LV Revealed
Search the website
 
   
  LV Revealed: The inside story on gambling, Las Vegas, and the casino business.  
 
Sections:
Recent News
Introduction
The List

Las Vegas Casino Death Watch


Last Updated: February 7, 2010

Recent News

02/07/10

In today's LV Journal, NORM! passes on a rumor from an anonymous source that projects that the proper line is "three" Las Vegas casinos to "go under" in 2010. NORM! doesn't say who it is, or who his source is. I guess being able to report on a story while not having to actually provide information is one of the cool things about being NORM! Of course, we don't know if this source knows anything, and we don't know what "go under" means. Is that "file for Chatper 11", or is that "put plywood over the doors and windows"? It makes a big difference. As a consequence, we don't put that much credence in this, but like NORM!, we report it anyway.

01/28/10

How close did MGM Mirage come to having to file for bankruptcy last year? According to Murren himself, within minutes. What has Murren taken from his "near-death experience"? That after a six year absence, MGM Mirage should rejoin the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. That wasn't what we would have guessed, but okay.

01/27/10

It's official, Icahn gets the Fontainebleau. The big question we're hoping he answers, will construction resume?

01/25/10

Tropicana renovations are underway. We're guessing this will be ongoing for more than the next year, and that it will be a while before we see big changes on the casino floor.

01/22/10

It has been brought to our attention that Global Gaming Business web site has an interview with Four Queens and Binion's owner Terry Caudill on the future of Binion's and downtown. Note, this interview took place well before Caudill announced that Binion's would close its hotel rooms, and he gives no indication that this might take place in this interview. Also conspicuous by its absence is that no mention is made about both properties' dispute with their landlords. The most eyebrow-raising moment is when Caudill suggests that downtown can absorb three to five thousand additional rooms. Well, maybe he means once the economy improves.

01/20/10

It looks like Carl Icahn will be the new owner of the Fontainebleau. Now we look forward to hearing what he plans to do with it. In any case, we wish him luck.

01/16/10

We'd expect no less, but Liz Benston has a good article in the LV Sun on Carl Icahn's options should he succeed in acquiring the Fontainebleau. Our guess falls somewhere between options 2 and 3.

01/16/10

At midnight tonight, Harrah's will take over hotel and some restaurant operations at Planet Hollywood. Note that they haven't yet purchased the property. That's still in the works. This seems backwards to us, but what do we know?

01/14/10

Penn National Gaming says they're bowing out of the Fontainebleau bidding process. That leaves Carl Icahn with the stalking horse bid and the inside track. Frankly, we're at a loss to think about who else might come forward and make a play for this place.

01/13/10

The LV Sun has a report about Binion's post closing of their hotel rooms. We've been through the casino since the keno lounge, hotel rooms, and coffee shop were closed, and at least on the surface the place looks reasonably busy.

01/03/10

Howard Stutz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal makes predictions about Las Vegas gaming in 2010. He doesn't provide any bold glimpses of the future, but he does provide a pretty decent recap of where we are.

12/27/09

Binion's closing their hotel rooms has disturbed a great number of readers of the Death Watch as well as many fans of "old Las Vegas". Death Watch maintainer Nick Christenson has written a commentary on the Binion's situation.

12/27/09

TI owner Phil Ruffin makes some predictions about what will happen to the Las Vegas casino business over the next decade. It's always gutsy to make predictions, especially about the economy on how things will go, so we applaud Ruffin and cut him some slack for even venturing out to do this. My opinion is that his timeline for a complete turnaround by 2020 seems a little optimistic to me. By 2020, I'm not sure Echelon is completely built, but I think it's more likely than not that construction is well along the way. I doubt the MGM/Kerzner venture is operating by 2020. Other than that, his projections seem plausible.

12/19/09

Boyd Gaming appears to be serious about not just acquiring some of Station Casinos' assets, but about acquiring all of Station Casinos' assets. Wow.

