Casino Stocks: Which Has the Winning Hand?

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) - While experts agree the road to recovery will be a long one for casino operators, expectations for the sector do improve heading into the second-half of the year.

For one,

Penn National Gaming

(PENN) - Get Report

upped its full-year outlook last week after it reported first-quarter profit that beat expectations.

The regional casino operator now expects to earn $1.13 a share in 2010, from prior guidance of $1. Analysts are calling for earnings of $1.07 a share.

Penn tends to be an anomaly among casino companies when it comes to releasing forward-looking guidance, forcing investors to pay close attention to any color provided on first-quarter conference calls in the coming weeks.

Unsurprisingly, Macau-driven companies like

Las Vegas Sands

(LVS) - Get Report

and

Wynn Resorts

(WYNN) - Get Report

, are expected to fare better than Las Vegas-centered casinos like

MGM Mirage

(MGM) - Get Report

and

Boyd Gaming

(BYD) - Get Report

.

Still, visitation rates to Las Vegas continue to improve, and once room rates and group and convention business see an uptick, a recovery could be possible.

On that note, which casino stock -- MGM, Las Vegas Sands, Penn Gaming, Wynn Resorts or Boyd -- do you think will outperform in the second-half of 2010? Take our poll below to see the consensus of

TheStreet

.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.

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