Featured Articles Archive - Page 461

Deal Me In: Cinco dos, adios

Dear Mark: I've been reading your column recently on craps betting and I agree with you regarding keeping the house advantage below 2%. However, since my recent retirement I've had the opportunity to play 3-4 times per week, and what I have noticed is that it seems like the most consistent winners are the don't side players laying odds...read more

IGT profits rise by 20 percent despite revenue decline

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- International Game Technology's cost-cutting efforts more than made up for reduced revenues from slower-than-expected first-quarter slot machine sales. The Reno-based gambling equipment manufacturer saw its profit increase 20 percent in the period that ended Dec...read more

'World Poker Travel Guide,' 'Las Vegas Your Way' fine timesavers

Two helpful, refreshing resources, The World Poker Travel Guide by Tanya Peck and Jordan Devenport (232 pages, paperbound, $19.95) and Las Vegas Your Way -- A Travel Guide for the Value Conscious Consumer (173 pages, paperbound, $13.99) by Lou Gifford, each has its own unique way of saving the buyer time and money while answering a multitude of questions.Peck and Devenport truly saw a need for their handy little reference guide...read more

IGT hires former MTV executive

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- International Game Technology dipped into the ranks of the high tech industry to fill two executive positions. On Thursday, the slot machine giant named former MTV official Gideon Bierer as executive vice president of new media, leading IGT's strategic effort for a new media division. IGT CEO Patti Hart said Bierer would help the company develop slot machine content through the Internet, mobile, and social networking. "It is important to stay ahead of market trends and continuously evolve our business so that we can effectively serve our customers," Hart said...read more

Icahn apparently wins Fontainebleau ownership

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn said Wednesday he would wait for the Las Vegas gaming market to settle before deciding how to proceed with the bankrupt Fontainebleau development, which has been shuttered since April. Icahn, the former owner of the Stratosphere and Arizona Charlie's properties, submitted the only qualified bid for the Fontainebleau, according to a report filed late Tuesday by the examiner for the U.S...read more

Pennsylvania slot market to open up

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Pennsylvania authorities have wiped out a 4-year-old limitation that held an individual slot machine manufacturer to just 50 percent of the games on a casino's gambling floor. One analyst said the caps were antiquated since the gap between slot machine giant International Game Technology and its rivals has narrowed in the past few years. "When the caps were implemented it was perceived that IGT's market share would remain in the 60 percent to 70 percent range, especially in the mid-Atlantic (market)," Union Gaming Group principal Bill Lerner told investors Tuesday...read more

Bally Technologies acquires small slot machine company

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Bally Technologies has taken a page from the playbook of gambling equipment rival International Game Technology. Bally announced Wednesday it had acquired a small Scottsdale, Ariz.-based game manufacturer to beef up its slot machine content and give the company ano...read more

Bally Technologies wins pacts in disparate locales

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- No one will ever mistake Dodge City, Kan., for Macau. Bally Technologies, however, has found new revenue sources in both places. The Las Vegas-based slot machine manufacturer was awarded a comprehensive systems and server-based technology contract for the Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City, which opened in December as Kansas' first state-run casino. A day later, Bally announced it was given a contract for a table game, slot machine and casino management system for Galaxy Entertainment's casinos in Macau. Both contracts allow Bally to deploy its iView display system, a touch screen display that includes player tracking information and marketing messages directly onto game screens. While the deal with Boot Hill marks the company's initial entry into Kansas, the Macau contract gives Bally potentially half of the available market share in the Chinese gaming enclave. It already procured casino systems contracts with Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Jogos de Macau and with Las Vegas Sands Corp. "With Galaxy, Bally locks up three of the six Macau concession holders," Roth Capital Partners gaming analyst Todd Eilers told investors...read more

San Francisco developer eyes Fontainebleau

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- San Francisco real estate developer Luke Brugnara, who was denied a gaming license by Nevada casino regulators in 2001, said Monday he would pay up to $200 million for the bankrupt Fontainebleau project. Brugnara, who owns land on the Strip and throughout Las Vegas, said he submitted a $170 million bid with the U.S...read more

Florida woman suing over Monte Carlo fire

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The first lawsuit associated with the fire at the Monte Carlo has been filed by a Florida woman who claims she suffered permanent injuries due to smoke inhalation associated with the early-morning rooftop blaze on Jan...read more