Las Vegas is the most populated city in the state of Nevada, billing itself as the Entertainment Captial of the World. The Las Vegas Strip, a 4.2 mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada is where all the action is and the home to some of the biggest and best casinos on the planet. In fact of the 25 biggest hotels in the world, Las Vegas is home to no fewer than 19 of them!
The first casino built in the vicinity of The Strip was the Pair-o-Dice Club, which opened its doors back in 1931 but eh first casino to trade on what is currently The Strip was the El Rancho Vegas, which opened on April 3, 1941 with just 63 rooms in its hotel. It stood proud for almost 20 years before it was destroyed in a fire in 1960. The success of the El Rancho Vegas spawned a second casino in 1942 called the Hotel Last Fronteir and over the enxt few years some of the more famous casinos followed suit such as the Flamingo in 1946 and the Desert Inn in 1950.
In 1968 Kirk Kerkorian bought the Flamingo and used it as a base to train his staff whilst the International HotelLas Vegas Hilton was being built. A year later it was open for business and boasted a staggering 1,512 room and kick started the era of mega-resorts. This particular casino still stands today, though its name has changed to the . Kerkorian then opened the MGM Grand Hotel in 1973 but it suffered a huge fire on November 21, 1980, killing 87 people, making it Vegas’ worst accident. Amazingly, the hotel was completely rebuilt less than a year later and still exists to this day.
When The Mirage was opened in 1989 it set the tone for mega-resorts as it had everything on a scale never seen before. It offered luxury, entertainment, dining, lodgings and gambling on a massive scale. It offered 3,044 rooms and over 100,000 square feet of gaming floor, something unheard of up to that point. As others tried to follow in its footsteps it spelt the beginning of the end for some of the lesser casinos on The Strip. The Dunes was demolished and The Bellagio built in its place, followed by the demolition of The Sands where The Venetian now stands.
Today’s casino and hotels are even bigger than before, with some costing billions of dollars to build. They are no similar to miniature cities in their own right, with apartment blocks, shopping malls and golf courses being the norm in each resort. Although of late the revenues in Las Vegas have been on a two year slump, mainly due to the global economic downturn, it still remains the most popular destination for gamblers, a real gambling Mecca.
Whilst most gambling operators around the world are struggling to come to terms with the lack of money being spent by punters both in real life venues and online casinos, one is currently enjoying a boom period and has announced further rises in profits for the last quarter of trading.
Playtech, the industry leader when it comes to providing software for online casinos, online poker clients and bingo sites amongst others, has reported a 25% increase in revenue in October compared to the previous year and a rise of 7% in daily activity during the third quarter of 2010. This has lead to total revenues of €32.5m, up 17% year-on-year.
The company was founded in 1999 by Teddy Sagi and he still controls a majority 41% of the company from his investment vehicle. When the company floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2006 it raised £550m, pricing its shares at 257p but they lost 40% in a single day when the US Government announced the passage of the Safe Ports Act, also known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, a law that essentially made it illegal for American financial institutions to process payments to and from online gambling sites. However, Playtech’s share price has recovered since that day on 30 September, 2006 and currently stands around 420p.
The company’s CEO, Mor Weizer said during a telephone interview that the majority of this success has stemmed from the regulation currently taking place throughout Europe, “I believe that regulation will change the industry and is already changing the industry and therefore we would like to establish ourselves as the largest and most influential leading software provider in regulated markets” This is in regards to various European countries ring-fencing their players, including France and the lucrative Italian markets, the latter having seen an eight-fold increase in activity since 2008.
American land based casinos have been suffering more than most in the current global economic climate, none more so than the establishments in Atlantic City, New Jersey. One casino in particular, the luxurious Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, has had a torrid time of late and according to their CEO a run of good fortune for its punters, and bad luck for the casino, resulted in the Borgata taking a $9m hit to revenue.
Paul Chakmak, CEO of the Borgata’s parent company, Boyd Gaming, explained, “The most significant factor impacting Borgata’s results was lower table games revenue, which was largely a function of unusually lucky play by our customers. Had we experienced historical table games hold, we estimate revenue would have been $9 million higher during the quarter”
The $9m hit to revenue in the most recent third quarter ensured the casino saw a 7% decline in net revenue to $207.7m, which in turn impacted on the gross operating profits, themselves falling a massive 19.7% to $54.3m. The revenue of the Atlantic City casinos has continually dropped over the past 25 months and the $54.3m profits reported by the Borgata are down 16.1% from the previous year.
The $1.1bn resort was opened in July 2003 in a joint venture between Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts International. With over 2,000 rooms and 161,000 square feet of gaming space, the Borgata is the largest resort in Atlantic City and also the venue with the highest revenues. However, in recent times MGM Resorts International have not made secret the fact they are wanting to sell their share in the Borgata and pull out of Atlantic City completely. Indeed, just yesterday they sold 11.3 acres of land around the Borgata to two real estate companies, Vornado Reality and Geyser Holdings for a total of $73m.
