(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 down and left its depositors with basically nothing. This is not somehow unique to Bitcoin, or a fatal flaw in its design. The second thing to point out about the meltdown of the … [Read more...]

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 at Gulfstream Park in Florida. Kentucky Derby is still a big event attracting large crowds every year, which has no problems selling out tickets for the big day. However, in recent years horse … [Read more...]

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 within their borders, are indifferent or worse. The only solution is for Congress to act now. It took years, but Congress … [Read more...]

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 overflowing the balance sheet. New Jersey’s online revenue is a letdown. Delaware’s figures are inconsequential. Nevada won’t break out … [Read more...]

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 several companies in other industries. He concluded that “the casino industry might be ready for the internet, but the internet is not yet ready for … [Read more...]

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 month to month.  The story started to gain momentum in December of 2011 when the Department of Justice issued an opinion on the Wire Act that opened the door for individual states … [Read more...]

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. Who did this and why? I know little about website hacking, so I started my questioning with my own technical director (Cory Roberts) and web designer (Jill Merk), and went from … [Read more...]

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 gambling is responsible for every ill known to mankind. The paid representatives for the Washington, D.C.-based coalition — funded by Las Vegas Sands … [Read more...]

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 weather for the decline.  But no one mentioned the weather when reporting Atlantic City’s gaming revenues for January.  The Atlantic City story for … [Read more...]

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 elevated Becker from chief deputy attorney general in charge of the gaming division to one of three Control Board members who oversee the full-time state … [Read more...]

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 media.  Even New York could not dislodge Massachusetts.  Probably New York could not unseat Massachusetts because there was simply no drama in New York.  There was no name … [Read more...]

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 caught my eye: Wynn joins Adelson crusade against web gaming (in respected political reporter Jon Ralston’s blog) and from the equally respected Wayne Parry (Associated Press) NJ … [Read more...]

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 to reach a casino. When I made the trip to the tiny Chinese gambling mecca at the height of the Lunar New Year holiday on Monday, it was decidedly less … [Read more...]

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 — its home for 29 years — through 2024. Cowboys and stock contractors will get about $6 million more a year in prize and sponsorship money. The hotel-casino industry … [Read more...]

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 by its members and the National Casino Forum, UK. European casinos have struggled in recent years, with causes … [Read more...]

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 has been legalized and banned, it has been commercially successful and it has been a backroom, private game only.  In the 1970s, poker was a mainstay in Nevada casinos, but with the … [Read more...]

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 theme in the national gaming narrative.  Like the typeface, the impact theme demands attention; however, it is not one of my favorite themes.  Take Ohio for example. Even as new casinos … [Read more...]

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 Diego-area Indian tribe to develop a long-stalled casino complex in Southern California. A third reason is simple. Penn National, which has … [Read more...]

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 arts (five years ago I wrote a guidebook on American performing and visual arts, and built a related website), I can’t ignore expressions of that fear. To put … [Read more...]

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 the east Asia island nation. The only thing missing is legislation authorizing casinos. Analysts and gaming leaders consider it a foregone … [Read more...]

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 get a number of casinos to open, as soon as possible, in the upstate area.  With the gambling industry outspending opponents by millions of dollars, a statewide vote authorized the … [Read more...]

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 generate as soon as possible.  Cuomo is not planning on any long delays, stumbles or bloody battles at the ballot box or in the competitive trenches that has marked the … [Read more...]

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 concerned about how old I am – plus there can be a wonderful feeling of contentment that comes at this age (Maurice Chevalier expressed it best over 50 years ago.) Thanks to the advances in technology (including … [Read more...]

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 Vegas-based bookmaker — a subsidiary of Wall Street financial giant Cantor Fitzgerald LP — faced a potential death sentence by the state Gaming Control … [Read more...]

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 a story of politics, crime and corruption during Prohibition in Atlantic City.  Five seasons is not bad, not great, but not bad.  Although the lifecycles of … [Read more...]

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 gaming. But simmering feuds and positions perceived as harmful to gaming can be detrimental to an … [Read more...]

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, the entire eastern part of the country was wrapped in a polar vortex.  Temperatures dropped below zero and with the wind chill factor, temperatures were as low as 20, 30 or even 40 … [Read more...]

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 December for building two potentially lucrative gaming complexes in the Northeast. With almost $3 billion in developments looming in Macau and … [Read more...]

