Featured Articles Archive - Page 502

Station founder Fertitta's services set

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- Services for Station Casinos founder Frank Fertitta Jr. will be Friday and Saturday. A rosary and vigil will start at 6:30 p.m. Friday at St. Joseph Husband of Mary Catholic Church at 7260 West Sahara Ave. The funeral mass will be at 11 a.m...read more

California tribes to add slots

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- California's slot machine market is about to get bigger. A federal judge in Sacramento has ruled the state's Indian casinos can add 10,549 slot machines to a jurisdiction that is now approved for more than 83,000 games, the largest Indian gaming market in the United States. By comparison, Nevada has 194,180 total slot machines in casinos and other locations, including bars, taverns and supermarkets. Wall Street saw the news as another positive catalyst for Nevada's slot machine industry, which has been seeking any signs of potential sales opportunities after several years of dwindling revenues and earnings. "We continue to believe the equipment manufacturers are the way to play the gaming group," Janney Montgomery Scott gaming analyst Brian McGill advised investors...read more

Station Casinos founder Fertitta dies at 70

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- To long-time Station Casinos employees and patrons, Frank Fertitta Jr., the patriarch of the gaming company, was affectionately referred to as "Mr. Fertitta." It was a title that came out of respect, said his long-time friends and associates. "He was not aggressive or loud," said attorney Frank Schreck, who represented Fertitta since the 1970s...read more

Nevada prepared for online gambling

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- Nevada, where declining gaming and sales tax collections have ravaged the biennial budget, could benefit financially if a bill to legalize Internet gambling in the United States is approved by Congress. The potential, however, rests on a big IF. A House of Representatives resolution was introduced in May that would establish a framework to permit licensed online gambling operators to accept wagers from inside the United States. Legal experts said Nevada has the statutory structure in place to investigate and license online gaming companies...read more

Playing It Smart: Playing multiple spots at blackjack

Some blackjack buffs enjoy playing multiple spots simultaneously. Few have more than intuition and specious logic about their preference. Mostly, their explanations have to do with things like "you get more action," "you make more on hot shoes," "wins on one side can offset losses on the other when the game is cold," or "you change the flow of the cards, which may turn a losing shoe into a winner." Card counters have other reasons, principally involving getting a greater share of the good cards and increasing total wagers under favorable conditions. From the standpoint of edge, on a round-by-round basis, one spot at $10 is the same as two spots at $5 each...read more

Deal Me In: Two inquiries for the price of one

Dear Mark: Could you please explain how slot tournaments work? I'm entering a $50 tournament at our casino and I was wondering if you had any strategies on winning? Megan H. Dear Mark: How does a casino turn a bank of low payout slots into VERY HIGH payout slots for a tournament and then back again to low payout mode without changing a computer chip inside the machine? Harvey S...read more

Lawsuit claims MGM misled shareholders

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- Strip casino giant MGM Mirage has been hit with a shareholder class action lawsuit over the company's falling stock price and financial issues covering the past two years. The case was filed in U.S. District Court in Nevada by a national law firm on behalf of a shareholder named Robert Lowinger, but is seeking other shareholders to join into the case that will seek class action certification. The lawsuit names MGM Mirage, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Lanni, current Chairman and CEO Jim Murren, Chief Financial Officer Dan D'Arrigo and CityCenter CEO Bobby Baldwin as defendants. The case covers shareholders who owned stock in MGM Mirage between Aug...read more

Tiger's collapse proves costly for Paddy Power

The frustration on the face of Tiger Woods during his shocking defeat in the PGA Championship Sunday afternoon was nothing compared to the exasperation oozing out of Paddy Power. In fact, Mr. Paddy Power, the director of communications for the Irish bookmaking operation that bears his name, was so disturbed by what was happening at Hazeltine National Golf Club during the final round that he watched the action from his toilet. "I had to," Mr...read more

LV Sands files for Hong Kong Stock Exchange

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- Las Vegas Sands Corp. said it has formally applied with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for a listing on the main board of the Asian stock market. In a brief filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this morning the operator of the Venetian and Palazzo and three resorts in Macau said the timing and terms of the initial public offering are still to be determined. In a note to investors, JPMorgan gaming analyst Joe Greff said Las Vegas Sands could raise up to $2 billion by offering up to 30 percent equity in its Macau casinos to back the IPO...read more

Wynns sell two million company shares

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- Wynn Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn and his wife, Elaine, sold 2 million shares of the company's stock last Friday, collecting at least $114 million. In a brief statement released this morning, Wynn Resorts said the shares were sold "to provide liquidity in anticipation of the change in their marital status." The company said the shares, which represent less than 10 percent of the Wynn's total holdings, were sold at an average price of $57 per share. Wynn Resorts, which operates Wynn Las Vegas, Encore, and Wynn Macau, is traded on the Nasdaq National Market. The Wynns announced earlier this year they were divorcing...read more