Last Wednesday the following story appeared in the Wall Street Journal: Online Gambling Suffers Setback – American Gaming Association Withdraws Support, Citing Differences of Opinion. During a WSJ interview (at G2E Asia) Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the AGA,… [continue reading]

There has not been much good news for the casino industry lately and sometimes even the good news is not really good. For example, two jurisdictions reported an increase in gaming revenues in April. Atlantic City reported an increase in… [continue reading]

Chad Barnhill carefully maneuvered visitors through an active construction site Monday that is quickly becoming the $442 million Horseshoe Casino Baltimore. He paused in front of floor-to-ceiling windows on the second floor. In clear view was M&T Bank Stadium, home… [continue reading]

Just as the recession began to grip Las Vegas in 2008, gaming executive Terry Lanni made a prediction. During an interview at his offices in the Bellagio, Lanni said a Las Vegas market recovery was not going to be like… [continue reading]

AGA’s upcoming event G2E Asia, held in partnership with Reed Exhibitions, has grown rapidly in just the past few years, mirroring the growth of the Asian gaming market. AGA is proud of the value that this show provides to gaming… [continue reading]

The Beatles broke up in 1970. Only two of the original band members are still living, and occasionally recording and touring. The band is considered to be a 1960’s phenomenon, yet its music and personalities enjoy widespread, loyal fan support… [continue reading]

Anytime the investment community gets downwind of a potential hiccup in the Macau gaming market, a slash-and-burn mentality sets in. The victims are often MGM Resorts International, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. The Las Vegas-based companies have… [continue reading]

A week or two ago, it seemed as if Massachusetts had settled down and the casino licensing process was becoming something close to normal. But last week, the Massachusetts process erupted into a circus-like atmosphere. A circus is probably a… [continue reading]

When MGM Resorts International announced plans in 2013 to rebrand The Hotel into Delano Las Vegas, company officials said the 11-year-old property would be given a new look from top to bottom. Details of the $80 million renovation were announced… [continue reading]

Where exactly is the line between sports gambling and fantasy sports contests? While it must exist, no one seems to be able to pin it down. Last week, Intrade, a popular but controversial website that formerly offered wagering on everything… [continue reading]

The investment community long has expressed concern over the growing debt that weighs down many casino companies, most notably the $21 billion anchor around the neck of Caesars Entertainment Corp. Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Andrew Zarnett in April told investors… [continue reading]

Blackjack, as a casino game, is an endangered species to my way of thinking. Not everyone will agree with me, but they will agree that blackjack has had a bad week. On April 29, a very high profile Hollywood actor… [continue reading]

The next phase of Las Vegas starts today in, of all places, the Sawyer Building. Nearly a dozen representatives and executives from Genting Berhad, the Malaysia-based company that acquired the unfinished Echelon project on the Strip for $350 million 14… [continue reading]

Should an economic collapse ever ruin the U.S. dollar, you could still shop for your cataclysmic needs at the Zombie Apocalypse Store. Behind the door protected by wrought-iron bars and near a couple of machetes, black and orange signs read:… [continue reading]

Remember the photo from the 2012 Summer Olympics of U.S. gymnast McKayla Maroney, standing on the medal podium after taking silver in the vault finals, arms crossed, lips pursed to the side, with a look of disappointment? The image became… [continue reading]

Somehow, “What happens in Crimea, stays in Crimea,” doesn’t seem like an appropriate catchphrase. In April, a month after Russia forcibly annexed the Black Sea peninsula away from Ukraine, President Valdimir Putin said he wants to turn the territory into… [continue reading]

Neighborhood gambling giant Station Casinos hasn’t been shy about criticizing the Dotty’s chain. According to Station, Dotty’s doesn’t follow the law, blurs the lines between regular casinos and taverns and preys on legitimate gambling businesses. So it might come as… [continue reading]

Last week I had dinner with CDC Publisher Jeffrey Compton at the flagship restaurant at the El Cortez called Flame. (Note – Jeff has had a long-time professional relationship with the El Cortez.) I had never been to the El… [continue reading]

