Online Casino Edition – Casino News News about online casinos and gambling

November 23, 2010

Can Harrah’s Turn The Tide For Foxwoods In Philadelphia?

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

Pennsylvania has always been one of the most aggressive states when it comes to casino gambling expansion. Its stiff resistance and oppositions have stalled the proposed casino at Philadelphia by Foxwoods, a giant Connecticut casino. Foxwoods faced difficulties that highlight the challenges of building an urban casino. But, Foxwoods’ hopes of building a casino in Philadelphia seem to have gathered momentum again with the entry of Harrah’s entertainment into the fray.

The Foxwoods project was almost on the verge of losing license from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board due to yearlong delays, intense neighborhood opposition, and difficulties in finding a development site. With the announcement of the deal with Harrah’s, the Board has delayed the decision for another month. According to Gaming Analyst Brad Dawkins, it is Harrah’s reputation that has bought some time for the investors. He says that the investors should be able to show their ability to move the project forward in an expedited manner.

You can recall that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board had awarded a gaming license to the proposed Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia on December 20, 2006. It was proposed to be located at The Gallery in Centre City in Philadelphia. The four-year old plan grappled with one setback after another from residents and real estate firms. Steve Wynn, who became the managing partner of the project in February 2010, pulled out on April 8, 2010 resulting in a deadlock. This had forced The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to rule on whether or not the Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners (PEDP) investors should be stripped of the gaming license for the Foxwoods casino project.

PEDP are pleased about the developments that will provide them the much-needed financial support to proceed with the development, construction, and opening of a casino in Philadelphia. Harrah’s, apart from restructuring their interests, would also invest new capital for a minority partnership position in the property, and play a management role. Speaking for PEDP, Stephen A. Cozen commented that the planned transaction would enable the investors to open the doors of the casino to the public within approximately 20 months. He further stated that their immediate task is to win back the project from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The proposed casino will operate on the banks of Delaware River with great views. PEDO intends to open with 1500 slots and more than 70 table games at the facility. The casino will also feature Philadelphia steak house along with several dining options and Philadelphia themed sports bar to watch all of the Philly hometown teams in action.

Stepping in of Harrah’s Entertainment as both an investor and an operator of the stalled South Philadelphia project appears to revive hopes. But, because its casino is just 15 miles away in Chester, Harrah’s can have only a one-third stake in Foxwoods. The new Harrah’s partnership hopes to persuade the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board not to strip the project’s license due to continual delays.

Harrah’s Entertainment, the largest in the gaming industry, is busy with its land-based operations and in preparing for possible Internet gambling regulations in the United States. Currently, the entry of Harrah’s in partnership with Foxwoods has earned some time for local investors. The investors trust that this deal will break and overcome the deadlock, and successfully help them to open the casino at South Philadelphia by 2012.

November 21, 2010

The US Gambling Industry Waits With Bated Breath

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 12:00 am

Online gambling business owners are wondering why there is a sudden hush-hush and not much being said about online gambling legislation over the past few months. The US Congress is unusually quiet on the matter. The reason for this sudden self-imposed silence is not too hard to find out. The upcoming mid-term election in November in the United States is perhaps the only one valid reason for the sudden zipping up of mouths. Even the most vocal advocates of online gambling legislation are silent.

The mid-term election is going to be an extremely decisive point as far as online gambling industry in the United States is concerned. Experts feel that if the Republicans make a comeback, whatever slim chance that the gambling industry has of getting regulated will vanish into thin air. There are slim possibilities of the Republicans sticking their necks out and putting their stamp of approval to the online gambling legislation. The gambling industry has pinned all their hopes on the Democrats victory in the polls scheduled on November 2.

It’s not certain that the Democrats will pass the Bill for regulation of online and internet gambling casinos. But, the gambling site owners and enthusiasts are hopeful that the undergoing debate process initiated by the Democrats will take the shape of legislation in the near future. With Republicans at the helm, all the efforts of the past few years will come to zilch. It will require a start-from-scratch effort from those who advocate legalization of online gambling and casinos.

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has been at the forefront of all demonstrations and meetings to push for the legalization of online gambling. Over the past few years, they have managed to influence quite a few minds in the corridors of power and reverse their thinking. They are pleading them to support the cause of providing legal status to the gambling industry. To push their case further, they have identified Congressional candidates participating in the mid-term elections who they think would support their reasons for providing legal status to the casino and gambling industry.

There is a vigorous attempt to spread the message among casino and gambling lovers about the need to get these Democrats elected. They expect the democrats to become the voice of the gambling industry and help them in their cause.

