Slot players pinch pennies
2008-09-15 | Filed Under Online Gambling |
While the major casinos are doing a bang up job attracting visitors to Las Vegas with big discounts and other perks, their slot business continues to suffer. And that’s bad news for Nevada, where slots make up about two thirds of the state’s gaming revenue.
Today’s monthly report from the Gaming Control Board reveals that slot players wagered $1.1 billion less on slots in July than the same month a year ago. On the Strip, slot volume was down half a billion dollars.
Those pennies can really add up.
Slot volume fell 12 percent in July compared with a year ago, the worst drop in the past seven straight months that slot spending has been on the decline and the latest sign that these figures are worsening. By comparison, slot volume fell 10 percent in June.
These numbers may bottom out, especially with gas prices on the decline. In July, drivers were paying more than $4 per gallon.
The July figures weren’t skewed, as some months have been, by a holdover in slot revenue generated in a previous month included in the following month’s numbers.
While the slot numbers are worrisome for casinos, table game play, strangely enough, bucked the downward trend.
On the Strip, table game volume was up 5 percent. This held true for high end as well as typically lower end games: Baccarat play was up 15 percent and blackjack was up 7 percent. Yet Strip casinos won 21 percent less from table game players in July because players were especially lucky, winning a greater percentage of wagers than is typical.
Had those win percentages at the tables been more typical, the overall decline in revenue would have been much less, Wall Street analysts said.
It appears that casinos, which haven’t been able to entirely remove risk from the gambling business, need all the luck they can muster.
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Bodog Poker sends two players to WSOPE
2008-09-12 | Filed Under Online Gambling |
Bodog Poker has once again given online poker players the chance to win millions at a major international poker tournament by awarding two VIP prize packages to the WSOP Europe Main Event scheduled to take place in London on September 27.
As the top two finishers in the Euro Main Event Semifinal held in the Bodog Poker room over the weekend, “syzygy3732″ and “Ozone23″ will both be winging to London to play alongside the best players the poker world has to offer. They will have some big shoes to fill once they get there thanks to Team Bodog Matt McCullough, who became the last American standing at last year’s event on his way to a third-place finish and a $766,674 payday.
McCullough will once again make the trip over the pond to attend the tournament that he came so close to winning and will join Bodog poker pros David Williams, Jean-Robert Bellande and Justin Bonomo.
The prize packages are valued at more than $24,000 each and include transportation, accommodations, a seat at the WSOP Europe Main Event and a ton of stylish Bodog swag.
Don’t forget that there are still daily qualifiers available for as little as $1 for a chance to win a $12,000 Player’s Choice package. So, head over to the Bodog Poker room and check out how to qualify online for the WPT, EPT, APPT and other major poker tournaments.
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Nevada: No gambling problems are found
2008-09-10 | Filed Under Online Gambling |
NCAA investigators have cleared Nevada of the most serious allegations that sparked a probe of the school, including issues related to gambling, according to athletic director Cary Groth.
Groth said Tuesday the issue won’t be resolved until the NCAA’s committee on infractions acts on the investigative report. But she said investigators determined there had been no lack of institutional control and no gambling issues at the school.
Those claims were made by former women’s soccer coach Terri Patraw, who claimed she was fired in retaliation for reporting such violations. She said sports bets had been placed by Nevada men’s golf coach Rich Merritt, who since has resigned.
Groth doesn’t anticipate any additional personnel changes as a result of the probe.
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Tivoli beats odds
2008-09-10 | Filed Under Online Gambling |
Developers of an $850 million retail and residential project in Summerlin are proceeding despite a miserable economic outlook for many mixed-use projects.
On Monday the developers behind Tivoli Village at Queensridge announced another batch of tenants, including some that are new to the Las Vegas Valley.
The announcement came at a time when credit woes and a bleak outlook for consumer spending have undermined larger, higher-profile projects than Tivoli, such as Boyd Gaming Corp.’s Echelon resort on the Strip and Summerlin Centre near Red Rock Resort.
“With the support of our investors and tenants, we continue to instill the confidence desired by businesses looking to grow and expand,” said Tivoli executive vice president Patrick Done.
Tenants announced Monday include two based in San Francisco, Tres Agaves and Townsend.