Everything is constantly changing. Business, like all aspects of society, is dynamic and in a constant state of flux. The problem is not to understand change, but to anticipate the nature of the change. It is no secret that I… [continue reading]

There is a reason analysts spent about 40 minutes questioning Las Vegas Sands Corp. officials last week about the company’s over-the-top results in Macau. It has to do with Confucius. During a conference call to discuss Las Vegas Sands’ first-quarter… [continue reading]

In every gaming jurisdiction experiencing a long-term decline in revenues, casinos are being forced to cut expenses and restructure. The way a casino approaches the problem differs according to the management, location and conditions that created the problem, but there… [continue reading]

About two weeks ago a news tornado blew through the casinosphere, when the Borgata Casino filed a federal suit against Phil Ivey, seeking to recoup $9.6 million that Ivey won playing baccarat in 2012. In case you don’t know the… [continue reading]

  By now, everyone has read the stories of gaming communities struggling under the weight of the Great Recession and increased competition. The economy is improving, so gaming’s struggles must be related to competition, right? Economic downturns affect every business,… [continue reading]

Apparently, the only folks making money from the U.S.’s fledgling Internet gaming market are lobbyists. That won’t change anytime soon. Bills for and against Internet gaming continue to surface in statehouses and Congress, which means more billable hours for the… [continue reading]

Haggling over legislation to bring a casino to Chicago has become a springtime ritual. This time around, state Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, has dealt out two new amendments that just might get the job done. To our way of… [continue reading]

Like much of Nevada, the casino industry is grappling with issues surrounding medical marijuana. So much so that gaming companies and regulators have had little to say publicly about doctor-prescribed pot. Medical marijuana has been legal in Nevada since 2000,… [continue reading]

In Chicago, Illinois on April 16th, the state gaming commission held a hearing on two proposed casino expansion bills. One would allow for an additional casino in Chicago with up to 10,000 gaming positions; the other bill proposal would authorize… [continue reading]

Gaming industry set to create thousands of jobs, help small businesses and support public services in the Commonwealth. Washington — American Gaming Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman issued the following statement after Massachusetts Attorney General candidate Maura Healey announced her… [continue reading]

“Big Luther,” Alabama’s hyper-ambitious Attorney General Luther Strange, had been warned more than once. This page warned him. Other commentators warned him. If he had bothered to ask, members of the Alabama Bar Association most assuredly would have warned him,… [continue reading]

While the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down limits on individual political donors captured the headlines last Wednesday, a new law signed by President Obama on the next day will also increase the political system’s reliance on wealthy donors. Known… [continue reading]

Winter’s long grip on the Midwest and other parts of the U.S. is finally subsiding. But even as the snow melts, regional gaming operators might have to wait for their bottom lines to warm up. Weather issues kept casino patrons… [continue reading]

Word that the U.S. Treasury Department may soon require the casino industry to report the source of gambling funds used by their big spending high-rollers sent a few shock waves through corporate offices. It wasn’t so much a rumble as… [continue reading]

In early 2011, Don Johnson won more than $15 million playing blackjack at Atlantic City. Before he began, he negotiated a number of perks that moved the edge squarely to his side. The most valuable was a 20% rebate on… [continue reading]

The next big thing is coming, Las Vegas. At least, that’s what nightlife guru Jon Taffer said while getting ready for his annual Nightclub & Bar Show to open in late March. During an interview with the Las Vegas Business… [continue reading]

Gambling in England is not like it is in the United States. American gaming is governed by individual states and not by federal regulation, while gambling in England is regulated by the national government. And because of the difference, gambling… [continue reading]

The Salt River-Pima Indian Community has a real estate footprint in this city, 20 minutes east of downtown Phoenix, that makes the 67-acre CityCenter look like a strip mall. The tribe has built a “cultural and entertainment destination.” There is… [continue reading]

While working on the Flash last Tuesday morning, I came upon the opinion piece “Las Vegas made a big, bad bet on casinos” – one of the nastiest anti-Las Vegas (and anti-gaming) commentaries I have read in a very long… [continue reading]

