Featured Articles Archive - Page 270

Top-10 predictions for the One Drop High Roller

The World Series of Poker's highest buy-in event is taking place this week with the $111,111 One Drop High Roller. Last year's $1 million event, which raised more than $5 million for One Drop, was a big success, hitting the 48-player cap and crowning Antonio Esfandiari as its champion.The lower buy-in and uncapped field make this year's event even more intriguing, and I'm excited that I'll be at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to report on the action.Here are my top-10 predictions for this year's One Drop High Roller event.10...read more

Poker players' official to discuss Web gaming legalization

For the past few months, Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas has been running up the frequent flyer mileage.With federal Internet poker legalization prospects seemingly at a standstill, Pappas focused efforts of the 1.2 million-member lobbying organization on various individual state legislative activities.Debate over Internet gaming and online poker surfaced this year in California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.Pappas is spending part of the weekend at the World Series of Poker in the organization’s booth inside the Rio’s Convention Center...read more

Internet wagering attracts crowd; how will Nevada fare?

No one can say for certain how much New Jersey’s online gaming market will actually be worth.State regulators, lawmakers, casino industry insiders and Wall Street analysts have estimated Internet wagers could generate as much as $1.2 billion in gaming revenues in the first year — roughly 40 percent of what Atlantic City’s 12 casinos collected in 2012.That’s one reason Internet gaming providers have hopes for a seat at the table.The state has outlined an aggressive schedule...read more

Is the “Big Six” better or worse than roulette?

Question: Last time I gambled, I played the "Big Six," betting $1 on Joker. It hit on the third try and paid $45, so I quit $43 ahead. A friend called it a miracle, saying this was a sucker bet. But he couldn't tell me why it was worse than betting on one number at roulette, which pays only $35...read more

Go all in with "Bet Raise Fold"

Online poker in the United States has gone through an incredible evolution. From initial misgivings to blind trust, players have had an interesting relationship with the sites that took their money and allowed them to play. Some players were good enough at the game to make a living playing poker on their computers, and Bet Raise Fold chronicles three of those players as they navigate the industry's murky waters.The film documents the forces that drove the online poker boom, and later, its bust...read more

Zynga acquires design studio founded by slot industry veteran

A design studio founded by a longtime slot machine industry veteran has been acquired by social gaming giant Zynga Inc., which is seeking an avenue into Nevada’s gaming market.San Francisco-based Zynga, developer of “Farmville,” “Words With Friends” and other freeplay social games, did not disclose a purchase price for Spooky Cool Labs.The 40-person game studio, which is based in Chicago, focuses on developing social casino games.Spooky Cool Labs was founded by veteran slot machine designer Joe Kaminkow, who spent more than a two decades with International Game Technology, developing some of the casino industry’s best performing slot machine titles...read more

Mississippi gaming regulators sign off on Pinnacle acquisition

Mississippi gaming regulators on Thursday signed off on Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.’s $2.8 billion acquisition of Ameristar Casinos, Inc.The ruling comes a few days Pinnacle reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission over antitrust issues surrounding the deal.Pinnacle will acquire the Ameristar Casino Hotel - Vicksburg, Mississippi, as part of the buyout.“We continue to work diligently to obtain the Federal Trade Commission and remaining state gaming regulatory agency approvals necessary to complete the acquisition,” Pinnacle CEO Anthony Sanfilippo said in a statement...read more

Adelson to online gaming: Get off my lawn

LAS VEGAS -- Sheldon Adelson successfully chased those pesky Internet brats off his lawn.But at the same time he may have pushed potential gamblers out of his casinos. In an opinion piece published on Forbes.com Wednesday, Adelson, the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., reiterated his long-standing opposition to Internet gambling.A copy of the entire article can be found at http://onforb.es/17mp8Ym.The op-ed immediately drew the ire of the online gaming community...read more

Konami Gaming doubling size of Las Vegas headquarters

LAS VEGAS -- Konami Gaming, Inc. is more than doubling the size of its Las Vegas-based North American headquarters, signaling a potential challenge to industry’s largest slot machine manufacturers.The company, a subsidiary of the Japan-based Konami Corp., began the expansion work on its corporate offices and manufacturing center last month...read more

Pinnacle deal for buyout of Ameristar calls for sale of two properties

LAS VEGAS -- Pinnacle Entertainment put its downtown St. Louis casino and a western Louisiana hotel-casino development on the market Monday to eliminate any federal antitrust issues surrounding the company’s $2.8 billion buyout of Ameristar Casinos, Inc.An agreement with the Federal Trade Commission is still subject to the negotiation of a consent order, commission approval and regulatory gaming approvals, Pinnacle said in a statement.The FTC blocked the merger between the Las Vegas-based regional gaming giants, saying to could hurt competition in the Missouri and Louisiana casino markets.If the consent order is reached with the FTC, Pinnacle could close the buyout of Ameristar by September and come away with a time period to sell the casinos.Pinnacle said it intends to sell Ameristar’s planned $580 million casino-hotel development project in Lake Charles and Pinnacle’s Lumiere Place Casino, HoteLumiere and the Four Seasons Hotel in St...read more