Featured Articles Archive - Page 195

Caesars Interactive Entertainment taps new general manager

LAS VEGAS -- Caesars Interactive Entertainment named a new general manager Tuesday to oversee the company’s regulated online gaming business in Nevada and New Jersey.Leon Thomas will work out of the company’s headquarters and report to Caesars Interactive CEO Mitch Garber.Caesars Interactive, which also operates the World Series of Poker, is owned by Caesars Growth Partners, an affiliate of Caesars Entertainment.Thomas, 36, will oversee the company’s strategic and operational initiatives in regulated real-money online gaming...read more

Fitch analysts join others in cautioning on Macau

Now they are just piling on.Analysts at Fitch Ratings Service Tuesday joined the chorus of cautionary investment advice toward the Macau gaming market, which has seen five straight monthly revenue declines and facing a sixth in November.The bond advisement service predicted zero growth in Macau’s gaming revenue by the time 2014 is concluded, and an overall decline of 1 percent in 2015.“Fitch’s forecast reflects the persistent weakness in the VIP business, which seems to be spilling over to the premium mass segment,” analyst Michael Paladino told investors.He said the market might not recover until two resorts open in the second half of 2015 — the Galaxy Entertainment Group expansion of the Galaxy Macau and the Melco Crown Entertainment Limited opening of Macau Studio City.“Our 2015 forecast may prove overly conservative if VIP bounces back to recent historical averages,” Paladino said.Macau, which produced a record $45.2 billion in gaming revenue in 2013, has been a downward spiral since the summer.A combination of factors, including a crackdown on corruption by the Chinese government, political demonstrations in Hong Kong, economic concerns, visa restrictions and the World Cup Soccer tournament all played a role in driving down Macau gaming revenue beginning in June.October’s 23.2 percent decline was the largest single-month drop since American-owned casinos began operating in Macau in 2004...read more

Stratosphere parent reverses quarterly loss, grows revenue

LAS VEGAS -- Stratosphere parent American Casino & Entertainment Properties, LLC reversed third-quarter net loss and grew revenue 4.1 percent, the company said.American Casino, which also owns the two Arizona Charlie’s properties and the Aquarius Casino Resort in Laughlin, said its had a net income of $600,000 in the quarter that ended Sept...read more

To win locals' hearts, Boyd renews appeal to stomachs

LAS VEGAS -- Boyd Gaming Corporation plans to revamp its restaurant offerings throughout its locals-oriented properties.The company began the effort recently at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino by opening The Game, a sports bar and grill near the property’s race and sports book.The space replaced TGI Friday’s and offers a new restaurant menu and bar items...read more

2014 WSOP November Nine illustrated

Last week, Swedish poker pro Martin Jacobson won the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event and claimed the $10 million first-place prize. The tournament was one for the ages, as Jacobson played one of the best tournaments in recent memory, and Americans were shut out of the top-three places for the first time in the WSOP's 45-year history.Now that we've had a week to digest everything that happened on the table, we can take a step back and think about what it all means...read more

Inside Gaming: Decade covering casino industry anything but boring

LAS VEGAS -- CityCenter was nothing more than conceptual renderings and a $5 billion idea when I rejoined the Review-Journal business staff 10 years ago.You could still place a wager at the Stardust and the Frontier, Macau was the world’s third-largest gaming market, Internet poker was becoming more than a curiosity and the idea of casinos in Ohio and Maryland was far-fetched.Not to sound like a mix between Forrest Gump and Zelig, but I’ve enjoyed having a front-row seat to some of the big events that have remade the gaming industry since returning to the newsroom in November 2004.During my first five-year stint at the newspaper I covered the opening of The Mirage...read more

Online poker's Ultimate Gaming folds after 19 months

LAS VEGAS -- Ultimate Gaming, the nation’s first legal and regulated real money online wagering website, said Friday it was ending its Nevada-based operation, citing a lack of profitability from the 19-month-old business.Station Casinos, Inc...read more

Deal Me In: Plan on a long dry spell between top-line jackpots

Dear Mark: Can you explain to me why I no longer get anywhere near the number of top slot jackpots that I once got in the past? Sandra R.By past, Sandra, I am assuming that your slot play consisted of the “old style” reel machines. Those machines had physical limitations as to the number of reels and stops per reel, which created a limited number of possible outcomes...read more

Caesars to trim nationwide workforce by less than 1 percent

LAS VEGAS -- Casino giant Caesars Entertainment Corporation attempted to clarify planned cost-saving measures Thursday, saying it will reduce its 68,000-person workforce nationwide by less than 1 percent.The company, which operates nearly 40 casinos in 14 U.S...read more

Operating income, cash flow recede at Affinity Gaming

LAS VEGAS -- Affinity Gaming saw its operating income and cash flow slip in the third quarter due what the casino operator termed as “unusual” corporate expenses over the three-month period.The Las Vegas-based company said its corporate expenses grew 128.3 percent as it successfully fought a Colorado casino referendum, hired a new CEO, reconstituted its board and worked to “remediate” a recent data breach.Affinity, which operates 11 casinos in four states, including five in Nevada, grew revenue in the quarter that ended Sept...read more