Featured Articles Archive - Page 289

Challenge emerges after jurors return $70 million verdict against Las Vegas Sands

LAS VEGAS -- In a verdict challenged just four minutes after it was read, a 12-person jury awarded Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen $70 million for the consulting work he did a dozen years ago to help Las Vegas Sands Corp. enter the booming Macau market.The jury reached its decision at mid-morning on Tuesday after starting deliberations late Friday afternoon but not working over the weekend...read more

Station Casinos reports loss, sees revenues dip

LAS VEGAS -- Station Casinos, Inc. said Tuesday the company’s net revenues fell 2 percent in the first quarter as customers, feeling the effects of increased taxes and delays to federal tax refunds, gambled less.The local casino operator recorded a net loss of $142.1 million for the quarter that ended March 31, which was primarily because of the company’s $2.475 billion debt restructuring...read more

Affinity shareholders vote to expand board

LAS VEGAS -- Shareholders of Affinity Gaming voted Tuesday to expand the Las Vegas-based casino operator’s board of directors from five members to seven.Elected to Affinity’s board were Thomas M. Benninger, Matthew A. Doheny, Randall A. Fine, Don R...read more

Wynn reiterates: Nevada casinos "in ill health"

LAS VEGAS -- Wynn Resorts, Limited Chairman Steve Wynn defended his recent remarks to Nevada lawmakers on the health of the gaming industry while voicing support for a broad-based tax on all companies and businesses earning more than $1 million annually.Wynn, who traveled to Carson City on May 1 and met behind closed doors with the governor and legislative leaders, said in an interview Monday evening that the gaming industry “would be of one mind and would support” a broad-based business tax of 0.5 percent on all companies, including hotel-casinos, manufacturers, mining, supermarkets and other service industries.He said the modified business tax, also known as the payroll tax, should be eliminated and replaced by a broad-based business tax.“Everyone would pay it...read more

Ultimate Poker, unlicensed service provider relationship probed

LAS VEGAS -- State gaming regulators are looking into the relationship between 2-week-old Internet poker website Ultimate Poker and an unlicensed service provider used to identify new players.In an email, Nevada State Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G...read more

Top-10 observations from the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Pennsylvania

Since I started covering the gambling industry in 2006, I've spent my share of time at the World Series of Poker at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. I have a good sense of what to expect in a tournament, and even though I usually only spend one week there, I do enough wandering around to know the property as well as people who spend their entire summer at the series.One thing I hadn't done until very recently, however, was attend a World Series of Poker Circuit Event...read more

Affinity Gaming reports small dip in revenues

LAS VEGAS -- Casino operator Affinity Gaming said Friday its overall revenues declined less than 1 percent in the quarter that ended March 31.The Las Vegas-based company, which operates 12 casinos in Nevada, Colorado, Missouri and Iowa, reported revenues of $101 million in the first quarter, down from $101.7 million a year ago.Affinity’s net income for the quarter was $1.98 million, down from $7.6 million in the first quarter of 2012...read more

WMS shareholders approve buyout by Scientific Games

LAS VEGAS -- Shareholders of slot machine manufacturer WMS Industries Incorporated approved the company’s $1.5 billion buyout by lottery provider Scientific Games Corporation.More than 99 percent of votes cast at the meeting Friday were in favor of the buyout, in which WMS shareholders will receive...read more

Atlantic Club awaits its future

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- On a seasonably pleasant Friday afternoon in late April, The Atlantic Club Chief Operating Officer Michael Frawley and PokerStars spokesman Eric Hollreiser acted like cozy business partners.PokerStars owner Rational Group, which is based in Isle of Man, was moving forward with plans to acquire the aging hotel-casino, considered one of the city’s more unprofitable properties.Many in Atlantic City rejoiced.Tourism leaders watched Houston-based Landry’s Inc...read more

Why do high “counts” at blackjack help players and not dealers?

Question: Blackjack "card counters" increase their bets when they determine that shoes are rich in 10s. Assuming players bet only on single spots, why is this situation advantageous? Don't players and dealers have equal chances of receiving high hands in these circumstances?Answer: The advantage in blackjack does shift to the player when the cards to be drawn from a shoe have a higher fraction of 10s than the 4/13 of a "neutral" deck...read more