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tom ronson
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 Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:58 am Post subject: A Trio of Interesting Stories |
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http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/34760749.html
Interesting sentence....
"The company now plans to concentrate on technologies that can bring
players together and use technology innovations to reduce labor costs
for its customers while being more entertaining and efficient for
customers."
http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/34776689.html
Interesting sentence....
"Thanks to smoking bans initiated in early 2008, Colorado and Illinois
have sustained major dips in gambling revenue (-25%), according to
experts on a Wednesday panel at the Global Gaming Expo."
and lastly...
http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/34768159.html
as is always the case with RJ stories the reader comments are often more
entertaining than the story itself.
--tr |
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Mr. V
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| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:58 am Post subject: Re: A Trio of Interesting Stories |
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I'll see your trio and raise you a plethora.
http://www.dicedealer.com/Our_World.htm
all-in dem bones |
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CLM in ND
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| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:58 am Post subject: Re: A Trio of Interesting Stories |
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"tom ronson" <madscribe123@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:gg2ri9$kif$1@news.motzarella.org...
| Quote: | http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/34760749.html
Interesting sentence....
"The company now plans to concentrate on technologies that can bring
players together and use technology innovations to reduce labor costs for
its customers while being more entertaining and efficient for customers."
http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/34776689.html
Interesting sentence....
"Thanks to smoking bans initiated in early 2008, Colorado and Illinois
have sustained major dips in gambling revenue (-25%), according to experts
on a Wednesday panel at the Global Gaming Expo."
and lastly...
http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/34768159.html
as is always the case with RJ stories the reader comments are often more
entertaining than the story itself.
--tr
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I don't know if anyone remembers, but after the Westward Ho was torn down, I
predicted that in 5 years, there would stull be nothing there. That was
before Boyd got the land, when various parties couldn't decide who owned
what and everything from a yuppy condo to a giant Ferris wheel was bantered
about. Well, I was wrong; they moved the McDonalds that was next door to
that spot. As far as a casino/hotel, I was right. If Echelon ever does get
off the ground, there's no way it will be open by 2010, or even 2011, since
Boyd has said they have no plans to resume construction in 2011.
This whole way they were borrowing money reminds me of a pyramid scheme.
When the money they were borrowing went from 100's of millions to billions,
and not just 1 or 2 billion dollars, but $4 & $5 billion+, how did they ever
think they'd ever pay it back? Seriously? What are the payments on a loan
that big? Has any casino made enough to cover a loan like that? It makes
me wonder if they really thought it all the way through. Maybe some of them
should consider spending $10 or $15 million building a Westward Ho-type
casino/motel to generate some income. The way things are looking, that
might not be a made idea, as it may be 5-10 years before they can build
their megaresort, if ever. The 'Ho's casino used to be full of gamblers who
were staying at the Mirage, Venetian, etc., because the gaming & beer was
cheaper there.
As for the reader comments, the online edition of the Bismarck Tribune is
the same way. A bunch of Floyd R. Turbo types complain about everything on
every article.
Cameron |
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CLM in ND
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| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:58 am Post subject: Re: A Trio of Interesting Stories |
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"CLM in ND" <camarvel8@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:k4ydnekc0eXKZ7nUnZ2dnUVZ_u-dnZ2d@midco.net...
| Quote: | The way things are looking, that might not be a made idea, as it may be
5-10 years before they can build their megaresort, if ever.
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Sorry; that should have read "might not be a bad idea".
Cameron |
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Rob Taylor
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| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:23 pm Post subject: Re: A Trio of Interesting Stories |
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On Nov 19, 9:48 pm, "CLM in ND" <camarv...@hotmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | This whole way they were borrowing money reminds me of a pyramid scheme.
When the money they were borrowing went from 100's of millions to billions,
and not just 1 or 2 billion dollars, but $4 & $5 billion+, how did they ever
think they'd ever pay it back? Seriously? What are the payments on a loan
that big? Has any casino made enough to cover a loan like that? It makes
me wonder if they really thought it all the way through. Maybe some of them
should consider spending $10 or $15 million building a Westward Ho-type
casino/motel to generate some income. The way things are looking, that
might not be a made idea, as it may be 5-10 years before they can build
their megaresort, if ever. The 'Ho's casino used to be full of gamblers who
were staying at the Mirage, Venetian, etc., because the gaming & beer was
cheaper there.
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Well, generally speaking, the classic definition of a bubble is
thinking that all trees grow to the sky. ;)
Vegas casinos did actually have some worst-case scenarios thought out.
