonly walked the casino floor. Today, Steve Wynn might be the only one who regularly does.

I don’t think you’ll see officials in Nevada, or anywhere else in the US, adopting this approach any time soon. From Bloomberg:

South Korea’s National Gaming Control Commission yesterday said it intended to limit total annual revenue of the gambling industry, including horse racing, lottery tickets and casinos, to about 14 trillion won $13.4 billion.

“The governments plan may limit Kangwon Lands revenue from the casino business and this will lead the company to cut its profit forecast, Han Seung Ho, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities Co., said in a report today. Hes maintaining his “buy rating on the stock because the plans havent been completed.

The gambling industrys earnings accounts for 0.67 percent of gross domestic product in South Korea, according to the commission. Thats higher than the average 0.58 percent for members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

South Korea’s government plans to introduce an e-card system which will cap excessive betting of gamblers and tighten regulations on the entry of new players in the industry. The commission said it will complete the plans next month.

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide.

“Cap excessive betting of gamblers?” What are they, crazy or something? Do they want to raise taxes? Do they want Farmer Jones to come back?

It’s like an alternate universe over there, where gaming revenues are discussed as public policy, divorced from budget needs.

My latest Business Press column is out, in which I turn an offhand comment by an LA Times movie reviewer into grist for 550 words about Fake Vegas. From the LVBP:

Casinos, certainly, have taken their place as legitimate businesses, and a former Harvard business professor runs the world’s biggest gaming company. So it’s not a question of whether people take casinos seriously — they are so potentially lucrative that everyone, particularly state-level politicians, pay attention.

No, it’s a deeper question, an existential query about the role of Las Vegas in the world.

Are we really living in what Hal Rothman called the first city of the 21st century? Are we the shock troops of the continuing transition to a service economy? Is Las Vegas a city that points the way to the future?

Or is it just a place where people come to drink footballs full of beer and yard-long margaritas and play nickel slots? Is Las Vegas really hip, or is it a city that real hipsters condescend to visit with a knowing smirk at the cheesiness factor?

Can a land that was once the king of fake be taken seriously?

Does it matter if most of Las Vegas is just an imitation of someplace else? I think it does, because eventually the appeal of the fake wears off. So the recent move to build properties that are just themselves–not fake somewhere else–is a good one.

This doesn’t mean that Fontainebleau and the LV Plaza (should it happen) should be lumped in with the fakes of the past. They are just Vegas outlets of budding (international) hospitality brands. No one would say that the Las Vegas Hilton is an enlarged copy of the Beverly Hilton–it’s been one of the most “authentic” Las Vegas casinos for almost 40 years. I see the Font and LVP as in that same mold.

If you haven’t heard it, here’s the press release, more or less verbatim: MGM Mirage is naming the big casino resort at its in-development City Center project on the Strip the “Aria Resort and Casino.”

I don’t have an inside line on the creative process that led to the choice, but from what I’ve read it seems that it was a name that no one hated and that didn’t have any copyright issues. There’s been a lot of discussion about the name on the web, and the consensus is that it’s less than inspiring.

As I said somewhere, I think that would be a great name for a condo or loft project overlooking a symphony hall or opera house, but doesn’t seem the best possible name for the casino in question. It’s not that it’s a bad name, or an absolute wrong choice. I just think that they could have taken it in a different direction.

So bear with me while I play keyboard warrior and presume to advise a group of people who have made more money designing and operating casinos than I could probably count. After all, there’s still time to change the name, if it’s not written in stone (or steel and glass) yet. Steve Wynn changed Le Reve to Wynn late in the game, and Bellagio developed from Beau Rivage, so anything’s possible.

First, I’ll list some names that we should be thankful weren’t chosen. This will prove to even the perennial second-guessers that Aria isn’t such a bad choice.

Luckily it isn’t…
>>> Shangri La: if this isn’t the single most over-used generic casino name in the world, I don’t know what is. Great for a small lounge with a tiki vibe and cheap Corona. Awful for a multi-billion dollar casino resort.

