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MGM Refocuses on Macau

(Bloomberg) — MGM Mirage, with the smallest casino market share in Macau, said it’s overhauling operations and marketing at its venture in the city to boost the company’s revenue after an "underwhelming" start.

"Our Macau market share is half what it should be," Jim Murren, chief executive officer and chairman, said in an interview yesterday in Las Vegas, where the company is based. "The other U.S.-based and other newer casinos have been more aggressive in marketing, more aggressive" in recruiting and junket relationships, he said.

MGM Mirage may consider an initial public offering for the Macau business when earnings improve, Murren said. Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. are both exploring IPOs for their businesses in the Chinese city.

Murren is refocusing attention on Macau, the world’s biggest gambling center, after MGM Mirage in May reorganized its debt to remove the risk of bankruptcy. MGM Grand Macau derived 5 percent of 2008 revenue from the city, the only region of China where casinos are legal, compared with more than 60 percent for Wynn and Las Vegas Sands, according to Bloomberg data.

MGM Mirage rose 7.3 percent to close at $7.40 in New York trading yesterday. The stock has dropped 46 percent this year, compared with a 9 percent gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Gross Revenue

MGM Mirage’s venture with Pansy Ho, daughter of gambling magnate Stanley Ho, generated $17 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the first quarter. The company’s total property Ebitda was $371.9 million in the three months ended March 31.

"It has been very underwhelming operationally," Murren said of the Macau business. "It hasn’t been marketed effectively, it hasn’t been operated as well as we would like, and we have, with our partner, been making a lot of changes."

MGM Grand had less than 9 percent of Macau casinos’ gross revenue in June, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported this month, citing data from the operators. That trailed the five other companies, SJM Holdings Ltd., Las Vegas Sands, Wynn, Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., according to Lusa.

Stock rallies this year have revived interest in share sales after IPO fund raisings in Hong Kong had the slowest first half since 2003, according to Bloomberg data.

MGM Mirage, which co-owns the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with Boyd Gaming Corp., faces some resistance to its Macau partnership from U.S. gaming regulators. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement deemed Pansy Ho to be an unsuitable partner in the Macau property, the company disclosed in May.

‘Good Month’

The non-binding recommendation is now in the hands of the New Jersey Casino Commission.

"July has been a pretty good month for us" in Macau, said Murren, who is visiting Macau next month as part of the overhaul. MGM Mirage, the biggest casino owner on the Las Vegas Strip, sent a "major contingent" of its "best operators and marketers" to assess Macau this month, he said.

The 35-story MGM Grand Macau suffered setbacks with the delayed opening of One Central, a neighboring residential development by Shun Tak Holdings Ltd. and Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd., which was planned to open in conjunction with the casino resort, Murren said. MGM’s business is located on the Macau Peninsula near Wynn Macau and many of Stanley Ho’s casinos.

Minority Stake

Las Vegas Sands said yesterday it may sell a minority stake in its Macau operations. Sands plans to apply to Hong Kong regulators for an initial public offering of shares in its Macau casinos as soon as August, a person with knowledge of the matter said July 17.

Wynn Resorts, which is opening its second Macau casino next year, said earlier this month a Macau subsidiary filed an application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to sell shares.

A Macau IPO "logically would be something that we would look at over time," Murren said. "It’s certainly something that we’ve thought about many times in the past.

"We need to build up our market share, more importantly build up our cash flows, and we need to assert ourselves as a stronger player there before we would ever consider a capital markets transaction like that, but it’s not like that’s a unique idea to the other guys," Murren said. "It’s something that certainly we could pursue too."

William Hill, Ladbrokes Lose Turf TV Legal Fight

The Court of Appeal has dismissed a case brought by Britain’s leading bookmakers against the operators of half the country’s racecourses over the screening of live race coverage.

Bookmakers William Hill, Ladbrokes and Bookmakers’ Afternoon Gaming Services had claimed that Turf TV, run by Alphameric Gaming and Racecourse Media Services Ltd (RMS), itself owned by companies representing 31 of Britain’s 59 racecourses, was the product of an illegal cartel under both UK and European competition law.

The bookmakers themselves have an interest in SIS FACTS, the successor to SIS, which held the sole rights to TV within licensed betting offices for 20 years until 2007.

The bookmakers also had concerns over Turf TV’s pricing structure.

