Las Vegas guide: Las Vegas casino games, entertainment in Las Vegas, doing business in Las Vegas, studying at University of Nevada - Las Vegas. Tips to play poker online, blackjack online, video poker online, internet slot machines, baccarat and other casino games. Las Vegas blog: have the time of your life in Las Vegas!
Great chances to meet celebrtities at G2E! Here we go with the schedule of celebrity appearances at IGT's booth:
October 5 1 p.m. Thomas Wilson (who played the part of 'Biff') and writer-producer Bob Gale from "Back to the Future"
2 p.m. Drew Carey
3 p.m. Ann-Margret
October 6 12:30 p.m. Ron Popeil
1:30 p.m. Paul Rodriguez
2:30 p.m. Elvira -- Mistress of the Dark
3:30 p.m. Max Baer (Jethro Bodine)
October 7 12:30 p.m. WWE wrestlers Matt Hardy and Lita
IGT (NYSE: IGT - News), a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of microprocessor-based gaming and video lottery products and software systems, continues to raise the standard for quantity, quality and variety of products at this year's Global Gaming Expo, set for Oct. 5-7 in Las Vegas.
"G2E offers a great opportunity for IGT to set the stage for our new fiscal year which begins October 3 and for our customers to see what's ahead in the way of new games and products for gaming markets worldwide in the coming months and into the future," said TJ Matthews, CEO of IGT.
The IGT World of Games and IGT Systems World booths encompass more than 14,000 square feet of exhibit space, spotlighting 185 entirely new games and hundreds of unique gaming concepts showcased on more than 380 machines.
Highlights for this year's display include:
* The preview of new licensed brand themes including Indiana Jones(TM):
Raiders of the Lost Ark(TM), Viva Las Vegas(TM) and Back to the
Future(TM).
* Wheelionaire(TM), a new linked local progressive with multi-level
progressive jackpots including a million-dollar top award.
* Fort Knox(TM), an exciting new penny progressive with multi-level
mystery progressives that are player-interactive bonuses, not just
awards. A number of IGT's most popular video slot game themes will be
offered as part of this linked local progressive penny offering.
* The IGT Advantage(TM) Systems including demonstrations of the IGT
Advantage(TM) Casino System, IGT Advantage(TM) Class II System and IGT
Advantage(TM) Central Determination System.
* Celebrity appearances including Ann-Margret, Drew Carey, Paul Rodriguez, Ron Popeil, Thomas Wilson and writer-producer Bob Gale from Back to the Future(TM), Elvira -- Mistress of the Dark, and Max Baer (Jethro Bodine).
* A new concept utilizing the popular Wheel of Fortune(R) brand that is unlike anything ever shown before and which will expand even further the strong list of popular "Wheel" games.
"This year's show will display one of the deepest lineups of fun games and unique gaming concepts that we have ever shown," said Joe Kaminkow, vice president of game development for IGT. "I am very proud of what the IGT team has been able to accomplish over the past year utilizing the latest technological advancements, and I look forward to showing off the fun new games that will be hitting casino floors this year, next year and beyond."
The main booth will feature areas focusing on Slots, Poker, Video Slots, MegaJackpots(TM), "Perfect for Pennies" games, Class II Bingo games and Central Determination games. In adjacent booths, IGT will feature Systems demos and Barcrest USA(TM) games -- an expanded lineup of slots and other games created for the US market that follow on the success of games made by Barcrest in the United Kingdom. IGT has formed a new business group that will be dedicated to the design and support of the new Barcrest USA(TM) product line, which will be officially launched at the G2E event.
Among the many games in the MegaJackpots(TM) World will be a new "Classic" version of the recently released Wheel of Fortune® Special Edition(TM) on the IGT Advanced Video Platform(TM) and a new 5-reel base game version of the Wheel of Fortune® slot. Those, plus the final versions of the eagerly awaited Star Wars(TM) and Elizabeth Taylor(TM) Dazzling Diamonds® slots and video slots (the latter dispenses jewelry in addition to regular jackpots), along with a new Bonus Reel Series(TM) 4-reel Megabucks® slot game. The popularity of The Beverly Hillbillies(TM) theme has produced two new games: Cash for Crude(TM) and Raccoons to Riches(TM), which will be previewed at the show, along with a new Elvira®-based game titled Elvira's Hot 7(TM).