>>> Kirk’s Hideaway: I’ve always wished that other casino owners would take the Trump/Wynn tack and start naming their joints after themselves. Using this logic, Columbia Sussex would have rebranded the Tropicanas “Bill’s Bargain Joint” or something like that. They could name the new tower at Caesars Palace Gary’s Tower. Hey, Trump’s doing it at the Taj, so why not? “Kirk’s Hideaway” would be a bad name for the City Center casino, though, because it sounds like the kind of place where you can buy bait and tackle at the front desk, not a major resort.

>>> Coda: I’ve heard some people complain that Aria is derivative of Encore, but Coda is a complete ripoff.

>>> Boardwalk: Anymore remember the Boardwalk? The creepy clown? I didn’t think so. And I really doubt that this place is going to bring back that 24-hour buffet. But it would be funny if they went the Aladdin route and, after all the time and money spent building a new casino, named it after the old one.

>>> Glasshouse: Too many people in Las Vegas like to throw stones.

>>> Nomonca: It’s original, but I don’t think that you want to remind customers that the hotel is slightly north of the Monte Carlo. And it’s not a particularly euphonious name, either, though it does have three syllables.

>>> Chiaroscuro: In theory, this would be a great name. Because natural light is such a big part of the resort, an arty word that refers back to patterns of light and darkness makes sense. But no one would be able to pronounce it, and a small minority would think it was a Brazilian steakhouse. But it would put some teeth into that “intellectual engagement” aspect of the project. Personally, until someone explains to me how Elvis factors into intellectually engaging people, I’m a skeptic.

>>> MGM Grander: We all know it’s going to be nicer than the place across the street, but there’s no reason to rub it in, is there?

So we should be glad that it wasn’t any of those. But could it have been better? Let’s see.

Imagine if it was…
>>> Harmony: It plays on “Harmon,” which is the road that runs through the project, sounds nice, and has positive connotations. You could fool around with the logo, maybe writing it “HarmonY” to make it more distinctive. On the downside, it’s a little close to the “Harmon Hotel and Residences,” but that name could be tweaked, too. Maybe “3720 South Hotel and Residences,” or whatever its street address is. Or “Skylofts,” (or a Skylofts derivative) which is a nice brand for the rooms at MGM Grand that the company could do a lot more with. But I really like the Harmon name, since it’s an organic Vegas name, so it’d be a shame to lose it.

>>> Silhouette: With that name, you know it has something to do with light and shadow. The building has an interesting silhouette, so you’ve got your logo right there. On the negative side, people might have trouble spelling it, even though it’s easy to say.

>>> Cascade: Looking at the model and the building under construction, this name would definitely fit. It’s easy to say, and write, and it sounds clean and clear. Of course, they might get sued by the Cascada folks, but if you can’t copyright a curved semi-circle I don’t see how you can copyright a word, particularly if you don’t have a building with that exact name anywhere.

>>> Facet: This one fits the look of the building, and it ties in with The Crystals, the retail area that will be adjacent to it. Since this building will be the jewel in the crown of MGM Mirage, it’s got some added symbolic value, too.

>>> Apollonian: It sounds powerful, but not stodgy. And it makes sense with the whole “natural light” thing since Apollo was the god of light. It also sets up a nice Dionysian/Apollonian dichotomy. This based on Nietzsche’s philosophical distinction between, in short, reason and emotion. Apollo represents rationality, order, and progress, while Dionysus stands for ecstasy, chaos, and nature. This really fits in with City Center’s rational planning and futuristic design. Of course, most people looking for a room on the Strip aren’t going to immediately relate to philosophical constructs, so it might go over some people’s heads. And Las Vegas is really more of a Dionysian town than an Apollonian one, so they’d be fighting against the current.

>>> Silver Sky: I know this one sounds a little like Reno RV park, but hear me out. I was inspired by the description of the piece by Maya Lin that will decorate the lobby:

Famed artist Maya Lin is creating an approximately 133-foot silver cast of the Colorado River, which will be her first work of art displayed in Las Vegas. Lin is incorporating reclaimed silver in the spirit of CityCenter’s commitment to sustainability and in light of Nevada’s standing as the “Silver State.”

