Featured Articles Archive - Page 248

Top-10 2014 Super Bowl prop bets

Super Bowl Sunday is fast approaching, and in addition to filling out grids and helping buoy Pepsico stock through purchases of Tostitos chips and salsa, many football fans have been paying close attention to the betting line.The Seattle Seahawks opened as the favorites, but money poured in on Denver and the Broncos are now 2-point favorites at most sportsbooks...read more

National Finals Rodeo to stay in Las Vegas for 10 years

LAS VEGAS -- The National Finals Rodeo will remain in Las Vegas through 2024 after Las Vegas Events and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association reached agreement on a new 10-year contract Friday.The agreement ends a flirtation by the PRCA, the sanctioning body that oversees the NFR, with Orlando, Fla., and Dallas.Both cities had been looking to grab the 10-day event — considered the Super Bowl of rodeos — away from Las Vegas, where it has been for 29 years.In December, commissioners in Osceola County, near Orlando in central Florida, at a rare Sunday meeting approved an NFR bid that offered about $10 million more in prize money than what Las Vegas Events had offered.In Dallas, Mark Cuban, owner of NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and Texas Gov...read more

Gallup CEO warns of future woes, calls job creation key

LAS VEGAS -- Gallup CEO Jim Clifton didn’t try to put a positive spin on America’s future during his keynote address Friday at Preview Las Vegas 2014.Clifton, who has been the consulting and public opinion research group’s CEO since 1988, said political and business leaders need to change their thinking if the U.S...read more

DoubleDown Casino founders leave IGT

The founders of the social gaming product DoubleDown Casino have left the company, two years after it was purchased by IGT - International Game Technology.The news follows IGT’s first-quarter earnings release, in which the slot machine giant said it could see a profit decline this year because of several “acquisition-related expenses” surrounding DoubleDown.Trade magazine Venturebeat.com first reported the departures of DoubleDown founders Greg Enell and Cooper DuBois from IGT...read more

Casinos in Japan? Bet your last yen on it

It’s game on, Japan.Word leaked out this past week that two Nevada casino companies have made inroads with Japanese officials to build a nearly $5 billion hotel-casino in Osaka. Now other gaming operators have their corporate jets pointed toward the east Asia island nation.The only thing missing is legislation authorizing casinos.Analysts and gaming leaders consider it a foregone conclusion that Japan, after years of toying with legalizing casinos, will finally approve a gaming bill this spring.Japan wants gaming taxes to fund construction of nearly $2 billion in venues and infrastructure for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.The casino industry considers Japan the next Macau, which produced a record $45.2 billion in gaming revenue last year, but Singapore is a much better comparison...read more

Gaming companies have lucrative deals operating Indian casinos

LAS VEGAS -- New casino development in Las Vegas is on lockdown.Gaming expansion into states beyond recently approved markets is virtually nonexistent.Those are two reasons regional casino giant and M Resort owner Penn National Gaming, Inc...read more

On the table at Southland

The table is the dealer and it never makes mistakes in blinds, dealing cards or payouts -- all of which happen quicker than in regular dealer-controlled poker games.I found this out first hand when I decided to take a shot in a satellite event for a free pass into the $10,000 Arkansas Poker Championship now underway Thursdays at 6 p.m...read more

Deal Me In: Progressives can offer winning opportunities

Dear Mark: I only play progressive video poker machines. You have stated in the past that a higher progressive jackpot will not make a machine any more likely to hit. That said, do you ever recommend playing on machines with lower jackpots? The best paying paytables on progressives where I play are 8/5 Jacks-or-Better machines...read more

Poker Player Tweets of the Week: Lame comparisons edition

Wow, it's been a while since I've written a Poker Player Tweets of the Week column! My last piece came on Dec. 13, or a whopping six weeks ago. Where have I been? Or a better question: Does anyone care? I'll preserve the multitude of excuses I could make for not having written one of these since before Christmas and just come up with one, all-encompassing reason. I've been busy. Well, sort of...read more

Gaming regulators accept fine of $125,000 for Bally Technologies Inc.

LAS VEGAS -- The Nevada State Gaming Control Board Gaming Commission on Thursday accepted slot machine maker Bally Technologies, Inc.’s $125,000 fine that settled a 28-count complaint with state gaming regulators, but at least one member of the panel thought the penalty wasn’t high enough.The Las Vegas-based company admitted to charges that it failed to register key employees with the Gaming Control Board.Gaming Commissioner John Moran Jr...read more