Betfred, which was involved in the 2008 case, settled out of court and in April signed a five-year agreement with Turf TV. It had been the only bookmaker that had refused to take Turf TV, denying its punters what was seen as a must have service.

Source:  Broadband TV News

Gambling Ban Will Hurt Emerging Russian Poker Scene

In recent years, Russians have made an impact on the world of poker.  In particular there is Ivan Demidov, who made the final table of both the World Series of Poker and its European cousin the same year (2008).  Demidov’s poker career has helped him to earn close to $7 million in a very short time span.

But the Russian government is about to crack down on its poker industry.

This month, Russia shut down all its land-based casinos, and poker will not be immune. 

The law that started the whole process was introduced in 2006 by Mr. Putin, then the president and now the prime minister, who spoke of the perils of the blackjack tables and the one-armed bandits, of shady characters having a grip on the industry.

Neither Mr. Putin nor his protégé, President Dmitri A. Medvedev, have yielded to requests for a reprieve.

"The rules will not be revised in any way," Mr. Medvedev said last month, "and there will be no backsliding, although various business organizations have been lobbying for precisely this."

Casinos in Russia are now to be confined to the Altai region of Siberia; the coastal area of the Far East, near the border with North Korea and China; Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania; and the Azov Sea region in the south. Until casinos open there, Russia will be one of the few countries in Europe without them, though underground ones are likely to be established, the Times reports.

But poker nearly got a reprieve with a small bit of irony. Poker was legally classified as a sport, giving some the prospect of curbing their losses by becoming private poker clubs.  This is ironic in a sense because the US-based Poker Players Alliance has long argued that poker is a "game of skill" and continues to distance itself from any association with a "sports" classification or sports betting. 

The Kremlin has ruled that poker is "not a sport". Russian officials announced that an error was made in 2007 when poker was added to the list of official sports. As a result, poker clubs will also be illegal under the antigambling law.

How this new measure affects the emergence of poker pros coming out of Russia remains to be seen.

Already, PokerStars announced this weekend it will change its World Poker Tour venue from Moscow to Kiev in the Ukraine. 

From PokerStars.com:

"The Kiev event replaces the previously-scheduled 2009 Russian Open poker tournament due to be held at the Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya, Moscow from August 18-23, 2009. That event has been cancelled because our ability to run the event was placed in doubt due to the recent closure of all casinos in Russia."

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher 

Odds on Professor Gates, Sgt. Crowley Having Beer at White House

In order to diffuse the controversy surrounding a Cambridge police officer, Sgt. James Crowley, arresting well known African American Cambridge professor, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., President Obama on Friday offered an invite for the two to share a beer with him at the White House.

The oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com were already planning to begin offering odds on whether the three do end up sharing a beer at the White House and when.

Gates was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct following an incident on July 16, 2009, when he had trouble opening the door to his house, which a neighbor then called in to police as a possible burglary attempt. While accounts regarding the ensuing discussion differ, Gates was arrested as he followed the arresting officer as he left his home to continue the discussion.  Crowley has claimed that Gates acted erratically and was asked to step outside because the initial call suggested another man may have been present and quite possibly there to harm the professor. 

President Obama made matters worse during a Wednesday night press conference in which he said the Cambridge police "acted stupidly".  Those remarks led to outrage from police agencies across the country.

"I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Professor Gates out of his home to the station. I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that Professor Gates probably overreacted as well," Obama said.

"My sense is you’ve got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in the way that it should have been resolved and the way they would have liked it to be resolved," he said.

The President ended by saying he had extended an invite out to both men to join him for a beer at the White House, a photo op that already has press outlets salivating over.  The Gates arrest has become the hottest talk of the week.

It appears as if Sgt. Crowley might take Obama up on his offer (his colleagues have already hinted Crowley’s favorite beer is Blue Moon Beer).  Whether Professor Gates decides to do the same remains to be seen.  By Friday afternoon, the Gates camp appeared to be backing off the suggestion that any arrest was "racially motivated".  An attorney for Gates also said there was not any lawsuit on the table at this time.

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher 

2009 – 2010 NFL Betting: Who Will Go From Zero to Hero?

Sports Interaction betting analyst Frank Doyle wonders who’s best placed to go from zero to hero iwhen it comes to betting on the 2009 – 2010 NFL season.

