Featured Articles Archive - Page 305

After enduring $90 million fight, Maryland voters OK new casino

Maryland voters approved a new casino Tuesday after the most expensive political campaign ever witnessed in the state.With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Maryland residents favored Question 7 by a vote of 51.6 percent to 48.4 percent. The measure will place a new casino in suburban Prince George's County.MGM Resorts International was the primary backer of the committee supporting Question 7, and the Las Vegas-based company spent $40.8 million on the ballot question.Regional casino operator Penn National Gaming, also with headquarters in Las Vegas, opposed Question 7 and contributed $42 million to the anti-gaming expansion campaign.In total, the fight over Question 7 ran more than $90 million, surpassing the combined total spent on Maryland's last four gubernatorial elections.MGM Resorts Chairman Jim Murren declared victory in a statement."The people of Maryland have delivered a message: Sorting through an onslaught of dishonesty, voters chose to support progress," he said...read more

Top-10 trends of the first half of the 2012 NFL season

It was an interesting week in the NFL, especially if you're an avid sports bettor. A number of games went down to the wire, especially if you were picking against the spread.There's never a sure bet when you're picking NFL games, but knowing what's happened might give a sports bettor an edge against the books.Now that the NFL is through more than half of its 2012 season, here are the top-10 tips sports bettors wish they'd had at the beginning of the season...read more

Actor Robert De Niro's Las Vegas plans include Nobu Hotel on the Strip

LAS VEGAS -- This isn't so much a story about Robert De Niro the Academy Award-winning actor.It's about Robert De Niro the hotelier.De Niro is a shareholder in Nobu Hospitality, the restaurant and entertainment company of chef Nobu Matsuhisa, which is developing its first-ever Nobu Hotel at Caesars Palace.The actor persuaded Nobu to build his first restaurant in the Tribeca area of New York City...read more

Do wild cards give you a better chance to win at video poker?

Gambling gurus rate slots, video poker, and other machines by return percentage. This parameter is the fraction of the gross wager the law of probability says the casinos will give back to players as a whole. It arises because bets pay less than the odds players must overcome to win them. Round-by-round, return percentage is essentially undetectable...read more

Maryland vote pits bully, new kid

A ballot question to expand Maryland's gaming footprint can be compared to a scuffle in the school yard.Penn National Gaming, Inc. is the playground bully.MGM Resorts International is the new kid wearing the expensive clothes.The bully wants to steal the new kid's lunch money.But the new kid is not giving up without a fight.In a sense, that's what will play out Tuesday following a very public two-month tussle.But there is more at stake than simply pocket change.Maryland voters will determine if the state becomes a multimillion-dollar gambling jurisdiction or a multibillion-dollar casino-resort destination.We'll also find out whether MGM Resorts puts the bully in its place, or if Penn National is still king of the school.Passage of Maryland's Question 7 would approve a sixth casino for the state, which would be located in suburban Prince George's County...read more

October a "mixed bag" for gaming stocks

October was one those "mixed bags" for the gaming industry.Compared with a year ago, the average daily stock prices for 12 publicly traded gaming companies are down collectively 8.5 percent.However, more than half of the companies followed by Las Vegas-based financial adviser Applied Analysis for the firm's monthly gaming index, experienced moderate increases in their average daily price.The index, which tracks some 300 market variables, grew 10.5 percent."The sector's annual performance moved in an opposite direction compared to the broader equities market," Applied Analysis principal Brian Gordon told the firm's clients in a research report...read more

Boyd Gaming turns its focus to regional gaming markets

Boyd Gaming Corporation is becoming increasingly more focused on the regional gaming markets.The company hopes to close its $1.45 billion acquisition of Peninsula Gaming by December, which will give Boyd Gaming ownership of five casinos in Kansas, Iowa and Louisiana.Add results from those casinos into the Boyd Gaming's current regional mix of properties in Mississippi, Illinois, Indiana and Louisiana, and by next year, more than two-thirds of the company's cash flow will come from the South and Midwest markets.That's not to say Boyd Gaming has given up on Las Vegas.This month, Boyd is launching a a wave of more than 1,000 new low denomination slot machines at four its locals casinos - The Orleans, Gold Coast, Suncoast and Sam's Town - in order to drive more business from casual gamblers."We have been conservative in our marketing spend, and clearly we need to be more aggressive," Boyd Gaming Chief Executive Officer Keith Smith said Thursday, after the company announced third-quarter earnings."This is somewhat of a strategic decision to see if we can do a better job to speak to the player that might have moved away from us," Smith said.Boyd Gaming Corp...read more

Macau gaming revenues hit all-time single month record of $3.5 billion in October

Macau casinos collected $3.5 billion in gaming revenues during October, the highest single-month figure ever recorded.Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said Thursday the figure was 3 percent higher than October 2011, which had the previously established single-month record.The figure marked the third time this year that Macau gaming revenues had increased by single digits, which are considered bad months in the Chinese gaming market...read more

Las Vegas Sands sees revenues rise, but profits fall

LAS VEGAS -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. grew revenues 12.5 percent in the third quarter but experienced a slight decline in net income.The company, which operates casinos on the Strip, Macau, Singapore and Pennsylvania, said Thursday its net income for the three-month period ended Sept...read more

Caesars suffers $220.6 million quarterly loss, sees positive signs from Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- Caesars Entertainment Inc. suffered a net loss of $220.6 million in the third quarter, blaming noncash charges of $419 million for the decline compared with a year ago.During a conference call with investors and analysts Wednesday, Caesars Chairman Gary Loveman said the company's four casinos in Atlantic City that were closed by Hurricane Sandy could reopen by the weekend.Company spokesman Gary Thompson told Reuters there was moderate to heavy damage to roofs and upper floors at some of the casinos.Thompson said work crews could repair facilities in time to open when New Jersey lifts its emergency declaration.Atlantic City is a concern among gaming analysts.The market has suffered considerably since 2008, and any additional business disruption could continue to depress the market.KDP Investment Advisors gaming analyst Barbara Cappaert said she would be adjusting fourth-quarter and 2013 estimates as the impact of Hurricane Sandy on Atlantic City emerges."Our concern in the near-term is that the economic devastation will have a drag on Atlantic City results by at least 10 percent," Cappaert said...read more