Featured Articles Archive - Page 626

Michigan Supreme Court decision opens door to potential additional casino developments

The Michigan Supreme Court recently released an opinion in the case of Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos (TOMAC) v. State of Michigan, reversing a lower court ruling stating an amendatory provision contained in the compact at issue violated the separation of powers clause of the Michigan Constitution...read more

Group files lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General

The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) filed a lawsuit yesterday seeking to stop the United States from enforcing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. "The purpose of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is to prevent Americans from engaging in their fundamental rights to conduct their lives in the manner they wish to live it - to be free from the government imposing public morality in the privacy of one's home," said iMEGA attorney Eric M...read more

Two bracelets, six tournaments in busy day at WSOP

Two bracelets were won, two tournaments played down to a final table, and two tournaments began on one of the busiest days in World Series of Poker history at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas yesterday. Today will be almost identical, with bracelets to be won in Pot Limit Omaha and Limit Hold'em. Schneider beats top pros for first braceletTom Schneider fended off a final table filled with well-known professional players to win the $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better bracelet and claim the $214,347 first-place prize. Annie Duke finished third, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson was fourth, David Benyamine was sixth and John "The Razor" Phan was eighth...read more

WSOP roundup: Irishman wins third-largest live poker tournament

Ciaran O'Leary, who was born in Ireland and lives in Seattle, won the third-largest live tournament in poker history to claim $727,012 last night at the World Series of Poker. The $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em event had 2,998 players and ranks third behind only the 2005 and 2006 WSOP Main Events in terms of number of entrants. O'Leary, who had played in WSOP events in six of the last 10 years, had never cashed in a WSOP event before...read more

House committee to hold hearing on Internet gambling regulation

The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled "Can Internet Gambling Be Effectively Regulated to Protect Consumers and the Payments System?" on Friday, June 8 at 10 a.m. Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) introduced H.R...read more

Kaplan Pleads His Case, Still No Decision on Bai

A second detention hearing for Gary Kaplan concluded in St. Louis this morning with still no decision on whether the BetonSports founder is too much of a flight risk to be released on bail. The gamut of testimony covered steroid usage, an alleged kidnapping, passport fraud and Kaplan's dedication to his family. Kaplan entered the courtroom in blue prison garb with hands cuffed behind him, appearing very muscular, fit and healthy...read more

Do the series shuffle

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Quietly, Harrah's Entertainment officials don't expect the 38th World Series of Poker to attract the record-shattering number of players reached a year ago. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, said Jeffrey Pollack, a Harrah's vice president who serves as the poker tournament's commissioner. He hopes enhancements to the seven-week-long poker extravaganza at the Rio, which started Friday, will be noticed by the players, spectators and the ESPN television audience that can begin tuning into the competition on July 10. "I've been very consistent; the metric that we will measure the success of the World Series of Poker is the experience," Pollack said...read more

Contract deadline passes; workers shrug

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Terry Getler, a bellman at the MGM Grand since the property's opening in 1993, isn't disappointed a new collective bargaining agreement has yet to be reached between the hotel and the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 despite more than three months of negotiations. He expected it. Getler has participated as member of the union's negotiating committee since the MGM Grand first signed a union contract...read more

A revenue source in plains sight

KANSAS -- Gaming analysts believe four proposed casinos in Kansas could provide operators with a steady flow of gaming revenue although the potential figures won't be a trip down the Yellow Brick Road. Kansas lawmakers, tired of seeing residents flock across the border to wager away potential tax dollars at casinos in Kansas City, Mo., or at American Indian-run gambling halls in Oklahoma, decided to make their state the newest gaming battleground. The recently enacted legislation designated four state-owned casino sites, but also included a tax rate of 27 percent and set certain parameters for entry, such as a minimum investment of $225 million for each of the facilities. Because the casinos are full-fledged gaming halls with both slot machines and table games, observers believe some of the top-tier gaming companies will have an interest in Kansas. Pennsylvania, the most recent state to legalize gaming of any consequence since the late 1990s, allowed just 65,000 slot machines and prohibited table games at its five casinos and seven racinos...read more

Online Sunday tournaments - Players still competing despite WSOP

The World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, the unofficial home to thousands of poker players for the next six weeks, did little to dampen player participation numbers in the online Sunday tournament this weekend, just one week after the sites drew unexpected record numbers on the U.S...read more