For the past couple of years in the NFL there’s been a tendency for teams to come from nowhere to challenge for honours. Last year was a spectacular example of this, with Arizona getting to its first ever Super Bowl and the Miami Dolphins going from one win in 2007 to eleven wins and the AFC East title in 2008. The Packers were a surprise in 2007 and nobody expect the Bears and Saints to contest the NFC title in 2006.

So who’s the best longshot prospect this year? Sports Interaction has odds on all the divisional titles and team total wins, so now is a good time to start making these sort of nest-egg bets, to give you a roll for the playoffs. And there are two prospects, in either conference, that are particular standouts.

This is the seventh year of the Houston Texans’ existence and there’s a feeling currently abroad that the Texans’ time is now. The Texans finished strong last year but had the twin disadvantages of a poor start and a highly competitive division. This year, however, there are question marks over the other three teams in the AFC South and Houston has marquee players in Andre Johnson and Mario Williams, players that can make a difference when things are tight. Only a few plays might make the difference between a 10-6 season and 6-10.

Sports Interaction is quoting Houston at +4000 to win the Super Bowl, +1800 to win the AFC and +300, third favorite, to win the AFC South. If the Texans’ progress graph has crossed with that of the Colts and Titans, then that +300 is a pretty good bet.

I have a sneaking feeling for the Chiefs to do something this year. They showed a lot of moxie at the end of the season last year, and +800 with Sports Interaction for the AFC West is a big price, chiefly because the Chargers are such hot favorites. It’s not a great bet, but it’s certainly a good price.

My favorite pre-season pick is for the glory years to return to San Francisco. Sports Interaction is quoting the 49ers at +6600 to win the Super Bowl, +3300 to win the NFC and +225 to win the NFC West. The NFC West title is certainly within their grasp – Mike Singletary made a clear difference when he took over as head coach during last season, and the NFC West looks weak this year.

Super Bowl losing teams generally have bad following years, which is bad news for the Cardinals, and Seattle and St Louis are on a down cycle right now. I like the Vikings to win the NFC this year – especially with their "new" quarterback – but my goodness, +3300 on San Francisco to get to the Super Bowl is a big, big price. Maybe a dollar, just in case.

Frank Doyle, Gambling911.com 

Ben Roethlisberger Rape Allegations Lead to Heavy Ravens Betting

Following an AP news story Tuesday that a woman has filed a lawsuit accusing Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of raping her last summer in his Lake Tahoe penthouse, gamblers were scrambling to get their bets in on none other than the Baltimore Ravens.

"Some extra money has been coming in on the Ravens winning the AFC North today," acknowledged Dave Stanley, spokesperson for Sportsbook.com.  "I guess some of the bettors out there feel this story has some legs."

Still, the Pittsburgh Steelers remained the favorites to win the 2009 AFC North at -225.

The Ravens would currently pay $350 for every $100 bet if wagers are locked in now and they win the AFC North.

Roethlisberger’s lawyer adamantly denied the allegations Tuesday.

"Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone. The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct. If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated," David Cornwell said in a statement.

The claim seeks at least $390,000 in damages from the quarterback. Teresa Duffy, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office in Douglas County, which includes part of Lake Tahoe, said no complaints were filed about such an incident either with sheriff’s deputies or the district attorney’s office.

The woman’s lawsuit says she didn’t file a criminal complaint because she feared she would be fired and expected Harrah’s would side with Roethlisberger.

Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com 

Preview new August slotgames

Microgaming, lead provider of online casino games, releases new games every month, the games for August are knocking on Spin Palace and Roxy Palaces doors. Here you will find a preview of the four new games, it are all online slotmachines.

The first slotmachine is Wealth Spa, this 5 reel, 20 lines slot has multiple bonus rounds, that players can activate them-self. The player earns gold tokens through Wilds, Scatters and Multipliers. When you hit a gold token on roll 5 on the middle line, you will receive one token, when above or below the middle line you receive a 2x multiplier. A single gold token provides you with the first casino bonus level, where you must choose four different types of fruit , to create the perfect smoothie, it is possible to receive random bonus points. Two gold tokens starts the hot stone bonus, choose 2 of the 5 stones, and get the mystery multiplier. Three tokens receives you the wax bonus, wax the legs of a women, the harder she screams, the higher the bonus. Four tokens opens the oil bath bonus, where you have a choice of 15 bonus oils, every oil receives points. The highest bonus round of 5 golden tokens starts the massage round, where 25 Free spins can be earned. Each bonus round can be started by the player itself, simply pres the ‘Bonus Play’ button to start any of the bonus rounds.

