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Things are changing in the market for New Jersey. The latest news is from Trump Entertainment Resorts—the company recently filed for bankruptcy and that is causing issues for area residents. For a few months now the casino has been the target of a bidding war. The two companies fighting over it are Avenue Capital Management and Carl Icahn, a field investor in gambling. Avenue Capital Management is a company that is famous for buying dying companies and turning them around for profit. The company has enough capital of its own to take on the weight of a struggling company and turn things around. It has become an expert at doing so with various other companies in the recent past. It also has the business acumen to make the changes necessary for stressed organizations to quickly regain a footing in the market. Overall it is one of the best companies for revival of a struggling market. Avenue Capital and Icahn were fighting it out over the formerly Trump-owned casino and Avenue Capital ended up winning. It was to no one’s surprise that the company won and eventually got the final approval from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

In the future Avenue Capital will own a majority stake of the company with 21.7% of the stocks. Trump will hold on to just 10% and the final 80%, which is debt, will be cut from $1.8 billion down to just $334 million. This is another example of how bankruptcy protection allows companies with huge debt to overcome by restructuring. The deal is a lucrative one for all parties involved. Trump stands to remain 10% owner and take on the revenue from that even though his time and efforts in growing the company are solely “up to him” according to an Avenue Capital spokesperson. Once gambling turns around again in the market, the Trump Entertainment Resorts should once again climb in prosperity through the ranks of neighboring casinos. It is no secret that the New Jersey market has been suffering for some time now and this is just the first of needed changes to help it revive its revenues. Hopefully it will make the necessary changes to the market.

Illinois recently decided that video gambling machines are legal within the state. When the decision first came down, individual cities and counties were at liberty to make their own bans on the games until the official date of legalization was here. Not that it has come, video gambling is officially a legal pastime within the state of Illinois. Now that they are legal, there were two companies that were bidding for the contract to bring them into the state—Intralot and Scientific Games Corporation. The state calculated the bids and awarded Scientific Games Corp. the big, however now Intralot has some problems with the decision. Officials of the company state that the state’s Gaming Board miscalculated their bid and they should have been given the win. Their position was so staunch that the Gaming Board has decided to start from square one with calculations. They withdrew the winning big from Scientific Games Corp and are beginning again.

The state’s Gaming Board admitted to having “misunderstandings” when it came to interpreting the assumptions and making the right calculations of the bidders involved. Both companies are now back at square one and have to wait for the gaming board to refigure their proposals. They each believe that they are the best company for the job and want the right to restate their proposals. It is a huge contract and it is no wonder why each one is fighting hard for the big. They know that bringing video games to the entire state of Illinois could be a huge money maker for them. It also could solidify the company in the market and open the door for other states in need of a video game installation initiative. This is just the beginning for the company that eventually wins the bid for good. It will take time to see who wins, but Illinois officials are intent on making the right decision this time with the right calculations from the start. They are starting over, but with good reason. They want to adequately calculate all costs and all potential revenues from the games prior to making a final decision. The two competitors wait patiently for the final decision on who wins the Illinois contract for video gaming installation.

One of the things you can expect from online casinos these days is a push for new and better promotions. You are going to have a field day with the bonuses and specials that are available in the online market. There was a time when the land based casinos were holding on to the big bonuses, but now things are changing quickly. Online casino operators know that if they are going to keep up, they have to start handing out the big promotions of a land based counterpart. One of the huge draws of casinos is the huge amount of bonus specials you can get in on if you get lucky. This has long been the biggest advantage they offered gamers. Online operators realized this and have come up with their own promotions that can take on the land based market. If you do a Google search you can easily find games and specials that you can participate in. Not only are they normally a lot of fun, but the returns can be considerable.

