Featured Articles Archive - Page 313

Analyst gives MGM Resorts edge over Penn National in race for Massachusetts gaming license

Representatives from Penn National Gaming, Inc. and MGM Resorts International made a pitch last week to residents of Springfield, Mass., as the companies compete for the sole casino license in the western part of the state.Credit Suisse gaming analyst Joel Simkins attended the town hall-style meeting and came away with the impression that MGM Resorts is the “clear favorite” of Springfield officials.“Given its high-quality and detailed proposal, track record of building world class resorts, and obvious commitment to support the local community we feel MGM is building a stronger case at this point when compared to Penn,” Simkins told investors.“We caveat that the process is still early, there will be additional community hearings and we expect Penn to up its game starting with a red carpet event on (Thursday),” Simkins added.Of the various proposals being floated in Western Massachusetts, Simkins rated Springfield as the most logical location...read more

Atlantic City in for economic storm

It can't get any worse for Atlantic City.Can it?Last week's news that November gaming revenues at Atlantic City's 12 casinos suffered their worst single-month decline in the New Jersey community's 34-year history of legalized gaming had to be the low point.Or was it?Granted, Superstorm Sandy, which hit the region in late October, caused most of Atlantic City's casinos to stay closed between Oct...read more

Internet poker bill effort dead, Reid says

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Its dim prospects finally fading to black, Sen. Harry Reid pulled the plug Friday on the effort in Congress to legalize Internet poker this year.With only days remaining in the session, and with consensus far from reached on a bill that sought to reshape the landscape of online gaming, "we have simply run out of time in this legislative calendar," he said."I am disappointed," Reid said, adding he and Sen...read more

Heard it on the river

I would think that many of us hope 2013 is a lot better than the year about to end. Heck, even a little better would be fine. So many challenges remain out there that affect the casino industry and with them a lot of economic uncertainty. While the biz takes its share of arrows it is still a great source of entertainment and an impactful contributor to the tax revenue bases of the communities it operates in.Online gaming is fast emerging but with legislative obstacles to overcome...read more

Wolfgang Puck marks Las Vegas milestone

LAS VEGAS -- Twenty years ago, Wolfgang Puck would go home at night to a small apartment he rented near the Strip with a bottle of red wine to help nurse his pain.A week into the opening of his first Spago restaurant outside of Los Angeles, Puck wondered whether the naysayers had actually been correct.Puck's original Spago in Beverly Hills was a dining hot spot that attracted movie stars and sports celebrities with such items as smoked salmon pizza, butternut squash ravioli and wienerschnitzel.No way, some of Puck's contemporaries told him, would a high-end eatery make it in Las Vegas, the land of 99-cent shrimp cocktails, $2 steak dinners and the $9.99 all-you-can-eat buffet.During its first week of business, Spago Las Vegas, in the newly opened Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, attracted only rodeo fans who quickly turned away when they weren't going to find barbecue ribs or pork and beans.A short while later, the New Year's Eve holiday hit."We've been busy ever since," Puck said Tuesday at Spago, 20 years to the day the restaurant opened.Wolfgang Puck whips up some food at Spago Las Vegas as Spago Executive Chef Eric Klein watches...read more

Arguello-Kline becomes first female Hispanic leader of Culinary

LAS VEGAS -- Culinary Workers Local 226 promoted Geoconda Arguello-Kline, a former housekeeper and Nicaraguan refugee, to become the organization's secretary-treasurer.The appointment was announced Tuesday.Arguello-Kline becomes the first female and first Hispanic to lead the 60,000-member union that represents hotel and restaurant workers in Las Vegas.In the organization's hierarchy, secretary-treasurer is the union's highest elected position...read more

MGM Resorts plans celebration of its workforce diversity

LAS VEGAS -- MGM Resorts International employees will take over the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Events Center later this month for a Strip-style production to celebrate the casino operator's workforce diversity.The company, which operates 10 Strip resorts and employs more than 50,000 workers at resorts in Nevada, Mississippi, Michigan and Illinois, will feature 70 of its employees in "Inspiring Our World," an original music program spanning multiple cultures and styles.The 90-minute production, simultaneously performed in English, Spanish and American Sign Language, will be digitally represented in 14 languages...read more

Caesars taps general manager for High Roller observation wheel

LAS VEGAS -- Caesars Entertainment Inc. named Eric Eberhart as general manager of the Las Vegas High Roller observation wheel, the centerpiece of the company's $550 million Linq development.Eberhart most recently served as principal of an Orlando, Fla., entertainment consulting firm...read more

Analyst boosts view of Boyd Gaming, Peninsula purchase "strengthens" casino operator

Credit Suisse gaming analyst Joel Simkins reinstated coverage of Boyd Gaming Corporation following the closure last month of the company’s $1.45 billion acquisition of Peninsula Gaming Corporation.The transaction gave Boyd ownership of five casinos in three states, including the Kansas Star near Wichita, Kan...read more

A slow path back - Limited slate of development projects, Internet poker debate will occupy gaming in 2013

LAS VEGAS -- The Linq won't be confused with CityCenter.Then again, analysts have said the last thing the Strip needs right now is another massive hotel-casino complex. The Las Vegas gaming market is still in economic recovery mode after the recession sent gaming figures crashing back to 2004 levels.Through September, Strip gaming revenues have increased 2.5 percent over the same nine months of 2011, lending some to speculate that the market is slowly coming back.This brings us back to The Linq.As 2013 unfolds, the $550 million nongaming Linq is one of three Strip construction projects expected to heat up during the year.On the Strip's north end, transformation of the shuttered Sahara into the $400 million SLS Las Vegas is expected to begin after Jan...read more