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Operator
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by and welcome to the Full House Resorts fourth-quarter 2009 earnings conference call. During today's presentation all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation the conference will be opened for questions. (Operator Instructions). This conference is being recorded today, March 25, 2010.
I would new like to turn the conference over to our host Bill Schmidt of ICR. Please go ahead, sir.
- IR
Thank you, Alisha, and good morning, everyone. By now everyone should have access to our earnings announcement and Form 10-K, which were filed yesterday. These may also be found on our website at fullhouseresorts.com under the investor relations section. Before we begin our formal remarks I need to remind everyone that part of our discussion today may include forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and therefore, undue reliance should not be placed upon them. We refer all of you to our recent filings with the SEC for a more detailed discussion of the risks that could impact the future operating results and financial condition of Full House Resorts.
I would now like to introduce Andre Hilliou, Chairman and CEO of Full House Resorts. Andre?
- Chairman & CEO
Thank you, Bill. Here with me is Mark Miller, our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, who will discuss the financial results for the fourth quarter. Well, what a difference a year makes. At this time last year we were discussing our market-leading Stockman Casino in Nevada and talking about the discussion of FireKeepers Casino in Battlecreek, Michigan. Just one year later FireKeepers Casino has successfully opened to the public and we have repaid all of our outstanding debt, giving us a pristine balance sheet. And we finished 2009 with record revenue of $19 million and record earnings per share of $0.26. When you consider 2009 the economic environment, I believe it makes the achievement of the Full House team all the more impressive. I want to thank all of our employees and management for an outstanding year, and we are only getting warmed up.
There are several accomplishment in 2009 that I would like to highlight and then I will let Mark speak more specifically on our fourth quarter and annual financial performance. For the full year of 2009 Stockman generated just over over $9 million in revenue, down 6.4% for 2008, while generating operating income of $2.1 million, up from $2 million in 2008. Operating income margins improved to 22.8% from 20.3%, or 250-basis points, a very impressive performance in this challenging environment. We cannot thank the team at Stockman's enough for taking taking aggressive cost control measures and making this property the market leader on the top and bottom line. However we will not rest on the solid results of 2009. We continue to watch costs and look for ways to drive profitable revenue and create an entertainment environment that keeps the customers coming back. In March of this year, we installed a significant upgrade to our player's club software, giving us the ability to implement downloadable free play credits. This will further strengthen our competitive advantage in Fallon, as well as improve the efficiency of our marketing program.
On to FireKeepers Casino. This was the first quarter of operation and we were pleased with its performance. Overall gaming entertainment Michigan our 50%-owned joint venture earned earned $4.2 million in management fee for the quarter, in line with normal seasonally-adjusted trends and bringing total management fee income for the first five months of operation to approximately $10 million. Gross slot win per unit per day for the first five months was $244. Operation continued to run smoothly while costs are starting to normalize. Margins remain very healthy. On a year-to-date basis to December 31st, the EBITDA margin is an impressive 63%, reflecting the oper -- the efficient operating plan, strong closing demographics and a seasoned management team. Membership in the FireKeepers Red Hat reward program membership has increased to around 325,000 members and as expected, we are getting close to 90% of our revenues from customers living in Michigan. We believe FireKeepers is well-positioned to continue its successful operation, led by Bruce McKee and his top-shelf management team.
Last month, as expected, GEM received a $5 million repayment on this remaining receivable plus interest. The money was distributed equally to the members, paying down the remainder of the RAM obligation classified as debt and adding to our growing cash balance. As we have stated in the past, our long-term strategy is to grow Full House by owning and operating asset, and to that end we are actively pursuing deals where we would either own the asset outright or where we would receive a management fee to operate an asset or a combination of the two. As of now, none have reached the point of maturity to warrant public disclosure. However we believe the environment for acquisition at reasonable multiples continues to improve, albeit at a smaller pace than we originally perceived.
The challenge today is less about the appropriate multiple and more about what the true EBITDA run rate is, given the continuing economic weakness we are seeing in most jurisdictions. As a conservative company our keyword is today's earnings, not yesterday's. We are looking and have looked at many properties and will keep on looking until we find the right one. Tempting as it is, if it does not fit our profile we will not buy it. We remain optimistic that with the highly competent help of David Berman and his team at Regal Capital the right opportunity will present itself. Our financial strengths continue to improve daily, putting us in an enviable position. We remain focused and disciplined to assure that we deploy the capital resources to created long-term shareholder value. So overall we had a great 2009 and we are looking forward to an even better 2010.