You’ve got a name that reflects the building’s look and its signature work of art in one fell swoop. But it would probably need some work so it didn’t remind people of the Silverbird or Silver Nugget. How about “Silverlight” or just “Silver?” I’m just throwing it out there.

>>> Sobella: I really, really like this name. This was the first working name for the project since it was South of the Bellagio. Sure, it doesn’t mean anything, but it’s a unique name (though, I’ve just learned, a handbag maker shares it–thanks Google). Well, if it’s not unique, it’s at least distinctive. Maybe a favorable deal on a store in the Crystals would quell any copyright action. Sobella sounds artistic, and is intriguing. It’s easy to say and spell, and pleasant-sounding.

…

My vote would be with Harmony, Facet, or Sobella, but since I didn’t put a dime into the $9 billion or so project, I don’t get a vote. And that’s as it should be. For all I know, all of these ideas were proposed and shot down by people who know a lot more about this than me. It’s just my two cents.

…

One last note: I see that Aria will have 4,004 rooms. I’m amazed that it wasn’t changed to 4,008 rooms to assuage the numerological superstitions of visitors from the East. It’s nice to see mathematics trump irrationality in a casino, at least once. Next time, let them build something with 4,013 rooms.

Unless something derails the deal (and how often has that happened with the Trumpster’s Atlantic City casinos?) the Trump Marina will soon become the Margaritaville casino resort. From the AC Press:

Trump Marina Hotel Casino is being sold in a $316 million deal that will transform the poorest-performing property in Donald Trump’s gaming empire into a “Margaritaville” casino of singer Jimmy Buffett fame.

The buyer is Coastal Marina LLC, an affiliate of Coastal Development LLC, a New York company headed by former-Trump-business-associate-turned-enemy Richard T. Fields. As part of the Marina sale, Trump has agreed to end a four-year legal battle that accused Fields of cheating him out of developing the Hard Rock casinos with the Seminole Tribe in Florida.

“They’re getting a terrific building in a great location and a wonderful potential redevelopment site,” Trump said in an interview Thursday after the sale was announced.

Fields plans to rebrand the Marina into a Margaritaville concept in partnership with Buffett, the singer-songwriter whose career has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years thanks to his legions of “Parrothead” fans. Buffet’s 1977 hit song “Margaritaville” reflects the ultimate laid-back lifestyle of soaking up the sun and margaritas in Key West, or “wastin’ away again in Margaritaville.”

“Together with Jimmy Buffett’s team at Margaritaville, our plans are to create an exciting new property that we believe will tap its full potential and make it one of the most successful destination gaming resorts in Atlantic City,” Fields said.

Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., owner of four Atlantic City casinos, is developing the Margaritaville Casino & Resort in Biloxi, Miss., also featuring a Buffett-inspired theme.

Trump Marina to become “Margaritaville” casino in $316M. sale

If you click over to read the whole story, you’ll see a few interesting details: Coastal paid more than $20 million an acre for the Marina, which would seem to be well above market. But since Atlantic City casinos tend to be on a smaller footprint than their Strip counterparts, I don’t know if I would value a casino transaction based on its acreage. Casino income is probably a better yardstick.

Now, what about “Margaritaville?” I think it’s a great idea. The casino itself isn’t much, but the marina is a real amenity that I think has been under-played in the past. Harrah’s let their marina silt up (or something; I’m not sure of the details) and has it sitting idle, which I think is really short-sighted. First of all, they are cutting themselves off from a lot of potential players–boats aren’t exactly cheap, and I think that you’re going to find some high-value players among the people who care enough about their recreation that they buy themselves a boat. Like casino gambling, it’s not the sort of purchase that generates a return on your investment. Second, having abandoned boat slips and decaying wood surrounding your property’s best feature–its waterfront–is downright idiotic.

