Online Casino Edition – Casino News News about online casinos and gambling

September 20, 2013

Online casino gaming can be a great way of entertaining yourself

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 8:24 am

Online casino gaming has brought many persons into gambling. Since the launching of the first site gambling online has become the favored past time of many. It is not that hard to see why people prefer online casino gaming to other forms of entertainment. Playing traditional games online offers people the chance to win money and match their wit and gambling skill against that of others. This can make for a pleasant afternoon and evening. And, at times, it beats watching bad films on television.

The success of online casino gaming can also be linked to the ease with which people are able to access such games. All one needs is the Internet. If you are able to get on the Internet, then you will be able to enter the worldwide web and find online casino sites of all kinds. Indeed, it is just this kind of diversity that adds to the appeal of online casino gaming. The fact that anyone looking to play has so many choices is something that many people are likely to enjoy.

Not everyone has the same skill and comfort level with gambling. Some persons like to wage a little bit of money at a time, while others do not mind risking more, sometimes all in one go. Online casino gaming gives each individual the flexibility he needs to risk as much or as little as he wants. This can be a great way of getting the pleasure you want without feeling uncomfortable about the amount of money you’re betting.

Online casino gaming is unlikely to go away anytime soon. In fact, the industry is likely to expand in the future. As web technology improves, so will the features of the online casino gaming sites. Persons who enjoy gambling will have a great deal to look forward to in the future. The capabilities that are yet to come can now only be imagines. But whatever they are, they are sure to please those who use them.

If you are interested in casino gambling, you want to know that the site you are using is dependable and easy to access. To be sure, not every site can be relied on to offer this kind of service. However, it is vital that you locate the ones that do. This can be done quite easily nowadays. For it is of the greatest fortune that the same mechanism by which you are able to access online casino gaming allows you to find the site best suited to your taste.

It is not that hard to find online casinos. Searching the web will lead you to a variety of sites that have such games. You will be able to find the online site that you are looking for with expedience and efficiency. The web will also enable you to read about the online casino industry in general, so that you become more aware of the where it is now and where it is likely to be in the near future. Online casino gaming has a wonderful future.

September 16, 2013

Golden Nugget Buys Louisiana Casino Project

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 11:20 am

It was announced that Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. Has made a deal to sell to the company that owns the Golden Nugget the under-construction hotel-casino complex that is located in Lake Charles, La.

This transaction was reported to satisfy some of the issues associated with a settlement that had been reached with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to avoid antitrust issues that might come up concerning the $2.8 billion buyout of the Las Vegas-based company.

The Golden Nugget is owned by Houston-based Landry’s Inc. It has been announced that it will pay for all the development costs that are spent on Ameristar Lake Charles, but only until the closing date of the sale. In addition, the Golden Nugget is said to assume all outstanding costs that are owed on the development at that particular time. There is also to be a $37 million credit applied to Golden Nugget. Ameristar has said that it has spent $213.9 million (as of June 30) on the project. Additionally, the project is said to have a budget of around $580 million.

Golden Nugget has already announced that it will complete the hotel and casino complex, located on a 242-acre site that is adjacent to the existing L’Auberge Lake Charles. However, the transaction still needs to get FTC approval as well as the approval of Louisiana gaming regulators. It should be noted that this project is the last of the available gaming licenses in Louisiana.

In addition to the above, Golden Nugget operates hotel and casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Laughlin, and Biloxi, MS. In addition, the company operates over 500 national restaurant outlets; these are under nearly a dozen different brands.

In a recent statement, Tilman Fertitta, Landry’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “Due to our strong presence with all of our brands in the Texas and Louisiana markets, we are confident that we can grow gaming revenues in Lake Charles.”