Over the course of my career, I have watched the casino industry fight and lose more than one battle with the federal government. The first battle I remember was over silver dollars; it hardly seems believable today, but at one… [continue reading]

Las Vegas is getting smaller. That is, if you call 1,600-room and 1,100-room Strip hotels “boutique” properties. By the end of the year, Las Vegas will have about a half-dozen hotel-casinos that operators classify as “boutique,” “luxury” or “lifestyle” in… [continue reading]

The 29th Annual Nightclub and Bar Convention and Trade Show poured it on in style at the Las Vegas Convention Center. There was something for every interest and beyond. Jon Taffer, Executive Producer and Star of Spike TV’s popular show… [continue reading]

ou have to hand it to online gaming giant PokerStars. Despite setback after setback, the Europe-based company won’t give up on its quixotic quest to break into the fledgling U.S. Internet gaming market. After failing in Nevada and New Jersey,… [continue reading]

Over the past month I have been reading negative articles about Ohio casinos, specifically about the distribution of casino tax dollars to local school systems. Counting on casino revenue? Local governments told it’s risky Casinos fall short of vows to… [continue reading]

Massachusetts came late to the gambling game. Actually, Massachusetts is not quite there yet; it is still in the process of getting into the game. The fact that Massachusetts is so late entering into casino gaming might lead one to… [continue reading]

There is a target on the back of slot machine manufacturer International Game Technology. Despite first-quarter results that were well received by investors, at least two analysts raised concerns in recent weeks that IGT could be bleeding away slot machine… [continue reading]

Back in 1995, the news crew of 48 Hours followed Brad and me around Las Vegas, filming as we played video poker and reaped comps. On the air, Dan Rather dubbed me the “Queen of Comps”. By then I had… [continue reading]

Million-dollar fines for violating Nevada gaming law used to be rare. But in the past 15 months, state casino regulators have accepted three separate seven-figure payments from gaming companies to settle Gaming Control Board disciplinary complaints. That’s the same number… [continue reading]

Last week I ended my column on senior gaming with “I do admit to being concerned that nearly half the casino visitors in 2012 are over age 50. I’m not concerned for the visitors, but for the casinos and the… [continue reading]

It is never easy to understand a complicated issue and the gaming industry in the 21st century has certainly become complicated and confusing, at least for me.  To help myself understand gaming and other things I put Adams Daily Report… [continue reading]

It’s been eight years since Macau surpassed the Strip in annual gaming revenue. So it makes sense that the region — the only location in China with casinos — is creating more gaming industry billionaires than Las Vegas. The recently… [continue reading]

New visitors to the El Cortez some years ago would have been forgiven for failing to spot the owner of the downtown casino. He wasn’t a fresh-faced CEO or a consummate corporate type with an MBA. On the contrary. He… [continue reading]

A New York-based hedge fund acquired a 5 percent ownership stake in Boyd Gaming Corp. last week and immediately fueled rampant speculation in the investment community. Scenarios ranged from a corporate takeover to moving the company’s casinos into a real… [continue reading]

Earlier this week the Concord Monitor ran a column by Paul Davis, an anti-gaming advocate at the Institute for American Values, entitled “My turn: Casinos prey on elderly residents”. The column discussed an elderly New Hampshire widow who moved to… [continue reading]

Holders of music, film and television copyrights are on the verge of becoming victims of US prohibitions on online play. After a decade-long trade dispute over remote online gaming, the small Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda is now planning… [continue reading]

Since their public opening at the MGM Grand Resort and Casino early last January I had been reading and hearing a variety of reviews about Jeff Beacher’s Madhouse so I finally decided to purchase my general admission ticket online and… [continue reading]

Nothing is simple when it comes to Caesars Entertainment Corp. Take last week’s announcement that the company is selling four casinos to its Caesars Growth Partners subsidiary for $2.2 billion. Some analysts worried the deal would diminish the parent company’s… [continue reading]