Tres Agaves Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Lounge is an upscale restaurant that focuses on dishes inspired by cuisine in Jalisco, Mexico.
A review of the San Francisco location praised Tres Agaves for margaritas made with agave nectar instead of sugar and for a wide selection of tequila.
The review criticized the restaurant for high prices for traditional Mexican restaurant fare such as enchiladas and for spotty service and attitude by hosts and servers.
Townsend, another San Francisco transplant, is a dining and wine lounge.
In California, it is known as District in San Francisco. But developers of the Las Vegas version changed the name to Townsend to avoid confusion with The District at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson. The San Francisco-based District is on Townsend Street, hence the name.
Other Tivoli tenants announced Monday include Martin Yan’s 9 Dragons and Ritual Spa & Salon.
Martin Yan’s 9 Dragons is the first Nevada business for Martin Yan, a chef and host of the PBS show Yan Can Cook. Yan was also a food and culture commentator for NBC during the Olympics in Beijing.
Ritual Spa & Salon at Tivoli will be the second of its kind in the area. There is a Ritual location at 9480 Eastern Ave.
Customer reviewers at the Web site Yelp.com praised the Ritual experience as “heavenly” and “incredible.” One said the company charges too much for pedicures and another said pedicures don’t last long enough.
Other tenants in Tivoli will include Gold Class Cinemas, BCBG, Cohiba Cigar and Grand Lux Café. The mall is scheduled to open in fall 2009. It will also include office space.
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Fleeing gambler must pay up
2008-09-09 | Filed Under Online Gambling |
A Singapore businessman who lost $4,4-million (about R30,5-million) in Las Vegas and then left the United States was ordered by court to pay his debt in a landmark ruling that could impact future Singapore casino debt recovery, The Strait Times said Friday.
Poh Soon Kit, who was said to be in his 50s, returned to Singapore after gambling away millions at Las Vegas casino Caesars Palace, over a six-year period that began in 1992.
Singapore’s High Court ordered Poh on Tuesday to abide by a 1999 US court ruling and cough up the cash.
The court set a new precedent as previously gambling debts incurred in non Commonwealth countries could not be recovered in Singapore.
Judge Chan Seng Onn ordered Poh to pay the casino as he did not think it made much sense that a Singaporean had to pay a debt incurred in a Commonwealth country but can walk away if he did it somewhere else.
The ruling has implications for Singapore’s two soon-to-be opened casinos, with lawyers saying other countries could be more willing to reciprocate and help Singapore casinos in the future to recover debt incurred by foreigners after this precedent.
Lawyers also said the ruling puts local gamblers on notice that that they can be sued for gambling debts anywhere in the world.
Poh has filed an appeal against the judgment. - Sapa-dpa
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Violations doom bid by Glitter Gulch to add slots
2008-09-08 | Filed Under Online Gambling |
The Topless Girls of Glitter Gulch strip club probably blew its chance of convincing Nevada gaming regulators it was a suitable location to house slot machines in February.
State gaming agents entered the Fremont Street club undercover twice to investigate the property. On their first visit, they were solicited for prostitution. The second time, the agents were asked whether they wanted to purchase illegal narcotics.
Friday morning’s hourlong hearing in front of the Gaming Control Board spiraled downward after that revelation.
“This is a very troubling application because I have a lot of concerns about this location,” control board chairman Dennis Neilander said toward the end of the hearing.
Board member Randy Sayre was even more forceful in his opposition to the request by the club to operate 15 bar- top slot machines. Of the 12 topless bars in the Las Vegas Valley, Topless Girls of Glitter Gulch had the second-highest number of calls for service by the Las Vegas Police Department. Sayre said he recently checked the totals.
“With this type of application, you have to come in here squeaky clean or as close to it as you can get,” Sayre said. “There is absolutely no way I can support this location.”
Control board members said there were numerous instances of dancers violating city of Las Vegas exotic dancing codes, according to the club’s own records.
If the Topless Girls of Glitter Gulch can’t control its dancers, board members reasoned, then its management would have trouble operating slot machines under Nevada gaming regulations.
Neilander, Sayre and fellow control board member Mark Clayton all said they philosophically are not opposed to strip clubs operating slot machines.
