Featured Articles Archive - Page 742

Property Tax Debate Biggest Concern For Gaming Industry

Gaming's largely unsuccessful lobbying efforts in the contentious 2003 legislative session led to some fractures within the industry. But as state lawmakers prepare to meet once again in Carson City on Monday, most believe casino leaders are united in one concept -- to closely monitor the expected debate on property taxes but remain relatively hidden from the public discussion. The casino industry has been affected by the sudden increase in assessed land values, with the tax bills for some gaming companies jumping upward of 30 percent last year...read more

Landry's Offers to Buy Golden Nugget

A little more than a year after their purchase of the Golden Nugget landed Tim Poster and Tom Breitling on the front pages of national publications and in their own reality TV series, the dot-com millionaires agreed to part ways with the historic downtown casino Friday, accepting $295 million in cash and debt assumption from Houston-based Landry's Restaurants. The transaction gives Landry's, the operator of more than 300 restaurants nationwide under such brands as Landry's Seafood House, Rainforest Cafe and Joe's Crab Shack, its first gaming property and a brand name the company hopes to introduce into different casino jurisdictions. "The Golden Nugget name is a great brand, and it's one that allows us to expand into other markets," said Tilman Fertitta, Landry's chairman and chief executive officer...read more

Proposed Bill Could Lead to Legalized Internet Poker in North Dakota

A group of state legislators in North Dakota has proposed a plan that would allow the state's citizens to vote in 2006 on whether the definition of gambling should be revised to exclude Internet poker, which would be reclassified as a game of skill...read more

Casino Revenue: Gaming Stocks Start '05 Strong

As gaming companies, including giants MGM Mirage and Harrah's, ready their quarterly earnings reports this week, stock prices for the major operators in January reflected investors' optimism that results will surpass Wall Street estimates. Two pieces of news during the month -- Caesars Entertainment increasing its guidance for its quarterly earnings per share and Station Casinos announcing the company's fourth-quarter revenues were up 15 percent -- pushed the entire sector higher, according to the Applied Analysis Gaming Index, a weighted average of local gaming stocks published monthly by the Las Vegas-based financial consulting firm. Meanwhile, stocks in the major gaming equipment manufacturers slid somewhat, due in part to less-than-stellar earnings reported by market leader International Game Technology. Still, as a whole the index climbed 3.6 percent, the fifth consecutive month with an increase...read more

Nevadan At Work: Stacy Allsbrook; Executive Director, Las Vegas Centennial Celebration

More than a decade ago, her classmates at Chaparral High School voted her the campus's biggest party girl. So it seems fitting that Stacy Allsbrook is in charge of throwing Las Vegas' largest-ever celebration. Allsbrook, a life-long Southern Nevadan and a 13-year city of Las Vegas employee, is serving as executive director of the Las Vegas Centennial Celebration, a year-long commemoration of the city's 100th birthday. The party doesn't just begin and end on May 15, the date when a land auction established Las Vegas in 1905...read more

Analysts Get Preview Tour of Wynn Las Vegas

Appearances are not all they seem. And gaming analysts, offered a behind-the-scenes preview this week of the $2.5 billion Wynn Las Vegas, said that despite a significant amount of construction remaining to be completed in the next 90 days, the 2,700-room resort will be ready when guests begin arriving April 28. The track record of Wynn Resorts Ltd...read more

Horoscope for the Week of January 30, 2005

Tip of the Week: The New Moon in Aquarius each year marks the Chinese New Year. How different the oriental approach from the occidental in this regard. Rather than have a fixed date each year, which seems sensible, the Chinese culture tunes into more authentic, natural celestial events...read more

Venetian Pays $10,000 Fine

LAS VEGAS -- The Venetian agreed Thursday to pay a $10,000 fine to Nevada gaming regulators in conjunction with a 2004 episode where a 19-year-old patron gambled and was served alcohol at the Strip resort. A cashiers' cage employee caught the gambler when he tried to exchange casino chips for currency...read more

Las Vegas Airport Shatters Annual Mark

LAS VEGAS -- Local aviation officials may have celebrated a bit prematurely last month when it was touted that McCarran International Airport would welcome 40 million passengers in 2004, an accomplishment claimed by a handful of other airports. In reality, McCarran hosted more than 41.4 million travelers last year, vaporizing all previous 12-month records and keeping the Las Vegas airport within the upper echelon of the busiest American airports. McCarran's final count topped the 2003 total of 36.3 million passengers, an increase of 14.3 percent...read more

Nevada Lottery Faces Usual Obstacles

NEVADA -- In states offering both lotteries and casinos, the two forms of gaming have learned to coexist. Nevada may be a different matter. While Democratic legislative leaders prepare a lottery proposal in which proceeds would help fund the state's public education system, casino leaders are apprehensive. The matter was shot down in the 2001 and 2003 sessions, and gaming officials said the state shouldn't be in the same business as its largest commercial enterprise. "I liken it to the state of Washington building airplanes or Michigan manufacturing automobiles," Station Casinos spokeswoman Lesley Pittman said. "Historically, our company has opposed a state lottery on a philosophical level. We don't believe the state should compete with its primary industry." There is a large difference between Nevada and the rest of the country...read more