Featured Articles Archive - Page 162

Inside Gaming: In memory of Kirk Kerkorian, Las Vegas' most reclusive billionaire

Kirk Kerkorian was never comfortable in the spotlight.Despite his status as one of America’s most successful billionaires, having owned a Hollywood movie studio and some of the Strip’s glitziest resorts, Kerkorian was reserved, unpretentious and media-shy.That seems almost foreign today...read more

G2E producers to integrate the 'integrated resort' into trade show

Producers of the Global Gaming Expo will build an integrated resort as part of this fall’s casino industry trade show.Sort of.As more worldwide gaming jurisdictions explore the idea of the integrated resort concept, the American Gaming Association decided to show G2E attendees the nongaming elements that are part of the modern hotel-casino besides gaming equipment.Integrated resorts — a term that Las Vegas Sands Corp...read more

Top 10 binge-watching prop bets

The third season of Orange is the New Black was released on Netflix last week, to the delight of binge-watching TV fans everywhere.My wife and I really enjoy the show, but we were so busy over the weekend that we only got through the first three episodes of the 13-episode season in four days — hardly a binge worth mentioning...read more

New credit agreement to help MGM complete $2.9 billion Macau resort

MGM Resorts International said Friday it refinanced its credit agreement surrounding its Macau subsidiary, which will be used to help complete the company’s $2.9 billion resort under construction on the Cotai Strip.The company said its credit agreement increased to $1.55 billion and added a $1.45 billion revolving line of credit...read more

MGM CEO: 'Not my expectation' to build another casino-resort in Las Vegas

It might seem like an odd statement coming from Jim Murren, chairman and CEO of the Strip’s largest casino company.For now, MGM Resorts International — which operates Bellagio, MGM Grand Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, The Mirage, CityCenter and others — is done building hotel-casinos on the Strip.“It’s not my expectation during my career here that we will build another casino resort in Las Vegas,” said Murren, who became CEO in 2008...read more

Inside Gaming: Aristocrat No. 3 in slot industry, but CEO striving to move up

Australia-based Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. wasn’t left behind by the tsunami that engulfed the slot machine industry over the past 20 months.You just might not have noticed.Aristocrat, which operates its Las Vegas-based U.S. division as Aristocrat Technologies, spent $1.3 billion to buy Video Gaming Technologies, a Tennessee-based slot machine maker that provides games to the American Indian casino market.The deal got lost in the flurry of megatransactions.Eilers Research founder Todd Eilers, who follows slot machine companies, said that with the deals final, Aristocrat is the No...read more

Boyd Gaming optimistic about Las Vegas locals market

In April, Boyd Gaming Corp. CEO Keith Smith said customer spending in Southern Nevada was on an upswing, which bodes well for the company’s three Coast Casinos properties and Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Halls.“There is still considerable room for improvement with the consumer and we need to see more durability,” Smith said during Boyd’s first quarter earnings conference call...read more

Circus Circus has 'significant and iconic role' to play in north Strip recovery, says MGM exec

Before the recession sunk its claws into the Strip, the Circus Circus Hotel Casino routinely contributed $70 million to $80 million a year in cash flow to the balance sheet of MGM Resorts International.Today, that number is closer to $30 million.MGM Resorts still sees a benefit to owning the aging but familiar north Strip property the company acquired when it bought Mandalay Resort Group in 2005 for $7.9 billion.It has a loyal customer following.MGM Resorts Chairman Jim Murren said in a recent interview Circus Circus is “the most popular property” among the company’s 10 Strip resorts for Hispanic customers traveling from Southern California and other West Coast destinations.Murren said MGM Resorts “has taken a step back” concerning Circus Circus and is considering various options for the 3,800-room hotel-casino, which was opened in 1968 by the late Jay Sarno...read more

Herbst family has plans to revitalize Searchlight Nugget

Herbst family-owned JETT Gaming was given tentative approval Wednesday by state gaming regulators to take over ownership and operation of the Searchlight Nugget, the historic gaming site in tiny Searchlight.The property, which was built in 1979 by Warren and Verlie Doing, fell on hard times over the past few years because of the recession...read more

Penn National names top execs for Las Vegas properties

Regional casino operator Penn National Gaming, which owns M Resort and is buying the Tropicana Las Vegas, named a top executive Wednesday to oversee both operations.The move ends the stewardship of M Resort by Anthony Marnell III, who, along with his family-owned Marnell Corrao Associates, designed and built the stylish 390-room hotel-casino, which opened in 2009.Marnell, who remained as president of M Resort after Penn National took over ownership in 2011, will transition to a “new strategic consulting role for Penn National focused on community and political relations in Nevada,” according to a statement.Marnell will also consult on Penn National’s “long-term property development plans in Las Vegas.”Penn National Chief Operating Officer Jay Snowden credited Marnell and the Marnell family for the “high quality design and exquisite attention to detail” at M Resort.Marnell, he said, would be involved in long-range planning for the Tropicana, which Penn acquired in April for $360 million...read more