Wynn after hours closing today was $100.00. Wed, 23 July, '08

20,000 shares X $100 = $2,000,000

That's a $300,000 gain on paper!

Byd hit $11.35 after closing. Same date.

Wynn . July 30 close - $97.39
Byd - $9.48

I'm in LV right now and have been touring the mid-week casinos and they appear to be emptier than I have ever seen them. No people at the bars. In fact some of the bars arn't even manned with a bartender.

Silverton must see better times ahead as they are undergoing a major expansion. But while I was in there early this afternoon, there must have been less than 20 people throughout the casino.

One Strip pit boss friend of mine says that some of the Strip hotels are having major difficulties but would not elaborate. It appears that they want to keep things like that quiet.

And even my favorite lunch spot at the Golden Gate was just about empty.

Noticeable stuff from the coolness of my Prius ....

City Center is looking darn spectacular now and it's gonna be a major attraction once it is completed. The Cosmopolitan Hotel is being sued by Cosmopolitan magazine. Some of the Hooter's girls appear to be 8 months pregnant and still in Hooter's uniform. The Turnberry apartments that are being blocked by the Fountainbleu parking structure are in a much worse location than I originally expected. That is one huge parking structure and even serves as a ugly background for the complete Turnberry project as you drive through those fancy gates. At first glance that parking structure appears to be ten stories tall but I'm planning to get down there tomorrow and shoot some photos of that mess. I've been told you can now purchase a great LV home for as little as $215,000. The old Stardust location has been excavated and I recall seeing some structures in the back part towards the freeway. Lots of LV office spaces are vacant. The windows on the east side of Wynn's new place (Encore) appear to have been re-installed with new glass that does not completely match the surrounding windows. You gotta look a bit to notice it though. Panorama Towers on the west side of the freeway across from City Center looks darn nice but someone went and built a high rise tower to the immediate north which also blocks the views of many Panorama apartments. I wonder if those realtors disclosed those facts to the initial Panorama purchesers? I bet not! The new and very impressive Town Square shopping center adjacent to Fry's on South Las Vegas Blvd appeared to be partially deserted, but the Apple Computer store had a decent crowd as usual. My feeling is that it's too darn hot to shop in an outside environment in the summer and too darn cold to do the same in the winter. Business might be better in the Fall. The Orleans movie complex is offering seniors $3 admission to all movies on Tuesdays. They're showing Batman in the IMax format at the Palms and still packing them in every showing. IMax for seniors is $11 and after the first ten minutes you're forgetting that you are watching the IMax format. The sandwiches at Golden Gate are still the best in town but the niney-nine cent shrimp cocktails are now $1.99 unless you show your Player's Card. And the whole Kosher pickle has been reduced to a service of sliced pickles. The Las Vegas Club (Fremont Street) still advertises that they offer the most liberal blackjack in the world but pays 2-1 for a 21. I complained but no one listens there. Stay away!!!! BE FOREWARNED!!! If they stoop that low to tighten up the BJ House percentage, I'd be really leary of putting pennies in their slot machines.

On the plus side, gas is $3.99 tp $4.05 in most stations and as low as $3.79 in a few others. Terribles will give you $20 in slot play if you are a first time player's club card person and it you bring them your $20+ Terribles gas receipt. The Silverton is expanding on the north side. Blue Diamond Road widening and improvement is underway and the road going over the railroad track is almost complete. The only place were you can turnoff Blue Diamond to go north is way up on Rainbow. Road construction blocks all the other turnoffs heading north,

More to follow as I check things out over the next couple of days.

I guess I'm missing something, but as far as I knew the standard BJ payout is 3-2. A lot of single-deck games have gone to paying 6-5 (yuck!), but paying 2-1 on a BJ strikes me as being a pretty good rule.

Tim

Opppps, Thanks, Tim. I meant to say "Even money!".

Thanks for the assist here.

Boyd's financing problems have prompted it to suspend construction of a $4.8 billion resort complex on the Las Vegas Strip (Echelon), the latest blow to the tourist destination.

Even money payoff on a Blackjack at the Fritz now. My advice is to avoid these rip offs or the others will soon follow.

I suggested boycotting 6/5 games when they first came out. That's not much better than even money.

Even money would sure make the math easier for Tim! LOL

6/5 popping up all over now..... Harrah's, Flamingo, O'Shea's, Imperial Palace.

Sorry folks, but I gotta place the IP on my "Dump List".

I asked one of he Pit Bosses why they only pay 6-5 on a Blackjack now and he simply said, "To make more money!".

Honest answer but to me that means tightening the rules to take more money out of your pocket.

So far I have avoided each and every casino that pays 6-5. I won't even eat in these gyp-joints.

Also asked a few of dealers, "Why the 6-5?" and each and ever one did a company response to justify it and one even said that the CASINO CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT. And THIS IS THE WAY THE GAME WILL BE PAID UP AND DOWN THE STRIP WITHIN A YEAR!

I've amazed to see people actually playing at these tables, let alone even being in those casinos.

Would complaints to the Gaming Commission be advisable?

I've heard many good folks on here offer praises on behalf of IP. It sure looks like a dump to me. And now with 6-5, I'm definitely staying away.

In reality, what kind of answer could they give you other than the sad truth? What kind of answer were you looking for?

I thought 6-5 has been the standard for years on the strip unless there were other bad rules or very high limits.

When I was out last year 6-5 was common on all single and double deck games, but they were still paying 3-2 on the 6 and 8 deck shoes. When you reduce the blackjack payout from 3-2 to 6-5, you raise the house edge by about 1.4% This is just enough to take a double-deck game that could easily be beaten with card counting, and tip it over to unbeatable.

