Featured Articles Archive - Page 711

Casino City Drops First Amendment Case Against DOJ

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has this week accepted Casino City's motion to dismiss its declaratory judgment case against the U.S. Department of Justice. Launched in August 2004, Casino City's case sought a ruling from the U.S...read more

Nevadan At Work: Three-Casino Juggling Act No Easy Task for Executive

Marilyn Winn didn't follow the usual track to the presidency of a Strip casino, but the direction she took led her to the leadership of three Las Vegas resorts. Rather than working her way up the casino ranks, Winn was the top official in Harrah's Entertainment's corporate human resources department when she was selected to oversee Harrah's and the Rio in Las Vegas in January 2004. Following completion of the company's $9 billion purchase of Caesars Entertainment in June, the restructuring took Harrah's from her purview, but gave her Bally's and Paris Las Vegas (which operate under one gaming license) in addition to the Rio. Winn is one of two female Strip casino presidents -- Renee West is president of the MGM Mirage-owned Excalibur -- but she doesn't consider herself a trailblazer. She reserves that title for longtime gaming executive Claudine Williams, who opened Harrah's Las Vegas in 1973, known back then as the Holiday Casino...read more

Roads to Pittburgh Cross Through Vegas

The competition for the lone casino license in Pittsburgh is loaded with Las Vegas implications. Three groups are seeking approval from Pennsylvania gaming regulators to operate a 5,000-slot machine casino in the state's second-largest city...read more

Gambling Beyond Nevada: Keystone Aspirations

The idea of putting 61,000 new slot machines in Pennsylvania casinos and racetracks by the end of the decade makes gaming equipment manufacturers light up like a progressive slot machine hitting a multilevel jackpot. Casino operators, however, have mixed impressions. As the first new American casino jurisdiction of major consequence since the late 1990s, the Keystone State has become the subject of much due diligence and speculation by Las Vegas-based gaming companies. "Strategically, we see Pennsylvania as a fantastic opportunity not only for our company but all the (slot machine) manufacturers," said Gavin Isaacs, president of slot maker Aristocrat Technologies...read more

Union Boss Says Hotels Can Avoid Strike

UNITED STATES -- A nationwide labor dispute involving 60,000 hotel workers in major North American cities could be averted if the hotel industry were to adopt some of the policies major casino companies use, the national union chief for lodging and food service workers said Thursday. In a conference call sponsored by Wall Street investment house Bear Stearns, UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm told stock analysts and portfolio managers who follow the hotel industry that a nationwide strike by hotel workers could wipe out all the financial gains lodging companies have achieved in the past few years. Labor contracts at almost 200 hotels in six cities, operated by such national companies as Hilton Hotels Corp., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Marriott International and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, will expire this year...read more

California Horse Racing's ADW Licensing System to Undergo Change

With the legislation that authorizes advance deposit wagering (ADW) in California set to expire at the end of 2007, the state's Racing Board is set to undertake extensive deliberations with the racing industry and the California Legislature in order to improve the ADW licensing model...read more

Rebecca's Recommendations - January 26, 2006

Ok, so now I’m in London at the International Casino Exposition, hopefully still alive and breathing. You never know. Assuming that I make it home in one piece, stories are coming next week- stay tuned for them, my friends. In the meantime, I do have a few cool promos and announcements to toss your way...read more

Mississippi Operations Helped Ameristar

LAS VEGAS -- Ameristar Casinos showed investors Wednesday how it benefited by operating in hurricane-ravaged Mississippi. Fueled by revenue from coastal Mississippi casino customers displaced when their normal hangouts were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, Ameristar's Vicksburg casino reported record income, revenue and cash flow in the fourth quarter that ended Dec...read more

I-gaming Prohibition Becoming a Priority for Republican Leaders

Following revelations that Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay may have manipulated voting and other factors surrounding the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act in 2000, Republican lawmakers could be hoping to rectify the past and distance themselves from political scandal by putting an online gambling prohibition bill to vote once again in 2006...read more

Close-to-Real Deal: Poker Paying Off

Australian gambler Joseph Hachem, a three-year veteran of the professional poker circuit, spent eight days during last summer's World Series of Poker -- including 14 hours of play at the final championship table -- to win the game's ultimate title and the $7.5 million prize. Representatives of several video game manufacturers have never spent a minute playing competitive poker...read more