Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel is a hotel and casino located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada on the Fremont Street Experience. The casino is named for its founder, Benny Binion and has 366 rooms, two restaurants and a rooftop pool. It is one of the casinos owned by the MTR Gaming Group.
History
After buying Binion’s Horseshoe, Harrah’s Entertainment sold the property on March 11, 2004 to MTR Gaming Group, which operated the hotel. Harrah’s continued to operate the casino under a temporary contract until March of 2005. Harrah’s retained the rights to the Horseshoe name and the World Series of Poker name.
On March 11, 2005, MTR Gaming Group officially took control of the operation of the casino and it was renamed it Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel.
In July of 2005 the hotel hosted the World Series of Poker finals. This was the last time the event would be held at Binion’s and hosted in downtown Las Vegas. The casino still retains a large poker area and features displays on the Poker Hall of Fame as well as previous WSOP Champions.
Other locations
Following Jack’s with his sister, he went on to open highly successful riverboat casinos under the Horseshoe name:
Horseshoe Casino Tunica
Horseshoe Casino Hammond
Horseshoe Casino Bossier City
These casinos went to Harrah’s after the 2004 sale, but remained under the Horseshoe brand. Jack Binion continues to promote the casinos for Harrah’s.
A Casino Night (also called Vegas Nights, Las Vegas Nights, Monte Carlo Nights, Casino Parties) is an entertainment event with a casino theme.
Casino Night Parties are usually tied to a fundraiser, and are often held on riverboats, in churches, hotels etc. The main objective of most casino night parties is to raise money for a specific cause (such as cancer research, community services, etc) by having each participant purchase a ticket for the event. Each participant receives a specific amount of play money that can be used to purchase gaming chips at the gambling tables. The participants engage in various casino games (such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat, craps, poker, wheel of fortune, etc.) in the attempt to accumulate the largest amount of gaming chips. At the end of the evening the participant who managed to win the most chips receives some kind of prize.
Casino Nights function strictly as entertainment events with no real monetary gambling involved.
Advantage player is a term used to describe a person who has the ability to play a casino gambling game so skillfully that even without cheating, that person can negate or reverse the casino’s typical built-in house advantage in that game. Examples of advantage play include card counting in blackjack and dice control in craps.Casinos will generally eject an individual whom they identify as being an advantage player. And habitual offenders may ultimately find themselves listed in the Griffin Book, and thus become unwelcome in most casinos. However, advantage players are abiding the established rules of the game, and thus committing no actual fraud against the casino. Therefore, unlike those who cheat outright at the games, advantage players can operate without fear of being criminally prosecuted if they are discovered.
Bellagio is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned by MGM Mirage.
Inspired by the Lake Como resort of Bellagio in Italy, Bellagio is famed for its elegance. One of its most notable features is an 8 ac (32,000 m²) artificial lake between the building and the Strip. The fountain shows on the lake are a major free attraction.
Inside Bellagio, Dale Chihuly’s Fiori di Como, composed of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, covers 2,000 ft² (610 m²) of the lobby ceiling. The hotel also contains the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens.
Bellagio was conceived by Steve Wynn and built by his company, Mirage Resorts, Inc. following the purchase and demolition of the legendary Dunes hotel and casino in 1993. Bellagio was designed by Marnell Corrao Associates and Jon Jerde.
Bellagio is home to Cirque du Soleil’s production of “O”, the second permanent production show for the troupe.
History
When it opened on October 15, 1998, it was the most expensive hotel ever built, having cost over $1.5 billion.
In 2000 it became a MGM Mirage property when Mirage Resorts merged with MGM Grand Inc. to create MGM Mirage.
Actor Justin Pierce commited suicide in 2000, by hanging himself in one of the Bellagio’s rooms.
Film History
Bellagio was featured prominently in the film Ocean’s Eleven (2001). The safe for the three casinos that were robbed was located at the Bellagio.
The sex tape that propelled hotel heiress Paris Hilton to stardom was shot in one of the hotel rooms in Bellagio.
Fountain details
The Fountains of Bellagio
The Fountains at Night (oarsman/shooter nozzles visible)
Wet Design, a company specializing in creating intricate water shows, designed an array of underwater pipes with over 1,000 nozzles that makes it possible to stage fountain displays coordinated with over 4,000 lights and music. The Fountains of Bellagio, as the attraction is called, was made using three types of nozzles: “oarsman”, which can swing back and forth to create dancing water; “shooters”, which can shoot water upwards; and “super shooters”, which can send a water blast as high as 250 ft (76 m) in the air. After the success that Wet Design had with the Fountains, Steve Wynn asked them to improve and modify the volcano attraction at sister casino The Mirage.
