Featured Articles Archive - Page 275

Deal Me In: Smart play plus cash back makes for a positive-expectation game

Dear Mark: I am a little confused when you say that with comps, you can make video poker and blackjack a "positive expectation" game. Could you please explain how comps make up for the "built-in" house edge on the two games that I play? Jason G.Bless their hearts, casinos love to offer their patrons a wide variety of freebies ranging from small trinkets to first class, all-expenses-paid trips...read more

Management team led by ex-LV Sands boss to oversee Bahamas project

LAS VEGAS -- A management company headed by former Las Vegas Sands Corp. President Bill Weidner will oversee the centerpiece resort of a $3.5 billion hotel-casino complex in the Bahamas.Baha Mar Ltd. announced Tuesday night that Global Gaming Asset Management of Las Vegas will operate the Baha Mar Casino & Hotel, which is scheduled to open in December 2014.Weidner is CEO of Global Gaming, which recently opened the first phase of the $1.2 billion Solaire Manila, a full-scale resort and casino in the Philippines.Brad Stone is Global Gaming’s president and Garry Saunders is executive vice president.The three were involved in the opening and managing The Venetian and Palazzo in Las Vegas and the Venetian Macau, and the development of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore while employed by Las Vegas Sands.Weidner was fired in March 2009 by Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson after a highly publicized dispute between the two gaming executives over the company’s financial restructuring...read more

Thrill ride between two Rio towers planned

LAS VEGAS -- A zip line-like thrill ride will connect the two towers of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and send guests soaring more than 400 feet above the off-Strip hotel-casino.The attraction, dubbed the VooDoo Skyline, is expected to open this summer, officials with the project said Wednesday.Rides will start from the VooDoo Lounge, atop the Rio’s 50-story Masquerade Tower.Guests will travel 845 feet to the top of the 20-story Ipanema tower, reaching speeds of up to 33 mph...read more

Station Casinos fundraiser for California lawmaker canceled after timing questioned

LAS VEGAS -- A planned Station Casinos, Inc.-hosted fundraiser in Las Vegas on behalf of a California lawmaker was abruptly canceled Tuesday after a Sacramento newspaper raised questions about the timing of the event, which would take place before a vote over an Indian casino project.The fundraiser, which included rooms at the Red Rock Resort and tickets to an Ultimate Fighting Championship event Saturday, was to benefit California State Sen...read more

Toronto City Council votes to kill casino project

The Toronto City Council went ahead with a vote Tuesday to kill a casino project proposed for the downtown area that attracted interest from Nevada largest gaming companies.City Council members voted against the project, despite a move last week by the mayor to take the issue off the table...read more

Culinary votes to raise dues in event of strike

LAS VEGAS -- Culinary Workers Local 226 members voted overwhelmingly Monday to raise dues by $25 in the event of a strike this year against Strip and downtown resorts.About 92 percent of the Culinary members who participated in the vote supported the increase.Members also approved a permanent $4 increase to dues in 2014 and in 2015...read more

Former Culinary boss says unions oppose Obama's Commerce Secretary nominee

LAS VEGAS -- It didn’t take former Culinary Workers Local 226 boss D. Taylor very long to make his entrance onto the national stage.Taylor, who became president of 270,000-member UNITE HERE, the Culinary’s parent organization, last year, said organized labor will oppose President Barack Obama’s nominee for Commerce Secretary, Penny Pritzker.Pritzker’s family controls the Hyatt Hotels chain, which has been hit with unfair labor practices charges by the hotel and restaurant workers union.Taylor told the New York Daily News the union was upset because the Senate Commerce Committee was moving up its confirmation hearing for Pritzker...read more

Culinary voting on dues increase for strike fund

LAS VEGAS -- Culinary Union Local 226 members were voting Monday to increase dues for a worker strike fund, two weeks before contracts between Strip casino operators and the union expire.Union members said the vote was just a precaution.The union and representatives from MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corp...read more

Toronto casino project that drew Nevada interest appears dead

A downtown Toronto resort complex that attracted the interest of Nevada’s largest casino operators appeared dead Friday after the city’s mayor canceled a vote scheduled for next week on the multi-billion dollar development.In a City Hall news conference Thursday, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, the key backer of a single hotel-casino complex, said he was halting the planned vote, which many analysts had predicted would go against the gaming development.Gaming giants MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment Inc., Las Vegas Sands Corp...read more

Terribles Casino to become Silver Sevens Hotel & Casino

LAS VEGAS -- The cowboy is headed for boot hill.Affinity Gaming will begin the process next week of renovating the company’s off-Strip Terrible’s Hotel and Casino at the corner of Paradise and East Flamingo roads to a new name — Silver Sevens Hotel & Casino.The Terrible’s marquee and signage — including the large Terrible’s cowboy logo — will be removed by the end of the week...read more