Featured Articles Archive - Page 479

Ohio voters support casino measure

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Ohio voters support a statewide ballot measure that would allow four casinos to be built in the state's largest cities, a Columbus Dispatch/Ohio Newspaper Poll showed Sunday. The election will be held Nov. 3. Ohio voters currently favor Issue 3 by 57 percent to 39 percent, with 4 percent undecided...read more

Steve Wynn won't quiet criticism

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Wynn Resorts Ltd. Chairman Steve Wynn said Monday he plans to continue speaking out on what he calls the Obama administration's mishandling of the economy. And he believes others in the business community should be taking a similar approach. "I feel very strongly about this, and it needs to be discussed," said Wynn, founder and chief executive officer of the company that operates Wynn Las Vegas, Encore and a casino in Macau...read more

Deal Me In: Some dealers have strategy know-how, others don't

Dear Mark: I wanted to comment last week about dealer's giving blackjack advice. My experience is that all they have ever given is bad advice. The soft 18 you mention this week is the prime example. Not only do I have everyone at the table angry at me for hitting an 18, the dealer usually chimes in that I shouldn't have done that or trying to talk me out of it when I ask for the hit. Another dealer got angry at me for not drastically increasing my bets when I won seven hands in a row...read more

Casino execs support stimulus package

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Without several provisions in the federal stimulus bill, Nevada government might have shut down, jobs would have been lost and casino corporations wouldn't have been able to restructure some of their long-term debt, sending additional companies into bankruptcy. That was the message Thursday from executives with Harrah's Entertainment and Station Casinos, who sought to place a different spin on the current wave of critical commentary coming from rival casino operators about efforts by the Obama administration and Congress to prop up the sagging economy. Harrah's Senior Vice President Jan Jones and Station Casinos Executive Vice President Scott Nielson added that parts of the bill that helped Nevada's gaming industry wouldn't have happened without the work of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "So many of the jobs existing today are the result of the vision and leadership of the government and our majority leader," said Jones, a former two-term mayor of Las Vegas who twice ran for Nevada governor. Jones and Nielson were so effusive in their support of Reid that a reporter from The Associated Press asked on the conference call if the briefing was an event for the Reid re-election campaign. In response, Jones said positive aspects of the federal stimulus package -- the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- had been overlooked in recent news accounts of the state's 13.3 percent unemployment rate and in comments made on cable television news programs by Wynn Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn, who was critical of President Obama and his handling of the economy. "There has been some very vocal criticism of the administration," Jones said...read more

Full Tilt circumvents Kentucky case

The Kentucky Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday on whether the Commonwealth of Kentucky has the right to seize online gambling domains because domains are "gambling devices" that violate gambling law. The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled earlier this year that online gambling domains were not "gambling devices" under Kentucky law, and therefore could not be seized...read more

Penn National remains interested in Strip

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Penn National Gaming made its intentions clear Wednesday -- the regional casino operator wants to acquire the bankrupt Fontainebleau project if it makes financial sense. During Penn's third-quarter earnings conference call with analysts, company executives addressed several questions surrounding its well-documented interest in buying a Strip resort. Penn has nearly $1.5 billion in cash available for an acquisition, the result of an aborted private equity buyout 15 months ago. Penn National Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Peter Carlino reiterated comments he has made on previous quarterly conference calls; the company is exploring all options on the Strip. "We believe in the future of Las Vegas," Carlino said...read more

Navegante picks up endorsement in Aqueduct bid

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas-based Navegante Group picked up an important endorsement in its bid to operate a casino at the Aqueduct Race Track in New York City. The Minority Business Leadership Council of New York urging the governor to select Aqueduct Entertainment Group for the license...read more

CityCenter worth about half of building cost

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- CityCenter is worth about half of what it cost MGM Mirage and Dubai World to build the massive Strip development, according to third-party valuation specialists. In a statement to investors Tuesday, in which MGM Mirage said it was writing down more than $1 billion related to CityCenter, the company estimated the value of its 50 percent ownership in CityCenter at approximately $2.44 billion...read more

How often can you expect a favorable hand at blackjack?

Most sophisticated blackjack buffs follow Basic Strategy in deciding whether to stand, hit, double down, split pairs, or surrender. Even acutely adept card counters introduce few variations to the rules – and, then, relatively infrequently...read more

Top-10 November Nine tidbits

10. Darvin Moon is a Luddite Main Event chip leader Darvin Moon, who holds nearly a third of chips in play, isn't part of the online poker generation. In fact, he's not really party of the technology generation. He doesn't email or text message...read more