For its part, Pinnacle has told the Missouri Gaming Commission that it wants to finalize an agreement in order to sell its Lumiere Place casino (located in downtown St. Louis). This sale, it has been reported, will satisfy the second concern that the FTC has with the overall Ameristar deal. Pinnacle has also said that it wants to close its purchase of Ameristar, a regional rival, before the end of August. The Missouri gaming regulators have already approved the deal. This gives the transaction the authorization from the state that it needs. With it, Pinnacle will be able to double its number of casinos to 16, located in nine states.

According to Pinnacle CEO Anthony Sanfilippo, this merger will result in savings of about $40 million. In addition, Pinnacle is said to acquire two smaller casinos located in the Nevada community of Jackpot, which is close to the Idaho border. These two smaller casinos will be part of the overall transaction.

Those involved in the deal report that they see considerable opportunity for both Pinnacle and Ameristar as their asset portfolios complement one another in many ways.

September 14, 2013

Gambling Revenues in Maryland Soaring

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 11:19 am

The state of Maryland made a bet that casino gambling would pay off for them. It seems as if they were right, even though their lottery sales are down.

For the first time in some 16 years, traditional lottery revenues for Maryland have fallen by nearly 2 percent. These results were released by the state’s Lottery and Gaming Control Agency. During the same period of time, casino revenues for Maryland have more than tripled. This is new record level for the state.

According to the state records, Maryland had a net gain of about $830 million in gambling taxes. This represents an increase of 27 percent over the previous fiscal year. The state lottery added about $545 million to the state’s general fund; the state casinos were able to add $284 million to the Maryland Education Trust Fund.

What may surprise some people is that over three-quarters of the total casino tax revenue that came in came from Maryland Live, which is located at Arundel Mills mall. The casino opened in June 2012.

Director of the Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, Stephen L. Martino, is reported to have hired a research firm to prove the hypothesis “that when you open the third-largest [commercial] casino in the United States squarely between your two most heavily populated metropolitan areas, there’s going to be some movement in discretionary gaming dollars from the lottery to the casino.”

According to Martino, lottery retailers around the vicinity of Maryland Live started to report losses keno sales and instant-ticket sales almost immediately after the casino went live. Before the casino had opened, lottery sales and revenues in the area had steadily increased for each fiscal year since 1996. Martino is said to have warned officials that the lottery and its 15-year growth streak was going to falter once casino revenues started playing in the mix.

Martino said recently, “Taken as a whole, what we operate and what we regulate, we are pleased with the way the fiscal year ended. The fact there was a lottery decline is not anything we are happy about. This is just a new normal, and we are going to see decreases and there is really not much we can do.”

It has been reported in the past that Maryland is aggressively planning to expand casino gambling, will be adding 24-hour operations, will also be adding live-action table games, and it looking at more properties. To date, a fifth casino is expected to open in Baltimore next year. Another casino is planned for Prince George’s County, opening expected to be in 2016. In addition to all of this, Maryland Live will be continuing with its own site expansion, which will include a 52-table poker room.

Right now, the casino already has 4300 slot machines and 180 table games. During July, Maryland Live is reported to have collected in gross gambling revenue more than $52 million. This is an increase of 48 percent year to date. As one can see, the outlook for Maryland gaming seems to be very bright indeed.

September 12, 2013

Gaming Marketing Urged Toward Digital

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 11:18 am

It is no secret that many companies have taken advantage of digital marketing over the last few years. Now, the gaming industry is being urged to follow suit. While casinos and major brands have already used digital platforms for many of their online games and apps, some have not yet seen the light when it comes to taking full advantage of digital as a marketing tool.

Experts all seem to agree that those entities that are involved in gaming should consider embracing all that is currently available in digital marketing. This would include a variety of onsite enhancements as well as using social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

According to Angel Suarez who is VP for the Red Circle Agency which is a casino marketing company located in Minneapolis: “As marketers, you need to realize that digital is the future of advertising.” These comments came during the recent Casino Marketing Conference.

Suarez gave the presentation to around 125 casino executives, as well as marketers, and remarked that digital marketing is not only cost-effective but it is also measurable. Just as important, we said, digital marketing can be employed by anyone. Every casino should have at a minimum a functional website that has been optimized with the appropriate content and should also have some form of social media marketing in place.