I’m still trying to figure out exactly why Trump initially called the casino “Trump’s Castle.” It’s not like he’s Merlin or something–you wouldn’t be expecting him to live in a castle. So it’s 1985, you’ve got a building designed to look like a Hilton with a marina on the bay in Atlantic City, and you call it Trump’s Castle? Why? Why not “Trump Bayside Tower” or the name they eventually migrated to, Trump Marina?

I can see how the Margartiaville name and vibe will work really well for that property. It won’t be competing head to head with Borgata, for one. A few years ago I heard Bob Boughner speak about designing the Borgata and he said that when they were developing and branding it, they decided that if it was a watch, it would be a Movado–a recognizable luxury item that’s still within reach for many people. I can see Margaritaville being a Timex with sand stuck under the band that’s running a few minutes late–but it doesn’t matter. The luxe wave–Borgata, Harrah’s revamp, and the coming Revel–will appeal to many people, but so will Margaritaville, especially in Atlantic City.

Needless to say, this name would not have worked for the big casino resort at City Center.

And if the headline is unclear, Trump Marina is on Huron Avenue.

It’s hard to believe, but one of the oldest gambling con games is alive and well in the shadow of the Las Vegas Strip. I snapped some pictures of a shell game in action on Monday between the Tropicana and Hooters. Technically that’s not the Strip, but it’s in the Strip tourist corridor, so the headline is accurate. Click through to see indisputable photographic evidence and some homespun analysis.
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Casinos have been Atlantic City for thirty years, and there are still some people who remember Day One. From the AC Press:
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Christina Binkley. Winner Takes All: Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, Gary Loveman, and the Race to Own Las Vegas. New York: Hyperion, 2008. 304 pages, hardcover.

Over the last decade, the Las Vegas Strip has become increasingly consolidated. Once, there were a host of casino owners: Aztar, Bally Gaming, Boyd Gaming, Circus Circus Enterprises, Grand Casinos (if you count Grand’s stake in the Strat) Hilton Hotels, Mirage Resorts, MGM Grand, Inc, Primadonna, the folks who owned the Frontier, Riviera, Sahara, Imperial Palace, and a few other “non-aligned” casinos. Today, the list is smaller: MGM Mirage, Harrah’s Entertainment, Wynn Resorts, and Las Vegas Sands, Inc. dominate the market, though a number of “non-aligned” casinos remain, and Boyd is set to return to the Strip soon with the mega-development Echelon Place.

In Winner Takes All, Binkley examines a few of the major players in the Strip consolidation sweepstakes. She parlays her access (she’s the former lead Vegas reporter for the Wall Street Journal) into a truly insightful book. Unless you’ve spent the past few years sitting in the executive offices of MGM Mirage, Wynn, and Harrah’s, you’ll definitely learn something from reading this. Binkley does a solid job of pulling back the curtain on the motivations and rivalries that unite and divide the movers and shakers on the Strip.

Binkley goes beyond petty corporate politics, though, and discusses the underlying business strategies that differentiate Wynn, Kerkorian (and his executives), and Loveman. Wynn believes in luxury above all; Kerkorian thinks that size matters (he’s opened the world’s biggest casino hotel three times) and is a consummate deal-maker’ and Loveman brings scientific management to the wild west of the casino floor. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, you might learn a few lessons from each of these three approaches. If you’re just a person who likes to come to Vegas, you’ll get an insider’s peek into some of your favorite resorts.

As a historian, I’ve got to grouse at a few historical inaccuracies. The most egregious is on page 16, where Binkley contends that the original MGM Grand had “shoddily built rooms” and that the tragic 1980 conflagration was the result of a “grease fire,” making it sound like this was a roadside greasy spoon that went up in smoke after the deep-fryer was left unattended. Actually, it was an electrical fire that sparked the blaze, and though construction faults did exacerbate the fire (smoke was able to get into the guest tower, and sprinklers were not installed in the deli or casino), the casino was, when it opened, the biggest and most expensive building in the history of Las Vegas. Though we now know that its builders cut corners, at the time few disputed that it was a “grand” casino. There are a few other minor issues I have, but I won’t go into them here. Suffice it to say that Binkley is an outstanding source for the material that she personally reported on, but might have relied on lesser sources for some of the background.