I will now turn the call over to Mark to go into more details about our financial results for the quarter, and then I will close with a few additional comments. Mark?
- COO & CFO
Thank you, Andre, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to review a few highlights of our financial performance and condition for the 2009 fourth quarter and year-ended December 31, 2009, and then we will be happy to respond to questions you may have at the end of our prepared remarks.
For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009 earnings per share attributable to the Company were $0.06 versus flat earnings per share in the prior period. Exclusive of impairment charges in the fourth quarter of 2009 and 2008 the Company would have reported net income per common share of $0.08 and $0.02 for the three months ended December 31, 2009 and 2008 respectively. Fourth-quarter 2009 results were based on weighted average common shares outstanding of 18 million, while fourth quarter 2008 results were based on 18.4 million outstanding shares. Net income attributable to Full House was approximately $1 million compared to $6,000 of net income in the fourth quarter of 2008. Net income attributable to the Company for full-year 2009 was $4.8 million, or $0.26 per share, as compared to $1.6 million, or $0.08 per share in 2008.
Full-year 2009 results included a $0.8 million impairment charge, which we took in the fourth quarter, and a member agreement modification net gain of $1.4 million, which flowed through our 2000 -- our third-quarter results. While full-year 2008 results included a $500,000 settlement charge, the 2008 results were also affected by approximately $800,000 net of non-controlling interest in unrealized gains on tribal receivables, which was related to the FireKeepers repayment in May of 2008. We also had a legal settlement charge of $0.5 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2008 and a small impairment charge of about $100,000 recorded in that quarter, as well. Excluding these unusual transactions, net income attributable to the Company for 2009 was $4.4 million, or $0.24 per share, compared to net income of of $1.5 million, or $0.08 per share for the prior year.
I would just like to mention that the FireKeepers finance team led by Ann Kennedy have done an excellent job navigating their first annual close and audit, and we are very appreciative of the very -- of the professional job they have done to date. At FireKeepers Casino, during the fourth quarter of 2009 we recorded management fees of GEM of $4.2 million, of which Full House receives the 50% share. The management fees, when seasonally adjusted for a normal fourth-quarter trend, were consistent with our run rate expectations as the facility continues to mature. As Andre indicated earlier, revenues at FireKeepers are coming predominantly from Michigan and to a lesser extent from Ohio, Indiana and customers from other miscellaneous areas. Slot win per unit year to date came in at $244 and tables at approximately $1,100. Margins remain very strong at 63% for the first five months of operations. As we have said in the past, we do believe the cost structure is still ramping up as the marketing and personnel costs mature, but we expect this property to continue to be an outstanding margin performer as a result of the efficient plant, strong close-in demographics and a very profit-focused management team.
Stockman's Casino contributed approximately $2.2 million in revenue for the three-month period ended December 31, 2009. This was down 3% from prior-year period, primarily as a result of the overall weak northern Nevada economy and increased food and beverage competition. In spite of the decline our market share of slot revenue improved to 34 .9% in 2009 from 33.9% in 2008, once again showing that we remain the top operator in the market. Through 2010 we continue to expect northern Nevada revenues to remain under pressure as the economy struggles, and we have limited ability to further reduce our cost structure. EBITDA for Stockman's was $0.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2009, up 5% from the fourth quarter of 2008, as our cost containment efforts and targeted marketing more than offset the revenue weakness.
SG&A expenses increased from $1.4 million last year to $1.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2009. The increase is primarily due to incentive-based compensation accruals resulting from the successful opening of FireKeepers Casino. Noncash stock compensation expense for the fourth quarter of 2009 was approximately $33,000 versus $210,000 in the prior-year quarter, and for the full year noncash stock-compensation expense for 2009 was $0.3 million versus $0.9 million in the prior year. The remaining deferred stock-compensation expense of approximately $17,000 will be recognized in Q1 of 2010. I'd also remind you that the full expenses of GEM are contained in our SG&A costs and RAM's 50% share of those costs is credited back to us on the net income or loss attributable to non-controlling interest line, which is found near the end of our income statement.
