Featured Articles Archive - Page 332

Loveman says Caesars in broad expansion

CLEVELAND -- Caesars Entertainment is "in the middle of a big expansion" and may sell more casinos in crowded markets to finance new properties in less competitive areas, company Chairman and CEO Gary Loveman said Thursday.The company's new strategy was illustrated by Monday's announced sale of its Harrah's St...read more

Southland Park upgrades to the tune of $11 million

The Mississippi River Flood of a year ago devastated the gaming industry which shut down in Tunica but when that door closed another opened wider for Southland Park Gaming & Racing in West Memphis, AR., which escaped the water and suddenly was the only gaming spot available to ever-eager gamblers."While our business was doing very well before the flood, that flood brought new gamers to our doors who had never experienced the Park before," said Troy Keeping President and General Manager...read more

Horseshoe-branded casino to open in Ohio

CLEVELAND -- Casino gambling comes to Ohio on Monday when a $350 million Horsehoe-branded casino opens in what was once a landmark downtown department store.Caesars Entertainment Inc., which owns 20 percent of the joint venture and will operate the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland casino under a management contract, sees the opening as a business opportunity...read more

IGT CEO Hart will not stand for re-election to Yahoo board

International Game Technology Chief Executive Officer Patti Hart said Tuesday she would not stand for re-election to her outside board position with Internet giant Yahoo after her board performance and academic credentials were questioned. Hart, CEO of the slot machine giant since April 2009, headed the search committee that selected new CEO Scott Thompson...read more

World Series of Poker expects record prize pool

World Series of Poker officials expect this summer's Series to award a record prize pool of over $200 million to thousands of players.A good chunk of that prize pool will come as a result of just two events: the $10,000 Main Event, which drew 6,865 players for a prize pool of $64.5 million in 2011, and The Big One for One Drop, a $1 million buy-in event new to the series this year, which will be capped at a maximum of 48 players."I actually believe that we'll hit the cap at this point," said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart in a conference call with reporters today...read more

Heard It on the River: Glitz on the Mississippi

Trop Casino is a pretty exotic name for a casino situated on the banks of the Mississippi in Delta country but it’s a name that gets your attention in a landscape where some glitz is a good thing. The name and upgraded facility is the replacement for Lighthouse Casino and Jubilee Casino in Greenville."The new name is a big difference from previously but so is the casino," said Chris Strobbe, the energetic general manager who is getting the casino ready for its grand opening on Friday May 4...read more

Wynn Resorts sees quarterly profits drop

The decision by Wynn Resorts Ltd. to toss former majority shareholder Kazuo Okada out of the company in February sliced into the casino operator's first-quarter profits. But as far as Wynn Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn is concerned, the matter in which the Japanese billionaire's 20 percent stake in the company was redeemed at an almost $800 million discount is closed. Wynn, at the outset of the company's quarterly earnings conference call Monday, wasn't going to address the Okada matter. "There isn't any new news in the Okada legal issues that we need to report," Wynn said. During the question-and-answer session, however, Wynn aimed more pointed remarks at Okada, his one-time business partner who was found unsuitable by the company's board of directors over payments of $110,000 in cash and gifts to Philippine gaming regulators...read more

Sands has hot quarter, but some analysts annoyed after call

Sometimes, there's just no pleasing the investment community. Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced April 25 it had blown apart Wall Street's first-quarter earnings projections. Buoyed by its holdings in Asia, the company became the first casino operator to ever report more than $1 billion in quarterly cash flow while collecting more than $2.76 billion in net revenues. Two weeks earlier, Las Vegas Sands opened the first phase of its $4.4 Sands Cotai Central in Macau...read more

Caesars selling St. Louis property to Penn National

Caesars Entertainment Inc. announced a deal Monday to sell its Harrah's St. Louis Casino & Hotel to regional rival Penn National Gaming, Inc. for $610 million, leading one analyst to speculate if the transaction would kick-off sales of other properties.In separate statements, Las Vegas-based Caesars and Penn National - which owns M Resort - gave differing reasons for the all-cash transaction, which could close later this year.Caesars Entertainment Chairman Gary Loveman said the company is continuing to look at other growth markets...read more

Top-10 things poker players can learn from runners

Over the weekend I ran my second half-marathon, covering the distance in 1:42:54. The race got me thinking about my other hobby – poker – and how the two pursuits share a lot in common.Here are the top-10 things that running has taught me about poker.10...read more