IGT was the first gaming machine manufacturer to introduce a wide-area progressive penny game, and its new penny MegaJackpots(TM) themes will include Gilligan's Island(TM), Laverne and Shirley(TM), Drew Carey and Brasil Slingo(TM). IGT was also first to offer million-dollar top jackpots on a penny machine. This year's lineup expands upon those offerings with many new themes that feature million-dollar jackpots on penny games.
Next stop: Slot World, where S2000(TM) (spinning reel), Reel Touch(TM) (spinning reels with an LCD screen in the top box), Bonus Reel(TM) (three reels plus a fourth reel which can multiply the win), and 5-reel variations will roll out a slew of new themes. IGT will also preview Bonus King(TM), a unique new bonus play system designed to enhance slot play and expand payouts.
Poker World will unveil a host of new poker variations including some exciting multi-hand versions from Action Gaming: Kenny Rogers(TM) Triple Play Poker(TM), Pick A Pair Poker(TM), Spin Poker Deluxe(TM), and Five Play Multi-Strike(TM).
In the Video Slots World, the lineup will include a mixed bag including 3-reel, 5-reel and 6-reel video slots with new payline and max coin configurations. Look for advanced symbol grids that have four rows of six reels (4 by 6) featuring fun themes like Sneeki Tiki(TM) and Space for Rent(TM), as well as 15-line Shake Your Booty(TM) and 20-line Dam Lumberjack Beavers(TM) on 3 by 5 grids.
IGT was the first-to-market with 40- and 100-line games, and with the surging popularity of penny slots, IGT's Penny World will introduce a number of new "Perfect for Pennies" themes including Stinkin' Rich(TM), a 100-line game, and Max Action(TM), a 40-line game created especially for penny play.
Many of the new themes featured at the show will demonstrate the expanded power of IGT's new 044-processor board, which is now offered as standard equipment on the Game King(TM) family of machines. IGT's new "Enhanced Video Slots" offer expanded memory capacity, resulting in even brighter and more colorful video and enhanced sounds. These games will be displayed at the show with an optional new flat screen LCD monitor to take video slots quality and entertainment value to a whole new level of technology.
Under the MegaJackpots Premium Series(TM) banner, the Mickey Mantle(TM) game offers unique multi denomination progressive abilities utilizing the innovative IGT Progressive Controller(TM), which opens up a host of progressive configuration, meter display and LCD signage link options.
Class II Bingo/Central Determination World will roll out familiar IGT themes -- like Wheel of Fortune®, The Price is Right(TM), Star Wars®, The Beverly Hillbillies(TM) Bubblin Crude(TM), Double Diamond® and Enchanted Unicorn(TM) -- that are being adapted to Reel Touch Bingo(TM) Class II and a host of Central Determination machines. The booth will include demonstrations of the new IGT Advantage(TM) Class II and Central Determination game systems.
In the adjacent IGT Systems World booth, the new combined IGT Systems group will demonstrate the most comprehensive suite of casino and player management tools ever offered. The IGT Advantage(TM) Casino System combines the very best of Acres Gaming Incorporated and IGT Gaming Systems products with nine separate modules that can be configured together or may be used separately as part of other host systems -- from the EZ Pay(TM) Ticket System to Bonusing(TM), and the Table Touch(TM) table game management product to NexGen(TM) player tracking displays and Mobile Data Access(TM).
UNLV football head coach John Robinson announced Sunday that he will retire at the end of the 2004 season.
Robinson, 69, had another year remaining on his contract but family health issues along with the Rebels' unexpected 0-4 start to the season led to his decision.
"I just feel like it's time," Robinson said. "I've been thinking about it for a while for two major reasons. There are some ongoing health issues in my family that are not going away. And obviously there is a pressure building up on this team surrounding all of this. By announcing this now, hopefully I can take some of that away and let our team and especially our seniors, think about the next seven games and beyond. It will be good for the program to move forward."
Robinson, who is the most successful bowl-game coach in college football history with a winning percentage of .889 (8-1), currently sits as the 18th- winningest active coach in Division I-A at .641.
Including two separate stints coaching Southern California, Robinson's career college record is 130-72-4 (.641) and his UNLV mark stands at 26-37. He also totaled a 79-74 record with the NFL's Los Angeles Rams from 1983-91, which included two trips to the NFC Championship game.
Hired in December 1998, Robinson quickly turned around the fortunes of a program that had lost 16 consecutive games. He added the duties of director of athletics for UNLV in January 2002, and successfully served in the dual role for 17 months until stepping down as AD on May 20, 2003.
