LAS VEGAS 2/14/2007 - Speedway Casino sold away

An out-of-state gaming operator is selling one of its two local interests.     Chester, West VA based MTR Gaming Group announced Tuesday that it had entered an agreement to sell the Speedway Casino to Mandekic Cos., a local privately held company, for $18.2 million in cash.     MTR Gaming still owns and operates Binion’s, formerly Binion’s Horseshoe, which it acquired in March 2004   Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal

LAS VEGAS 2/14/2007 - Las Vegas sets record for visitors

Las Vegas attracted a record number of visitors in 2006 despite losing 581 rooms from its hotel inventory, the first such decrease since 1992.     Las Vegas had 38.9 million visitors in 2006, up slightly less than 1 percent from 2005.   source: Las Vegas Review-Journal

LAS VEGAS 2/8/2007 - Lady Luck remains shuttered

A hotel-casino that was supposed to become "the anchor of the downtown market" remains shuttered almost one year after its owners closed the property and displaced nearly 700 workers.     City officials in Las Vegas say the renovation is on hold because the financing fell through.     On November 1, 2006, Andrew Donner of Downtown Resorts told the Nevada Gaming Control Board the project would be delayed a year but pledged to reveal plans for the project, "in the next 30 days."

LAS VEGAS 1/4/2007 - Tropicana gets new ownership

Kentucky-based Columbia Sussex Corp. became the owner of the Tropicana and three other casinos Wednesday after completing a $2.75 billion buy-out of Aztar.Corp.     The deal, which was initially announced almost eight months ago, gives new life to the 1,880-room Strip icon, although the new owners plan to demolish and remodel much of the 34-acre site over the next two years.     Renovations for the Tropicana will include building 9,276 hotel rooms and 948 condo-hotel units.   Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal

LAS VEGAS 1/2/2007 - 2006 Highlights

- Boyd Gaming Corporation announced plans to build a $4 billion collection of hotels called Echelon Place on the site of the soon-to-be imploded Stardust     - Harrah's Entertainment discussed plans to redevelop its center Strip properties and bought the Barbary Coast to cement its position on Flamingo & the Strip.     - Pinnacle Entertainment touched off the biggest bidding war in casino history for control of Aztar Corp. and the company's prized Tropicana hotel. Winning bidder Columbia Sussex unveiled plans for a $2 billion redevelopment at the Tropicana that will include more than 8000 rooms.     - The Boardwalk, the westward Ho and Castaways were imploded.     - MGM Mirage's $7 billion CityCenter, the largest and most expensive privately owned construction project in the US, broke ground at the site of the Boardwalk.     - Wynn Resort's Ltd. Broke ground on the Encore resort next to Wynn Las Vegas and opened a version of the Wynn resort in the Chinese enclave of Macau.     Source: Las Vegas Sun

LAS VEGAS 12/27/2006 - A Whole New Casino

For the money Station Casinos has spent buying and remodeling the Santa Fe since it acquired the northwest Las Vegas property in 2000, the company could have built an entirely new hotel-casino.     Station Casinos has spent $458 million on Santa Fe Station, including $205 million to buy the casino from Sahara Casino Partners.     The Santa Fe Station now has 2,900 slot machines, 39 table games and a 12-table poker room.   Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal

LAS VEGAS 12/19/2006 - Harrah's buyout close

Harrah's Entertainment's board of directors has agreed to a $16.7 billion buyout of the casino operator by two private equity firms, sources told The Associated Press on Monday.     Harrah's has struck an agreement in principle for Texas Pacific Group of Fort Worth, Texas, and New York-based Apollo Management to buy all 186 million outstanding shares of Harrah's Entertainment for $90 a share in an all cash deal, the sources said.     Final details of the transaction are being hammered out, and the deal could be in place by the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange today, a source said.   Source: ReviewJournal.com

LAS VEGAS 12/12/2006 - Casinos bailed out by locals

For once, it wasn't all about the Strip.     Casinos along the famous boulevard saw October gaming revenues decrease for the second straight month in 2006, according to figures released by the Gaming Control Board.     However, Nevada’s statewide gaming win climbed slightly in October, thanks to double-digit gaming increases in North Las Vegas, along the Boulder Highway, Henderson and other segments of the locals casino market.     Las Vegas Review-Journal - 12/12/2006

LAS VEGAS 12/5/2006 - Station Casinos founders bid to take company private

Fertitta Colony Partners has offered to pay $82 a share for all 57.2 million outstanding shares of Station Casinos and take the company private.     The founding executives, who took the company public in 1993, now want to make it a privately held venture once again.   Las vegas Review Journal - 12/5/06

LAS VEGAS 11/21/2006 - MGM Mirage to Build Las Vegas Megaresort

LAS VEGAS, Nevada - Gambling giant MGM Mirage intends to build a new 4,000-room megaresort and sprawling urban development in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, a project that would dramatically change the landscape of this city's most important commercial center.     MGM Mirage officials are calling the ambitious plan "Project CityCenter," and they believe it will help transform Las Vegas into a sophisticated, multidimensional city, one that rivals other major metropolitan areas.     "Our master plan represents a significant new direction for our city and our company," said Terry Lanni, MGM Mirage Inc.'s chairman and chief executive.     The multibillion-dollar project includes three, 400-room boutique hotels, approximately 550,000 square feet of retail shops, dining and entertainment venues, and a 1,650-unit luxury condominium complex.     The massive development will be built on a 66-acre site between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo hotel-casinos, with the first phase creating 12,000 jobs when it's completed in 2010.   Source - Casino City Times

