Inside Asian Gaming

MAY 2015 inside asian gaming 93 March Gaming Revenue Down on the Strip Nevada gaming revenue declined again in March, thanks to a steep drop on the Las Vegas Strip. The Gaming Control Board said state casinos won $951.2 million in the month, down 3.2% year on year. On the Strip, where much of the state’s gaming revenue is generated, casinos won $507 million in March, down 9.6% from a year ago. Baccarat revenue there declined 33.7% to $67.6 million. But there was a silver lining when it came to baccarat, for which revenue was also down statewide by 33.1%. Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the gaming board, said baccarat betting volume was actually up by more than 16% from last year. That follows six consecutive year-on-year declines in volume for the game. “It was just one of those months where the play was there, but with the volatile nature of baccarat, we didn’t hold very well,” Mr Lawton said. Casinos fared better in the rest of Clark County. In downtown Las Vegas, revenue rose 4.6% to $53.6 million. North Las Vegas had an even better month, with revenue increasing 14.4% to $29.3 million. Hackers May Have Stolen Hard Rock Customer Credit Card Data Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas said on 1st May that a malware attack may have allowed hackers to steal credit card information used at its retail and service locations. The potential breach may have included names, credit card numbers and their CVV security codes but not PIN numbers or other sensitive customer information, the company said in a statement. The attack, discovered on 3rd April, was limited to credit or debit card transactions between 3rd September, 2014 and 2nd April, 2015, at the company’s restaurant, bar and retail locations, including the Culinary Dropout Restaurant. Transactions at the hotel, casino, Nobu, Affliction, John Varvatos, Rocks, Hart & Huntington Tattoo and Reliquary Spa & Salon were not affected, it said. The company said it is actively cooperating with law enforcement and credit card companies to investigate the attack. Riviera Closed After 60 Years on Vegas Strip “If the ghosts of Frank Sinatra and Liberace were still hanging around the Riviera Hotel and Casino on Monday morning, they wouldn’t have found a seat at the bar,” reported the Associated Press on 4th May, the day “The Riv” closed after 60 years on the Las Vegas Strip. It’s an age reached by few properties along the four-mile stretch of hulking casino resorts. The Riviera’s only remaining elder is the often-renovated Flamingo that Bugsy Siegel debuted in 1947. The Tropicana, which opened in 1957, is close behind. “The amazing thing about Las Vegas is how soon it forgets itself because it keeps reinventing itself,” said Jeff Kutash, the dancer, choreographer and producer who brought the aquatic stage spectacle “Splash” to a Riviera stage for 21 years. The 60-year-old casino-hotel’s luster had faded, becoming the place to go for cheap drinks, cheap blackjack and a free photo- op in front with the ladies of topless revue Crazy Girls, posteriors immortalized with a bronze statue of their behinds. The Riv’s star wattage started with bejeweled piano man Liberace, the property’s first headliner, and its marquee eventually included Frank Sinatra, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tony Orlando and Dolly Parton. Rat Pack member Dean Martin was a part-owner for a short time. Another former owner married frequent Riviera performer and Golden Globe winner Pia Zadora. The long-running stage show “Splash” brought water, fountains and pyrotechnics to a Las Vegas stage starting in 1985, long before Cirque du Soleil did. Eventually, the Riviera’s casino became the set for “Casino,” the 1995 movie featuring Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci and based on real-life Las Vegas mobsters Frank Rosenthal and Anthony Spilotro during their 1970s heyday at the Stardust and other properties. It served as Hollywood’s hangout for decades, from the Rat Pack in the original 1960 “Ocean’s 11” to the groomsmen of “The Hangover” in 2009. Though it’s now been closed, it’s not clear when the Riviera might be leveled or how, either by demolition or the Strip’s favored spectacle: implosion. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority bought the 2,075-room building and the 26 acres it sits on in February for $182.5 million plus $8.5 million in related transaction costs. The property has struggled in recent years as the recession hobbled Las Vegas and development around it went dormant, deterring walk-in traffic. The property hadn’t reported a profit since it emerged from bankruptcy in 2011. INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS The popular bronze statue depicting the Crazy Girls revue at the Riveria Baccarat continues to drag down Strip revenue Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas