Which small Las Vegas strip Casinos won't make it in the next year.

Small Casinos in the Las Vegas strip are defined by the Nevada Gaming Commission as those that make less than $72 million in gaming revenue for the last fiscal year (1 July 08 -30 Jun 09). There are 15 such casinos using their definition with about 13,000 rooms.

Small is a relative word as they collectively made $476 million in gaming revenue and $629 million in non-gaming revenue.

Hard Rock has invested heavily in two new hotel towers, a new concert venue and a revamped casino to try and move into the big time. They are hoping to have the monorail extended towards them. They make much more money in non-gaming revenue than in gaming.

Circus Circus made more than $72 million last year, and has dropped below as profitability of this MGM property plunges to an all time low. MGMMIRAGE makes much more money on their other budget property, Excalibur, because they can get an average of $17 more per room, people are surrounded by other MGMMIRAGE properties, and Excalibur attracts people who are want a good location without spending a lot on a room while Circus Circus attracts people who bring a cooler full of beer and snacks. Circus Circus is the largest of these casinos by number of rooms.

Riviera and Casino Royale have been thought of as potential tear downs for years. Bill's Gambling Hall and Saloon was purchased as a tear down before the economy swamped Harrah's vision.

Terrible's was an old casino from the 1970's brought back from the grave by Herbst Gaming. Herbst was a successful slot run and gas station operator in Las Vegas who went on a buying spree of 14 old casinos around the state right before the recession. They went bankrupt and are in re-organization. This near strip casino was to be the reward for their Midwest Players who accumulate points and want to come to Vegas. Pit and dining options are minimal.

Sahara's is a sentimental favorite that was going to be upgraded big time without tearing down the core structures. It's a NASCAR hangout with a specialty lounge.

Tropicana is also a classic structure that went into bankruptcy but is being upgraded by a former MGM executive who thinks that it will be a money making budget property. They have lost all their classic stage shows, and LUXOR took their "Dead bodies" and "Titanic" exhibits.

Hooters has never made money, and now casino revenue is dropping by huge percentages. They gave up their dark insult comic headliner, Bobby Slayton, to Tropicana. Although they sell a lot of greasy food, and Hooters crap, they can't make money to pay the huge mortgage on this place without a successful casino.

The others are inexpensive hotels, a pedestrian casino and other less than ideal locations.

Which ones (if any) do you think are doomed. Keep in mind that slot and non baccarat pit revenue has dropped by over $1.5 billion on the strip in the last 27 months, while these casinos collectively made less than 1/2 billion in gaming revenue. They reported a net loss of 46% last year, while the larger casinos reported a net loss of 29%.

Up to now, the recession has not resulted in the permanent closing of a single strip casino. In terms of capacity vs. demand for gambling, the demand for gambling has dropped by three times the gambling revenue of all of these strip casinos combined.

CIRCUS CIRCUS HOTEL & CASINO

RIVIERA HOTEL & CASINO

TROPICANA RESORT AND CASINO

SAHARA HOTEL & CASINO

TUSCANY LAS VEGAS

TERRIBLE'S HOTEL AND CASINO

HOOTERS CASINO HOTEL

BILL'S GAMBLIN' HALL & SALOON

CASINO ROYALE

SLOTS-A-FUN

ELLIS ISLAND CASINO

CASUARINA CASINO LAS VEGAS

WILD WILD WEST GAMBLING HALL & HOTEL

HARD ROCK HOTEL & CASINO

MICHAEL J. GAUGHAN AIRPORT SLOT CONCESSI

Orleans, Stratosphere, and Mardi Gras are not defined as strip hotels by the NGC.

I have not heard that the Hard Rock is trying to get a monorail location. If it does, it would make it a much more attractive property.

Well, there is always talk of the monorail being extended to the Airport, so the Hard Rock wowuld be one of the logical places to put a station.

