East Coast Gambler

Last week almost 10% of Harrah’s shares of ownership were registered with the FCC.  Immediate thoughts were that the company would be going public, but that isn’t likely right away.

The SEC form used to register those shares, called an S-1, is the same one used as the first step toward an initial public offering, or IPO. Based on the S-1 filing Thursday, The Wall Street Journal erroneously reported that Harrah’s was planning an IPO.

The registration, made on behalf of hedge-fund manager John Paulson, does not necessarily mean those shares will be sold on public markets. The decision to trade Harrah’s shares publicly rests with company management, which has indicated no immediate plans to do so.

John Paulson is a billionaire investor who made a ton of money betting against sub prime mortgages when the real estate bubble crashed.  He will do something with his 10% ownership of Harrah’s, but the 4th quarter isn’t the best time for an IPO so I look for him to be patient and time this perfectly.  He has enough loot stashed where he doesn’t have to rush things.  At the first moment of clean air he’ll be ready to move.

photo: vegas-dreaming.com

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I did my first roundup of casino earnings last quarter and the information is easily available so I figure it’s worth sharing.  On a headline glance the information is mixed.

• Boyd Gaming profits drop 75%. LV Sun
• MGM net income down a lot, but revenue about even year over year. LV Sun
• Las Vegas Sands turns in much better quarter than same period last year.  LV Sun
• Wynn profits double in the second quarter because of Macau income.  LV Sun
• Harrah’s has 2nd quarter loss, but sees upside. LV Sun
• Hard Rock Hotel loses 35% on earnings. LV Sun
• UPDATE: Station Casinos Loses Widen.  LV Sun
• UPDATE: Even improvements don’t slow Tropicana loses. LV Sun
  

I’ll update this information as more becomes available.  For more commentary check Two way Hard Three.  There’s always great feedback from their community.

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Why aren’t there any (or many) $5 blackjack tables at the casino?  That’s a common question I see on the message boards that I read.  Common sense always lead me to believe there weren’t many $5 table because the casinos don’t make much money on them.  I found some proof of this and thought I’d share.

The chart shows that a full $5 blackjack table only earns the casino about $42 an hour where a $25 table with only two people earns about twice and much.

I didn’t know the math, but this makes sense to me.  Next time you walk though a casino and you see all of those almost empty $25 tables you know why they are there.

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I tend to keep away from corporate casino hotel earnings, but I’ve noticed that there have been a lot of incoming searches for this so I figured that I would round up a bunch of information for those looking.

• Golden Nugget Reports Increase In Revenue. LV Sun
• Las Vegas Sands Narrows Loss In First Quarter.  LV Sun
• Tropicana Reports Loss; Cites Las Vegas “Room Inventory Imbalance”. LV Sun
• Harrah’s Reports a Loss as Recession Takes Toll. LV Sun
• CityCenter Pushes MGM Mirage to First Quarter Loss. LV Sun
• Boyd Gaming Returns To Profit, Notes Improving Economy. LV Sun
• Wynn Resorts Sees Profit in First Quarter. LV Sun
• Hard Rock Hotel Reports First Quarter Loss of $26.5 Million. LV Sun
• Station Casinos Reports Revenue Drop in Fourth Quarter of 09. LV Sun

Each article has is accompanied with commentary.  Check Two Way Hard Three‘s thread for non-local comments.  Non-locals always have a different point of view.

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Shuffle Master’s profits rose in the second quarter despite lower sales and revenue than a year ago as well as large severance payments.  However, leased units increased from 5,354 in 2008 to 5,565 in 2009.  So, why is this interesting to me?

As I’ve mentioned before I’ve played a lot of 3 card poker this year.  I’ve noticed more 3 card poker games as well as 4 card poker and other new poker type games at the casinos.  I’ve also noticed this year that there are very few blackjack tables where the dealers still shuffle the cards.  I don’t really like this because I always enjoy the break.  Noticing this, I’m surprised to see that sales are a little down and leases are only a little higher.  The economy has certainly slowed down purchases.  I didn’t think this segment of the gaming industry slowed as much.

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