A casino is a facility that accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are often placed near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships and other vacation attractions. Some casinos are known for hosting live entertainment events, such as concerts and sporting events, especially boxing.
The Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Gambling in casinos
In most jurisdictions, gambling is limited to persons over the age of majority (21 years of age in most of the United States and 18 to 20 in most other countries where casinos are permitted). Customers may gamble by playing slot machines or other games of chance (e.g., craps, roulette, baccarat) and some skill (eg., blackjack, poker) [for more see casino games]. Game rules usually have mathematically-determined odds that ensure the house retains an advantage over the players. This advantage is called the edge. Payout is the percentage given to players. In games such as poker, the house takes a commission (a “rake”) on bets players make against each other. Our money refers to the situation where a winning player is placing bets with money that has been won from the casino.
History
Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas (jb).
The term originally meant a small villa, summerhouse or pavilion built for pleasure, usually on the grounds of a larger Italian villa or palazzo. There are examples of such casinos at Villa Giulia and Villa Farnese. During the 19th century, the term casino came to include other more public buildings where pleasurable activities, including gambling and sports, took place. An example of this type of building is the Newport Casino. In modern Italian, this term designates a bordello (also called “casa chiusa”, literally “closed house”), while the gambling house is spelled casinò with an accent.
Security
Traditionally, casinos have had a major concentration on security. Large amounts of currency move through a casino, tempting people to cheat the system. Security today consists of cameras located throughout the property operated by highly trained individuals who attempt to locate cheating and stealing by both players and employees.
Among the most secure and watched areas of a casino are the count rooms and the surveillance room.
Slot machines are commonplace in casinos
Links
The Atrium at the Crown Casino, Melbourne, Australia.
Bally’s
3645 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Number of rooms
,814
Theme
Cosmopolitan Las Vegas
Gaming space
7,000 ft² (6,224.5 m²)
Permanent show(s)
Jubilee!
Signature attraction(s)
Garden Walkway
Notable restaurant(s)
Al Dente Bally’s Steakhouse Chang’s
Owner
Harrah’s Entertainment
Date opened
973
Casino type
Land-based
Major renovation(s)
981, 1994
Previous name(s)
Bonanza New Bonanza MGM Grand Bally’s Grand
Casino website
Bally’s Website
Bally’s Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located in Las Vegas, Nevada on the Las Vegas Strip. The hotel has 2,814 rooms that are 450 ft² (42 m²) or larger. The hotel has over 175,000 ft² (7,000 m²) of banquet and meeting space. It also has a 67,000 ft² (6,000 m²) casino.
Bally’s is home for the long-running production show Jubilee!.
One of the signature features of this hotel is the neon lighting wrapped around the covered moving sidewalk that brings guests from Las Vegas Boulevard to the entrance of the casino.
The hotel has a Las Vegas Monorail station at the rear of the property.
History
The site was first occupied by the Bonanza Hotel and Casino which opened in July 1963. It was later renamed to the New Bonanza Hotel and Casino shortly before construction on the MGM Grand began.
The 43 ac (174 km²) site opened in 1973 as the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino with 2,084 rooms, the largest hotel in the world at that time. Kirk Kerkorian was the owner. The hotel had a movie theme when it opened.
The MGM Grand Hotel fire on November 21, 1980 killed 87 people.
It suffered a fire in the casino that traveled up into the hotel, killing 87 guests and employees on November 21, 1980. The facility was rebuilt in only eight months. The fire was, and still remains, the largest disaster in Nevada history in terms of loss of life. The fire resulted in a major reform in fire safety codes for the city’s casino resorts, which are now among the strictest in the United States.
The hotel was later sold in 1985 to Bally Entertainment Corporation, and the property’s name was changed to Bally’s. The MGM Grand name was transferred to the former Marina Hotel, now known as the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Bally’s was later taken over by Hilton Corporation. In 1998, Hilton spun off its casino holdings into a new company, Park Place Entertainment, later known as Caesars Entertainment. That company merged with Harrah’s Entertainment in 2003.
At the end of June 2005, Harrah’s Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman announced that the company would consolidate all its properties under a few brand names: Harrah’s, Rio, Caesars, and Horseshoe. This implies that Bally’s will be re-branded in the future.
Film history
In 1993, the hotel was featured in the film Honeymoon in Vegas, starring Nicolas Cage and Sarah Jessica Parker.
It was also featured prominently in the 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas, also starring Cage and Elizabeth Shue.
