Chicago, IL (March 12, 1997) -- Even given Wednesday's drop in the market, the big-cap S&P 500 index continued its march northward. The CBOE Gaming Index fell this week (what else is new!), but it didn't fall nearly as far as the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite. That's right, Fool. The GAX was not in the basement this week for the first time in five weeks. Not exactly a victory, but a step in the right direction to be sure.

It was a rather slow week in gaming this week, but next week promises to be much more exciting. The International Gaming Business Exposition, one of the largest gaming conferences of the year, will be going on in Las Vegas all next week. Yours truly will be there, rubbing elbows with those in the industry and kicking the tires on the new products being displayed. It should be a good week as far as news announcements too, if my Fool's intuition is correct. Check back next week, as I will report some of the more salient sights and sounds from the conference.

The Las Vegas Gaming board released this week the January revenues for the state. Statewide, revenues were up 4.4% over the comparable period last year, but results were significantly down in the northern part of the state, mostly due to inclement weather and road closures. The region with the best growth was Clark County, the county in which Las Vegas resides. The county as a whole showed a 7.2% increase in gaming win over 1996. However, "win per room" is down over last year since the number of net hotel rooms in the region rose approximately 11% over the year. Having the non-gaming revenue outpace casino revenue growth underscores the importance to the casino companies of having profitable hotel and entertainment operations.

Nevada January Gaming Revenues

Location               Total Win ($ million)  Change
                                              v. 1996
Las Vegas Strip         $337.4                 +6.0%
Washoe County (Reno)     $60.7                 -9.7%
Downtown Las Vegas       $58.6                 +6.1%
Laughlin                 $47.3                 +5.3%
Boulder Strip            $31.2                 +3.2%
South Lake Tahoe         $19.6                -17.1%

Statewide               $646.6                 +4.4%

On this week's episode of "As The Hilton/ITT World Turns," we show that ITT <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: ITT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: ITT)") end if %> got a little bit meaner and leaner. ITT announced that it had completed the sale of part of one of its most prized "non-core" assets: Madison Square Garden. ITT sold off its half of The Garden, which included the Knicks and Rangers sports franchises, for a cool $650 million to their partner in the venture, CABLEVISION <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CVC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CVC)") end if %>. The sale is structured in a two-part deal, with ITT receiving $500 million at the close of the deal later this year with the option to sell the remaining 11.5% stake it holds for $150 million. While the company has the option of using this money to buy back shares as a defensive strategy against HILTON's <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: HLT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: HLT)") end if %> hostile bid, it is more important as a positive achievement for ITT's management, which made a 81% return on its Madison Square Garden investment in less than two years. Such credentials make Hilton's claims of poor management at ITT wear that much thinner. Hilton may be losing the battles, but the war is far from over.

A nasty proxy battle has been surrounding EUROPA CRUISES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: KRUZ)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: KRUZ)") end if %> of late. Later this week is the settlement day for a proxy vote in which a fraction group of shareholders calling themselves "The Committee" are trying to unseat the current board of directors of the company. Whereas the four-person committee has approximately 3% of the number of outstanding shares of Europa, the current board of directors owns about 36% of the shares in the company. Furthermore, the leader of the shareholder splinter group has a number of bankruptcies in his past. It looks to this Fool that The Committee's chances of success in this run at Europa's board are miniscule at best. Europa continues to negotiate a large joint-venture casino complex at the company's prime piece of real estate in Diamondhead, Mississippi.

GRAND CASINOS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GND)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GND)") end if %> was in the news this week. First, the company acknowledged that it has opened its second hotel at its mammoth casino complex in Tunica, Mississippi. The addition of 578 hotel rooms brings the total number of rooms at the unit to 766. Grand was also in the news since it was in court this week concerning the lawsuits surrounding its bankrupt Las Vegas partner, STRATOSPHERE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TOWVQ)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TOWVQ)") end if %>. Stratosphere had been asking the court to postpone or dismiss any civil and class-action lawsuits against the company and its officers until after its bankruptcy situation is resolved. Having such litigation settled is an important part of the prepackaged bankruptcy agreement Stratosphere has with its bondholders and Grand. Stay tuned.

Another casino opened this week in Missouri -- The Riverboat Casino Center near St. Louis in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The complex was built by a joint venture between HARRAH'S ENTERTAINMENT <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: HET)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: HET)") end if %> and PLAYERS INTERNATIONAL <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: PLAY)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: PLAY)") end if %>. Both Players and Harrah's own two boats each, for a total of four casino boats on the property with 120,000 square feet of combined gaming space. The new casino will most directly compete with STATION CASINO's <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: STN)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: STN)") end if %> unit down the river a few miles, but ARGOSY GAMING's <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: AGY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: AGY)") end if %> boat in Alton, Illinois, will also likely feel a competitive pinch going forward.

Speaking of Players, the company's riverboat on the Ohio River in Metropolis, Illinois, was closed part of this week due to flooding around the boat's land-based facilities. Operators up and down the lower Mississippi have been put on flood alert as these waters make their travels south. Waters are expected to peak anywhere from 3 to 6 feet over flood stage later this week in Mississippi. It remains to be seen if any of the casino operators in Tunica or Vicksburg will be forced to close their doors. Let's hope for a speedy drop in water levels for all those affected by the flooding.

Slow week in the earnings department this week:

Casino Airlink (Nasdaq OTC: POKR): ($.42) (annual results)

Century Casinos <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CNTY)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CNTY)") end if %>: ($.09) (annual results)

Gaming Venture Corp. (Nasdaq OTC: GVCU): $.05

Good Luck, and Stay Foolish!

Did you know. . .

In order to get a casino license in Mississippi the Mississippi Gaming Commission requires that riverboat casinos in the state invest 25% of the value of the casinos in land-based improvements?