Gaming

Slot machine maker IGT purchases online gaming company

Nevada-based slot machine maker International Game Technology has reached an agreement to purchase Double Down Interactive, gaining the infrastructure to potentially offer online wagering for money.

12 January 2012
By Dave Berns

MGM signs property deal for Massachusetts casino proposal

MGM Resorts International has signed an agreement to purchase a 150-acre parcel of land 65 miles west of Boston in Brimfield, Mass., to develop a “world-class resort” that would create 3,000 permanent jobs and several thousand indirect jobs, according to a statement released Thursday by the Las Vegas-based hotel-casino operator.

12 January 2012
By Dave Berns

Strip casinos post 9 percent gain in gaming win

A view of the Las Vegas Strip from atop the Stratosphere. Analysts at accounting firm PwC have boosted their growth projection for Nevada's casino industry.

Buoyed by strong play in baccarat, casinos along the Las Vegas Strip raked in $495.2 million in November, a 9 percent gain from a year ago.

11 January 2012
By Cy Ryan

Gambling makes up smallest chunk ever of casino revenue

A view of the Las Vegas Strip from the top of Tropicana on Saturday, March 26, 2011.

Money won from gamblers comprised a record low share of the Nevada casino industry’s total revenue generated during the past fiscal year. But spending on food, beverages and related offerings produced an all-time high share of the overall revenue picture, according to figures released Friday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The board's numbers support a much-stated contention in recent months: The state’s gaming industry is recovering from the depths of the recession but has yet to fully rebound.

6 January 2012
By Dave Berns,
Cy Ryan

Once-dominant Las Vegas holds on as center of gambling universe shifts

Once-dominant Las Vegas holds on as center of gambling universe shifts

This has all the makings of a potentially tumultuous year for the gaming industry. Union contracts expire for tens of thousands of Las Vegas casino industry workers this year, and if each side frames its position by the continuing recession, the negotiations may well be tense and drawn out.

6 January 2012
By Dave Berns

Two more Southern Nevada hotels default on debt

A view of the Loews Lake Las Vegas in Henderson.

As the Southern Nevada gaming and tourism economy improves in 2012, financial restructurings of troubled companies and properties are expected to slow down. But such troubles are continuing for some companies, as evidenced by debt defaults involving Loews Lake Las Vegas Hotel in Henderson and the JW Marriott Las Vegas casino resort in Summerlin. Their recently disclosed defaults follow a difficult 2011 for the local resort industry.

5 January 2012
By Steve Green

Hooters likely to be sold in February

Hooters hotel-casino just off the Las Vegas Strip.

The Hooters hotel-casino in Las Vegas will be sold next month under plans disclosed this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Unable to meet its debt payments, the 696-room Tropicana Avenue property filed for bankruptcy last year and then agreed with its main creditor that it will be sold to the highest bidder.

4 January 2012
By Steve Green

$70 million renovation completed at the Bellagio

A recently renovated room at the Bellagio. The resort underwent a $70 million upgrade of rooms in its main tower.

A major six-month renovation of thousands of rooms at the Bellagio has been completed, a hotel executive said Wednesday. The $70 million job started in June, and 2,568 rooms in the hotel’s main tower have been updated.

4 January 2012
By Conor Shine

Why Steve Wynn's plan for Foxborough casino has been so divisive

Mark Sullivan, a Foxborough town selectman, in his garage with his son Seamus, explains how the standoff over the casino is ripping his town apart, as he laments that the drama is bound to drag on at least another six months.

Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn has exported his gaming know-how to the Jersey Shore and the South China Sea. But those successes don’t seem to matter much to the residents of this sleepy enclave of 17,000 who are wary Wynn might turn their stretch of country highway into the Bay State Strip.

4 January 2012
By Karoun Demirjian

State officials studying feds' ruling on online poker

A woman who wants to remain anonymous plays poker online.

The Nevada Attorney General’s office has begun studying the U.S. Department of Justice’s surprising new interpretation of online gambling to determine what effects it might have on the state.

4 January 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

Bellagio hit with power outages New Year’s Eve

The Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip.

The west wing of the Bellagio’s main tower had intermittent power outages throughout the afternoon and early evening Saturday, leading to the New Year’s Eve day closure of the buffet and the loss of power to several hundred hotel rooms.

2 January 2012
By Dave Berns

New McCarran terminal among tourism highlights for 2012

A United Airlines passenger jet is shown on the ground as a Southwest jet takes off at McCarran International Airport on Dec. 9, 2011.

Here at the Sun and its business publication, VEGAS INC, we like to look forward instead of backward. With that in mind, here are some of the top tourism news stories you’ll be seeing in 2012.

2 January 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

Confidence is the key sentiment in gaming and tourism industries

Shane Williams and Judith Lanuza, both of Las Vegas, share a kiss during TributePalooza at the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on New Year's Eve Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011.

Our state depends on the revenue generated by casinos. Casinos depend on tourists wanting to gamble, dine, shop and be entertained. So what is in store for 2012? The mood is upbeat. Here are the details:

1 January 2012
By Las Vegas Sun Staff

Economic optimism is emerging, but it's guarded

Mayor Carolyn Goodman and her husband, Oscar Goodman, count down to the new year during TributePalooza at the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on New Year's Eve Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011.

There was a time when experts thought Nevada would be well on the road to recovery by 2012. But we're not. There is strong consensus, though, that we're turning the corner. Yes, we've heard that before, too, but this time there is greater confidence. The important numbers are trending well. Here are forecasts by 10 economists and business leaders, speaking about what they know best.

1 January 2012
By Las Vegas Sun Staff

Southern Nevada economy 'has turned the corner,' according to report

Southern Nevada is bouncing back from the recession and could receive an added push as the national economy continues to gain strength, according to a series of monthly indices released today by UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research, or CBER.

30 December 2011
By Dave Berns
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