Gaming Gurus: Strategy Expert Article Archive - Page 844

Wynn (and Trump) Watch - December 2002

Steve Wynn has a lot to do theses days.  The money has been raised, the ground broken and the plans nearly completed for his Las Vegas dream: LeReve.  In Macau, he has a casino to build, staff and get in operation before his dream is complete.  That does not seem to be enough for the energetic, charismatic Wynn.  In the last thirty days, he has been touring Maryland and Mexico looking for places, partners and permission to operate. Casino Developer Studies Opportunities.  Las Vegas and Chinese gambling-hotel developer Steve Wynn has lined up a partner in Mexico in anticipation that casinos will be legalized in that nation, the Wall Street Journal reported today.  Las Vegas Sun, 12-6-02 Wynn Considers Resort For Maryland.  New details surfaced Thursday about talks between Las Vegas and Chinese casino resort developer Steve Wynn and top Maryland lawmakers to explore proposals for legalizing slots in Maryland.  …"His focus is to build a major entertainment complex with racing, slots and entertainment," said Rawlings, a Baltimore Democrat who serves as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.  Las Vegas Sun, 11-29-02 Wynn Planning School In China To Lure Workers.   Steve Wynn will establish a hospitality school in Macau as part of his effort to recruit and educate workers in the Chinese city.  …Wynn's casino project in Macau will be developed in two phases with the groundbreaking of Phase I expected in April…is expected to open in the second quarter of 2004.  Richard N...read more

Quick-takes: The month's trends in a glance - December 2003

The economy in December wasn't much different than the rest of the year. The stock market was down for the month; the DOW began the month at 8902 and ended at 8341. 2002 was the third year in a row in which the DOW declined. The DOW began 2000 at 11,501, 2001 at 10,790, and 2002 at 10, 021...read more

What Casinos Can't Predict about Jackpots, and What They Can

The only thing known about a jackpot, other than amount and increment if it's progressive, is its chance of being won on any try. This, because an internal computer chip generates numbers at random and with equal likelihood over a predetermined range, a specified set of which corresponds to the jackpot...read more

New Machines from WMS Gaming

Bonus rounds on modern video slot machines resemble nothing so much as animated film shorts. Characters, witty dialogue, even mini-plots make the games go, and keep the customers in their seats. These grown-up equivalents of Saturday morning cartoons need someone to organize the storyline, animation and features beyond the bare math of the awarding of a bonus...read more

Jest For Fun

He: "Did you hear what happened in the casino?" She: "No, what?" He: "An elderly man at a blackjack table won a big pot, but the excitement was too much for him...read more

Poker Skills You Can't Learn from a Book

Lots of professional poker players learned everything they know from the school of hard knocks. These particular guys couldn't tell you the odds of making a flush with two cards to come if their lives depended upon it...read more

Reflections

Well... it has been a long year... and I am really glad to see this one end. It’s been a long, long road... and every day is a new story, a new beginning. I sincerely hope that the new year will bring the anticipated, and long-awaited income.....read more

How Slot Machines Work - Part One

The industrial revolution of the late 1700s and early 1800s saw machines displace man in the manufacturing of just about everything, except perhaps other human beings (but that's happening now!). In 1811 in England, organized retaliatory groups of angry workers, both those who were employed and those who were unemployed, known as Luddites, went around smashing machines and decrying the fact that man was being replaced by soulless, heartless, inhuman, almost satanic devices...read more

Meeting Old Friends at the Ghost Bar

The drinks and hors d'oeuvres were free. The view, from the deck outside the Ghost Bar on the 55th floor of the Palms in Las Vegas, was spectacular. And Frank Scoblete was amazed. "Can you believe this?" said Scoblete, the prolific gambling author whose books include Break the One-Armed Bandits, Best Blackjack, and Forever Craps...read more

New Year Brings many Changes to Michigan's Gaming Industry

The regulatory and political landscape for the gaming industry will see some major changes in the year 2003. Michigan has elected a new Governor. The end of 2002 also brought with it a new Executive Director of the Michigan Gaming Control Board (Dan Gustafson) and a new Racing Commissioner (Robert Geake)...read more