Featured Articles Archive - Page 167

Report: Exec popped for $300k dinner after run at blackjack

LAS VEGAS -- The person behind the $300,000 dinner at Bellagio’s Prime Steakhouse has been revealed.Bloomberg News reported Wednesday that Vice Media Inc. CEO Shane Smith sprung for the dinner following a lucky run at the casino’s blackjack tables...read more

Culinary leaders toast new ownership of Cosmopolitan Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- Leave it to labor leader D. Taylor to mention the irony of the location for Wednesday’s joint event with Culinary Local 226, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Blackstone Real Estate Partners, the hotel-casino’s new owners.The last time Taylor was inside the Strip property, he was detained and cited by Las Vegas police for trespassing in the very spot the media event was taking place, next to the Chandelier Bar near the hotel-casino’s east-side entrance.Eighteen months ago, the union and The Cosmopolitan weren’t very chummy...read more

Caesars again rebuffs debt holders' request for payment

LAS VEGAS -- Caesars Entertainment Corporation provided a simple answer to another request from second-lien bondholders to repay more than $3.8 billion owed by the casino operator: No.In a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Caesars dismissed as “meritless” a request from the Wilmington Savings Fund Society for immediate payment of $3.68 billion in principal and $185 million in interest...read more

Inside Gaming: It's PokerStars vs tribes in California online gaming fight

LAS VEGAS -- If California’s Internet poker debate was an actual card game, PokerStars just doubled up.But the European online gaming giant is still short-stacked against two of the state’s largest tribal casino operators in its effort to gain a piece of California’s potentially lucrative — albeit nascent — Internet poker market.Three tribes embraced legislation this month that would allow PokerStars into California.Last week, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, the gaming industry’s largest proponent for legalized online gaming, said it no longer objects to PokerStars entering the U.S...read more

Station Casinos upbeat about locals gaming market

LAS VEGAS -- Station Casinos, Inc. presented an upbeat outlook for the Las Vegas locals gaming market Tuesday, based on economic improvements, higher consumer confidence, and lower gasoline prices.The company reported revenue and cash flow figures that were at levels not seen since 2008.“It may finally appear we have reached that inflection point we have been discussing for several years,” Station Casinos Chief Financial Officer Marc Falcone said on a conference call with analysts.The company said its revenue for the quarter that ended Dec...read more

Riviera Hotel to be demolished for Las Vegas Convention Center expansion

LAS VEGAS -- The walls of the Riviera Hotel and Casino will, indeed, come tumbling down.The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority on Tuesday scheduled a special board meeting on Friday to consider acquisition of the 60-year-old Strip resort for $182.5 million, which includes up to $8.5 million in transaction-related expenses...read more

$300k dinner bill ‘sign people are ready to spend again,’ MGM chairman says

LAS VEGAS -- MGM Resorts International Chairman Jim Murren told analysts and investors Tuesday there were “encouraging signs” of increased customer spending at his company’s 10 Strip resorts in the past few months.One anecdote Murren cited was a $300,000 dinner bill during the Consumer Electronics Show in January for a party of more a dozen at the upscale Prime Steakhouse inside Bellagio, which included wine with a price tag upward of $15,000 per bottle.Murren said he hadn’t seen a check like that since 2007.“It tells you there is a release valve that has opened,” Murren said following MGM’s fourth quarter and year-end conference call...read more

Top-10 ways the Massachusetts charity poker laws are broken

My wife is the president of a non-profit organization in our town that is focused on bringing together and supporting families with young children. The board is made up entirely of women with one exception, and most of the events are geared towards mothers.As a result, the one male member of the board suggested coming up with an event that would appeal to fathers: a charity poker tournament.Since he knows my background, he asked me if I could lend a hand in organizing the tournament...read more

Inside Gaming: Online lotteries flourish after 2011 change in Wire Act

Internet gambling supporters rejoiced when the Justice Department — two days before Christmas in 2011 — changed its opinion on the Federal Wire Act and opened the doors for online wagering expansion across the United States.However, the growth has been in state-run online lotteries, not poker or other casino games.A study released this month by GamblingCompliance.com found Internet lottery is expanding on a much faster pace than Internet casino gaming...read more

Gaming Control Board signs off on Olympic wagering regulation

LAS VEGAS -- Nevada sports books will be able to accept wagers on the Olympics under a regulation recommended for approval by the Nevada State Gaming Control Board.The proposal, to be considered by the Nevada State Gaming Commission later this month, would let bookmakers place betting lines on Olympic sporting or athletic events sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee...read more