Featured Articles Archive - Page 396

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

Top-10 responses to Black Friday

It's been just over two weeks since the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed indictments accusing the owners of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker of bank fraud, money laundering and UIGEA violations.During that time, people in the poker industry have had time to digest what happened...read more

Florida remains the Holy Grail for casinos

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Florida continues to be the gaming industry's Holy Grail.And, like the line from the Monty Python movie, casino expansion advocates hope the issue is not dead yet.There's too much money to be made from the Sunshine State.In 2010, Florida's four racetrack casinos produced $217 million in gaming revenues...read more

Will you ultimately win if you keep on gambling?

Gambling gurus and math mavens all say that in games of independent trials, including nearly everything in the casino except blackjack and its derivatives, and even there to a great extent, probabilities don’t vary between rounds. If your chance of a result is one out of five the first time you try, it’s one out of five on your second, third, fourth, 10th or any other shot as well. This contrasts with what solid citizens imagine intuitively...read more

Deal Me In: Hope springs eternal

Dear Mark: A replay of the old Steve McQueen, Eddie Robinson movie The Cincinnati Kid was shown on TV. I assume you have seen it. Of course Texas Hold’em has pretty much supplanted stud poker as the gambling game of choice, has it not? Is that because hope springs eternal as the common cards are turned, or what? Which is more intellectually stimulating? Lawrence E.Near the end of The Cincinnati Kid, Lancey (Edward G...read more

Moody's believes states will be first to legalize online poker

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- A Wall Street ratings service believes the recent government crackdown on Internet poker could open the door for individual states to grab a piece of the action by legalizing the activity within their borders.Analysts for Moody's Investors Service said in a report Wednesday there is still a chance online poker will be legalized federally in the United States, but it will take several years before the first wager is accepted.Moody's also told investors online gambling was not a threat to land-based casinos.The report comes in the wake of the U.S...read more