Casino Vulture in the White House

Transition: Gambling interests seek friend in Trump

The industry awaits policy positions from the president-elect and former casino owner on Internet gambling, sports betting and daily fantasy sports.

By Wayne Parry Associated Press

Donald Trump will be the first U.S. president to have ever owned a casino, and the gambling industry is wondering how he will handle three major issues: Internet gambling, sports betting and daily fantasy sports.

The industry has sent its wish list to the president-elect. The American Gaming Association told The Associated Press it has asked Trump for fewer regulations, approval of sports betting, a crackdown on illegal gambling, tax reform and immigration policies that don't dry up the flow of overseas gamblers - and workers - to U.S. casinos.

"President Trump, his administration and Congress will unquestionably implement policies that will directly impact our industry for years to come," Whitaker Askew, the association's vice president, told the AP.

Kirk Blalock, a lobbyist who worked for the George W. Bush administration, said Trump "comes to the table with a good, solid understanding of how the industry works and what the challenges are."

Just three states - New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware - allow Internet gambling, and well-financed opponents, backed by billionaire casino magnate and Trump backer Sheldon Adelson, want to ban it nationwide.

Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, formed a company in New Jersey to explore the possibility of offering Internet gambling in New Jersey before the state legalized it in 2013, but they never applied for a license to do it.

In a brief interview in September, Trump told the AP he had not settled on a position regarding online gambling.

His transition team did not respond to several recent requests for comment. The gaming association does not take a position on Internet gambling.

Sports betting is currently legal in four states: Nevada, Oregon, Delaware and Montana. And dozens of states are grappling with whether daily fantasy sports, in which players put up money to compete with each other to assemble teams of athletes who accrue points based on their real-world performances, constitutes a game of skill that does not need to be regulated, or gambling, which does.

In a November 2015 interview with Fox Sports 1, Trump indicated he would not oppose sports betting or daily fantasy sports.

Trump owned three casinos in Atlantic City, as well as one in Indiana for a time. Two of his former Atlantic City casinos, Trump Plaza and the Trump Taj Mahal, have closed. The third, Trump Marina, was sold to Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta, who now runs it as the Golden Nugget.

http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20161226/transition-gambling-interests-seek-friend-in-trump

Gambling industry eyes Trump policies

Denton Record Chronicle

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Donald Trump will be the first U.S. president to have ever owned a casino, and thegambling industry is wondering how he ...

Gambling industry hopes casino mogul in White House pays off

Macau Daily Times

Donald Trump will be the first U.S. president to have ever owned a casino, and the gambling industry is wondering how he will handle three major ...

STEVEN STRADBROOKE

CAESARS OFFERS CREDITORS ANOTHER $1.6B, WOULD SPELL END OF HEDGE FUND OWNERSHIP

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Casino operator Caesars Entertainment has improved its offer to junior creditors to over $5b, but the offer is only good until Friday.

On Wednesday, Caesars added an extra $1.6b to the $4b it had already offered junior bondholders of Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. (CEOC), the main unit of Caesars that filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2015, citing $18.4b in debt.

The total amount that the parent company is offering junior creditors now exceeds the $5.1b that an independent examiner determined the parent was liable for if these creditors were to prevail in their lawsuits in Delaware and New York.

Most of the additional $1.6b is coming from Caesars’ hedge fund owners, Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital, who have agreed to give up their equity in Caesars in exchange for releasing them from liability related to those creditor lawsuits.

The lawsuits were filed after creditors accused Caesars and the hedge funds of illegally shifting profitable assets out of CEOC and into other Caesars units prior to the bankruptcy filing. Creditors have also accused the parent company of reneging on guarantees to honor CEOC’s debts.

The extra $1.6b includes $100m from Caesars directors and officers, via their insurance companies. Last week, US Bankruptcy Judge William Goldgar approved a creditor request to have a peek at the personal finances of some of these directors and hedge fund owners in order to determine how much they could contribute to CEOC’s restructuring.

An additional $400k would come from “small” reductions in recoveries by senior creditors, most of whom have already approved CEOC’s restructuring. These senior creditors have to sign off on these reductions for the plan to go ahead.

