Featured Articles Archive - Page 713

Castaways Sinks into History

LAS VEGAS -- It took two separate construction phases and a little more than four years for the builders of the Showboat to complete the casino's 19-story, 450-room hotel tower during the mid-1970s. "Station Casinos and its demolition partners took all of 18 seconds to bring the building down early Wednesday morning. "With 195 pounds of explosives placed in 191 locations on four of the building's floors, the hotel tower that spent the last five years of its life known as the Castaways came to a crumbling end a little after 7 a.m...read more

China Striving to Erase Gambling

China represents a market that most I-gaming companies lust for, but the government would rather gambling be unavailable to its citizens. Government officials initiated a massive crackdown on gambling at the beginning of 2005 under the pretenses that in the previous year over US$94 billion in both public and private funds had been spent on foreign gambling services...read more

Bye Bye, Boardwalk

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- As security guards and gaming agents cleaned out and locked down the Boardwalk's slot machines and gaming tables in advance of the Strip casino's Monday closing, longtime customers and employees hugged, posed for pictures and said their sad goodbyes. Meanwhile, Boston resident Adam Auriemma wondered what all the commotion was about. On a trip to Las Vegas last year, Auriemma had a run of good luck on one of the Boardwalk's roulette tables...read more

Implosion Slated for Tower at Castaways

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The stripped and gutted tower from the shuttered Castaways will be imploded Wednesday morning, wiping away the last remnants of the casino formerly known as the Showboat. Station Casinos bought the 26-acre site on Boulder Highway 14 months ago in a three-way transaction for $33.7 million...read more

PokerStars on the Block - Let the Bidding Begin

The owners of the world's second largest online poker room, PokerStars, have tapped investment bank NM Rothchild to help them unload the business through either a sale or a float on the London Stock Exchange, prompting yet more speculation about the inevitable consolidation of the I-poker space...read more

What's Next for Ladbrokes?

After completing the sale of its 416 hotels to its American sister company £3.3 billion (US$5.8 billion), U.K.-based Hilton Group Plc (HG.L) will have no other business properties besides its Ladbrokes betting and gaming division. One of the most prominent gambling businesses in the United Kingdom and Europe, Ladbrokes will be watched with interest by many, especially now as England undergoes a liberalization of its gambling laws. Hilton's stated plan for the future goes no further than changing its trading name from Hilton Group to Ladbrokes Plc and continuing with business as usual, but amid the consolidation taking place in the U.K...read more

Nevada Casinos Post Record Income

NEVADA -- Nevada's major hotel-casinos posted their highest net income ever in a fiscal year, generating more than $1.8 billion on revenue of $21.4 billion in 2005, a new report released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board Thursday shows. The total revenue figure, which included the net income from 268 casinos statewide, eclipsed the nine-year-old record of $1.35 billion in fiscal 1996. In addition, fiscal 2005, which ended June 30, was the first time total gaming revenue wasn't more than half of the overall revenue generated by the casinos participating in the abstract. Room revenue was $4.3 billion in fiscal 2005, a 12.1 percent increase from $3.8 billion in fiscal 2004, and was cited as one reason for the variation. "Room rates were up, plus there were 4,000 more rooms available," said Frank Streshley, senior research analyst for the control board...read more

Rebecca's Recommendations - January 5, 2006

HAPPY NEW YEAR! So was anyone watching the college football finals last night? I certainly hope you didn't take USC. Jesus. During the game I was instant messaging with my Bodog friend who manages the call center in Costa Rica- apparently it was absolute mayhem over there during half time...read more

Investors Make Play for Shares of Riviera

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- A group of investors, including former Starwood Hotels' chairman Barry Sternlicht and Las Vegas real estate developer Brett Torino, have agreed to buy a portion of Riviera Holdings Corp., the parent company of the 50-year-old Riviera. In a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the investors said they had entered into an agreement Dec...read more

Rebecca's Recommendations - December 29, 2005

Happy Holidays! I must tell you, I am completely spoiled by my wonderful online gaming contacts. It all started a few weeks ago when I received a gigantic basket full of gourmet treats from Sports Interaction Casino and Poker. I mean, this thing was diesel...read more