The second slotmachine is Get Rocked, this 5 reels, 30 lines slot machines has the atmosphere and energy of a rock and roll concert, and combines this with Scatters, Wilds, and multipliers and two different bonusses. The solo Pick ‘n Win is the first feature and can be played when the main singer, which is the wild, is hit on reel 2 and 4 simultaneously. Choose one of the five band members for a solo and an online casino bonus. When you hit 3, 4  or 5 scatters anywhere, which is the stage symbol, you get 10, 15 or 20 free spins with a 3x multiplier. There is also a gamble feature, which can double your points.

Silver Fang  is the third new slotmachine, and is a 5 reel, 50 line slot with a wolf theme, the wolf’s footprint is the scatter and 3, 4 or 5 symbols, earns you Free Spins. When you hit 5 scatters you can earn up to 50x multiplier, hit 4 and receive a 20x multiplier, and 3 gets you a 5x multiplier. The howling wolf is the wild and replaces every other symbol except for the scatter.

The fourth and last new online casino game is the Mega Moolah ISIS, this 5 reel, 25 line is the remake of the super popular Mega Moolah slot machine. The machine offers Wilds, Scatters, Multipliers, Free Spins and a Gamble feature where players can double their winnings. The Free spin feature can win up to 30 Free spins with a 6x multiplier when you hit 3, 4 or 5 hawks. The hawk is the scatter. When the Isis image appears, you have a chance for the jackpot wheel. The highest jackpot in the Mega Moolah is over 1 million dollars. The theme for this new Mega Moolah is the ancient symbols and artifacts. Players familiar with Mega Moolah, will be happy to see they have a new view coming their way.

The four new slotmachines are playable from the 1st of August on all the online casinos of Microgaming. Click the banners of the Microgaming casinos Roxy Palace and Spin Palace to visit the casino.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Rises On Macau Cost Saving Action

Las Vegas Sands Las Vegas Sands again led a US casino company stock rally on Wednesday after they announced a major cost cutting move. The company will now cap commissions paid to people responsible for bringing high rollers to their Macau casino.

The move will save millions of dollars and investors acting accordingly on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sands stock rose 13.59% Wednesday, to $8.11 after the news surfaced. It was  a major jump over the previous few days.

“From the market standpoint, it’s positive for Las Vegas Sands and Melco that they’re being proactive about being more responsible and not buying business at any price,” said BMO Capital markets Analyst Jeffrey Logsdon to The Wall Street Journal. Logsdon was referring to the new cap, which was an agreement with Melco Entertainment.

Melco stock also increased after the agreement. Their stock was up to $4.88, a jump of $.47, or 10.66%. Melco had been having a tough time on the market of late, so they have welcomed the good news of the day.

Other casino companies seem to have also benefited from the Sands cap. MGM Mirage closed the day at $6.46, up 8.03%, and Wynn Resorts was up 7.01%, to $36.17. Boyd Gaming was up 7.4%, to $8.83.

Commissions to junket operators will now be capped at 1.25%. The Chinese government has been considering a similar cap, but it has yet to take effect.

Betting on the British Open Made Easier With Field Option

Okay let’s face it, picking someone to win the 2009 British Open is almost like trying to win the lottery even if your odds are much better.  Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington will be the two most bet on golfers heading into Thursday. 

But betting on the British Open could be made a bit easier by simply selecting the "field" option, which includes any golfer not specifically mentioned within the betting menu.

Just a few weeks ago we witnessed a "field" option nearly win the US Open:  That being Ricky Barnes.  Ultimately another huge underdog did manage to pull it off in Lucas Glover, who we imagine could have been listed among the "field" choices at a handful of the online gambling websites. 

The important thing to keep in mind is that the online sportsbooks list "field" options with different paying odds, so the trick is to find the best "field" payouts among the Gambling911.com sponsored online sportsbooks.

 

BetUS pays $600 for every $100 bet on its "field" options.

 

There are plenty of long shots that stand a chance of winning the 2009 British Open.