If you go to the auction website Bidibot.com, you can see how evident the change in gambling has been. The website is an auction-based site much like EBay and people go to the location on the web to bid on a huge variety of items. From DVDs to music and car parts to clothing, you can find it all at the EBay auction website. Recently Bidibot.com offered a great casino related item. People were able to big on £1,600 buy-in side event at the European Poker Tour in London. The ending big for the ticket was just $2.53. Bidibot.com was first started by a group of poker players and sports lovers who wanted to make games and events affordable for people with all different salary levels. You can big on prizes like poker packages and seats in tournaments. In the end the website is a great value to would-be poker players who want to maximize their chances at a good win. They can easily go to the website and big on whatever event they want to play in and get it at a huge benefit and savings.

Penn National Gaming requested that the federal bankruptcy court in Florida allow it to bid on the Fontainebleau project. Penn is hoping to start bidding at $50 million although the Strip-based casino had a construction budget of almost $3 billion. Executives for the Fontainebleau stated that its value has significantly declined since construction had to be stopped on the almost-3900 room project. The facility was almost 70% complete when lenders ended their $800 million in additional financing needed.  Penn National Chairman and CEO Peter Carlino said, “Obviously this is an asset that we believe has some value. From what has happened in the marketplace, the value is not what it was once reported.” 

Carlino and other Penn National executives were at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas to discuss details on the Fontainebleau with gaming investors and insiders. The company presented the project to an investment forum sponsored by Deutsche Bank when its filing with the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission stepped into the picture. Carlino said, “We decided that day would be a good day for us!”  Penn National has been looking for a Nevada gaming license since July and also wants the opportunity to move into the Las Vegas market. The company owns 19 casinos and racetracks in regional markets and has more than $1.5 billion in cash available for a transaction, the proceeds from an aborted private equity buyout attempt.

Industry analysts have said it would cost at least $1.5 billion to $2 billion to complete the Fontainebleau. Carlino added, “If we’re successful, we’re probably looking at opening at the end of 2011.” Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Joel Simkins said “Fontainebleau may seem like an out-of-character purchase for the conservative and disciplined management team at Penn, which typically does not chase after ego-driven assets with inflated multiples. However, we believe the cash offer of $50 million could allow Penn to get a toehold on the Las Vegas Strip for a relatively attractive price.” Carlino and other Penn National executives were not at liberty to discuss plans for the Fontainebleau. The company has been exploring the possibility of an equity partner, but said those talks are confidential. Penn may also change the Fontainebleau name.

The Wynn Resorts recently pulled their bid for a New York casino at Aqueduct.  New York Governor David Patterson was pushing heavily for the deal to go through for the Aqueduct Racetrack. Thus far the racetrack has been struggling due to the economy and the state was pining to install a slots parlor that houses 4,500 slot machines in the facility.  The recession has brought many race tracks around the country to their knees in terms of funding. They are somewhat a “dying breed” because customers aren’t gambling at them. The biggest problem is that customers aren’t visiting them at all. Many cities are hoping that installing huge slots parlors maybe the answer to their financial woes and New York was no different.

The Wynn Resorts were one of six different developers that has formerly submitted bids to work with the Aqueduct Racetrack. Each one was looking to bring the 4,500 machines to the track and cash in on the revenues.  Unfortunately the Wynn rethought its position and walked away from the bidding process. In a statement the Wynn released it noted, “We are confident that the state of New York will find a qualified operator to meet its needs at Aqueduct. We would like to thank our associates and community leaders for all their assistance in crafting our proposal.” They wished the state and the racetrack well and withdrew from competition for the bid.

Without Wynn, there will now be only five proposals on the table to be reviewed. The five developers have been notified to submit their final proposals. They were also informed that they should be prepared to ante up the $200 million licensing fee within thirty days of signing an agreement. With the recession’s aftermath still stinging, New York is hoping to ensure that companies that are now bidding on the project will have the financial strength to compete any project that they are starting to work on.  The $200 million licensing fee is hoped to thwart any moderately serious bidders from entering the competition.  The city wants the racetrack to be successful and hopes that a hefty slots parlor will be the answer to spurring traffic and revenue for the state budget and the facility.