Featured Articles Archive - Page 311

Top-10 events to bet with your heart and not your head

Anyone who watched the completion of the Ryder Cup on Sunday saw one of the most historic comebacks in the international golf competition's history. And depending on which side you were rooting for, it was either a thrilling victory or a gut-wrenching defeat.If you bet on the action, you were on pins and needles as the entire match was extremely tight...read more

For the faint of heart, here's another way to look at blackjack splits

Proper splitting of pairs in blackjack subtracts 0.4 percent from what would otherwise be the house advantage in the game. Overall, this benefit is less than that afforded by following Basic Strategy for standing on low totals, doubling down, and hitting soft 17s and 18s...read more

Bally lands Illinois contract

Bally Technologies secured contracts to place 4,000 slot machinelike video lottery terminal in Illinois, gaining more than 50 percent of the emerging gambling market.The company announced the deal Tuesday shortly after the stock markets closed...read more

Stratosphere's parent company tabs Bally for online poker

Bally Technologies will provide an interactive gaming system to the parent company of the Stratosphere, which was licensed last week by Nevada gaming regulators to operate an online poker website.Terms of the deal were not announced.American Casino & Entertainment Properties said it plans to launch a play-for-free poker site by the end of the year, which would evolve into a real-money poker site operated within Nevada's boundaries.Besides the Stratosphere, the company operates the two Arizona Charlie's casinos and the Aquarius in Laughlin...read more

Top-10 gambling operator blunders

If you choose to play casino games, you probably know that the odds are always stacked against you. Well, almost always. Every once in awhile, the people running the games mess up and players have the advantage. And the games aren't the only things that operators screw up...read more

Deal Me In: The rigged slot

Dear Mark: The following quote is from The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.Al wiped his hands on his apron. He looked at a paper pinned to the wall over the griddle. Three lines of marks in columns on the paper.Al counted the longest line...read more

Las Vegas Sands announces plans for Eiffel Tower replica in Macau

Apparently, the gaming industry needs two Eiffel Towers.Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson said Thursday in Macau the company would build a scaled-down replica of the Eiffel Tower as part of a new $3 billion hotel-casino on the Cotai Strip region.Adelson unveiled plans for The Parisian during the opening of a Sheraton hotel, which is part of the second phase of the company's $4.4 billion Sands Cotai Central.On the Strip, Caesars Entertainment Corp...read more

Caesars will rename Imperial Palace "The Quad"

LAS VEGAS -- So long, Imperial Palace.Hello, The Quad.Caesars Entertainment Corp. announced Monday it would rename the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino as The Quad Resort & Casino. The company had said earlier this year the Strip resort would be rebranded as part of the $550 million Project Linq development.The name Quad had surfaced in recent months on social media websites, along with 3535, the street address for the Imperial Place...read more

Top-10 promotions casinos offer players

Maybe the biggest challenge a casino has is getting patrons in the door. Casinos have lots of people getting paid lots of money trying to figure out how to lure you in the door. But like any player, we have our favorite offers. Here are 10 great promotions that can (and have) motivated me to make a trip to the casino floor.10...read more

Maryland casino referendum launches big spending

By the time Maryland voters head to the polls Nov. 6, two casino companies combined might contribute more money to a gaming expansion referendum than was spent during the state's gubernatorial election two years ago.When the dust settles, either MGM Resorts International will have convinced Maryland voters to approve construction of a hotel-casino complex roughly 10 miles from the nation's capital, or Penn National Gaming's argument that the state has enough casinos will have been heard.Either way, Maryland voters are going to be bombarded.So far the scorecard reads: MGM Resorts International, $5.4 million in campaign contributions; Penn National Gaming, Inc., $9.5 million.And clearly more money is on the way.MGM Resorts Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Alan Feldman couldn't predict how much MGM Resorts would spend in favor of passing the ballot measure."We are prepared to see this through," Feldman said Thursday...read more