Featured Articles Archive - Page 568

Playing It Smart: Probability and payoff ratio are the tails that wag the casino dog

When casino gamblers grumble about house advantage or edge, they're usually thinking of the probabilities associated with a particular bet. Edge and probability are related but aren't the same. A casino can have an edge even though a solid citizen has a better chance of winning a wager...read more

Sands chief questions MGM Mirage's motives

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Two days before they both co-hosted a high-priced fundraiser for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain, Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson said rival Chairman Terry Lanni's MGM Mirage Corp...read more

March meekness: Gaming stocks sustain losses

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- March was not a good month for the stock prices of casino companies and slot machine makers. All 10 of the gaming stocks charted by Las Vegas-based financial consultant Applied Analysis suffered losses in their average daily prices when compared with February...read more

An inside look at the Trump Tower: Lots of luxe

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- When the Trump International Hotel & Tower officially opens Monday, don't expect to see crowds of would-be gamblers hoping to hit the Megabucks jackpot or for the dealer to bust. There isn't a slot machine or blackjack table within a half-mile of the 64-story luxury resort. Instead, the public areas of the $1.2 billion Trump International are populated with ornate chandeliers, gold-accented features and enough Italian marble to decorate half of Rome. Upstairs, Trump International's lavishly furnished 1,282 studio, one-bedroom and penthouse suites carry some of the highest single-night room rates on the Strip, starting at $349 and increasing depending upon location in the building and size of the unit. "I think this is the highest level of luxury for any hotel in the world," said New York real estate developer Donald Trump, who is not known for understatement...read more

Gambling beyond Nevada: With breaks, Sands will build

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson said his company stands ready to take its Cotai Strip model of destination resort development into other emerging Asian gaming markets. One caveat: Adelson wants the jurisdictions to cough up lucrative tax breaks, infrastructure construction and other concessions before the gaming company will spend $15 billion to $20 billion to replicate what it is building in Macau. In a luncheon address Wednesday at the JPMorgan Chase & Co...read more

Top slots: Part 1

According to the slot manufacturers, these 10 slots have the potential of hitting at the high end of 95%+. I review 5 versions in Part 1 and continue with 5 more next time we meet in the Slots Playground. Let's explore. 1) White Orchid: Images of butterflies, tree frogs, fish, bird and topical plants are the theme of this 'exotic' slot...read more

Heard it on The River: Keno is alive and well in Tunica

KENO has been an on the endangered species list for thousands of years but it is alive and well at one place…SAM'S TOWN Tunica. The Chinese came up with the lottery-like game in 2000 B.C., remember. And it is still going strong at Sam's Town, albeit a much improved version...read more

Las Vegan part of team featured in '21'

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Professional poker player Andy Bloch holds two engineering degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a law degree from Harvard University. His real education, however, took place miles from the classroom. Bloch, 38, a Summerlin resident who is a fixture on the tournament poker circuit, teamed up with several of his MIT classmates in the 1990s and took casinos in Las Vegas and around the country for millions of dollars through a systematic card-counting operation. The team's exploits were detailed in the book, "Bringing Down the House," a 2002 New York Times best-seller by Ben Mezrich...read more

Betting Baseball, Cat House books updated; King Con good choices

Here's a "variety pack" of new arrivals for you -- key factors by which to bet baseball; an updated cat house directory and the story of legendary hustler Soapy Smith. A little something for everyone, so let's take them in order: Michael Murray's 2008 edition of Betting Baseball (215 pages, paperbound, $24.95) tops the list because the season is under way...read more

Room tax initiative backers dismiss resistance

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Proponents of two ballot initiatives that ask voters to reallocate hotel room tax dollars away from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority might not be finding much support. The convention authority and every municipality in Clark County filed a lawsuit late Thursday to stop the ballot questions...read more