Featured Articles Archive - Page 395

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

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