Featured Articles Archive - Page 394

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

Gambling and the Law: A Law Professor Looks at Poker's Black Friday

In a previous blog, I wrote that the timing was suspicious. Why did the federal Department of Justice (“DoJ”) make its big show on Friday, April 15, 2011, when the grand jury had been meeting for more than a year? We might not know the reasons for the timing...read more

Sands appoints new president for Venetian, Palazzo

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- A former chief operating officer of Gaylord Hotels has been named the new president of The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino and The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino resorts by Las Vegas Sands Corp.John Caparella will oversee the two Strip hotel-casinos, which have a combined 7,000 rooms, and the Sands Expo and Convention Center.Las Vegas Sands put out a statement on the hiring late Tuesday after Chairman Sheldon Adelson announced Caparella's new position during the company's first-quarter earnings conference call."John is very engaging and has deep hospitality experience," Adelson said in his prepared conference call remarks...read more

Penn National to take control over M Resort

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- It didn't take long for Penn National Gaming to act once the company was licensed by Nevada gaming regulators last June.Four months later, the regional casino giant struck a deal to acquire the debt covering the 2-year-old M Resort at a nearly 75 percent discount...read more

Lake Las Vegas casino to reopen this month

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Casino MonteLago, the only gaming site at Lake Las Vegas, has been run by three operators since it opened in 2003. It came close to ceasing operations in 2007 before it was finally shuttered a year ago.The newest operators of the 40,000-square-foot casino at master planned community's Montelago Village made a bold declaration to state gaming regulators Wednesday.The Gaming Control Board gave tentative approval to Intrepid Gaming, which will reopen the casino on May 26, pending approval of the Nevada Gaming Commission.Casino MonteLago General Manager Marcus Suan told the control board, "We will not fail."Intrepid Gaming President Jon Berkley said the Casino MonteLago will be a "lean operation without a lot of overhead."The property is expected to open with 275 slot machines and electronic table games...read more

IGT moves to acquire Swedish Internet gaming company

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Slot machine manufacturer International Game Technology took a step toward expansion into Internet gaming Thursday. Reno-based IGT has offered $115 million to acquire a Swedish technology company that operates one of the world's largest online poker networks and supplies online gaming products and services to the industry. The board of Entraction Holding AB, established in 2000 and based in Stockholm, has recommended shareholders accept the proposal, roughly $11.11 per share, which IGT will fund through available cash. The move would give IGT a European company estimated to be the 12th largest Internet poker network in the world and the third-largest independent network, according to PokerScout.com...read more

Absolute Poker and UB.com deny bankruptcy rumors

Blanca Games, the parent company of online poker rooms Absolute Poker and UB.com, has denied recent claims that it will file for bankruptcy.The rumor began when a poker website, Hold'emPokerChat, posted a letter that Blanca Games sent to a debt holder, Madiera Fjord, saying it was terminating its debt payments as they were unable to meet financial obligations due to the indictment of the company's owners and the seizure of funds by the U.S...read more

William Hill acquires parent of Lucky's race and sports books

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- British bookmaker William Hill Plc is acquiring its third Nevada sports book operation in less than a month, agreeing to buy the company that operates Lucky's race and sports books for $15.7 million.The transaction for Brandywine Bookmaking, which is subject to approval of Nevada gaming regulators, is expected to be announced to day.Brandywine is privately owned and was licensed by state gaming authorities in June 2008.The company employs 90 people and operates 16 sports books in Nevada under the Lucky's brand, including the off-Strip Terrible's Hotel and Casino, the Plaza Hotel and Casino and Fitzgeralds Casino & Hotel downtown and three Primm casinos...read more

Gaming revenues top $2.6 billion in Macau

MACAU -- Another month, another gaming revenue record in Macau. Casinos in the Chinese gaming enclave collected $2.6 billion in April from gamblers, according to figures released by Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau Tuesday. The monthly total was a 44.6 increase compared with April 2010 and up 2.1 percent over the previous month. The gaming revenue total in April was the third straight monthly record for Macau casinos, including properties operated by Las Vegas Sands Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd...read more