Analysts’ ideas differ on Shuffle Master

Speculation about Shuffle Master sparked a disagreement between two gaming analysts.

On Wednesday Morgan Joseph’s Adam Steinberg lowered his rating on the company to “sell,” saying gaming equipment rival WMS Industries would let a licensing agreement with Shuffle Master’s Australian subsidiary Stargames lapse in January.

In a note to investors, Steinberg said the agreement, which called for Stargames to distribute WMS game content in Australia, didn’t make much sense anymore for WMS, a company on the rebound. Ending the licensing agreement, he said, could cause a 15 percent drop in Shuffle Master’s revenue.

Deutsche Bank’s Bill Lerner weighed in a few hours after Steinberg with his own note to investors, saying if the agreement ended, Shuffle Master had alternatives at its disposal.

“We don’t believe this business is as material as some have suggested,” Lerner said.

Atop high-rises in Hong Kong’s financial district, marquees bearing the logos of internationally known corporations dot the nightscape, embedding their images throughout the heavily traveled harbor.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. was the first Las Vegas company to light up the Hong Kong skyline, hoping to draw a reference to the company’s Wynn Macau casino, which lies about an hour south by ferry boat.

MGM Mirage joined the mix last month, advertising its soon-to-open MGM Grand Macau.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates two Macau casinos, is notably absent from the Hong Kong mix. Company President Bill Weidner said he thought advertising resources could be better spent elsewhere.

In Atlantic City, MGM Mirage controls an empty 14-acre parcel next to the Trump Marina, in addition to its 72-acre site across the street where it has announced plans for the $5 billion MGM Grand Atlantic City.

MGM Mirage acquired the smaller parcel in 2000 as part of the company’s $6.4 billion buyout of Mirage Resorts. Former Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn bought the 14-acre parcel in 1980s when he sold the Golden Nugget Atlantic City.

And from whom did Wynn acquire that parcel? Current MGM Mirage majority shareholder Kirk Kerkorian, who bought the site in the late 1970s when Atlantic City first talked of legalizing gaming.

The International Masters of Gaming Law named Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander as its Gaming Regulator of the Year … The Rat Pack passed into history with the death of Joey Bishop. Hooters performer Bobby Slayton portrayed Bishop in the 1998 TV movie “The Rat Pack.”

The Inside Gaming column is compiled by Review-Journal gaming and tourism writers Howard Stutz, Benjamin Spillman and Arnold M. Knightly. Send your tips about the gaming and tourism industry to insidegaming@reviewjournal.com.