Indian gaming is twenty-six years old and for all of that time, its existence has been contentious. That is not surprising as the entire history of Indian tribes with the federal and state governments has been contentious. Popular myth tells… [continue reading]

In 1994, one evening and late into the night during the annual gaming show, I was walking the floor of the MGM Grand.  I was tired and wanted to go to bed, but could not resist exploring just one more… [continue reading]

MGM Resorts International is showing investors what a 51 percent ownership stake in its publicly traded Chinese subsidiary means financially to the casino operator’s business back home. At least $320 million this month alone. The figure is MGM Resorts’ share… [continue reading]

Florida is back in play, but no one really seems to care. Last month, legislation was unveiled that could bring Las Vegas-style casinos to South Florida — one each for Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Local voters in both communities would… [continue reading]

On February 25th, voters in Revere approved Mohegan Sun’s plan to build a $1.3 billion resort at Suffolk Downs.  Voter approval is one of the most important steps in the Massachusetts casino license process and this vote is particularly important. … [continue reading]

(Bloomberg) — The first thing to point out about the meltdown of the Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange is that this is hardly the first time that massive amounts of currency have been stolen, or that a financial firm has shut… [continue reading]

The run-up to the Kentucky Derby 2014, which is on the 4th of May this year, began on Saturday the 2nd of February with the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans and the Fountain of Youth Stakes… [continue reading]

The nation faces a dangerously seductive form of gambling, as cross-border, high tech telecommunications networks threaten to siphon money out of homes across the country. The problem is getting worse, and the states, with the constitutional mandate to regulate gambling… [continue reading]

Lost in the heated rhetoric over the expansion of Internet gaming is a harsh reality. Legal online wagering has not been the financial windfall many analysts predicted. Initial returns from the three states that enacted Internet gambling laws are not… [continue reading]

In his recent commentary Is the Internet Ready for Casino Gambling?, my colleague Ken Adams discussed the recent history of Internet Gaming. He also discussed recent incidents of Internet hacking, primarily to the Las Vegas Sands website but also to… [continue reading]

The internet gambling story gets more interesting by the day.  For the last few years, internet gambling has been mostly a side story.  It was important, but not a dynamic story; not much happened from day to day or even… [continue reading]

As I write this column the Las Vegas Sands website has been down for six days. Over those days a plethora of ideas has gone through my head – plus some decisions about emergency planning for my very small business…. [continue reading]

If there’s one thing we learned from last week’s telephone press conference by the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling it’s that all five speakers “were honored” to be on the 45-minute call. They said so, several times. That, and Internet… [continue reading]

It has been a really cold winter this year and the weather is affecting gaming revenues all over the country.  Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, New York and Indiana all reported lower year-over-year gaming revenues in January and each blamed the cold… [continue reading]

Patricia Becker holds the distinction of being the first woman to serve on the Nevada Gaming Control Board. She’s actually the only woman to ever hold a seat on the regulatory panel. Twenty years have passed since then-Gov. Richard Bryan… [continue reading]

The gaming debate is back on in Florida; it debate took a two year hiatus.  It is about time it came back, we need something exciting to follow.  For far too long, Massachusetts has dominated the expansion narrative in the… [continue reading]

Monday was the busiest day in the history of the CDC Gaming Reports website. Fueled by interest in the Super Bowl over 1,400 people visited the site – with over 2,300 page views. However it was two other stories that… [continue reading]

MACAU (AP) – In a scene from the James Bond movie “Skyfall,” the British superspy arrives in Macau aboard a small raft that glides under an arched bridge, past hundreds of floating paper lanterns and through an illuminated dragon head… [continue reading]

Did you seriously think Las Vegas was going to lose the National Finals Rodeo to Orlando, Fla., or Dallas? After six weeks of back-and-forth rhetoric, a new 10-year agreement was announced Jan. 24 to keep the NFR in Las Vegas… [continue reading]

The European Casino Association (ECA) represents the interests of approximately 800 companies operating in 23 EU countries, with more than 55,000 employees. In November 2013, ECA issued its first comprehensive report on the casino industry in Europe, using information provided… [continue reading]

