Gaming

M Resort enrolls 100,000th rewards club member

A display is shown on a slot machine at the M Resort in Henderson.

M Resort announced that it enrolled its 100,000th rewards club member on Monday less than a month after the resort’s opening.

26 March 2009
By Amanda Finnegan

Workers rescued from Encore in high winds

Windows were shattered at the Encore on Thursday after scaffolding struck the resort and two workers were whipped in high winds.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating a Thursday morning accident at the Encore in which two workers were on a scaffold that swung in gusty winds and crashed through the resort's windows.

26 March 2009
By Mary Manning

Harrah's extends debt-exchange offer, deadline

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. said today it's extending and widening a debt-exchange offer aimed at reducing its debt load and annual interest expenses. It also removed a cap of $2.8 billion on the amount of new notes it will issue in exchange for debt.

26 March 2009
By Steve Green

Las Vegas going dark to shine light on climate change

Scores of casino-hotels and other businesses and organizations on and off the Las Vegas Strip have committed to show their support for the environment by participating in "Earth Hour'' on Saturday night, when they'll dim or turn off their signs and decorative lighting for an hour to raise awareness about climate change.

25 March 2009
By Steve Green

CityCenter partner might want more say

A scaled model of the completed CityCenter project sits in the visitors center in the Bellagio. The $8.7 billion project is expected to bring more than 10,000 jobs to the Las Vegas area.

Dubai World argues in the lawsuit it filed this week that MGM Mirage has defaulted on its CityCenter agreement, giving the foreign conglomerate the legal right to sever the relationship. But gaming industry analysts and other observers say the real purpose of the lawsuit is not to break the partnership.

25 March 2009
By Liz Benston

MGM lending pitch from Ensign, Reid so far on ethical up-and-up

A small buzz has followed Nevada’s two senators after disclosures that they asked institutions to consider lending money to MGM Mirage so it can finish CityCenter. Ethics watchdogs are greeting those questions with a collective shrug.

25 March 2009
By Lisa Mascaro

IGT president resigns, board member to take over

International Game Technology President and Chief Executive TJ Matthews' resignation from those two posts will likely be followed by his departure as chairman at some point in the future, a JPMorgan analyst said Wednesday.

25 March 2009
By Las Vegas Sun Staff

Expert: Reid, Ensign likely didn't break rules over CityCenter

Harry Reid's clout as Senate majority leader makes it important that he explain and justify the calls he made to banks on behalf of MGM Mirage seeking loans, an ethics expert said Tuesday. The Nevada Democrat went to bat for the $8.6 billion CityCenter project after his top campaign contributor, MGM Mirage Inc., asked the senator to call the banks on its behalf.

24 March 2009
Associated Press

Third executive leaving Las Vegas Sands

Another Las Vegas Sands executive is leaving the company. Brad Stone, executive vice president and president of global operations and construction, is resigning, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing today. A resignation letter was not attached to the SEC filing.

24 March 2009
By Amanda Finnegan

Tropicana creditors want Vegas property split from company

Tropicana Las Vegas

Creditors of bankrupt Tropicana Entertainment LLC want the Tropicana hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip to be split off from the parent company and former MGM Mirage executive Alex Yemenidjian would be a key part of the deal. A disclosure statement filed by the creditors with their reorganization plan Monday shows that under the plan, a new company controlled by the lenders would own the Tropicana and Yemenidjian and one of his companies have agreed to lease the gaming operations.

24 March 2009
By Steve Green

Site of proposed casino near Chinatown going to auction

Developers are planning to sell 22 acres near Chinatown – the site of a proposed Asian-themed casino – at a bankruptcy auction May 16. The land took seven years to assemble and is zoned for a 28-story, 2,200-room hotel.

23 March 2009
By Liz Benston

Reid, Ensign made calls to banks for MGM

Nevada’s two senators personally called the CEOs and other top representatives of financial institutions asking them to consider loans to MGM’s troubled CityCenter project -- the nation’s largest private building project that employs 10,000 workers in Las Vegas.

23 March 2009
By Lisa Mascaro

Lawsuit clouds future of CityCenter; MGM responds

Pedestrians pass by MGM Mirage's CityCenter project under construction on the Las Vegas Strip on March 6.

CityCenter's joint venture partner Dubai World is suing MGM Mirage, claiming MGM Mirage breached terms of the joint venture agreement to develop the $8.7 billion project, forcing Dubai World to fork over more money than expected for CityCenter while MGM Mirage's financial future is in doubt.

23 March 2009
By Liz Benston

Cheap rooms could sell casinos short

MGM Mirage's most luxurious property, the Bellagio, had a room occupancy rate of 93 percent in the fourth quarter, just 1 point shy of business the year before. However, MGM Mirage's lower-priced resorts have seen double-digit decreases in room occupancy. Experts say customers prefer luxury hotels at bargain rates. Newcomers such as Encore have flooded the market with upscale rooms offered at steep discounts, increasing the competition among hotels for customers.

A business model gaming companies have followed for decades has turned into a precarious balancing act, as casinos slash room rates to levels not seen in more than a decade. Cheap rooms have been a fail-safe way for gaming chiefs to fill their casinos with gamblers and keep profits up in down economic times.

23 March 2009
By Liz Benston

Canadian high roller’s debts are multiplying

Nebraska philanthropist Terrance K. Watanabe may hold the record for being the biggest deadbeat high roller ever prosecuted by the district attorney’s office. He owes $14.7 million.

23 March 2009
By Jeff German
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