However, Topless Girls of Glitter Gulch didn’t meet the qualifications.
“There are enough issues highlighted with this application that cause me great concern,” Clayton said.
The control board referred the application back to its staff for further investigation at the request of Topless Girls of Glitter Gulch, rather than voting on the matter.
All three board members said they were prepared to deny the application.
If a unanimous denial had taken place, Topless Girls of Glitter Gulch would have needed a unanimous vote by the Nevada Gaming Commission to overturn the control board’s recommendation.
The ruling allows the club to bring the matter up again with gaming regulators in several months, hopefully with a much cleaner background check. Clayton suggested the club try again in a year.
Sean McGuinness, the attorney representing the Granite Gaming Group, operators of Topless Girls of Glitter Gulch and two adjacent Fremont Street casinos, Mermaids and La Bayou, said the club has taken steps to eliminate the issues found by gaming agents. Since April, he said, the club has compiled a better compliance record.
The club brought in an investigative service this year that filed 60 reports with management showing there were none of the violations found by gaming agents.
Steve Burnstine, CEO of Granite Gaming, said dancers at the club are terminated immediately if they are found to have violated city of Las Vegas codes covering topless dancing.
Also, dancers can be terminated for a number of other rules violations. He said many changes took place when he purchased the downtown businesses from his father, Herb Pastor, in 2006.
Burnstine, who has an unrestricted gaming license for the two casinos, said revenues from the slot machines might have accounted for 20 percent of the topless club’s total revenues.
He described the location as a nightclub with erotic dancing.
Sayre was not convinced the club was ready for a gaming license. He said club management implemented new rules only when confronted with the reports that undercover gaming agents were solicited for prostitution and drugs.
He also questioned Burnstine about a since-removed Topless Girls of Glitter Gulch Web site that linked to other questionable businesses. The site had been on the Internet since 2003.
Burnstine said that the site was not associated with the club and that he filed legal action in federal court to have it removed.
“I wasn’t aware of the site until it was brought to my attention,” he said.
Sayre expressed doubt in the answer because the site had been operating for five years.
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S’pore gambler ordered to pay up $4M Vegas debt
2008-09-06 | Filed Under Online Gambling |
A Singapore businessman who lost US$4.4 million in Las Vegas and then left the US was ordered by court to pay his debt in a landmark ruling that could impact future Singapore casino debt recovery, The Strait Times said Friday.
Poh Soon Kit, who was said to be in his 50s, returned to Singapore after gambling away millions at Las Vegas casino Caesars Palace, over a six-year period that began in 1992.
Singapore’s high court ordered Poh on Tuesday to abide by a 1999 US court ruling and cough up the cash.
The court set a new precedent as previously gambling debts incurred in non- Commonwealth countries could not be recovered in Singapore.
Judge Chan Seng Onn ordered Poh to pay the casino as he did not think it made much sense that a Singaporean had to pay a debt incurred in a Commonwealth country but can walk away if he did it some-where else.
The ruling has implications for Singapore’s two soon-to-be opened casinos, with lawyers saying other countries could be more willing to reciprocate and help Singapore casinos in the future to recover debt incurred by foreigners after this precedent.
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Multiplayer online games pose threat
2008-09-05 | Filed Under Online Gambling |
If you are trying to protect your passwords, prevent identity theft and avoid aggravation and possible loss of money, stay away from multiplayer online games like “World of Warcraft,” “Everquest” and “Lineage.” McAfee’s Avert antivirus labs found 24,600 versions of one type of malicious code aimed at stealing passwords from a variety of “massive multiplayer” online games during the first half of 2008.
This compared with 26,000 aimed at stealing banking passwords. McAfee researcher Igor Muttik said the goal is to gain possession of virtual in-game property and currency and resell it on auction sites like Hong Kong-based IGE.com. He said many individual gamers have built up accounts of in-game funds worth more than $10,000. “It’s very visible that online games are the bad guys’ focus,” Muttik said.
Gary McGraw, a security consultant with Dulles, VA-based Cigital, said games often aren’t as well protected. “As in the real world, a few people try to rob banks, but knocking over a 7-11 takes a lot less gunpowder and less planning,” he said.
