Featured Articles Archive - Page 633

'Mental' aspect of poker examined; Video poker scout guide helpful

Two hotsy-totsy titles of interest to poker and video poker aficionados have arrived at Gambler's Book Shop. Alan Schoonmaker's "Your Worst Poker Enemy -- Master The Mental Game" (336 pages, paperbound, $15.95) and "The Frugal Video Poker Scouting Guide" by Jean Scott and Viktor Nacht (34 pages, 3x7, pocket-sized, spiralbound, $19.99). Schoonmaker, who previously authored the well-received "Psychology of Poker", continues to help poker players analyze themselves and opponents...read more

Laughlin casino sales approved

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Anthony Marnell III started out small in getting back into the casino operating business. Purchasing two of Laughlin's largest casinos, he figured, was the logical next step for his management team. "The Gaming Control Board gave Marnell and the investment group he heads tentative approval Wednesday to acquire the Edgewater and Colorado Belle casinos from MGM Mirage for $200 million...read more

Expenses drag down LV Sands earnings

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Preopening expenses surrounding $7.6 billion in resort projects on the Strip, in Macau and Singapore took a toll on Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s quarterly earnings. The company said Wednesday its first-quarter profit fell 25 percent in the three-month period ended March 31 because of costs associated with the expected end-of-the-year opening of the $1.6 billion Palazzo on the Strip and the late August opening of the $2.4 billion Venetian Macau on the Cotai Strip...read more

Colorado property fuels first-quarter profit rise for Ameristar

COLORADO -- Ameristar Casinos said Tuesday it was on a Rocky Mountain high during the recently ended first quarter. Fueled by results from its casino outside Denver, Ameristar reported a net income of $24 million, or 41 cents per share in the quarter ended March 31...read more

Union negotiations: Culinary contracts expiring

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- With one month to go before contracts covering 50,000 hotel and restaurant service employees represented by Culinary Workers Local 226 expire, Harrah's Las Vegas cocktail waitress Tina DeValle is nervous. As a member of the Culinary's employee committee that is negotiating a new five-year agreement with management representing six Harrah's Entertainment-owned hotel-casinos, DeValle said Tuesday she is worried the process is taking longer than expected. "It's going too slow, and I think there are still a lot of important issues that need to be discussed," said DeValle, who has served drinks to Harrah's customers for 11 years...read more

Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcment Act: Winners and losers

Rep. Barney Frank's (D-Mass.) proposal to regulate Internet gambling in the U.S. has received a mixed reviews from the online gambling industry. Frank's plan calls for regulated companies to ensure gamblers are at least 18 years of age and in a jurisdiction that allows betting...read more

Yahoo! ready to rumble

Here comes an Internet giant. Yahoo! UK & Ireland launched its first attempt at real-money poker, coupling the power of 20.7 million unique visitors per month with a trusted brand to attract customers in countries friendly to online gambling...read more

Negreanu may end Full Contact Poker endorsement deal

Daniel Negreanu, one-time owner and long-time front man for Full Contact Poker, is seeking other endorsement opportunities now that his FCP contract is about to expire, his public relations company said. "We haven't made any decisions but likely will soon," said Brian Balsbaugh, CEO of Negreanu's management firm Poker Royalty...read more

Dot-coms get dealt out

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Losing a block of your largest exhibitors might spell doom for most trade shows. Officials with the Gaming Life Expo, operated in conjunction with Harrah's Entertainment-owned World Series of Poker, believe otherwise. With most of the major Internet poker gambling sites not welcome at the upcoming World Series of Poker, Rio executives switched the theme of the four-day show, scheduled for July 5-8 at the Rio Pavilion, from gambling to men's lifestyle. "To be frank, it was a transition we were planning," said David Koloski, the Rio's marketing director who oversees the expo...read more

Server-based gaming is wave of slot future

Despite nearly a half-decade of development and millions of dollars invested in research and testing, slot machine manufacturers are still a few years away from bringing server-based gaming -- often referred to as downloadable technology -- to casino floors. Wall Street has viewed the technology, which could let casino operators better manage their slot machine area and have greater flexibility in what they can offer customers, as the next wave in gambling. Conceivably, downloadable technology would allow casino managers to change a slot machine's games, denominations, bonus payouts and promotions from a central computer server rather than requiring technicians to perform the work manually. Investors believe equipment makers will harvest a financial windfall from a cycle in which older games are supplanted by newer models...read more