Featured Articles Archive - Page 228

Ultimate Gaming to provide online poker for Peppermill, affiliated casinos

LAS VEGAS -- Ultimate Gaming was already attracting poker players from Northern Nevada to play the company’s Internet wagering platform.An agreement announced Thursday with the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino Reno and four Northern Nevada casinos operated by the same company could grow that customer base.Under the deal, UltimatePoker.com, the online poker room operated by Station Casinos, Inc.-owned Ultimate Gaming, will become the Internet poker destination for the five casinos in Reno, Sparks and Wendover.“The Peppermill has a pretty active poker room,” Ultimate Gaming CEO Tobin Prior said Thursday...read more

Tropicana reaches five-year deal with Culinary, Bartenders unions

LAS VEGAS -- The Tropicana Las Vegas said Thursday it reached tentative agreement on a new five-year labor contract with Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165, covering some 650 nongaming employees at the Strip resort.The deal with between the hotel and the negotiating committee still needs to be ratified by the employees.The Tropicana is the first independent hotel-casino to reach agreement with the unions on a new five-year contract to replace deals that expired in June 2013.The unions had previously reached deals covering casinos operated by MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment that cover nearly 20 Strip resorts.The Tropicana deal comes as union members prepare to vote on a strike authorization that could lead to walkouts at several Strip and downtown hotel-casinos.“We are thrilled that our collaboration with Tropicana has resulted in reaching an agreement that is mutually beneficial,” Culinary secretary treasurer Geoconda Arguello-Kline said in a statement.The economic package, agreed to by both parties, mirrors what was agreed to with MGM Resorts and Caesars.Workers will keep their health insurance...read more

SLS Las Vegas to become part of Preferred Hotels & Guests loyalty program

LAS VEGAS -- The $415 million SLS Las Vegas Hotel Casino will become part of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts guest loyalty program, which includes a worldwide collection of 450 independent hotels and resorts.The 1,600-room hotel, which is expected to open Labor Day weekend, is the first Las Vegas property in the Preferred Hotels system, the company’s said in a statement Wednesday...read more

Boyd Gaming displays interest in Japan casino

LAS VEGAS -- Add Boyd Gaming Corporation to the race to operate a casino in Japan.CEO Keith Smith used a fourth-quarter conference call Wednesday to express Boyd Gaming’s interest in the potential Japanese casino market. The country is exploring casino legalization as a way to pay for infrastructure associated with being host of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.“We’re always looking for ways to grow the business,” Smith said, adding that he and a development executive recently traveled to Tokyo to initially view the market.“We’re investigating .....read more

Celebration of new year helps Macau gaming revenue reach $4.8 billion in February

Macau shattered its single-month record for gaming revenue in February, collecting $4.8 billion from gamblers who were attracted to the market for the Chinese New Year celebration.The figure, released Monday by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, was the third $4 billion gaming month in the last five months for the only market in China where casinos are legal.Last October, Macau’s casinos — including properties owned by MGM Resorts International, Las Vegas Sands Corp...read more

Caesars sells four properties, including three on Las Vegas Strip, to subsidiary

LAS VEGAS -- Caesars Entertainment Corporation announced a deal Monday to sell three of its Strip resorts and Harrah’s New Orleans to its Caesars Growth Partners subsidiary for $2.2 billion.The move is more akin to a transfer of assets to a company that was created last year to help the world’s largest casino operator expand its footprint while dealing with its gaming industry-high $23 billion of long-term debt.Caesars Growth Partners already owns two of the company’s casinos, a hotel tower and Caesars’ interactive gaming business...read more

Adelson returns to top 10 of Forbes List of World Billionaires

LAS VEGAS -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, whose net worth grew to $38 billion in 2013, returned to the top 10 of the Forbes List of the World’s Billionaires for the first time since 2007.Adelson, 80, who owns 53 percent of the company that operates casinos in Las Vegas, Macau, Singapore and Pennsylvania, added $11.5 billion to net worth in the past year.According to Forbes, Adelson earned an average of $32 million a day last year, third most of anyone on the planet.Investor Kirk Kerkorian, 96, who founded the predecessor of MGM Resorts International, was the next highest-ranking Nevada gaming industry representative on the list, coming in at No...read more

The next Strip mega-resort is underway

LAS VEGAS -- To the naked eye, not much has changed in the year that passed since Malaysia-based Genting Group announced plans to build the $2 billion to $7 billion Resorts World Las Vegas on 87 acres on the Strip.The concrete-and-steel structure — remnants of the unfinished Echelon development mothballed by Boyd Gaming Corporation in 2008 — remain standing...read more

Top-10 ways to spend your Full Tilt money

Last Friday, after waiting almost three years, more than 27,500 Americans logged in to their banks to see their Full Tilt Poker balances had been deposited by the Garden City Group into their accounts.While some folks are still waiting (people who disputed their balance, or have trickier issues such as affiliate payments mixed in to their player accounts), approximately $76 million has been returned to American poker players, representing a huge influx of money into the poker economy.For many people, this is kind of like "found money." Ever find a $20 bill in the pocket of a pair of pants you hadn't worn in a long time? It's a pretty sweet feeling, and a lot of times, you end up splurging a bit with that money in a way that you might not have otherwise...read more

Analysts shrug off decline in January gaming revenue

LAS VEGAS -- Analysts shrugged off a decline in January gaming revenue. They said the Strip and statewide raw figures for the month don’t really tell the whole story.Nevada gaming revenue declined 2.76 percent in January to $884.2 million while Strip gaming revenue fell 1.41 percent to $499.8 million.The Nevada State Gaming Control Board Gaming Commission released the numbers Friday.The Strip’s baccarat revenue fell 14.5 percent to $81.7 million, but the amount wagered on the game was $908.6 million, a 14.3 percent increase...read more