Featured Articles Archive - Page 392

Iowa legislature pursuing intrastate online poker

The Iowa Senate is on the verge of considering legislation that would license and regulate intrastate online poker, according to a report in today's Des Moines Register.According to the story, the draft bill would "allow state-regulated casinos to allow Iowans ages 21 and older to play online poker on their personal computers."The bill is sponsored by Sen...read more

Moody's says Strip recovery won't begin until 2012

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- It will take at least a year for the new supply of Las Vegas hotel rooms to be absorbed into the market, a new report Thursday from Moody's Investors Service said. In the report to investors and backers of the debt covering much of the Strip's major gaming operators, Moody's Senior Credit Officer Peggy Holloway said an upturn toward profitability won't begin until 2012. Las Vegas has roughly 150,000 hotel rooms, including 6,000 rooms added when CityCenter opened in December 2009 and another 2,000 added by last December's opening of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. No other hotel-casino openings or expansions are on the horizon, which is a good thing, according to Holloway. "The Las Vegas casinos have a high mountain to climb to grow earnings to anywhere near their previous peaks, as citywide hotel room rates remain below 2005 levels," Holloway said...read more

Galaxy Gaming acquires TableMAX Gaming

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas-based table game provider Galaxy Gaming announced Thursday it has essentially acquired a rival company.In a statement, Galaxy said it entered an agreement with TableMAX Gaming to secure the rights to sell electronic versions of table games Caribbean Stud, Caribbean Draw, Progressive Blackjack, Texas Hold 'em Bonus and Blackjack Bullets.No money was exchanged in the deal.The transaction moves Galaxy into the electronic table game business...read more

Caesars seeking $400 million to finish tower

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Caesars Entertainment Corp. said Thursday it is seeking $400 million in financing to complete an unfinished hotel tower at Caesars Palace and develop a retail, dining and entertainment corridor on the Las Vegas Strip.In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said funds raised would be used for the project's development and to pay various fees and expenses...read more

Pinnacle interested in move to Strip

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Regional casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment said Thursday it was considering a marketing alliance with a Strip casino company. Las Vegas-based Pinnacle doesn't have a Strip property, so it is looking to negotiate a partnership that would have reciprocal rewards to draw visitors to its regional casinos in Louisiana, Missouri and Indiana. "We believe it's an idea that has merit to it," Pinnacle Chief Executive Officer Anthony Sanfilippo said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings conference call. He didn't name the potential partner. Pinnacle said it was delaying the opening of its $357 million hotel-casino in Baton Rouge, La., by a few months...read more

Deal Me In: One annoying feature of randomness

Dear Mark: I read a recent article of yours on video keno so I thought you would be a good person to pose my question to. First, some background. I have been playing video keno since 1980 when I used to frequent Vegas two or three times a year...read more

Exec thrilled to land Louisiana gaming license

LAS VEGAS, Nevada --On Friday, Dan Lee was awarded Louisiana's 15th and final gaming license.A day later, both his voice mail and e-mail inboxes were nearly full.Through his recently established Creative Casinos LLC, Lee proposed the $400 million Mojito Pointe hotel-casino project on a 220-acre site in the western Louisiana community of Lake Charles.Lee, former chief executive of regional casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment, began developing plans for the site last year when his former employer canceled a casino project for the location and returned its gaming license to the state.Now, with the license in hand, Lee's attention is directed toward a voter referendum April 30, where Lake Charles residents will be asked to approve the project.This week, Lee is meeting with bankers and other potential backers to put together financing for the resort, which is expected to include at least 400 hotel rooms, an 18-hole golf course, restaurants, a spa, and entertainment amenities, including a facility for falconry and other exotic birds of prey."In a way, I feel like the dog who caught the car," said Lee, 54, who has been operating Creative Casinos out of his Las Vegas home but is now looking for office space in Lake Charles and Las Vegas.Lee has a financial backer who bought one-sixth of his company for $5 million...read more

Top-10 craziest prop bets

The human race has a long history of making crazy bets. Brian Zembic once won $100,000 when he had breast implant surgery. And yes, Brian is a man. And as of five years ago (the bet took place in 1996) he still had them, even though the bet only required him to keep them for a year.Crazy prop bets often occur between high stakes gamblers, but some of the best bets have come from people who are much more famous for other things...read more

How would you set up place bets in a craps game with three five-sided dice?

Big bucks can be made by developing casino games that the joints adopt and players frequent. This, owing to the ongoing hefty fees the bosses pay to license proprietary offerings. However, of the numerous games being devised, few get considered seriously...read more

Deal Me In: The mathematics of breaking even

Dear Mark: Now that the football season is over, I ended up pretty much breaking even for the whole season. I've read that the house edge is 4.55 percent on sporting bets. How is that figured, and would that mean I lost just under 5 percent of my bets? Dave D.Actually, Dave, you lost less than that percentage-wise, 52.273 percent to be exact, but that figure presupposes that all of your bet amounts were identical, always wagering $11 to win $10, for example.I'll get to that 52.273 percent in a moment, Dave, but, for an appetizer, let's break down a typical $11 wager...read more