Featured Articles Archive - Page 535

Nevada Gaming Control Board facing budget cuts

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- State gaming regulators could be forced to slow casino audits and curtail law enforcement functions if legislators approve a 15 percent reduction in the agency's operating budget that has been proposed by Gov. Jim Gibbons. Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said the agency, which oversees the state's multibillion-dollar casino industry, would be forced to eliminate 32 positions under the governor's 2009-11 budget proposal. Neilander said the budget cuts would not affect the licensing investigation process, such as the examination of MGM Mirage's $9.1 billion CityCenter development, scheduled to open by the end of the year...read more

Top-10 facts to consider before placing your Super Bowl bet

Watching (and betting on) the Super Bowl is an American tradition, right up there with baseball and apple pie. Actually, in my humble opinion, the Super Bowl soars past apple pie as an American tradition. In fact, I'd like to know who it was that made the claim that apple pie was so important to American culture...read more

Inside Gaming: Boyd expanding riverboat casino

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Boyd Gaming Corp. officials hope a $130 million hotel expansion at its Blue Chip riverboat casino will keep Chicago residents from traveling 10 miles farther north on U.S. Highway 12. The Blue Chip is in Michigan City, Ind., about 60 miles east of Chicago...read more

Strip's resort boom fizzles in economy

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Wynn Resorts Ltd.'s glimmering $2.3 billion Encore opened on Dec. 22. Visitors gawked at the features and locals marveled at the lavish interiors. Analysts saluted the newest Strip megaresort. Las Vegas is always about the newest and latest...read more

Penn. Court Rules Poker Is a Game of Skill

In the first important legal decision of 2009, a trial judge in Pennsylvania dismissed criminal gambling charges against the operator of a garage poker room and his girlfriend dealer, holding that Texas Hold 'em is a game of skill. Columbia County Judge Thomas A...read more

Deal Me In: Rigging your payday?

Dear Mark: Do casinos set multi-play video poker machines so that a more powerful hand doesn't appear on the initial deal, so they can avoid a very large payday for the player playing multiple hands? Alex G. Multi-play video poker games are offered in "Triple Play," "Five Play," "Ten Play," "Fifty Play" and even "One Hundred Play" versions. With multi-play machines, once you chose the number of hands you wish to play, you hit the deal/draw button...read more

IGT reports decline in profit and earnings

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- International Game Technology missed its first-quarter earnings estimates and saw profits decline 42 percent from a year ago -- but things could have been worse. The Reno-based slot machine giant said Thursday it earned $65.7 million, or 22 cents a share, in the three-month period ended Dec...read more

Yo! -- It's getting close to tax time -- know the rules if you gamble

It's that time of the year, the time most Americans start thinking about gathering all their receipts, W2s and 1099s for that April tax date known as The Deadline. If you won some money in 2008 at video poker, on the slots or at the track, for example, and you wonder if the Internal Revenue Service knows or needs to know...read more

Obama brings hope, but the UIGEA is here to stay for now

In the opening days of the Obama administration, there has been a flurry of activity, including a halt on all pending regulations. But one thing that is not likely to be reopened for debate is the UIGEA regulations. While President Barack Obama can easily halt all pending regulations from being implemented, which he did on Tuesday, reversing rules that went into effect prior to his inauguration -- like the UIGEA -- is much more difficult. Once a rule (which is essentially a set of regulations) is announced and in the books for 60 days, it becomes law...read more

Doyle's Room leaves Microgaming for Cake Poker

While there has been no official announcement, it appears that Doyle's Room has indeed made the move from Microgaming to the Cake Poker Network. The popular online poker room endorsed by the legendary Doyle Brunson sent out an e-mail to its clients last week announcing that "sweeping changes were on the way." On Thursday, the poker room, which was previously powered by Microgaming, had a disclaimer on the bottom of its home page that said "Cake Poker Network Partner." The disclaimer at the bottom of the home page at Doyle's Casino stills says it is "powered by Microgaming." It appears that the move by Doyle's Room is in response to the decision Microgaming made in November to begin denying U.S...read more