Featured Articles Archive - Page 541

Inside gaming: Sands bets against paying settlement

Las Vegas Sands Corp., faced with paying a lawsuit judgment of $58.6 million to a Hong Kong businessman, told investors it hasn't recorded any reserves or contingencies for the legal matter. Why? The casino operator doesn't think it will ever have to settle up. "The company believes this potential loss is not probable or estimable," Las Vegas Sands said in a 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month. A Clark County District Court jury on May 24 awarded Richard Suen a $43.8 million verdict following a six-week trial...read more

No withholding taxes on poker tourneys

The IRS has decided that every poker operator in the United States will have to report anyone who wins more than $5,000 in a poker tournament. To get around the fact that Congress never authorized this, the IRS is pretending to require that 25% or more of these winners' prizes have to be withheld by the poker operators and forwarded to the IRS. That is only partially true. Buried in the IRS's published statement changing the tax treatment of poker tournaments is the following sentence: "The IRS will not assert any liability for additional tax or additions to tax for violations of any withholding obligation with respect to amounts paid to winners of poker tournaments.....read more

Gaming stock prices rebound in August

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Gaming got off the mat in August and landed a counterpunch. For the first time in five months, the average daily stock price of the major publicly traded casino operators and slot machine makers rebounded after some companies fell to historic lows. Nine of the 10 companies charted by Las Vegas-based financial adviser Applied Analysis showed double-digit increases in their average daily prices when comparing August with July...read more

MGM Mirage secures more funds

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- MGM Mirage President Jim Murren said Friday the company has secured $2.3 billion of the remaining financing for its CityCenter project, leaving $700 million still to be funded. However, Murren told Reuters News Service he was confident the final portions of the $9.2 billion CityCenter financing would be completed by the end of September. In early August, MGM Mirage said it had secured $1.65 billion of the $3 billion needed...read more

Bits and Pieces from Indian Country - August 2008

Indian gaming is not radically different when it comes to financing; tribal projects are being delayed and scaled back just as with other casino projects. But those that have the financing are pushing forward and opening new casinos or new projects...read more

Quick-takes: The month's trends in a glance - August 2008

Finding signs of the economic downturn is not difficult; in fact, avoiding them is the challenge. By now, in the 7th month of 2008, it is clear that gaming is very much a part of the economic downturn. You read everywhere about signs of the downturn in gaming...read more

Live poker returns to Mohegan Sun with the grand opening of Casino of the Wind

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – The new poker room at Mohegan Sun's Casino of the Wind had been open for literally five minutes when Bruce Dixon wiped the sweat off his brow and took a deep breath. Anxious poker players hoping to be among the first to be dealt a hand in the new room were coming at him from all angles, looking for assistance to their seat...read more

Top-10 Las Vegas sportsbooks

Let's face it: If you place multiple TVs, (sometimes complimentary) cocktails and a menu that includes burgers and pizza all under one roof, you are going to grab my attention. Toss in the luxury of being able to legally wager on virtually any sporting event in the world and, well, you had me at "Hello." While all sports books share the same basic attributes, each has a different look, a different feel and a unique charm...read more

More Negreanu wisdom, bio of gangster Nitti new reads

Some new poker advice by a respected champion and a revealing biography of one of the most notorious mobsters ever are two new arrivals.The two books, More Hold'em Wisdom for All Players (167 pages, paperbound, $14.95) by Daniel Negreanu, and Frank Nitti (The True Story of Chicago's Notorious Enforcer) by Ron Humble (399 pages, hardbound, $23.95), make for some interesting reading, depending on your interest area...read more

40/40 Club closing to make way for Palazzo sports book

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The much-rumored closing of the 8-month-old 40/40 Club at the Palazzo became official Wednesday. The hotel-casino announced it was converting the 24,000-square-foot space into a large-scale race and sports book that will include a specialty restaurant. The Palazzo, which is attached to The Venetian, does not have a sports book, just a small betting window for sports wagers near the 40/40 Club. Las Vegas Sands Corp...read more