Featured Articles Archive - Page 453

Nevada gaming revenues dip slightly

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- It was back to normal for Nevada casinos in March -- or what portends to be the new normal. Gaming revenues fell by less than 1 percent during the month following February's double-digit increase, the first such climb in almost three years. On the Strip, gaming revenues increased 2.4 percent, the second straight monthly increase for the tourist market...read more

Deal Me In: That's what drove Aunt Matilda to cribbage with cocoa

Dear Mark: I enjoy playing video keno. I have tried every combination of numbers and I just can't win. Do the numbers bear any meaning on winning or does the machine work like a slot with a timed chip in it? I am at my wit's end over this game and I have been playing it for 15 years...read more

Aqueduct casino bidding begins again

NEW YORK, New York -- New York Lottery officials have restarted the search for an operator to manage a proposed 4,500-machine video lottery terminal casino at the Aqueduct Racetrack in New York City.But after last year's convoluted bidding process, which resulted in Las Vegas-based Navegante Group losing its deal for Aqueduct six weeks after it seemingly won the contract, New York may be hard-pressed to find gaming companies willing to take part in the process.Navegante, a casino management company headed by veteran gaming executive Larry Woolf, was in partnership with several New York companies that formed the winning consortium.Navegante beat out several gaming industry heavyweights for the Aqueduct deal during a contentious bidding process, including MGM Mirage, Harrah's Entertainment, Penn National Gaming, Wynn Resorts Ltd...read more

French 'liberalisation' set to become law in time for the World Cup

I can almost see the smile on your face from here. As reported a few weeks back, the long-awaited reform of the French online gambling regime is upon us, and will extend open, free and fair access to all EU-licensed operators to French citizens, affording them the protection, value and choice they so crave. Though before you get to excited, let me inform you exactly as to what the French betting public have lying in store. As we pointed out in a previous blog for the GPWA, this new law spells out horrendously bad news for the French consumer on a number of key issues. Firstly, the liberalisation was supposed to open the market to EU betting operators based outside the country's borders, yet the contrary is indeed the reality thanks to the countless disincentives put in place before anyone even thinking about applying for a French licence. One of the key elements of this new law is a tax on turnover, rather than profits, which is a model that makes operating profitably extremely difficult...read more

Texas legislator pushes legalized gaming

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas has become the latest state to float the idea of legalizing casinos and using the tax revenues to close what potentially could be an $18 billion budget hole. Texas House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts, a Republican, said Tuesday that legalized casinos in the Lone Star State could bring in $1 billion in the next two-year budget period and $4 billion annually in the future. "I'm going to look at every revenue enhancer that we can get," Pitts told Texas media outlets covering legislative meetings in Austin, adding that Texans now travel to other states, such as Oklahoma and Louisiana, to gamble. "We need to grab that money," he said. The Texas Legislature meets every other year with 2011 hosting the next scheduled session. Casinos would require a two-thirds majority in the Legislature in addition to majority approval in a voter referendum. "We believe recent public polls have indicated 65 percent in support of casinos," Union Gaming Group Principal Bill Lerner said...read more

Rival's results bode well for Marina Bay Sands

SINGAPORE -- The Singapore subsidiary of Malaysia-based casino operator Genting reported first quarter earnings today but analysts were reading more into the figures than just the raw numbers.They believe the results from Genting's recently opened casino project on Singapore's Sentosa Island gives a glimpse into how Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s Marina Bay Sands is performing.Genting said Resorts World Sentosa, which opened Feb...read more

Garber touches on central themes at GIGSE

MONTREAL -- This year's Global iGaming Summit and Expo (GIGSE) is focusing on how, when and where brick-and-mortar casinos should enter the online gaming market. And Wednesday's keynote address came from one of the few people in the gaming industry that knows exactly what that takes -- Harrah's Interactive Entertainment CEO Mitch Garber.The Montreal resident was speaking in his hometown in the morning session of day two of GIGSE and in a 20-minute speech covered many of the conference's central themes.Garber, a former executive for PartyGaming, said the focal point of his presentation was to get operators and regulators all on the same page."I think the thing we need to focus on is getting rid of the ambiguity and having consistency in the interpretation of laws," he said...read more

Social media a major theme at GIGSE

MONTREAL -- If there's a lesson to learn from the Global iGaming Summit & Expo in Montreal, it's this: The online gaming market is enormous, and it's extremely competitive.That was evident during a presentation made by GPWA Executive Director Michael Corfman, who spoke during the afternoon session of the conference...read more

Online and land-based gambling worlds collide at GIGSE

MONTREAL -- The Global iGaming Summit & Expo (GIGSE) returned Tuesday after a two-year hiatus, gathering online and land-based gambling industry professionals for a "Pre-Conference Workshop" to discuss the future of the industry in North America.The first day of the conference drew a couple nice crowd of industry professionals to the Palais des congrès de Montreal, where delegates listened to an impressive roster of speakers who offered valuable insight into what may be in store in the future for the industry should the United States regulate the Internet gambling market at either the state or federal level.According to Michael Pollack, the managing director of the Spectrum Gaming Group and the chairman of the event, it's not a question of if, but rather when the U.S...read more

Isle of Capri interested in Missouri license

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Apparently there is interest in owning the soon-to-be-available St. Louis gaming license that Pinnacle Entertainment is abandoning in July. Some 15 groups and individuals, including regional gaming operator Isle of Capri Casinos, have sent letters of interest to Missouri gaming regulators. Las Vegas-based Pinnacle, which operates two St...read more