In the 21st century, poker has become big business.  It is played online, in casinos and in free standing poker rooms.  Poker has been played in this country for a very long time. Poker has had a checkered past; it… [continue reading]

Impact is one of my favorite typefaces – because it delivers on its promise – it has an instant impact on the reader.  But Impact is fast becoming much more than a typeface for me.  Impact is becoming the dominant… [continue reading]

New casino development in Las Vegas is on lockdown. Gaming expansion into states beyond recently approved markets is virtually nonexistent. Those are two reasons regional casino giant and M Resort owner Penn National Gaming struck a deal with a San… [continue reading]

In recent months CDC Gaming Reports has run several news stories and one commentary expressing the fear that a casino expansion could hurt a region’s performing arts. Since I have a personal and professional interest in both gaming and the… [continue reading]

It’s game on, Japan. Word leaked out this past week that two Nevada casino companies have made inroads with Japanese officials to build a nearly $5 billion hotel-casino in Osaka. Now other gaming operators have their corporate jets pointed toward… [continue reading]

There are undoubtedly cities in New York that can benefit from a casino.  Saratoga Springs, however, is not one of them. In 2013, the State of New York decided that a quick way to fill its fiscal coffers was to… [continue reading]

It is budget time in New York and gaming is in the budget.  Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal anticipates casinos opening by January of 2015.  There is no time to waste, the state needs the tax money those casinos will… [continue reading]

I am 59 years old today – and could not be more thrilled. And in six months I expect to be telling folks that I am “going on 60” because I like the sound of that. I have never been… [continue reading]

There is a reason officials from CG Technology (formerly Cantor Gaming) said they were “glad to have reached a resolution” with Nevada gaming regulators and will pay the largest fine ever leveled against a casino or affiliated company. The Las… [continue reading]

It is being reported that HBO has decided to stop producing Boardwalk Empire after its fifth season.  The HBO series was based the book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson.  It is… [continue reading]

The collegiality developed within the gaming industry as casino companies weathered the economic downturn has evaporated. Opposing opinions are healthy to any debate, especially when the topics include casino expansion into new markets and the potential state-by-state rollout of Internet… [continue reading]

How cold was it? It was cold enough for two casinos to close; that is the good news.  The bad news is worse; casino revenues in December dropped faster than the temperatures in January.  As everyone in the world knows,… [continue reading]

In a recent research note, J.P. Morgan gaming analyst Joe Greff said MGM Resorts International offers “fresh ideas” for stock investors exploring their options in the new year. And that was before the casino company cleared several giant hurdles in… [continue reading]

Sheldon Adelson is not the most popular person in the industry.  He is said to be a very harsh manager, a very demanding negotiator and very critical of his competitors – but with his very high profile he is difficult… [continue reading]

Both personally and professionally, I am happy to look back on 2013 as a very good year, and look forward to a better one in 2014. This year CDC Gaming Reports increased our website traffic by 325%, continued our collaboration… [continue reading]

Last week, in a widely anticipated decision, Maryland authorities awarded MGM Resorts the state’s sixth and final casino license. MGM will use that to build a massive Vegas-style facility at National Harbor, just south of Washington, DC. While the decision… [continue reading]

In the last twenty-five years, many states have discovered that when properly managed legalized gambling can be a golden egg laying goose.  The states have had many options from which to choose: lotteries, casinos, slot machines, poker, sports betting, bingo,… [continue reading]

Rather than having only International Game Technology executives tout the company’s products to the investment community, the company put its customers on the hot seat. The move could have backfired. But it didn’t. Several analysts attending IGT’s annual Investor Day… [continue reading]

If you haven’t heard some version of this as a joke, you probably will:  “How sad, I will not get a billion dollars for Christmas this year or even half a billion.  I had my hopes; I owned 50 percent… [continue reading]

One of the ways we measure the health of the casino industry and track its trends is with the monthly casino/gaming revenue; each state with casinos releases the monthly revenue numbers separately and in different formats.  The state reports paint… [continue reading]

