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Macau Catching up with Vegas After Revenue Increase

Macau Casinos

Macau Casinos

According to new reports, gambling revenue in Macau has increased 40% from the same time last year. Following the recent dips in gambling throughout the world, it appears as if Macau casinos are back on the up. Not only have Macau’s casinos had the recession to contend with, but also outbreaks of swine flu and visa restrictions on tourists can’t have helped the areas industry as a whole. Revenue in the month of August is reported by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau to have totalled 15.8 billion patacas (almost $2 billion), compared to last August, when the industry turned over just 11.3 billion patacas.

The good news doesn’t stop there for the Macau gambling industry, as August hasn’t even been this year’s most productive month for casinos based in the province. May saw 17.1 billion patacas being turned over and July’s total was not far behind. So with the rest of the world continuing to suffer in terms of revenue, could Macau be about to eclipse more popular gambling havens, such as Las Vegas?

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New Jersey Leaders Meet to Discuss the Future of Gambling

Atlantic City Boardwalk

Atlantic City Boardwalk

Following Governor Chris Christie’s review of gambling in New Jersey, Democrat leaders are meeting to discuss Christie’s proposals. In July, Governor Christie suggested that the casino industry in Atlantic City was in urgent need of an overhaul. Christie’s plans for gambling in the New Jersey are based on a review completed by Jon Hanson, former chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. The review proposes that the management duties of Atlantic City’s casino industry should be handed over to the New Jersey government and also suggests that the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey could potentially be privatised.

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MGM Resorts to Concentrate on Macau Casinos

MGM Mirage Casino

MGM Mirage Casino

After casino revenue in Macau, China, increased by 70% in July when compared with 2009’s results, MGM Resorts International has made clear its intentions to improve its presence in Asia. While the Las Vegas casino industry has been dealt huge financial blows over the past two years, the casino industry in Macau – the only province in China where it’s legal to gamble, has boomed. Now, MGM Resorts International’s CEO, Jim Murren, told Bloomberg that they are “starting to assert ourselves” in Macau, and aim to “have more properties in Asia over time”.

While MGM Resorts International is looking to increase its market share in Macau, the company has also announced a significant turning point for its properties in Las Vegas. For the first time since October 2007, revenue from the casino operator’s rooms in Las Vegas increased, which has led Murren to suggest the company is “starting to see a recovery” in Nevada. The CityCenter resort complex, a joint venture between both MGM and Dubai World recorded operating losses of $128 million; however analysts are confident that finances for the Las Vegas resort will improve during the second half of the year.

MGM to Sell Borgata Casino Land in Atlantic City

Borgata Casino Resort

Borgata Casino Resort

MGM Resorts International has announced its plans to sell the land beneath the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It’s believed that Vornado Realty Trust has purchased the land for $73 million, but the deal must first be approved by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

Earlier this year, MGM revealed plans to move out of Atlantic City, after the New Jersey Casino Control Commission deemed Pansy Ho, who owns a 50% stake in MGM Macau, an “unsuitable” business partner. While it was initially suggested MGM would sell its stake in the Borgata resort, it’s been alleged that the company wishes to cut its ties with the casino. Having found a buyer for the 11.6 acres of land beneath the casino resort, MGM is now in talks with buyers about its 50% stake in the Borgata.

The interest in the Borgata land has been seen as a “modest positive” by Joseph Greff, a financial analyst at J.P. Morgan. Greff suggested that the proposed deal between MGM and Vornado Realty Trust shows that “there are still buyers of Atlantic City assets out there, at least at the right price”.

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Trump Casinos Successfully Emerge from Bankruptcy

Trump Taj Mahal

Trump Taj Mahal

On Friday, the three Trump casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, emerged from their third bankruptcy, after cutting company debt by $1.3 billion following a restructure of the business. The Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina were all part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which allowed the owners of the casino resorts to “restructure” the business and improve the financial state of the company. Friday’s court transaction has officially confirmed that that Trump Entertainment Resorts, the company behind the casinos, has fully emerged from bankruptcy and now has over $250 million in equity.

Speaking to the press, Marc Lasry, the new chairman of Trump Entertainment Resorts, suggested that the casino operator “today begins a period marked by new financial strength”. While Donald Trump’s stake in the business was heavily reduced while the company was re-organised, he still retains a 10% stake in Trump Entertainment Resorts. According to Associated Press, the casinos will still be able to use the name and likeness of Trump, as well as that of his daughter, Ivanka.

Have you visited any of the Trump casinos recently? Do you think they can compete with other casinos in the area? If you have an opinion on this story, we'd love to hear from you.

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$80 million Casino Opens to Rapturous Reception

Greenbrier Casino Resort

Greenbrier Casino Resort

Hollywood’s finest were out in force on Sunday to attend the opening of the new $80 million Casino Club at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia. The exclusive casino offers a good variety of slots and table games including blackjack, baccarat, craps and other favourites.

