Featured Articles Archive - Page 315

Bill Hornbuckle tapped as president of MGM Resorts

LAS VEGAS -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Longtime gaming industry executive Bill Hornbuckle on Tuesday was named president of MGM Resorts International, essentially becoming the No. 2 person in the casino company's hierarchy.Hornbuckle, 54, will continue to serve as the chief marketing officer of MGM Resorts, a position he has held since 2009.MGM Resorts Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren had previously held the title of president.In his new role, Hornbuckle will report to Murren and will assume expanded responsibility to include gaming development.Murren credited Hornbuckle with growing the company's M Life customer loyalty program."Bill Hornbuckle is widely regarded as one of the most strategic and effective leaders in the hospitality and entertainment industry," Murren said in a statement...read more

Macau gaming revenues grow 8 percent in November

Revenues generated by Macau's gaming industry grew 8 percent in November as the Chinese region's casinos collected $3.1 billion from gamblers.After the figures were released Monday by the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, analysts said the casino market results were driven by strong play by mass-market customers rather than high-end gambling.Wells Fargo Securities gaming analyst Cameron McKnight said economic data from China last week indicated the economic environment in the region may have stabilized.Through the first 11 months of 2012, gaming revenues in Macau have grown 13 percent...read more

Aria President, COO Bill McBeath resigns

LAS VEGAS -- CityCenter Aria Resort & Casino President and Chief Operating Officer Bill McBeath, who has been with the CityCenter flagship resort through its construction phase and opening, resigned Monday.MGM Resorts International, which owns 50 percent of CityCenter and operates the Strip development, released a memo announcing McBeath's resignation.MGM Resorts Chairman Jim Murren said McBeath, three years after opening Aria, "notified me of his intent to step back to reassess his career goals, which I understand and respect."Added Murren, "We have all benefited from Bill's long and storied career with our company and we will always be grateful for his steady hand and leadership in the opening and operation of CityCenter."CityCenter Chief Executive Officer Bobby Baldwin will replace McBeath and oversee Aria, the nongaming Vdara, and Mandarin Oriental hotels, CityCenter's residential division, and the Crystals retail center.McBeath, 49, a Las Vegas native, has been president of several different MGM-owned Strip resorts since 1997, including Treasure Island, The Mirage and Bellagio.He joined the $8.5 billion CityCenter development in 2007 with a focus on Aria, the development's 4,004-room hotel-casino.McBeath worked closely with Baldwin from their days at Mirage Resorts, which merged with the then-MGM Grand Corp., in 1999...read more

Tribe with Station Casinos agreement gains OK for project

A California Indian tribe that has a nearly decade-old management agreement for Station Casinos, Inc. to operate a proposed casino received federal approval late Friday to build the project on 305 acres near Fresno.The bureau, through the U.S...read more

Macau: Cash cow for Nevada gaming companies

LAS VEGAS -- Despite a slowing Asian economy and changes in the Chinese government, Macau casinos continue to churn out record gaming figures, a fact for which investors in three Nevada gaming companies are forever thankful.With a month left in 2012, most gaming analysts expect Macau to post an annual gaming revenue increase between 8 percent and 12 percent beyond 2011's record haul of $33.5 billion.Clearly, Macau wasn't going to match 2011's 42 percent revenue increase over 2010's results...read more

Top-10 things that are wrong with the poker scene in Star Trek: TNG's "The Measure of a Man"

If you're a regular listener of the Casino City Gang podcast, you already know that Casino City editor-in-chief Vin Narayanan and I are both huge fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation. So it shouldn't come as any surprise that the two of us trekked to a local movie theater to watch the one-night-only showing of two episodes from the second season in celebration of that season's remastered release on Blu-Ray last week.More importantly (at least for the audience that reads stories on this website), we also love a good poker game...read more

Culinary Secretary-Treasurer D. Taylor thrives during career in labor movement

LAS VEGAS -- D. Taylor estimates he has been arrested between 75 and 80 times in Las Vegas over the past 28 years.His first time in police handcuffs came in 1984.Taylor, who was employed as an organizer for the parent of Culinary Local 226, came to Las Vegas to help workers during the contentious citywide strike against the hotel-casino industry, managing long hours on the picket lines.Taylor also was detained in police vans during the union's 1990 strike against Binion's Horseshoe and the Culinary's more-than-six-year-long strike against the Frontier, which ended in 1998.His most recent arrests came during staged civil disobedience organized by the union against Station Casinos.In total, though, he's spent only a few hours in jail."I guess I have a record," said Taylor, 55...read more

Gaming's expansion has Indiana concerned

An Indiana lawmaker wants to protect the Hoosier State's casino industry, which was the nation's third-largest commercial gaming market by revenue in 2011.Ten of Indiana's 13 casinos are in counties adjacent to Illinois, Michigan and Ohio - states that have provided Indiana casinos with a wealth of customers.Not anymore.Those patrons no longer have to cross state lines to satisfy their gambling fix...read more

Bill's Gamblin' Hall to close Feb. 4 for renovations

LAS VEGAS -- Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon on the Strip will close Feb. 4 when Caesars Entertainment Inc. begins a $185 million renovation of 198-room hotel-casino.The hotel-casino, which was built by Michael Gaughan and opened in 1979, will be reopened in early 2014 under a new name and theme, Caesars Entertainment said in statement.The casino's 600 employees were notified Thursday morning of the closing under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.Caesars Entertainment Senior Vice President Jan Jones said efforts are already under way to place the workers in jobs at the company's casinos...read more

Largest Affinity Gaming shareholder wants to increase stake

LAS VEGAS -- The largest shareholder in casino operator Affinity Gaming wants to increase its ownership to roughly one-third of the Las Vegas-based company, a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows.Z Capital, an Illinois-based private equity firm, said in the filing it has two separate agreements to purchase 823,488 shares and 844,940 shares of Affinity Gaming.The acquisitions would give Z Capital ownership of more than 33 percent of the company's outstanding shares.The deals are subject to Z Capital gaining regulatory approval by gaming authorities in Nevada, Missouri, Iowa and Colorado.Affinity is privately held but has publicly traded debt.Over the past 18 months, Z Capital has increased its ownership stake in Affinity, which was created from the remnants of the bankrupt Herbst Gaming in December 2010.Affinity now operates 15 casinos, including nine in Nevada...read more