The Borgata has been no stranger to negative press as in 2005 it announced it would fire any cocktail waitress who gained more than 7% body weight and did not lose it within 90 days before being caught up in an illegal sports-betting ring in the casino’s poker room in 2007. Twenty-three people were arrested, six of those were Borgata employees whilst four were known mob associates!
One lucky punter has scooped a gargantuan jackpot of £420,948 for just a £4.00 spin on the “Leprechaun’s Luck” progressive slot machine at the William Hill Vegas casino. Known only as “E.O” the 43-year old from London was rightfully “over the moon” and “completely speechless” after winning one of the largest jackpots in online casino history.
The “Leprechaun’s Luck” machine is a five-reel 20-line slot that has an Irish theme, where players can play for as little as £0.20 or up to £200 per spin! After a couple of £4.00 spins, the middle reel displayed a wishing well symbol, which sent it into bonus mode. In this mode the bucket drops down the virtual well collecting prizes along the way, which are added to the player’s balance. However, this time there was a pile of gold at the bottom of the well that triggered the progressive jackpot payout and the lucky Londoner scooped the staggering £420,948!
The winner revealed they had previously had some good luck on other slot machines, saying, “I am thrilled with this enormous jackpot. I have won some minor jackpots at William Hill Vegas, but nothing comparable with this one,” before adding, “I would love to give that Irish one-armed bandit a big hug!”
A William Hill spokesperson, Sharon Young had this to say about “E.O” and their huge payout, “We have had lots of big winners on William Hill Vegas in the past, but this one trumps the lot of them! She placed a £4 wager and won over 100,000 times her stake – it just goes to show that you don’t have to bet big to win big at William Hill Vegas.”
Upon paying out the jackpot, the machine reset to a still impressive £127,000 and the countdown is now on until the next jackpot is hit. People playing the “Leprechaun’s Luck” slot can also win the progressive jackpot by entering the “Rainbow Bonus” mini-game, which begins when three “Pot of Gold” symbols are displayed. For full terms and conditions see the William Hill Vegas website.
You would be forgiven for thinking that the game of bingo is played by old dears up and down the country for a few pounds in prizes here and there, after all, that is how the game used to be. But now, thanks to some of the gambling industry’s biggest names, bingo is not only fashionable to players of all ages, it is also producing some life-changing sums of money as jackpot prizes.
One such jackpot was hit recently at the William Hill bingo site when one lucky punter won more than £100,000 by winning the “Money Mountain” progressive jackpot on a ticket she bought for just £0.05! Known online as “Kerryfeellucky,” the 31-year old from Cheshire had already had some good fortune on the site after winning £500 just days before her massive win.
When asked about how she felt for winning £133,038.84 for just a £0.05 investment, Kerry said, “I’m still shaking. I just can’t believe it. I thought things like this didn’t happen to people like me.” She won the huge sum for completing a full house in less than 31 balls, seven fewer than what would have triggered the lesser “Cash Rocket” bonus.
A spokesman for William Hill shared Kerry’s excitement, informing, “The jackpot had been steadily building since February and it was only a matter of time before it was won,” before adding, “We’re all absolutely thrilled for Kerry and we wish her all the best with her new found fortune.”
Kerry won the staggering amount, more than 2.6 million times her original stake on the 90 ball bingo game, though William Hill also offer 80 and 75 ball variants. After the £133,038.84 appeared in her account, Kerry was asked if she had any plans for her new, substantial bank balance, to which she replied, “I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my winnings. I’m afraid I’ll wake up and find out that it was all a dream.”
Ninety-three year old casino and business tycoon, Kirk Kerkorian, one of the most important figures responsible for shaping Las Vegas into how it now stands, has agreed to pay his ex-wife more than $10,000,000 in back payments for the maintenance of one of their children. He has also agreed to pay $100,000 per month for 12-year old Kira’s upkeep until she reaches the age of 19.
Kerkorian, the richest person in Los Angeles, started to build his fortune back in 1962 when he bought 80 acres of land off the Las Vegas Strip and built Caesar’s Palace there. The ground rent and subsequent sale some years later netted him around $9,000,000. Five years later he bought another 82 acres of land and developed the International Hotel (now known as the Las Vegas Hilton), which at the time was the world’s largest hotel.
More famously, Kerkonian bought the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studio, which resulted in him opening the original MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. The original burned down in a horrific fire in 1980 but was rebuilt and operational again in just eight months.
The very private Kerkorian married his second wife, former professional tennis player Lisa Bonder in 1999 after speculation about their relationship had been subject to many rumours over the years. His marriage to Bonder, who is 48-years his junior, only lasted 28 days and despite having signed a prenuptial agreement, Kerkorian has been left with this huge bill for child maintenance.
The $10.25 million payout is one of the biggest awarded in America but will be nothing but a minor dent in the wallet of Mr Kerkorian, who’s estimated wealth is $3.1 billion, placing him 307th in the World’s richest man rankings. Kerkorian was ranked as high as 41st just two years ago but as much of his wealth is dictated by the stock market, he lost a massive percentage of his $16 billion fortune since the global recession took hold.
Casino News | Online Casinos | 
November 15, 2010 9:51 pm | 
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