Featured Articles Archive - Page 405

Should you flout Basic Strategy in blackjack – and, if so, when and why?

Even blackjack players who are a mite shaky on the fine points of Basic Strategy know "you're supposed to" double on an 11 facing anything except an ace, and on a 10 against anything but an ace or 10. The reason has to do with what the gurus call "expectation." Whichever option on a hand gives a bettor the greatest positive or the least negative expectation determines the rule. Expectation is a statistical term involving probabilities of alternate draws by players and dealers, chances of those draws leading to triumph or tragedy, and the corresponding amounts...read more

Eastgate bracelet sells for $147,500

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The gold and diamond championship bracelet put up for auction on eBay by 2008 World Series of Poker winner Peter Eastgate sold for $147,500.The auction attracted 116 bids. The buyer was not disclosed.Eastgate said all proceeds from sale of the bracelet would be donated to the U.S...read more

Pinnacle Entertainment buys Ohio racetrack

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas-base Pinnacle Entertainment acquired a racetrack in Ohio last week for $45 million on the hopes the state moves forward with plans to legalize slot machine-like video lottery terminals.The regional casino operator bought the River Down Racetrack, which is in the Cincinnati area.Ohio's outgoing governor had proposed allowing the state's racetracks to operate up to 17,500 VLTs...read more

Isle of Capri front-runner for Missouri license

ST. LOUIS, Missouri -- Isle of Capri Casinos, which has been exploring a Las Vegas casino purchase, appears on track to acquire Missouri's 13th and final gaming license. The Missouri Gaming Commission released an economic impact study that seemed to favor St...read more

Online gambling regulations a hot topic at G2E

The Global Gaming Expo (G2E) opened last week with a series of conference sessions on Internet gambling. And with a standing-room only audience of brick-and-mortar gaming executives in attendance, the hot topic for discussion was when Congress would pass legislation that licensed and regulated online gambling."If nothing happens in the next 14 days, then nothing will happen in the next two years," said Filament Strategies President Lloyd Levine."You'll have better odds at the slot machine than with the new Congress," said Levine, who attempted to pass legislation regulating online poker in 2008 when he was a state legislator in California.The consensus among the online gambling experts assembled was that federal legislation to regulate online gambling would only pass if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) attached the legislation to an unrelated must-pass bill -- the same way the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was attached the Port Security bill in 2006."It's up to Reid now," said Jerome Encinas, director of government affairs for the California Nations Indian Gaming Association...read more

Seidel has stock market crash to thank for HOF career

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The stock market crash of 1987 ended Erik Seidel's career on Wall Street as an options trader and sent the one-time backgammon expert into poker.It turned out to be a pretty good job move.Seidel, 51, has earned more than $10 million in tournament poker and collected eight World Series of Poker individual event championship bracelets over a 23-year career.During the final table of the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold 'em World Championship at the Rio earlier this month, Seidel was inducted into Poker's Hall of Fame along with 1995 world poker champion Dan Harrington...read more

Harrah's officially changes company name

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Harrah's Entertainment officially changed its name to Caesars Entertainment Corp. Tuesday, a move the company first considered more than two years ago. The name Harrah's will remain as one of the company's primary casino brands, along with Caesars and Horseshoe...read more

How to design a slot machine

Many gambling buffs consider slot machines among the great mysteries of the universe, shrouded in myth and guided by the unseen hand of fate. True, the math underlying the chances and returns on slots call for statistical expertise. And programming the computer chips takes some software skill...read more

N.J. Senate approves online gambling bill

The New Jersey Senate voted 29-5 Monday to allow Atlantic City casino operators to offer online gambling to New Jersey residents. The bill was amended to allow residents of other countries to wager on the Atlantic City sites. People living in other U.S...read more

Slot makers try to boost sales during G2E

LAS VEGAS -- The major slot machine manufacturers at last week's Global Gaming Expo treated Indian casino operators Tony Goetz and Tim De Lugo like royalty. Goetz, who runs five small casinos in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and De Lugo, who oversees slot operations at a casino north of Fresno, Calif., said they were either buying or looking to lease the newest slot machines and gaming technology. After gambling equipment providers watched sales revenue evaporate following last year's G2E, most slot company executives expressed cautious optimism heading into this year's show. The big casino operators have continued to tighten their grips on capital expenditures...read more