Hard Rock not solid

According to the Gaming Commission, anyway. They will not accept the casino's settlement regarding its racy (actually, bizarre is a better word) ad campaign. From the RGJ:

The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday rejected an agreement that would have required the Hard Rock hotel-casino to pay $300,000 to settle a complaint over advertisements containing inferences of cheating and drug abuse.

The commission voted 5-0 to force the off-Strip property to resume negotiations with the commission’s enforcement arm, the state Gaming Control Board, or face a full hearing.

Both sides said it’s unlikely the agreement will be reworked, and a commission hearing could occur as soon as July.

“It puts us in a very difficult situation,” said hotel lawyer Jeffrey Silver. “Having signed the agreement we have to support the stipulations.”

The deputy attorney general who helped craft the agreement said the settlement process had been difficult.

“I don’t think (more negotiations) would work,” Antonia Cowan said. “People have very different viewpoints on this.”

The agreement would have settled a three-count complaint levied against the hotel-casino in January. The complaint cited two Hard Rock ads, in which the state Gaming Control Board believed the hotel conveyed the idea that cheating at gambling and the use of prescription drugs is acceptable behavior by guests.

One ad showed a man and a woman on a gambling table, surrounded by playing cards and chips, with the caption, “There’s always a temptation to cheat.”

The other ad reads in part, “At the Hard Rock Hotel, we believe in your Monday night rights: large quantities of prescription stimulants (and) having wives in two states ….”

Gambling regulators reject settlement over Hard Rock’s ads

I'll be honest. Usually I don't cover regulatory issues here, but this one is just too much fun. What does Monday night have to do with wives in two states, anyway? I really really don't get that one at all.
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posted by Dave at 2:02 PM

Sands in Singapore?

The government of Singapore has been discussing the possibility of building a casino, and it now seems like they have a dance partner. From the International Herald Tribune:

Las Vegas Sands, which opened a $240 million casino in Macau this week, said Thursday that it would meet with Singapore government officials to discuss plans for the first casino in the city-state.
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The U.S. company, known for its Venetian Casino Resort in Las Vegas, is relying on its first casino in Macau to cement its reputation with gamblers in China, Singapore's second-biggest source of tourists after Indonesia.
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"Our primary selling point is we're the gateway to China with Macau," William Weidner, president of Las Vegas Sands, said. "It's from there that we can direct where the market goes."
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Singapore, which allows only lotteries and betting on horse racing, is considering casinos as part of an island resort development in a bid to lure tourists and lift an economy that suffered two recessions in the past six years.
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Las Vegas Sands stands a good chance because "Singapore wants a big name and always prefers those with a proven track record," said Song Seng Wun, an economist at G.K. Goh Research.
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"With the government behind this project, it won't be one that's second or third rate - it needs to build a landmark with intense competition in Asia's leisure market," Song said.
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Singapore has previously rejected calls to allow the opening of casinos, arguing that the social dangers outweighed the potential for profit. Taxes from lotteries make up a 10th of the city-state's tax revenue of 16.5 billion Singapore dollars, or $9.6 billion, G.K. Goh Research estimates.
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But now government officials say they want a casino catering to high-spending customers instead of the mass market, and that they would restrict access for some of Singapore's four million people.
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The closely held Las Vegas Sands pitched a $12 billion, 20-casino plan to win its gambling license, including an $800 million duplicate of its Venetian Hotel Resort in Las Vegas.
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IHT: Las Vegas casino giant to court Singapore

Let you assume that, with all of this international expansion, the casino market is moribund in Las Vegas, there is news today that Station will finally pull the trigger on redeveloping the Wild Wild West site. From the LVRJ:

Station Casinos has set its sights on developing a high-rise destination resort that will rival the Rio and the Palms as soon as work wraps up on its new Red Rock Station.

The locals casino giant will build its new flagship hotel-casino, including at least 1,000 rooms, at the 50-acre Wild Wild West casino site on Tropicana just west of the Strip, although project plans have not been completed, company executives said Wednesday.