The Aladdin is an Arabian Nights theme hotel and casino located at 3667 Las Vegas Boulevard South on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The hotel has 2,600 rooms, a performing arts theatre, and a 475,000 ft² (44,000 m²) shopping arcade called the Desert Passage.
History
The Aladdin was originally opened in 1963 as the Tally-Ho. It was later called King’s Crown in 1964. In 1966, the King’s Crown was purchased, and after major renovations was reopened and renamed the Aladdin. A little after a year it was opened, the Aladdin was host to Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s wedding.
Wayne Newton was a part owner from 1980 to 1982.
On April 27, 1998, the Aladdin was imploded [1], and a newer version was built that opened on August 18, 2000. The Aladdin was operated in conjunction with the London Club which ran a high roller casino on the property. It also included a major shopping center known as the Desert Passage. The performing arts theatre was not imploded but was refurbished.
The casino was in financial trouble from the start and was sold on June 20, 2003, to a partnership of Planet Hollywood and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
The Aladdin was scheduled to reopen on August 17, 2000, at 6:00pm, with fireworks at 10:00pm. The opening was delayed while the Clark County building inspector completed its fire safety testing. Another delay was caused by last-minute repairs to the casino surveillance system. This left thousands of Aladdin visitors leaving in disappointment, as well as opening night hotel guests wondering where they’d spend the night. Many high-rollers waited out on the sidewalks in front of the Aladdin for hours. Most were unable to even get to their luggage, since the hotel had been locked down for testing. Aladdin employees tried to arrange alternate accommodations for the guests with Paris and Bellagio.
The Aladdin finally opened the next day at 7:45 A.M. 100 members of Culinary Local 226, as well as an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 other workers were marching on Las Vegas Boulevard to protest the Aladdin opening without a union contract. Barbara Eden’s speech as well as the other festivities were drowned out by the bullhorns and the rest of the protest.
Gambling revenue will grow to $155 billion in 2012 from a 2007 revenue of $114 billion with an annually rate of 6.5 percent per year, says PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in a report released this week.
Asia, and especially Macau, will be the world’s fastest growing gambling region.
In accordance with this report, the US revenue will decline in 2008, due to the mortgage crisis and high gas and travel price. But, starting with 2010, Las Vegas will expects a new raise.
Online gambling and sports betting is expected to have a 4.9% yearly increase in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and a 4.5% yearly increase for the US tribal casinos. The most important increase for US is predicted for sports betting, rising 7% to $7.6 billion in 2012.
Queenco Leisure International (QLI) has finalised the terms of an agreement with Constanta Municipality, Romania, granting the QLI concession rights over a historic building in the city, which the company intends to renovate and operate, Casino Constanta.
The agreement is for an initial period of 49 years, but grants QLI the option to extend the terms for a further 24 years, subject to the consent of both the company and Constanta Municipality. Under the terms of the agreement, QLI will invest an approximate total of €10.0 million and pay gross annual royalties of €140,000 to Constanta Municipality.
The building covers an area of 801m² and is located on Constanta’s beachfront. It was built in 1909, and declared a national architectural treasure in 1956. Completed between the two World Wars in art nouveau style according to the plans of the architects, Daniel Renard and Petre Antonescu, the Casino features sumptuous architecture and a wonderful view of the sea. The pedestrian area around the Casino is a sought-after destination for couples and families, especially at sunset.
QLI plans to open Casino Constanta in the second half of 2009, which will operate approximately 24 gaming tables and 250 slot machines. The company also intends to develop the casino as a comprehensive leisure venue with restaurants and other entertainment facilities. In addition to local visitors, QLI believes it will benefit from the high volume of tourists visiting the destination each year, and will also focus on developing a VIP customer base as part of its high roller strategy.
‘I am delighted we have finalised the terms of the Concession Agreement in Constanta, and look forward to working closely with the Municipality over the coming years. We believe that the Constanta concession, upon completion, will generate excellent returns for our shareholders and will be another key step in Queenco’s strategy of expanding our casino portfolio in emerging markets to capitalise on their superior growth.’, said Dror Mizeretz, CEO of QLI.
Queenco Leisure International Ltd. operates and manages two of Greece‘s nine licensed casinos under exclusive gaming licences and the Casino Palace in Romania.
As at 18 June 2007, the Group operated approximately 1,400 slot machines and 130 gaming tables, and employed 2,487 people in 4 countries.
Constanţa (historical names: Tomis, Greek: Κωνστάντια or Constantia, Turkish: Köstence, Bulgarian: Кюстенджа) is the oldest living city in Romania. Constanţa has the biggest harbour on the Black Sea, Port of Constanţa, the fourth largest in Europe, having the potential in the next few years to become the second largest in Europe after Rotterdam. Constanta is also the most popular destination for summer holidays in Romania for both the national and the international market because of its beachfront and cultural attractions.
