Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

January 8, 2006

Station Casinos' Impact on Las Vegas

Posted by detroit1051

The Las Vegas Sun met with Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III recently to discuss Station's position as the leader in the locals market and STN's plans for the future. The two brothers may develop up to six new Station Casino properties in the next ten years. Station has $1.3 billion of projects under way now including the soon to open Red Rock Station and expansions at three properties. Station stock is up 21% in the past year and 46% over two years.
The most startling statistic to me was that off-Strip casinos will take $1,500 per year from every person in the Las Vegas valley by 2010. When you consider the number of residents who don't gamble at all, gamblers are leaving significantly more dollars in locals casinos every year. Is this a good thing or not?

The story can be found at:
Station's Econ 101



Comments

Read archived comments (3 so far)
January 8, 2006 4:12 PM Posted by Hunter

I was a bit startled by that figure as well - pretty amazing stuff.

January 9, 2006 1:54 AM Posted by Mike C

Well, we're into the gambling obviously, but I can't imagine what non-gambling patrons are coming to these casinos for. There's certainly no art gallery or one-of-a-kind attraction that make them worth seeing.

Food? No better (and sometimes worse) than the restaurants in your neighborhood, and the price is not any different unless you're a gambler/club user.

Entertainment? GVR is an exception with actual names in the industry coming in to perform, otherwise I'm not aware of a lot of quality entertainment in these places that isn't aimed at the older audience.

Movie theaters/Bowling? Ehh..

Personally I prefer the Coast properties over the Stations, their themes are slightly more coherent and the workmanship of the room feels higher. At least, this is what I've found comparing Suncoast to Texas and Santa Fe Stations. All three of them have tightly-packed machines and poor filtration compared to most Strip resorts, though, which means I go home smelling like a chain-smoker.

Maybe Station will look better to me when Red Rock opens. For the moment I've gotten out of the local casino thing, since I've found my actual odds for winning at the slots aren't any better/worse than what I've seen at the strip. Just IMHO though, and I do know the Coast/Stations have better VP conditions.

January 9, 2006 4:20 PM Posted by devonm

i just dont get how the local casinos can charge similar rates that strip casinos charge and still be very successful