Featured Articles Archive - Page 515

MGM Mirage will need aid

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Even with a two-month reprieve from its lenders, MGM Mirage won't be able to weave its way through its current financial situation without the help of a bankruptcy court, Wall Street believes. The Strip casino giant bought itself until May 15 to come up with a restructuring plan covering at least $7 billion of its $13.5 billion in long-term debt...read more

Playing It Smart: Why try for a small jackpot, with a bigger prize down the aisle?

Slot machines of the same denomination may have greatly disparate jackpots. A 3-coin-maximum quarter game might offer as little as $500, or as much as $10,000, $25,000, or more, for a $0.75 bet. A nearby dollar device could have less of a biggie, or something much more grand at $3 a pop. You see solid citizens attacking them all...read more

MGM Mirage gets relief from vendors

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Lenders gave MGM Mirage some much needed financial relief through the middle of May. The casino operator, in danger of defaulting on $7 billion of its long-term debt, announced Tuesday its lenders had waived requirements that the company be in compliance of its senior credit facility covenants until May 15. However, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that auditors have raised "substantial doubt" about MGM Mirage's ability to continue, Bloomberg News reported...read more

Professor mixes law with gaming

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Bob Faiss has a résumé that reads like a documentary of the Nevada gaming industry. So it was logical that Faiss's oral history book, "Gaming Regulation and Gaming Law in Nevada," be part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Nevada Gaming Commission...read more

Top-10 tells in poker

The fastest way to poker riches is detecting your opponent's tells, and covering up your own. With that mind, we offer up our top-10 tells in poker: 10. Double-checking their hole cards Generally, most players remember when they have a pocket pair...read more

Wynn Sportsbook rings in the madness with new TV show and special 900-seat venue for fans

He'll be putting in outrageous hours and the action will be fast and furious over the next three-plus weeks. But John Avello wouldn't want it any other way. After all, there's a reason they call it March Madness. "I've been in the sportsbook business for 22 years and there hasn't been one day in which I looked at my watch wondering if it was time to go home," says the Director of Race and Sports at Wynn Las Vegas...read more

Bad times for gaming a boom for some

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The gaming industry's swoon has been good for certain jobs. Bankruptcy attorneys and corporate restructuring specialists are finding a plentiful client base. Last week, Herbst Gaming set a tentative date to file a prepackaged bankruptcy plan that will reorganize the company into two separate businesses. As 2009 continues, Herbst may not be alone in bankruptcy. A year ago, who would have thought MGM Mirage, Harrah's Entertainment and Station Casinos would be on a Chapter 11 watch list? No one predicted that shares of Las Vegas Sands would fall from $149 to less than $2...read more

LV Sands board member quits

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- A Las Vegas Sands Corp. board member resigned Monday because he disagreed with last weekend's forced resignation of former company President Bill Weidner. The casino operator revealed the resignation in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. James Purcell, 78, a retired attorney and a Las Vegas Sands board member since July 2004, said in a letter to the company that it was wrong to force Weidner's resignation without "a full and open discussion of the potential consequences of the series of action that were planned." Weidner, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands since 1995, resigned Sunday and will be replaced by Michael Leven, a longtime hospitality industry executive and a Las Vegas Sands board member. In his letter, Purcell said he was informed by board member Irwin Seigel that Leven and board member Charles Forman were meeting with Weidner to seek his resignation. "I expressed to Mr...read more

Galaxy Gaming enhancing the table

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Galaxy Gaming is not your typical startup casino vendor. The Las Vegas-based table game provider has been around for 12 years, starting out inside a small casino in Washington in 1997. The company's initial product was a side wager for blackjack where players bet on getting a two-card 20...read more

Deal Me In: Casinos try to keep it cloak-and-dagger

Dear Mark: For years I have been a heavy gambler on video poker here in Reno. I used to break close to even on specific machines at a certain casino. I became suspicious when I started losing real bad over several months. I asked a slot manager if they reset the machines and he said yes...read more