Featured Articles Archive - Page 328

"Historic" Nevada license for legal Internet poker clears hurdle

Nevada made its initial stride toward joining the Internet poker world Wednesday, but gaming regulators were quick to note that many more steps are needed before the first hands are dealt.Slot machine maker Bally Technologies, Inc. received a unanimous recommendation by the Gaming Control Board for the first interactive gaming license ever to be issued to a manufacturer of online gaming systems.The matter will be taken up by the Nevada Gaming Commission on June 21.The hourlong hearing in Carson City marked the first time since Nevada gaming authorities approved regulations covering interactive gaming - online poker within the state's borders - that a company was considered for licensing."We're going to see a myriad of applications," said Gaming Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli...read more

Classes are over, poker is in session

Vanessa Selbst didn't hide her professional poker career from professors and classmates while attending Yale Law School.She just put the game on hold for a couple of years. Selbst closed out her online accounts and stayed away from the tables."When you're in poker, you're really into it and you want to play all the time," Selbst said...read more

Shuffle Master says profits surge 23 percent

Shuffle Master, Inc. said Monday it grew company profits by 23 percent, despite expenses incurred through the purchase of a European online gaming company. Shuffle Master, which is based in Las Vegas and distributes table games and casino management products, said its net income was $9.7 million for the second quarter, which ended April 30, compared with $7.9 million in the same quarter last year. The company said its earnings per share in the quarter were 17 cents, a 21 percent increase over 14 cents per share in the same quarter of 2011. Companywide revenues were $66.1 million, up 10 percent compared with $59.9 million in the second quarter of 2011. Shuffle Master CEO Gavin Isaacs said revenues from the company's unique table game titles leased to casinos saw revenues jump 13 percent in the quarter. Isaacs said Shuffle Master's electronic table game segment was in transition and remains a focus. In March, Shuffle Master agreed to spend $28.5 million for Ongame Network Ltd., a European provider of online poker products, and subsidiary of bwin.party Services of Austria, one of the world's largest poker providers to online gaming operators. Shuffle Master said the transaction would allow the company to expand its online offerings in regulated gaming markets. "We are confident that our continued strong momentum across our core businesses and the rollout of our interactive initiatives are key drivers of our future earnings potential and will write the next chapter of our profitable growth story," Isaacs said. In a note to investors published prior to the company's earnings report, Roth Capital Partners gaming analyst Todd Eilers said expectations on any growth opportunities had already been priced into Shuffle Master's stock...read more

Top-10 ridiculous gambling laws

Several states have recently made moves to make sports betting legal within their states. The most notable effort is New Jersey’s, which is on a collision course with the U.S. Supreme Court over the constitutionality of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which makes traditional sports betting (e.g., single-game spread bets) illegal outside of Nevada. PASPA is a silly law that stands in conflict with nearly every other gambling law in the United States in that the legality of different forms of gambling has always been decided by the states. But PASPA isn't the only ridiculous gambling law out there...read more

Debt crisis worries gaming stock investors

Gaming stocks nosedived in May as investors grew worried over foreign debt matters and mixed messages coming from company earnings reports. Of the 12 publicly traded casino operators and gaming equipment providers followed by Las Vegas financial adviser Applied Analysis, 10 saw decreases in average daily stock price during the month. Only the share prices of regional gaming operators Ameristar Casinos and Penn National Gaming, which owns M Resort, enjoyed slight increases. When compared with May 2011, the gaming sector was off 11.6 percent while the broader market edged slightly upward by less than 1 percent. The declines sent the Applied Analysis Gaming Index tumbling almost 61.5 points, to 435.74...read more

Texas casino expansion suffers a blow in the state's election

The prospects for casino expansion in Texas apparently took a hit this week, according to one gaming analyst. Three prominent allies of Republican Texas House Speaker Joe Straus were defeated in their re-election bids by anti-gaming conservatives. Straus is considered a moderate who supports expanded gaming...read more

Bloch wins Seven-Card Stud event to capture first WSOP gold bracelet

Poker standout Andy Bloch won his first World Series of Poker individual event championship bracelet Saturday night at the Rio, and in the process, removed a label from his name."Now, no one can say, 'Andy Bloch is the best player to never win a gold bracelet," Bloch said moments after the victory...read more

Unexpected competition raises worry for Cordish

Maryland Live! Casino has more slot machines than the MGM Grand and Bellagio combined and a location adjacent to one of the East Coast's largest shopping malls. And, despite obstacles placed in front of the casino by the state, Cordish Company Chairman David Cordish believes his company's $500 million development will prevail financially.A 67 percent tax on gaming revenues, the highest in the nation? No problem.A competing casino roughly 12 miles north, near Baltimore's Inner Harbor? Not a concern.Cordish knew the landscape for Maryland Live! when the state's constitution was amended in 2008 to legalize slot machines...read more

Nevadan at work: Exec aims to pump vibrancy into Westin Casuarina's casino

Real estate investor Rory Bedore tried to buy the Maxim Hotel and Casino in 2002, but he was outbid by Kentucky-based Columbia Sussex Corp., which paid $38 million for the off-Strip resort.Columbia spent another $40 million on changing the Maxim into The Westin Casuarina.Fast forward 10 years and Bedore, who since developed 777 Gaming, is now in charge of the resort.The 795-room property was in receivership when Bedore's gaming management company was approached to take over the casino portion...read more

Caesars chairman and Celtics owner Loveman says casino industry and NBA have unique connection

Caesars Entertainment Corp. Chairman Gary Loveman finally got some bragging rights over Carnival Cruise Lines founder Ted Arison on Friday night. Loveman has a minority ownership stake in the Boston Celtics, which beat the Miami Heat, 101-91, in the third game of the teams’ best-of-seven NBA Eastern Conference Championship series...read more