Featured Articles Archive - Page 450

Deal Me In: Can anything honestly be that elusive?

Dear Mark: Four times this past weekend I was dealt four cards to a royal flush, and I didn't hit one. Why not all five cards as opposed to just four? Also, can a video poker machine be programmed to deal four cards to a royal to encourage continued play on my part, and then be programmed to never allow me a royal flush? Ellen R.The ever-elusive royal flush, Ellen, is the best hand you can make in video poker...read more

WSOP offering more low buy-in events

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- If attendance at last year's special $1,000 buy-in no limit hold 'em event was any indication, the folks running the World Series of Poker may be on to something.Tournament officials added the event to boost attendance and give low-limit players a chance to compete for a championship bracelet.The result was a whopping 6,012 entries packing the Rio that earned 24-year-old Southern California poker professional Steven Sung a champions' bracelet and a paycheck of $771,106...read more

Joe Cada is back for more

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- You're Joe Cada and you won tournament poker's ultimate championship last year at an age when your contemporaries are finishing college and thinking about embarking on a career or graduate school.Instead, at 21, you won the World Series of Poker's Main Event.You collected more than the $8.5 million although you split the money with a pair of professional gamblers who paid your entry into the tournament.Your friends? They're working odd jobs and hoping to scrape up enough money for a fast-food meal in between classes.You appeared on late-night television with David Letterman and Jay Leno and traveled to parts of the world you only imagined.Meanwhile, the same poker fans you used to line up with to collect autographs from the game's best players are now asking you to sign your name and pose for a photo.It's all surreal."I think I'm the same guy," Cada said recently...read more

Governor, MGM Mirage meet over disputed payments

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- An MGM Mirage official vowed Wednesday to pay subcontractors who claim they are owed almost $400 million for their work on CityCenter, following a meeting between company executives and Gov. Jim Gibbons.CityCenter Chief Executive Officer Bobby Baldwin said paying some 600 subcontractors, vendors and small businesses caught in the middle of a legal skirmish between the casino operator and CityCenter general contractor Perini Building Co...read more

Illinois expands slot machine footprint

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois -- Illinois lawmakers changed the language of the state's Video Gaming Act Wednesday, allowing truck stops and VFW halls to operate slot machines. The measure passed both legislative houses and it's anticipated the governor will sign the bill into law. Originally, in the law passed a year ago, only liquor-licensed establishments, such as bars and taverns, could offer slot machines. Local counties still are debating whether or not to opt into the plan, which could give Illinois more than 30,000 slot machines outside of the state's riverboat casinos. Janney Montgomery Scott gaming analyst Brian McGill estimated the state had some 800 truck stops and VFW halls, which could add another 4,000 slot machines to the mix. "It still remains to be seen whether the city of Chicago will opt into the video gaming machines," McGill said...read more

Hard Rock Hotel selects new president

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- M Resort executive Joseph Magliarditi has been selected as president and chief executive officer of the Hard Rock Hotel, Morgans Hotel Group announced Tuesday.Magliarditi, M Resort's chief operating officer, has been with the hotel-casino since the property's opening in March 2009...read more

MGM Mirage invites subcontractors to meeting

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Subcontractors caught in the middle of the legal skirmish between MGM Mirage and Perini Building Co. have been invited to a mass meeting with the casino operator to discuss how the companies can settle some $390 million in disputed claims over work on CityCenter.The meeting will take place at 10 a.m...read more

Missouri man the latest to be charged under UIGEA

A 51-year-old Missouri man has been charged with participating in the conduct of a gambling business and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of a gambling business by the U.S. District Court of Maryland.Kenneth Wienski of O'Fallon, Mo., was charged under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) for transferring money to and from Internet gambling operators to fund player accounts...read more

CityCenter continues to close condo sales

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- CityCenter continues to close residential sales of its high-rise luxury condominiums, although the pace is not what developer MGM Mirage had originally desired.Through the middle of May, closings have been completed on 125 residential units inside the Mandarin Oriental and Vdara, totaling $118 million in sales, according to statistics compiled by Union Gaming Group.Of the units, 32 are at Mandarin Oriental and 93 are at Vdara, which is a condo-hotel development.The 32 Mandarin units have sold for a collective $67.7 million, which Union Gaming estimated is in excess of $1,000 per square foot.Eight of the Mandarin units had purchase prices above $3 million.At Vdara, the 93 units sold for a total of $50 million.In total, Mandarin has 227 units while Vdara holds 1,495 condo-hotel units...read more

Slot giant IGT takes server-based gaming to Europe

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Slot machine giant International Game Technology has rolled out its first European launch of the company's sbX server-based gaming system. The system, which links a casino's slot machines to a central server that allows for better game management, is similar to the system installed last year at Aria and recently at the Monte Carlo, only on a much smaller scale. Reno-based IGT installed the system at the Casino d'Evian in France, which has 300 slot machines and is located on Lake Geneva in an area best known for its local spring water. "We are delighted to be the first casino in Europe to install sbX and plan to take advantage of all that it has to offer," said Eric Perrin, managing director of Casino d'Evian. In addition to Aria and Monte Carlo, IGT has placed the server-based gaming system Ameristar St...read more