Verbatim from www.nbc10.com
In the fourth in a series of summit meetings held here Friday, a panel of experts agreed that although consumers will have to wait for regulation of online gambling, and for laws to offer them basic protections, there is reason to be encouraged. Although moves at the federal level are complicating the process -- most notably an effort last week to attach a bill prohibiting online gambling to anti-terrorism legislation -- the panel expected that when it comes to gambling law it's the state governments which always have, and likely will, find the ultimate solution.
Mark Balestra, vice president of River City Group and editor of Interactive Gaming News said there are already several models for how Internet gambling can be successfully regulated at the state level, including inter- state wagering on regional lotteries and para-mutual gambling.
Also joining the panel was David Schwartz (WWW.DIEISCAST.COM), coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center, University of Nevada at Las Vegas. He discussed the history of gaming legislation in the U.S. as a backdrop to the current debate over Internet gambling. He too was encouraged that regulation was inevitable.
"If history is any judge, BETonSPORTS is on the winning side of this issue. Gambling has been around for thousands of years and has always adapted to new technology."
Today's panel, which followed similar summit meetings on the topic in Chicago last Tuesday, and in the prior week, Washington D.C. and New York, was hosted by BETonSPORTS plc, operator of the world's largest online wagering service. The summits are part of a national public policy initiative called "Proposition 1: To Regulate or Prohibit Online Gambling." It will lead to the publishing of a white paper on the subject later this year and is accompanied by an upcoming series of college campus debates and a national advertising campaign.
All panel members pointed to the growing popularity of online poker, coupled with television poker tournaments, as an example of how Americans are embracing gambling as entertainment and "voting" for online gambling through their actions - despite the fact that in the eyes of the Department of Justice what millions of American are doing every day on their computers is "technically" breaking the law.
Still, the panel acknowledged that the road to regulation will be bumpy. Numerous issues have to be resolved, beginning with federal law enforcement authorities and regulators working more cooperatively with the states to support their approach to the solution. The role of technology in affording consumer protections -- such as ensuring that minors don't play online -- must also be better defined. But of greatest immediate concern was last week's attempt by Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, to add H.R. 2143, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act, to an anti-terrorism bill in committee, a matter which will be discussed in hearings on September 29.
Said David Carruthers, CEO of BETonSPORTS: "Connecting this issue to a bill as important as that trivializes the dire need in this country to fight terrorism. That is neither a sensible approach to protecting consumers nor a constructive one."
Americans wager upwards of $100 billion a year on sports on the "street" and on college campuses, according to Carruthers. Online gambling is estimated to be a $10 billion market today and is growing exponentially. "People are going to gamble online whatever happens in Washington," added Carruthers. "Prohibition won't stop people from engaging in this form of entertainment."
Several common themes arose through the four summits and together they'll help create the basis for a public policy framework that BETonSPORTS hopes to build support for in the coming months. Panelists at the New York summit hoped that the Department of Justice would rethink enforcement activities that have been "haphazard and not really effective," according to Linda Goldstein, an attorney with Manatt, Phelps and Philips LLP. A former New Jersey gaming official, Frank Catania, said that online gaming companies can be subject to the same probity checks as land-based operations, a practice well established in several states.
In Washington D.C., the panel members called for regulation to promote "responsible gaming" online and that this is an opportunity to "exceed current land-based responsible gaming practices" according to Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gaming. And in Chicago last week, the experts pointed to the windfall in tax revenues states will be able to realize with sensible regulation of the industry.
Concluded BETonSPORTS' Carruthers: "Regulation of online gambling is right for the consumer, the operator and the government. Our hope is that by bringing attention to these issues we have advanced the national discourse on online gambling and helped resolve differences of opinion and approach. There's a public policy vacuum at the center of this debate because the actions so far by the federal government have polarized people. We'll fill that vacuum with industry leadership, public private partnerships and popular support."
Verbatim from www.casinocitytimes.com
Abstracts from full coverage on www.lasvegassun.com
Hard Rock, gaming board turn attention to compliance panel
By Richard N. Velotta
Members of the Nevada Gaming Commission have taken controversial billboards and sexually charged advertisements out of play in a complaint that has been under a community microscope since January.
Harrah's, Caesars agree to sell four properties to Colony Capital
By Liz Benston
Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and Caesars Entertainment Inc. have signed a definitive agreement to sell four casinos as a package deal to an affiliate of Colony Capital LLC for $1.24 billion.
The casinos include Harrah's East Chicago, Harrah's Tunica, Atlantic City Hilton and Bally's Tunica.
