Featured Articles Archive - Page 677

Pinnacle Buys, Will Close Sands Atlantic City

Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment found entry into the Atlantic City casino market Tuesday, agreeing to buy the aging Sands and an adjacent 7.7-acre parcel for $270 million. Pinnacle said it would shut down the Sands, one of the Boardwalk's oldest gambling halls, 70 days after the transaction closes, demolishing the 600-room hotel and small casino...read more

Recovering From Katrina: Coming Inland, Prospering in Biloxi

BILOXI, Mississippi -- In the days following Hurricane Katrina, state officials and gaming authorities assessed the damage the storm inflicted on the Gulf Coast's lucrative casino industry. It became clear to many that a controversial step had to be taken; moving the casinos away from the shoreline onto land to protect the multimillion-dollar investments should another storm hit here. What wasn't anticipated, however, was the outpouring of interest that casino operators would have in joining the Gulf Coast's casino reconstruction. State lawmakers passed an emergency measure in a special legislative session two months after the hurricane, allowing casinos to be 800 feet from the water's edge. The bill, signed immediately into law by Gov...read more

The Big Easy Gets a Big Boost from Return of Casinos, Gamblers

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana -- At Johnny White's Sports Bar, a dingy French Quarter saloon at the corner of Bourbon Street and Orleans Avenue, bartender Peter Gregory is convinced that casinos, especially Harrah's New Orleans, are helping the city recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Money won, he said, fuels the local economy. "We've had a few customers come in the bar and buy a round of drinks for the house because they won $1,500 or so at Harrah's," Gregory said...read more

Recovering From Katrina: Back to Business in Biloxi

BILOXI, Mississippi -- Hung Vu never considered himself a construction worker, but a year away from his job as a blackjack dealer at Beau Rivage made the Vietnamese immigrant pretty good with a hammer and nails. Vu, who honed his dealing skills on the Atlantic City Boardwalk and brought them to Mississippi's Gulf Coast in 1999, was one of Beau Rivage's original dealers when Mirage Resorts opened Biloxi's largest hotel-casino in March of that year. Dealing was put on hold for 12 months, however, when Hurricane Katrina's 135-mph winds and accompanying 30-foot storm surge damaged or destroyed 13 Gulf Coast casinos on Aug...read more

Rebecca's Recommendations - September 1, 2006

So much for my Labor Day beach party and BBQ...due to Hurricane Ernesto, Labor Day is forecasted to be a total washout here in Boston. Great. Good thing I'm headed to Vegas in one week. So get this- I won an affiliate contest through 32 Vegas Casino and now I'll be traveling to the Vegas conferences in style, baby...read more

Casino Industry: Harrah's Continues Expansion

LAS VEGAS -- Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment, which previously announced plans to build casinos in Spain and Slovenia, is looking at a further European expansion with an announcement Thursday that it is acquiring London Clubs International for $530 million. The transaction, in which Harrah's would purchase all outstanding shares of London Clubs, which operates six casinos in the United Kingdom and has five more under development, is expected to close by year's end...read more

Pelton wins 2006 WPT Legends of Poker Title

Before Wednesday night's 2006 World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker Main Event victory, young poker professional Joe Pelton's largest tournament success was a 2005 super-satellite entry into the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. The payout for that event was $25,700, a nice chunk of change, but mere pennies compared to the $1.5 million Pelton received for taking home the fourth tournament in the WPT season five schedule...read more

WPT Legends of Poker Main Event Down to the Final Table

The least experienced player at the final table of the 2006 World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event has two World Series of Poker (WSOP) cashes, meaning fans of the WPT will have plenty to cheer about Wednesday. It took four days of play to whittle the field of 466 players down to the final six...read more

Officials Imagine New Look for Gulf

BILOXI, Mississippi -- As the state's largest casino roared back to life, Mississippi's top elected leaders reiterated that the coastal region would never be the same. But they believe different will be better. The reopening of MGM Mirage's Beau Rivage on Tuesday, one year after Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast, could foreshadow a change in how major gaming companies invest in the region...read more

Beau of the Ball

BILOXI, Mississippi -- When she read that Beau Rivage, the Gulf Coast's largest casino, would be reopening Tuesday, Barbara Hunt extended her vacation in Jacksonville, Fla., by a day before heading home to Houston. The lure of more than 2,100 new slot machines was hard to resist and Beau Rivage is just a short detour south from westbound Interstate 10...read more