Gaming

MGM Mirage announces debt-exchange deal

MGM Mirage announced a debt-exchange deal Thursday in which it plans to swap some of its $782 million in 8.5 percent notes due in 2010 for up to $500 million in 10 percent notes due in 2016.

Creditors probe deal that took Station private

A group of creditors in the Station Casinos Inc. bankruptcy case revealed Wednesday it's investigating the 2007 deal in which the Las Vegas company was taken private -- a deal the creditors say involved questionable terms that now threaten recovery of funds by the creditors. Attorneys for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors made the revelation in a motion objecting to plans by Station and some of its bank lenders to spend cash during the bankruptcy process.

Cannery casinos weigh on company's earnings

Taking over the site of the old Nevada Palace, Eastside Cannery Hotel and Casino is the first new major Boulder Highway casino to open in more than a decade. A $250 million project, the casino has 307 rooms, six restaurants, four bars and a lounge.

Australia's Crown Ltd. posted further losses Thursday because of its U.S. gaming investments, this time writing off most of the value of its interest in Cannery Casino Resorts LLC of Las Vegas. Crown reported a loss for the year ended in June of $1.197 billion (Australian) vs. a profit one year earlier of A$3.546 billion. In the six months ended in June it lost A$788 million (U.S. $651 million.)

Fontainebleau suffers defeat as judge sides with banks

The bankrupt Fontainebleau resort suffered a legal defeat Wednesday when a judge ruled in favor of banks it is suing on a key legal question. He ruled the banks, not Fontainebleau, are correct in their interpretation of a key lending contract.

MGM Mirage responds to shareholder lawsuit

MGM Mirage on Tuesday issued its first formal response to an Aug. 19 shareholder lawsuit alleging the company and current and former officers misled shareholders about its financial prospects.

Aristocrat Leisure reports revenue, profit declines

Slot machine maker Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. on Tuesday reported revenue and profit declines in the North American market during the first half of 2009, citing "difficult economic and gaming market conditions.''

Kan. lottery chief: Mike Ensign not in casino plan

Retired Las Vegas gambling executive Mike Ensign is no longer involved in an attempt to build a casino south of Wichita, the Kansas Lottery's executive director said Tuesday. Ensign's involvement in a previous proposal for a Lottery-owned casino in Sumner County in south-central Kansas had brought the plan additional scrutiny because he is the father of Nevada Sen. John Ensign, a Republican who confessed in June to an affair. The senator said in July that his parents had paid his mistress and her family $96,000.

Station's legal battle heats up in bankruptcy case

Station Casinos Inc.'s lenders continue to fight amongst themselves and Station is seeking court approval to pay for more attorneys to deal with threatened litigation associated with its bankruptcy case. While Station has expressed hope for a speedy resolution to its bankruptcy case, court papers filed Friday show the case is becoming increasingly complex and contentious as the company, lenders and other creditors assert arguments in the restructuring process.

Funeral arrangements set for Frank Fertitta Jr.

Funeral services for Station Casinos Inc. founder and community philanthropist Frank Fertitta Jr. have been scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Fertitta died Friday in a Los Angeles hospital.

Seduction by room rate

Seduction by room rate

Rob Kronman, who works in finance in Los Angeles, would have been willing to pay at least twice what he spent for two nights at the Encore last week. Thanks to a heated price war in Las Vegas, Kronman snagged a suite at the Encore for $109 per night, with a $50 credit toward resort purchases. “I’ve stayed at the Hilton and Monte Carlo but this was a whole level above,” he said. “It was an extraordinary stay in what was probably a $400 room.”

Use of foreign labor by slot makers sparks regulation consideration

Amid a slew of little-noticed gaming bills, the Legislature this year passed a law enabling the Nevada Gaming Commission to draft regulations requiring licensing of third parties, including contractors, who have significant roles in building gambling devices for use in Nevada.

Mesquite: Feeling pain from Vegas, getting down to business

The Oasis Golf Club is one of six golf courses in Mesquite. Another golf course is set to open soon.

The parking lot of the Oasis Resort Hotel & Casino is empty, heat blasting off it, mocking the name of the now shuttered hotel. The go-cart track is silent and the pool closed, its deck chairs stacked, giving the place the feel of a wintry Rust Belt amusement park. For small communities in Southern Nevada like this town on the Arizona border, the troubles in Las Vegas are a contagion.

Deliberate growth amid boom reflects Eureka owner’s heritage

Greg Lee stands on a mesa overlooking his Eureka hotel and casino in Mesquite.

The fortunes of Greg Lee’s Eureka Casino Hotel have closely traced the growth of this town. The only Asian casino operator in Nevada, Lee is a self-described “believer in the vision of Mesquite,” but these are tough times for optimists. Gaming revenue in Mesquite fell 12 percent last year, and another 18 percent so far this year.

Station Casinos founder left his mark as philanthropist

Frank Fertitta Jr.

The publicity-shy Frank Fertitta Jr., founder of Station Casinos, will be remembered for both his vision and his philanthropy as a businessman, turning a small casino just off the Strip into a casino empire that catered to locals while most of his counterparts focused on tourists, and then pouring much of his profit into schools, charities and medical research. Fertitta died early Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for a long-standing heart condition. He was 70.

Frank Fertitta Jr., patriarch of Station Casinos, dies

On July 9, 1990, executives from Palace Station drove a spike into a railroad tie, symbolizing the beginning of construction on their new 587-room, 22-story tower. From left are Frank Fertitta Jr. (chairman of the board), Glen Christensen (vice president/CFO), Joe Canfora (vice president/general manager), Jim Faso (senior vice president), Lorenzo Fertitta (vice president), Frank Fertitta III (president/COO) and Blake Sartini (director of casino operations).

Frank Fertitta Jr., the patriarch of Station Casinos, died today after heart surgery in a California hospital. Fertitta, 70, who had been ill for some time, died at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, sources close to the family said. Fertitta arrived in Las Vegas from Texas with his wife, Victoria, in 1960. He started working as a bellman at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino while he was learning to be a dealer.