Featured Articles Archive - Page 274

European online titan moves ahead with licensing in Nevada

LAS VEGAS -- European online gaming giant bwin.party digital entertainment plc is moving forward with licensing in Nevada to operate Internet poker websites with MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming Corporation, despite comments to the contrary from the company’s chief executive, an attorney said.Gilbraltar-based Bwin.party is still awaiting approval from state gaming regulators after filing its application more than a year ago.In interviews with online gaming publications last month, Bwin.party CEO Norbert Teufelberger said the company chose “not to operate in Nevada” and would focus its attention on New Jersey, which enacted Internet gaming laws earlier this year.Las Vegas gaming attorney Frank Schreck, who represents Bwin.party, said the New Jersey licensing process is being expedited time period by the state...read more

What are the chances of a jackpot at the slots?

Question: What are the chances of hitting a jackpot on a reel-type slot machine?Answer: There's no single answer to this question. Modern reel-type slots are controlled by computers. They can be programmed so the chances of jackpots are just about anything...read more

Deal Me In: What's next?

Dear Mark: I had not seen this subject mentioned in your column, and perhaps you know, but if not, I thought you would be interested in knowing about an "Ante" in the Indian casinos in Oklahoma.Before the dealing of each hand, the player must pay an "ante" fee, the minimum being fifty cents, and it escalates depending upon the size of one's bet...read more

Glitch that allowed WSOP gambling website to accept wagers corrected

LAS VEGAS -- An online gambling website based on the World Series of Poker that is awaiting final approval from Nevada gaming regulators accidentally went live Wednesday for a brief time but was shut down quickly when the glitch was discovered.Caesars Interactive Entertainment, which operates the World Series of Poker, informed gaming regulators of the error.Caesars wants to launch the Nevada-based pay-to-play website during the World Series of Poker, which began its six-week run at the Rio on Wednesday.Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G...read more

FTC questions Pinnacle Entertainment's bid for Ameristar Casinos

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.’s $2.8 billion buyout of Ameristar Casinos, Inc. is in jeopardy after the Federal Trade Commission said the deal violates U.S. antitrust law.In a 17-page administrative complaint issued Wednesday, the FTC said the merger between the two Las Vegas-based regional casino operators “would reduce competition” in St...read more

Gaming industry's indecision blamed for demise of federal Web poker measure

LAS VEGAS -- A former Nevada congressman turned lobbyist said Tuesday that the gaming industry’s indecisiveness toward online gambling a few years ago scuttled chances for passage of a federal bill to legalize and regulate Internet poker.Jon Porter, who represented Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District for three terms, said casino companies also were late in recognizing that American Indian tribes and state lotteries needed to be included in the discussion when the issue came up again in 2012.“Those are some powerful groups,” Porter, president of Porter Gordon Silver, said during a panel discussion at the International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking at Caesars Palace.“Each time the issue came up, the industry had a different perspective,” said Porter, who was joined on the panel by former Gaming Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli and Ultimate Gaming Chairman Tom Breitling...read more

Top-10 lessons from the Preakness

Yes, we're a week late with this. But still, there are lessons to be learned from the Preakness as you look forward to the Belmont. The tricky thing about horse racing is you don't want to be racing the last race. But you do want to learn the appropriate lessons and apply them to the next one...read more

Caesars Entertainment not a Wall Street superstar

LAS VEGAS -- Wall Street still isn’t sold on the efforts by Caesars Entertainment Inc. to get out from under more than $20 billion of long-term debt.Caesars, which operates 10 casinos on or near the Strip, reported a 2.9 percent decline in net revenue for the first quarter earlier this month...read more

Las Vegas Sands hires Deloitte & Touche as outside auditor

LAS VEGAS -- A month after parting ways with its long-time auditor, Las Vegas Sands Corp. has appointed Deloitte & Touche LLP to serve as the casino operator’s independent outside accounting firm.In a filing late Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Las Vegas Sands said Deloitte & Touche would audit the company’s financial reporting through the end of the year.Las Vegas Sands reported that PricewaterhouseCoopers resigned as the company’s auditor in an SEC filing in April, saying there had not been any “reportable disagreements” with the auditing firm going back to 2011.Pricewaterhouse Coopers worked for Las Vegas Sands since 2004 and worked for company chairman Sheldon Adelson for 25 years.In March, Las Vegas Sands told investors in a regulatory filing that an internal audit concluded there were “likely violations of the books and records and internal provisions” of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.On Friday, the casino operator said it did not consult with Deloitte on any financial reporting matters during fiscal years 2011 and 2012 and through this month.Las Vegas Sands has been the subject of investigations by the U.S...read more

Inside gaming: Legal hangover: Another sequel to Las Vegas Sands trial could prove expensive

by Howard StutzLAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Sequels are never as good as the original.Just ask Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson.Apparently, he wants to star in his own version of “The Hangover Part III.”Las Vegas Sands has lost the same breach of contract lawsuit twice in Clark County District Court.Despite two jury defeats in six years, Adelson is looking for another day in court on a case that now is 9 years old.Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen claims he helped Las Vegas Sands win a lucrative Macau gaming license in the early 2000s...read more