The PPA is taking the mid-term polls very seriously. They are leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the candidates who support the cause of online gambling industry legislation get elected. Former Senator and the present PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato says that this year’s election is critical to ensuring that those candidates are elected who support the rights of the poker players and thereby protect the American consumers. A statement supporting the PPA Chairman’s views has been signed by Congressman Toby Moffett.

There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that these elections present a make-or-break opportunity for the online gambling and casino industry. There is a wholehearted effort by everybody involved in the movement to use this chance to launch a final full-fledged assault toward getting the deserved legal status. This would give a chance to the gambling lovers to play in a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere.

November 19, 2010

Singapore Enters The Global Casino Club

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

The casino industry generates hefty volumes of revenue globally, and is consistently growing stronger, particularly as Asian countries are becoming more affluent. Although casinos are illegal in some nations such as the Arab world and India, they are partially legalized in nations such as Singapore. In fact, the country has announced its plans for opening a range of casinos (after the two major casino resorts) to cash in on the growth of gambling all across Asia.

This declaration reflects a change in the Singaporean culture. While casinos and gambling were once extensively frowned upon, today they are growing, both in revenues and social acceptability. As the first ever Singaporean casino, Resorts World Sentosa, had a grand opening this year in January, the whole of Asia watched in complete shock. Then, only a few months ago, Singapore opened Marina Bay Sands, its second casino. The latter is known to be the world’s second costliest casino, built at an enormous cost of more than five billion dollars.

Although Las Vegas is still one of the favorite destinations for gambling, gamblers are heading to other places like UK, and now Singapore is also on the list. Additionally, in terms of physical location it is precisely at the right place, with the gambling industry seeing the Far East as the major growth area.

Singapore And Gambling

As gambling remains illegitimate in mainland China, the risk-hungry punters travel overseas to satisfy their quest. Presently, Chinese people who want to gamble visit places like Macau, which has been a gambling magnet for long. But Singapore is definitely thinking of taking a share of this quite lucrative clientele from Macau. Add casinos to countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, and Cambodia, and the continents legal gambling industry is estimated at about dollar fourteen billion a year.

But the big question is, will this strait-laced state become the centre of entertainment in Asia?

Singapore’s government seems to be resolute in limiting the raucous entertainment to foreigners. The citizens have to pay a heavy amount of Singaporean dollar100 to enter the casino. And there’s been no alteration to the country’s strict drug laws.

However, if the government is so concerned about the cons of gambling among its own citizens, why has it entered the casino market?

The reason behind it is that every decade the officials seem to think hard and long and come up with new ways to give the tourists a brand new cause to visit Singapore. These casinos seem to be the latest reason. Moreover, as the Asian economies have been hard hit by recession, Singapore’s ten billion offering is estimated to revive the economic growth. In fact, with a thirteen percent increase in the country’s first-quarter GDP, gambling may already be paying off.

As Singapore still awaits results from its incursion into unknown waters, one thing is for sure. With cautious planning, the government tries very hard to retain the social ethnicity and order it has earned a reputation for. Although it’s still very early to exactly assess the social and monetary impact of the resorts, for the time being all bets are on success — at least financially — for Singapore.

November 17, 2010

Sands Corp’s Q3 Results Outperform The Street!

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

Las Vegas Sands Corp., a leading luxury resort and casino operator, has outperformed market expectations with its record revenue earnings. Sands Corp. owns two of the five-diamond hotels in the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada – The Venetian and The Palazzo. In the last decade, it has also developed luxury properties in Macau (China), Marina Bay (Singapore), and Bethlehem (Pennsylvania, the United States) with gaming and entertainment facilities.

Chief Contributors To Growth

Ignoring the state of recovery the United States has been in for the last couple of years, this Fortune 500 Company managed to show off a remarkable record. It must be acknowledged that the US share in the business was just 15 percent; China and Singapore largely contributed to the stupendous growth. Macau’s terrific growth rate, in particular, along with the new Marina Bay resort in Singapore contributed to the numbers.

According to the Chairman Sheldon Adelson’s statements, the net income for the 3rd quarter was $1.91 billion, 67 percent up, as compared to the last year’s $1.14 billion. Sands China Ltd. contributed with $1.08 billion, 28 percent up, as compared to the last year, and Marina Bay with $485.9 million net income. Las Vegas Sands Corp’s share was $290.7 million.

Adjusted property EBITDA shot up 137 percent and amounted to $645.2 million. Macau registered a record $334.6 million as compared to Las Vegas’ $58.3 million adjusted property EBITDA. Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, contributed with $241.6 million, the highest ever quarterly revenue from a single property in the history of the company. This is also its first full quarter of operations.

