Featured Articles Archive - Page 647

Nevadan at work: Arizona Charlie's executive aims to boost client count with warm welcomes

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Ron Lurie went from being the mayor of Las Vegas to the mayor of Arizona Charlie's. After 14 years on the Las Vegas City Council and a four-year term as mayor, Lurie exited politics for the gaming industry. He had worked in slot machine sales while serving in the part-time elective offices. He joined Becker Enterprises as the marketing director for both the company's slot machine route operation and Arizona Charlie's, a 4-year-old neighborhood casino. When Stratosphere owner American Casino & Entertainment Properties took over Arizona Charlie's in 1999, Lurie became the casino's general manager. "Being the general manager of a property is just like being a politician," Lurie said...read more

Report critical of rules, agency

NEVADA -- A new report that suggests Gov. Jim Gibbons radically change how gaming regulators and the convention authority operate may not get much support -- even from the people who prepared it. Last week, Gibbons' transition team working group that explored gaming and tourism issues suggested some of Nevada's gaming regulations be eliminated because they obstruct the entrance of new technology and outside investment into the industry. Another suggestion questioned the need for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, saying that room taxes, which fund the convention authority, should be eliminated, rolled back or put into other areas. Almost immediately after the document surfaced, however, participants in the 22-member working group began distancing themselves from some of the report's suggestions, especially the notion that the convention authority be re-evaluated. "We are fully supportive of the LVCVA and what they do," said Lesley Pittman, Station Casinos' vice president of government affairs, who attended the working group's two meetings in Las Vegas and Reno...read more

Home court advantage

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- George Maloof expects large crowds of basketball fans to pack the Palms this weekend in conjunction with the NBA All-Star Game festivities. So much so that Maloof had staff temporarily remove about 60 slot machines from the casino's lobby to give fans more room to circulate. What the crowds' impact will be on the casino's weekend revenues is anyone's guess. Other than Mandalay Bay, which is the site of the NBA Jam Session, All-Star Celebrity Game and other specialty events, the Palms is center court among the city's hotel-casinos as the much-anticipated event rolls into town. The Palms was chosen as the host hotel by the NBA and, as such, 24 of the property's 1,200-square-foot, one-bedroom suites were set aside for the East and West All-Star players...read more

Rebecca's Recommendations - February 16, 2007

I would like to start with thanking all of you that sent me the beautiful Valentine's Day gifts. The flowers, the candy, the diamonds, the cards...they are just beautiful. You shouldn't have. Ya. Right. Do you really want to know what I got for Valentine's Day? NOTHING! ZIP! ZERO! Not even an E-CARD! Wait, I take that back- I did have a nice dinner and movie session with my mom while we waited out the Nor'easter...read more

Column: Hooked on Poker After Dark

I admit it. When I heard another poker show was joining the already flooded cable market, I cringed. I'd already suffered through The Poker Dome, Boston vs. New York and Celebrity Poker Showdown -- television owes me several dozen hours of my life back – and I wasn't prepared to try another one...read more

NETeller plans 250 layoffs

NETeller plans to layoff more than 250 employees worldwide as part of a reorganization following its recent withdrawal from the U.S. marketplace, according to a press release issued Friday. The layoffs will hit NETeller's Calgary offices hardest...read more

MGM Mirage's profits surge

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- MGM Mirage said Wednesday that condo sales, revenues generated by some of its 10 Strip resorts and a full quarter of results from its reopened casino in Biloxi, Miss., gave it solid earnings for both the fourth quarter and all of 2006. The company said earnings per share in the fourth quarter more than doubled from the fourth quarter a year ago. "As expected, results were impressive on the Las Vegas Strip, with notable strength at Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and Luxor," Bear Stearns gaming analyst Joe Greff said in a note to investors...read more

Court rules National Labor Relations Act applies to California casino

Last Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled with respect to the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in California, that the tribe's gambling operations are not exempt from the National Labor Relations Act...read more

Gambling beyond Nevada: Company expanding in Macau

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- MGM Mirage, which is still awaiting regulatory approval of its Chinese business partner, announced Tuesday it was proceeding with plans for a second casino in Macau under its joint venture agreement. The Las Vegas-based casino operator said discussions with Macau government officials had reached a stage in which the company could submit plans for a second hotel-casino later this year...read more

Pokerbandits.ca admits to hoax

The operators of pokerbandits.ca, whose operators claimed on Monday that the Web site had been shut down by the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and the Canadian government, announced that those claims were a hoax on Tuesday night. "We apologize to all for any inconvenience that may have resulted by our recent hoax, however we found it necessary to perpetuate given the current state of online poker in the United States," read the pokerbandits.ca Web site on Tuesday night...read more