The problem is the current financial crisis is the financial
equivalent of the iceberg hitting the "unsinkable" Titanic- the
Titanic WAS engineered for some scenarios, just not that one. Nobody
thought that corporate lending would just basically be completely shut
down, that financing would be unavailable at ANY price, and that
corporate bonds would lose so much of their value.
You have to understand, Cameron, that nobody alive and working in the
markets has actually SEEN anything like this kind of a financial panic
outside of their economics textbooks. If you were an 18 year old when
the Depression hit (which is the closest analogue to this), you're
over 95 now and probably in a retirement home. There were some people
predicting this (Nouriel Roubini is the most notable one I can think
of- and he was called "Dr. Doom" for a reason), but generally, the
problem Vegas casinos are having was they followed the herd when it
came to using corporate finance as a tool for expansion and running
their business.
In hindsight, yeah, they should have slowed down and kept older assets
that could still perform like the Ho and Stardust around... but
hindsight is 20/20, and foresight is a rare commodity sometimes.
My guess is the guy who is best-positioned for these times is Steve
Wynn- he should be able to get by at Wynn, Wynn Macau and Encore for a
while waiting for thing to take a turn for the better, and he isn't
horribly overleveraged the way LV Sands, MGM and Harrah's are for this
market- he could pay off his corporate debt tomorrow if he chose to.
And in my opinion, that's as it should be- Wynn is probably the guy
who gets the high-end, Mr. Snootybuckets casino business right more
than anyone else.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/103101-wynn-resorts-ltd-q3-2008-earnings-call-transcript
Rob "Fancypants" Taylor |
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CLM in ND
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:22 pm Post subject: Re: A Trio of Interesting Stories |
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On Nov 20, 2:23 pm, Rob Taylor <robta...@gmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: |
Well, generally speaking, the classic definition of a bubble is
thinking that all trees grow to the sky. ;)
Vegas casinos did actually have some worst-case scenarios thought out.
The problem is the current financial crisis is the financial
equivalent of the iceberg hitting the "unsinkable" Titanic- the
Titanic WAS engineered for some scenarios, just not that one. Nobody
thought that corporate lending would just basically be completely shut
down, that financing would be unavailable at ANY price, and that
corporate bonds would lose so much of their value.
You have to understand, Cameron, that nobody alive and working in the
markets has actually SEEN anything like this kind of a financial panic
outside of their economics textbooks. If you were an 18 year old when
the Depression hit (which is the closest analogue to this), you're
over 95 now and probably in a retirement home. There were some people
predicting this (Nouriel Roubini is the most notable one I can think
of- and he was called "Dr. Doom" for a reason), but generally, the
problem Vegas casinos are having was they followed the herd when it
came to using corporate finance as a tool for expansion and running
their business.
In hindsight, yeah, they should have slowed down and kept older assets
that could still perform like the Ho and Stardust around... but
hindsight is 20/20, and foresight is a rare commodity sometimes.
My guess is the guy who is best-positioned for these times is Steve
Wynn- he should be able to get by at Wynn, Wynn Macau and Encore for a
while waiting for thing to take a turn for the better, and he isn't
horribly overleveraged the way LV Sands, MGM and Harrah's are for this
market- he could pay off his corporate debt tomorrow if he chose to.
And in my opinion, that's as it should be- Wynn is probably the guy
who gets the high-end, Mr. Snootybuckets casino business right more
than anyone else.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/103101-wynn-resorts-ltd-q3-2008-earni...
Rob "Fancypants" Taylor
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It goes back to what I've been saying all along. Sure, I'm upset the
Stardust & Westward Ho aren't around, but I also understand that
nothing lasts forever. What is so stupid is that these two profitable
casinos were torn down & the money wasn't in place to build the
megaresort that was to replace them. So, you essentially have a
vacant lot that will be sitting there for years with no progress being
made on it's construction.
I still say everyone should have held tight until MGM City Center was
finished to see how it did. The whole $5+ billion residential/
business center/hotel/casino/boutique shopping mall complex has never
been built before & no one is sure exactly how people will take to
it. That's what I said a couple years ago when everyone was gung-ho
to build one of those billino dollar resorts. But no, everyone dove
head first into the lake without checking to see how deep it was or if
there was any water in it.
It seems like a good idea to spend $10-$20 million to build a Westward
Ho type casino/hotel on that land, just to get some cash flowing,
because who knows how long it will be, if ever, before they get the
funds to build their Wynnagiocitycentechelonplaza.
Cameron |
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