Featured Articles Archive - Page 316

Bally Technologies reports increased quarterly profits

LAS VEGAS -- Slot machine maker Bally Technologies, Inc. said Thursday that company profits grew 11 percent in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to the increased installations of revenue sharing games in several casinos, including Resorts World New York. Bally, based in Las Vegas, said operating income was $49 million in the quarter that ended June 30, compared with $44 million in the same quarter a year ago...read more

South Point could be testing online poker by October

LAS VEGAS -- The South Point Hotel Casino and Spa could be ready to shuffle up and deal on the Internet sometime this fall.State gaming regulators Wednesday granted Michael Gaughan's Las Vegas casino tentative approval to operate an online poker website accessible only within Nevada boundaries.South Point attorney Steve Harris told the Gaming Control Board in Carson City the technology to run the Internet poker website is in advanced stages of approval by an independent testing laboratory hired by gaming regulators.If all conditions are met, Harris said the South Point's website could begin accepting wagers over the Internet on a test basis by October...read more

MGM Resorts chairman: Company strongest in three years

LAS VEGAS -- MGM Resorts International Chairman Jim Murren told investors Tuesday that the casino operator is in its strongest financial position at any point in the past three years, and operating trends are continuing to improve. The timing of that comment might seem odd: MGM said it lost $145.5 million in the second quarter, and reported a loss per share that was twice the amount that had been estimated by Wall Street analysts. So how did investors react to the news? Shares of MGM Resorts had their largest increase in more than nine months. In an interview after a conference call with analysts, Murren said the company's "over-arching mission" since 2009 was to rebuild a balance sheet ravaged by the recession and construction of CityCenter. Murren said MGM Resorts, which had a cash balance of $1.7 billion at the end of June - plus long-term debt of $13.4 billion - was in a "favorable place" in the company's history. "We were clear with investors in the teeth of the recession that we would use all means available to use to deliver on that promise," Murren said...read more

Facebook users in the U.K. can play real-money bingo and slots through new app

Adult Facebook users in the U.K. will be able to play real-money online bingo and slots starting today on the Bingo & Slots Friendzy application.People under the age of 18 will be blocked from playing, as will users from outside the U.K.The application is run by Gamesys, which owns and operates online gambling site Jackpotjoy, and also operates sites such as Sun Bingo and Caesars Casino...read more

Caesars' quarterly net loss widens as customers spend less

Caesars Entertainment Inc. widened its second-quarter net loss as customers in Las Vegas spent less and the company's Atlantic City casinos continued to be challenged by competition from within and from neighboring markets. Despite a disappointing three months, Caesars touted its various expansion opportunities, including potential casinos in Maryland and Massachusetts, and the $500 million nongaming Project Linq development to open on the Strip in 2013. Caesars Chairman Gary Loveman said the economy seemed to take a dip in the spring, which affected consumer spending and visitation at the company's casinos throughout the U.S. "The world since April and May has gotten more difficult and that's reflected in my tone," Loveman said in an analyst conference call after the earnings release for the quarter that ended June 30. Caesars, which operates 10 casinos on or near the Strip, said it lost $241.7 million in the quarter, for a loss per share of $1.93...read more

World Series of Poker, born in smoky poker room, now a phenomenon

What would Benny Binion think?The legendary downtown Las Vegas casino owner enticed some the best poker players to his family's Horseshoe Casino on Fremont Street in 1970 for several days of high-stakes cash games inside the property's dark and smoky poker room.That idea evolved into the World Series of Poker.Binion, who died in 1988, might not recognize today what he created.The World Series of Poker is now a year-round poker extravaganza, not just the annual seven-week tournament at the off-Strip Rio that has grown from its humble beginnings to a multi-million-dollar event.The World Series of Poker Circuit Tournament, now in its ninth season, will make 20 stops through next May, starting this week at the IP Casino in Biloxi, Miss...read more

Top-10 questions about PokerStars' acquisition of Full Tilt Poker

The recent acquisition of Full Tilt Poker by PokerStars has the poker world buzzing, and there are a lot of questions that remain unanswered. Players who had money locked up on the site are excited about the return of their funds. People who loved the Full Tilt software will get a chance to return to the tables...read more

Investors ask where Adelson's focus is

A few days after Las Vegas Sands Corp. disappointed investors with quarterly earnings declines that sent the company's share price tumbling and had analysts breaking out in a cold sweat, Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson jetted to Israel to watch presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney deliver a speech in Jerusalem. "It was a great speech...read more

Caesars Palace to unveil the $17 million Bacchanal Buffet next month

Caesars Palace is bringing back the Bacchanal Room — sort of.The Strip casino will unveil the Bacchanal Buffet next month, a $17 million endeavor that will offer more than 500 menu items from nine kitchens with a setting that overlooks the hotel’s Garden of the Gods complex.The 25,000 square-foot Bacchanal Buffet will have seating for 600 guests.The landmark Bacchanal Room was a Caesars Palace gourmet dining experience in the resort’s heyday in 1980s and 1990s, complete with wine goddesses and other entertainment enhancements...read more

Social gaming expands for slot machine maker IGT

The casino industry is trying to get a grasp on the growing social gaming phenomena.Slot machine giant International Game Technology (IGT) is offering its DoubleDown social gaming website to casino operators interested in exploring the process.IGT, which acquired DoubleDown in January for $500 million, recently placed the ability to enter the free play casino through the websites of several small casino companies...read more