I fully agree with highering the fashion standards, everytime it's possible. But why should mini-skirts be banned? That would damage the male enrollment rate...
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Business students at two schools rewarded for ties
By Emily Richmond, verbatim from www.lasvegassun.com
At Green Valley High School, mascara, lipstick and blush are no longer earning extra credit for business students.
Business students until last week had been required to dress in business attire in exchange for "participation points." That meant collared shirts for men, no jeans, miniskirts, flip-flops or shorts. For extra credit students could add ties, jackets, dress shoes, makeup and nylons, according to a handout circulated to students.
The handout doesn't say whether male students would also get extra credit for makeup and nylons.
Principal Jeffrey Horn said he immediately struck makeup from the list of "extra credit" options when he found out about it late last week.
"Makeup was just one of a laundry list of suggestions," Horn said. "The rest of the attire recommendations are appropriate."
Unlike controversial "standard school attire" or "Dress for Success" programs, under which schools require students to follow a stricter dress code than the regular district regulation, the business department's program at Green Valley is optional, Horn said.
School administration does, however, strongly enforce the district's dress code regulation, which prohibits skimpy mini-skirts, spaghetti-strapped shirts and low-riding pants. Students also have been ordered to remove facial piercings.
Green Valley's program is a new wrinkle in an ongoing debate in the Clark County School District over dress code. Some parents have voiced concerns that honors students -- including a Liberty High School junior -- have been disciplined and even suspended for not complying with stricter dress code enforced at some schools. Other parents and students praise the policy, saying it reduces competition and returns the focus to education.
The Clark County School Board is set to discuss the issue at a work session Oct. 14. The School Board is expected to consider several options, including revising the existing regulation to no longer allow principals alone to determine the severity of the campus dress code policy.
At Advanced Technologies Academy, students in the business and finance magnet program are expected to don professional attire one day a week, said teacher Barbara Harmon. At the beginning of the year parents are given a list of recommended guidelines and are asked to sign a contract stating that their child will participate. Parents may also request that their child be exempted from any of the requirements, Harmon said.
The guidelines were devised after talking to business professionals, Harmon said.
"We based this on industry standards," Harmon said. "The banks in town may be the most conservative. (For women) they prefer very little makeup, if any."
Student participation hovers near 100 percent, she said.
"It's very successful -- it adds a professional touch," Harmon said. "In fairness to the children and the parents, we can't ask them to do this more than one day a week. Most teenagers just don't have that extensive of a business wardrobe."
Lauren Kohut-Rost, superintendent of the district's southeast region, said she would be comfortable with requiring schools to conduct parental surveys prior to implementing "Dress for Success" or "standard school attire" policies. There are nine elementary schools in the southeast region that require students to wear uniforms as part of a pilot study. Those schools were required to have at least 51 percent of parents return surveys with a 70 percent approval rate.
"Anytime you're providing more information, you're educating the community," Kohut-Rost said.
Two slot cheats added to Nevada's `black book'
by CHRISTINA ALMEIDA, verbatim from www.lasvegassun.com
The Nevada Gaming Commission expanded its infamous "black book" Friday by adding the names of two men involved in a sophisticated slot-cheating scam that cost casinos millions of dollars.
The commission's five members voted unanimously to add the names of Dennis McAndrew, who has been imprisoned twice for schemes that netted about $16 million, and Eugene Bulgarino, a member of McAndrew's ring.
Deputy Attorney General Darlene Caruso told the commission that both men pose a threat to the state and its gambling industry.
Neither McAndrew nor Bulgarino were present at the hearing. Their lawyers also did not attend.
McAndrew, who changed his last name from Nikrasch, was first convicted in a $10 million slot scheme in 1986 and served five years in prison before being paroled in 1991. He was sentenced in 1998 to 7 1/2 years in prison for his role in setting up another scam that cost six Las Vegas resorts a total of $6 million.
Prosecutors said 10 rigged jackpots were involved, ranging from one for $30,000 at the Rio hotel-casino to others for $1.7 million at the Luxor and $3.7 million at Harrah's.
Bulgarino was given a nearly four-year prison sentence for his involvement in the $6 million scheme. In all, 13 defendants were indicted in the case.
The "black book" is actually a silver-colored album of mug shots, officially called the "List of Excluded Persons." With the two additions, there are now 39 people on the list who are banned for life from entering Nevada casinos.
Regulators say the book has helped maintain the integrity of the state and Nevada's gambling industry. Critics say the process unfairly protects the industry at the expense of individual rights.
