Featured Articles Archive - Page 193

Deal Me In: Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind

Dear Mark: Is it appropriate to tip a casino host? When I hit, the dealer, bartender, server(s) and the slot attendants are automatic. I see very few people doing it. I was just curious. Mike B.Speaking, Mike, on behalf of all casino employees, I can assure you they sure do appreciate your spreading the love around...read more

"Reading Poker Tells" author hosting webinar

Like thousands of college students in the early 2000s, Zach Elwood got caught up in the poker boom. He mostly played with friends at first, then, while living in Albuquerque, started playing $10/$20 limit games at the casino.He loved the famous scene in Rounders, where Mike McDermott (played by Matt Damon) reads all the players' hands in the judges' game...read more

WSOP.com claims market leadership in Nevada

Analysts have been dis­appointed by the numbers produced from Nevada’s 17-month-old online poker network.Caesars Interactive Entertainment doesn’t share that view.The company, a division of Caesars Entertainment Corp., launched WSOP.com - Nevada a year ago Friday...read more

Boyd Gaming COO Chakmak leaving the company

Boyd Gaming Corp. said Tuesday chief operating officer Paul Chakmak was leaving the casino company.Chakmak had been with Boyd since 2004. Company CEO Keith Smith said he would assume Chakmak’s responsibilities with the Las Vegas-based regional casino operator.In a statement, Smith said Boyd has bee...read more

Inside Gaming: Once ignored, Multimedia Games now may see other suitors

Four years ago, Multimedia Games was all but kaput.CEO Anthony Sanfilippo fled for a similar role with casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment and the slot machine manufacturer was headed for the scrap heap.Austin, Texas-based Multimedia put itself up for sale but couldn’t attract a buyer.Six months later, the company changed direction...read more

Monmouth Park betting sports wagers will soon be legal in New Jersey

Monmouth Park is going all-in on the future of sports betting in New Jersey.The Garden State race track has invested more than $1 million in renovating its facilities to open the state's first sportsbook. Monmouth has partnered with William Hill, which operates several sportsbooks in Nevada...read more

Top-10 gambling endurance adventures

Two years ago, I wrote a top-10 column outlining all the things poker players could learn from runners.As a runner, I enjoy adding an element of endurance to many of the things I do. I've organized and played in 24-hour poker games; when I was in graduate school, I rode my bicycle 360 miles to a summer teaching job over the course of six days, rather than driving; and I once drove all the way from Helena, Ark., to Rochester, N.Y., without stopping except to put gas in the car...read more

Gaming Insider: Social casino revenue headed above $2.7 billion

LAS VEGAS -- Eilers Research gaming analyst Adam Krejcik estimates the expanding social casino phenomenon in the U.S. will eclipse $2.7 billion in revenue this year.That’s a pocketful of virtual gaming tokens.The growing activity is one reason Station Casinos, Inc...read more

Inside Gaming: Industry is not facing slots of fun

LAS VEGAS -- The outlook for U.S. slot machine industry continues to be bleak.Analysts said this month the replacement market — in which slot machine manufacturers sell casinos newer games to change out older products — has fallen from previous estimates.Eilers Research founder Todd Eilers said slow demand from casinos in the United States and Canada through June could result in a 28.6 percent decline in North American slot sales for all of 2014...read more

Caesars moves to restructure $24 billion debt

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Caesars Entertainment Corporation said Friday it would begin discussions with its senior bondholders in efforts to restructure the largest portions of the company’s gaming industry-high $24.2 billion debt.In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Caesars announced “non-disclosure agreements with certain beneficial holders” to discuss restructuring debt due in 2020.Bloomberg News reported Monday that the talks would involve at least five senior bondholders: Pacific Investment Management Co., Elliott Management Corp., BlackRock Inc., Brigade Capital Management LLC and Beach Point Capital Management LP.The companies have agreed to enter confidentiality agreements with Caesars to formally begin talks.In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal in Atlantic City, Caesars Entertainment Chairman Gary Loveman said the company “had made progress” with its unsecured creditors and talks with the first lien holders “was an important step” in moving forward with healing the company’s balance sheet.Loveman was encouraged the company would talk directly with the bondholders and not advisers.“I believe constructive discussions will occur,” Loveman said...read more