Palms a success story

Located off the Las Vegas Strip and without that many palm trees, the Palms, under the leadership of George Maloof, has become a winner. From threviewjournal.com

The Palms' brand name is powerful, its image is hot, and it's making a lot of money -- a 20 percent annual return on its $268 million cost, Maloof said.

The privately held property hadn't previously released much financial data, but Maloof said its return on invested cash flow is better than almost all recently opened Las Vegas properties.

"It's a major success," Maloof said. "People all over the country know the name; they know the brand. And when I tell them I own a casino -- the Palms -- they smile."

"He's a very bright guy, and he's created a substantial brand name in a short period of time," Bear, Stearns casino debt analyst John Mulkey said of Maloof on Wednesday. "Create the buzz and the cash flow will follow, and that's what Maloof has done."

When the Palms opened Nov. 15, 2001, the city was reeling from a national recession and the post Sept. 11 tourism slowdown.

The tough times allowed Maloof to hire highly qualified workers laid off from top-end Strip properties, and the Palms opened strong, he said.

Key to the robust start was the property's initial public relations offensive, which proved remarkably effective, he said.

FULL STORY

The article also speculates about expansion opportunities in California or Las Vegas. Personally, I think that an East Coast version of the Palms on the Atlantic City Boardwalk would be huge.
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posted by Dave at 10:47 AM

Emerald casino settlement?

The long national nightmare may be over. The final disposition of the famed 10th Illinois casino license may be at hand! from the LV Sun:

Negotiations over selling the license held by the bankrupt Emerald Casino have produced a settlement that gives money back to investors who are not accused of wrongdoing by state regulators but punishes those who are, Attorney General Lisa Madigan said today.

The plan that Madigan announced, which also outlines how the sale of the state's unused 10th casino license would be handled, must be approved by the Illinois Gaming Board and in bankruptcy court.

The Gaming Board has been trying to strip Emerald of its license since January 2001 because it said top Emerald officials lied to regulators and some investors had alleged ties to organized crime. Emerald, which was planned for the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, denies the allegations.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is counting on the sale of the Emerald license -- expected to bring in about $350 million -- to help with the state's $5 billion deficit.

"This proposed plan makes it very clear that if you attempt to break gaming laws in Illinois, not only will you lose your money, you will be punished," Madigan said in a statement.

Under the plan announced by Madigan, Emerald's main investor, Donald Flynn, and other family members -- who are accused of lying to regulators -- would not recoup their original investment.

The plan calls for them to give up $20.6 million, which includes giving the state $10.09 million in original Emerald stock investment and giving charities and organizations $10.5 million in interest on a 1996 loan the family made for the casino.

The Flynns will recover $17.15 million in principal from the 1996 loan and another $5 million from a loan made to pay the expenses of the bankruptcy proceedings.

FULL STORY

It seems almost self-evident that attempts to limit the number of casino licenses have led to allegations of bribery, influence peddling, or other malfeasance. Maybe the best solution is to let anyone apply for a license and let the market decide who stays and who folds. That's worked well in Mississippi.
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The pedicab follies; or saving soles in Sin City?

The bicycle rickshaws or pedicabs are a viable transportation option. If you're wondering how the "free" cabs stay in business, I would hazard a guess that tipping is mandatory. According to Clark County, this means they are for hire, which makes them illegal. And here the fun begins. From the LV Sun:

At a recent public safety meeting, state and local law enforcement officials declared the pedicab swarm illegal and a potential danger to tourists. They intend to force the velocipedes into extinction.

"That's what we're working toward," said Byram Tichenor, enforcement chief for the Nevada Transportation Services Authority, which regulates limousines, tow trucks and tour buses.

"Everybody wants to make sure we don't end up in a pedicab crisis where there are real safety issues," he said.

Las Vegas pedicab entrepreneurs say they provide an important service to tired tourists and are being unfairly targeted. Jim Huff, 29, president of Silver State Pedicabs, said a proposed county ordinance that would exile the pedicabs is wrongheaded.

"Clark County needs to take the time to regulate us rather than simply ban us," said Huff, whose motto is: "We save soles in Sin City."

Pedicabs aren't unique to Las Vegas. Some cities, such as Denver, San Francisco and Santa Barbara, Calif., have embraced the modern-day rickshaws.

Santa Barbara requires pedicab operators to obtain a city permit that allows them to carry passengers. Police do background checks to weed out unsavory types -- pedicab pedophiles for instance -- from getting behind the handlebars.

"We're not trying to hinder business," Santa Barbara police Sgt. Ed Olsen said. "We just want to make sure that we have people we can trust transporting people from one place to another."

In Las Vegas, pedicabs operated for years without much notice. But they have proliferated in recent months, with companies and their wheeled fleets cropping up in record numbers despite police who have handed out scores of citations.

A random survey of drivers revealed at least seven companies with an armada of more than 70 pedicabs

FULLSTORY

In all honesty, one of the reasons I hit on this topic was the sheer exuberance of the language in the original--I don't know how prevalent "pedicab pedophiles" are, but it really does roll off the tongue. It's great to see journalists have some fun with a piece. So props to Adam Goldman, the AP writer who's got the byline on this one, for putting together two words that don't belong, but sound amusing.
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posted by Dave at 4:28 PM

Looking to casinos for a bailout

Colorado wants more money for tourism advertising, and guess where they'll find it? Gaming! Although opponents continue to malign the industry, when it comes to needing money, public officials and boosters are never shy about asking gaming operators for money. From the Las Vegas SUN: :

"'I think we need to deal with what we already have in place,' said A. Barry Hirschfield, a Denver-based publisher and longtime tourism supporter. 'There is so much money at those casinos. I'd like to think we can work with the casinos.'
Gov. Bill Owens has set aside about $5 million in his new budget for tourism, but that's less than half the $11.5 million the industry got last year."
And tourism industry interests are pointing to a series of studies that show $12.74 in state and local taxes were generated by each dollar spent on tourism promotions.

Some officials say bet limits should be eased to raise more money for tourism. Bet limits across the nation have been edging up under pressure from the industry. Two years ago South Dakota raised its $5 limit to $100.

Colorado is the last state in the union to preserve a single-digit bet limit ($5), officials said.

FULL STORY

Seeing that Colorodans just voted down an expansion of gambling via racinos, I wouldn't start sounding the death knell for limited gaming anytime soon. The difficulty of passing any kind of referendum that would expand or increase gambling in Colorado seems to say that the current system is fine for most people.
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posted by Dave at 4:00 PM

Promoting the book, pt II

I've overhauled the section of this website that touts the glories of Suburban Xanadu. If you haven't read it, this is a great time to find out more about it. If you have read it, please follow the links to amazon or barnes and noble and review it. Thank you.
Gaming Studies Research Center-Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond
posted by Dave at 3:55 PM