Featured Articles Archive - Page 419

Gomes optimistic about Resorts Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey -- Maybe they should anoint Dennis Gomes mayor of Atlantic City.Clearly, Gomes has way too much exuberance and optimism to handle just the ownership of the city's oldest hotel-casino. The Boardwalk, he said, is poised for an epic turnaround.Gomes, 65, acquired Resorts Casino Hotel last week through his privately held Gomes Gaming Inc.Resorts ushered legalized gaming into Atlantic City more three decades ago...read more

How vulnerable are blackjack dealers with fives- or sixes-up?

Most blackjack buffs breathe a sigh of relief when the dealer pulls a five- or six-up. These are, indeed, the weakest dealer upcards. If nothing else, sophisticated solid citizens know that proper Basic Strategy is to stand against them on any non-paired hard total of 12 or above, waiting out the dealer's actions and not risking a premature bust by hitting a feeble 16 or below. Many bettors, however, start counting their money when they see these cards, then find they have the short end of the stick after the dust finally settles...read more

Cosmopolitan to be part of Marriott's luxury hotels

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Operators of the soon-to-open Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas found a 32 million-plus answer to questions surrounding the independent Strip resort's lack of a database.Cosmopolitan operators announced a deal Wednesday with Marriott International to market the $3.9 billion hotel-casino as part of the international lodging chain's Autograph Collection, a portfolio of luxury independent hotels and resorts.The move gives the long-delayed Cosmopolitan access to Marriott's rewards program, considered one of the lodging industry's largest database of customers...read more

Deal Me In: The Standing Committee is called to order

Dear Mark: I am curious as to why casinos do not give you any $10 bills when you cash in a ticket at the cashier cage or the ticket redemption machine. What is their reasoning behind this? Stan P. Being that over 10 percent of all newly printed U.S...read more

Creditors support Station Casinos' reorganization plan

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Station Casinos representatives will walk into the U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Court in Reno this morning with support from nearly 90 percent of the company's secured and unsecured creditors for its two-pronged plan of reorganization. Given that Station Casinos needs 65 percent of its creditors to sign off on the reorganization, it might not take Bankruptcy Judge Gregg Zive very long to confirm the plan during the hearing. According to a filing with the bankruptcy court by an independent consultant brought in to tabulate support for the Station Casinos' plan, almost 90 percent of the 17 different classes of secured and unsecured creditors owed more than $6 billion by the company agreed to the reorganization. Last week, company representatives struck an accord with a small group who had opposed the reorganization...read more

Dubai World may sell CityCenter stake

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Dubai World, one of the largest investors in MGM Resorts International and a 50 percent owner of CityCenter, may be looking to sell its stake in the casino operator to pay down more than $14.4 billion of bank debt.Both Reuters and Bloomberg News reported that the investment arm of the Persian Gulf emirate believes it could raise up to $19.4 billion over the next eight years by selling assets.Dubai World spent more than $5 billion in 2008 to acquire a 50 percent stake in CityCenter and 5.9 percent of the outstanding shares in MGM Resorts...read more

Online gambling legislation gaining traction

It's still a long shot, but the push to create a regulatory framework for online gambling is picking up steam. According to a report on the politics news Web site NationalJournal.com, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) is pushing Rep. Sander Levin to schedule a markup session for the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2010 (IGRTA)...read more

The Netherlands, South Africa take different approaches to iGaming

This week, two countries have announced that are taking vastly different approaches to online gambling. While the Netherlands has decided to license and regulate online poker — and online poker only — South Africa's courts have banned online gambling completely.Holland's move towards licensing online poker is part of larger overall trend towards licensing and regulating online gambling...read more

McCarran passenger count declines yet again

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Passenger counts at McCarran International Airport declined for the sixth straight month in July while airline upheaval helped Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air crack the airport's top five air carrier list for the first time. According to figures released Monday by the Clark County Department of Aviation, 3,518,217 passengers came through the airport during July, a 1.1 percent decline compared with 3,557,509 passengers who used McCarran in July 2009. For the first seven months of 2010, more than 23.1 million passengers traveled through McCarran, a decline of 2.7 percent compared with almost 23.8 million passengers who came through the airport in the same time frame in 2009. Wall Street has been watching the passenger numbers out of McCarran for the past year, analyzing how declines could impact visitation into Las Vegas. Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Andrew Zarnett, in a recent report to the firm's investors, said airline rates have risen 10 percent this year, which could hurt the number of tourists coming to the Strip. Zarnett is concerned higher fees, along with fees on services and baggage, will force leisure travelers to hold off vacation plans or choose cheaper alternatives closer to home. "Given that approximately 50 percent of Las Vegas revenues come from visitors that arrive by air, we believe that the higher cost of flying will be yet another impediment to the Las Vegas recovery," Zarnett wrote in the report. "Consumers choosing to travel to Las Vegas will spend less at the casino floor, given that the higher cost of flying will reduce their discretionary budgets," Zarnett said. Allegiant, which connects Las Vegas with smaller regional markets, as well as Los Angeles, the Phoenix area and Florida, carried 202,314 passengers to and from Las Vegas in July, a 10.8 percent increase compared with a year ago when the airline carried 182,586. For the first seven months of the year, Allegiant has flown almost 1.2 million passengers in and out of McCarran, an increase of 3.6 percent compared with the same seven months of 2009. Allegiant flew 171 flights per week in and out of McCarran during July, but that figure is expected to drop to 159 flights per week in August. Earlier this month, Allegiant announced plans to begin nonstop service between McCarran and two additional markets in October. On Oct...read more

Dennis Gomes acquires Resorts in Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey -- Longtime gaming figure Dennis Gomes has entered into an agreement to acquire the financially troubled Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.Gomes, who ran casinos in Las Vegas in 1980s and 1990s before returning to his roots in Atlantic City, acquired the aging property through his privately held Gomes Gaming Inc., which he operates with his son, Aaron.In Las Vegas, Gomes worked for the Hilton Corp., operated the distressed Dunes Hotel, and ran the Golden Nugget for Steve Wynn.When Gomes left Wynn to run Donald Trump's Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City in the early 1990s, he became the pawn in the volatile legal battle between Wynn and Trump...read more