Featured Articles Archive - Page 287

What is Strip land worth? Echelon deal offers ideas

LAS VEGAS -- The sale by Boyd Gaming Corporation of the 87-acre Echelon site to the Genting Group for $350 million — roughly $4.02 million an acre — gave analysts an idea of what property on the Strip might be worth in today’s market.We’re long past the 2007 apex when owners of New York’s Plaza Hotel paid Phil Ruffin $1.2 billion — about $34 million an acre — for the aging New Frontier...read more

Which casino workers know when a slot machine is ready to hit?

Question: Can slot attendants or hosts tell which machines in a casino are hot or ready to hit the jackpot?Answer: Slot results are random. Machines have neither hot or cold modes, nor predetermined points at which jackpots are paid. Casino personnel may see and remember series dominated by winning spins, or several high-return combinations hitting within short spans...read more

Regulators OK Gilbraltar-based company for Web gaming license

LAS VEGAS -- Representatives of Gibraltar-based 888 Holdings Plc wanted to assure the Nevada State Gaming Control Board Gaming Commission that the company, which operates legal Internet gaming websites in Europe, would comply with the state’s regulatory structure.After the company spent almost two hours earlier this month making its case to the Gaming Control Board, the commission needed less than an hour Thursday to unanimously approve 888 for an interactive gaming license.“Much has been put on the record in regards to 888,” Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman Pete Bernhard said...read more

Las Vegas hotel-casino operators told to stamp out illegal activities

LAS VEGAS -- Two high-profile incidents and the fast-approaching summer months led state gaming regulators and Las Vegas police to issue a stern warning Thursday to hotel-casino operators: Keep a close watch on your nightclubs and pool parties or face disciplinary action for any illegal activity.In a memorandum from the Nevada State Gaming Control Board Gaming Commission Chairman A.G...read more

Marnell: M Resort is at "turning point"

LAS VEGAS -- Of all the changes made at the M Resort since the property opened in March 2009, among the most gut-wrenching for Anthony Marnell III was closing Veloce Cibo, the hotel-casino’s 16th floor restaurant with expansive views to the north of the Strip.“It was a heartbreaker for me, but I made the decision,” Marnell said Wednesday of the November 2011 closure of a restaurant that received high marks from customers and critics, but didn’t perform financially as well as other M Resort eateries.“I loved that restaurant, but it was the right thing to do for the property.”The space has since become a facility for special events, such as weddings and corporate receptions, and is much more profitable than it ever was as a restaurant.The decision was one of several tough-love changes undertaken by Marnell since his family built and opened M Resort at a cost of nearly $1 billion.The hardest was seeing the stylish hotel-casino taken over by regional casino giant Penn National Gaming...read more

Caesars preparing to open its third casino in Ohio

Caesars Entertainment Inc. will open its third casino in Ohio on April 9.A 57,000-square foot casino will become part of the Thistledown Racetrack in North Randall, which is roughly 10 miles southeast of downtown Cleveland. The nearly 90-year-old facility is located on 128-acres and offers live racing from April through November at its one-mile oval racetrack, as well as simulcast racing year-round.Thistledown is one of seven Ohio racetracks that were authorized by voters in 2009 to operate slot machine-only casinos...read more

$100 million Hakkasan to open at MGM Grand

LAS VEGAS -- One of the Strip’s most expensive nightclub projects will debut next month.Angel Management Group announced the opening schedule Tuesday for the Hakkasan Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.The $100 million construction project removed the location of Studio 54 at the front of the hotel-casino for the development of a five-level restaurant and nightclub, that will offer indoor and outdoor views of the Strip.The construction project expanded the space and redeveloped the front of the MGM Grand, which is owned by MGM Resorts International.The Hakkasan nightclub portion of the facility will open April 18...read more

Station Casinos back on track post-bankruptcy, CFO says

LAS VEGAS -- Mission accomplished.Station Casinos, Inc. Chief Financial Officer Marc Falcone said Tuesday the company accomplished its stated goals for 2012, which included growing revenues 4.4 percent in the casino operator’s first full year following completion of a bankruptcy court-administered reorganization.Falcone cited other accomplishments, including a $2.475 billion refinancing that was completed this month, and reducing the company’s long-term debt balance by $216.6 million.“We believe we are well positioned for 2013 to continue to focus on efficiently operating our core business,” Falcone said of the company, which operates 17 casinos in Southern Nevada and an Indian casino in Michigan.The refinancing, Falcone said, consolidated the company’s operating properties into a “simpler and more efficient organizational structure” under one borrower for the first time since 2007...read more

Proxy fight looms over control of Affinity Gaming

LAS VEGAS -- A potential proxy fight over control of Affinity Gaming involves the company’s two largest shareholders with separate proposals for changing the makeup of the casino operator’s board of directors.Illinois-based private equity firm Z Capital Partners, which controls 30.5 percent of Affinity, said late Thursday that it intends to nominate three candidates for election to the company’s five-person board.Meanwhile, Affinity announced earlier this week that company representatives met with members of Silver Point Capital, a Connecticut-based hedge fund that owns 24.9 percent of the company...read more

SLS, Resorts World projects bring new energy to Strip's north end

LAS VEGAS -- Now comes the easy part.Transforming the Rat Pack-era Sahara into the luxury-boutique SLS Las Vegas may be the smoothest aspect of this process started by Los Angeles-based SBE Entertainment Group, LLC in 2007.The company plans to unveil the 1,620-room SLS Las Vegas in fall 2014.Penta Building Group began the 18-month renovation of the old Sahara building last month...read more