Featured Articles Archive - Page 492

Playing It Smart: How flexible are the return schedules for various games?

Many casino games have return schedules with payoffs contingent on the result of a round. Video poker and other slot machines are classic cases. Some table games now also have this feature integral to the primary action as well as on bonus side-bets. On window-type slots, designers are free to select chances of particular outcomes as well as their associated payoffs to achieve desired performance...read more

New TV show 'Face The Ace' makes its debut on NBC

NBC's "Face the Ace," which debuted Saturday night, has the potential to be a pretty good, and possibly mainstream, poker show. But it needs some tweaking before it gets there. The show, hosted by Steve Schirripa, has a nice game show feel to it...read more

Top-10 tips to hosting a successful home poker game

In an age where poker on TV and the term "poker celebrity" are the norm, it's easy to forget how we got to where we are today when it comes to the game. While there is actually an entire generation out there that got its start in poker via the Internet, there are even more people that learned how to play the game the old fashioned way – at a home game...read more

Casinos watch power shift in Macau

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- Fernando Chui holds the future of Macau's once burgeoning casino industry. But will the 52-year-old former Macau legislator and cultural minister let the gambling enclave return to its boomtown days? That's the question on American casino operators' minds. Chui was overwhelmingly appointed Macau's new chief executive last week by the Special Administrative Region's 300-member election committee. He takes over Dec...read more

Lawsuit plays factor in LV Sands net loss

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- Las Vegas Sands Corp. paid three men $42.5 million to settle a lawsuit in June, according to the operator's second-quarter earnings release Thursday. The figure contributed to the company's net loss of $222.2 million in the quarter ended June 30...read more

Shuffle Master names CFO

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- After 17 months without a fulltime chief financial officer, Shuffle Master Gaming stepped outside the casino industry to fill the position. Shuffle Master, which manufactures table games and develops gaming management systems and equipment, named Linster Fox as CFO. Fox has been CFO of both public and private technology companies for the past nine years...read more

Wynn Resorts profits drop but top forecast

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- A 91 percent decline in quarterly net profits didn't concern Wynn Resorts Ltd. investors, analysts or even company Chairman Steve Wynn. The results still equaled a profit. "It wasn't star-studded, but it was better than most people thought," Wynn said Thursday as the casino operator reported earnings for the second quarter that ended June 30. Falling gaming revenue and costs associated with the December opening of the $2.3 billion Encore affected the company's bottom line. Wynn Resorts said its profits in the quarter were $25.5 million, or 21 cents per share...read more

Deal Me In: But it looks like a slot, quacks like a slot

Dear Mark: If it's true that slot plays change every millionth of a second at random, and that every play is completely random, how do you explain that the three "ovals" (the big hit) don't come up as often as, say, "cherry-bar-bar" or any other small pay or loser? I mean, there are only so many pictures on those reels on the old mechanical slots, my favorites...read more

A Calvin Ayre and BodogBrand.com education in Antigua, CalvinAyre.com style (Ya, I thought he was retired too)

Surprise! He's back. Well, technically, Calvin Ayre never left "Bodog Land", but he is no longer an online gambling operator, that is for sure. In fact, Calvin sold the "Bodog" database and much of the existing infrastructure to the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group (MMGG), something that many people are unaware of...read more

Analyst upgrades view of Las Vegas Sands

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- Las Vegas Sands Corp. reports second quarter earnings Thursday, but one gaming analyst isn't waiting for the official numbers to upgrade his view of the casino operator. Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Joel Simkins said this morning investors might want to take another l...read more