Nominations to the book are made by the Gaming Control Board, whose staff prepares background investigations, sometimes with the assistance of the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies.
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GCB Excluded Person List, a.k.a. "the black book" of gaming, is available on http://gaming.nv.gov/loep_main.htm There you can see the people who are no longer allowed to enter Nevada casinos.
Also, on http://gaming.nv.gov/wanted_main.htm you can see the Most Wanted list: people wanted by the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, who haven't be found yet.
News from the American Marketing Association, Las Vegas chapter
AMA Las Vegas
October Luncheon
Topic: Political Marketing
Date: October 7, 2004
11:30 a.m.
Lawry's The Prime Rib
Jon Ralston, locally famous and always entertaining Nevada pundit, will talk
about political campaign marketing at the October AMA luncheon. It is
scheduled for Thursday, October 7, 2004 at Lawry's the Prime Rib, 4043 Howard
Hughes Parkway. Registration begins at 11:30 A.M. with the panel presentation
following at noon.
An award-winning Nevada journalist for nearly two decades, Ralston hosts the
Face to Face television program on Las Vegas One and edits the Ralston Report,
a must-read newsletter for political and business leaders in Nevada. He also
writes a weekly column for the Las Vegas Sun and is a frequent commentator for
KLAS-TV Channel 8. His remarks will focus on the dynamics of motivating
constituents to go to the polls and vote for a candidate or an issue. A
question and answer session will follow the presentation.
Reservations are requested and must be made by Monday, October 4, 2004. The
number for telephone reservations is 702.593.0883 or you may make your
reservation on-line at:
http://lasvegas.marketingpower.com/
The cost is $25 for members and $30 for non-members. Seating is limited and
AMA is charged for all reservations. Hence, no-shows will be billed.
Walk-ins are seated on a space-available basis. Member walk-ins are $30 and
non-members are $35. A vegetarian meal is available by request and the
facility is ADA accessible.
The American Marketing Association is an international professional
organization for people involved in the practice, study and teaching of
marketing. The Las Vegas chapter mission is to be the essential resource for
advancing the practice of marketing and the professional development of
marketers in Las Vegas.
Well, that's not in Vegas, but this is a leading event for the industry. So, on December 7 enjoy the 2004 Racing & Gaming Summit, followed by the 31st Annual Symposium on Racing December 8-10, at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, Tucson.
Look who's speaking at the 2004 Racing & Gaming Summit (current as of 09/27 ... more being added)
- Charles Anderer, Ascend Media Gaming Group
- Gerald Aubin, Rhode Island Lottery
- Eugene Christiansen, Christiansen Capital Advisers
- Peter DeRaedt, Gaming Standards Association
-Marc Falcone, North American Equity Research Group, Deutsche Bank Securities
- Steven Geller, Florida State Senator (D)
- Walt Hawkins, IGT
- Chuck Keeling, Fraser Downs
- Bennett Liebman, Racing and Wagering Law Program, Government Law Center, Albany Law School
- James Maida, Gaming Labs International, Inc.
- Patricia McQueen, IGWB
- Anthony Sanfilippo, Central Division President, Harrah’s
- Michael Pollock, Gaming Industry Observer
- Saverio R. Scheri III, WhiteSand Consulting
- Craig Sculos, Lincoln Park
- Steven T. Snyder, Penn National Gaming Inc.
31st Annual Symposium on Racing
The Symposium on Racing presents a variety of cutting-edge topics and an exhibit hall that are of interest to a diverse group of attendees representing all facets of the racing/gaming industry. The Symposium is the largest multi-breed racing conference in the world with 1,000 attendees and representatives from more than 15 countries.
Racing and wagering topics include the threats and opportunities of betting exchanges, the impact of rebates, changes in international racing and gaming markets, regulatory issues for expert witnesses in contested cases, and new technology opportunities.
The marketing panels will help provide insight into what we can learn from the rapid growth in poker tournaments and their popularity on television, examine the potential of ethnic marketing, evaluate the return on investment from player tracking systems, and review sponsorship/advertising and the conflicts that arise when stakeholders have competing interests.
Also presented at the Symposium will be issues vital to the breeding and bloodstock industry, including a debate on ethical practices at public auctions and the commercial bloodstock market.
Participate where racing leaders gather. Come join the movers and shakers of the racing and gaming industries December 8-10, 2004, following the Racing & Gaming Summit. For more information, check http://www.ua-rtip.org