Featured Articles Archive - Page 274

Caesars offers look at The Linq

LAS VEGAS -- Caesars Entertainment Inc. showed off its $550 million vision of urban renewal Tuesday.The casino operator is still seven months from finishing The Linq, which was designed as an eclectic urban streetscape suggested by New York City’s trendy Meatpacking District.The project transforms an eastside Strip area between The Quad and Flamingo that until last year housed a dilapidated parking garage, an underused alleyway and a tiny casino favored by the beer pong crowd.When it fully opens in February, The Linq’s open-air promenade will encompass 300,000 square feet of stylish retail offerings, trendy restaurants and hip entertainment venues, all anchored on its east end by a 550-foot-tall observation wheel.“I think people will be surprised at the excitement we’re creating,” Linq General Manager Jon Gray said while touring the active construction site with a crowd of media.“It’s a contemporary place and it feels right for this city,” Gray said.The Linq space isn’t large — roughly 1,250 feet separate the Strip from the observation wheel, named the High Roller.However, the streetscape is patterned after outdoor retail attractions such as Southern California’s The Grove and 3rd Street Promenade.The Linq aims to draw in some of the 20 million or more pedestrians who stroll past the Flamingo each year...read more

Officials select 18-year control board veteran to oversee division

LAS VEGAS -- Karl Bennison, who has headed enforcement for the Gaming Control Board’s Northern Nevada, was named chief of the entire division Tuesday.Bennison, who has spent 18 years with the control board, will replace Jerry Markling, who is retiring at the end of August to accept a position at The Venetian.“Having an experienced and respected individual, ready to step into the chief’s role, allows the board to continue maintaining high standards in regulating the gaming industry,” Control Board Chairman A.G...read more

Caesars considers other ways to grow results

LAS VEGAS -- Caesars Entertainment Inc. is looking at other ways to grow results after reporting another quarterly net loss.The casino operator, which has more than 50 gambling properties across the U.S. and Canada, including 10 on or near the Strip, is developing new resorts with an emphasis on nongaming amenities...read more

Top-10 WSOP quotables

The editorial staff at Casino City has said it before and we'll say it again: We can't get enough Nolan Dalla.We look forward to the World Series of Poker in large part because we get a big dose of Dalla during the series. So we were a little disappointed when we started reading the World Series of Poker write-ups this year, as the WSOP's Media Director appeared to have been reined in Caesars officials.In previous years, Dalla's prose typically included gems like this: "On June 26th, 2010, when the local clock ticked to midnight, the shiny glass slipper fit...read more

Gambling and the Law: Cuba needs casinos

“I crapped out” -- Meyer Lansky, quoted in T.J. English’s HAVANA NOCTURNE: HOW THE MOB OWNED CUBA...AND THEN LOST IT TO THE REVOLUTIONFidel Castro is gone.He may not be dead. But on a recent trip to Cuba, I was told by both American and Cuban experts that he is beyond retired...read more

Nevadan at work: Executive prepares to lead Caesars into real-money online gaming

LAS VEGAS -- As an associate with global management consulting firm Bain & Co., Geoffrey Stewart grew accustomed to offering advice to high-level executives of Fortune 500 corporations.Now, as he prepares to lead Caesars Entertainment Inc.’s launch into regulated, real-money online gaming, Stewart is adjusting to being on the receiving end.“I’m in a role where I have to act on my own advice,” Stewart, 34, said during a break in play in the World Series of Poker at the Rio...read more

Bullish on Detroit gaming despite bankruptcy

Back in 1996, when Michigan voters authorized three casinos in downtown Detroit, opponents said legal gambling would destroy the city.Detroit is now bankrupt.Ironically, gaming tax revenues are helping the Motor City avoid a total meltdown.In the municipality’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing on July 19, Detroit disclosed that the $11 million a month it gets from MGM Grand Detroit Casino, Greektown Casino and the MotorCity Casino “is roughly the equivalent of 30 percent of the city’s total available cash on hand as of June 30.”Gaming taxes could pay for Detroit’s entire fire department or half of the city’s police department, and the city said it needs continued access to the funds “to ensure public safety.”Michigan taxes gaming revenues at 19 percent — 10.9 percent of which goes to Detroit...read more

Station Casinos launching mobile sports wagering app in time for football season

LAS VEGAS -- Station Casinos, Inc. is launching a sports wagering application for mobile devices, but the casino operator doesn’t believe the activity will take away business from the company’s sports books.The application, Sports Connection Mobile, allows Station Casinos’ customers to place wagers on sporting events through mobile phones and tablet PCs.The application recently completed a field trial with Nevada gaming regulators...read more

Do casinos monitor how much you get when you “cash out” at the slots?

Question: Is it true you can remove your players' card from the slot machine reader before you press the "cash out" button, and the casino won't know how much you won or lost?Answer: Slot player "tracking" systems normally do work this way...read more

Pinnacle Entertainment sells Louisiana casino project to Golden Nugget

LAS VEGAS -- Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. announced a deal Thursday to sell an under-construction hotel-casino complex in Lake Charles, La., to the company that owns the Golden Nugget.The transaction satisfies a portion of a settlement reached with the Federal Trade Commission to avoid any antitrust issues in the Las Vegas-based company’s $2.8 billion buyout of Ameristar Casinos, Inc.Golden Nugget, which is owned by Houston-based Landry’s Inc., will pay for all the development costs spent on Ameristar Lake Charles, up until the closing date of the sale...read more