According to Suarez, a casino’s website is its most valuable digital platform. Websites can be optimized for better performance on the search engines, thus making it easier for people to find the site. Sites should be optimized for all search engines including Yahoo, Google, and Bing. “You also need to make sure your website is relevant to whatever a customer is searching for. It’s also important for you to be ranked across all three search engines.”

In terms of social media marketing, this should be designed and operated so that customers can interact with casinos in a casual manner. Companies should try to avoid being too one-way when it comes to social media communications. “The problem is,” he said, “casinos are not engaging in a conversation but are instead just telling people what is going on.” He cautioned against trying to use the hard sell on social media stating that those who visit the site are already sold. Companies now need to entice visitors with good quality content and information and encourage feedback.

Along with the above, companies should also look into using other types of digital marketing which can include email and text, custom content, paid media, and what is known now as owned media. Owned media is basically media that companies have produced and, therefore, own. Examples would be videos posted on YouTube, streaming content, and other forms of unique content. Owned media is a good way to get the work out at very now cost.

This was a two-day conference that took a look at the many aspects of casino marketing that companies are facing today. It included panel discussions as well as went into discussions as to where future casino patrons will come from. It also looked at ways of communication with these future patrons through incentive programs.

September 10, 2013

CEO Adelson Slams Vegas Competitors

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 11:16 am

Anyone looking at the profits for the second quarter of this year for Las Vegas Sands Corp. Will be impressed. They increased by a whooping 120 percent. Much of that, however, came via record profits in Macau.

Even so, CEO Sheldon Adelson, made some off-hand comments during a recent quarterly earnings conference call that took place with several analysts. His comments were aimed at the Sands’ competition who are located on the Strip. He claimed that they were not working hard enough to increase the market.

According to the Las Vegas Sands, net income for the quarter came in at $529.8 million. This represents earnings of 64 cents per share. One year ago, it reported a net income of $240.6 million. This represented 29 cents per share.

These latest profits, impressive by anyone’s standards, were largely attributed to properties that the Las Vegas Sands operates in Macau. It was reported that revenues at the four properties increased 40 percent, coming in at about $2.07 billion. It was also reported by the Las Vegas Sands that its Macau casinos were able to bring in 14 million visitors during this same reporting quarter.

Back on the Strip however, company net revenues increased by only 5.6 percent, coming in at $345.7 million. This equals about 11 percent of the overall quarterly revenues which were $3.24 billion.

At the Palazzo and the Venetian, gaming revenues increased 11 percent. But, spending on food and beverages decreased by about 2 percent.

When asked if he thought the two Strip casinos results would be expected during future quarters, Adelson said he was not sure one way or the other. He then aimed his comments toward both MGM Resorts International as well as Caesars Entertainment Corp. The two control some 20 area hotel and casinos, and said that these companies are bringing down “the average daily room rates me and my friend Steve Wynn can offer”. He went on to say that those hotels that are owned by MGM Resorts (not including the Bellagio), as well as Caesars Entertainment Corp, “don’t have the number of rooms we have at the high-end. That sucking sound is their room pricing,” he said.

Adelson went on to make comments about the high long-term debt that the two companes have. Caesars Entertainment Corp is said to have the industry-high of some $21.5 billion in debt. For the MGM Resorts, its debt is about $13 billion. In contrast, Las Vegas Sands’ debt is reported to be at about $9.5 billion.

The combined casino operations for the Las Vegas Sands’ in Macau and Singapore are reported to be in excess of $1 billion during the second quarter, in cash flow dollars. This, of course, greatly improved the overall profits for the company. As for the Marina Bay Sands which is in Singapore, its net revenues increased by a tidy 6.4 percent, coming in at $739.5 million. Cash flow dollars are represented as those dollars in earning before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization. For Macau, it came in at $657.2 million, and for Singapore it came in at $296.2 million.

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