Although (or maybe because) the book is about Las Vegas, 1999-2007, it is dominated by Steve Wynn. Even when he’s not there, he’s there, haunting the thoughts of the author and the principals. In simple terms, MGM Grand, Inc. wants to be like Wynn, so the company buys Mirage Resorts. Harrah’s realizes it can’t compete with Wynn, so it relies on “propeller heads” (management wonks) rather than exploding volcanoes to better its bottom line. Las Vegas, it seems, is divided into wanna-be Wynns and anti-Wynns, but there is no one who is unaffected by Wynn.

This is, of course, unfair to the men and women who’ve built up Harrah’s, MGM, and even Wynn, to say nothing of the crowd at Las Vegas Sands. There are a host of principals in this book who deserve to stand on their own: Terry Lanni, Jim Murren, Bobby Baldwin, and Glenn Schaeffer are not “title characters,” but each has contributed significantly to the creation of modern Vegas, so it’s not entirely accurate to dismiss them as Wynn clones or antitheses. But Wynn’s all-pervading presence in the book is unavoidable.

Which leads to the big question: how is Wynn treated? Like the people she writes about, Binkley is hardly agnostic when it comes to Wynn. I’m not giving much away here: the prologue features Wynn, apoplectic with rage, screaming at Binkley that the MGM Grand buyout of Mirage was a friendly deal. So it’s obvious that Binkley isn’t going to be disinterested. But she veers into caricature at times (”His capped teeth gleam white, white, white.”), which paradoxically makes Wynn even more of a larger-than-life character. Wynn-haters will glory in the chronicles of corporate extravagance; Wynn-lovers will say, “So he likes plastic surgery–he still knows how to build the best casinos in the world.”

Winner Takes All is a valuable look inside the boardrooms of Las Vegas during one of its most explosive eras. I recommend it to those interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the titans who have rebuilt the Las Vegas Strip.

I’m going to be teaching in Reno next semester, and from judging from this article I should feel right at home. From the RGJ:

The gaming industry is soaring worldwide but not in Reno, a leading gaming analyst told a group of young Reno business leaders Wednesday.

“This is an $85 billion industry (annually in the U.S.), but as of 1982, it was a $10 billion industry,” said Bill Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada. “So, that is quite an expansion over that period of time.

“That’s the good news,” Eadington told a class of the Leadership Reno/Sparks. “The bad news is that Reno is not really part of this.”

Reno left out

The growth in Las Vegas tourism and the proliferation of tribal gaming in Northern and Southern California has hurt the Reno market, Eadington said. Gaming has also grown in areas such as Oregon, Washington and western Canada, further cutting into Washoe County gaming, Eadington said.

…

The impact of the Pacific Northwest and Las Vegas is also important, said Reno gaming analysis Ken Adams, when asked to comment on Eadington’s speech.

“Go back to 1989 and look at Northern Nevada’s feature markets — California, Oregon, Washington and Canada,” Adams said. “I’m guessing, but there is probably about $20 billion worth of gross revenue coming out of those places now.
….

“In 1989, the direction of the gaming industry in Reno and Sparks versus Las Vegas has diverged in a fairly dramatic fashion,” Eadington said. “The year 1989 is a critical period in Las Vegas history. That was the year the Mirage and the Excalibur opened, the first of the modern mega casinos.

“It is also the year Harrah’s chose to move out of Reno because Reno was too pedestrian, too parochial, too wrapped up, I think, in dysfunctional issues. They decided to move to Memphis and later to Las Vegas to be in the center of the action.”

RGJ.com: Analyst warns of gaming decline in Reno

Pedestrian, parochial, wrapped in dysfunction? It sounds a lot like Atlantic City, my hometown. Growing up surrounded by a sense that the city’s best days were behind it probably didn’t prepare me for moving to Las Vegas, which is in the middle of a boom.

Speaking of class, it’s coming along well. I’m almost finished with my lectures, and I’ve already learned a great deal about some topics that I’d previously neglected. I hope the students have as much fun as I am.