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 to ignore.  Early in 2013, Adelson shocked many observers in the gaming industry when he announced his intention to build a $30 billion project in Spain, and then he shocked them … [Read more...]

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 with the Associated Press and the Las Vegas Review Journal, and have just added Bloomberg News. We expanded our commentary section (including Good Gaming Humor), … [Read more...]

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 was celebrated by MGM, which expects the prized new resort casino to be among its most profitable, it was yet another significant defeat for … [Read more...]

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, horse racing and most recently, online gaming; any of those options can be tapped to bring revenue into the state’s coffers.  But the … [Read more...]

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 presentation in New York City earlier this month said the customer panel — which included a Canadian gaming official, three … [Read more...]

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 of 20 Mega Millions lottery tickets for the drawing on Tuesday, December 17th.  But alas, the Mega Millions jackpot hit – there were two winning tickets – neither of which was mine.”  None of us … [Read more...]

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 a picture of the state of the industry for the previous month in that state.  The monthly gaming figures are released in Atlantic City on the tenth of … [Read more...]

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 (on paper) from Wisconsin to New York. There is no excuse for it, I have visited the property (located in Green Bay) quite a few times and should remember where the … [Read more...]

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 are urban myths. Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui wasn’t sending hidden signals when he delivered his 2014 annual speech to the … [Read more...]

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 bidding process. The buildings themselves will remain owned by the City. The Venice Casino has been in a long-term decline. The number of visitors has reached an all-time low, and … [Read more...]

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 before New Jersey, but neither have enough people or a wide enough range of betting options to really test the new frontier.  New Jersey is better suited for that task.  … [Read more...]

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 enabling legislation requires community approval, a two-step process, before a casino can be built.  A casino company wishing to bid for a license must first … [Read more...]

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 floor of our home in South Euclid Ohio when my mother came up the stairs screaming “The President has been assassinated.” “What does assassinated mean?” I asked. “He was killed, he’s … [Read more...]

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 first major wager being placed on the election.  The odds that Hillary Clinton will be elected currently stand at 5-2. Hill moved the odds on Ms. Clinton from 2-1 to … [Read more...]

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, no senate seats, maybe the odd house seat but a host of interesting local issues – including four important casino related expansion measures on the … [Read more...]

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 and Florida is studying the issue. Massachusetts, Maryland and Pennsylvania are in the process of granting casino licenses. Maryland only has … [Read more...]

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 its licensing partner in a $185 million Strip casino renovation. Hours later, Caesars had to report in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission … [Read more...]

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 was initially generated by Caesars’ decision to drop out of the Suffolk Downs’ bid for a casino in the Boston area. Both Suffolk Downs and Caesars agree on the details. The … [Read more...]

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 from its planned redevelopment of the casino once known as the Barbary Coast. A name that communicates a hip and classy image on Park … [Read more...]

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 a popular and controversial new genre of wagering contests known as “daily games,” in which players select fantasy “teams” consisting of real-life players and … [Read more...]

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 barren land, you when meet another traveler, it is important to stop and talk for awhile; it may be a long time before you see another living human being.  There are two urban … [Read more...]

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 industry.”  He was right on both counts. Through the wonders of web technology, I am able to see which of the two-dozen stories we feature each day (in the Flash or … [Read more...]

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 long-gone animal monsters that once dominated the planet, today’s gigantic slot machines need a great deal of territory and sustenance to survive.  Seemingly, every year … [Read more...]

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 and on television, we are bombarded by the trite and the sensational – in depth or to use the Latin phrase – ad nauseam – until we are nauseated.  The media follows ordinary … [Read more...]

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 as to how long this shutdown will continue (despite the countless pundits who dominate your television). The American Gaming Association is … [Read more...]

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 industry tradition, it has its rhythms that everyone acknowledges and follows.  In the mornings they listen to discussions on the industry, in the afternoons … [Read more...]

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 Celine turn heads, straight-talking Jennifer Shasky Calvery in her business attire blended into the crowd. It’s what Shasky Calvery, the director of the Department of … [Read more...]

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 the industry and to view the products that constitute the “games” of the gaming.  On the top of everyone’s list of new products will be the slot machines – hundreds of new … [Read more...]

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 and scope of the Las Vegas Strip would not have been possible with New Jersey regulations; Atlantic City could never have developed an east coast … [Read more...]