Poker Stars started a new experience, beginning to operate a poker room in Cotai Strip (Dubbed PokerStars Macau), at Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino (25 tables, 250 players, cash games and tournaments).
The poker room was launched this week with a No-Limit Texas Hold’em Charity Poker tournament, for the victims of the recent earthquake in China. Participants competed for HKD $150,000 in prizes, including entries to the $25 000 HKD buy-inSeptember’s APPT Macau event, which features an HKD $25,000 buy-in. That event runs September 1-6, 2008 and has a guarantee of HKD $10,000,000.
“PokerStars is committed to the development of poker in Asia” said Joe Hachem, Poker World Champion and member of Team PokerStars Pro.
$4.5 billion Canadian investment in casino-resort project (“Ho Tram“) in the South of the Vietnam, the themehighlighting the lush natural beauty of the area while showcasing Vietnamese and Asian culture.
The most important investors in this project are Asian Coast Development Ltd. from Toronto and Harbinger Capital LLC from New York
The Ho Tram Stripis being designed by Steelman Partners andspread across 19 hectares of prime real estateon a beach in Xuyen Moc Commune, in Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province, near Ho Chi Minh City.
The first stage of the project (2008-2011) will include two luxurious five star hotels with 2300 rooms and a Las Vegas-style casinos – featuring live entertainment stages and an exclusive VIP area to compliment gaming floors with more than 180 live table games and 2000 electronic games. As recreational facilities, an expansive and luxurious spa, state-of-the-art performance facilities, an engaging upscale retail experience and a wide selection of elegant dining facilities offering local and international cuisine.
It is the most important investment in Vietnam, including, in the first stage, a 2,300 rooms hotel and a casino with 900 gambling tables, 500 slot machines, and a VIP area.
Finally, in 2015, the resort will comprise five hotels with 9,000 rooms and a second casino.
The site plan includes several theatres and museums, a cultural center, and an ongoing parade of events, a championship 200-acre golf coursedesigned by Greg Norman, a country club, and and a site for guests to swim with dolphins.
Vietnam (Vietnamese: Việt Nam), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Cộng hòa Xã hội Chủ nghĩa Việt Nam), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east. With a population of over 85 million, Vietnam is the 13th most populous country in the world.
Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu is a province of Vietnam. It is located on the coast of the country’s southeastern region. It also includes the Côn Đảo islands, located some distance off Vietnam’s southeastern coast. From 1954 to 1975, this province belonged to the Republic of Vietnam.
in ring game (cash game or live-action game) and tournament formats.
For the poker table seating, most casinos apply the rule first-come, first-served. Some poker rooms allow the use of the phone to ask to be placed on a list. If there is a break at a poker table, the players can inform the manager and their places will be held until they will be back.
The usual currency for the games are the chips, that can be purchased from the casino dealer, from cashiers, or from chip runners. Some will allow players to buy chips from each other at the table, and some allow to play with cash.
Usually there is a fee charge for conducting the game. The rake is the scaled commission fees taken by a casino operating a poker game. This fee structure is common in low-stakes cash games. For ring games, it is generally 5-10% of each poker hand, up to a predetermined maximum amount. This fee is sometimes referred to as the “drop” since the dealer will drop the rake into a container at the table.
In mid or high stakes games, there is sometimes used an hourly charge for renting a seat. It might be sometimes combined with a rake.
The usual fee for tournaments is 10% of the buy-in.
Some common rules in U.S. public cardrooms wrote by Bob Ciaffone in his book Robert’s Rules of Poker:
Players must protect their hands, either by holding their cards or placing a chip or other object on top of their cards. An unprotected hand may be mucked by the dealer in turn.
Players must act in turn. Players should not telegraph or otherwise indicate intentions to act prior to their turn to act.
In the event of an action out-of-turn, the action may be binding if there is no bet, call or raise between the out-of-turn action and the player’s proper turn.
Verbal declarations are binding and take precedence over non-verbal actions.
Betting actions without a verbal declaration must be made in a single motion or gesture (“no string bet” rule).
Knocking or tapping the table is a check. Tossing or pushing cards away is a fold.
In the absence of a verbal declaration of “Raise,” if a player puts in chips equal to 50 percent or more of the minimum raise, he will be required to make a full minimum raise. Otherwise, the action is deemed a call and the excess chips should be returned to the player.
