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Sunday, March 4, 2012

Rubber-Stamping Insolvency

It's simplistic to blame the 'recession' when "Casino Capitalist" investors and Gambling Regulators bear a great deal of responsibility for ignoring INSOLVENCY.

New Jersey's Gambling Commission rubber-stamped licenses they knew were insolvent - Trump's and Merv Griffin's bankruptcies pre-date any 'recession.'

It's all about abdicating responsibility.


Will this happen in Massachusetts? We already have the insolvent MGM, Mohegan Sun and Caesars salivating to suck discretionary dollars out of the local economy. And Wynn, known for budget overruns, isn't far behind.


What dummy invests in this kind of loser?


The solution? Ahhhh! Reduce the taxes, offer incentives, government bailouts, the state becomes partners in sponsoring GAMBLING ADDICTION on whatever pretext - we can't loose jobs, blah, blah, blah. Same reasons. Different state.


We'll see how much sense Mr. Crosby has.

'Bad times': Several major casinos saddled with heavy debt
By Bill O'Driscoll, USA TODAY

Several major casino companies in the USA are grappling with heavy debt taken on in better economic times, and industry observers expect more as the list of states vying for gamblers' dollars grows.

The biggest operator, Caesars Entertainment with 52 properties worldwide including the Harrah's chain, is working with its lenders to manage $22 billion in debt tied to when the company was taken private in 2006, according to gaming analysts in Reno.

MGM Resorts International, whose properties include the Circus Circus name, Bellagio and New York-New York, has $13.6 billion of its own debt, its fourth-quarter 2011 earnings report shows.

Tribal-owned Foxwoods in Connecticut, the USA's biggest casino, defaulted in 2009 and is restructuring a debt estimated at $2 billion.

In Las Vegas, Station Casinos emerged last summer after two years in bankruptcy court, and the bankrupt Hooters Hotel was bought at auction earlier this month by its main lender, an affiliate Canyon Capital Realty Advisors, court documents show.

In Reno, the 2,000-room Grand Sierra Resort was taken over by its chief lender in 2009 and the Siena Hotel Spa & Casino went bankrupt in 2010, reopening last year under new owners.

Now Reno's 35-story Silver Legacy Resort Casino is scrambling to refinance a $142.8 million mortgage note due Thursday.

"It's not so much bad management on their part. It's bad times," Reno gaming analyst Ken Adams said of the struggling properties.

Nationwide, gaming revenues are only now showing life in a 2.3% uptick in the first 11 months of 2011, American Gaming Association figures show. Even so, the number of vulnerable casinos, particularly in shrinking markets like Atlantic City and Reno-Tahoe, will grow, said I. Nelson Rose, professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, Calif., and expert on gaming law.

"Places in Nevada and Atlantic City and Foxwoods had the horrible misfortune of expanding right when recession hit," Rose said. " The only states left now without any kind of gambling are Hawaii and Utah. I expect we will continue to see more bankruptcies."

Adams cited hotspots for possible future financial woes, including:

• Atlantic City, which continues to battle casinos in nearby Pennsylvania and Delaware for the coveted Philadelphia-to-New York market, and will add the new $2.4 billion, 47-story Revel resort in April on the Boardwalk.

"That will put huge pressure on the old properties," Adams said.

• States adjoining Ohio, where up to four casinos are planned to open after voters approved legalized gaming in 2010.

"That will stress Indiana and Pennsylvania," Adams said.

• Reno-Tahoe, which shows no signs of recovery after reeling for a decade from California tribal casinos which have siphoned off Nevada-bound travelers over Interstate 80 and U.S. Highway 50.

There could be more, Adams said. Massachusetts has approved three casinos and efforts are ongoing to in New York state.

Contributing: O'Driscoll also reports for the Reno Gazette-Journal.

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