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. Bob and his wife, Nancy, met and married in 1967 when both worked at the Dunes. Bob’s career in gaming spanned the same 46 years as his marriage. Both the marriage and the … [Read more...]

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 practices and wisdom. In the first act, Agent Gomes was a Nevada gaming regulator who moved in a dangerous zone between the world of mobsters and casino bosses. He was instrumental in … [Read more...]

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.  It is news because a Wynn casino means features and concepts that are unique to the industry; a new Wynn casino is a game changer.  Besides the realities of Wynn’s … [Read more...]

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 11 tribal-state compacts and Indian gaming in Wisconsin was off and running.  In the early years of Indian gaming there was still considerable confusion about what … [Read more...]

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 bus operators, the bus riders and the casinos footing the bills.  Busing has become something very different from what it started out to be. Long, long ago in … [Read more...]

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 July does not give one much insight into the casino industry in Mississippi.  To give any set of financial numbers context we normally … [Read more...]

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 challenge; Great Britain, the United Kingdom – dear ole England – gave the United States a great deal; it handed us our language, the foundations of our … [Read more...]

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 marketing battles yet to come  The battles will be fought not just in Ohio, but all around the region.  Those marketing wars are just beginning; over the next few years the competition between casinos in … [Read more...]

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 billion dollars a year in annual gaming revenue; in 2006 AC gaming revenues reached $5.2 billion; however, 2006 was the peak and the last year of the growth.  Since then … [Read more...]

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 been down since the first casinos opened in Ohio.  The Horseshoe Cleveland Casino grossed nearly $19.9 million last month…down 17 percent when measured against July of last year… ThistleDown, … [Read more...]

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 in a neighboring state, racing revenues take a dive.  Looked at as simply a betting or gambling proposition, the decline is not difficult to understand; racing is boring compared to other … [Read more...]

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 concept of what constitutes a casino and their own.  At the moment, Wynn is off in Macau building a flower palace for $4billion dollars, but back at home in Las … [Read more...]

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 profits every quarter; that pressure creates a culture of short-term, impatient for profit management.  The term Wall Street itself is a convenient label for an intellectual … [Read more...]

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 has led to the minting of dozens of new reporters from all over the world eager to cover gaming.  Even the major news services, Reuters, … [Read more...]

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 going up because the VIP operators are raising the minimum wager. How else to increase the profits?  Without increasing the number of players the only way to increase the … [Read more...]

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 Dylan once famously sang: “two men died neath the Mississippi moon, somebody better vestigate soon.” The committee is not so … [Read more...]

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 to Radio Iowa the VLTs are impacting the casinos in Iowa that are close to the border with Illinois.  It is just that simple; people have a limited portion of … [Read more...]

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 reasons for expansion; in true democratic style, gaming sometimes expands by the will of the people and in a less democratic style by the will of the governor.  Ohio, … [Read more...]

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, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Louisiana joined the ranks of states with casinos, Las Vegas and Atlantic City were still the crème of casino crop – the gold … [Read more...]

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 a second career as a gaming agent; Wayne had retired from the California Highway Patrol and had come to Reno to work for the Nevada Gaming Control Board.  He stayed with gaming for 15 … [Read more...]

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, there are still a couple of myths that persist about Indians, Indian casinos and the law; the most common of which deals with Indian wealth.  … [Read more...]

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 tax relief, as the casinos in Indiana did recently; the casinos in Indiana, as everyone knows by now, have been serious wounded by the opening of casinos in Ohio. The Indiana … [Read more...]

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 into three zones, each will get a casino.  Before the gaming commission awards the licenses, the prospective casino licensees have to convince the leaders of … [Read more...]

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.  But for the most part, especially locally, there is no news at all. The regular reporters must always be off on those days; in their absence, as if by magic … [Read more...]

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 a way to increase the size of the jackpot by raising the price of the tickets.  Powerball is not alone in the giant jackpot lottery world.  There are two national lottery … [Read more...]

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 billion people. While each jurisdiction in the United States has a much smaller and more limited regional population base – people living within a hundred miles.  But is that … [Read more...]

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 discover the trends.  It is tricky to pick out the significant events and to find the trends that will impact the industry’s future.  The process is basically the same whether one is … [Read more...]

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, 30 or 40 million dollars anyone can now own a casino on the Boardwalk.  At those prices, one just might make a profit, or so the buyers appear to have been thinking.  After … [Read more...]

