Station Casinos (NYSE:STN) and Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) are the two biggest players in the fast-growing Las Vegas locals market. They tend to keep a lower profile than larger strip operators MGM Mirage (NYSE:MGM) and Harrah's (NYSE:HET), but each offers a unique opportunity for investors.

Fool gaming analysts Jeff Hwang and Nathan Slaughter are squaring off to determine which company is the better bargain. Jeff will present his case for Station Casinos, and Nathan will serve up a case for Boyd. As you'll see, neither analyst is very bearish on the other's company. The point of this duel is to examine the strengths and weaknesses of Boyd and Station and make us better investors in the process.

Here's the tale of the tape, brought to you by Standard and Poor's Capital IQ. Station has a slightly bigger market cap, while Boyd has a more diverse set of properties. Numbers are in millions.

Metric

Station Casinos

Boyd Gaming

Market Cap

4,768

4,101

TTM Revenue

1,265

2,278

TTM Operating Income

316

364

Key Properties

Red Rock Station, Green Valley Ranch, Sunset Station

Borgata, Suncoast, The Orleans, Blue Chip, Sam's Town Las Vegas

Locations

Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Midwest, South


Duel on, Fools!

Fool gaming editor Joey Khattab does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned. The Fool has a disclosure policy.