Equity and net income from Harrington Raceway and Casino in Delaware was up 14% from the prior-year period due to the timing of payments. We continue to receive a 5 % increase in cash distributions per our management agreement, which ends in August of 2011. However, income recognition will be flat to modestly up to due to the timing of cash payments and higher income recognition in future periods. Despite these variations in our recognized net income, the guaranteed minimum increase continues to provide us with insulation from competitive pressures affecting Delaware, the weak economy and from the impact of recently-enacted gaming tax increases.
As disclosed in our SEC filings, HRI, Harrington Raceway, has filed an arbitration claim against the Company regarding our management reorganization agreement, disputing the compounding affect of minimum guarantee. Binding arbitration was held in February, at which we strongly defended our position. Both parties have filed closing briefs and response briefs were just filed. We expect the arbitrator will rule on this claim, which we believe is valued at approximately $1.5 million to date, some time in mid-April. Based on our participation at the arbitration hearing, the briefs filed to date and the advice of our counsel, we believe that it is more likely than not that the Company will prevail in the arbitration and therefore, we have not recorded any reserve for this claim. However, as with most legal proceedings, it is impossible it guarantee the outcome and no assurance can be given regarding the outcome of the arbitration.
During the fourth quarter of 2009 we recognized unrealized gains on notes receivable of approximately $25,000 compared with gains of approximately $130,000 in the prior-year period. Interest income of $225,000, previously recorded in unrealized gains in the fourth quarter of 2009, is primarily related to the $5 million FireKeepers receivable, which was valued on our books as of December 31, 2009 at at $4.682 million. Since this receivable, along with the interest, was paid in full in February we will recognize the remaining valuation allowance into interest income during the first quarter of 2010. As previously disclosed at the end of January, in the fourth quarter of 2009,we recognized an impairment charge of $0.8million related to the development of our Montana project. We are continuing to pursue this project. However, since project development and financing is doubtful under the current economic and credit conditions we have written the project receivable and contract rights down to zero. Our interest expense in the fourth quarter of 2009 fell approximately $130,000 compared to the prior-year quarter, due to the reduction of debt throughout 2008 and 2009.
As we mentioned in our last call, during the third quarter we reached agreement with RAM Entertainment, our partner in GEM, related to certain reimbursable advances made over the course of many years. GEM members agreed the distributions to the members will be made on a 50/50 basis to both members until such time as both members have received approximately $8.5 million and RAM's member payable has been fully repaid. Thereafter 70% will be paid to Full House and 30% to RAM until such time as the $3.4 million remaining payable to Full House has been repaid. Thereafter distributions to members will be made on a 50/50 basis. FHR will begin receiving disproportional distribution under this agreement starting in April and we expect to collect the additional $3 .4 million over the remaining months in 2010.
We had approximately $9.2 million in cash on hand as of December 31, 2009. Debt as of December 31st stood at approximately $1.5 million, all of which was an obligation of GEM, and has been fully paid as of today from RAM's portion of the GEM cash flows. Availability under our loan facility with Nevada State Bank stood at $8.5 million as of December 31, 2009. As Andre mentioned, in February of 2010 GEM received the final payment on its $5 million tribal receivable from FireKeepers Development Authority. The cash proceeds were split between the GEM members on an equal basis, which resulted in all of the remaining RAM receivable, previously classified as debt, being fully retired. As of March 23, 2010 we have approximately $12 million in cash, no outstanding debt, and $8.2 million of availability on our revolving credit facility. Overall our balance sheet continues to strengthen. We have a solid amount of cash on hand to aid in any acquisitions, and we are generated strong ongoing free cash flow. I can safely say that Full House Resorts is in the best financial condition in the history of the Company, which is allowing us to more aggressively pursue growth opportunities.
With that, I will turn it back over to Andre for a few final comments before we open it up for questions. Andre?
- Chairman & CEO
Thank you, Mark. Before turning it over to questions, just to sum up, we had a very successful 2009 and are excited about the opportunities present for the Company in 2010, even in the face of the continued economic weakness. We expect to continue generating strong free cash flow with no outstanding debt on our balance sheet and we are in prime position to negotiate the acquisition of interesting properties or enter into management fee agreement on our terms. When the time is right we will strike on an opportunity that provides value for our shareholders,but until then we will keep on searching and remain committed to our approach.
Thank you for your time today and I will now open the call for questions.
Operator
Thank you, sir. (Operator Instructions). And our first question comes from the line of Justin Sebastiano with Morgan Joseph. Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Thanks, morning, guys.
- Chairman & CEO
Morning, Justin.