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.  The difference between what the casino pays on each wager and the true odds creates the house advantage and that results in the truism: the house always … [Read more...]

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 generates about $10 billion in gaming revenue without the need of a single tourist; the revenue comes from Indian casinos, the state lottery, racing and poker rooms.  In the piece, … [Read more...]

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 Gaming Congress in Philadelphia.  And there is no more perfect place to discuss the downfall of Atlantic City than in the epicenter of … [Read more...]

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 in the debate.  There is one very common argument for expanding gaming - it is used in nearly every state entering into casino gambling for the first time – “We need casinos to … [Read more...]

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 Ebb 1972 When Liza sings the song in Cabaret, it is very poignant.  Sally Bowles is a young woman who has had many lovers in her life, but never love.  Each time, each new … [Read more...]

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 when it comes to thing itself there is often some room for debate, especially when we describe the thing with numbers.  Our world is one bound and valued by economic activity and for … [Read more...]

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 may deny the relationship, but they profit from it.  Gambling fires the enthusiasm that feeds all professional sports in the world.  In Europe rather than deny it, they … [Read more...]

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 Spanish Empire was on the wane and the French Empire was beginning to rise.  But at the time, everyone including the French and Spanish still thought of Spain as … [Read more...]

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 extinct species can be recreated using current technology.   The concept has been getting lots of press lately, mostly because it is the cover story for National … [Read more...]

It is difficult to understand the economy; we are given dozens of measurements to help us – the Down Jones average, unemployment rate, job grow, housing sales, cars sales and customer confidence.   They are all important numbers, but they don’t help much, at least they don’t help me much. The easiest way for me to measure the health of the economy is by checking my bank balance, reviewing my … [Read more...]

The last five years have been brutal economically; housing tanked, unemployment soared and business in general stopped or at least stalled.  Little by little we are creeping out of that dark time and entering once again into an era of hope and optimism.  Unemployment is falling, housing is recovering and many industries have started to show significant growth.  However, for the most part, the … [Read more...]

Atlantic City is grabbing headlines again, but this time it is not the casino revenue doing the grabbing.  After years of decline, Atlantic City casino revenues casinos no longer garner much attention outside of New Jersey.  In fact, there are several locations in Pennsylvania that had a much worse February than Atlantic City.  And the formerly largest and most profitable casinos in the country, … [Read more...]

Since Nevada and New Jersey had their race to be the first to the Internet, there has been lots of activity on the subject elsewhere.  Pennsylvania, Illinois, California and New York are mulling over the idea; each state sees a unique opportunity to take advantage of the moment and of course raise some much needed tax revenues.  However, most of the legislators are quite vague on the details and … [Read more...]

One cannot put too much emphasis on comparisons between February 2012 and February 2013 – this year was not a leap year; in fact it is beginning to look more like a stumble year.   As the gaming results roll in for the month of February, one thing is clear – it is a dog eat dog world out there for the casino industry.  Not that there have been any surprises thus far; every state with significant … [Read more...]

For certain, the biggest news story of the week in gaming was the announcement that Genting is buying the Echelon parcel in Las Vegas from Boyd Gaming.   Genting paid $4 million an acre for the site on the famous Strip; Genting is promising it will turn the property into a magnet for the newly outwardly mobile and affluent Asian travelers.  It was great news for Nevada and Las Vegas; there will be … [Read more...]

In 1958, the Stardust Hotel Casino opened in Las Vegas on the Strip.  It closed 48 years later to make way for a grand new casino resort; Boyd Corporation imploded the building intending to build a $4 billion dollar project called Echelon Place.  The Place ran afoul of the economic downturn and construction was halted in 2008; the unfinished building has stood there since, a testament to optimism … [Read more...]

There is a new kid on the block, online on the block; As there has been every month for the last couple of years, the gaming news is filled with stories of gambling’s expansion.  Ohio is closing in on its fourth casinos, Maryland is adding table games, Massachusetts is still in the initial phases, but it still offers a story a day on developments, Pennsylvania just licensed one resort casino and … [Read more...]

Atlantic City has moved back onto gaming’s center stage in February, there was bad news and good news from the Boardwalk.  The bad news first, the city’s casinos reported a 13% decline in gaming revenues in January, the city’s casinos generated barely over $200 million, that was 22% less than casinos in Pennsylvania generated and Revel officially declared bankruptcy.  However, even with the dismal … [Read more...]