I ‘ve always received straight A’s in history, but for some reason could barely pass Geography – it has never been my topic. In last Thursday’s Flash when writing about their $28 Million expansion I accidentally moved the Oneida Casino… [continue reading]

Anyone trying decipher subliminal messages from the early November policy address by Macau’s top government official would have an easier time determining whether the Beatles were secretly telling us Paul was dead through the “Abbey Road” album cover. Both ideas… [continue reading]

In September 2013, the City Council of Venice agreed to privatize the operation of the city’s two gaming sites. The company which will run the world’s oldest casino is to selected by the end of this year, by a public… [continue reading]

It is no secret; the cat is out of the bag. Online casino gaming has officially arrived.  New Jersey’s entry into online gaming kicked off a new era for the gaming industry.  Granted, Nevada and Delaware both began online gaming… [continue reading]

It has been two years since the enabling casino gaming legislation passed in Massachusetts and nothing has happened.  That is not exactly accurate as lots has happened, but no casinos have been built. In fact none have been licensed.  The… [continue reading]

I was eight years old, in the third grade – and about to begin a rare Friday afternoon off from school, because there was teacher conferences at Adrian Elementary that day. I was playing with a friend on the third… [continue reading]

Horse racing is probably a bad analogy for an election, but it paints the right picture for the moment.  According to the British bookie, William Hill, the 2016 campaign for president of the United States has officially begun with the… [continue reading]

If Jeffrey Compton would ever be accused of promoting gambling it won’t be over blackjack, horse racing, sports betting or even video poker; my weakness and joy is election wagering. Today’s is an off-year election with only two governorships up,… [continue reading]

The casino gaming news these days is filled with stories of expansion. Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York and Pennsylvania all have expansion on their radar screens. New Hampshire is working on new regulations as a prelude to expansion… [continue reading]

Has there ever been a gaming company that suffered through a worse 72-hour period than Caesars Entertainment Corp.? On a Friday evening, Caesars was punted from a proposed $1 billion project in Boston. Then the company was forced to dump… [continue reading]

Caesars has some serious issues, but the reason it withdrew from Massachusetts should not be one of them. Caesars has been in the news a lot lately and most of it has been negative. The latest flurry of Caesars news… [continue reading]

Although the signage changes with increasing regularity, names are important things in the casino business. So it came as a relief to learn that Caesars Entertainment Corp., as the Review-Journal reported Monday, had decided to dump the Gansevoort Hotel Group… [continue reading]

At first glance, the homepage of FanDuel looks like an online sports casino. But the company, which paid out $50 million in winnings in 2012, is not a traditional online sports bookie. Rather, FanDuel is a fantasy sports website, offering… [continue reading]

Nevada is a very small state with an estimated 2.7 million inhabitants in 2012.  Seventeen states have fewer people, but only eight have more land.  That sums up Nevada, few people, but lots of land – desert land.  In a… [continue reading]

In his far-too-short tenure as CDC Gaming Reports Flash Editor, the late Jeff Simpson repeatedly told me “Check out which news stories our subscribers click and read. It will improve the products, plus you will learn a lot about the… [continue reading]

One fact stood out at G2E 2013; slot machines are getting bigger.  In fact, compared to the little boxes of the 1950s slots that provided the basic DNA for today’s games, they are gigantic monsters.  And like the dinosaurs, the… [continue reading]

In the era in which we live, the media panders to the basest elements of human nature.  It chooses subjects that titillate us, rather than subjects which might inform us.  Every day on internet news sites, in the print media… [continue reading]

Gaming Industry Colleagues— As you’ve no doubt heard, Congress failed to reach an agreement on funding for the federal government and all non-essential functions entered a “shutdown” as of midnight this morning. No one in Washington has a good sense… [continue reading]

G2E 2013 was huge; nearly 30,000 people attended. In attendance and in expo space being used, G2E 2013 approached pre-recession levels.  The attendees did what people have been doing at G2E and its predecessors for years; G2E is an annual… [continue reading]