In limit games, an oversized chip will be constituted to be a call if the player does not announce a raise. In no-limit, an oversized chip before the flop is a call; after the flop, an oversized chip by the initial bettor put in the pot will constitute the size of the bet. In pot-limit and no-limit, if a player states raise and throws in an oversized chip, the raise will be the maximum amount allowable up to the size of that chip.
Bets should be placed in front of the player’s cards. Chips should not be thrown (splashed) into the pot.
Wagers must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise in that round, unless a player is going all-in.
“Show one, show all” – Hole cards, including folded hands, should not be revealed to other players until showdown. If a player reveals his hole cards to another player active in the current hand, all players have the right to also see the hole cards. Also, if an uncalled winning hand is shown to only one player, then any other player at the table has a right to see the winning hand. Note that, contrary to a common misinterpretation, “show one, show all” does not refer to the number of cards in the hole – an uncalled winning hand may expose a single hole card without revealing the other hole card.
Players may not verbally disclose the contents of their hand.
Players may not advise other players how to play a hand (“One player to a hand” rule).
Cards may not be removed or held below the table or otherwise concealed from view.
Players in hands cannot reveal their hole cards to convince other players to fold; if so, the player’s cards are considered a dead hand.
Players must keep their highest denomination chips visible at all times.
Except for small denominations used to tip for food or drinks, players may not remove a portion of their chips from the table (called going south or ratholing) unless they cash out and leave the game. Players must not sell or share chips with another player at the table.
Cards speak for themselves and prevail if a player misstates the value of his hand at the showdown.
Speaking in foreign languages at the table is prohibited.
Players should not discuss or otherwise influence the hand-in-progress after folding.
Cell-phone use at the table is prohibited.
Profanity is prohibited.
In U.S., some local laws may limit the type or nature of poker games offered in public cardrooms. For example,
North Dakota has a limitation of $25 per individual hand, game or event.
In Montana the maximum size of a won pot is $300.
In San Jose, California, no single bet may exceed $200.
San Jose cardrooms have “spread-limit” games to finesse this rule.
Florida requires that in limit games, all bets be no more than $5, while in no-limit games the maximum buyin is $100.
In Florida, poker tournaments are exempted from the betting structure rules and may use any betting structure the cardroom wishes. Tournament formats are used to circumvent gambling rules in other states as well. Unlike some other forms of gambling, tribal gaming may be subject to state laws governing poker.
Typically, online poker rooms generate the bulk of their revenue via four methods:
The rake. Rake is collected from most real money ring game pots. The rake is normally calculated as a percentage of the pot based on a sliding scale and capped at some maximum fee. Each online poker room determines its own rake structure.
Pre-scheduled multi-table and impromptu sit-and-go tournaments are not raked, but rather an entry fee around ten percent of the tournament entry fee is added to the cost of the tournament.
Some online poker sites also offer games like black jack or side bets on poker hands where the player plays against “the house” for real money. The odds are in the house’s favor in these games, thus producing a profit for the house.
Online poker sites invest the money that players deposit. Since the sites do not have to pay interest on players’ bankrolls, this method can be a significant source of revenue.
Many online poker sites offer incentives to players in the form of bonuses. Usually the bonuses are given after a certain number of raked hands are played.
In addition, several online cardrooms employ VIP Managers to develop VIP programs to reward regular players and additional bonuses exist for players who wish to top-up their accounts. These are known as reload bonuses.
A new MGM Grand casino will open at Foxwoods this weekend. The festivities will be overshadowed by the United Auto Workers that will protest against unfair tipping policy and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe’s refusal to bargain, trying to negotiate a union contract.
A new way the tips are distributed among dealers is going to decrease their earnings.
“We’re glad we could reach an agreement on this event that works for everyone. We’re glad to be there, we protected our first amendment rights, and we are confident we will get our message out,” said Director of UAW Region 9a, Bob Madore.
The Union will try to make aware the casino customers of the unfair labor practices, many dealers joining the protest.
The opening will have as guests many celebrities, such as Michael Douglas and his wife, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Jamie Lynn Sigler.
Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player. Nicknamed “Sir Charles,” for his aggressive and outspoken demeanor, and “The Round Mound of Rebound,” for his unusual build and talent as a player, Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association’s most dominating power forwards. He was selected to both the All-NBA First Team and All-NBA Second Team five times and once named to the All-NBA Third Team. He earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player and during the NBA’s 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States’ Dream Team. In 2006, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. (Wikipedia)
Barkley is known for his compulsive gambling. In an interview with ESPN’s Trey Wingo, he revealed that he lost approximately $10 million through gambling. In addition, he also admitted to losing $2.5 million “in a six hour period” while playing blackjack. Although Barkley openly admits to his problem, he claims it is not serious since he can afford to support the habit. When approached by fellow TNT analyst Ernie Johnson about the issue, Barkley replied, “It’s not a problem. If you’re a drug addict or an alcoholic, those are problems. I gamble for too much money. As long as I can continue to do it I don’t think it’s a problem. Do I think it’s a bad habit? Yes, I think it’s a bad habit. Am I going to continue to do it? Yes, I’m going to continue to do it.”
