Did I say mid-week or weekend? Big difference imo

Being unable to fill rooms and attract people mid-week can be a killer. Do you think their operating costs are much less mid-week?

The only way that could work is if they just closed mid-week and were open only on the weekends.

They've been doing that since the day they opened. Borg is doing fine.

I guess that depends on your definition of "fine." Is it still profitable? Yes. Does the future look bright? Take a look:

Borgata Casino Win <-- Win = Revenue (NOT Profit)
Feb 2007: $58.9 million ($34.4 slots, $22.4 tables, $2.1 poker)
Feb 2008: $60.9 million ($34.7 slots, $24.0 tables, $2.2 poker)
Feb 2009: $57.3 million ($33.4 slots, $22.0 tables, $2.0 poker)
Feb 2010: $45.5 million ($30.0 slots, $13.8 tables, $1.7 poker)

Then again, it could be worse. AC Hilton's gaming revenue was $24.7 million in Feb 2006. In Feb 2010 it was $11.2 million. Resorts dropped from $22.0 million to $10.8 during that same time. Taj dropped from $39.3 million two years ago to $28.3 this year.

Again, all this data is publicly available here:
http://www.state.nj.us/casinos/financia/mthrev/

Oh man, that would be so ****ing awesome.

Atlantic City was very crowded this past weekend. Between Beer Fest, Carrie Underwood and Alicia Keys, plenty of people were in town and the Taj was packed with people. IMO this is one of the things they need to do...keep the big events coming that will draw large crowds to the city. Mid-week will always be tougher due to people working.

Don't forget the blizzards we had in February.

Stan

How can I get a Black Jack table to operate? $42,150 in one night, sounds great to me.

Lee

One HUGE difference between Las Vegas (just came back from my first trip there) and Atlantic City is all the entertainment options that are available in Vegas. Lots of shows - including some great free ones (Bellagio's fountain, Treasurer Island's Siren show, the Volcano in front of Mirage, etc.) as well as ones that are paid for - and which often run 7 days a week.

In short, there are always options other than gambling. In addition, restaurants are open for much longer periods of time - not just the 5:30 to 9 or so that I usually see in Atlantic City.

I think that AC needs to work on this. Give people reasons to stick around. Give couples, especially those where 1 person doesn't like to gamble, reasons to come into town and spend money. Not just the clubs for the 20-somethings, but stuff for us older folk as well.

Lee

Every entertainment industry company's numbers look like that. Read the paper. There's a ****storm out there. In another two years this will be just a blip in the past.

Found out at a Harrah's Chester job fair that they will have a poker room with 25 tables.

25 tables is close to what Showboat AC has, right?

Edit:

Looking like Harrah's Chester may be the poker center of Philadelphia for the first couple years anyway. Poker related updates for Foxwoods/Wynn and Sugarhouse...

Wynn makes his Foxwoods pitch
Sounds good I guess.

SugarHouse Casino has officially asked the state gaming control board for permission to operate table games
That sounds a lot like the stupid carnival game version, not actual poker.

According to the PA Gaming Control Board, the following casinos have officially been approved for 12 poker tables each:

Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem
Mount Airy Casino Resort
Hollywood Casino at Penn National

Couple of my friends got calls back from Harrah's Chester this week after interviewing and testing for dealer jobs, so it looks like they're almost done the hiring process for their room(rumored to be 25 tables).

Wynn pulls out of Foxwoods deal

By Jennifer Lin

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Wynn Resorts, Limited said today it is pulling out of all agreements and negotiations with respect to the Foxwoods Casino in South Philadelphia.

"We are fascinated by the legalization of full gaming in Pennsylvania and stimulated by the opportunity that it presents for Wynn Resorts, but this particular project did not, in the end, present an opportunity that was appropriate for our company," commented Stephen A. Wynn, Chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts, Limited.

yeah cuz of all the asians bitchen and moanin about it. that casino shoulda been built 2 years ago. i can't wait to play at harrahs chester, it'll save me so much gas money and time.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/c..._together.html

"Wynn and Revel: Perfect together?