The celebrities that attended the opening of the resort, such as Jennifer Garner and gambling fan husband Ben Affleck, were keen to stress that as well as the great casino facilities on offer it was the scenic vistas of West Virginia which make the resort so appealing. A little known fact about the hotel and casino complex, however, is that it conceals a vast underground bunker complex, built to house the legislative branch of the U.S. Government in the event of a nuclear war.

Grand openings of this scale should be reassuring for players and casino owners alike as it is indicative of an industry thriving despite the recent recession. This success will feel particularly sweet as the hotel was placed into bankruptcy in 2009.

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Margaritaville Casino in Biloxi Postponed Indefinitely

Margaritaville Casino and Resort, Biloxi

Margaritaville Casino and Resort

As of late, the attention given to the casino industry in the United States has tended to focus on gaming capitals such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City. However, evidence the impact of the recession on the US casino market can be found in states across the country. A recent article by ABC news about the proposed Margaritaville Casino and Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi, indicates how, over the space of juist a few years, the casino industry has dramatically changed.

In 2007, a new joint venture between Harrah’s Entertainment and singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett was announced. A casino resort, which would be themed around Buffett and named “Margaritaville” after the star’s 1977 smash hit, would open by spring 2010 in Biloxi. Since then, the casino industry has been ravaged by a global recession and it seems that the years of constant growth and new developments are a distant memory. In late 2008, after taking the project private, Harrah’s announced that they would “sideline” Margaritaville. Since then, the company has had to reassess its financial situation and has now announced that while it is “committed” to the project”, they “do not have a date for when construction will resume”.

Atlantic City Casinos hit Back at Online Gambling Plans

Atlantic City Boardwalk

Atlantic City

The Casino Association of New Jersey has hit back at plans to legalise online gambling in the state, suggesting that such a decision directly contravenes federal law. Joseph A. Corbo Jr, the president of the New Jersey casino association has written to a lawmaker in the state, suggesting that the authorities should delay any decision on legalising sports betting and in turn, online casinos. The New Jersey Senate and an Assembly committee were set to discuss legalising sports-betting and online gambling, but the hearing has now been cancelled.

Corbo suggested that the association's main concerns about the hearing centred on the legality of offering online gambling in New Jersey. The association suggested that the decision to legalise sports betting and online casinos "might violate the Wire Act". Corbo also observed that the association believes any forthcoming legislation should not be competed in a "rushed manner that ignores the complex legal framework that exists for gambling laws in this country.”

It's as yet unknown whether a new online gambling hearing will be arranged in New Jersey. Assemblyman Vincent Polistina has suggested that Corbo's letter makes clear that the legality of sports betting, at least, "should be handled at the federal level, rather than by changing the state’s constitution."

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East Coast Casino Market is “Crowded”

Flag of the United States

Flag of the United States

Just a few days ago we blogged about whether casinos in Atlantic City would ever recover from the recession. In the blog post, we limited our discussion to this city in New Jersey, which was one of the first areas on the East Coast to attempt to compete with Las Vegas’ monopoly on resort style gaming in the United States. Well, according to executives at the East Coast Gaming Congress, it’s not just casinos in Atlantic City which are seeing profit losses and a decline in revenue due to increased competition and less consumer spending: Casino operators in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and other states, have told executives at the event that they’re now competing directly with one another to attract customers.

American Gaming Association president, Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., has suggested that casinos on the East Coast of the United States will face even more competition when twelve gambling venues, which currently only offer slots, begin offering table games in the next few months. When discussing the current state of the East Coast gambling market, John Finamore of Penn National Gaming proposed that while the industry isn’t “saturated” at the moment, it’s “clearly crowded”.

Will Atlantic City Casinos Ever Recover from the Recession?

Atlantic City Boardwalk

Atlantic City

It’s been a tough few years for casinos in Atlantic City. When the worst of the recession hit the United States, it hit Atlantic City hard. Few casinos could cope and even heavyweights, such as Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. effectively admitted defeat by having serious discussions about the future of their businesses. While operators in the New Jersey city gained some comfort from the fact that Atlantic City’s big brother, Las Vegas, was also struggling, it seems that while Vegas gambling venues have begun to rise from the ashes, casinos in Atlantic City are still smouldering in the fire.

A recent report from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission has revealed that revenues across the eleven Atlantic City based casinos surveyed are down 25%, when compared with year-on-year results. In the first quarter of 2010, AC casinos recorded revenues of $111.2 million. Of course, while this is still a sizeable figure, it pales in comparison with 2009’s figures for the same quarter, which recorded casino revenue at $148.7 million. While Atlantic City casinos and businesses are doing their best to attract customers, competition from states such as Pennsylvania, which recently legalised slots and has also given the go ahead for table games, has meant that the city is bound to continue struggling.

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