Featured Articles Archive - Page 308

More challenges lie ahead for gaming board chairman

LAS VEGAS -- It's not like A.G. Burnett has a huge learning curve in his new position as chairman of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board Gaming Commission.For more than a decade, Burnett, 43, played a behind-the-scenes but active role in many of the agency's decisions and rulings concerning the industry.Burnett has offered legal advice and regulatory opinions on gaming company consolidation, federal antitrust issues, casino expansion into Macau þother foreign markets, the emergence of private equity ownership, and advances in gaming technology.He spent nine years as deputy chief of the agency's corporate securities division, four years as a deputy attorney general for gaming and nearly a year as a state gaming agent.In January 2011, Gov...read more

Why do some roulette wheels have a 0 but no 00?

Question: Roulette tables where I've played have green 0 and 00 positions as well as red and black numbers. I've heard some wheels have 0 but no 00, and are better for players. Is this true?Answer: There are "double zero" or American and "single zero" or European wheels...read more

Some $7 million in upgrades a pleasant turn of events for Terrible's

LAS VEGAS -- The off-Strip Terrible's Hotel and Casino doesn't have movie theaters, high-end restaurants and bowling centers like other local gaming properties.That's not what customers of the casino are seeking."We have a solid 70 percent local customer base that is loyal," said Chris Angelo, the casino's marketing manager.Terrible's, at the corner of Paradise and East Flamingo roads near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and just north of the Hard Rock Hotel, is completing $7 million in renovations.The 60,000-square-foot casino was upgraded with nearly 1,000 new slot machines and a William Hill Race and Sports Book.The table game pit area was reconfigured for better access, new carpeting was installed and a wall near the sports book was torn out to create a center bar area, with seating that allows views of the sports book television monitors.The front desk area was combined with the casino's players club reception area, freeing additional space on the casino floor.Terrible's also renovated the property's 327 hotel rooms with new furniture and furnishings...read more

Macau gaming revenues grow in 2012, hit record $38 billion

Let's put some perspective on the record $38 billion in gaming revenues collected by Macau's casino industry in 2012.The figure is higher than the $35.64 billion collected by the entire U.S. commercial casino industry in 2011.During December, Macau's 35 casinos collected a single-month record of $3.5 billion in gaming revenues, more than half of what the Las Vegas Strip's casinos collected in all of 2011.Macau's $38 billion gaming revenue take was a 13.5 percent increase from the $33.5 billion the market collected in 2011...read more

Bahamian resort Baha Mar on fast forward

For years, it seemed the Baha Mar hotel-casino in the Bahamas was doomed.The project, planned for a 1,000-acre parcel with a prime beachfront location in Nassau City, spent much of the past decade having falling-outs with different financing opportunities and management teams.Caesars Entertainment Corp., when the company was known as Harrah's Entertainment, signed on to manage the development in 2007.Within a year, however, the casino operator was out of the picture.Gaming has been legal since 1969 in the Bahamas, a one-time British colony encompassing thousands of large and small islands, some less than 60 miles from Florida's southeastern coast.The best-known tourist destination is the Atlantis Paradise Island resort...read more

Gaming stocks end 2012 on high note

LAS VEGAS -- Gaming stocks were oblivious to investor worries that the lack of a year-end agreement in Congress to avoid wide-ranging tax increases and spending cuts would push the economy over the edge.The sector closed out 2012 on a positive note in December.Of the 12 gaming companies followed by Las Vegas financial adviser Applied Analysis, 11 showed marked increases in their average daily stock prices during the month.Eight of the companies finished 2012 with a higher average daily stock price than in 2011.Applied Analysis principal Brian Gordon told the firm's clients Monday in a research report that investors believed a compromise would likely take place in Congress concerning federal revenue enhancements and other measures."Uncertainty remained a dark cloud on equities, including gaming companies, but the overall impact appears to be modest throughout the month," Gordon said.Casino operators Las Vegas Sands Corp...read more

Top-10 New Year's gambling resolutions for 2013

The end of one year and the beginning of another is always a great time for reflection. New Year's Day is a time to aspire to be a better person. For me, some of those aspirations are related to bets I might make, or betting opportunities I haven't taken in the past...read more

Labor leader climbed ladder

LAS VEGAS -- Geocanda Arguello-Kline arrived in Miami in 1979 at the age of 24 as a political refugee from Nicaragua looking to escape the war-torn Central American country's revolution.She had a small child and few job prospects.Fast-forward to today and Arguello-Kline, who drove trucks in South Florida and made beds in downtown Las Vegas hotels, is now one of Nevada's top organized labor officials.Earlier this month she was elected the leader of Culinary Workers Local 226, the state's largest union.Arguello-Kline spent seven years as a hotel housekeeper at the Fremont Street hotel-casino originally known as the Sundance...read more

Chances weak for online gaming

A year ago this past Sunday, the Justice Department gave Internet poker proponents an early holiday present.Politicians and gaming interests turned the gift into a lump of coal.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ended debate Dec. 14 on a bipartisan online gaming bill in Congress.The move, which wasn't unexpected, pushed the U.S...read more

Investor community reacts positively to Pinnacle's $869 million deal to acquire Ameristar

LAS VEGAS -- The investment community had a favorable reaction to Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.’s surprise announcement that it would acquire regional gaming rival Ameristar Casinos, Inc. for $869 million.The merger will create a regional gaming giant with 17 properties in nine states.Shares of Pinnacle rose more than 20 percent on the day of the announcement.Fitch Ratings Service gaming analyst Michael Paladino said gave the deal a positive outlook, reflecting the company’s overall favorable view of the transaction for Pinnacle.“This transaction is consistent with our overall sector outlook, in which we indicated that gaming operators have turned their focus to generating returns through growth and capital-allocation initiatives,” Paladino told investors...read more