According to an Australian judge, casinos should be sure where the customers’ money comes from. From NineMSN:

Crown Casino should either ensure money from big spenders is legitimate or be forced to compensate victims of crime for ill-gotten gains gambled by criminals, a Victorian judge says.

County Court Judge Frank Dyett made the remarks as he sentenced Heather MacNeil-Brown, 63, to six years’ jail – with a minimum non-parole period of four years – for embezzling almost $1 million from the Australian branch of global consulting and accountancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
…

Judge Dyett said MacNeil-Brown initially spent the proceeds of crime at small pokies venues in Melbourne but from 2002, most of the money was lost at Crown Casino.

He said MacNeil-Brown was a frequent guest at the casino’s Mahogany Room for high rollers.

“Cases of this sort, which are increasing in number, call for consideration of legislation which would put the onus on Crown Casino and other gaming venues to make reasonable inquiries to ensure that large sums of money continually being lost by regular customers, as in this instance, are emanating from legitimate sources,” Judge Dyett said.

“In default of such inquiries, a civil liability should be imposed by legislation upon these venues to reimburse the victims of crimes of this nature.”

Casino must monitor big spenders: judge

How do you do that? Make gamblers provide W4s? Or just flat out ask them if they’ve stolen the money? I’m guessing this won’t get very far.

Coming on the heels of the anti-casino archive, this could be the coolest story ever. From Radio Free Europe:

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov has called on the city’s gambling halls to eventually be turned into libraries.

“More than 2,000 gaming halls were opened in a short time in Moscow and we are now actively closing them down. Let’s make book clubs out of gambling centers,” AFP quoted the mayor as saying today in a statement.

The measure is seen as part of an effort to increase falling reading rates among Muscovites. A city official today cited statistics that show that half of the city’s residents do not purchase books, 40 percent don’t read books at all, and 60 do not subscribe to any publication, AFP reported.

Under legislation passed last year, thousands of Russian casinos and gaming halls are to be shut down and moved to four special zones in different parts of the country, all outside cities.

Gambling venues will begin closing this summer and continue through to 2009.

Moscow Mayor Plans To Replace Casinos With Libraries – RADIO FREE EUROPE / RADIO LIBERTY

This might be the best idea I’ve ever heard. It would be good to get Russian reading rates up.

There’s just one problem–you don’t want people to go cold turkey from casinos to reading rooms. As a trained professional, I suggest that each of these 2000 gambling halls buy 100 or so copies of a single book for their patrons to read.

Like I said, we don’t want anyone going into gambling withdrawal or anything, so the book should be about gambling. It should be about 600 pages, so the new recreational readers have a sense of accomplishment when they finish it. And, even though this is in Russia, I think the book should be available in English.

I can think of only one that fits the bill: Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.

The book has been out for a few months now, but I’ve still got to promote it, you know.

Regular readers might know that I’ve got a strange fascination with weird animal stories (remember the mystery mammal?) and it should be obvious that I write a great deal about casinos. So I’m all over a story that combines both. From the AP:

A Lake Tahoe casino that promotes a “habitat for everything wild” found truth in advertising over the weekend when a wayward bear wandered in through a rear loading dock.

The 150 pound yearling walked around employee hallways at MontBleu Resort Casino and Spa early Saturday and sauntered toward a cafeteria before it scurried out the way it came in, apparently frightened off by several workers, employee Earl Zeller told the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

In one MontBleu television commercial, a cocktail waitress walks past urban-dressed guests in lounge, then throws a fresh fish to a waiting bear.

“Evidently the bears out there heard the story that bears can be fed at the nightclub at MontBleu,” Zeller quipped. “I guess we reached our target audience.”

General Manager Patrick Basney said employees got a laugh from the incident but also recognized the “need to secure our area a little better.”

Montbleu is the former Caesars Tahoe.

Bear wanders into Lake Tahoe casino

Even bears avoid casino cafeteria food, especially on grave shift.

I want to know what “urban-dressed” means. Wearing clothes suitable for a city? As opposed to hunting camo or backpacking gear?