Venetian hopes conventions will help improve slot win

Gary Thompson

Tuesday, Aug. 10, 1999 | 11:22 a.m.

Financial results are improving at the Venetian, the company said Monday, but the $1.5 billion Las Vegas hotel-casino apparently still isn't making as much money as it had projected.

However, Venetian President William Weidner said today he expects results to strengthen as trade-show business increases.

"It'll get better in the fall," Weidner said. "We've indicated all along that August is the first month you can begin to look to. June and July are probably the weakest trade show months. October, November, February and March are very strong months.

Weidner said the Venetian's table-game win "is well above the Strip average but the slots aren't where we want them to be."

"Slot win is around the Strip average, and we anticipate it to build to well above the Strip average as we finish out the restaurants and get more activity around the building," he said.

The Venetian issued a statement Monday saying casino handle and room occupancy has increased substantially since the resort's May 4 opening. But the release didn't disclose the actual gaming-win or room-rate figures.

The Venetian said its slot-machine handle had climbed to $3.9 million a day and daily table-game drop had doubled to $2 million by the end of July.

Comparing those results with the latest average win percentages for big Strip resorts indicates the Venetian was winning about $93.60 per day per slot and $2,131 a day per table game at the end of last month.

The Venetian had projected it would win $151 a day from each of its 2,500 slots and $2,463 a day from its 122 table games. The Strip average is about $106 per day per slot and $1,777 per day per table game.

The resort also reported that occupancy and average daily room rates have climbed steadily since the resort opened with a few hundred rooms available in early May.

It said overall hotel occupancy was 85 percent of available rooms at an average daily rate of $127 per room during July. The resort was averaging 2,700 of its 3,306 rooms occupied -- an 88 percent rate -- by the end of July, the statement said.

Occupancy rose to 90 percent at an average daily rate of $151 for the first eight days of August, Venetian said.

Venetian officials had projected the resort would have an average daily rate of $167.

Visitor traffic to Las Vegas and room rates for major Strip resorts have been rising since October, when the first of four megaresort openings in less than a year occurred.

Venetian owner Sheldon Adelson has said he pushed for his property's "soft opening" in May, with only a few hundred rooms and the casino available, because he wanted to begin generating cash flow.

"In a few months," he said at the time, "people will forget about the soft opening."

"The Venetian strategy is about to shift into high gear," Weidner told a high-yield investors conference in Colorado Springs on Monday. He said "all aspects of the Venetian's business operation are gaining momentum."

Weidner said the nine of the resort's anticipated 15 restaurants are now open, along with more than 40 retail shops. Two more restaurants are expected to open this month and another two by October, he said. Another nine of the expected 65 retail shops should also open this month.

Meanwhile, State Gaming Control Board Chairman Steve DuCharme said Monday he isn't aware of any complaints that have been filed against the Venetian by subcontractors who haven't been paid for work on the resort.

Even if complaints are filed, DuCharme said, it's unlikely gaming regulators would take any action against the Venetian before a court has ruled on who is responsible for paying more than $215 million of liens filed against it.

"Depending on the nature of a complaint, we have a responsibility to protect the rights of creditors," he said. "But the control board and Nevada Gaming Commission aren't up to try cases as a court. We normally will await a definitive judgment from a court."

Weidner said the Venetian will meet later today with Lehrer McGovern Bovis Inc., construction manager for the resort, to attempt to resolve responsibility for paying the subcontractors.