Featured Articles Archive - Page 731

Poker Boot Camp Gives Wannabes Lessons

LAS VEGAS -- Poker's unrelenting popularity growth over the past 18 months has created an army of new players, encouraged casinos to reopen once shuttered poker rooms, spawned an overabundance of poker-related television programs and given birth to countless online poker Web sites. Now, budding players have a Las Vegas-based school dedicated to Texas hold 'em. With a professional poker player as the instructor and a curriculum structured much like a college classroom, the Leonard Benson Co.'s Poker Boot Camp has hosted more than 200 students since mid-February. "We attract new players who want to learn the game, and experienced players who are looking to improve their play," said Jim Sherwood, marketing director for the Poker Boot Camp, which is owned by the Leonard Benson Co., a gaming products supplier...read more

Manufacturing Rivals to Collaborate on Table-Game Management System

Three rival casino equipment providers announced late Tuesday they will jointly create a table-game management system. International Game Technology, Shuffle Master Gaming and Progressive Gaming International Corp. will develop, manufacture and market pieces of the system...read more

California Tribes Match Strip Win

Gaming revenues of $5.3 billion produced by California's 56 Indian casinos in 2004 equaled the gaming win reported by resorts on the Strip during the same calendar year, according to a national study of tribal-operated gaming being released today. California, home to 28 percent of all the revenue produced by Indian casinos in America, experienced a 13.3 percent jump in gaming revenues from $4.7 billion in 2003...read more

Employees at Caesars, Bally's Upbeat About Merger With Harrah's

After almost 30 years of parking cars and handling luggage for customers at Caesars Palace, Gary Bruno has seen a fair share of ownership changes. He compared the Strip's resort's latest turnover to meeting his in-laws for the first time...read more

Gambling: A Penny for Your Slots

More and more, slot players are putting in their 2 cents, or more. Once relegated to gambling-equipment museums, the penny is back with a vengeance, and slot machine floors -- from those in the smallest casinos to those in billion-dollar Strip resorts -- are making space for them. "Pennies are the rage, and they're growing," said Jefferies & Co...read more

Mergers and Acquisitions : Regulators OK Harrah's Deal

Nevada gaming regulators on Friday green lighted Harrah's $9 billion purchase of rival Caesars Entertainment, dismissing concerns that competition among casino operators would suffocate under the weight of two companies controlling the bulk of the Strip's largest resorts. During rare back-to-back hearings of the state Gaming Control Board and Nevada Gaming Commission, Harrah's executives said the transaction, which gives the company four additional Las Vegas resorts and a second property in Laughlin, would spark increased investments in Nevada and also boost local vendor purchases and corporate philanthropy. Advertisement Harrah's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Loveman said the company, which in 2004 spent $385 million with local vendors and contributed $1.6 million to Nevada charities, would also maintain any corporate commitments previously agreed to by Caesars. "As we told the board, we feel we have a bigger role," Loveman said following the two unanimous approval votes...read more

Horoscope for the Week of June 12, 2005

Tip of the Week Summer is rapidly approaching now and the planetary alignments concur that that is a time of action and new beginnings. Much of the focus will be centered on home and family for the next few weeks. Mercury and Venus are both in Cancer, the sign of family, and the Sun will soon follow marking the event of Summer Solstice at around midnight on June 20...read more

Search Engine Advertisement Case In California Proceeds to Next Phase

A court in San Francisco, California has denied Google, Yahoo! and 11 other search engines a motion to dismiss a class action suit that first surfaced in August 2004. The two plaintiffs in the case claim that they used illegal sponsored ads on the search engine websites to find illegal online casinos to which they then lost thousands of dollars...read more

WTO Ruling Raises Concerns over US States' Rights

Officials from various U.S. states are concerned that the WTO Dispute Settlement Body's ruling on the U.S./Antigua dispute over interactive gambling services could have far broader and more troublesome consequences than those directly related to Internet gambling...read more

Gaming Attorneys Say California Ruling Won't Trigger Slew of Lawsuits

CALIFORNIA -- A California Supreme Court decision allowing a class action lawsuit that alleges false advertising by Nevada casinos to proceed in a Los Angeles courtroom shouldn't lead to a rash of legal filings, gaming attorneys said Tuesday. Monday's unanimous ruling, which allowed a California customer's lawsuit to continue against Harrah's Entertainment, was too case-specific to affect any other matters, commented several Las Vegas lawyers who specialize in gaming matters. In 2002, Frank Snowney of Los Angeles filed a class action lawsuit against Harrah's properties, claiming that in 2001 he made a reservation at a Harrah's resort, which said the room would cost $50 a night plus room tax. However, the final bill carried a $3 energy surcharge that Snowney claimed was never disclosed by the casino. The 20-page ruling by the California justices did not discuss the case's merits...read more