Overall adjusted property EBITDA margins increased to 33.8 percent from 23.9 percent in Q3 of 2009. Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, had a margin of 49.7 percent for the quarter while Sands Macao’s adjusted EBITDA margin was 31.3 percent.

The company earned 21 cents per share as compared to the last year’s loss of 19 cents a share.

The market showed its thumping approval as the share prices of NYSE-listed Sands jumped 10 percent which amounted to $45.25 after the press release. Sands China also rose by 6.4 percent and amounted to HK$15.94.

Increase in gaming volumes, hotel visitation and occupancy, and total overall operational efficiency have been credited as the drivers of growth.

It is truly a telling sign, as it was only two years ago that the majority shareholder and billionaire Sheldon Adelson lent money to the company to overcome the looming bankruptcy fears. With banks and other financial institutions crashing all around them, casinos found lenders hard to come by. Sands Corp. has now put to rest all such fears and has risen from under those towering shadows to stand tall. Its operational efficiency has surged.

What Lies Ahead?

Sands Corp. has just signed a ten-year deal with InterContinental Hotel Groups to link the casinos and resorts company to the hotels giant. The move is expected to provide access to 52 million members, mentioned in Intercontinental’s database, to Sands Corp. On the other hand, Intercontinental will be able to market their hotel rooms to 2 million Venetian and Palazzo casino’s or resort’s customers. So, there will be much scope for increase in room occupancy and rates, and acquisition of new customers for both companies.

With casino companies shying away from Las Vegas, and Macau becoming the largest hub for casino and gaming activities with a 60 percent growth in gambling revenues, the future clearly lies in Asia. Expansions in Marina Bay and Macau are what will steer the road ahead for Sands Corp.

November 15, 2010

Harrah’s Entertainment Gambles With Its IPO Plans

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

The largest gaming company in the world, Harrah’s entertainment is making news again. It is trying to tap public markets with an initial public offering and is hoping to raise a whopping $575 million. It plans to use this money for its planned projects in Las Vegas and Ohio. It owns and operates over 50 casinos, hotels, and 7 golf courses under different brand names like Harrah’s, Bally’s, Caesars, Horseshoe, and Rio. Harrah’s taken private in January 2008 by Hamlet Holdings (Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group), is eyeing on new opportunities in US gambling market.

The company has filed documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission of its plan of offering public shares. It has listed several pending projects that it hopes to complete using the raised money. Nevertheless, it has not disclosed the amount of stock to be sold or the expected pricing of the stock.

Harrah’s Entertainment had dropped its dream projects due to financial crunch. However, the mega projects are kicking off again with the IPO plan. The company in its regulatory filing stated that it plans to finish its 660-room Octavius Tower at Caesars Las Vegas, develop the LINQ retail and entertainment area next to the Flamingo on the Las Vegas Strip, and invest in the development of two Ohio casinos jointly with Rock Gaming. Without disclosing the details, it also hinted at other possibilities of using the money raised for another potential casino management and partial ownership opportunity.

It can be recalled here that Apollo Management and TPG acquired Harrah’s when the market was at its peak. With this, the company assumed an enormous $20 billion debt. Recession gripped America just as the deal was done. The gambling industry was hit badly and Harrah’s is struggling ever since to make payments on that debt. Harrah’s cut $500 million in costs and also allowed hedge fund Paulson &Co. to take on $710 million in Harrah’s debt for about $470 million. It is believed to have extended most debt maturities until 2015. Even with many such efforts, Harrah’s remains the most indebted of all the major players of the gaming industry.

Harrah’s, having played a major role that pushed US Congress to allow Internet gambling is trying to improve its financials with the IPO plan. But even after the IPO, Harrah’s will still owe $20 billion as debt. Its lack of presence in Macau, the global hot spot for casinos and resorts, and the ever-increasing competition in the industry poses problems. The investors will also watch its ability to leverage its World Series of Poker on-line very carefully.

Harrah’s SEC filing is an indication that casino industry is getting back on its track. Markets are showing signs of recovery with Fitch ratings giving a positive outlook for MGM. Las Vegas Sands Corporation and Wynn Resorts Limited beat EPS expectations in the June quarter. However, Boyd Gaming Corporation and a few other companies reported EPS weaker than expected. All these suggest the investors to be cautious with the IPO.

Harrah’s probably hopes to recoup more by staying in the industry. As the slump in Las Vegas eases and casino securities rally, Harrah’s IPO is a bold move. The success of the IPO depends on the stability of the market and the ability of Harrah’s entertainment to woo the wary investors and persuade them that their IPO is worth the gamble.

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