With respect the land on the east side of the street between the Venetian and Bally's I think the issue is land. With the Flamingo, Harrah's and the IP in place, it would be difficult to get rid of Bill's and Casinos without one of the larger properties already there simply taking it over. Perhaps Harrah's might make a move, implode the whole lot, and make a new mega-Harrah's.

Quote: boymimbo

With respect the land on the east side of the street between the Venetian and Bally's I think the issue is land. With the Flamingo, Harrah's and the IP in place, it would be difficult to get rid of Bill's and Casinos without one of the larger properties already there simply taking it over. Perhaps Harrah's might make a move, implode the whole lot, and make a new mega-Harrah's.

Their stated plan circa 2005 was to implode IP and Bill's and O'Shea's and try to coordinate the entire block. Basically, it turned out that trashy old IP combined with the attraction of Harrah's loyalty card started making money. When the whole thing started collapsing they got nervous about such a huge endeavor. The restated goal was to keep everything except Bill's. Now the goal is something like slumlording. Harrah's strip revenue alone dropped by a billion dollars since the recession.

Given my observation that all forms of gambling except baccarat are crashing in revenue, I assume that Harrah's is thinking primarily about Ceasars and Paris (and the newly acquired Planet Hollywood).

Quote: gambler

I have not heard that the Hard Rock is trying to get a monorail location. If it does, it would make it a much more attractive property.

The main idea is that to simply extend the monorail down Tropicana would limit it's usefulness. They want to bring it north for one block up Koval which means that for one block it will have a south section and north section only 350 yards apart. Send it east on Harmon Avenue with a stop at the corner of Koval and Harmon Avenue for future development on both sides of Harmon Avenue.

Then it would have a stop at Hard Rock which would also serve future development south of Harmon Avenue at Paradise. Finally it would go to the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and then down Swenson Street to the airport.

The area between Tropicana and Flamingo, bounded by Koval and Paradise would be the main area for future mega resort development. The current owners of 60 acres on the north side are the Africa Israel Group which is seeking permits to build the the world's largest hotel .

Let's assume that Baccarat is an Asian game and that most of the revenue from Baccarat is from that population. The rest of the strip is suffering because of the recession and the reticence for people to fly into Las Vegas. People are opting instead for shorter trips to more local casinos who are also hurting but probably not as much (no evidence to prove at this time).

So the way that Vegas will capitalize (at least the way that I would gamble) is to wait out the recession and wait for things to come back.

The monorail, good as it is, is not the preferred mode of travel along the strip. Extending it to the airport will greatly enhance its usefulness. My feeling is that building the biggest hotel in the world, off the strip, is a gigantic gamble. Before it gets built, I would think that the developers would need to look at how Aria and Fountainebleau are doing as well as the remainder of the strip.

You have to look at the capacity of the Monorail too if you extend it to the airport. The fact sheet states that each train can seat 72 and standing room capacity for 150. With service every five-six minutes during peak times, it can move 1,600 in each direction per hour. It would probably take and extra 7-8 minutes to add the Hard Rock and new hotel's stops to the monorail. I would think that you would need to add capacity to the monorail which won't be easy due to the technology.

I've been to Vegas five times now. While I realize that there are good casinos off the strip (Palms, downtown, Rio, Green Valley, etc), I really have no desire to go to them. What will make this development different? Maybe the hotel will support itself, but then, are you really getting the Las Vegas experience? What's the point?

Quote: boymimbo

I've been to Vegas five times now. While I realize that there are good casinos off the strip (Palms, downtown, Rio, Green Valley, etc), I really have no desire to go to them. What will make this development different? Maybe the hotel will support itself, but then, are you really getting the Las Vegas experience? What's the point?

Well, there is the Las Vegas Hilton, although that is anchored to the convention center. This could also attract convention business. In years past (not this year apparently), CES spilled out to the Sands Convention Center, the Hilton, and all halls of the Convention Center. It (and the Adult Entertainment Expo that shares the week) might need space to expand.