12/16/09

What do you do when people aren't filling your rooms? Close some rooms. The Sahara is doing just that. We fully expect this is on a temporary basis, but there's not as much foot traffic on that end of the Strip, especially not these days, as one might like. As long as there truly isn't anyone to fill those rooms, this seems prudent. Whether this points to longer term problems for the Sahara or not, time will tell.

12/01/09

Opening: CityCenter
Well, Really the non-gaming hotel Vdara is opening. Crystals, the retail space, opens Thursday, the Mandarin Oriental opens Saturday, and the property with the casino, Aria, opens December 16. We wish the new project good luck.

11/30/09

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Binion's will close their main hotel tower on December 14. Presumably, this is a temporary move, but we don't know if it's a temporary measure for the holidays, for the duration of the recession, or the beginning of something ominous.

11/28/09

If you're a company on the verge of insolvency, what do you do in a down market? Why, bid to acquire another casino, of course. Harrah's is apparently looking to extend their long line of casinos on the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard to include Planet Hollywood.

11/23/09

Majestic Star Casino files for bankruptcy. Note that even though Don Barden is in charge of both Majestic Star and the Las Vegas Fitzgerald's, this filing does not directly affect any Las Vegas property. Nonetheless, it's a sign of the times.

11/23/09

We have another bidder for the incomplete Fontainebleau, Billionaire financier Carl Icahn. He offered $136 million, outbidding Penn National Gaming. These aren't exactly the sorts of bids that the Fontainebleau contractors were hoping to see.

11/13/09

Another commentary! This time on what the opening of CityCenter means for Las Vegas.

11/13/09

We're still looking for the first true Deathwatch casualty of the current economic downturn. It's now looking like Hooters might be a candidate. This is enough to move Hooters up the list a notch.

11/13/09

Not everyone thinks the filing by Boyd Gaming asking for consideration of their bid in Station's bankruptcy proceeding is entirely altruistic. Okay, in actuality nobody thinks they're being entirely altruistic. Boyd wants their bid for Station's assets to be considered, Station doesn't.

11/10/09

The Riviera is losing money and missing payments. Why? For the same reasons everyone else is losing money and missing payments. Revenues are down. What seems unusual to us is that they're missing debt payments. How does a property that has been under the same ownership for so many years have $227.5 million in debt?

11/01/09

Now that it's official that the Echelon project has been mothballed for the indefinite future, Death Watch maintainer Nick Christenson has written a commentary on the Echelon situation.

10/31/09

Herbst wins the race to be the first casino company with a Las Vegas presence to emerge to bankruptcy. Don Pardo, tell them what they've lost. "They've lost complete control of their company, including the slot routes and their Nevada casinos, including their Primm properties along with Terrible Herbst in Las Vegas!"

10/06/09

Penn Gaming puts in a bid for the Fontainebleau. It's a lowball bid, but in this market and with no other obvious bidders, the bankruptcy judge may not end up with other options. We'll see if other bidders emerge.

10/02/09

Selling the Fontainebleau appears to be on the fast track. Whether there are buyers out there who agree or not is an open question.

09/24/09

Casino mogul and Las Vegas celebrity Bob Stupak has passed away. The Death Watch extends our condolences to his friends and family. He left an indelible mark on Las Vegas.

09/24/09

Reports are that former casino mogul Bob Stupak is seriously ill.

09/19/09

Will it be Penn National that buys up the Fontainebleau assets and opens that construction project? Some say they will, but some say it wouldn't be such a good fit.

09/16/09

We're used to seeing reviews of Strip restaurants in the local papers, but we thought it was cute to see a review of the revamped Golden Grille at the Gold Spike appear in the RJ. We like the "reservations are not required" bit.

09/15/09

There may be a buyer for the Fontainebleau. The current owners are hoping it doesn't come to that, but it looks increasingly likely that someone else will be at the helm when the project is finally completed.