Since he died on February 11, 2013, Bill Eadington has been the subject of dozens of columns and obituaries from around the world, including one in the New York Times.  It is rare for a professor from the University of Nevada in Reno to be noticed by the New York Times, let alone a professor who devoted his academic career to the study of gambling.  Bill’s passing was noted by many more … [Read more...]

As the revenue figures continue to come in from across the northeast, the impact of the increased competition is being becoming clearer; its is more damaging than anyone would have believed in 2005.  In January, Atlantic City casinos reported a 13% decline in revenues and Connecticut casinos had a 12% decline. On the opposite side of the coin, Pennsylvania reported a 12 percent increase in table … [Read more...]

Recently, I posed a question: “Have all the good things been taken?”  In that piece I argued that all of the good opportunities for further expansion of gaming are gone. The implication was the American gaming market was nearing a point of saturation – full, no more room for new product.  That is just a step away from a gaming market that is over saturated – meaning too much product; something has … [Read more...]

For the second time in as many years, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey has vetoed an online gambling bill.   On Thursday, February 7th, Christie exercised his right to reject legislation approved by the state legislature and said no to online gambling in the state.  The initial reaction of the supporters of online gambling in Atlantic City was one of dismay, gnashing of teeth and wringing of … [Read more...]

Several times in the last year, I have written about Macau, about the challenges for any non-Chinese company trying to operate there; essentially there are two major unresolved issues in my mind.  Those issues, the uncertainty of Chinese policy making and the relatively small group of people that generate the vast majority of the gaming revenue, make Macau a house of cards, a very fragile … [Read more...]

The gaming commission in Massachusetts is front and center of all of the activity leading up to the actual start of casino gambling in Massachusetts.  It set, as all gaming commissions do, the regulations and conditions for the conducting of gaming in the state; everything that is not specifically defined in the enabling legislation is left up to the commission.  And joyfully Mr. Crosby and his … [Read more...]

The casinos in Macau are the busiest in the world; they dominate the income statements of three of America’s largest casino companies as well as the largest Australian casino company. The casino industry in Macau has grown so fast that it almost defies belief, or it would if Macau did not have 1.6 billion Chinese citizens as potential customers. Still, in my mind, the casino business in Macau is … [Read more...]

Looking for the trends behind the news is a kind of game for me; it is something I do it with everything that I read or see anywhere. It is comparable to reading a mystery story, or playing any game that require analysis of the strategies of all the players – it requires looking for trends and for links between seemingly disparate events.  The king of Denmark’s expedition to Yemen in the 16th … [Read more...]

As I have written before, the torch has been passed to a new generation of casinos. In 2006, the casinos in Atlantic City were second only to the Las Vegas Strip casinos in revenue.  That position now belongs to Pennsylvania – actually it is third, as Vegas has been passed by Macau.  Atlantic City is now in the process of working its way down the list; AC gaming revenues have been in decline for … [Read more...]

At first glance, the competition for a casino license in Massachusetts may not look like a heavy weight fight, but by the time it is over no one will doubt that it was; those left standing will be scared, but lucky and the those lying on the canvas are sure to be bruised and bloody.  Rounds one, two and three in the Massachusetts casino license heavy-weight-fight appear to be over.  In those first … [Read more...]

The news from Atlantic City has not been good this week; the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released the gaming revenue figures for December and for 2012 and the numbers are not pretty.  The casinos in Atlantic City just finished the sixth consecutive year of gaming revenue declines; gaming revenues in 2012 were 41 percent below 2006 and the lowest they have been since the 1990s.  … [Read more...]

 The billboard depicts a caricature of a pig in a suit with a Union Jack on its lapel, holding a vacuum cleaner that is sucking dollar bills out of an elderly woman’s purse. Lottery Post, 1-9-13 Good, bad, ugly and beautiful, it all depends on your point of view, doesn’t it?  Take state lotteries for example, some people see lotteries as a painless way to raise money for worthwhile causes.  To … [Read more...]

What do Vladimir Lenin,  windjammers and volcanoes have in common?  Not much you might say, but in the gaming industry they are exactly the same thing, the same concept dressed in different clothes. Over the course of its modern history, the casino industry has attracted its share of unique characters and bizarre ideas.  In the early days of legal gambling in Nevada, gamblers from around the … [Read more...]

