Featured Articles Archive - Page 232

Coalition opposing Internet gambling building support

LAS VEGAS -- A coalition seeking a federal ban on Internet gaming said Wednesday it has gained support from 39 faith-based and conservative organizations.The Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling announced the backing during a telephone news conference...read more

Websites owned by Las Vegas Sands' casinos taken down after being hacked

LAS VEGAS -- For a brief time Tuesday, websites operated by Las Vegas Sands Corp. looked like scenes out of the 1983 movie “WarGames.”Those logging on to Venetian.com, Palazzo.com and LasVegasSands.com were greeted with various messages, including simulated flames over the company’s casino locations and a photo of Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Only this wasn’t part of a feature film about a simulated game of “Thermonuclear War” that starred Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy.The casino company’s websites — including its online presence in Macau, Bethlehem, Pa., and Singapore — were apparently the target of a sophisticated hacking operation.The images included a scrolling list of personal information, such as employee social security numbers, e-mails and job titles...read more

Prominent women in gaming to discuss industry

LAS VEGAS -- Patricia Becker holds the distinction of being the first woman to serve on the Nevada Gaming Control Board.She’s actually the only woman to ever hold a seat on the regulatory panel.Twenty years have passed since then-Gov. Richard Bryan elevated Becker from chief deputy attorney general in charge of the gaming division to one of three Control Board members who oversee the full-time state agency tasked with regulating Nevada’s casino industry.So why hasn’t another woman ever been selected for the board?“That’s probably a question best asked to the governors,” Becker said...read more

Affinity Gaming CEO David Ross leaving company in July

LAS VEGAS -- Affinity Gaming CEO David Ross will leave the casino operator in July, the company announced Monday.Ross, 49, has headed Affinity since the Las Vegas-based company was founded in December 2010 following the bankruptcy reorganization of Herbst Gaming.Ross oversaw a restructuring of Affinity, which included the sale of several casinos...read more

Top-10 poker player interviews

Last week, the poker world was buzzing about an interview that Joe Hachem did with Bluff Magazine at the Aussie Millions. I'll have more on that later, but it got me thinking about some of the great interviews I've seen poker players do over the years, so I decided to put together a top-10 list of some of my favorites.10...read more

MGM faces fines for blocking gaming agent access

LAS VEGAS -- The Nevada State Gaming Control Board Gaming Commission filed a two-count complaint Friday against the Aria Resort & Casino and MGM Resorts International for blocking two state gaming agents from observing wagering activity in the CityCenter resort’s high-limit casino area.Aria could be fined $25,000 to $250,000 for each count, according to Nevada gaming law.Unless a settlement is reached, a hearing on the matter will be held in front of the Nevada Gaming Commission at a date to be determined...read more

Inside gaming: Who wants ties to that guy?

LAS VEGAS -- Clearly, Caesars Entertainment Corp. doesn’t want visitors to The Cromwell to gamble, drink, smoke, fornicate or perform any other sinful act at the newly renamed boutique Strip hotel-casino.I can’t wait to hear the marketing campaign.Why else would the casino company rename the former Barbary Coast/Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall in a way that could be associated with England’s 17th century “Lord Protector” Oliver Cromwell, a radical Puritan who vowed to rid Britain of its godless ways.And that’s not even taking into account the carnage Oliver Cromwell caused upon Ireland.Maybe the folks at Caesars were thinking of Thomas Cromwell, an English statesman and legal adviser to King Henry VIII a century earlier...read more

Deal Me In: Using Final Jeopardy tactics at blackjack

Dear Mark: A few weeks ago I got into the final round of a blackjack tournament. When we got to the final hand, the three remaining players with chips, me being one of them, had nearly an equal amount of chips remaining. It felt like we were on the game show Jeopardy, and it was the final question...read more

Rebuilding of the Aliante may augur better times for North Las Vegas casino market

LAS VEGAS -- No one has to tell Terry Downey that North Las Vegas has been one tough casino market over the past few years.He’s lived it.Fourteen months after taking over as general manager of the Aliante Casino Hotel, Downey said the property is seeing positive signs after opening in the heart of the recession and going through a Bankruptcy Court-administered ownership change.“There is good feeling here among our team members and our guests,” said Downey, 58, who had retired as an executive with Station Casinos before being enticed back into the game by Aliante Gaming, the ownership group’s management company.“We see a good future ahead of us,” Downey said.After spending $2.8 million to refurbish and rebrand portions of the Aliante, including adding a second-floor spa area and opening a 24-hour restaurant last November, Downey said developments outside his realm could give the property another lift.Expansion of the 215 Beltway that connects Aliante with customers in Centennial Hills and portions of North Las Vegas, is expected to be finished in May...read more

Macau casinos report 7 percent increase in January, collect $3.6 billion

The Macau casino market ended 11 straight months of double-digit-percentage gaming revenue increases in January and recorded its lowest single month growth rate since October 2012 — but don’t think for one minute the region is crying poor.The Macao Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said Thursday casinos in the Chinese enclave collected $3.6 billion in gaming revenue from customers during January, a 7 percent increase from January 2013.The figure comes in the first reporting period after Macau announced its casinos collected a record-shattering $45.2 billion in gaming revenue in 2013...read more