Featured Articles Archive - Page 468

Nevada's biggest casinos lose $6.8 billion

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Nevada's highest-grossing casinos generated a net loss of almost $6.8 billion in fiscal year 2009, victims of declining gaming revenues, reductions in hotel rates and reduced consumer spending. The Gaming Control Board, which released the Gaming Abstract Income statement Friday, said the net loss was by far the largest ever for Nevada. The last loss was in 2002, right after the Sept...read more

Murren has job creation ideas for Obama

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- MGM Mirage Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren hopes to have a few minutes to "chitchat" on Friday with President Barack Obama. If he gets the opportunity, Murren said he would like to discuss ideas for creating jobs with the president. After all, MGM Mirage's $8.5 billion CityCenter project created 12,000 jobs and was the largest privately-funded development ever in the United States. "We did it without any government help, and we're proud of that," said Murren, who has discussed job creation on national cable television shows. "Job creation is something I'm passionate about and it now seems to be a priority of the White House." Obama had been expected to visit CityCenter back in December following the development's grand opening...read more

Las Vegas Sands narrows fourth-quarter loss

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas Sands Corp., thanks to booming results from its Macau casinos, said Wednesday that the company narrowed its fourth-quarter net loss from a year ago. The company's earnings in the three-month period ended Dec...read more

Casino MonteLago to close in March

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Casino MonteLago, the only gaming location inside the upscale but bankrupt Lake Las Vegas, will close next month, burdened by a lack of visitation and the impending shutdown of the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas in May. The closure, which will take place March 14, will eliminate 177 jobs. Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said the agency was officially notified Tuesday of the impending shutdown. John Tipton, an attorney for the owners of Casino MonteLago, CIRI Lakeside Gaming, said the closure of the Ritz-Carlton "was the final straw" for the property. The owners were seeking additional investors, but discussions with potential financial backers ended when the ownership of the Ritz-Carlton announced its planned shutdown on Feb...read more

ESPN to broadcast PokerStars NAPT

ESPN will broadcast 16 hours of the PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour (NAPT) starting in April, according to a statement made by the network. The second leg of the series, which will be played at the Venetian in Las Vegas from February 20-24, will kick off ESPN2's taped coverage on April 19. The first leg of the tour, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, was conducted in January and is slated to be televised in May...read more

Hawaii casino proposal still an uphill battle

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Proposals allowing casinos inside hotels along Honolulu's Waikiki Beach have met the same fate for 40 years -- rejection. So what's different about a bill being discussed in the Hawaii Legislature that would allow casino gambling on the islands? Simple, the battered Hawaiian economy. Hawaii has taken its share of hits this recession because of its reliance on tourism tax dollars, putting legalized gambling back on the table again. Taxes from gambling revenues are attracting the notice of lawmakers nationwide...read more

Top-10 reasons Vin's taking up baccarat in Las Vegas

I've never really celebrated the Chinese New Year. I'm not Chinese, so I've never had a cultural reason to do so. And I've also never been in a city with a big Chinese population as the Chinese New Year celebration was taking place. So as I read about all of the cool stuff Las Vegas was doing to celebrate the Year of the Tiger, which began Sunday, I started to wonder what I could do to get into the act...read more

Strip high-rise market might be improving

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Wall Street analysts and Las Vegas real estate professionals say a slight thawing in the frozen Strip high-rise residential market might be taking place. A very slight thawing. We're not talking global warming, folks. A comprehensive report by a Las Vegas-based gaming industry advisory firm said sales of high-rise condominiums and hotel-condo units within the Strip residential market increased over the last three months of 2009. Real estate professionals agreed that the market picked up a bit. However, the bulk of the sales were either bank-owned or foreclosed-upon condominium units at prices far below the stratospheric figures sought at the market's peak a few years ago. "I really doubt we have seen the bottom of the price market," said Grant Govertsen, a principal with Union Gaming Group and the primary researcher behind "High-Rise Blues II: From Bad to Worse," which was written for the firm's clients. Govertsen said Strip condominium projects would need to experience several more months of increased sales before observers would commit to endorsing a market rebound. "I don't think anyone is willing to say that we have reached a floor on pricing," Govertsen said. June Stark, a Las Vegas Realtor specializing in the Strip's high-rise condominium market, agreed...read more

Vegas readies for Chinese New Year celebrations

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- At Bellagio and other Strip resorts, preparation for the potentially lucrative two-week Chinese New Year celebration is a yearlong event. "We might take a week off when it's all over," said Greg Shulman, vice president of international marketing for Bellagio...read more

Station-Boyd rivalry heading to Midwest

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Boyd Gaming Corp. and Station Casinos have been competing for decades over each other's slice of the Las Vegas locals market. That competition may expand into the Midwest. Station Casinos is working the Gun Lake Tribe of the Potawatomi Indians to build and operate a casino in Wayland Township, Mich., which a Gary, Ind., newspaper speculated could poach customers from Boyd Gaming's Blue Chip riverboat casino, 147 miles away in Michigan City, Ind. "Certainly there is room in the Midwest market for more gaming...read more