Featured Articles Archive - Page 329

Spain eyes Sands' legal issues as project advances

LAS VEGAS -- Reports of various federal government investigations that have been launched against Las Vegas Sands Corp. have made their way to Spain, where the company plans to announce next month where it will build a $22 billion gaming destination. The New York Times reported Thursday that officials in Barcelona want Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson to appear before the Catalan Parliament in Barcelona to explain his company's legal issues. The company's business dealings in China are reportedly being investigated by the U.S...read more

MGM Resorts has inside track for newly approved sixth Maryland casino

LAS VEGAS -- If Maryland's planned gaming expansion debate were the Olympics, MGM Resorts International has clearly won the gold medal. Lawmakers signed off on a bill late Tuesday night that gives the state a sixth casino. The measure, voted on during a special legislative session, also reduced the percentage of gaming taxes paid by existing casinos and allows the facilities to add table games. Maryland Gov...read more

Affinity Gaming suffers second quarter loss, but sees revenue growth

LAS VEGAS -- Casino operator Affinity Gaming suffered a $1.8 million loss in the second quarter, due primarily to the company debt refinancing. Las Vegas-based Affinity, which operates casinos in Nevada, Iowa and Missouri, said Tuesday the company's net revenues for the quarter that ended June 30 were $116.4 million, a 1.9 percent increase over the previous year. Affinity said it received $2.3 million in lease payments from three casinos the company acquired from Golden Gaming in Black Hawk, Colorado...read more

News report turns heads, but licensed gaming companies are always under investigation

LAS VEGAS -- In reality, Nevada's licensed casino companies are always under investigation. So an international media report Monday that Las Vegas Sands Corp. is being probed by the Nevada Gaming Commission and Control Board over bribe payment allegations in mainland China isn't much of a revelation. Nor is there much new in reports on the allegations, some of which are a decade old. Still, the Reuters news agency turned heads Monday with its report. On Tuesday, Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli would not directly comment on Las Vegas Sands, which reportedly is also being investigated by the U.S...read more

Top-10 moments in online poker history

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a long-awaited announcement that it had come to a $547 million settlement with PokerStars in its Black Friday case that would also result in the world's largest online poker room acquiring the assets of Full Tilt Poker...read more

Top Strip casino operators lay a dud

LAS VEGAS -- Within a span of 16 hours last week, the two casino companies that operate half of all the Strip's resorts told the investment community they had lost a combined $387.2 million during the second quarter. Don't expect to see that statement in the next "Come to Las Vegas" advertising blitz. In reality, the quarterly net losses reported by Caesars Entertainment Inc...read more

Do your chances of winning get better if you keep playing?

Casinos have an edge or advantage over players because bets are structured with offsets between payoffs and odds that must be overcome to win. With $10 on the nine at craps, for instance, solid citizens are paid $14 when the dice show a nine and lose $10 when a seven pops...read more

Nevada gaming revenues decline 6 percent in June; Strip down 4.5 percent

LAS VEGAS -- For one month, Northern Nevada has bragging rights. Casinos in Washoe County and Reno combined for large single-month gaming revenue increases during June as Clark County and Strip figures fell. Results in the north weren't enough to push the month into the positive column...read more

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