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Online Slot Secrets and Myths
2008-09-05 | Filed Under Online Gambling |
Myths can be entertaining to some people, but they can be very dangerous to those who are mis guided by them. In regards to online slots, the following myths can be the busting of any gamblers bankroll. Be sure you do not buy into them:
• Slots that are about to payout can be spotted. A winning slot machine cannot be spotted by the looks of it. Even a slot machine in a bank of machines with high payout percentages is not going to guarantee a jackpot. It is the RNG which hands out the winnings - not the machine itself.
• Casinos always place loose machines in specific locations. While there may be some stock in finding looser machines in high traffic areas like near the cashier line, loose machines are not always going to be found in the same spots. Casinos move their machines around all the time.
• You can determine your odds of winning by counting the number of symbols on a reel. Remember that the RNG uses a virtual reel that corresponds to the actual reel, which will always affect the odds in a different way than would be from simply counting the symbols and spaces on the visible reels.
• Slot games can be tightened or loosened on a moments notice. While it is theoretically possible for a casino to change out the computer chip in a slot machine, this does not happen where casinos are tightly regulated. By no means is there any magic button that makes machine loose or tight.
• The longer a slot machine goes without paying out, the sooner it will. Again, since the payouts are regulated by a Random Number Generator (RNG), there is no formula for predicting when a machine may payout big - or at all. Yes, a slot must meet the payout percentage programmed into the RNG, but there is no telling if this will be met gradually over the course of a few weeks, a few days or even a few minutes.
• Players will win more often by pulling the arm of the slot machine rather than pushing the spin button. As far as the slot machine, or better, the RNG is concerned, both of these playing options are signals to start spinning the reels. Once the reels start spinning, the RNG has already determined whether it will be a winning or losing spin. If anything, it is the timing of spinning the reels, and not how one gets them spinning.
• Putting a hot coin in a machine will increase a players chances of winning. Anyone who understands how a slot machine operates, will know that a hot coin (meaning hot from a real flame) is not going to warm up the gears and get them to “loosen” up. This myth was likely started by an optimistic and creative gambler who had one too many free drinks sitting at the slot machines.
• Payback percentages are best on the weekends. Although casinos may change their betting stakes to accommodate certain types of players at certain times of the day, the payouts of slot machines still operate on a random basis as dictated by the RNG.
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WinAJackpot awards $4 million jackpot
2008-09-05 | Filed Under Online Gambling |
Playtech (AIM:PTEC), the leading designer, developer and licensor of software for the gaming industry is pleased to announce that WinAJackpot.com, the first progressive network to combine online, mobile and land-based jackpots via Playtech and its subsidiary Videobet, has once more delivered a jackpot payout of over $4 million!
Winajackpot.com member, Sylvia. P, became an instant multi-millionaire on Monday, August 25th by taking home a Beach Life jackpot of $4,188,719,.98 while playing at Joyland Casino.
Joyland Casino is a first-class, multi-lingual casino site that offers players a vast portfolio of games that are available in play for fun and real money modes. In addition to progressive and instant jackpots, players can enjoy a rich variety of video poker, Online Keno or Roulette games while also benefiting from 24/7 support services a Comp.points system, a VIP program and other valuable cash incentives. Joyland offers a first class gaming experience for every kind of player and is one of the most popular brands in the CPays affiliate program, one of the most lucrative and prestigious marketing affiliate networks in the gaming industry.
Beach Life, a popular 5 reel, 20 line progressive slot game, combines a high hit frequency and a compelling design themed around recreational scenes from the beach and ocean. It has become one of the leading progressive games on the net today mostly as a result of numerous giant payouts. The game’s fast replenishment rate is the main factor behind the short periods of time required to build up those impressive jackpots. Beach Life is offered across Playtech’s entire cross-platform product range, prominently featuring in mobile and land-based offerings in addition to the well-known online version. Operators can connect their players to a network of millions of online players - all playing for the same huge progressive wins!
Mor Weizer, Playtech CEO commented that “Beach Life’s latest multi-million jackpot has once again shown that Playtech is committed to delivering highly attractive games to the industry. Wins like this bring about an increased popularity in the game, leading to even greater pots and bigger wins. Playtech congratulates Sylvia and wishes her lots of luck in the future.”
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