LAS VEGAS 11/10/2006 - NEVADA GAMING REVENUE: Bettors strike back

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Gamblers hit a lucky streak in September.     Table game players and sports bettors exited Nevada casinos with a little more money in their pockets as the state's monthly gaming win fell for only the second time in two years, according to figures released Thursday by the Gaming Control Board.     Nevada casinos won $985 million during the month, a decrease of 2.7 percent compared with $1.01 billion won in September 2005. The fall wasn't as steep as in June, when statewide gaming revenues declined almost 3.5 percent from June 2005.   Source - Casino City Times

LAS VEGAS 11/2/2006 - Tropicana Staying Put

On the same day one aging strip casino was closing, another older casino received a reprieve.     Columbia Sussex Corportation told Nevada gaming regulators the Tropicana wouldn't be shut down once Columbia Sussex Corp. buyout is completed.     Instead, the resort and its 34-acre site would be the recipient of an estibated $2 billion remodeling project.     Columbia Sussex Corp. is hoping to have approval by the end of the year and maybe start initial construction by July of 2007.

LAS VEGAS 10/26/2006 - Cannery owners plan new resort

Cannery Casino Resorts, LLC recently completed the acquisition of the Nevada Palace Casino and plans to build a new resort called Eastside Cannery.     The property is located at 5255 Boulder Highway, south of Sam's Town which is about 7 miles from the strip. The company plans to build a new facility on the 3-acre site and construction is set to begin in January.

LAS VEGAS 10/24/2006 - Aliante Station Planned

Aliante residents recently were invited to a sneak peek event for a look at Station Casinos’ newest project – Aliante Station.     Aliante Station is planned for 40 acres on the northeast corner of the Las Vegas Beltway and Aliante Parkway, some 12-13 miles north of the strip in North Las Vegas. The casino has already been approved for the site. Construction on the resort is expected to begin the first quarter of 2007.

LAS VEGAS 10/8/2006 - Harrah's - Boyd Gaming Swap

Harrah's Entertainment and Boyd Gaming Corp. said they will swap two Strip parcels in a deal that will enable each company to expand their resort-Strip corridor development plans.     Boyd Gaming will trade its 1.8 acre Barbary Coast property for a 24-acre parcel Harrah's is assembling on and around the site of the former Westward Ho next to Boyd's Stardust. The swap will give Boyd Gaming Corp. 87 contiguous acres on the strip.

LAS VEGAS 10/4/2006 - Harrah's Is Weighing A $15 Billion buyout

Texas Pacific Group and Apollo Management have offered to buy all Harrah's Entertainment's stock for $81 a share.     Harrah's, which operates 37 casinos in 13 states, has development opportunities in design and planning for several american jurisdictions.

LAS VEGAS 10/1/2006 - Cannery Casino to expand on Boulder Highway

Rumor has it that the Cannery Casino (Craig & Loose) will open another casino where the Nevada Palace now sits on Boulder Highway just south east of Sam's town. Nevada Palace is due to be demolished soon.

LAS VEGAS 9/30/2006 - Strip Booms Again

The five-year, $20 billion building boom under way on the Strip will roughly double the high-end inventory of rooms costing $200 a night or more, a new Standard & Poor's study said.     "... the gradually changing characteristics of the average Las Vegas visitor are driving the transformation of the Strip into a ritzy resort destination. The report found the average Las Vegas visitor is wealthier, younger and spends more on each trip, both on gaming and amenities."   Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 15, 2006

LAS VEGAS 9/22/2006 - Wynn on Tips & Tokes

Wynn is changing the way the tips or tokes are shared. Dealers at Wynn make around 100K while the floor personal only make 60K. Now Wynn wants the floor personal to share in dealers tokes. This will make it more fair for supervisory personel who oversee the dealers. The shift in monies will be something like this: dealers now will make around 90k to 95k per year and the floor personal will make around 95k to 100k per year.   Source Review Journal-Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS 9/16/2006 - Stardust Will Close November 1, 2006

Stardust employees received official word that the closing date of the venerable Strip casino will be November 1st.     The memo was a short, bittersweet testament to the "hard work and dedication" of the rank-and-file employees who made the Stardust one of Las Vegas great properties for nearly a half a century.   "While this was a difficult decision, we believe that it is one that will serve our company well in the future and will ultimately make us a stronger company for our employees and customers alike", said Chief Executive Bill Boyd.     The Stardust, the largest strip casino to close in more than a decade, turned 48 in July.

LAS VEGAS 9/16/2006 - Construction will begin on Aliante Station Casino

Station Casinos will start to build Aliante Station Casino in the master   planned community of the same name in North Las Vegas at I-215 and Aliante Parkway.     The current plan for the property will include 2,000 slot machines   and 200 hotel rooms. Projected cost to be up to $450 million with an opening date sometime in 2008.

LAS VEGAS 9/15/2006 - Aladdin to adopt Planet Hollywood Theme

Sometime later this year the Aladdin will become Planet Hollywood Casino & Hotel.     The property's Middle Eastern elements will be replaced with a sweeping modern design, said Robert Earl, chief executive of Planet Hollywood International and partner with resort owner OpBiz LLC.     "We're going to bring Hollywood to Vegas, and we're going to have a must-see attraction," said Earl, adding the redesign could cost up to $140 million.

LAS VEGAS 9/6/2006 - Pool Party Anyone? Palms Opens New Pool Area

The new $40 million pool area is the latest adult attraction at the Palms Casino. Three pools now sit on two acres between the Palms' two hotel towers.     The area includes 24 cabanas equipped with phones, televisions and refrigerators. The outdoor area includes three bars, a stage and outdoor gaming.

LAS VEGAS 9/1/2006 - Green Valley Ranch Opens New Sportsbook & Poker Room

Green Valley Ranch, a Stations casino, has opened a new sportsbook and a larger Poker room. The old Sportsbook space will be used to expand the casino area, probably more slots.