Is Harrah’s Going Bankrupt?

Vegas Tripping made this post earlier today and it got me thinking….

There are a lot of signs pointing to the possibility of Harrah’ Entertainment filing for bankruptcy reorganization in the very near future.

Not but a week ago, Harrah’s applied to draw down the final $740M from their revolving credit line, which many say is a last minute ‘use it or lose it’ hoarding/harvesting of available cash before the bankruptcy filing begins.

So lets assume Harrah’s goes bankrupt. What then?

Can a company of the size of Harrah’s function in this economic atmosphere? How long will bankruptcy proceedings ham string the company? Will they be required to divest themselves of assets as part of a bondholder agreement? Will this affect the guest experience via operational cut backs or ratcheting up the hold on the casino floor? Will Harrah’s become the new Trump – riding the decade long debt load merry-go-round till it slowly grinds to a halt?

Perhaps, most importantly… will our Total Rewards points be considered “debt” and vanish in the agreement?

I’ve been focusing all of my Atlantic City play to Harrah’s properties because of their many locations.  At this point I can get rooms anywhere and anytime.  This may change things on my next trip to Las Vegas. It may change where I play big.

Video Poker at Harrah’s properties in Vegas have shit pay outs, so I may keep my Caesars Palace video poker gambling very low and save money for a 9/6 JOB casino.  I’ll have to keep this in mind for my upcoming research.  For now, I’ll have to consider the possibilities.

Thanks, again, to Vegas Tripping for the thought provoking article.

The biggest loser of gambling income is…

On the east coast a lot has been made of the aweful economy in Atlantic City.  Very rarely does the east coast look to see what’s happening economically in Las Vegas (ed note: the greatest place on earth).  The obvious statement is that the economy is effecting every industry.  So…Who’s doing worse economically?

On the Las Vegas Strip the overall take fell 23% to $474 million in December, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board….total gambling volume fell 15%.

On the other side of the country, Atlantic City’s gambling revenue fell 9% in January, according to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

While not an apples to apples comparison this article from CNN shows that Las Vegas is the “Biggest Loser” of gambling income.  To use another cliche this is another example of  “the bigger they are the harder they fall.”  Las Vegas does much more business than Atlantic City and depends of tourism much more so this isn’t much of a surprise to me.

Hatton and Pacquiao confirmed for May 2!

I knew this would happen! On the eve of the Shane Mosley – Antonio Margarito ESPN is reporting that the fight is back on.

LOS ANGELES — In a dramatic reversal of his position, pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao on Thursday night agreed to terms to face junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com.

Manny pulled this same crap with Oscar. He had no real leverage and needed Ricky Hatton to get this kind of money.  I’m happy that I will be in town for the fight and will begin to plan in earnest!