Gaming

Slovenians beat cultural barrier to state license

Three years into the arduous process of obtaining a Nevada gaming license, Slovenian business partners Tomaz Zvipelj and Joze “Joc” Pececnik stumbled before the Nevada Gaming Control Board. At a hearing in November 2006, the board declined to license the partners’ gambling machine company and criticized them for sloppy record-keeping and obstructing the investigation process.

19 January 2009
By Liz Benston

Las Vegas Sands: A big rise, a big fall

Las Vegas Sands opened the Venetian Macao, the largest resort in the world, in 2007, and had planned to build several more resorts on the Cotai Strip before credit markets collapsed. The company has suspended work on its Macau projects indefinitely, meaning shareholders will not see any profit from its investment in them.

Las Vegas Sands was once the envy of Wall Street. In fall 2007, with seemingly unlimited growth prospects in Macau, the most lucrative gambling market in the world, the company’s share price topped out at nearly $150. But then came the fall, a drop so fast and long that even in this era of suicidal reversals on Wall Street, Sands stands out. The company’s market value plummeted more than 90 percent.

18 January 2009
By Liz Benston

Annual report shows dramatic fall of casino profits

The state Gaming Control Board released its annual “Nevada Gaming Abstract” Friday, showing that the 266 casinos statewide that grossed $1 million or more in gaming revenue ended up with a 68.6 percent decline in net income.

16 January 2009
By Cy Ryan

M Resort license, Crown purchase of Cannery get Control Board approval

The state Gaming Control Board has recommended a license for Southern Nevada’s newest resort and for an Australian multinational company to make its first imprint on the Nevada market. In separate votes, the board unanimously approved a license for the $700 million M Resort at Las Vegas Boulevard South and St. Rose Parkway and a license for Australian casino giant Crown Ltd.

16 January 2009
By Richard N. Velotta

Big plans for Barcelona Hotel

Barcelona buyer: Stephen Siegel of the Siegel Group Nevada is shown outside his latest acquisition, the Barcelona Hotel in North Las Vegas.

The purchase of the Barcelona Hotel on Craig Road near Nellis Air Force Base by the Siegel Group Nevada is the latest expansion of that brand in Southern Nevada. The property is the second hotel for Siegel Group Nevada. The company purchased the Gold Spike in downtown Las Vegas for $21 million in February, just six months after the previous owner had paid $15.6 million for it.

16 January 2009
By Mark Hansel

Yapta saves fliers cash with alerts on ticket price reductions

If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to save money in your travel expenses, you may want to look at a Web site that has been operating for more than a year and a half and has a cool new feature that is helpful to some frequent fliers. It’s Yapta.com, with “yapta” an acronym for “your amazing personal travel assistant.”

16 January 2009
By Richard N. Velotta

November worst month so far for Las Vegas visitor volume in 2008

Grim numbers continued to frustrate tourism officials with the report in Southern Nevada of a 9.8 percent decline in November visitor volume from a year ago. Every meaningful statistic was off from November 2007, according the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, as the number of monthly visitors hit its lowest level of the year.

16 January 2009
By Richard N. Velotta

Research firm expects further declines in gaming market

IBIS World, a market research analysis firm, has forecasted an 8.4 percent decline in nationwide hotel-casino revenue by December 2009 as unemployment figures continue to rise.

15 January 2009
By Amanda Finnegan

Study finds high pollution levels in casino restaurants

More than two years after the Nevada Legislature passed the Indoor Clean Air Act, a UNLV and University of Kentucky study has found unsafe levels of air pollution due to secondhand smoke in Las Vegas Valley casino restaurants.

15 January 2009
By Amanda Finnegan

Planet Hollywood names new president

The Planet Hollywood resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino today named Thomas J. McCartney as president and chief executive officer, replacing Michael V. Mecca, who has resigned from the company.

14 January 2009
By Las Vegas Sun Staff

Plan would give Tropicana creditors ownership stake

Tropicana Entertainment will convert some debt to stock and cancel other debt as part of a reorganization plan announced Tuesday.

Tropicana Entertainment has filed a reorganization plan with the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware that would cancel the company’s long-term indebtedness and convert a portion of its debt into ownership stakes held by its creditors.

13 January 2009
By Amanda Finnegan

Boyd Gaming president named to Federal Reserve board

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s board of directors on Monday appointed Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming president Keith Smith to the board of directors of its Los Angeles branch.

12 January 2009
By Amanda Finnegan

Caesars Palace delays opening of tower

Following moves by other companies to delay or cancel building projects amid the floundering economy, Harrah's Entertainment is delaying the opening of its Octavius Tower expansion at Caesars Palace until demand for hotel rooms improves, the company said today.

12 January 2009
By Liz Benston

The Harmon isn’t Strip’s only troubled condo

The discovery of structural problems at CityCenter’s The Harmon, which led developers last week to scale down the hotel and scrap plans for about 200 condominium units, might be viewed as an unfortunate incident that turned into a lucky break for partner MGM Mirage.

12 January 2009
By Liz Benston

Small casinos feel pinch of recession

For 10 years, Nonie Galloway helped pay the bills as a hostess-cashier at the Silver Club in Sparks.

11 January 2009
Associated Press
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