Featured Articles Archive - Page 660

PokerTek leads a growing market of electronic poker games

Electronic multi-player table games (EMTs) are starting to gain traction in the casino industry. Electronic poker, blackjack and roulette tables littered nearly every aisle of the 2006 Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas earlier this month. And electronic poker tables can already be found in several casinos. PokerTek CEO Lou White, which produces the PokerPro electronic poker table, believes that the timeline for implementation of these EMTs in casinos will be directly related to the relationship between the player and the dealer in the game. "In poker, there is no relationship between the dealer and the player," White says...read more

60 cent main event: Lessons learned from Kyle MacDonald

I got my first trade offer less than an hour after I posted my plan to turn a 60-cent check from PKR.com into a ticket to the Main Event 2007 World Series of Poker. Because the initial trade could set the tone for the whole project, I decided to get some advice from the man who inspired my little project: Kyle MacDonald...read more

WPT women nearing breakthrough win

Women have won seven World Series of Poker bracelets in open competition. But they have not won a World Poker Tour championship. When Kathy Liebert and Thiti "Mimi" Tran finished in the top five of this month's Foxwood World Poker Finals Main Event, it was the first time two women had reached a WPT final table...read more

Tribal casino tries to dip into Laughlin's customer base

LAUGHLIN, Nevada -- When Nevada's first American Indian-run casino opened here in 1995, it didn't draw much attention. The Fort Mohave Tribal Council built the Avi for just $47 million and its 25,000-square-foot casino wasn't considered competition to the corporate-owned properties near the Colorado River gaming community. But 11 years later, Laughlin casino operators are noticing. "It doesn't really get reported much, but they've probably been the most active in the market in terms of upgrading their product," Harrah's Laughlin General Manager Wade Fall said of the Avi, which is about 10 miles south of the Laughlin casino cluster near the Nevada-California border...read more

Gaming Industry: Rolling on the river

LAUGHLIN, Nevada -- Cherie Smeltzer, a Realtor from Helendale, Calif., has been coming to Laughlin at least four times a year for the past 15 years, always staying at the Flamingo. So when Stratosphere owner American Casino and Entertainment Properties completed its purchase of the 16-year-old casino from Harrah's Entertainment in May for $170 million and renamed the resort Aquarius, Smeltzer worried about the transformation. "What I always enjoyed about Laughlin is that it wasn't Las Vegas," Smeltzer said on a recent weekday morning, enjoying a champagne brunch in the Aquarius coffee shop with her two traveling companions. "Laughlin has always been more to my liking and, while I've been to some of the other casinos, I was always loyal to the Flamingo...read more

Casino shares rise on new bid

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, the majority shareholder in gaming giant MGM Mirage, took steps Wednesday to increase his controlling ownership stake in the company. Gaming analysts, however, did not believe the move was done to take the casino operator private. The purchases were announced the same day Kerkorian said through Tracinda Corp., his wholly owned investment vehicle, that he was trimming his ownership holdings in General Motors by 14 million shares. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Kerkorian said he was selling a portion of his stock in the automaker for $462 million...read more

G2E 2006 equals Technology

A running theme at this year's Global Gaming Expo (G2E) was the future of technology as it relates to the gaming entertainment industry. During last week's show, more than 26,000 industry professionals from across the globe gathered at the Las Vegas Convention Center to share best practices and view more than 150 new and exciting products. The future of technology played a significant role in the G2E keynote panel which took place last Wednesday. The discussion entitled "State of the Industry: The Next Generation of Global Gaming", was moderated by Frank J...read more

New Houdini bio; football handicapping book

Fans of the great Houdini and those fascinated by magic should have a ball with the newest biography of the great magician. Houdini died 80 years ago but his legacy is such that his name has become legend. Then, just when you think there's nothing new to say about one of the most talented and mysterious showmen of the past century, comes The Secret Life of Houdini (The Making of America's First Superhero) by William Kalush and Larry Sloman (591 pages, hard bound, $29.95). Another interesting new arrival at Gambler's Book Shop is Bill Bravenec's The College Football Handicapper -- How to Beat the Spread in College Football (149 pages, paperbound, $19.95)...read more

Kerkorian to boost MGM Mirage stake

LAS VEGAS , Nevada -- Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, the majority shareholder in gaming giant MGM Mirage, took steps Wednesday to increase his controlling ownership stake in the company. Gaming analysts, however, did not believe the move was done to take the casino operator private. The purchases were announced the same day Kerkorian said through Tracinda Corp., his wholly owned investment vehicle, that he was trimming his ownership holdings in General Motors by 14 million shares. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Kerkorian said he was selling a portion of his stock in the automaker for $462 million...read more

Tribeca trips up Doylesroom

Internet poker site Doylesroom.com's attempts to lure U.S. players hit a snag when its software developer announced that it would no longer permit its licensees to accept American bets. Tribeca Tables, the company that built Doylesroom.com's software platform, said two weeks ago that it would no longer allow its licensees to serve American players...read more