On Wednesday, CEOC attorney David Seligman told the Illinois bankruptcy court that this “best and final” offer was only valid until Friday. The creditors have argued in court that they are owed $12.6b, and it remains to be seen whether they’ll take Caesars bait or roll the dice and see how the lawsuits turn out.

Should the creditors take the money on the table, it will bring an end to the hedge funds’ disastrous involvement in the Caesars debacle. The funds loaded up on $28b worth of debt to purchase the then-named Harrah’s in 2007, only to have the financial rug pulled from under their feet when the global economy tanked the following year, a setback from which the company never recovered.

http://calvinayre.com/2016/09/21/casino/caesars-final-offer-creditors/

STEVEN STRADBROOKE

BANKRUPTCY JUDGE GIVES CAESARS CREDITORS THE OKAY TO VOTE ON RESTRUCTURING

JUNE 23, 2016

Casino operator Caesars Entertainment has received court approval to allow creditors to vote on the proposed restructuring plan of the operator’s bankrupt main unit.

On Wednesday, US Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar set a Jan. 17, 2017 confirmation hearing for the planned restructuring of Caesars Entertainment Operating Co (CEOC), which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year.

In issuing his ruling, Goldgar said there was “something poetic” about that January date, which comes two years and two days after CEOC filed its Chapter 11 paperwork, citing $18.4b in debts.

Goldgar’s frustration with the length of this process was on full display on Wednesday, as he insisted the parties were “going to finish this now.” However, he also said he expects Caesars’ path to creditor harmony would be neither short nor simple.

While the confirmation hearing is still seven months away, lawsuits filed by CEOC’s creditors in Delaware and New York could get underway by Aug. 29. Goldgar granted a temporary stay of the suits last week in a bid to allow Caesars more time in which to convince creditors to sign on to CEOC’s restructuring.

On Wednesday, CEOC lawyers claimed they’d made “significant progress” in getting senior creditors to approve the restructuring, and a lawyer representing a group of senior bondholders said his clients were close to signing on the dotted line.

The junior creditors who filed those Delaware and New York lawsuits are proving a tougher sell, as they’re the ones who’ve been asked to bear the brunt of the $10b that CEOC’s proposed restructuring would make disappear. They claim to be owed as much as $12.6b and think the extra $4b that the Caesars parent company has offered to contribute is an insult.

The junior creditors have accused Caesars of stripping CEOC of its more profitable assets and shifting them to other Caesars’ divisions in order to shield them from creditors’ clutches. The creditors have also accused Caesars’ hedge fund owners of unlawfully absolving the parent company of responsibility to honor the debts of its main unit. The parent company has said it will have to join CEOC in bankruptcy court if it’s required to honor those debt obligations.

http://calvinayre.com/2016/06/23/casino/bankruptcy-judge-okays-caesars-creditors-vote-restructuring/

Suffolk Downs, Caesars, f/n/a Harrah's, Gary Loveman

Caesars sought home at Suffolk Downs... 

STEVEN STRADBROOKE

CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT WINS TEMPORARY REPRIEVE OF CREDITOR LAWSUITS

JUNE 15, 2016

Beleaguered casino operator Caesars Entertainment has won a temporary reprieve from having to face creditor lawsuits.

On Wednesday, US Bankruptcy Court Judge Benjamin Goldgar told Caesars he had suspended bondholder lawsuits in Delaware and New York until Aug. 29. The period is shorter than Caesars had requested and Goldgar said the likelihood of him renewing the freeze after that date “will be slim.”

Caesars is attempting to restructure its main unit Caesars Entertainment Operating Co (CEOC), which filed for bankruptcy in January 2015, citing over $18b in debt.

Junior creditors, who have been asked to bear most of the fiscal pain of this restructuring, have filed lawsuits accusing CEOC’s parent company Caesars Entertainment Corporation (CEC) of illegally shifting profitable assets out of CEOC into other CEC divisions prior to the bankruptcy filing.

The creditors have also accused CEC’s hedge fund owners Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital of conspiring to ensure that the parent company was absolved of the obligation to honor its subsidiary’s massive debts.

The Delaware trial, which involves $3.7b in CEOC’s debt, was scheduled to commence on Thursday. The New York trial, which involves over $7b, had a hearing scheduled for next week. Caesars has argued that if these courts find CEC liable for CEOC’s debts, CEC will have to join CEOC in bankruptcy court.

