Before founding APC, Lawrence co-founded the Department of Strategic Finance & Business Analysis at Caesars Entertainment and served as its inaugural Director, where he was in charge of conducting market sizing of every new development opportunity worldwide and forecasting negative impacts to every affected property due to new competitors or legislative changes. Lawrence also led quarterly performance reviews and financial monitoring of 45+ casinos nationwide, and analyzed every financial situation faced by entities of the entire corporation.

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In the last five years, Lawrence played important roles in multiple casino-related legislative efforts and licensing bids in North America, Asia, and Europe with demand sizing, build optimization, site selection, and financial forecasts, including:

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• Conducting demand sizing, revenue forecast, and site selection for Caesars Entertainment's successful pursuit of the first gaming license issued in the Commonwealth of Virginia;

 

• Leading the full gaming revenue forecast, cannibalization and repatriation study, and economic impact study (18 scenarios) for Bally’s Corporation’s winning bid for the exclusive license in Downtown Chicago to build the largest commercial casino in North America. Parts of the study were called out by the CFO of the City of Chicago as pivotal pieces that won Bally’s the bid;

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• Spearheading a study commissioned by nine native American tribes in Oregon and two lobbying groups on Historical Horse Racing (HHR) machines and their competitive impacts on native American casinos. The study was cited as a pivotal piece in Oregon Department of Justice’s ruling of HHR machines as unconstitutional;

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• Co-authoring a research brief and presenting in front of New Jersey Casino Control Commission. The research brief was cited as support for NJ Senate Health Committee’s historic ban of smoking in all casinos, and also cited by the St. Louis County, MO in restricting smoking in its casinos;

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• Conducting scenario analysis and economic impact study for Harrah’s New Orleans’ successful 30-year license renewal as the only land-based and most profitable casino in the State of Louisiana (HB544);

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• Supporting Caesars’ negotiations with the Indiana Gaming Commission through each version of Indiana House Bill 1015 and Senate Bill 552. All three mitigation measures were accepted.

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Lawrence developed 60+ proprietary gravity models to assist the development, expansion, and M&A transactions of casinos, hotels and racetracks, and provided competitive impact and socioeconomic impact studies to operators and governments.  Clients included chain casino operators, Native American tribes, racetracks, hotel developers, and prestigious private equity funds across 35+ jurisdictions in the world. Lawrence’s gravity model series have been praised as “the best in the industry” by various leaders in the industry.

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Lawrence's firsthand experience on the gaming floor, in hotel management, and with important financial, analytics and research roles formed a valuable repertoire to help clients reach their goals. Lawrence is also a frequent contributor to CDC Gaming, Indian Gaming Magazine, Global Gaming Business, and Las Vegas Review Journal.

 

Lawrence is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), a math and programming enthusiast, and an avid traveler (44 US states, 50+ National Parks, and 500+ casinos). Lawrence earned two Bachelor of Science degrees, one Master of Science degree from Duke University while pursing a PhD degree in Physics. Lawrence speaks four languages and lives in Las Vegas with his wife and kids.

 

 

 

 

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