Well...actually, you could still beat it with a large enough betting spread, but the spread would be so large that the casino would catch on pretty quickly that you were counting. Paying 6-5 is really nothing more than an anti-counter measure.

We pay 3-2 on all blackjacks at Horseshoe Hammond, but then again we never use less than 6 decks.

Cheers,

Tim the Dealer

Wynn stock was up to $119.50 at 12:28 PM. I have not had the time to find out why but I understand that a lot of major investors are buying Wynn.

Las Vegas economic newz .........

With today's $106 per share value, Mr Moran has made a $500,000+ profit on paper.

Boyd stock is presently at $13.66 even with the announcement that the $4.8 billion Echelon project has been placed on hold. Stock analysts praise that wise decision.

Five companies connected with the master-planned community of Lake Las Vegas filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 17 but aqll appears to proceed as normal.

Lake Las Vegas has one mission right now: "Try to preserve the going-concern value" of the development...

Deutsche Bank AG will foreclose on the $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan on the Strip after the developer defaulted on a $760 million loan.

The bank considered selling the complex after the default. .Deutsche Bank will take over the Cosmopolitan and is talking with companies, including MGM Mirage and Hilton Hotels Corp., to help run its 80,000-square-foot casino.

"Deutsche Bank wants to be engaged in banking, not running a casino," said Matthew Clark, a London-based analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. "They've had to decide between selling the Cosmopolitan into a bad market or holding on for better times."

Sagging commercial real estate prices, weighed down by record subprime defaults, forced banks to hold projects until prices rise or sell at a loss. The Frankfurt-based bank would oversee an 8.5-acre development with two high-rise towers, three wedding chapels, a sandy beach overlooking the Strip and a deck featuring "European-style bathing."...

NOTE: If you have the cash or access to some cash and enough to hold on for a couple of years, now might be a great time to step in and become a real estate mogul on the Las Vegas Strip.

For Good Newz ... The $1 billion Caesars expansion continues as planned.

More bad news from Las Vegas ...... Herbst Gaming lost $62.3 million from revenue declines in slot machine route operations and casinos and might be forced to file for bankruptcy. This loss covered the quarter that ended June 30, '08.

Herbst controls the Primm casinos, Terribles Hotel and Casino in LV and Pahrump as well, and most of the Chevron stations throughout Las Vegas.

Meanwhile Wynn Stock currently stands at $93.60 per share at 11:10 AM Pacific time.

The only possible good in all of this that I can see is that LV hotel room rates are coming down.

Anyone see anything else in LV that is a plus for the tourists? Anything that would induce you to pack your bags right now and head to your favorite casino?

Any suggestions to help our favorite city get through these difficult times?

Meanwhile the Indian casinos continue to show a profit over the previous years but at a 4% increase, it was the smallest increase in the past 20 years.

If you are following this topic, the following will be of some interest and will surely have an adverse affect on the Wynn stock value. (Once again, I am not a stock analyser! I simply like to know what's happening and take a stab at guessing what will follow!)

Dispite Las Vegas's sconomic difficulties Wynn dot has been doing well due to great business in Macau. In fact revenue generated at the gaming operations in all of Macau has exceed the take from the Vegas Strip and Atlantic City combined.

But a major decline in Macau is expected this year.

And that major decline will be a result of the Chinese government's intent to curb visits to Macau in its effort to slow gaming activities on the part of its citizens by various visa restrictions.

The government may even restrict visas so gamblers would only be allowed to visit Macau every six months instead of the present two month allowance.

Morgan Stanley expects a decline this year and forecasts that growth would change from the 50% pace of the first half of this year (2008) to about 25% in the second half and 16% in 2009.

Hooters turned a profit. Hmm?

More LV reductions.....

Due to the adverse economics within the airline industry, McCarran Airport will reduce capital improvements by roughly $360 million. The original plan called for $3.7 billion in capital improvements. Ten airport projects have been eliminated.

Wynn stock today - $91.82

Here's a dumb guy's forecast of Wynn stock.

I believe that wynn will remain at or near $92 per share or (more than likely) it will decrease in value until the Chinese government change their "attitude" in Macau.

Could this attitude possibly be a good "business ploy" to participate in a bigger slice of the profit pie?

Another thing to look for is the possible increase in value of Wynn stock immediately before and immediately following the opening of Mr. Wynn's newest LV venture - The Encore.

Las Vegas Sands' opens a $1 billion addition (Four Seasons Macau) in Macau next week and the company is now downplaying Chinese media reports that the government wants to slow down the Chinese visitor infux claiming that the bulk of the Chinese visitors are arriving from parts of China that would not be affected by any government imposed visa restrictions and that the restrictions (if actually imposed) would only bring a "higher quality of visitors" into Macau.

The restrictions are reportedly aimed at the Guangdong province in Southern China which has 70 million citizens and supplies much of the day-trip customer traffic to Macau.

Sounds to me like yelling, "All is well! DO NOT PANIC!" during the middle of an earthquake. Even losing a small percentage of 70 million gambling customers must be bad for business.

Los Angeles has a population of roughly 4 million and if that road from LA to LV was to suddenly get closed down, LV would more than likely close down until it was fixed.

NOTE: One qualified analyst says that the Chinese government is concerned about the current rapid 60% gambling growth rate in Macau and might ease imposed sanctions once that 'growth rate" reaches a more reasonable one-digit figure.

Kind of strange that this wasn't all figured out, resolved, and agreed to prior to the construction of those billion dollar casinos over thar'.

Friday's close

Wynn - $95.42
Byd - $12.19

Monday, Sept 15 - $83.67 - Wynn Stock closed
Byd closed at $10.90

Steve Wynn extends his Wynn Resorts contract through October, 2020.