09/11/09

The Stations bankruptcy proceedings heat up. Liz Benston of the LV Sun has an excellent overview of what's going on and why.

09/09/09

The Golden Nugget executives are looking at taking the company private again. They've already tried this twice.

09/02/09

Lenders to Station Casinos are asking why Boyd's offer to buy Station assets was rejected. If one of the purposes of restructuring is to get the best deal for the bond holders, it would seem that selling off casino assets is something that should receive serious consideration. The lenders also claim that there are reasons that Station management and some of the larger lenders may have a conflict of interest.

08/19/09

The Greek Isles has been sold. Allegedly it's still open. The new owners indicate they may turn around and sell it again.

08/15/09

Hooters warns it might file for bankruptcy. The loss appears to be due to the expected set of issues.

08/15/09

Why is Station filing for bankruptcy? Well, one reason is that they're losing money, $65.3 million in the second quarter of this year.

08/10/09

The Riviera is in some trouble. They've missed some payments, and now they're looking to renegotiate their debt. If they can't, they'll probably have to file for bankruptcy.

08/05/09

As Station Casinos enters its bankruptcy procedures, Boyd Casinos wants everyone to know that they're willing to do their part to help. You've got to admire a well crafted knife-twisting.

07/29/09

Station Casinos files for Chapter 11 protection. This is not unexpected, but it means that Station's creditors were not able to come to agreement with the company. The RJ article indicates that the casino holdings of the company are not covered by this filing. To be honest, we don't understand why or how this would be the case.

07/21/09

So, what will happen to the mostly constructed Fontainebleau? Nobody knows. However, its future doesn't look all that bright.

07/14/09

It appears that it's not just Binion's who's behind on its rent. Now, landlords of the Four Queens allege that the other TLC property is in the same boat. We believe this will eventually be resolved by someone with a gavel rather than by putting locks on the door.

07/12/09

We have some news on what Harrah's plans for it's Strip properties. The article includes news that Harrah's plans no implosions (not even the IP parking garage?!)

07/09/09

It's not exactly breaking news, but Liz Benston has written a good summary of what's going on in the Las Vegas casino business these days, and how they wound up in so much trouble. Well worth reading.

07/02/09

The Tropicana is under new ownership. We're skeptical that this will bring the "return to pre-eminence" that the new management intends, but we fully expect this will be a step up.

06/10/09

The Fontainebleau files for Chapter 11. Their story seems to be that everything would be just fine if the banks would give them the money they have already promised. The banks' story seems to be that the project is way over budget and they don't have to. We guess it's up to the courts to decide this. In the mean time, some construction will continue, but it won't be full speed ahead.

06/08/09

What's going on with the Fontainebleau? It's hard to know what all is happening, but we do know that they feel the need to sue to ensure that they money they were counting on actually shows up. They've also lost their CEO, and, as the article points out, liens are piling up.

06/03/09

Who's planning an upgrade in this credit market? The Tropicana, of course. They've cleared bankruptcy and are on the verge of getting their new management team approved. Do we think the funding for this upgrade will come through in a week or a month? Well, no, since you ask, but at least it indicates that they don't plan to close the place down, or maybe that's just what they want us to think.

05/20/09

MGM Mirage has completed its restructuring. Moreover, they plan to be part of two new hotels in Dubai, although something tells me that construction on those won't start any time soon. Is this enough to keep MGM Mirage solvent? That remains to be seen, but it's a step.

05/15/09

The Tropicana will have a new owner as it emerges from bankruptcy. This may happen within the next month or two. As long as it's not Columbia Sussex, we're willing to give the new owners the benefit of the doubt.

05/13/09

NORM!'s column notes about cut backs on services at the Sahara, perhaps indicating that the owners have decided on a time frame to close the place and perform significant upgrades. Perhaps that time frame is really soon.

05/09/09

What's new and hip in downtown casinos? The El Cortez. Don't laugh, the new owners have pumped a lot of money into the place making improvements. It's less clear if this will pay off, but at least they've made the effort.

