Gaming - VEGAS INC

Official: Power won't be fully restored at the Rio for days

The Nevada Highway Patrol and Metro Police block the entrance to the Rio off Flamingo Road after a power outage at the Masquerade Tower led to guests being evacuated on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016.

The busy New Year's holiday weekend is likely to come and go before a Rio casino hotel tower in Las Vegas fully recovers from a power outage that prompted a 900-room evacuation, officials said Friday. Spokesman Richard Broome of the Rio's parent company, Caesars Entertainment, said the company is testing to see whether rooms on the lowest 20 floors can be occupied Friday. That could mean about 500 rooms would ...

30 December 2016

By Michelle Rindels, Associated Press

Gaming lobbyists happy with new IRS rules for slot winnings

Geoff Freeman, president of the American Gaming Association, gives a “State of the Industry” address during the Global Gaming Expo on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015, at Sands Expo Center.

Gaming lobbyists claimed a ‘big win’ Thursday after the IRS released new rules about how slot winnings should be reported. “Today’s final IRS regulation is a big win not only for gaming companies and millions of casino visitors, but also for state and local governments who would have received ...

30 December 2016

By Thomas Moore

Feds: $2.5M seized from Michigan gambler's luggage was scam proceeds

At the casino tables, he looked like a rock star — a high-stakes roller who cashed out nearly million-dollar winnings. He flew first class, courtesy of the casinos, and racked up ...

29 December 2016

By Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press (TNS)

Will 2017 be better for Atlantic City than 2016 was?

This photo taken Friday, April 24, 2015, shows the former Showboat and Trump Taj Mahal casinos in Atlantic City, N.J.

Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian did not mince words in looking back over the past year. "I'm so glad 2016 is over," he said. "2016 hit bottom for Atlantic City." But will 2017 be much better? It could be, if several things ...

29 December 2016

By Wayne Parry, Associated Press

Vetting Nevada's casino games takes meticulous team of techies

Jim Barbee, chief of the Gaming Control Board’s Technology Division.

Jim Barbee is chief of the board’s technical division, which has a number of roles when it comes to Nevada’s gaming regulations. One of them is approving ...

29 December 2016

By Thomas Moore

MGM Resorts' self-parking fees begin on Thursday

Christi Callahan pays for her parking at the MGM Grand parking garage Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016.

The era of free parking on the Strip officially will end at midnight Wednesday when MGM Resorts International begins charging locals for self-parking at all of its ...

28 December 2016

By Thomas Moore

Gambler who marked cards on blackjack games could be added to Black Book

A Black Book, a State Gaming Control Board list of people excluded from Nevada casinos, is displayed at the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. At right is a page on former mobster Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, who was removed from the book only after his death.

Nevada’s Black Book will likely get a little thicker today after the Nevada Gaming Commission meets to decide if Bujar Kaloshi will become the latest person to be prohibited from having anything to do the casino industry. ...

22 December 2016

By Thomas Moore

Drug abuse, criminal acts among reasons gaming employees lose registration

Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman Tony Alamo presides over a meeting in November 2016.

Anyone who is defined as a gaming employee, according to Nevada Revised Statute 463.0157, must be registered before they can work in the gaming industry. Becoming a registered employee is a different than getting a gaming license. But it still involves a background investigation, and registered employees must not break the law. ...

21 December 2016

By Thomas Moore

Lobbyists hopeful of rapport with former casino owner in Oval Office

To gaming lobbyists, Donald Trump’s election is proof of at least one thing: The days of people looking askew at the casino industry are over.

21 December 2016

By Thomas Moore

How routine gaming-license hearings can turn emotional

Owl bar and restaurant owner Stephan Galdau contemplates his effort to obtain a gaming license.

Stephan Michael Galdau stood waiting for judgment, his hands curled over the edge of the wide podium in the wood-paneled hearing room of the ...

21 December 2016

By Thomas Moore

AGA to elaborate on memo sent to Trump

American Gaming Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman participates in a panel discussion during the Global Gaming Expo.

The lead lobbying group for the gambling industry in the U.S. plans to speak out today about what it hopes to see addressed by the Trump administration.

20 December 2016

Forget a casino ticket? Here’s what happens to the money

Nancy Burke of Dallas, Penn. displays a voucher during the last night of the Las Vegas Club in downtown Las Vegas Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015.

Gamblers left more than $35 million on casino floors in the past five years, money the state of Nevada was happy to come along and pick up. The cash came in the form of ...

20 December 2016

By Thomas Moore

Poker pro Phil Ivey, friend must repay $10.1M to Borgata in cards case

Phil Ivey takes part in the $111,111 One Drop High Rollers No-Limit Hold'em event during the World Series of Poker on Wednesday, June 26, 2013, at the Rio.

Poker pro Phil Ivey and a companion must return more than $10 million they won from an Atlantic City casino while playing cards that were arranged in a certain way to ...

19 December 2016

By Wayne Parry, Associated Press

SLS chief Kreeger resigns after two years

Scott Kreeger is stepping down as president and COO of SLS Las Vegas.

Scott Kreeger, the president and COO of the SLS Las Vegas, is stepping down, the resort announced today. Kreeger joined the SLS in October 2014 shortly after it opened in August of that year. He took over from Rob Oseland, who left to join Andrew Pascal and the team developing ...

16 December 2016

By Thomas Moore

Pascal still high on Alon project after Crown Resorts backs out

A rendering of Alon resort, a nearly 35-acre 1,100-room resort in development on the Strip across from the Wynn, is shown.

On Thursday, the management of the Alon, the nearly 35-acre high-end resort planned for the site of the old Frontier, said it would continue to work on the project despite losing its main backer, Australia-based Crown Resorts. Crown said its divestiture from Alon is one of several strategic moves it’s making to pay down debt and to “redeploy capital to fund high quality ...