As she made her way through the Sands Expo Center, the most dangerous woman in Las Vegas easily passed for one of the thousands of attendees at last week’s behemoth Global Gaming Expo convention. In a town where showgirls and… [continue reading]

G2E is getting ready to open its doors on its 2013 edition, the gaming/casino industry’s annual trade show.  For three days, twenty thousand or so people from around the world will gather in Las Vegas to listen to discussions on… [continue reading]

In the gaming industry, regulation does more than control the gaming activities; regulation also limits and defines legal gaming and the nature of a casino. Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos are byproducts of each state’s gaming regulations.  The size… [continue reading]

On September 10, the Las Vegas Review-Journal had a touching story about Bob Vannucci. According to Richard Lake, Vannucci is in hospice care and does not have long to live. His last wish was a romantic dinner with his wife…. [continue reading]

Dennis Gomes led a romantic life. He died in 2012 in the midst of an attempt to turn around the struggling Resorts Casino in Atlantic City.  It was the last act of a 40-year career of swimming upstream against common… [continue reading]

Wherever he goes and whatever he does, Steven Wynn attracts attention.  Of course, the main reason people are interested in the comings and goings of Wynn are his casinos.  Any time a new Wynn casino opens it is international news. … [continue reading]

Wisconsin was one of the first states to agree to Indian tribes casinos.  That the casinos were to be on traditional tribal land was an underlying assumption.  By June of 1992, Governor Tommy Thompson had finalized the last of the… [continue reading]

On Thursday, August 22nd, 50 people were injured when a bus bound for San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino in Highland, California overturned.  These days it takes a bus accident before the topic of “casino buses” interests anyone beside the… [continue reading]

Numbers alone and by themselves are meaningless if they no context, comparison or accompanying narrative.  We need something more than the numbers themselves to give them meaning.   So, for example, to say that the casinos in Mississippi generated $192 million in… [continue reading]

Understanding another culture is nearly impossible, but it is far more difficult when you are thousands of miles away with nothing but a few scattered newspaper articles for information.  Even when the culture is your mother culture, it is a… [continue reading]

The casinos in Ohio are in giving free play a serious test run.  In July, some of the casinos gave away as much as 30 percent of casino “win” in free play.  That is a foretaste of some of bloody… [continue reading]

From the opening bell on May 26, 1978, the casinos in Atlantic City were successful.  In its first year, Resorts generated $134 million in gaming revenue and by 1981 there were 9 casinos in the boardwalk city generating over a… [continue reading]

The July gaming numbers are in for Ohio.  The casinos which were open in July of 2012 were down in July 2013.  The Horseshoe in Cleveland was down 17 percent – about the same as the casinos in Indiana have… [continue reading]

Horse racing has been a challenged industry (some call it a sport) since casinos started to spread out of Nevada and across the country.  In any state with racing as soon as casinos start to open in that state or… [continue reading]

The casino industry is dynamic. Nothing remains the same for long and those who fail to note that fact get left in the dust.  The famous trendsetters like Steve Wynn are always reinventing the casino experience and broadening both our… [continue reading]

It is often argued that Wall Street is the cause of many of the worst of modern business practices. It is the world of Wall Street that puts a constant pressure on all publicly traded companies to increase earnings and… [continue reading]

One of the side effects of the rapid expansion of gaming is a rapid expansion of gaming reporters.  Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Maryland have all spawned homegrown reporters with new assignments covering the gaming industry; and Macau has by itself… [continue reading]

There is a phenomenon taking place in Macau that reminds me of the 1980’s in Nevada casinos.  In Macau, the number of players is decreasing or remaining the same, but the average wager per player is increasing.  The wager is… [continue reading]

A congressional committee, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, is holding hearings on the impacts of economic practices on national security; and last week that mean money laundering in Macau.  Some of the committee members are thinking, as Bob… [continue reading]

Today, Radio Iowa had an article that makes a perfect follow-up to my blog; The Law of Unintended Consequences and VLTs in Illinois.  The article is about casinos in Iowa not Illinois.  However, it mentions the VLTs in Illinois.  According… [continue reading]