05/04/09

The Las Vegas Business Press speculates as to the future of the Las Vegas Strip. In a nutshell, they expect spin-offs, sales, and management changes.

05/01/09

Construction on the Fontainebleau has drastically slowed down due to financial problems.

04/30/09

Is Binion's in financial trouble? Could be. For many downtown properties the land on which the casinos sit is often not owned by the resorts themselves. Now, landlords have sued Binion's for missing payments, and the article suggests that the same thing might happen with the Four Queens as well. We don't expect this to lead to closures, but sorting this out isn't going to happen overnight.

04/29/09

It appears that MGM Mirage and Dubai World have come to an agreement about the funding of CityCenter. This is good news for everyone concerned.

04/24/09

It's a speculative piece from an unusual source of casino news, but George Knapp's interpretation of what's going on between MGM Mirage and Dubai World coincides almost exactly with our speculation.

04/20/09

Liz Benston in the Las Vegas Sun talks about what's happening behind the finances of some of the smaller Las Vegas casinos such as Hooters or the still-closed Lady Luck. Not a lot of breaking news, but a good overview.

04/18/09

Do we have an agreement between MGM Mirage and Dubai World about City Center? Maybe, it seems, or if we don't have one, we might be close.

04/17/09

Ooooh, that rascally Carl Icahn is at it again. Always active during times of economic strife, this time around he's trying to force MGM Mirage to go through bankruptcy. Why would he do this? It can be hard to figure out Icahn, but, one of his funds owns a lot of MGM Mirage debt, so maybe he thinks the bond holders will get a better shake from a judge-appointed receiver than it would from the deal MGM is currently trying to negotiate. On the other hand, maybe he's trying to force MGM Mirage to auction off some of its properties, and he might be able to grab one at fire-sale prices.

04/16/09

Say it ain't so! The planned Elvis-themed resort is in default and could be forced to sell their property. What, a planned resort/casino without huge corporate backing is having problems getting off the ground in this financial market? Hard to believe.

04/06/09

From the "Shocked, Shocked We Are" Department, The Greek Isles files for bankruptcy. This is no surprise since the property is already in receivership after defaulting on its financing eight months ago.

04/01/09

Can anyone save CityCenter? How about Colony Capital? Apparently, this isn't an April Fool's Day joke, and by no means is this a done deal. Note, Colony Capital already has a foothold in Las Vegas, they're the owners of the Las Vegas Hilton and backed Station Casinos bid to go private.

04/01/09

Add Hooters to the list of casinos who have missed debt payments. As in all cases, it remains to be seen if they'll have to declare bankruptcy or if they will come to some accord with the bond holders.

03/31/09

Add Riviera Holdings to the list of casino companies that may be forced to file for Chapter 11 protection. It's not like these guys have billions in debt, but their revenues have been badly squeezed by declining room rates.

03/27/09

Update: CityCenter makes their payment. Bankruptcy averted, at least for now. Part of the good news is that construction continues and 8000 people still have a job. At least for the time being. We don't think we've heard the last of this.

03/27/09

The Dubai World lawsuit may be the last straw. The CityCenter project may have to declare bankruptcy. There is a payment of $220 million scheduled for today. Because of the rift with Dubai World, the partnership may be in trouble and have to file for bankruptcy. If they're going to file anyway, may as well not make the payment. Thanks to many loyal Death Watch readers who wake up earlier than the Death Watch staff for pointing this out. Never have we received so much email about one news item.

03/24/09

It's that time again. Our friends over at VegasTripping.com have asked Death Watch maintainer Nick Christenson some questions about the state of Las Vegas. This serves as a pretty good summary of the Death Watch view of the state of the Las Vegas casino resorts.

03/23/09

Uh oh. MGM Mirage was trying to line up a plan where they can continue to own and operate the casinos that are most important to them while they finish building CityCenter. Now their corporate partners have thrown a big ole wrench into the machinery. Dubai World, their partners in CityCenter, want out. There will be some late nights in the MGM Mirage offices this week as they scramble to come to terms with this.

