Featured Articles Archive - Page 264

Casino projects in Russian port of Vladivostok draw investment from Macau

The up and coming Russian casino market of Vladivostok scored its first big-name participant.Lawrence Ho, the son of Hong Kong billionaire and Macau casino giant Stanley Ho, said his two companies would spend $630 million to buy a 51 percent stake in a business building two casino resorts in the Primorye Region near China’s border.Bloomberg News reported the companies’ filings to the Hong Kong’s stock exchange last week.Lawrence Ho is partners with Australian businessman James Packer in Melco Crown Entertainment, which several large and small casinos in Macau, including the City of Dreams complex, the Altira Macau and the Studio City development project.“It’s a rather small investment for Lawrence, compared with other projects he has in Macau,” Jeremy Tan, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Kim Eng Securities Ltd., told Bloomberg...read more

Bally adds SHFL in friendly merger

LAS VEGAS -- Gavin Isaacs and Ramesh Srinivasan held co-chief operating officer titles at slot machine giant Bally Technologies, Inc. during the company’s stunning growth in the past decade. Isaacs oversaw slot machine development and sales...read more

Business partnership between MGM Resorts, Hyatt begins to gain popularity

LAS VEGAS -- Hyatt Hotels may not operate a resort complex on the Strip, but that doesn’t mean frequent customers of the worldwide lodging chain are on the outside looking in.Members of Hyatt’s loyalty program have access to hotel rooms at a dozen Strip-area resorts, including the MGM Grand Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Aria Resort & Casino and Bellagio.The month-old business partnership between Hyatt’s Gold Passport program and MGM Resorts International’s M Life is starting to gain recognition among customers of both companies.“I think we’re just beginning to see the tip of it,” said Jeff Zidell, Hyatt’s senior vice president of loyalty marketing, who attended a celebration for the partnership Thursday evening at The Mansion at MGM Grand.The agreement between the Hyatt and MGM Resorts loyalty programs is not the first for casino industry; Intercontinental Hotels and Las Vegas Sands Corp...read more

Why can you “double for less” but not “split for less” at blackjack?

Question: In blackjack, you're allowed to "double for less" than your initial bet but not to "split for less." Why is this?Answer: Doubling down involves making a second bet after seeing your initial hand and the dealer's up-card, then drawing exactly once...read more

Louisiana regulators OK Pinnacle buyout of Ameristar

LAS VEGAS -- Louisiana gaming regulators approved Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.’s $2.8 billion buyout of Ameristar Casinos, Inc., Thursday, paving the way for the eventual sale of a $580 million project in the western part of the state.The approval allows Ameristar to transfer its interest in the Lake Charles development to Las Vegas-based Pinnacle, which owns four casinos in Louisiana, including L’Auberge Lake Charles.In an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, Pinnacle agreed to sell Ameristar’s Lake Charles project and Pinnacle’s Lumiere Place in St...read more

Union tactics threaten Las Vegas nursing conference

LAS VEGAS -- Helene Neville is a nurse and fitness coach who survived cancer four times, runs races across the country, wrote two books, and dedicated her life to promoting “health care givers providing healthy care.”But the recent Las Vegas transplant found herself smack in the middle of the bitter, long-standing labor dispute between Station Casinos, Inc...read more

Bally Technologies to acquire SHFL entertainment for $1.3 billion

All of a sudden, it’s mergermania in the gaming industry.A third major transaction in eight months was announced Tuesday when slot machine manufacturer Bally Technologies, Inc. said it will acquire gaming equipment provider SHFL Entertainment for $1.3 billion.Bally, one of the gaming industry’s largest slot machine developers, will pay SHFL stockholders $23.25 per share, a 24 percent premium over the company’s Monday closing price.The transaction requires approval from SHFL shareholders, gaming regulatory bodies in Nevada and other states, and the Federal Trade Commission...read more

Massachusetts voters approve MGM Resorts casino plan

Voters in Springfield, Mass., approved a plan Tuesday by MGM Resorts International to build an $800 million hotel-casino complex in the community.Voter approval was required before Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts could apply to the state Gaming Commission for a single casino license in western Massachusetts.Springfield election officials said voter turnout was “steadier” than anticipated.In the final vote total, 57.6 percent of the voters favored the casino, while 42.4 percent opposed it...read more

Barton, PPA believe time is now for federal online poker legislation

Despite repeated failed attempts over the past several Congressional sessions, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) believe that now is the time to regulate Internet poker at the federal level.Like he did in the last Congress, Barton has introduced the Internet Poker Freedom Act, which would create a regulatory framework for the online game...read more

Top-10 WSOP Main Event story lines

LAS VEGAS -- Now that the World Series of Poker Main Event final table is set and play has been suspended until November, it's time to look back at this year's tournament. Here are my top 10 story lines from this year's Main Event.10. Hard workAll of the attention at the Main Event is focused on the players -- and rightly so...read more