Two Way Hard Three

Sponsorship and Social Media in Gaming

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:36:11 -0800

My good friend Chuck @ VegasTripping.com published a new piece, talking about how social media and 'sponsored' conversations are impacting the way the casinos get their message out.

I encouraged him to publish this because I think discussing people's expectations is important as all of us publishers set our own standards.

I believe that in these sorts of things, transparency is a good policy.

http://www.vegastripping.com/features/feature.php?feature_id=173&page=1

Oh, and if you want to follow us on Twitter:

@ratevegas
@hunter (not all Las Vegas stuff)

Also, our previous list of people tweeting about Las Vegas, which is only partially up to date at this point: http://www.ratevegas.com/blog/2008/11/tweeting_las_ve.html

Nevada Regulators Expose Some Teeth w/ Nightclub Fine

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:27:17 -0800

There was a news story a few days ago indicating that Nevada regulators had decided to levy a fine against Planet Hollywood for incidents at the Prive nightclub including underage drinking and other offenses.

Today, an article in the Sun that compares the $500,000 fine with other agencies.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jul/15/next-gaming-board-other-enforcers-look-pushovers/

Union Gaming Group Fires Up Engines

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:47:05 -0800

Last week, we had Rich Moriarty from Union Gaming Group on the Vegas Gang show. It was great - Rich is a pro with a lot of experience in finance and gaming.

This week, Union Gaming is launching their daily coverage of gaming company financials, Heard On The Strip.

Now, the product is aimed at larger institutional investors, governments and hotel execs and is priced accordingly but Union Gaming breaking on to the scene is important for all of us that armchair quarterback the industry as well. Given how often these guys are quoted in local and national media when it comes to gaming, I expect lots of interesting insight from them as they grow their new biz.

Thanks again to Rich for coming on the show last week - really enjoyed it.

Harrah's to Build 'Street 'o Shops' Near Flamingo

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:34:41 -0800

Harrah's latest plan is to take the dirty, smelly alley between The Flamingo and O'Shea's and turn it into a 'collection of about 20 restaurants and bars' with a giant ferris wheel type contraption at the end.

The LV Sun has an article and renderings: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jul/12/harrahs-plans-new-street-bars-eateries-near-strip/

Let's try and recall how many different plans and schemes that Harrah's has floated in the past few years. Also, hard to forget the numerous giant-ferris-wheel type projects that people have announced.

Encore and THEhotel, July 5-8

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:49:08 -0800

Here's a play by play of my recent return from an Encore Salon Suite. Enjoy!

Vegas Gang #34 - July 9th, 2009

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:39:41 -0800

Episode #34 of the Vegas Gang is up: http://www.vegasgangpodcast.com

Rich Moriarty from Union Gaming is our guest.

We discuss:

* Harrah's and Station LBOs
* May 2009 Gaming Figures
* Las Vegas Sands Re-Starting in Macau
* City Center: Crystals Retail Information

and more...

Update: I mis-spoke during the show, indicating that Station filed Ch. 11. That's not the case, though they are still in negotiations with their lenders. I apologize for the mistake.

Feel free to leave your comments below. If it's a question that you want asked on the show, please make that clear in your post. You can also send those to editor@ratevegas.com.

Strip Walk - July 2009: City Center, Wynn, Palazzo and Stratta

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:58:35 -0800

Yes, Strip Walk is back - July 2009 edition. This time, Mike added a little food critique as well.

The photos are here: http://photo.ratevegas.com/gallery/8741533_RQdWc

Enjoy!

Open Topic Discussion - July 1, 2009

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:32:26 -0800

The Las Vegas Review Journal and Las Vegas Sun both have lead stories on Harmon's construction defects. The Sun is more informative and includes photos of the rebar in question as well as a link to the County complaints. What an appalling saga.

Harmon inspector lacked experience
At hearing, he said he read building plans in prior jobs only with help

Las Vegas Strip: Plan, Design, Build - Not Necessarily In That Order

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:27:20 -0800

Fascinating article today in the Sun about the fast-paced world of design and construction on the Las Vegas Strip.

Cost overruns and safety issues at projects like Fontainebleau and City Center have highlighted the massively iterative nature of the design process, sometimes at the cost of millions.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jun/28/practice-building-designs-are-done-hits-wall-fonta/

City Center: Rescued From The Brink

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:04:55 -0800

A story today in the RJ about how MGM Mirage saved City Center.

Despite painting a rosy outlook at the time, things were very close to catastrophe.

http://www.lvrj.com/business/48721837.html

This is a topic we touched on during a Vegas Gang show - I speculated that Murren and Co really pulled off a near-miracle in keeping the project intact. Knowing now that they did it without having to sell any additional Strip properties is even more amazing.

Vegas Gang #33 - June 18th, 2009

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:14:29 -0800

Happy to be back after a little bit of a break. Lots to talk about, as always.

We discuss:

* MGM Mirage Expands to Egypt
* Tropicana Atlantic City Sells to Ichan
* Fontainebleau Files Chapter 11
* City of Dreams Opens on Cotai

Also, check out WinoTripping.com and Vegas Mate 2.

Feel free to leave your comments below. If it's a question that you want asked on the show, please make that clear in your post. You can also send those to editor@ratevegas.com.

Fontainebleau Buyout Possible?

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:00:13 -0800

Fontainebleau is in trouble but maybe they can hook a high-profile sugar-daddy to bail them out.

Execs from Wynn Resorts and Harrah's have toured the property recently.

http://www.lvrj.com/business/48673312.html

Personally, I can't imagine Wynn buying this place - the exterior is just so damn ugly and it's way too far along to change significantly. At bargain basement prices though, you just never know.

Oh Ye of Modest Means, Cometh to the Casino

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:41:12 -0800

We know that all casino operators take their player databases and deliver offers based on the customer's profile - better customers get better offers, though sometimes it can be far more complex than that - bringing in a long lost customer, enticing some specific block. They use high-end relationship management software to pull these things together.

It becomes more interesting when an operator makes a mistake and the customer gets to see how they are classified in the database.

Over the past day or so, MGM Mirage sent out email marketing information for the Michael Buble concert on July 4th weekend. At the bottom of the offer, where it has the players name, it appears they accidentally included the account classification.

Here's what mine looked like:

I'm not sure what 'Mature Wealth' actually means - I'm 29 years old and haven't been staying or playing with MGM Mirage as much as I did a few years ago. Even when I had, I never dropped any large coin at their properties - it did make me chuckle though.

What's more interesting is that other readers reported tags such as 'Modest Means' - not sure if calling customers poor is the hook MGM was looking for to get people back on property.

Did you get this email? Any other interesting tags you're willing to share in the comments?

MGM Mirage Expanding to Egypt

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:29:10 -0800

I guess the Luxor was just practice - MGM Mirage is going to put an MGM Grand branded hotel into Giza, the Cairo suburb home to the Great Pyramid.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=101502&p=IROL-NewsText&t=Regular&id=1299491&

I've been to see the pyramids and while they are impressive. I don't know if I can imagine an MGM Grand logo blinking in neighborhood.

Ichan Group Purchases Tropicana Atlantic City

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:43:19 -0800

An investment group lead by Carl Ichan has finalized a purchase of the Tropicana in Atlantic City. Ichan has gaming experience having previously owned interests in Arizona Charlie's and The Stratosphere in Las Vegas.

The AC Trop was forced into sale when the NJCC opted not to renew the license of previous owner, Columbia Sussex.

The price for Ichan? $200 million - that's 80% less than the $1B the property was expected to fetch. Amazing.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jun/12/tropicana-atlantic-city-sold-carl-icahn-led-group/