03/23/09

The first bankruptcy shoe drops. Herbst Gaming submits its reorganization plan. This is the plan we expected. The Herbst family keeps control of their slot route operations, the lenders take control of the casinos.

03/20/09

Phil Ruffin takes over the TI today. We at the Death Watch wish Ruffin luck with his new venture.

03/18/09

Rounding up the bankruptcy talk is Liz Benston's overview of the subject as it applies to current Las Vegas gaming companies. A good one-stop article on the state of the industry.

03/18/09

The bank group who holds MGM Mirage's debt have given them until May to get their house in order. In the mean time MGM needs to figure out how they're going to make their payments. Part of the solution is selling the TI to Phil Ruffin, a sale which should close within weeks. Others have speculated that the rest of the solution will involve the sale of more assets. By no means is Chapter 11 off the table.

03/18/09

Court documents reveal that Station Casinos expects to file for bankruptcy protection in a mid-April time-frame. As the days go by, the buy-out proposal for a slate of casinos probably looks better and better to the Station bond holders.

03/18/09

Completing the trifecta of potential bankruptcy stories, Harrah's warns that come 2010, it may not have enough income to pay off its upcoming debt payments. They may be able to coast along for a while until it all comes to a head, though.

03/04/09

The Riviera is officially in default. The Riviera seems to think this is no big deal, but we don't know if this is really the case, or if this is the start of bigger problems.

03/03/09

Next up on the potential bankruptcy list, MGM Mirage.

03/01/09

Liz Benston of the Las Vegas Sun has written an excellent article discussing the state of the Las Vegas casino economy in the context of the national situation.

03/01/09

M Resort opens. Everyone knows this is the wrong time to open a casino, and it's in the wrong place right now, but if there's a saving grace, it's that the folks operating it are fully aware of the challenges they face. In any case, we wish the new venture luck.

02/27/09

From the "Blow Our Own Horn" Department, the good news is that Death Watch reporter Nick Christenson was finally consulted. The bad news is that it was by reporter and "friend of the Death Watch" Nolan Dalla rather than the casino industry themselves. The article asks several insiders, experts, and Nick about what the current economic mess means for poker.

02/24/09

From the "I Don't Think We Even Have a Department for This" Department: Boyd Gaming offers to buy a big chunk of Station Casinos for $950 billion. Given that Station is on the cusp of filing for Chapter 11 protection, this is an offer they'll have to take seriously.

In our opinion, it's a brilliant move by Boyd. If Station accepts the deal, Boyd wins by getting worthwhile assets at a dirt-cheap price. If Station doesn't, they've got to sweeten the restructuring deal to their own bond-holders, 'cuz the partial Boyd buy-out is better for those folks. If they sweeten the deal, that weakens Station's cash position. A clear win/win for Boyd.

02/11/09

The Greek Isles goes into receivership. The dozens of customers of this place may not even notice, as the place will remain in operation ... for now.

02/10/09

Should we add Landry's, the corporate parent to the Golden Nugget, to the list of Las Vegas casino companies that might have to restructure? Some folks from US News & World Report think so. Again, we believe the Golden Nugget is profitable enough to not need to close, even if LNY has to restructure, but what happens if these companies experience a cash crunch but then can't get their restructured debt financed? That's the nightmare scenario.

02/10/09

The RJ reports that analyst Barbara Cappaert expects Hooters Hotel to have to file for bankruptcy.

02/10/09

The economy may be in the tank, revenues may be in the toilet, but when you need a new image, you need a new image, and the Tropicana certainly needs a new image. We have to say, since Scott Butera took over, it looks like the Tropicana is on a better track. Of course, one could fairly claim that this is faint praise.

 
 

Got any information about Las Vegas casino closings? Don't hesitate to send us email at: npc@lvrevealed.com.