Featured Articles Archive - Page 412

Analyst downgrades MGM Resorts International

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- One gaming analyst wasn't buying MGM Resorts International's 15 percent increase in its stock price last Friday and is predicting troubles for the Strip casino giant. In a research note to investors before trading opened on the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Hudson Securities gaming analyst Robert LaFleur said MGM Resorts one-day price hike was due solely to the positive August casino revenues reported by Nevada gaming regulators. On the Strip, where MGM Resorts operates 10 hotel-casinos, gaming revenues jumped 21.1 percent in August...read more

Top Harrah's executive in Asia departs

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Harrah's Entertainment's top executive in Asia left the company last week, leading some to wonder if the casino operator has given up on its hopes to operate a casino in Macau. Michael Chen left his position as Harrah's Asia operations president and started a yearlong sabbatical last Friday. "I was offered a position in Las Vegas at Harrah's which is great but I need some time off and they agreed to it," Chen told Macau Business newsletter at a conference in Singapore. Chen was responsible for developing of Harrah's business in Asia. But the company hasn't been successful in gaining a foothold in Asia. Harrah's lost out on a bid for one of two Singapore casinos in 2006...read more

Top-10 things to watch from this year's November Nine

The World Series of Poker's November Nine is less than four weeks away from returning to the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino is Las Vegas to determine this year's Main Event winner. Casino City will be there to report on all the action, but in anticipation of the biggest weekend in poker, we're giving you our top-10 things to watch from this year's November Nine.10...read more

Nevada regulators recommend Cosmopolitan for license approval

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas won't be looking to compete for high-end gamblers with Wynn Las Vegas, The Venetian or MGM Grand when it opens to the public on Dec. 15.But state gaming regulators were told Thursday the once troubled property, which will finally be unveiled after more than five years of construction, would fill an important segment on the Strip when it opens with two-thirds of its hotel rooms."We believe there is an opportunity for the Cosmopolitan to operate in the upper tier of the premium luxury segment of the hotel-casinos in Las Vegas," Cosmopolitan Chief Executive Officer John Unwin told the Gaming Control Board in Carson City during a presentation and question-and-answer session that lasted more than 90 minutes.Unwin said the Cosmopolitan's casino would offer customers some credit play "comparable" to other casinos on the Strip...read more

Wynn softens stance on iGaming

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Maybe Harrah's Entertainment won't have to go at it alone. There seems to be a thawing in the ice-cold reception the casino industry once gave toward the notion of legalizing forms of Internet gaming. Harrah's is online wagering's most vocal proponent within the gaming industry. The casino operator backs a bill written by U.S...read more

Deal Me In: So, to shield her from embarrassment, I took the money

Dear Mark: My last time playing blackjack I happened upon a brand new dealer just out of dealer school. She was paying pushes, and even paid a couple losers. I took the money, but is it illegal to do so? Bob H. Let me guess, Bob. When she underpaid you, you were all over her derriere? Just sayin'.Most newbie dealers develop their knack for pitching cards by going to a local dealing school and then auditioning...read more

Nevada gaming revenues jump 11.5 percent in August

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Nevada gaming revenues jumped 11.5 percent in August, reversing a five-month slide and giving Las Vegas' largest casino operators a boost on Wall Street. The statewide increase was fueled by a 21.1 percent jump on the Strip, the fourth time in eight months Strip casinos either had a gaming revenue increase or were flat in comparison to the same month a year ago. Nevada casinos collected $944.5 million from customers in August, compared with almost $847 million in August 2009...read more

Penn National buys M Resort for $230.5 million

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Regional casino operator Penn National Gaming has acquired the 19-month-old M Resort for $230.5 million, the Wyomissing, Pa.,-based company announced this morning.In a statement, Penn National said it purchased all of the M Resort bank debt, plus $160 million of subordinated debt formerly held by MGM Resorts International, from Bank of Scotland, a unit of Lloyds Banking Group.M Resort was built by Anthony Marnell III and his family at a cost of $1 billion...read more

Why PokerStars abandoned Washington, and why others will too

Last week, PokerStars announced that it would block residents of the state of Washington from its real-money games. It was the first time that the world's largest Internet poker room has blocked U.S. residents from any state.The action stands in stark contrast to the company's response to the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006, when it proclaimed that it would stay open to all U.S...read more

Is Full Tilt the next to leave Washington?

Last week, PokerStars announced that it would no longer allow residents of the state of Washington to play real-money games on its site. Full Tilt Poker, the world's second-largest Internet poker site, may soon be following PokerStars' lead.Full Tilt, designed and played by professional players Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Phil Ivey, among others, has remained relatively quiet on the subject...read more