- Analyst
Could you maybe talk a little bit about first quarter trends at FireKeepers, what you're seeing compared -- I guess win per days compared to what happened in the fourth quarter?
- COO & CFO
Well, Justin, as we said in our remarks we expect some seasonality in that property and we certainly saw some in the fourth quarter but I think we saw seasonality in the fourth quarter that we have observed in other jurisdictions and that we would consider to be sort of normal. The first quarter is also following seasonal trends. The first quarter we would expect to be a little bit stronger than the fourth quarter normally is and that's exactly what we're seeing. We're not prepared today to disclose any numbers, but I think that the first quarter is trending up from the fourth quarter and it's trending up in -- alongside of our expectations.
- Analyst
Okay. And remind me, of the 100 and -- or the bonds, I guess, that could have been repurchased by the tribe at 107 and I'm seeing those bonds trading around 116 and so virtually none of them got repurchased, correct?
- COO & CFO
That's correct and that's a good point, Jason. Maybe we should have said something about that in our remarks. The FireKeepers Casino did come in, as we've said in the past, ahead of schedule and under budget, and approximately $9 million under budget. which I think is unusual in today's world. And so that -- there was an offer made to the bondholders as required under the bond indenture to repurchase at 107. It was about -- a little over a $9 million cash offer and so the -- about $8.8 million of bonds. Only about 175,000 were tendered and so most of that cash has reverted back to FireKeepers operations. But at the current levels there will be additional offers made as required under the bond indenture in -- at the end of March and in the future, and under current conditions, with the bonds trading at 114, 115, its unlikely that there'll be very many bondholders who tender.
- Analyst
Right. So -- okay, so then that cash will go back to the tribe and basically be trapped there. So ir-- I know that you guy -- or that the tribe can, if they wish, I guess at the one-year anniversary of the opening, they can repay in full the F&E facility, which I guess at that time will be about $30 million. Do you anticipate them using that $30 million in cash to repay the F&E considering that otherwise it'll probably just be trapped there?
- COO & CFO
Well, I -- Justin, the tribe has not made a public disclosure with regard to its intentions, but I think that your logic is good. It is clearly an option available to the tribe. That debt currently is costing them around 9%. It can be redeemed very close to par starting in August and I think it's logical to assume that that's an attractive use of the cash that is trapped, as you say, at FireKeepers. And I would expect that the tribe will make a formal decision regarding that and probably make an announcement sometime in the relative near future. But that option's not really available to them until August so --
- Analyst
Right, okay.
- COO & CFO
-- at this stage I think it's just a -- it's an attractive option.
- Analyst
Okay. And along those same lines, the amount of cash that the tribe is -- or that the development authority, I guess, is piling up based on how well FireKeepers is doing, hey won't necessarily need to go to the debt markets to build a hotel and I assume that's the next logical move. It's almost as if they can delever by doing that, right? If they pay with cash then they can generate the EBITDA, which ultimately is a round about way of deleveraging. Is that a good way to look at it?
- COO & CFO
I think it is definitely a way to look at it and I think it's one of the ways that the tribe is looking at it and we as their advisor. There is a sig -- significant restrictions on the amount of cash that the tribe can take out of the FireKeepers entity and given that the bondholders are not exercising the puts or the tenders at this stage there is a substantial amount of cash that's being built up. The tribe is, along with us, are currently engaged in a master planning effort. I think we've said that before. We don't expect any conclusions to come out of that master planning process until this summer, but that process is continuing, and a hotel development, I think, is a -- everybody believes that a hotel development will be part of that master plan and a logical next expansion opportunity. But the size and scope of that hotel are a TBD at this point and clearly the tribe understands that one of their options for using the cash that is accumulating at FireKeepers would be to fund either in whole or in part a hotel expansion. Of course all of that is -- assumes that the current credit environment stays as it currently is and that the bondholders continue not to take the puts.
- Analyst
Right.
- COO & CFO
As we all know, markets change and conditions could change and we, as advisors to the tribe, and the tribe are fully aware of that. We continue to monitor the environment and examine all of the options that might be available to the tribe, either today or in the relative near future.
- Analyst
Okay. And just moving to Gun Lake, everybody has access to the webcam so we can see what they're doing there. Based on my estimates of what I'm seeing, I don't see how they'll be finished by September or whenever they had publicly said they planned to open. I might be wrong, but just looking at what I see, I don't see it, but considering you guys are there in the market, presumably have your ear to the ground a little closer than most of us, maybe you could give us a little bit more insight into what you're thinking as far as the opening there?