Station Casinos Chairman Frank Fertitta III, speaking at the annual shareholders' meeting at Green Valley Ranch, said the $475 million Red Rock Station will open in two years, and the company's goal is to break ground on the Wild Wild West project in the first half of 2006, with completion expected in 2008.

"We'll be going vertical, hopefully very similar to the Rio or the Palms. We want to build something very creative, an icon for Las Vegas," he said.

Does this mean that Station is dipping a toe into the tourist market? With their solid base of local's casinos, it's a smart move, and the Wild Wild West location gives them accessibiltiy and visibility without the higher cost of Strip frontage.
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posted by Dave at 4:05 PM

Not exactly the most tactful headline...

...for an industry traditionally believed to be influenced by organized crime (allegedly): New Casino Mobbed

Near-riot conditions greeted the highly anticipated soft opening of the Las Vegas Sands Casino in Macau yesterday as crowds estimated at 35,000 to 40,000 people poured into the first casino not to be owned or operated by tycoon Stanley Ho.
Spurred by media reports that falsely claimed punters would receive free chips on the opening day, the anxious crowd had to be held back by police and casino security staff before being allowed in just after 2.30pm.
The mad dash for the main hall one level up, where the slot machines and gaming tables are located, soon triggered a safety mechanism that shut down the two escalators. ``I can't believe it. Nothing like this has ever happened in Las Vegas,'' one Atlantic City IT contractor said.
William Weidner, president and COO of Las Vegas Sands Inc, which operates the US$240-million (HK$1.87 billion) casino, said he was initially worried that not enough people would show up on the first day. ``We didn't know how many people would show up. We were expecting more on the third, fourth or fifth day as word of mouth spread. It was a little dangerous but these things happen with anything new.
``We'll look at how things shape up over the next few days,'' Weidner said, adding that security details would be reviewed then.
New Casino Mobbed

Seriously, it seems the Sands Macau has made an incredible impact with its opening. I guess rumors of free chips will do that. In casinos, Jim Rome's maxim that "if it's free, there's a line, and if it's not nailed down, it's gone," is doubly true.
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posted by Dave at 2:25 PM

A New Sands

The Sands Macau is either about to open or already has opened--I got a headache just reading about the implications of the International Date Line in this breaking story. From the LVRJ:

Fireworks, dragon dancers and a bevy of Las Vegas showgirls will be on hand to help Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson and other executives open Sands Macau, a 1 million-square-foot casino project that cost approximately $240 million.

Sands officials have scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. Tuesday in Macau, followed by a scheduled 2:30 p.m. public opening. During Daylight-saving time periods, Las Vegas is 15 hours behind Macau time, meaning those events would occur today at 8 and 11:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

Located near a ferry terminal that connects with Hong Kong, Macau's largest neighboring city about 35 miles to the east, Sands Macau will in many ways double as a connecting point for Asian and American gambling interests.

"It's East meets West," Venetian spokesman Ron Reese said Friday.

Reese said Sands Macau will help Adelson's company produce revenue and build brand awareness in preparation for the planned late 2006 opening of The Venetian Macau, which will be built alongside several other hotel-casino properties in an area of reclaimed land known as the Cotai Strip.

Las Vegas casino developer Steve Wynn also plans to build a lavish, Las Vegas-style casino in the area.

Reese said Sands Macau will function as an urban casino, while Venetian Macau will act at as full-service resort with approximately 1,500 rooms planned for its first phase. In contrast, Sands Macau has only 51 hotel suites ranging in size from 1,000 to 8,000 square feet.


reviewjournal.com -- Business: Sands Macau set to bow

The Wynn property, coupled with the opening of the Venetian Macau, should give the Cotai Strip a critical mass that most new jurisdicitons would envy. How well American operators, who are used to a highly regulated environment, will adapt to Macau still remains to be seen and is the x-factor in a promising new market.
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posted by Dave at 2:40 PM