Featured Articles Archive - Page 304

IGT's plan for meeting curious

LAS VEGAS -- Slot machine manufacturing giant IGT - International Game Technology is trying to dissuade stockholders from attending the company's annual meeting next month in Las Vegas.There are at least two particular shareholders IGT management would like to keep on the outside looking in.How else would you explain IGT's plan for this year's event?The annual shareholder meeting will be held at 7:30 a.m...read more

Does “mini-craps” differ from the regular game in any important way?

Question: I've occasionally noticed new craps games at the casinos. One type looks like the standard game, except the tables are smaller and the players can sit down. Another is played at what appears to be a blackjack table and uses dice in an enclosed shaker...read more

Penn National sees decline in fourth-quarter earnings

Penn National Gaming experienced a decline in fourth-quarter earnings as results from the company's two new casinos in Ohio fell short and costs associated with a failed political activity in Maryland cut into the bottom line.Analysts, however, were more focused on the company's impending spin-off of its casino holdings into a separate publicly traded real estate investment trust...read more

Profits rise for Las Vegas Sands with revenues topping $11 billion in 2012

LAS VEGAS -- An 11 percent decline in revenues produced by Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s Singapore hotel-casino was one of the few blips on the casino giant's fourth-quarter balance sheet.Not in the eyes of Rob Goldstein, Las Vegas Sands president of global gaming operations.The Marina Bay Sands produced more than $400 million of cash flow during the three-month period ended Dec...read more

IGT shareholder group issues "fight letter"

LAS VEGAS -- A dissident shareholder group seeking to gain three seats on the IGT - International Game Technology board of directors said Monday that current management has so neglected the company's core business it has "alienated" casino customers, causing financial performance to deteriorate.In a "fight letter" to shareholders filed Monday with the U.S...read more

Top-10 2013 Super Bowl bets

It's the best time of year for football sports bettors. The Super Bowl is less than a week away, and the spread, the money line and the over/under aren't the only bets available for your wagering pleasure. Sportsbooks, both live and online, have a bevy of betting options available, so let's take a look at my top-10 wagers and let's hope I do better this year than I did last year, when I was 5-for-10 with a -7.4 percent ROI.10...read more

Skyvue's future on the Las Vegas Strip looks cloudy

LAS VEGAS -- It's appropriate that the 39-acre site of the stalled Skyvue observation wheel at the south end of the Strip is next to a shuttered motel and tavern known as The Laughing Jackalope.Both the development and the Jackalope are mythical creatures.Skyvue appears to be out of money and is fast becoming an eyesore across from Mandalay Bay.The project, envisioned as a 500-foot-tall wheel with 140,000 square-feet of retail, dining and entertainment, had an estimated cost of $300 million.But Skyvue so far is nothing more than a pair of 247-foot-tall, unfinished pillars and a concrete foundation.On Jan...read more

Are there exceptions to Basic Strategy in blackjack for certain hand compositions?

Question: Is it true there are exceptions to basic strategy for blackjack, in which players should make different decisions depending on the particular cards in their hands rather than just on their totals and on the dealer's upcard?Answer: This is true...read more

Opening day nearing for Nobu Hotel at Caesars Palace

LAS VEGAS -- Caesars Palace announced nearly two years ago that it would renovate the second-oldest tower at the Strip resort into a luxury boutique hotel with the help of Nobu Hospitality.The construction walls finally came down this week.Resort officials began on Friday showing off portions of the $30 million Nobu Hotel Caesars Palace.The tower's lobby area and 13,000-square-foot Nobu restaurant and lounge were expected to be turned over by construction crews to the resort at 11:59 p.m...read more

Report: Las Vegas Sands stops international money transfers for high-end patrons

LAS VEGAS -- Nevada's top gaming regulator said Friday his agency was aware of changes Las Vegas Sands Corp. implemented to its compliance procedures and expected other companies, both inside and outside the gaming industry, would take similar steps.Las Vegas Sands, which operates casinos in Macau and Singapore, as well as The Venetian and Palazzo resorts on the Strip, halted the execution of international money transfers for its high-end customers, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.The moves came as the casino operator faces scrutiny from U.S...read more