- COO & CFO
Well, I'm not sure, Justin, that we know a lot more than anybody else on today's call. We see the webcam too. They are doing some work. I think there's a couple of key things that -- we had always anticipated that there would be a property in Gun Lake that roughly the same size as ours, and as of today it appears that the property that will open either later this year or early next year is going to be substantially smaller in scope than originally planned. We do not know the status of their financing. We understand that they haven't selected an investment bank. We understand that there is a financing process underway. But as of right now, it is our understanding that they have not completed their permanent financing, and so that process still needs to be completed before they can really pick up the pace on their construction. But exactly when that's going to happen and what their resulting opening day will be would be purely speculative on our part. But we continue to enjoy not having any immediate competition and we're trying to make hay as as long as we possibly can. And when they come into the market it will have a diluting effect, but I think the diluting effect is at least going to be -- initially is going to be smaller than we originally thought it was going to be.
- Analyst
Okay. And then just lastly moving more to Full House, you guys talked about acquisitions and I guess it's taken a little bit longer maybe than anybody anticipated and surely not for lack of effort because clearly you guys are moving forward on that, but I assume it's more the other side, the sellers. Has it gotten better, though, in the last three months as far as how much closer maybe you think you guys are to pulling something off, or as far as the attitude from the sellers out there?
- Chairman & CEO
Well, Justin, the sellers, it seems that casino operators and owners are always optimistic. They are the great optimists, maybe the greatest optimists, and they always see that the market will turn around tomorrow. And as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, what we're very, very much interested in is today's earnings, not yesterday, and what we encountered quite a bit is people are always saying, well, tomorrow will be better, and our approach is very simple; we are buying on today's earnings. I think that, though, we are starting to see that the last two years of decreasing earnings is starting to affect slightly the thought process of the owners. And so we thought that that would have taken place a little quicker but we think that there is some -- we are looking very, very -- we are very active in the market and if something happens within the space, we know it, we look at it, and if it fits our profile, we start digging a little deeper. And as I've said, we've engaged David Berman of Regal Capital, which I really wanted the premier shopping in this space, and we are very active in the market again. So if something happens within our profile we will move very quickly.
- Analyst
Okay. And you'd mentioned management contracts, would you think about taking on a management contract even if there was was no equity ownership stake for you, ALA Harrington, maybe not so much the guarantee contract that you have but actually just going in there and earning a fee with little or no cost to you?
- Chairman & CEO
Yes.
- Analyst
Okay.
- Chairman & CEO
Absolutely.
- Analyst
And you're pursuing that, as well as in addition to an acquisition?
- Chairman & CEO
Absolutely, yes, we are.
- Analyst
Okay. All right, thanks a lot, guys, I appreciate your time.
- Chairman & CEO
(inaudible) space, both purchasing, managing and managing with a sliver of equity, if possible, if the property, again, fits our profile -- our purchasing profile.
- Analyst
Got you, okay.
- Chairman & CEO
[They've very effective.]
- Analyst
Thanks, Andre. Thanks, Mark.
- COO & CFO
Thank you Andre -- or Justin.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Tim O'Connell with Insight Investments. Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Hi, Andre. Hi, Mark.
- COO & CFO
Morning, Tim.
- Chairman & CEO
Morning.
- Analyst
Most of my questions were answered but just had a -- maybe a couple here. Looking at your current balance sheet, what is the maximum-sized asset that you're looking at in terms of an acquisition using your current balance sheet without any equity dilution?
- COO & CFO
Tim, probably -- without any equity dilution right off our balance sheet we think we could probably acquire a property with between $6 million and $10 million of EBITDA is something we think we could pull off. As Andre indicated, we are looking at properties -- we have looked at some prop -- situations where we would get into a bigger situation, owning a portion of the equity and taking a management agreement. But just an outright purchase, probably somewhere between $6 million and $10 million are the property profiles that we're focusing on.
- Analyst
Okay. And then just follow-on thought. We've obviously had this horrible gaming industry environment in the past year-and-a-half or so and seeing properties going bankrupt and others that are distressed and as investors here we're still being patient, waiting for something to develop on your acquisition front. Is it at all the case that maybe you're looking for an unbelievable deal as opposed to just a good deal and just being too discriminating? Is that at all the case?
