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Poker Industry PRO: “It Was A Disaster For Us”: partypoker Goes Offline During Final Day of KO Series

Overlays now expected in the Power Series that is currently underway.

Online poker operator partypoker suffered a technical malfunction during the last day of its new KO Series—the progressive knockout tournament series that had a $10 million total guaranteed prize pool.

The KO Series went offline at approximately 8pm (GMT) on Sunday night after a “server malfunction” caused the online poker platform to crash, leaving many players with a reduction in value due to the cancellation of tournaments whose guarantees were unlikely to be met.

Read the full article on pokerfuse →

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Poker Industry PRO: PokerStars Will Bring Back The Super-Successful High Rollers This Month

High Rollers to return just four months after its debut, with five lower buy-in tournaments.

High Rollers, PokerStars new high buy-in tournament series which debuted last November, will return this month with an expanded schedule and lower buy-ins, the company has confirmed.

Eagle-eyed players first noticed mention of a second High Rollers tournament in an advertisement in the client; a PokerStars representative later confirmed its schedule in a public notice last week.

Read the full article on pokerfuse →

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No Such Thing As A Free Las Vegas Lunch Anymore

As of March 1, MGM has made it just a little bit more expensive to stay in its Las Vegas hotels and casinos.

Resort fees have gone up by $2 at eight locations and by $5 at the Luxor and Excalibur.

MGM is not going it alone in increasing prices. Last week, CEO Jim Murren said:

“We are lagging the market — Caesars properties have higher resort fees, which is a great change since they started with no resort fees not long ago, but welcome to the party.”

MGM faces higher costs

Although MGM has posted nicely rising profits, partly as the result of President Trump’s tax cuts, MGM is facing higher employee costs.

In negotiations that kick off in March, Culinary Local 226 is demanding higher pay and improved benefits for its hotel and casino workers. Higher resort fees are one way of making extra revenues without raising headline prices.

And their contribution to the bottom line is by no means insignificant. Wikipedia notes that:

“MGM Resorts International stated that, for Las Vegas hotel rooms in 2011, “Our RevPAR (revenue per available room) in the first quarter was up 16%, including resort fees. Excluding resort fees, REVPAR was up 11% in the quarter year-over-year.”

That five-percent difference in revenue per room adds up to a lot of money over time.

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Casino resort fees are a marketing sleight of hand

Resort fees are charges levied on hotel guests in addition to the room rate. They are spuriously justified as payment for services such as wifi or use of the pool or gym.

In many countries they are illegal, but under US and Nevada state law hotel and casino owners are free to charge what they like.

This means that the advertised room rate acts a teaser to attract customers, but the real price paid per night is higher by the amount of the resort fee. It’s a bait and switch practice that irritates many visitors to Nevada.

At the MGM Grand, Mirage, and Mandalay Bay, the resort price is now a hefty $37 per day. According to Richard N. Velotta at the Las Vegas Review Journal, these are the sort of numbers that may well put people off choosing Las Vegas as their holiday destination:

“But there’s also a new wave of sentiment from longtime loyal casino customers warning that soaring resort fees and paid parking policies at Strip casinos threaten to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Westmoreland Towns Vying To Be Mini-Casino Hostess With The Mostess

Usually, local citizens fight when big business come to town. Congestion worries often outweigh the convenience and jobs promised.

In fact, leading up to the first license auction, more than 1,000 municipalities opted out of hosting a mini-casino.

That’s not the case for Westmoreland County, however. Eligible towns in the area are getting ready to market themselves in hopes of having a mini-casino built in their community.

About Stadium Casino LLC

Last month, Stadium Casino LLC secured a mini-casino license for the 15-mile area surrounding Derry Township for $40.1 million.

The Philadelphia-based company is betting big on Derry Township. And they’re doing so before they break ground on its Philadelphia property, Live! Hotel and Casino.

The location they chose is just east of metropolitan Philadelphia. Which indicates an intention of making a name for themselves in the Pennsylvania gaming market.

“We are thrilled on behalf of Stadium Casino LLC to have been awarded a new gaming license in western Pennsylvania in the greater Pittsburgh area and look forward to delivering a world-class gaming and entertainment venue,” Stadium Casino spokesperson Carmen E. Gonzales said in a statement.

He continued:

“Thousands of new excellent jobs will be created, millions of dollars in new tax revenues will flow to the state, and local government entities and millions of visitors will be attracted, which will benefit both the local community and the other businesses in the area.”

Several townships posturing to host

The designated building area includes several communities all vying for a chance to host the mini-casino. Interested townships include:

  • Greensburg
  • Derry
  • Hempfield
  • Unity
  • Salem

“They all want it,” said Hemp­field Supervisor Rob Ritson to TribLive.

Recently, the township of Hempfield and their supervisors made courting Stadium Casino LLC official.

They cited the benefits of the mini-casino location in Hempfield in a resolution passed by the township’s supervisors. The benefits included “excellent infrastructure” and a “vibrant regional retail shopping district.”

The township has suffered a 40-percent decline in commercial development in recent years. And there is hope that the mini-casino will reverse the trend.

“I am ecstatic. This means more dollars in local and county coffers. It will bring opportunities, jobs, and economic dollars,” State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, said about the potential of the mini-casino being located in Derry.

But Hempfield has some competition for hosting privileges. Derry Township Supervisor, David Slifka, said to expect a similar resolution to the one Hempfield passed soon.

“We have a good area. We feel it could work out for Derry Township and the casino people,” Slifka said.

Greensburg has also publicly thrown their hat into the ring.

“We’re more than willing to have a mini-casino in Greensburg,” said Barbara Ciampini, city planning director.

Financial impact of mini-casinos

The ten new mini-casinos each can house up to 750 slot machines and 30 table games. The local governments are already anticipating more tax revenues that the casino will produce.

Residents are looking forward to more services and jobs as more business follows the mini-casino into the community.

It is still unclear how financially impactful the mini-casino will be to its host town.

There is some speculation another casino may affect the profits of existing casinos. Specifically, Rivers Casino, The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, and Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin are in the region. It’s only speculation at this point, and a new casino may actually increase the casino-player base as a whole.

The estimated timeline for Stadium Casino LLC to submit their development plan to the state is sometime this summer. Eligible communities will have to wait until then to find out who the host of the new mini-casino is.

The four mini-casino licenses awarded to date have brought in over $120 million, and there are six more auctions on the calendar. You can bet Pennsylvania is looking at mini-casinos to boost revenue to both the state and local communities.

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