Despite suffering big losses, Barkley also claims to have won on several occasions. During a trip to Las Vegas, he claims to have won $700,000 from playing blackjack and betting on the Indianapolis Colts to defeat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. He went on to state, however, “No matter how much I win it ain’t a lot. It’s only a lot when I lose. And you always lose. I think it’s fun, I think it’s exciting. I’m gonna continue to do it but I have to get to a point where I don’t try to break the casino ’cause you never can.” In May 2008, the Wynn Las Vegas casino filed a civil complaint against Barkley, alleging that he had failed to pay a $400,000 debt stemming from October 2007. Barkley responded by taking blame for letting time lapse on the repayment of the debt and promising to pay it back.
Basketball: Barkley plans to pay up
Ottawa Citizen, Canada
Hall of Fame basketball player Charles Barkley told a radio station he will repay the $400000 US he owes the Wynn Las Vegas casino for gambling debts. …
Charles Barkley faces gambling debt case
The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A prosecutor says retired NBA star Charles Barkley will face felony charges if he fails to repay a $400000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas …
Business Glance
Salt Lake Tribune, United States
Hall of Fame basketball player Charles Barkley told an Alabama radio station he will repay the $400000 he owes Wynn Resorts Ltd. for gambling debts. ..
Barkley says he will pay $400000 to Wynn Las Vegas
Sportsnet.ca, Canada
t’s a good bet that Charles Barkley will pay back the $400000 he admits he owes Wynn Las Vegas LLC. But the Hall of Famer and TNT NBA analyst disputes some …
Charles Barkley’s Gambling Debt Raises 10 Questions
Bleacher Report, CA
by Greg Adams (Scribe) To be fair, in the article, it is noted that Barkley can make restitution to avoid felony bad check charges. Yowsers. $400K? …
Sports Watch
KFOR, OK
LAS VEGAS (AP) – A prosecutor says retired NBA star Charles Barkley will face felony charges if he fails to repay a $400000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas …
Celebrity Gossip Round-Up
CKFR, Canada
The Wynn Las Vegas resort has filed suit against former NBA star Charles Barkley, claiming he owes the casino $400000 in gambling markers. …
Sports Buzz
Kansas City Star, MO
A day after being sued for failing to repay four $100000 casino markers, former NBA star Charles Barkley acknowledged he owed the $400000 gambling debt. …
Sox set to fatten up on home cooking — if they hit
Chicago Tribune, United States
Charles Barkley owes $400000 dating to markers the Wynn Hotel extended to him last October. Barkley previously said he has a gambling problem. …
Sports Buzz
The Birmingham News – al.com, AL
Charles Barkley has a right to spend his money as he wishes. If he wants to gamble and lose $400000 in a Las Vegas casino in a two-day span, … Basketball briefs News & Observer
Off the wire
Arkansas Democrat Gazette, AR
Former NBA star Charles Barkley, 45, now a basketball analyst for Turner Network Television, acknowledged he owes a $ 400, 000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas …
Basketball: Casino sues Barkley
Ottawa Citizen, Canada
The Wynn Las Vegas casino has sued former NBA star Charles Barkley, saying he owes $400000 US in gambling debts, the Las Vegas Sun reported yesterday. …
It is about a legal way to win, but take care! Such practice is considered an advantage gambling and, if the casinos see that you are a skillfull or knowledgeable player that can gain an advantage at blackjack by using the card-counting or shuffle tracking, at video poker by using a strategy card devised or not by computer analysis of the game, or at progressive slot machines by taking advantage of a high jackpot, you can end by being listed on the Black Book. And, if you will be listed finally on the Griffin Book shared by the casinos, you will end you career as gambler much sooner that you intended to do, because you will be excluded from all the casinos that have access to the book.
Bonus hunting (bonus bagging, or bonus whoring) makes possible from a mathematically point of view to get a profit. Wikipedia shows as example the house edge in blackjack which is roughly 0.5%. In the example above, $5000 in wagering with a house edge of 0.5% will result in an expected loss of $25. Since the player received a $100 signup bonus, after subtracting the expected loss of $25, the player has an expected profit of $75.