It is the end of a year, 2012; the end of any year always brings out two kind of pundits, those who summarize the preceding year and those who peek into the future.  Both are subject to error, the summarizer is never totally wrong because he has the data before him to compile his top ten list or to construct his narrative of the year or to recap the year’s biggest story.  But he is never … [Read more...]

Hurricane Sandy was probably the most destructive storm to hit the United States, ever; the hurricane was even given a hyper name, Super-Storm Sandy. Sandy was terribly destructive not because of the power of its winds or the amount of rain it brought with it, although both were significant, but rather because it hit the most populous area of the country.  The northeastern states of Connecticut, … [Read more...]

The latest state to walk down the gambling road, Massachusetts is walking slower than the others.  The American Gaming Association studied the subject and concluded that 3 years was the average it took a state to go from passing legislation to opening its first casino.  It may take only 3 years on average, but there are other examples of a long drawn out process.  For example, the second casino … [Read more...]

It is an old story already, but one that is being still reported; there are too many casinos in the Northeast and there are more on the way. The stories usually appear each month when the monthly gaming revenue figures are released; monthly revenues figures are compared to the same month in the previous year and are used as benchmarks for growth and the health of the industry.  The first state to … [Read more...]

And then, like all good things it came to an end; I, for one, am disappointed.  I wanted to see what would happen if the jackpot continued to grow.  It hit on Wednesday, November 28th for about $590 million; a nice round sum.  But that is nothing compared to what might have been in another 3 days or even a week of the kind of sales we have seen in the last seven days.  If no one had won on the … [Read more...]

The modern version of the state lottery started in 1964 with New Hampshire.  It had taken about 75 years for the bad taste of the corrupt lotteries of the second half of the 19th century to leave the national consciousness.  It took a very long time, but the bad taste is gone – today 42 states, the District of Columbia and the U. S. Virgins Islands all have lotteries.  And in November 0f 2012,  … [Read more...]

Well, at last the election is over, regardless of whether your candidate won or lost, or whether your ballot issue passed or failed you, too, must be as glad as I am to have to constant barrage of campaign advertising, name calling and speech making over.  As necessary as the process is to our democratic system there are times when it radically disrupts the business of living.  I am more than … [Read more...]

When is Indian gaming Indian gaming and when it is something else?  Of course, in a technical sense Indian gaming is only Indian gaming when an Indian tribe operates a gaming operation under the guidelines and within the constraints of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), its subsequent regulations and a tribal-state compact that meets those guidelines and has been approved by the National … [Read more...]

Identifying the precise moment of change is not always possible, nor is always possible to identify the person who brought it about.  Today, while waiting at the blood clinic for my appointment I was reading an advertisement for a course on the events that changed the world; according to the advertisement the 36 events that were chosen were absolute turning points in human history and “things were … [Read more...]

Whenever gaming appears on the political landscape it takes on a partisan cast.  In some states, the Democratic Party is pro-gaming and supports gaming legislation, while the Republican Party takes the opposite point of view and opposes the legislation.  In another state, conditions may very well be reversed and the Republicans support the legislation and the Democrats oppose it.  However, until … [Read more...]

By now, it is no secret that Atlantic City casino market is challenged; casinos have grown up in all of its feeder markets and are siphoning off the cream from its cash-flow.  No property is going to be more challenged than Revel.  There are a number of reasons for Revel’s challenged state.  Revel is the newest casino on the Boardwalk and lacks the customer base the other casinos have been able to … [Read more...]

Twenty years or so ago, I. Nelson Rose wrote a piece about the spread of gaming.  At that time, Nelson said that we were in the beginning of the third wave of gambling expansion in the United States.  Each of the first two phases had ended because of change in public attitudes caused by some event or series of events – because of corruption, like that of the Louisiana lottery in the 19th century.  … [Read more...]

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act passed in 1988; in the 24 years since the IGRA passed there have been many changes Indian country.  It would be safe to say that before the Act and the advent of Indian gaming Indian tribes were the poorest segment of the population. Indian tribes had the highest rate of unemployment, lowest per capita income and the highest rates of alcoholism and other health … [Read more...]

Bang!  For a moment today, the earth stood still, frozen like a bad connection on Skype.  In that frozen picture you could, if only for a second, see the future – a new sort of Brave New World.   It is no longer talk; on Tuesday, August 6th, the BBC reported that Facebook has its first actually gambling application.  The application, Bingo Friendzy – cute, isn’t it a parody of the essential … [Read more...]