Featured Articles Archive - Page 500

Casino attire creator Julius dies at 74

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- At one time, Jean Julius outfitted most of the uniformed employees on the Strip through her enterprise, The Dealers Room on Maryland Parkway. Corporate ownership took over the casino industry in the 1990s, but the large uniform providers who serviced the casinos still contracted with Julius because she had the capability to handle custom work. "The only thing that changed was her comps," Julius' daughter Laurie Chrispen recalled Tuesday...read more

LV Sands completes $600 million transaction

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. said this morning it completed a $600 million financing transaction, a preliminary step toward an initial public offering of shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The IPO, which will be backed by the company's casinos in Macau, will allow Las Vegas Sands to restart construction on several stalled projects along the Chinese gaming enclave's Cotai Strip. Las Vegas Sands has been also trying to strengthen its balance sheet. "The closing of this financing, in combination with the other measures we have completed to date, demonstrates that we are successfully executing that plan," Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson said in a statement. Still, Las Vegas Sands is focused on opening the $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands in Singapore later this year. "The important opening of our Marina Bay Sands property in Singapore will remain our top priorities in the months to come," Adelson said...read more

Penny slots paying out big in Nevada

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- At the end of fiscal year 2000, there were 540 penny slot machines in Nevada casinos. As of last week, M Resort had nearly double that number of penny games on its casino floor. And that's just one property. Penny slot machines are no longer an oddity...read more

Playing It Smart: Which is preferable: High or low volatility?

Many solid citizens view casino gambling as mainly a matter of luck. As in: one game is more or less the same as any other. If these folks make any distinctions, they're that some tables or machines require bets too high for their budgets, are too complicated, or have payoffs worth or not worth the risks. More polished players recognize that the house's edge varies among games and wagers...read more

'In-running' football betting arrives in Las Vegas

Lou D'Amico has been involved in the sportsbook business in Las Vegas for the last 35 years so it's safe to say that he's seen it all. But even a guy with the veteran status of D'Amico has had an extra hop in his step this week, thanks to the new "In-Running" sports betting product that will be available for the 2009 NFL season at The Venetian, Palazzo and the M Resort Spa Casino...read more

Deal Me In: The RNG neither frowns nor smiles

Dear Mark: Please explain the frequency of wins on a slot machine. For instance, sometimes the machine will give away money, spin after spin, and then it comes to a complete halt. I could hit that spin button 20 times in a row, and not a winner will appear...read more

Vegas rolls out Labor Day deals

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas resort operators aren't expecting Labor Day weekend to be the tourism market's savior. They'll be satisfied if business associated with the traditional four-day, end-of-the-summer holiday mirrors the weekend business climate the casino industry has experienced in recent months despite the soft economy that has zapped room rates and sent gaming revenues to historic lows. Tourism leaders are hoping that a mix of low hotel prices, special offers and other deals are enough to entice Las Vegas visitors to end the summer on a high note. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is predicting some 273,000 will come to Las Vegas this weekend, down slightly from the 275,000 who flocked to Southern Nevada over Labor Day a year ago. he economic impact is expected to be about $158.9 million, down 9.6 percent from the economic impact of $175.8 million last year...read more

Top-10 football betting commandments

Right around the start of December, my kids start singing the classic song, "It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year." But for dear old Dad, the humming of this classic holiday tune begins right around Labor Day. Because like most sports gamblers, to me football season is indeed the most wonderful and exciting time of the year. There's just something about football that makes it so much more compelling to wager on than any of the other sports...read more

Case against UIGEA shot down by appeals court

A U.S. appeals court upheld the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in a unanimous 3-0 ruling Tuesday. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected both iMEGA's argument that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was too vague and that it violated privacy rights. The ruling didn't come as a surprise to legal experts following the case. "Anytime you challenge an act of Congress that doesn't involve pure political speech, you've got an awfully large hill to climb," explained Buffalo State business law professor Joe Kelly...read more

LV Sands secures $600 million in financing

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. took another step toward restarting its stalled projects on Macau's Cotai Strip. The company announced this morning it had secured commitments for up to $600 million of cash through the sale of exchangeable bonds...read more