Online Casino Blog

Richard Noble is looking forward to when the 2012 London Olympic Games finish, though it’s happening right on the doorstep of his company’s flagship casino.

The chief operating officer of Aspers Group – a joint undertaking between the Aspinall family, which operates Aspers Casino at Westfield Stratford City next to Olympic Park and the Australian Securities Exchange-listed Crown – said that in the first week of the Games, weekly takings and average visitor numbers are down about 20 per cent.

Noble told The Australian Financial Review it was immediately popular when Aspers at Westfield Stratford City, the country’s largest casino, opened on December 1 last year. He said that in their first three days they had 30,000 visitors which were about 100 per cent above their business case. After that they were averaging 25,000-30,000 visitors per week. But in the last few months they have seen the three car parks here at the Westfield get cut down to one and now it is none, so they have been adversely affected.

The London Olympic Games Organizing Committee (LOCOG) has placed restrictions on visitor numbers to Westfield Stratford. These include only Games ticket holders being allowed access to Westfield between 8.30am and 5pm on Friday and Saturday.

Noble said that the ability of regular Aspers patrons to visit the casino has been cut down by this move. He said it also affecting the numbers of people in the local area who could have potentially visited the casino for the first time. Later this year, due to fears about congestion at the mall, which is between Olympic Park and public transport links, LOCOG is also likely to institute another similar “lock-out”.

Noble said Aspers will now concentrate its marketing efforts on the post-Games period as the Olympics not providing the boost in business once hoped. Noble said the casino has a catchment area of 4.1 million people and it concentrates on a high volume of customers who spend relatively little. Overall, Aspers is pleased about how the Stratford business has performed given it has already expanded since its December 2011 opening. It now has 57 gaming tables, up from 38 when it opened. There are also now 138 electronic gaming terminals, up from 92. A bespoke poker room will soon feature on the site to go with the sports bar, VIP bar and terrace, which has been hired out to corporate clients for the Games.

The dispute between Indiana Downs LLC, the operator of Indiana Grand Casino and Indiana Downs racetrack near Indianapolis and Cordish Cos., which previously managed the properties has settled. The Indianapolis Business Journal reported that Indiana Downs would pay Cordish $3.5 million to settle claims Baltimore-based Cordish made in the Chapter 11 case. Indiana Downs is going through Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings.

At an Aug. 22 confirmation hearing, the settlement simplifies the process of Indianapolis Downs LLC’s winning approval of a reorganization plan. The license agreement was in multiple disputes between the track and Cordish and the contract where Cordish assisted in constructing, developing and managing the project. For allegedly representing an expense of the Chapter 11 case that must be paid in full for Indianapolis Downs to emerge from bankruptcy, Cordish was making an unsecured claim of $17 million and a separate claim for $33 million.

Baltimore-based Cordish will be paid $3.5 million cash not later than Aug. 22 under the settlement filed last week with the bankruptcy court in Delaware. In addition, an approved unsecured claim for $12 million will be there for Cordish, who waives all other claims. On July 17, the racetrack is asking the bankruptcy judge to hold a hearing for approval of the settlement.

Fortress Investment Group LLC and second-lien creditors negotiated the Chapter 11 plan. If the price is acceptable to the second-lien creditors, the facility will be sold. If there are acceptable bids, there will be a July 31 auction. Otherwise, the plan will give possession mostly to second-lien lenders. Allowing creditors to vote on the plan, the bankruptcy judge has approved the disclosure statement.

Cordish earned more than $16 million from operating the casino, according to the financial statements during the three years the management agreement was in effect. Since the agreement was terminated, Cordish has sought millions of dollars from Indianapolis Downs. In November, a prior settlement agreement was withdrawn.

Cordish’s only experience managing gambling operations were at the Indiana facility prior to the June opening of Maryland Live Casino at Arundel Mills mall.

The World Series of Poker will begin on May 28th, 2012 with a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament and culminate on July 7th when the $10,000 Main Event starts. Over those six weeks, another 59 events will take place with varying buy-ins from a $1,000 No Limit event on June 17th all the way up to a $1 million buy-in No Limit event for the high rollers. This year’s WSOP is expected to draw another healthy crowd of poker players to Las Vegas as everyone dreams of winning a gold bracelet.

Famous Players Expected to Play

One of the best aspects of the World Series of Poker every year is that it draws the very best players from the poker community. Players such as Daniel Negraneu, Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Michael Mizrachi, and Phil Ivey are expected to compete in this year’s WSOP.

Also, Pius Heinz, last year’s Main Event winner, is expected to show up in Las Vegas to defend his Main Event title and become the first back to back champion since Johnny Chan did it in 1987 and 1988. However, with another large field of approximately 6,800 poker players expected to register for the Main Event, it would be very difficult for Heinz to repeat as champion.

How to Make the Main Event Final Table

This year’s Main Event tournament structure has already been released so poker players can adjust their plans accordingly. The $10,000 buy-in event will begin on July 7th with three separate day 1’s starting that day. Day 1A will be played July 7th, Day 1B will be played July 8th and Day 1C will be played July 9th. After those days have been completed, the remaining players from Day 1A will play in Day 2A on July 10th. The remaining players from Day 1B will also play their Day 2B on July 10th, but it will be in a separate room away from the Day 2A players. Day 2C will be held on July 11th.

