September Press On Research Issue Out Today – Back To Business
I got in bed last Tuesday night like any normal night. But all the sudden something popped into my head and I began to panic.
Two weeks leading up to this I told you I was taking some time off to recharge my mental batteries. And I did. But I didn’t stop doing everything.
I worked on finding the next Press On Research pick and did all the valuations for the pick. Worked on the case study talked about here. And read a lot. But one thing I didn’t do was write.
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So when I got into bed last Tuesday night realizing that the next issue was due out next week – today – I began to panic because I hadn’t written anything yet. And the issues are longer now. Most of the time over 30 pages.
For some reason leading up to last Tuesday night I kept thinking I had plenty of time to write the issue because I had two weeks until its release. I don’t know why I thought this. So the next day I got to work and ended up writing 7300 words – 37 pages – in less than three days.
Yes I had a massive headache from staring at my luminous computer screen doing so much work in such a short amount of time. But it was worth it.
I’ve spent the rest of the time editing and cutting the issue down. And I think this is the best issue thus far. But I just need to go over it one more time to check for things like spelling and punctuation errors before its release later today.
But since I’m so happy excited about this pick I wanted to share an exerpt with you below.
Investing In “Sin” At A Huge Discount
By Jason Rivera
Press On Research Volume 1 Issue 6
There’s not much for teenagers and young adults to do in Western South Dakota where I’m from.
Rapid City is the biggest “city” in the area. And even including the surrounding areas it has a population of maybe 90,000. Tops.
Rapid City is a small beautiful city where most people are nice and polite. Is a great place to visit in the spring and summer. But there’s not much to do here.
Combine this with the long winters where you can’t do much outside unless you like skiing, snowboarding, or ice fishing. And younger people complain of severe boredom here.
But there’s one thing young people can look forward to here once hitting the age of 21. And this is one thing we have that most in the country don’t. Gambling.
Welcome To Deadwood
About 30 minutes from where I live is the town Deadwood South Dakota. Yes, that Deadwood if you’ve seen the HBO TV series.
While Deadwood’s no longer a wild west frontier and gold mining town. People from all over the world come to the town now to find gold in the towns many casinos.
Because of Mt. Rushmore and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Both held within 45 minutes from where I live. Western South Dakota sees between three and four million tourists from all over the world every year.
Here’s a picture of Deadwood during the rally.
And because gambling is outlawed most places in the developed world many of these people also go to Deadwood trying to win fortunes.
Most people don’t win though. And this is what makes casinos great businesses to own.
Which Casinos Are Best?
The first two times I gambled in Deadwood me and my girlfriend (now wife) went up by ourselves for the day to eat some good food. Have fun. And try to win a little money.
And we did all three.
The first two times we went up there we won more than $800 and thought to ourselves man this is great.
But this is how casinos keep you coming back. With the promise of fun, great food, and easy money.
We’ve gone back dozens of times since and while we still have fun and eat great food. Every time we’ve gone since we lose money.
I don’t go much anymore because I’ve studied casinos a lot from a psychology and investment perspective. And I now know the odds are always stacked against the gambler.
But this change of perspective has also given me insights on owning casinos instead of gambling in them
While I don’t own any of the casinos in Deadwood. I’ve been up there enough to know which do best and why.
If you’ve ever been to a casino you’ve likely felt overwhelmed or lost inside.
Between the buzzers and sirens going off announcing people winning big. Those same people cheering. Free alcohol when you’re at a card table or slot machine. Nonstop talking and lights everywhere. And the odd layout of the insides of casinos it’s easy to get overwhelmed and lost.
But this assault on our senses is purposeful. It’s all done to play on our psychology to get us to gamble more. Even the design of casinos is deliberate.
The maze design of casinos is meant to get you lost so you have to walk around more. Which makes it more likely you’ll see something you want to play or do.
Have you ever noticed there aren’t any clocks in casinos as well? This is on purpose too so you don’t know how much time you’ve spent in them.
Do I hold these “tricks” against them? No because every business uses knowledge of psychology to get us to guy things. And casinos are businesses just trying to make money like the others.
But which kinds of casinos do best?
The biggest ones with the most amenities. Best restaurants/eateries. Most tables and slot machines. Having the most hotel rooms. That cluster close to other big casinos do best.
Why?
Because the more stuff a casino has for you to do. The longer you’ll stay in the casino to spending money on food and games.
And the more casinos clustered near each other means the more people can drink without having to walk or drive around while drunk. Again, the more people drink the more people gamble and spend money.
Almost every small casino has gone out of business or gotten bought by a bigger casino in Deadwood. And the same holds true in gambling the gambling Mecca’s of Las Vegas and Macau.
The most expensive casino in the world – The Venetian Macau – cost $2.4 billion to build. And it’s the seventh biggest building in the world in terms of square footage. Like in many aspects of life bigger is better when it comes to casinos.
I could go on and on but this issue isn’t about the psychology of casinos. It’s about an investment. But if this stuff interests you go to the following articles for more information.
- 9 Tricks Casinos Use To Make You Spend More Money
- How Casinos Use Psychology To Get You To Gamble More
- The Psychology Of Casinos
- The Psychology Of Casinos academic study from the University of Cambridge
- My article – Car Wash Psychology, Mental Models, and The Power of Habit
So why am I telling you all this?
Because today’s recommendation is a company that owns casinos and hotels.
Not only is this company undervalued by as much as 182%. But it’s got above average margins. Is a sub $50 million company with hidden assets on its balance sheet. And offers us a huge margin of safety.
But before we get to what the company is. You need to know where it does business…
If you’d like to see what this company is. And the other five great picks in Press On Research so far. Make sure to subscribe here for access. Remember that Value Investing Journey subscribers get a 50% discount on their Press On Research subscription.
So if you want a 50% discount make sure to subscribe to Value Investing Journey here first to get the link.
