Will Blackhawk be the next AC

Typing on a tablet. Will post a link later.

HISTORY : Late 1970's Centennial horse rack track. Big handle. Easy to get to with Denver city bus. Treated customers good.
Drive up betting window 7am to Noon. Supervised playground for kids, promotions etc.
Dog racing at Mile High. Lousy management.

Early 1980's. Centennial sold for housing lots and shopping center. Bonds floated for new horse race track east of Denver
Airport. No bus service. Roof bleakest overruns. Bankrupt and closed.

Late 1980's. Mile HIgh the only game in town. Matinees and night dog races. Big pot holes in parking lot.

1990 and casinos legal. Start of the end for Mile High and Arapahoe.

2000 till today. No exact dates.

Penn National buys Bullwhackers, buys adjoining Broncos Billy , reopens Silver Hawk at rear of parking lot.
Gonna show the locals how to run a casino. Throws out BJ tables plus biggest poker room in Blackhawk.

Ameristar buys bankrupt casino and unfinished hotel. Promotes table games and poker rooms. Better comps
On slots than Bullwhackers.

TODAY : Silver Hawk closed again. Broncos BIlly leased to Sasquash. Bullwhackers sold to Johnny Z.
Ameristar has 38 percent of Blakhawk market.

NOW THE REAL NEWS ; Casino back east bought Mile High, which bought Arapahoe horse track. And on the referendum
This November.is a bill to fund K -12 education. And allow Arapahoe to build a casino. And let Grand
Junction and Pueblo Bill racetracks and casinos.

Arapahoe casino right now, other two must race for 5 years. Then add casino.
Casino minimum size 2500 slots. Ameristar had 1500.

The plot thickens.

Mile High warchest 2.1 Million$

Mountain warchest 9.0 Million$

Last vote in 2003 to expand gambling defeated 80-20% at the polls.

But will the pothead vote change things ?

Pueblo is in South Colorado

Grand Junction at Western Border with Utah.

Expect pro campaign to stress money leaving the state for New Mexico and Nevada.

Hey, it worked for other eastern states money leaving for AC !

I don't want it to go to Buzz's head but I think he's right. AC is seeing a huge shrinking of their market due to increased competition. This is bound to happen other places as well. I would expect Vegas to be fairly immune as it's still Americas adult playground. But there are just too many casinos in some smaller markets. I have family in Eastern Iowa, and there are 5 or 6 casinos within a 3 or 4 hour drive. Granted some of them are small, but last time I was out there (about a year ago), there was already speculation that 1 or 2 of them might close. It will be interesting to see where the tipping point on casino saturation is. We must be close to it.

Quote: vendman1

I would expect Vegas to be fairly immune as it's still Americas adult playground.

Actually, I think Caesar's is going to implode in 2015 unless there are some immediate and dramatic changes in the way it does business.

Quote: vendman1

I would expect Vegas to be fairly immune as it's still Americas adult playground.

While no one and nothing is immune to the vagaries of the tourist market, Vegas has a lot going for it besides gambling. I could do the laundry list of shows, restaurants, shopping, etc., but one thing that really helps is the permanent quasi-party atmosphere in the Strip and Downtown. I mean the open, and free attractions, including the street perfromers, the freedom to drink out in the open, the density of casinos/restaurants/shops/whole-laundry-list, the free booze, free music, etc. I don't think that's something you find elsewhere.

Here's the numbers. A few surprises, that's for sure.

http://www.lvcva.com/includes/content/images/media/docs/2013-Las_Vegas_Visitor_Profile.pdf

Quote: darrellg

Actually, I think Caesar's is going to implode in 2015 unless there are some immediate and dramatic changes in the way it does business.

Well true Caesars has huge debt service issues. But that's a function of their mismanagement/over expansion. Not the LV casino market. Also as others pointed out LV has established itself as a party destination as well. Lots of 20 somethings going to clubs and such, gamble little if at all. So I think Vegas will be largely immune to a shrinking casino marketplace.

Was reading the latest Casino Journal. Don't recall the exact numbers, but for the latest reporting period, Las Vegas now gets only 37% of its revenue from gaming. Contrast the same period in Macau, where 90% of revenue is gaming.

Shakeouts will be tougher wherever the game is harder to play. In New Jersey, players really have to trek to an out of the way area that has nothing but casinos and crack houses.

NJ and Colorado each strongly regulate and take quite a tax bite. Colorado also has traffic and hill climb problems.

Colorado tax top rate on casinos is 20%. New bill would make it 34% But Blackhawk would never see that if Denver had a casino that did not involve driving up the canyon or I70, especially in the winter months.
I put the chances of passage at 50/50. Western Slope and South Colorado desperate for jobs. Biggest employer in Grand Junction Is Star Trek. $8-$10 hr labor, $12 for management.

Quote: Buzzard

Colorado tax top rate on casinos is 20%. New bill would make it 34% But Blackhawk would never see that if Denver had a casino that did not involve driving up the canyon or I70, especially in the winter months.
I put the chances of passage at 50/50. Western Slope and South Colorado desperate for jobs. Biggest employer in Grand Junction Is Star Trek. $8-$10 hr labor, $12 for management.

Has there been any talk of raising the $100 max bet? Seems like there would be plenty of medium-rollers who would bet more if they were able, and hence bring in more revenue for the casino and state.

$100 max bet is ridiculous. I didn't realize that CO was such a nanny state.

Quote: AxiomOfChoice

$100 max bet is ridiculous. I didn't realize that CO was such a nanny state.

It wasn't that long ago that the max bet was $5 in Colorado.