Featured Articles Archive - Page 381

After deal, PokerStars returns $100 million to gamblers

Disgraced online gambling company PokerStars said Friday it has returned more than $100 million to U.S. gamblers since it reached an agreement with government prosecutors last month that allowed Americans to cash out their accounts.PokerStars, whose American operations were frozen on April 15 when the U.S...read more

Straighten out your lucky tie before entering the casino

You’re hardly alone when you carry or wear a lucky charm into the casino, use a number that’s worked before in deciding how to bet, play more confidently after experiencing a good omen, consult your family haruspex to ascertain when punting will be propitious, or mumble a sure-fire incantation while awaiting the result of a coup...read more

WSOP optimistic for this year's event

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The federal government's crackdown on three Internet poker gambling sites and their operators won't hurt participation in the 2011 World Series of Poker tournament, which is scheduled to begin at the end of the month at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, tournament officials said Wednesday.However, World Series of Poker Executive Director Ty Stewart acknowledged that poker players who can't retrieve funds frozen by the three shuttered poker sites could have their gambling activities curtailed."The World Series of Poker is not impervious to outside issues," Stewart said during a media conference call to kick off the 42nd annual tournament...read more

Caesars chairman calls for legal online poker

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Caesars Entertainment Corp. Chairman Gary Loveman used his company's quarterly earnings conference call Tuesday to rally support for the federal legalization of Internet poker.Loveman and Caesars have long been the casino industry's leading advocates for expansion into online gambling...read more

Hong Kong analysts confident on MGM Macau IPO

MACAU -- MGM Resorts International has begun premarketing its initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which could raise more than $1 billion.Reuters in Hong Kong reported that the pricing for the IPO is expected to be released May 27.On Monday, MGM Resorts filed with the U.S...read more

Ohio governor proposes controversial gaming tax

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A controversial gaming tax proposal from Ohio’s new governor could stall construction of four casinos approved by voters in the Buckeye State, including one each in Cincinnati and Cleveland involving Caesars Entertainment Corp. Any construction delays could also hurt projected sales by Nevada’s largest slot machine manufacturers. It’s anticipated the four casinos would house at least 8,800 new slot machines...read more

Top-10 observations from the iGaming North America Conference

Last week, land-based and online gaming executives gathered together at the iGaming North America Conference in Las Vegas to discuss the state of the online gaming industry in the United States, when Americans could expect regulated online gaming and in what form that online gambling would take place.As the two days of discussions proceeded, a series of ideas and perceptions were made of how the online gaming industry would evolve in the U.S...read more

Midwestern, Southern casinos close due to flooding

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Rising Mississippi River flood waters shuttered casino operations in several Southern and Midwestern states this week, including properties operated by Nevada gaming companies.Additional closures are on the horizon as flooding by the Mississippi River and its tributaries threaten communities in coming weeks...read more

MGM Resorts scales back Nevada hotel

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- MGM Resorts International has scaled back operations at the Gold Strike Hotel & Gambling Hall in Jean, closing a 500-room hotel tower, reducing restaurant and gaming activities, and laying off roughly 60 workers.Company spokesman Alan Feldman said changes at the casino on Interstate 15, about 25 miles south of Las Vegas, are prompted by diminished business levels.Feldman said efforts are being taken to transfer the 60 employees who are losing their jobs to positions at other MGM Resorts hotel-casinos.The move comes almost four years after MGM Resorts closed and demolished the Nevada Landing in Jean...read more

When phenomena coincide, it may not be coincidental

Perhaps you’ve been at a gathering and were asked to write the month and day of your birth on a piece of paper and hand it in. A sorter arranged all the slips in calendar order and, lo and behold, two or more coincided. How much of a coincidence was it? Even with a moderately sized group, the probability of the phenomenon is higher than you might guess. You can ascertain the precise prospect of at least two members of a given-size group a sharing a birthday using a hand calculator or computer spreadsheet...read more