Take for example Bryce Molder.  He woud be listed among the BetUS.com field options.

Last week he finished fourth at the AT&T National and tied for second at the St. Jude Championship in June. He’s not been outside the top 25 in any of his last four events either. 

How’s that for a long shot?

Of course there are a bunch of named golfers who would pay in excess of $6000 for every $100 bet at BetUS.comhttp://www.betus.com/ats/1333/.

"What’s great about the ‘Field’ option is that there are a few dozen other people who could win besides Molder," expressed Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com.  "It simply allows for a cushion with a pretty nice payout potential."

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher

 

Mammoth WSOP day 2B ends with more than half eliminated

A mammoth 4-level Day 2B at the World Series of Poker Main Event came to an end just before 11pm Vegas time Wednesday with more than half of the original 2,924 entrants eliminated in eight scorching hours of intense poker.

Day 2B represents the last of the heats, combining the survivors of Day 1C and 1D. When Day 3 starts on Friday July 10th, it will see the survivors of Day 2A and Day 2B merged for the first time into one highly competitive field at the Rio in Las Vegas as the quest for the $8 million+ first prize in this $10,000 buy-in event continues.

Among the many big names still in the hunt when Day 2B commenced were Dennis Phillips, Phil Ivey, Jean-Robert Bellande, Vanessa Rousso, Jesper Hougaard, Wille Wahlgren, Robert Williamson III, John Juanda, James Akenhead, Rob Hollink, Kathy Liebert, Tom Dwan, Ylon Schwartz, Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello, David Benyamine, Howard Lederer, Scotty Nguyen, Erick Lindgren, Shannon Shor, Victor Ramdin, Eric Froehlich, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Phil Hellmuth, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, J.C. Tran, actor Marlon Wayans, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Lee Watkinson and Alexander Kostritsyn.

Troy Weber started the day holding the chip count at 353,000, comfortably ahead of his nearest rival, Tyson Marks on 196,500.

By the time the event ended at 10.24 pm the field had been reduced by over 50%, with some very recognisable names among those that had seen their dreams for a 2009 Main Event win or even a final table dashed.

Some idea of the player quality in the field can be gained by looking at the eliminations, which included: Erick Lindgren, Shannon Shorr, Eric Froehlich, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Victor Ramdin, Isabelle Mercier, Vanessa Rousso, Scotty Nguyen, Howard Lederer, Lauren Kling, Bill Chen, Jonathan Little, Gavin Griffin, Maya Geller, Cyndy Violette, Ylon Schwartz, Tom Dwan, Nenad Medic and Vivek Rajkumar.

Two celebs acquitted themselves well. Actor Marlon Wayans was bundled out only an hour before the close, having survived and at times prospered throughout the day, showing himself to be a very competent as well as entertaining player. But perhaps more remarkable was Los Angeles Lakers basketball pro Jordan Farmar, who has never played online and has only just started playing poker – he goes through to Day 3 along with the likes of Phil Ivey, ElkY Grospellier, David Benyamine, Justin Bonomo and Dan Harrington.

Typically good-natured and modest, Farmar commented “I’m just lucky – they just invited me here for a good time!”

Troy Weber appeared to have maintained his chip lead at the close of Day 2B.

WSOP official numbers have confirmed that the Day 2A leaderboard was headed by Eric Cloutier on a stack of 383,500, and that Andy Black, Mike Sexton, Jimmy Fricke, Thor Hansen, Tom Schneider, Kara Scott, Erik Seidel, actor Jason Alexander, Vitaly Lunkin, Roland de Wolfe and Greg Raymer are among those going forward to Day 3 from Day 2A.

The controversy over the hundreds of late registrants denied access to the oversubscribed Day 1D continues to generate plenty of column inches in the media, with WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack adamant that there was nothing that Harrah’s could do to bring the disappointed hundreds into the competition when they had left registration so late. He pointed out that there were ample seats available through the weekend heats, which had not been taken up.

Apparently at least two top international players, TJ Cloutier and Patrik Antonius were among those excluded on Day 1D, and were therefore unable to compete in the Main Event this year.

The 6,494 players who have made it into the Main Evenet this year have generated a prize pool of $61,043,600, ensuring million dollar plus payouts to every player who makes the final table – but that’s still some way off.

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