Expansion in mid-2013 is still the major story in the casino industry.  Expansion into new states or within a state has often been driven by lawmakers looking for new sources of revenue to balance budgets.  But, there have been other… [continue reading]

Since 1978, it has been impossible to avoid comparing the cities and the casinos of Las Vegas and Atlantic City.   In the beginning they were the only American jurisdictions with casinos; but even as Iowa, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois,… [continue reading]

Over the course of everyone’s career a few people always standout; people who for one reason or another made a big difference.  One of those people for me was Wayne Gilliland.  In the 1980s Wayne was in the midst of… [continue reading]

Indian gaming under the regulation of the National Indian Gaming Regulatory Act has been around for 25 years.  Most of the newness and strangeness has worn off, and in most communities with Indian casinos, Indian gaming is pretty well-understood.  However,… [continue reading]

The lotteries may be able to change the rules, but casinos can’t; when casinos become overwhelmed by the economy, competition and taxes they are left with few options. One of those options is going to the capitol to ask for… [continue reading]

Massachusetts is in a long, slow and tedious process of introducing casinos.  With the regulations in place, the selection process has begun; at stake are three casino licenses and one license for a slot parlor.  The state has been divided… [continue reading]

One news phenomenon always confuses me; there is no news on holidays. Why is that?  Of course, there events that are undeniable and unavoidable, such as earthquakes, bombs and deaths of well-known people – those get reported by the media. … [continue reading]

The second largest lottery jackpot in the history of the world hit on Saturday, May 18, 2013; it was $590.5 million.  The run-up to the record levels of mega jackpots has been much faster since the Powerball officials figured out… [continue reading]

Just why is gaming revenue in Macau growing so fast?  Why has it stagnated in the United States, at least in all existing jurisdictions?  Of course, we all know that Macau has mainland China has its primary market – 1.6… [continue reading]

The major challenge in being a casino industry observer is making sense of the news.  It is part of the job, as it were, to take the  information available daily, sort out the significant from the routine news and to… [continue reading]

Just when it seemed that the Atlantic City casino industry was being reengineered from the bottom up Carl Icahn has called a time out.  Buying casinos in Atlantic City at bargain basement prices has been a trend lately; for 20,… [continue reading]

Lately, I have been thinking about some numbers in gaming; and casino gambling is all about numbers, the dollars wagered, won and lost and probability of each expressed numerically.  Every casino game is designed to pay less than true odds. … [continue reading]

A while back I wrote a piece about the growth of gaming in the United States, in particular about the growth of other forms of gaming.  I cited Florida and California as examples – California with its 38 million people… [continue reading]

After six years, everyone gets it – Wall Street, investors, state officials, regulators, casino operators, casino employees – everyone considered: Atlantic City is in trouble.  The demise of Atlantic City was a topic of discussion at the eight annual Pennsylvania… [continue reading]

Recently, while the Texas legislature was in a discussion about allowing casinos in Texas,  a bus crashed into the midst of the debate.  The bus did not crash into the legislature itself, but its impact is likely to be felt… [continue reading]

Maybe this Time Maybe this time, I’ll be lucky Maybe this time, he’ll stay Maybe this time For the first time Love won’t hurry away It’s got to happen, happen sometime Maybe this time I’ll win Cabaret, John Kander, Fred… [continue reading]

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose,By any other name would smell as sweet.” William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 1597 As Willy so famously said, it is the thing that matters, not what we call it.  But… [continue reading]

Sports and gambling go together like bread and butter – or something.  It is hard to imagine any major sporting event without gambling; it is hard to imagine because it does not happen.  The sport leagues in the United States… [continue reading]

According to Hilaire Belloc, there is a lag between reality and public perception of reality.  Writing in 1929 about French Cardinal Richelieu and his impact on Europe, Belloc describes the lag in terms of the Spanish Empire.  In 1620 the… [continue reading]

It seems that cloning has become passé; we have moved passed cloning to a new era of species reproduction – reproductive physiology – using DNA to create a copy of the original organism.  Scientists are now saying, that even some… [continue reading]