Gaming tycoon Steve Wynn's rejection of the Foxwoods project could signal the stars may be aligning to rescue Atlantic City's largest-ever casino construction project.

Fox29 is reporting this morning that Tuesday, Wynn toured the partially built Revel casino-hotel complex on the Boardwalk adjacent to the Showboat, just days after Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley announced it was selling its stake in the half-built mega-resort--and expected to do so at a huge discount."

Yes, all of the news from Philly says that the Foxwoods project is dead. And there is more than one report that Wynn is headed to AC to buy the Revel.

The other casinos in AC just felt winter chill.

Why should anyone believe Steve Wynn? Afterall, this is the man who on Monday was showing off the drawings for a Philly casino and saying how great it was going to be, and then three days later backed out of the deal.

I have no idea what he is or isn't thinking, but especially given that he may well have some of the same or similar Macau issues that MGM has, I'm not even sure that he could get a license in AC.

Basically, why would/should he be trusted to complete the Revel?

Lee

Here's my theory. He's not sure if the Foxwoods casino would be a hit and prefers not to be one of the firsts in Philadelphia. When he heard about the deal with Revel he jumped ship and is thinking about Revel. The reason he is going with Revel instead of Foxwoods is because he sees Borgata's increased profit from last year and wants to open a casino to compete...or something like that. What do you guys think?

"Resorts Atlantic City, which in a tax filing earlier this week said it could not guarantee it will be able to survive, was down by 13.9 percent. The Atlantic City Hilton, which stopped paying its mortgage last July, was down 11.9 percent."

This would not be happening without Pa slots.

Otherwise, the casinos are stabilizing,for the most part.

"The Tropicana Casino and Resort, which was sold out of bankruptcy court last month to billionaire investor Carl Icahn, was down less than 1 percent.

The traditional market leader, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa was down 1.6 percent.

Bally's Atlantic City was down 3.1 percent; Caesars Atlantic City was down 3.2 percent, and Trump Marina Hotel Casino was down 4.0 percent. The Showboat Casino Hotel was down 4.2 percent, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was down 6.5 percent, and the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort saw the biggest decline, 21.6 percent."

http://www.courierpostonline.com/art...NEWS01/4100358

AC is a beach resort location, it will never disappear. who can compete with the ocean? the casinos however, will suffer immensely from the competition in ALL surrounding states. they are so over populated with casinos its sick. im sure the taj, borgata, and some harrahs will always be there, but overall....philly will almost single-handedly shut AC down tho

The appeal for Atlantic City is gambling and the beach. A nice fat % of people who go to AC come from PA. If there is gambling local, then why would we drive all the way to AC for a ****ty beach? Free rooms? Perhaps. And the hands down best AC casino resort isn't even on the beach (Borgata).

PA gambling is making a nice dent in AC gambling revenues, as well as the local AC economy.

Poker in PA? No more AC for me.

Tend to agree that with DE, PA and eastern WV all in launch mode, the AC market will be affected. Hard to fight the end of a geographic monopoly.

However...., here's a couple potential positives for AC; first, all the new outlets will probably bring in many new players. Some of them will want to play AC and try well known rooms like the Borg and Taj. Secondly, we're already hearing some of the new rooms are planning to charge up to $6+1(bad beat) up to 10%. AC may shine to some extent by executing better and competing favorably on cost/rake.

The Venetian in Vegas has emerged as the top/near top room in Vegas by being treating their players with more respect/care than the former top dog room/s and being very competitive on some of the rakes ($2-3 on some games sometimes). Maybe some of the 2nd tier AC rooms will try harder. IMO if they don't they'll be the first to go.

Hopefully the bigger player pool and competition for AC will be a positive all around.

Also a PA resident and agree with your first observation.
Not sure how poker will play out in PA.
If it's not up to par, I see myself sticking with AC.
I just can't image any PA location coming close to matching the well-run and aesthetically appealing Borgata poker room.
Will be strange sleeping in my own bed at night in PA.