If you play at an online casino, you will take advantage by the signup bonuses, usually one-off bonuses for signing up to the casino and opening an account. There are terms and conditions for each bonus, like restricted games or bets and wagering requirements.
Wagering requirements prevent players from withdrawing the bonus money immediately after receiving it. Before the bonus money can be withdrawn the player must wager a certain amount of money on unrestricted games. The wagering can be spread out over many bets. To meet a $2000 wagering requirement, a player could make 1000 $2 bets on blackjack, provided blackjack is not a restricted game.
Games like blackjack and video poker have a low house advantage. The house advantage for blackjack is ~0.5%. So in the example above, by playing $2000 worth of blackjack with a house advantage of 0.5%, a player is, expected to lose $10 in total. But the expected value is an average value and may be less than the actual value.
Assuming that you only lose an amount close to the expected loss, and the bonus awarded to you after meeting this wagering requirement is greater than $10 then you will have a profit. The process is mathematically calculated. Bad luck could cause a player to lose more than $10 playing blackjack in this situation.
In sports betting, by taking advantage of free bet promotions, you can back the event, and then lay the event on a betting exchange, at similar or same odds, thus ensuring that the free bet is not a bet at all, instead more like a financial trade. No matter the outcome, it is possible (by using a betting / arb calculator) to calculate both the possible outcomes before the sporting event has started. By inputting the odds, the bet calculator then tells you what amount to bet, to ensure that whether the bet wins or loses, the return is the same.
In online poker, the poker player can take advantage by the incentive bonuses offered by the site after a certain number of raked hands are played. For example, a site may offer a player who deposits $100 a bonus of $50 once he plays 500 raked hands. A poker player who can at least break even can become a long-term winner by playing with poker bonuses. This way, a winning poker player can add to their winnings with the use of bonuses.
During July 29-30, 2008, will take place the conference Next Generation in Gambling (NGG) (Exploring multi-channel delivery of games to customers while complying with federal and state laws in Canada, United States and Latin America).
The event will target the casino, racing, and lottery companies working in North American jurisdictions, focusing to expand delivery channels while staying in compliance with the law, developing multi-channel strategies to bring gaming products directly to consumers is a logical next step.
The topics will cover technological information via the dedicated technology track, marketing tips, thought-provoking keynotes, and panel discussions from professional speakers like Hon. Alfonse D’Amato (Chairman and Chief Executive, Poker Players Alliance), Chris Collins (Linden Lab), Shawn Kreloff (CEO, Sona Mobile).
CryptoLogic Limited, a leading software developer to the global Internet gaming market, through its wholly owned subsidiary WagerLogic, has announced a three-year licensing contract with 888 Holdings PLC, one of the world’s most popular online gaming companies. Under the agreement, 888 will select and integrate casino games from CryptoLogic that best complement 888′s broad offering.
“Today’s announcement is consistent with CryptoLogic’s strategy to partner with the world’s biggest and best gaming brands – as a way to offer the ultimate player experience,” said Brian Hadfield, CryptoLogic’s President and CEO. “888′s reputation, established player base and global marketing strength, paired with CryptoLogic’s industry-leading games – it’s a winning combination.”
“This reaffirms 888′s strategy of creating a game ecosystem, powered by an industry-leading integration infrastructure, which enables 888 to introduce a diversified offering to existing and new players, worldwide,” said Gigi Levy, CEO of 888.
“For CryptoLogic, 888 is a natural fit,” added Justin Thouin, CryptoLogic’s Vice President, Product Management and Business Development. “Together, we offer the world’s best online games through one of the world’s largest Internet casinos.”
Source: CryptoLogic Limited
About CryptoLogic:
CryptoLogic Inc. (TSX: CRY) is a Dublin, Ireland-based software application service provider (formerly Toronto, Canada), one of the four largest in the industry along with Microgaming, Playtech, and Real Time Gaming.
Cryptologic listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (CRY) in 1998 and on the NASDAQ (CRYP) in 2000. In 2003 the company began trading on the London Stock Exchange (CRP) before achieving gaming software certification in Alderney.
The Playboy brand launched casino and poker products on Playboygaming.com using Cryptologic software in early 2007.
World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPTE) also joined the CryptoLogic network in 2007, offering both casino and poker products.
About 888.com:
888 Holdings Plc incorporates Cassava Enterprises (Gibraltar) Ltd., a limited company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: 888) which operates several high-profile gambling websites: 888.com, Casino-on-Net, Reef Club Casino, Pacific Poker.
