Featured Articles Archive - Page 304

Pinnacle's casino development in Vietnam in jeopardy

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.'s $114 million investment in a casino development in Vietnam is in jeopardy after it was disclosed the development company in charge of the project is in default.The Las Vegas-based regional casino operator disclosed the issue in the company's quarterly earnings filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.Pinnacle disclosed that Asian Coast Development Ltd., which is based in British Columbia, Canada, is currently in default of deadlines for the completion of the initial phase of the Ho Tram Strip complex near Ho Chi Minh City.Investors reacted strongly to the news...read more

Fitch affirms view of Boyd, downgrades Borgata

Fitch Ratings affirmed its view of Boyd Gaming Corporation, but downgraded the company's Borgata Hotel and Spa in Atlantic City in light of impact on the market from Hurricane Sandy and increased competition.Boyd owns 50 percent of the Borgata and operates the hotel-casino...read more

Poker Hall of Fame inductee Eric Drache saw short future with Wynn

LAS VEGAS -- Eric Drache had one thought when then-Golden Nugget executive Bobby Baldwin suggested he manage the Fremont Street casino's poker room in the early 1980s.How long could he last working for Steve Wynn?Baldwin, the 1978 World Series of Poker champion, thought Drache, who was the annual tournament's director, could give Wynn's poker facility a much needed lift.Drache was perplexed...read more

Top-10 video poker varieties

My favorite ways to gamble in a casino can be ranked in the following order: poker, sports betting, table games, and last and most certainly least, machines.While I have found some very entertaining slot machines, it is one of my least favorite gambling activities, simply because there is no decision making of any consequence...read more

Inside Gaming: Piles of cash, torrents of tweets and lots of crazy - gaming's political lunacy

Hard as it seems, Peter Carlino and the folks at Penn National Gaming, Inc. outdid Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn and Donald Trump in terms of political lunacy this year.And it only cost the regional gaming giant $42 million to embarrass itself.Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp., dumped at least $53 million of his own money into a variety of super PACs that supported Republican candidates around the country, including GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney...read more

Observers see Toronto as next battleground for gambling companies

A study by UNLV's International Gaming Institute concluded a resort complex featuring a hotel, casino, convention space and other entertainment amenities in the heart of Toronto could stimulate the economy of Canada's largest city.Instead of cannibalizing the market, the complex would spur growth for any surrounding businesses.Meanwhile, the worldwide accounting firm Ernst & Young found that Toronto could collect almost $200 million a year from a casino complex in the form of tax revenues, on top of a one-time sale or lease of city-owned land.So it wasn't a surprise last week that Toronto city leaders, following the public release of the two reports, decided to ask residents if they favor a casino.It's also no wonder that Caesars Entertainment Corp...read more

Murren signs new contract agreement with MGM Resorts International

LAS VEGAS -- MGM Resorts International Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren signed a new employment agreement with the Strip casino giant that keeps him in his current position through 2016.In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Thursday, the agreement calls for Murren to receive a base salary of $2 million per year along with various bonuses, benefits and stock awards.Murren, a former Wall Street analyst, has been with the company since 1999...read more

Stratosphere, Arizona Charlie's parent reduces loss

LAS VEGAS -- The parent company of the Stratosphere Casino Hotel and Tower and the two Arizona Charlie's casinos lowered its net loss in the third quarter despite a slight decline in revenues.American Casino & Entertainment Properties, LOLC said Friday its net loss for the three months that ended Sept...read more

Football tops baccarat as Nevada gaming revenues rise 3.3 percent

LAS VEGAS -- Forget about baccarat for at least one month.Football wagering revenues offset declines in baccarat results during September, propelling Nevada to a modest gaming revenue increase.Statewide, casinos collected $892.7 million in gaming revenues in September, a 3.3 percent increase compared to the same month a year ago according to figures released Thursday by the Gaming Control Board.On the Strip, casinos collected $496.5 million from gamblers during the month, a 1.2 percent increase over September 2011.Baccarat results - which have predominantly been the stepping-off point for whether or not that state and the Strip had a positive revenue month over the past few years - declined in September.Strip baccarat revenues fell 4.8 percent to $77.5 million.Football betting, however, made up for the losses at the tables.During September the amount wagered on sports increased 21.7 percent to $420.5 million, while the amount casinos collected was $53.4 million, a 165.4 percent increase.Customers wagered $312.7 million alone on college and professional football...read more

Maryland vote dismays casino operator Penn National

Penn National Gaming, Inc. said Wednesday that it was "disappointed" that Maryland's Question 7 casino expansion issue was passed by voters after the company took part in funding the most costly campaign in state history.After investing more than $42 million into a failed effort to defeat Question 7, which allows the state to add a sixth casino in suburban Prince George's County, Penn National is expected to bid on the gaming license when the process begins in January.The regional casino company wants to place the casino at its Prince George's county racetrack.Gaming analysts, however, placed odds on the company winning the license as slim to none."We believe the company has blown any chance of winning the additional license in Maryland, given the $40 million-plus it spent in its attempt to defeat the gambling expansion measure," Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon told investors.Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets gaming analyst Steven Wieczynski said Penn National will "face the most adversity of the names under our coverage as a result of the positive ballot outcome."On Wednesday, investors weighed in, sending shares of Penn National tumbling 1.29 percent on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, with the stock price closing at $39.47, down 53 cents.MGM Resorts International, which wants to build an $800 million hotel-casino development in Prince George's National Harbor complex, spent almost $41 million in favor of Question 7 and will enter the formal bidding process for the gaming license."Starting today, MGM's talented team of designers and resort experts begin work on our proposal for a great destination resort for the people of Prince George's County and the State of Maryland," MGM Resorts Chairman Jim Murren said in a statement after the issue was approved...read more