Featured Articles Archive - Page 523

Kerkorian wants to sell The Mirage

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- MGM Mirage founder and majority shareholder Kirk Kerkorian wants to sell The Mirage, believing the Strip casino could fetch a heftier price on the auction block than the company's casinos in Detroit and Biloxi, Miss. The New York Post, citing unnamed sources, wrote today that Kerkorian, the 91-year-old billionaire who controls about 53 percent of the Strip casino giant, thinks proceeds from a sale of The Mirage will keep the company out of bankruptcy and thwart corporate raider Carl Icahn. Icahn, it was reported last week, had bought up millions of dollars worth of MGM Mirage's corporate bonds in an effort to force the operator of nine Strip casinos to file bankruptcy. Earlier this month, MGM Mirage hired Morgan Stanley to sort through offers for MGM Grand Detroit and Beau Rivage in Biloxi...read more

WMS Industries posts increases

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Resurgent slot machine maker WMS Industries recorded increases in both revenues and earnings in its third quarter despite the economic downturn that has zapped sales by gaming equipment rivals. "Our operating execution is outpacing the challenging environment and is driven by the consistency of our high-return, high-earning games that are embraced by players and our casino customers worldwide," Brian Gamache, chairman and chief executive officer of the Waukegan, Ill.-based company said Tuesday in a statement. WMS, which has sales offices in Las Vegas, had net income of $24.4 million, or 43 cents a share, in the quarter ended March 30, compared with net income of $18.8 million, or 32 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 4.6 percent to $180.8 million from $172.8 million. Slot machine sales totaled $114 million with the average selling price improving 18 percent to an average of $14,854 on the 6,431 new games shipped during the quarter...read more

LV Sands, Wynn alter credit pacts

and Arnold M. Knightly LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Casino operators Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. recently took steps to amend how the companies borrow money from their credit facilities. The moves could help Wynn and Sands fend off the financial turmoil that has befallen much of the gaming industry's major players, including MGM Mirage, Harrah's Entertainment and Station Casinos, which are trying to restructure massive debt. Las Vegas Sands, which operates The Venetian, Palazzo and two resorts in Macau, reached an agreement with its lenders covering its $5 billion senior credit facility, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows...read more

Bodog regains control of Bodog.com

Online casino Bodog has reacquired the bodog.com domain name after settling a patent infringement lawsuit with 1st Technology LLC this week. The Morris Mohawk Gaming Group (MMGG), which operates the Bodog brand in North America, negotiated deal with 1st Technology. "We are absolutely thrilled to be able to return the Bodog experience to its rightful home - the reaction of staff and key suppliers has been thunderous," said Alwyn Morris, CEO of the MMGG in a statement in announcing the deal. The settlement also ends the long-running patent dispute between 1st Technology and Bodog and covers the use of core multimedia patents for advanced gaming products. In the original lawsuit, 1st Technology alleged the online gaming company was illegally using a "method and system for interactively transmitting multimedia information over a network which requires a reduced bandwidth," according to court documents. Bodog lost most of its Bodog.com domain names in August of 2007 after failing to appear in court to defend itself or challenge the $48 million judgment ordered by Judge Roger L...read more

Top-10 things you shouldn't do while playing blackjack

Table games at casinos are supposed to be fun. But unfortunately, prickly dealers and players can sully the experience -- especially if they violate basic table etiquette. So to help ensure that your (and everyone else's) next trip to the blackjack table is fun for everyone, here are ten things you should never do while playing blackjack: 10...read more

Analysts pleased with Pinnacle

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Compared to the competition, regional casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment looks like a relatively safe wager. The Las Vegas-based company won praise last week from two Wall Street analysts whose opinions were based on results from L'Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, La., and Lumiere Place in St...read more

CityCenter project intended to be completed

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Events surrounding financially troubled MGM Mirage are fast becoming the gaming industry's biggest soap opera. On Friday, hours after the company made a $70 million equity payment to keep construction work continuing on the massive CityCenter development, word surfaced that MGM Mirage and its feuding joint venture partner, Dubai World, had reached an agreement to complete the $8.7 billion Strip project. Representatives of both MGM Mirage and Dubai World, however, backed away from saying a deal was complete...read more

Group trying to force MGM into bankruptcy

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The former owner of the Stratosphere and a large investor in Cannery Casinos are reportedly trying to force MGM Mirage into bankruptcy. The Wall Street Journal on Thursday said that corporate raider Carl Icahn and private equity fund Oaktree Capital Management have purchased large amounts of MGM Mirage's corporate bonds in hopes of forcing the Strip casino giant into filing for bankruptcy to restructure the company's $13.5 billion debt. The newspaper cited sources familiar with the matter. MGM Mirage is under pressure from its lenders to come up with a solution for its liquidity issues...read more

PRWeb not taking online gambling clients

In an unexpected move this week, the press release distribution site PRWeb has stopped accepting press releases that deal with online gambling. A salesman at PRWeb's parent company Vocus confirmed that management had sent out an e-mail that said the company would stop publishing online gambling press releases. PRWeb had been one of the largest press release distributors for the online gambling industry, with clients including UltimateBet, Paddy Power and Full Tilt. There are no plans for the company to accept online gambling press releases in the future, according to Vocus salesman Rod Harris...read more

Deal Me In: 21 Madness

Dear Mark: What do you know about 21 Madness? Is it a decent bet for the player? Kenny B. Here's another one of those side bets in blackjack, Kenny, that sort of looks good, but just can't pass the smell test. Kenny is referring to a $1 wager the casino allows you to make, in addition to your regular blackjack bet, that you will be dealt a two-card 21...read more