CEC recently attempted to improve upon its original paltry offer that would have paid junior creditors pennies on the dollar. CEC’s hand was forced by the findings of an independent examiner, who determined that the asset transfers left CEC vulnerable to up to $5.1b in additional claims.

While Caesars execs expressed relief at Wednesday’s ruling, Goldgar warned them not to squander this opportunity. “There better be some conversations. You’ve got that time. Use it.”

The parties will be back in Goldgar’s Illinois court on June 22 for a hearing on CEOC’s request to allow creditors to vote on the company’s latest restructuring plan.

http://calvinayre.com/2016/06/15/casino/caesars-entertainment-temporary-reprieve-creditor-lawsuits/

Trump's history of stoking rivalries goes back to his casino days

• Julie Pace and Jeff Horwitz, Associated Press

AP Photo/Chaarles Rex Arbogast, FileIn this 1990 photo, Donald Trump ascends the stairs with his fist raised from the genie's lamp after opening the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in a spectacular show of fireworks and laser lights in Atlantic City.

When Donald Trump acquired a pair of Atlantic City casinos in the mid-1980s, he pitted his managers against each other in a ferocious competition over everything from booking entertainers to attracting high-rolling gamblers.

That one of those managers was his wife, Ivana Trump, didn't earn her any slack.

"His tactic there, as our success surpassed the Castle's in 1987, was to shove the Plaza's performance in Ivana's face, like a mirror, holding it up for her to see the reflection of a less than successful manager," John O'Donnell, Ivana Trump's rival in the casino wars, wrote in a 1991 book.

Trump's penchant for encouraging rivalries is now roiling his presidential campaign just as he's captured the GOP nomination, creating deep uncertainty among Republicans about his preparedness for a complex and costly general election campaign. The tensions boiled over last week with the abrupt ouster of political director Rick Wiley, who left the campaign after just six weeks.

Wiley found himself caught between Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, one of the businessman's original campaign staffers, and Paul Manafort, a veteran Republican hand who was brought in to bolster the operation in March. While Wiley was originally hired by Lewandowski, he aligned himself with Manafort's vision of a more robust and expensive campaign operation — a vision Trump does not appear to have fully bought into. He also was seen as being unwilling to fill top jobs in battleground states with people close to Lewandowski, according to people familiar with the decision.

Wiley did not respond to requests to discuss his tenure with the Trump campaign. Trump aides would not make the candidate available for an interview, but they did not dispute the notion that the real estate mogul encourages internal competition.

"Of course there's competition because you want the best," Lewandowski said. "That's the type of mindset you have to have in the federal government."

Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide who was fired last year, put the dynamic more bluntly: "He loves playing people against each other." Still, Nunberg said he appreciated the competitive environment, crediting it with keeping staffers creative and committed to the organization.

But for other Trump aides, the businessman's cutthroat style led to mistrust and paranoia.

"You can't trust the other guy's people," said Stuart Jolly, who resigned as Trump's campaign field director after Manafort and Wiley were given more power. Jolly confirmed Friday that he is joining the pro-Trump group Great America PAC as its political director.

Some current and former Trump advisers blamed the businessman for withholding information about staff changes from his team, sometimes leaving them to learn about internal developments in the media. Some have taken to shopping negative stories about their rivals to the press in a bid to undercut each other in the eyes of the boss — even if the stories reflect poorly on Trump.

Even more concerning for Trump as he eyes a likely faceoff with Democrat Hillary Clinton is the uncertainty the internal friction has created about the direction of the campaign. People close to the campaign say there are major questions about battleground state hiring, voter targeting efforts and super PAC fundraising.

Those close to the campaign insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the campaign publicly.

Trump turned his fondness for competition into ratings gold with his television show "The Apprentice," where rival teams battled against each other to impress the boss. Those who failed were unceremoniously fired — a made-for-television version of events that sometimes played out in Trump's real businesses.

In 1985 and 1986, Trump acquired full control of two Atlantic City casinos in quick succession. Ivana Trump was put in charge of one, named Trump Castle, while the other — Trump Plaza — was overseen by casino managers hired away from gambling titan Steve Wynn.