- Chairman & CEO
No, I don't think we are not. We are -- if we can find an incredible deal we would be very happy. We are looking for good deals. And, again, as I mentioned, for the first time in the last 25 or 30 years of gaming the last two years haven't been good and I really don't think you're going to see much of a turnaround over the the next year to year-and-a-half. You might see a stabilization in the business and we are starting to see the earnings to be somewhat stable. But at the end of the day it's people have to come to the reality that the good old days will not be the good future days. And we've been looking, again, for the last two-to-three years and we are very conservative. We kept on seeing revenues dropping and didn't feel comfortable that we could see the bottom of the well. Now we are feeling much more comfortable that we know where revenue will go forward and with that in mind we are moving much more aggressively to look at properties. And so at the end of the day, to give you just a little bit of recap, we were looking at properties but didn't know where the bottom of the well was. Now we've seen some some stability in revenue and in earnings and we feel more comfortable with the industry as it is.
- Analyst
Okay.
- COO & CFO
It's an excellent question, Tim, and it's one that Andre and I discuss frequently just to make sure that we aren't being too -- greedy's not the right word, but that we're not passing on deals just because they're not exceptional deals.
- Analyst
Okay. All right, fair enough. That's all from me, thanks.
- COO & CFO
Thanks, Tim.
Operator
Thank you. (Operator Instructions). And our next question comes from the line of Jane Pedreira with FBR Capital. Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Hi, good morning. Can you just remind us or give us any indication of what percentage of FireKeepers comes from the Toledo market?
- COO & CFO
Ohio -- I don't have Toledo right off the top of my head, but northern Ohio is accounting for -- I believe it's less than 5% of our revenue currently. Toledo is -- it's not a market that we have aggressively attacked from a marketing perspective. We do a little bit of busing and we do get some customers out of that market, but it's not a significant revenue source for us at this stage.
- Analyst
Okay, that's great. And then if you were going to build a hotel, do you have any guesstimate as to the size or whether -- would there be additional amenities beyond the hotel?
- COO & CFO
Well, really said much about the size of a potential hotel. I think internally our discussions are somewhere in the -- between 200 and 400 but we really are trying to let the master planning process run its course before we jump in and start making any conclusions with regard to that. There is a need for some additional public space at FireKeepers. For those of you who have been there, we have very limited event space at FireKeepers and so I think it's likely that the new hotel will include some event space. But we expect -- again with the caveat that the master planning process still has a ways to run here, we expect it to be a relatively modest hotel expansion, and one that we can definitely justify and the tribe can justify as being economically supportive of casino -- of the casino.
- Analyst
Okay, that sounds good. And then just one final question. I'm always surprised at the strengths of the Michigan market given all the news that it has the highest unemployment in the country, close to 30%. Is there anything that you could say that would perhaps explain why the market is, in fact, so strong?
- COO & CFO
Well, I'll give you my answer and Andre may jump in with an additional comment, but one of the things that's very nice about Michigan is that the gaming developments there are nicely spaced. so from a competitive perspective, we at FireKeepers benefit. We have a lot of people within very close proximity to only 2,680 slot machines. Most of the commercial gaming is clustered in Detroit, and then there's a lot of native casinos that are in upper area of Michigan, and then you've got (inaudible) down in the corner and you've got us in the middle. And so I think that the -- that while the economy there has not been great the demographics are still very strong, and from a competitive standpoint there's some nice spacing, which allows for properties to be successful. That -- that's my answer on Michigan. And it's a mature gaming market, it's been there for a while and people have demonstrated an interest in gaming and continue to do so.
- Chairman & CEO
And I think it's easy to get to the property, as well. We are a bit right on the side of a major highway by an exit, so it makes it much easier to get in and there is 40,000 cars a day who pass in front of the property so I think that that helps, as well.
- Analyst
Okay, thank you and congratulations.
- Chairman & CEO
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. That does conclude our question-and-answer session for today, I'd like to turn the call back over to management at this time for closing comments.
- Chairman & CEO
We like to thank everyone for their participation on the call today and for their support as we continue to pursue growth. With that we will end the call and wish all of you a great end of the week and thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen that does conclude the Full House Resorts 4Q 2009 conference call. If you'd like to listen to a replay of today's presentation you may dial 1-800-406-7325, or 303-590-3030 and enter the access code of 4260115 followed by the pound. Thank you for your participation, you may now disconnect.