Featured Articles Archive - Page 428

Analysts see little optimism for gaming industry

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- At least the Strip still attracts the analyst community.Wall Street researchers sojourned to Las Vegas this summer to assess a gaming industry reeling from two years of diminished revenues and a sour economy.For the most part, their opinions reflect little optimism.December's opening of the Cosmopolitan is expected to add 2,000 hotel rooms to an already over-saturated market...read more

Plaza in Vegas shutting down hotel

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- For the second time in less than a year, a downtown Las Vegas casino will shut its hotel operations and send a major portion of its work force to the unemployment line.Owners of the Plaza said Monday that the casino was closing its 1,037-room hotel tower and will lay off more than 400 employees within the next two months.In a statement, Tamares Real Estate said it would renovate the guest rooms and casino inside the 39-year-old property, located on 16.5 acres at the intersection of Main and Fremont streets.Kenneth Landfield, Tamares U.S...read more

Vegas company to pay $43 million for Indiana casino

RISING SUN, Indiana -- Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts said Monday it would spend $43 million to acquire a casino in Indiana, further cementing the company's stake in the Midwest gaming market.Full House, best known for having former auto industry executive Lee Iacocca on its board of directors, will acquire the Grand Victoria Casino & Resort in Rising Sun, Ind...read more

Top-10 non-traditional bets

Last week marked the official return of the NFL, and sports gamblers everywhere are rejoicing. In the United States, football is easily the most popular sport to wager on. But there are plenty of other non-traditional sports (and non-sports) you can bet on.Other than football, I've placed bets on the NBA, college basketball, college football, golf and soccer...read more

Strip gaming revenue sees very slight decline in July

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- You could surmise that one hand of baccarat allowed Strip casinos to report a positive month in July. Roughly $12,000 is all that separated the Strip's gaming revenue comparison between July 2010 and July 2009. "I'd say that would be a smaller wager on baccarat," said Michael Lawton, the Gaming Control Board's senior research analyst. Nevada gaming revenues fell 4.9 percent in July, the state's fifth consecutive monthly decline...read more

Vegas visitor numbers jump 4.7 percent in July

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Visitation into Las Vegas recorded its largest single-month percentage jump in almost five years during July, thanks in part to a boost in convention attendance and a record number of customers driving in from Southern California. But beneath the raw numbers of more than 3.3 million visitors to Las Vegas in July was the hard reality that consumers are still hesitant to spend discretionary dollars like they have in the past. "We're encouraged and happy to see the continued increases in visitation," said Kevin Bagger, senior director of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which released its monthly report Friday...read more

Slot makers gloomy before G2E

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Slot machine sales didn't turn into the revenue-boosting bonanza Nevada's gaming equipment manufacturers anticipated going into the year. Some equipment makers are now worried 2011's prospects might not be much better. Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets gaming analyst Steven Wieczynski recently visited with slot machine company leaders...read more

Are multi-line slot machines more than just extra boops and beeps?

Multi-line machines have become the devices of choice among many slot aficionados. In part, because solid citizens who bet on lots of lines get the impression they're winning all the time. Or, at least, until they notice their totals gradually fading. One reason for the popularity is the high level of action, with sights and sounds proclaiming success even on combinations of wins and losses that result in net failures...read more

Sands confident it can hold onto Macau sites

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. doesn't believe a rival Macau casino operator will be able to wrest control of two of the company's development sites on the region's Cotai Strip where it has already invested more than $102 million. Macau casino operator SJM Holdings asked the Special Administrative Region's government for permission to take over Cotai Strip sites 7 and 8...read more

Harrah's ends bid for Kansas casino

MULVANE, Kansas -- Harrah's Entertainment has pulled the plug on its latest effort to operate a casino in Kansas. The Las Vegas-based company told state authorities Wednesday it was dropping efforts to build a casino in Sumner County in the city of Mulvane, which is south of Wichita. "After c...read more