Featured Articles Archive - Page 401

Casino stocks tumble in March

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Recessionary fears caused gaming stocks to tumble in March and skittish investors grew concerned that high gasoline costs could keep casino customers from traveling. Only two gaming companies out of the 10 casino operators and slot machine manufacturers charted by Las Vegas-based financial consultant Applied Analysis saw an increase in their average daily stock prices during the month. Boyd Gaming Corp., which operates regional casinos in the South and Midwest, along with resorts in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, took the largest tumble in the Gaming Index...read more

Full Tilt reaches agreement with Fertitta Interactive

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Online gaming giant Full Tilt Poker and Fertitta Interactive, which is co-owned by the family that founded Station Casinos, have struck a partnership to operate an Internet poker website if the activity gains federal approval.The agreement covers only potential federal legislation for Internet poker, said Tom Breitling, who co-owns Fertitta Interactive with brothers Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta and his longtime business partner Tim Poster.In an email, Breitling said the partnershipbacks federal legislation, not Assembly Bill 258, which is being debated in the Nevada Legislature and authorizes the state to legalize Internet poker...read more

Ameristar Casinos finalize major stock buy

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Ameristar Casinos finalized the $457.6 million stock purchase from the estate of the regional casino operator's late founder. In a filing Monday with Securities and Exchange Commission, Las Vegas-based Ameristar said it purchased almost 26.2 million shares of the company's stock from the estate of Craig H...read more

IGT ready for a rebound

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- International Game Technology is picking itself up off the canvas.The slot machine giant has taken more blows than a punch-drunk fighter over the past two years.But IGT, which is estimated to control roughly 60 percent of domestic slot machine market, is starting to win over its harshest critics.The company, which is headquartered in Reno but maintains a large corporate presence in Las Vegas, is proceeding with several initiatives that are designed to ward off the competition and win back the love of the skittish investment community.IGT's efforts are also geared toward gaining lost market share, despite the continuing nonexistent slot machine-replacement business that has pressured sales on the slot machine industry.Most analysts praised the products IGT displayed at last November's Global Gaming Expo trade show at the Las Vegas Convention Center.During IGT's first-quarter earnings conference call in January, Chief Executive Officer Patti Hart said her company's efforts paid off...read more

Pinnacle Entertainment names new CFO

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Pinnacle Entertainment named Carlos Ruisanchez as chief financial officer Monday, replacing Stephen Capp, who had resigned effective the end of the month. Ruisanchez, 40, is currently the Las Vegas-based regional casino operator’s executive vice president of strategic planning and development...read more

Top-10 things that make you go "hmmmm" after the PokerStars/Wynn partnership

When news broke late last week that Wynn Resorts and PokerStars reached a deal that called on both companies to lobby for regulated online poker in the U.S. AND for a jointly operated PokerStarsWynn.com online poker room to be created once online poker could be licensed and regulated in the U.S., my response was "Hmmmmm."My ambivalence had nothing to with the importance of the news...read more

Who holds the cards in the online poker legalization debate?

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The issues surrounding a potential legalization of Internet poker in Nevada became both clearer and more complicated in the same day.The crux of the debate?Supporters of Assembly Bill 258 want Nevada to legalize Internet poker, opening the state to a new industry that would provide thousands of high-tech jobs, $1.8 billion in economic impact and upward of $60 million in new tax dollars.The state's largest casino operators, however, believe Nevada should wait for the federal government to bless the activity, opening online wagering nationwide.Another in a long line of bills was introduced in Congress two weeks ago that would establish federal licensing and regulation of Internet poker...read more

Do people (you, for instance) gamble for the fun or the money?

Casino gambling has advocates and detractors. Boosters deem it to be an enjoyable leisure pursuit; they picture the cognoscenti seeking the excitement offered, hoping that chance will bring them a profit but not really expecting this to happen...read more

Nevada Gaming Commission approves Caesars, 888 relationship

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday approved the first ever business relationship between a state-licensed gaming company and a foreign-based Internet gaming operator. Commissioners said they didn't think this would be the last time Nevada gaming agents will investigate a deal such as the arrangement between Caesars Entertainment Corp...read more

Internet poker legalization debated in Nevada

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Despite the promises of jobs, increased tax dollars and the potential of technology businesses locating to Nevada, a lobbyist for the casino industry told lawmakers Thursday one important aspect would keep them from approving Internet poker in the Silver State.Gambling on the Internet is illegal in the United States.The Assembly Judiciary Committee heard almost two-and-a-half hours of testimony from supporters of Assembly Bill 258, which would allow the Nevada Gaming Commission to adopt regulations for Internet poker.Opponents of the bill, namely lobbyist Pete Ernaut of R&R Partners who was representing the Nevada Resort Association, took only 30 minutes to lay out their arguments.Ernaut expressed his belief that Internet gaming will eventually be legalized in some form...read more