Once Day 2C is completed, all of the remaining players will be combined into one Day 3 on July 12th and continue on through the tournament as one group of players. Days 3 through 6 will start at 12pm and last five levels of play – each level is 120 min long with several 20 min breaks and one 90 min dinner break. On Day 7, which will be held on July 16th, the field will continue play until there are only nine players remaining. Since this may take longer than five levels of play, players should plan accordingly. When nine players remain, the tournament will break until October 28th where the nine players will return to Las Vegas to play the final table.

The final table of nine players will play until there are just two players remaining where they will break once again. The heads up portion of the final table will take place in the Penn and Teller Theater on October 30th and be broadcasted by ESPN.

One of things we are told by online casinos time and time again is that we may NOT have multiple accounts at their site. When you sign up as a member, when you open an account, and when you try to redeem bonuses – the same warning comes up over and over again – NO MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS. But have you stopped to think about why online casinos do everything they can to stop you having multiple accounts?

The main reason why online casinos are so keen to enforce the rule of only having one account per household is that they want to avoid ‘bonus abuse’. This type of fraudulent activity sees some gamblers open accounts under different names in order to benefit from the generous welcome bonuses. These bonus hunters have, unfortunately, spoiled the bonus scene for honest players who may want to open an account at the same casino as their spouse or someone else in the household, but cannot do so because of the ‘one per household’ rule.

If online casinos discover that you have opened more than one account at the site, they have the right to refuse to pay you out your winnings. This clause is part of the terms and conditions which you agree to when you open your account at the site.

You should also check with the casino about their policy regarding opening an account at another site within the same network. It should hardly be a problem but it’s worth checking just to be on the safe side. You don’t want to find yourself trying to cash out and being unable to because of online gambling red tape.

In a nutshell, multiple accounts at an online casino are a no-no. Stick to the rules and there should be no problem.

Las Vegas based Pinnacle Entertainment Inc announced that it would invest US$95 million in a hotel-casino project in Vietnam, which is expected to open in 2013. Pinnacle is the owner and operator of casino gaming resorts, also owns a racetrack in Cincinnati and is building a casino in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The U.S. Company will build a hotel with 540 rooms and a casino with 90 game tables as well as 500 slot machines, according to Vietnam news agency. Fort this project the company has already paid $95 million for a 26 percent stake in Asian Coast Development Ltd., a developer of casinos and housing projects in Vietnam.

Pinnacle said it will manage a beachfront resort that Asian Coast is planning 80 miles southeast of Ho Chi Minh City through 2058, with a possible 20 year extension. A casino complex and resort scheduled to open in phases as the resort will be Asian Coast’s second casino on the Ho Tram Strip.

Anthony Sanfilippo, Pinnacle Chief Executive Officer said, the phenomenal success and continued strong growth of destination integrated resort and gaming facilities in Asian markets are indicative of the demand for quality gaming entertainment options in Asia. Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam’s largest city and attracts the bulk of Vietnam’s 5 million annual tourists. Their investment and long term management agreement bring meaningful strategic benefits to Pinnacle, including further diversification and potentially very significant returns on invested capital.

Red Flush Online Casino game selection went over the 500 mark, thereby crossing another high point and providing players with an enormous variety of games to select from.

The selection is persistently growing as more quality games make their way online and players at Red Flush Online Casino are now faced with more than 500 Online Casino Games. In every game category imaginable leaving no deficiency in variety, the game collection features Online Casino Games.

The Casino Promotions Manager at Red Flush Casino, Alex Roberts commented that they want to be the Online Casino that offers the major and best selection of games, and they are certain that they will persist to deliver the same.

On reputed Microgaming Online Casino software, Red Flush Casino functions. Microgaming is the leader in the industry and in their game creations, they are known for pushing the limits. Setting many benchmarks for other software providers to fight with, they have delivered many firsts. Red Flush Casino also offers Progressive Blackjack, Progressive Table Pokers and Progressive Video Poker Games, in addition to the well-known Progressive Jackpot Slots such as Mega Moolah.

Players can find out more about the games as they become available on their website and new games are being launched regularly, even though Red Flush Casino now offers more than 500 casino games.

Mr. Roberts said that at Red Flush Online Casino, there is no lack of variety. He added that they give their players everything they expect to find at an exceptional Online Casino, from our games to promotions and bonuses.

From a year earlier, gambling revenue in Macau rose 45% in April. Mainland Chinese visitors to the world’s largest gambling market helped push the results to a third straight monthly record.

In China, Macau is the only place where casinos are legal. Despite local government policies to slow the booming industry and encourage a more measured pace of growth, gambling revenue growth in the territory has been on a tear since the end of 2009.

Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said Tuesday that, gambling revenue in Macau rose to 20.51 billion Macanese patacas last month, from 14.19 billion patacas a year earlier. The total for April surpassed the previous monthly record of 20.09 billion patacas, hit just a month earlier in March.