Reuters/Mark MakelaSteven Nordaby and Tony Demidio, of Calvi Electric, remove the letter 'A' from the signage of Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Castle and Plaza managers were expected to compete over everything from casino entertainers to which property bought more copies of Trump's autobiography, "The Art of the Deal."

The most heated competition of all: which casino could draw the high-rolling gamblers who would wager thousands of dollars per hand. By 1987, the larger and more luxurious Plaza was successfully wooing this small but elite set, aided by top-tier prize fights in the Atlantic City Convention Center next door.

Instead of allowing the Plaza to establish itself as the unrivaled venue for high-rollers in Atlantic City, however, Trump underwrote Ivana's campaign to compete for them.

Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Gabrielle's Angel FoundationNEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 19: Ivana Trump attends Angel Ball 2015 hosted by Gabrielle's Angel Foundation at Cipriani Wall Street on October 19, 2015 in New York City.

"If we presented a $100,000 player with a gold Rolex watch, the Castle gave him two," O'Donnell wrote in his book book "Trumped! The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump — His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall." In a 1997 interview, Trump said "the stuff O'Donnell wrote about me is probably true," using an expletive to describe his former executive as a loser.

When Plaza managers pleaded to Trump that the competition between his two casinos was ill advised, Trump mocked them.

"What are you worried about Ivana for," he told one executive, according to O'Donnell's book. "She's just a woman. She can't take the business."

The competition described by O'Donnell led to an ill-advised, $70 million addition to Trump Castle, dubbed "The Crystal Tower," and continued even after Trump sent Ivana back to New York and three of the Plaza's top executives died in a helicopter crash.

Within weeks of the accident, Trump's Castle team launched a surprise raid on Trump's other casino: It's top executive leased office space directly above the Plaza's marketing department, offering the Plaza team raises of up to 30 percent to defect.

http://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-history-of-stoking-rivalries-goes-back-to-his-casino-days-2016-5

N.J. fiddles as Atlantic City drowns

Updated: MAY 8, 2016
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20160508_N_J__fiddles_as_Atlantic_City_drowns.html#b2oYYTu7pX0DEmQH.99

Instead of crafting a desperately needed plan to help Atlantic City, New Jersey's elected leaders are staging a vulgar north-south, bicameral rumble in the Statehouse.

They spent last week promoting dueling bills and holding obnoxious, blame-trading press conferences to distract from their refusal to acknowledge the real problem: Atlantic City needs money.

Two years ago, the city lost four of its 12 casinos as gambling proliferated in Pennsylvania and other nearby states. Now it is lurching toward bankruptcy and likely to run out of money this month or next. This is in spite of six years of state oversight, a significant reduction in municipal expenses, and a city administration frantically trying to stay afloat, even negotiating deferred pay with its employees.

But in Trenton, there's no such attention to Atlantic City's survival. True to form, the state's politicians have larded up the agenda with pet projects like gambling in North Jersey, ulterior motives like looting whatever they can take from Atlantic City, and a proxy war over which Democrat might succeed Gov. Christie - Steve North (Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop) or Steve South (Senate President Steve Sweeney of Gloucester County).

If any of these people actually care about Atlantic City, they must act swiftly, wisely, and (gasp) selflessly, understanding that rescuing the resort will protect the state's investment and the region's economy. They must set aside backroom deals to build casinos in the north or handcuff Atlantic City's leaders so they can dole out recovery contracts. And, above all, they're going to have to cough up some money.

Atlantic City has been a cash cow for New Jersey. By rights, it should get some cash back. Mayor Don Guardian told the Editorial Board last week that the city still sends the state $600 million a year in casino, employment, parking, hotel, and other taxes and fees. Surely some of that can be returned to patch up the state's broken piñata.

Competing Senate and Assembly legislation could be reconciled into a single, solid recovery plan. A payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) bill can address a plague of property-tax appeals, giving the casinos predictable expenses and the city predictable revenues. The state also needs to provide strong, credible oversight and assistance to right the city's finances, but it has no justification to effectively undo the election that put Guardian in office just two years ago. Atlantic City's recovery can't succeed without local officials, who rightly cite the state's Camden takeover as a disheartening precedent.

