Merger mania has been the norm in the casino industry for years, as we've
seen more and more casinos in the hands of fewer and fewer companies.
The latest round includes two enormous deals that figure to trigger
fallout that reaches the Midwest. The MGM-Mirage merger with Mandalay
Resorts, coupled with the Harrah's Entertainment purchase of Caesars
Entertainment, figures to lead to some smaller deals along the way.
Closest to home, the purchase of Caesars will leave Harrah's in control of
three Indiana properties - Harrah's East Chicago, Horseshoe in Hammond and
Caesars Indiana in Elizabeth, just across the Ohio River from Louisville,
Ky. Indiana law already was amended once to permit casino companies to
hold two licenses. If it's not amended again, Harrah's will have to divest
itself of one of the three.
In Michigan, the MGM-Mirage/Mandalay merger means the MotorCity casino
probably will be sold. By law, the three Detroit casinos must have
different owners. MGM-Mirage owns 97 percent of MGM Grand-Detroit, while
Mandalay Resorts owns 53.5 percent of MotorCity.
It'll be next year before the Federal Trade Commission and casino
regulatory bodies in the host states sort out everything, but there's sure
to be a number of smaller sales triggered along the way.
Combined, the two megadeals involve 16 of the 25 major resorts on the Las
Vegas Strip. Perhaps none of those casinos will have to be sold, but other
markets are a different story. The August issue of the Las Vegas Advisor
points out that with the Caesars deal, Harrah's would control four of the
five casinos in South Lake Tahoe, Nev. It's likely that Harrah's will have
to divest itself of a casino or two there.
Is all this good or bad for players? Some of each, most likely. Ideally,
competing owners spur each other to offer a better product and do more for
their customers. The concentration of multiple casinos in the same market
removes some of that pressure.
On the other hand, owning multiple casinos in the same market heightens
the benefits operators can offer their customers.
Expect multiple-casino rewards programs, with Harrah's Total Rewards as a
model, to become an industry standard. We've already seen the beginnings
of this, and not just with Total Rewards. When I was in Las Vegas in June,
I was able to redeem points I earned at Boyd Gaming's California at Boyd's
other downtown properties, Main Street Station and the Fremont, and could
use meal coupons I was given at the California not only downtown but at
Boyd's Stardust resort on the Strip. Park Place Entertainment, the company
that became Caesars Entertainment, linked its Las Vegas casinos through
its Connections card. Even on a local level, for a brief time before the
Illinois Gaming Board put an end to it, customers were able to use the
same rewards card at the Empresses in Joliet and Hammond.
We're going to see much more of that. At the rate merger mania is going,
in a few years a player who carries five or six rewards cards will be
covered in just about any casino in the country.
***
Ever since Chicago-area casinos started ticket-in, ticket-out payoffs,
I've been receiving e-mails such as this:
"I can't tell you how disappointed I am that Harrah's East Chicago put this
TITO on slot machines. I've always liked to hear the coins dropping. When
I complained, they told me it was there for my benefit."
The Harrah's employee may have overstated things a bit. TITO is at least
as much a benefit to owners in time and money as it is to players. But
there are benefits to the customers - no waiting for hopper fills and
hopper jams, no lugging of heavy coin cups, and availability of penny and
2-cent games that wouldn't be there without TITO.
Before long, just about every U.S. casino will be fully equipped with
ticket printers. Players not only will get used to it, I think most will
come to prefer it.
***
Votes are in for the vpFree Video Poker Hall of Fame, and this year's
winner is well-known video poker analyst Bob Dancer, author of Million
Dollar Video Poker, contributor to a number of magazines, instructor at
video poker seminars in Las Vegas and a casino consultant.
That's no surprise, and a selection with which I heartily concur. When I
was informed that I was nominated, I e-mailed fellow nominee John Robison
to congratulate him and to say we now could sit back and see whether it
was Dancer or "Frugal Gambler" Jean Scott who was elected. Scott was a
narrow runner-up.
You can see the Hall of Fame at members.cox.net/vpfree/HOF.htm. While
you're at that Web site, check out the database of the best video poker
games available around the country.
***
Speaking of video poker, my Video Poker Answer Book is available again
after selling out of its first printing last year. It's the start of a
busy period for me. My new Video Slot Machine Answer Book is due out this
fall, with a revised edition of The Slot Machine Answer Book to follow by
the end of the year.