On October 2, 2006, 888 Holdings announced that it had indefinitely suspended business from US customers in light of the passage of the Safe Port Act by the US Congress three days before. On August 14, 2007, the US Department of Justice asked to recoup all profits made by the company in America. This would amount to nearly $120m for 888.
Airbus is in discussion with more clients interested to use the world’s biggest passenger plane, Airbus superjumbo A380, into a flying casino.
David Velupillai, marketing director for Airbus’s executive and private aviation division, said a fully-fitted casino could be delivered as early as 2012.
The gambling “is clearly a growing business in Asia and what this interest reflects is what is happening in Macau and Singapore. The idea of a flying casino has been mentioned before but it’s now looking a lot more concrete,” said the head of Airbus’ Executive and Private Aviation Division, Francois Chazelle.
The most important destination for the future casinos will be Asia, especially Macau.
Las Vegas Sands Corp., a hotel, gaming, and resort development company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada and owning The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, the Sands Expo and Convention Center, and Venetian Macao Limited, a developer of multiple casino hotel resort properties in The People’s Republic of China’s Special Administrative Region of Macao, hopes to launch VIP charter flights between Hong Kong and Las Vegas featuring baccarat tables in Lockheed Martin planes, in accordance with a South China Morning Post
Interesting change, isn’t it? It seems that starting with this year, Las Vegas will be no more the capital of the gambling world. The Sin City is growing old.
In accordance with Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, casinos in Macau took in gross gambling revenue of $10.4 billion in 2007, up 47 percent from about $7.05 billion the year before. Four new casinos opened on Macau last year. At the end of December, Macau had 4,375 gaming tables and 13,267 slot machines in 28 casinos, up from 2,762 tables and 6,546 slots in 24 casinos a year before.
Minimum bets in the Chinese territory usually set at US$12.85, compared with a less than US$1 in some Vegas locations, allow Macau to take in far more per customer and per table than Las Vegas, says Asian Times.
“Macau has built properties based on Las Vegas’s 30 years of experience, but the Chinese market doesn’t have any experience with the Vegas product,” Andy Nazarechuk, dean of the University of Nevada Las Vegas-Singapore’s William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, said. “Once they learn, there will be money to be made.”
Las Vegas is growing much more slowly, and it is not entirely its fault. It is the US general policy about gambling that makes the US gambling to slow down every year. Including the policy for online gambling. At a first glance, UIGEA helped Las Vegas and the other US land casinos.
The true is, the US gambling industry lost its way during the last years, and now it tries to find it again. I am not talking about the companies, that expanded their activity in all the world, but about the US internal gambling market. The development of the Indian casinos is part of this process.
Las Vegas, billed as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for massive and lavish casino resorts, the unrestricted availability of alcoholic beverages (as is true throughout Nevada), and adult entertainment. Once officially referred to as Sin City, this image made Las Vegas a popular setting for films and television programs. The major attractions in Las Vegas are the hotels. The most famous hotels line Las Vegas Boulevard South, also known as the Las Vegas Strip. Many of these hotels carry thousands of rooms and are featured on various themes. There are, of course, large casino areas in these hotels as well. There are many hotel casinos in the city’s downtown area as well, which was the original focal point of the city’s gaming industry in its early days. Several large hotels and casinos are also located somewhat off the Strip but adjacent to it, as well as in the county around the city. (Wikipedia)
The Dutch justice ministry introduced new regulations that will held criminally liable the banks and credit card companies that will facilitate online gambling on foreign sites for the Dutch citizens.
In accordance with Dutch News, in some months it will be published a list with the banned web sites (this decision seems to me a stupid idea, because they cannot control all the new gambling sites that are published every day).
Online gambling is already illegal in Netherlands, but the Dutch stats show about 400,000 people that play online, and about 30 foreign companies that target the Dutch gamblers.
The Dutch policy for gambling is in contradiction with the EU rules, Netherlands trying to get absolute state monopoly for all the gambling games, giving to the state-owned Holland Casino exclusive rights to run internet gambling in the Netherlands, and denying license for all the foreign companies that want to build casinos in the Netherlands.
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A Casino Night (also called Vegas Nights, Las Vegas Nights, Monte Carlo Nights, Casino Parties) is an entertainment event with a casino theme.
The Fountains of Bellagio
The Fountains at Night (oarsman/shooter nozzles visible)
The Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas (jb).
Slot machines are commonplace in casinos
The Atrium at the Crown Casino, Melbourne, Australia.
The MGM Grand Hotel fire on November 21, 1980 killed 87 people.
The Dutch justice ministry introduced new regulations that will held criminally liable the banks and credit card companies that will facilitate online gambling on foreign sites for the Dutch citizens.