In both February and March, last month’s growth follows blistering year to year increases of 48%, and a 58% surge for all of last year.

There were 33 casinos in Macau at the end of the first quarter of 2011, 20 of which were owned by Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, three by Venetian Macau, five by Galaxy Casino, three by Melco/PBL Jogos (Macau) and one each by Wynn Resorts and MGM Grand Paradise. In the next few days a new resort with a casino, called Galaxy, is due to open in Macau.

First-quarter earnings for Macau casino operators Wynn Macau Ltd. and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. were reported to be up sharply from a year earlier due to the continuing soar in the world’s largest gambling market.

Controlled by the family of Hong Kong tycoon Lui Che Woo, Galaxy reiterated its preparations for a US$2 billion casino-resort on May 15. On the timing or budget, Wynn Macau Chairman Steve Wynn did not offer any updates for the company’s next project in the Chinese territory. For U.S.-based casino operators, Chinese territory has become a crucial source of revenue as business in Las Vegas remains lethargic.

Galaxy is the only new casino property anticipated to open in the former Portuguese colony this year. Wynn Macau and Galaxy compete with Sheldon Adelson’s Sands China Ltd (1928.HK), MGM Resorts International’s MGM Macau and tycoon Stanley Ho’s SJM Holdings Ltd (0880.HK).

In the past 12 months, casino operators such as Wynn Macau have rushed forward about 130 percent, although analysts remain bullish on the sector. J.P. Morgan gaming analyst Kenneth Fong in Hong Kong said that in the midst of the recent strong revenue trend, the sector persists to outperform. While they believe the trend could persist in the near term in the midst of positive sentiment, Wynn Macau’s and the sector’s valuations are testing new highs.

As of March 31, the company said it had $1.4 billion in cash and $3.2 billion in debt.
On the conference call, Wynn said that the company’s board had endorsed a cash dividend of 50 cents per common share. Recovering what they lost in regular trading Tuesday, when they fell $1.57, or 1.1 percent, to close at $138.93, Shares of Wynn raised $3.97, or 2.9 percent, in aftermarket trading.

Consolidated operating results for Herbst Gaming, LLC for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 was pronounced lately. LLC posted Net Income of $388.2 million for the year concluded December 31, 2010. The outcome of fresh start accounting adjustments and reorganization adjustments related to the Company’s emergence from Chapter 11 with an effective date of December 31, 2010 are incorporated in the Net income.

$441.6 million was the totaled Net fresh start accounting and reorganization items. $53.4 million was the operating loss for the year concluded December 31, 2010. When compared to the year ended December 31, 2009, the effect of fresh start accounting adjustments and reorganization adjustments augmented by 8% for Herbst Gaming, LLC’s EBITDA.

Through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, Herbst Gaming got rid of $808.8 million in debt. In the bankruptcy, the founding Herbst family lost their command of the company and it is no longer engrossed in the operation. Herbst had cash on hand of $103.2 million and total debt of $350 million, following the bankruptcy emergence.

The off-Strip Terrible’s and several hotel-casinos in Northern Nevada and the three Primm casinos comprise the Herbst’s properties in Nevada. Its three-casino complex at Primm on I-15 on the California border, which is the company’s principal revenue-generator, struggled in 2010 owing to extreme competition for its value-oriented customers.

Down from about $222 million in 2009, gross revenue at Primm in 2010 was $201 million. Compared to 53.6 percent in 2009, hotel occupancy at Primm was 48.4 percent in 2010 and the average daily rate was $38.25 in 2010 compared to $35.59 in 2009.

Asian casinos operator SJM Holdings Ltd (0880.HK) witnessed a jump of 160 percent in the final quarter of last year in the net profits. Thanks to additional growth in the world’s largest gaming market, Macau, the profit results beat the estimates.

In the former Portuguese colony, SJM is the major operator. According to annual results, it made a fourth-quarter net profit of HK$1.12 billion ($143 million). With 40.1 percent of mass-market table gaming revenue and 29.5 percent of VIP gaming revenue, SJM persists to lead in market share of the Macau casino gaming market. Up from 29.4 percent in 2009, SJM’s overall share of Macau’s casino sector matured to 31.3 percent last year.

However, in morning trade on Thursday, the Hong Kong-listed SJM shares were down 1.3 percent. The firm said that given the general success of the Asian region and the continued vigorous growth of visitation and spending in Macau, the future prospects for the firm are outstanding. The impact of new gaming facilities on Macau’s Cotai Strip, which was built by competitors, was discounted by the firm stating that their casinos were situated in another part of the city.

SJM, as it expands its business, it is at present waiting for government endorsement for a plan to develop a site on Cotai.

Meanwhile, for the year ending December 31, mainland online service provider Tencent (0700) recorded a 56.2 percent jump in net profit to 8.05 billion yuan (HK$9.55 billion).

Without disclosing details, president Martin Lau Chi-ping said that the firm would make considerable investments in the existing platform, as profit grows.