Featured Articles Archive - Page 564

Inside gaming column: Testimony may leave lasting ache for Sands

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Whether Las Vegas Sands Corp. ever pays a dollar to a Hong Kong businessman who is suing the company, testimony in Clark County District Court last week could cost the casino operator millions in damaged reputation and potential shareholder action. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson and President Bill Weidner were the first witnesses in Richard Suen's lawsuit, where he's seeking compensation for helping Las Vegas Sands win a lucrative Macau gambling license in 2002...read more

Multi-talented Vanessa Rousso's game is peaking as the WSOP nears

Vanessa Rousso's staggering success at the age of just 25 years old should not come as a surprise. The fact that she's done it by playing poker for a living, well, that's something that may have caught a few people off guard. Vanessa Rousso at the 2007 WSOP (photo by Neil Stoddart/PokerStars) To put it bluntly, the career options for someone with the smarts (and looks) of a woman like Rousso were countless...read more

MGM Mirage chief asks staff not to sign teachers union petition

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- MGM Mirage asked its roughly 58,000 Nevada employees to not sign a petition being circulated by the state teachers union seeking to increase the state gaming tax by 44 percent. The missive came right from the top of the company. In an e-mail sent Wednesday by MGM Mirage Chairman Terry Lanni, company employees were told the teachers union is misleading voters about a proposed increase in the state gaming tax...read more

Las Vegas Sands' mistrial request rejected

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas Sands President Bill Weidner testified Thursday the company is spending $8 million to $10 million to defend itself against allegations from a Hong Kong businessman -- a statement that led to another request for a mistrial. Clark County District Judge Michelle Leavitt denied the plaintiff's request to declare a mistrial because of Weidner's remarks. In his fourth day on the witness stand, Weidner gave out the company's estimate for legal fees when asked to speculate how much Richard Suen might have been owed for helping the company win a lucrative Macau gaming license in 2001. Weidner and company Chairman Sheldon Adelson testified Suen's efforts didn't factor in to the company's successful licensing effort. Suen sued Las Vegas Sands in 2004, saying he should be compensated for helping the company win a shared Macau gaming concession in 2002. "He probably owes us millions," Weidner said in response to the question posed by company attorney Rusty Hardin...read more

New razz poker book; '08; 'Sire Ratings' guide fresh up

Mitchell Cogert believes the game of razz to be "the easiest way to win consistently at poker" because "it is the one remaining game where the knowledge base remains small" and most players focus on hold'em. His new book, titled "Play Razz Poker to Win" (130 pages, paper bound, $19.95) has arrived at Gambler's Book Shop. Another fresh arrival is "Sire Ratings 2008-09," an update to "Exploring Pedigree" by Jim Mazur and Mike Helm, (124 pages, 8x11 paper bound, $34.95)...read more

Sands exec: Family link reason for Suen's role

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. President Bill Weidner said Wednesday that he didn't like working with Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen and would have stopped trying to negotiate a deal with him if Suen didn't have a business relationship with company Chairman Sheldon Adelson's brother. "You really didn't like dealing with Mr...read more

Moody's lowers Herbst Gaming's bond rating

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Moody's Investment Service on Wednesday lowered its bond ratings for Herbst Gaming, less than a month after the casino operator told investors it might have to seek bankruptcy protection. The rating service said Herbst has not yet negotiated a forbearance agreement with its lenders...read more

A video tribute to Calvin Ayre

When Bodog founder Calvin Ayre announced his retirement Monday, the online gaming industry lost one of its legendary figures. Ayre was a brilliant and tireless marketing genius who jetted across the globe to turn Bodog into an online gambling powerhouse and a household name and brand...read more

Financial outlook for Sands discussed

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- An internal Las Vegas Sands Corp. document that lowers the company's adjusted financial forecast for 2008 by $312 million became the focus of heated arguments Tuesday between lawyers in a civil lawsuit brought by a Hong Kong businessman against the casino operator. Attorneys for Richard Suen, who believes he helped Las Vegas Sands win a lucrative gambling license in Macau in 2002 and is owed millions of dollars, wanted to introduce the document during the second day of testimony of company President Bill Weidner in Clark County District Court. While discussing the document with District Judge Michelle Leavitt, Weidner said in open court that the company was projecting "$312 million less than was forecasted in 2008." But he didn't say if the figure referred to company revenues or earnings. Las Vegas Sands lawyers said the document, created by the company's finance department in late March, is used for internal financial purposes and was sealed by the court's discovery commissioner. Sands attorney Rusty Hardin of Houston reminded Leavitt and Weidner the court was still open to the public and to not comment about the figures in the document. Leavitt agreed with the company's contention that the document, which revises the company's financial forecast for 2008 based on the first three months of the year, should not be put out for public consumption. Outside of court, Weidner said the document projects a full year of results for the Las Vegas Sands' gaming operations, including the Venetian Macau, which opened last August, and The Palazzo, which opened in January. Weidner told the judge the document had not been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Some aspects of the financial document might be used when the company discloses earnings for the 2008 first quarter next Tuesday. Leavitt told attorneys for Suen they could enter the public portions of the evidence at that time. During testimony, Weidner, for the second day, said Suen's efforts did nothing to help the casino operator win a lucrative gambling license in Macau. A July 2001 trip to Beijing, set up by Suen, in which Weidner and Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson met with several Chinese government leaders, turned out to be nothing like they expected. "It was supposed to be an exploratory trip to get a lay of the land," Weidner said...read more

Paddy Power ad campaign draws complaints

Paddy Power's latest "Going Short" ad campaign has been dubbed "irresponsible" by the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority, prompting the Irish sports book and casino to pull the ads from all media outlets. The campaign featured a man enjoying a glass of champagne and a cigar in a limousine along with the company of two scantily clad and attractive women...read more