The mayor has followed the advice of state overseers, reduced the city payroll significantly, and looked for more ways to save money. He also understands that no single grand gesture will save his town. He is working to boost long-term revenues by diversifying the local economy. He wants to attract baby boomers seeking second homes by the sea and millennials looking for trendy clubs and live music. He wants to clear the way for a solar farm on an undeveloped island and has started negotiating to bring small firms into town. Overall, he says he wants the resort to be more of a "real city."

It's an achievable goal if the state gets real about helping.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20160508_N_J__fiddles_as_Atlantic_City_drowns.html#b2oYYTu7pX0DEmQH.99

CZR: Caesars Entertainment bankruptcy trial pushed back

Remember when Caesars was salivating to invade Massachusetts? 

It wasn't necessary to be a financial analyst to recognize this belly-flop!

Suffolk Downs said "YES!" 

East Boston said "NO!"  Smart move!  

Consider subscribing to the site below to receive gambling industry reports: 

CZR:  Caesars Entertainment bankruptcy trial pushed back
12:59 pm, Tue, Jun. 23, 2015

Read now »

CZR: Caesars Entertainment hits 52-week low amid legal wrangling

Caesars partnered with Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts to invade the local market. 
If ya knew Caesars [formerly Harrah's] cash flow went to pay DEBT would you hook your wagon to their debt? 

CZR:  Caesars Entertainment hits 52-week low amid legal wrangling
1:30 pm, Fri, Jun. 6, 2015

Read now »

CZR:  Midday Gainers / Losers
12:47 pm, Fri, Jun. 6, 2015

Read now »

Declining rvenues with CORRUPTION crackdown, market saturation

If you're interested in the economic reports of the Predatory Gambling Industry,
you can subscribe to these email newsletter for enlightenment.



CZR: Caesars Entertainment -14% as investors digest court developments
2:41 pm, Mon, Jun. 6, 2015Read now »



CZR: Midday Gainers / Losers
12:48 pm, Mon, Jun. 6, 2015Read now »



WYNN: Macau gaming revenue down 37% in May
10:23 am, Mon, Jun. 6, 2015Read now »



MGM: Fight weekend projections strong for MGM Resorts
8:40 am, Mon, Jun. 6, 2015Read now »

Wait for the bailouts!

If you read a newspaper this week, you couldn't avoid comments about GAMBLING MARKET SATURATION. .....

Failing casinos? OMG!

The solution? TAXPAYER FUNDED BAILOUTS in various forms!




US gambling market saturated, yet casinos keep on coming

U.S. News & World Report

More casinos are planned soon for Philadelphia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland and New York. Hamilton noted that a planned second ...

Despite saturation, casinos keep popping up - Albany Times Union

US gambling market saturated, yet casinos keep on coming - Akron Beacon Journal

Will More Atlantic City Casinos Close? - Philadelphia Magazine (blog)

 

 

Despite US market saturation, casinos still coming

Youngstown Vindicator

Eugene Johnson, of Spectrum Gaming Group, says by the end of this year, there will be 60 casinos in the Northeast. That figure will grow to 65 by ...

 

 

Casinos Nearing Saturation Point

Wheeling Intelligencer

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - The casino market in the northeastern United States is saturated, yet that's not stopping some states from approving gambling ...

 

Atlantic City, NJ - US Gambling Market Saturated, Yet Casinos Keep On Coming

Vos Iz Neias

More casinos are planned soon for Philadelphia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland and New York. And New Jersey is considering allowing a ...

CZR: Teachable Moments In The Caesars Mess: A Strategy For A Post-Bankruptcy Move On The Stock That Emerges

Teachable Moments In The Caesars Mess: A Strategy For A Post-Bankruptcy Move On The Stock That Emerges by Howard Jay Klein
This article was published on Fri, May 29, 7:00 AM ET
Read the full article now »

1. How billionaires club members like John Paulson, Leon Black, David Bonderman and George Soros blundered on Caesars - proving transactional mentalities don't work in gaming shares

1. "Oh what a tangled web we weave

When first we practice to deceive…"
- Sir Walter Scott from Marmion

Lots of smart guys who it is generally believed, should have known better, took a once great company and essentially destroyed it by setting in motion a series of moves that resulted in a company that resembles a Rube Goldberg comic invention today: