There's no tech biz as gaming biz

"TECHNOLOGY: Las Vegas' new deal" from www.tucsoncitizen.com

Tiny sensors embedded in cards and chips allow a casino to reward high rollers and weed out card counters

A card game such as blackjack couldn't be more low-tech, right? Tell that to the Caesars Entertainment chain of casino resorts, which has brought high-technology to 21.
Using miniature built-in sensors, Caesars can track cards being played and betting chips.

That gives the house a more accurate way of rewarding big players with "comps," and weeding out card counters.

USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham spoke with Caesars spokeswoman Carol Pride about how technology is changing Las Vegas:

Question: Let's begin by talking about how you brought technology to the blackjack table.

Answer: We have been testing MindPlay tables at the Las Vegas Hilton and Flamingo Hilton. We were the first big casino player to move forward with it, and the reason we did it, from a player perspective, is to better evaluate their play. With slots, we can easily keep track of how much players are betting, because they swipe in a frequent player card before they start playing. By bringing that type of accuracy to table games, we can track players more accurately.

Q: The pit boss used to do that by walking up and down the floor and watching players, right?

A: Yes, and what we found was that high-end players were getting more comps and the lower players less, because the big guys stay in your mind.

Q: (MindPlay is owned by Alliance Gaming, a leading slot manufacturer. Caesars is the first major casino to test it.) How does the system work?

A: MindPlay tracks cards and chips. The dealer shuffles cards. On the side of the card there's invisible ink and each card is bar coded. The system reads the stack of cards and knows when the cards are being dealt out and which card goes to which player. The chips have a stripe on the side of them and there are computers under each table that can read the side of the chip.

With the information we get, we know how many hands are being played, the value and size of someone's bet as they play. We use that information to rate the player for comps.

Q: Stories about big players - "whales" - getting free suites, shows and food are legendary. How much does the average player get comped?

A: It varies, but the average is 30 percent. If you put in $100, your comp bank would be 30 percent, or $30, depending on how long you play and how much you bet.

Q: With the MindPlay tables, isn't the pit boss out of a job?

A: Not at all. With the information we provide, the pit boss can make better decisions. This is so much better than just watching a player and going on intuition.

Q: These tables aren't cheap. They cost around $20,000 each?
A: Yes. And in less than 6 months, we make our money back. Because we can monitor a dealer, we can keep the level of activity up, and by better managing our comps, we're not overly compensating some players.

Q: What's the status of MindPlay? Are you moving forward with your test?

A: We tested it at the Las Vegas Hilton for six months and are very happy with the data.

It's now being tested at the Flamingo Hilton, being prepared for tests in other properties, and waiting for regulatory approval to go whole hog in Las Vegas.

Q: What about bringing this technology to other areas of the casino, such as roulette, craps and baccarat tables?

A: We're looking at it. Card games would be at the forefront. I don't see it happening very fast at the craps or roulette tables. Poker is a natural.

Q: Let's talk about security and the great "eye in the sky" that tracks everything people are doing once they enter the casino. Your system is still analog, using videotapes.

A: Yes, but we're switching to digital. We have 400 VCRs now that tape everything, and those tapes get stored in a warehouse. We just replaced VCRs with huge hard drives in Bally's Atlantic City, and we're testing hard drives with terabytes of storage in Las Vegas at Caesars. The hard drives can hold seven days of footage.

With analog, we have to scan through hours of tape to find something, but with digital, it's much easier to access.

Q: What about Wi-Fi?

A: We have places within the property for you to sit and check your e-mail wirelessly. Our casino hosts have an internal Wi-Fi system so they can take care of customers on the spot and get instant access to information. But for the general public, we don't have Wi-Fi everywhere. Nevada casinos are very heavily regulated, and the commission is uncomfortable with things that aren't wired.

American Casino Guide's 2005 Edition Offers Detailed Travel Information and More Than $1,000 in Coupon Savings!

Press release

DANIA BEACH, FL -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 11/10/2004 -- The new 2005 edition of the American Casino Guide is now available for travelers seeking information on any U.S. casino. The completely updated 496-page paperback book covers 36 states and lists money-saving information on more than 700 casinos -- every casino/resort in the U.S. -- plus, all Indian and riverboat casinos too!

A popular feature of the guide is a special coupon section that includes 178 coupons providing more than $1,000 in savings at casinos and travel companies in all of America's major gaming centers. Included are offers for FREE: betting money, buffets, shows, fun books and more. A complete list of all 178 coupons can be found on the publisher's website.

The newest edition of the guide (which has been published annually since 1992 and sold more than 400,000 copies) provides all the toll-free phone numbers, website addresses, room and suite rates, dining information (including buffet prices) and any unique or special features offered by each casino as well as information on the games that are offered. Also included are informative maps of 36 states showing where each casino is located, plus detailed maps of five major gaming areas: Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City, Biloxi and Tunica.

The guide is written by a former gambling industry executive with more than 30 years of experience, plus the Guide features stories from some of America's most well-known gaming experts. Topics covered include: which casino games offer the best odds; how to play blackjack, craps, roulette and baccarat; how electronic gaming machines work; how players are rated by casinos; how to take advantage of casino promotions; and more. Additionally, the book includes complete statistics showing the actual returns on slot machines as provided by each state's gaming commission, plus full details on where gamblers can find the best table game rules and best-paying video poker games in all of the major gaming cities.

Cheaters for money

"A card shark shows his hand and dreams of beating cheaters" from www.styleweekly.com

Jeff Wessmiller likes to cheat and tell.

“I started out in magic, but it was cheesy pulling rabbits out of a hat,” he says. “Now I’m called ‘The Mechanic’ or ‘The Card Guy’ or a crooked-gaming expert.”

On a rainy afternoon, Wessmiller, 20, sits in a booth at the smoky Village Café on Grace Street. A junior at VCU, he wears baggy jeans and a baseball cap, his 6-foot-4, 160-pound stature obscured by a table. He palms a deck of cards, resting his wrists upon a black velvet mat that resembles a large mouse pad. He loses himself here for hours. Coffee and cigarettes are partly to blame, but mostly it’s the cards.


Wessmiller never leaves home without them. In the three years he’s been at VCU, he’s carried a deck to every class he’s attended. He tells his teachers it’s a compulsion, and that he can’t concentrate without them.

Even a poker neophyte recognizes that Wessmiller’s more than your typical card shark. His attachment to a deck is so strong, it’s hard to say where the entertainment stops and the obsession begins. It drives his girlfriend crazy, he says with a laugh.

Today, he starts off with a little bottom-dealing and second-dealing, his long, slim fingers fluttering so fast they don’t appear to hold anything at all. Then he cold-stacks, making all four aces appear for an imaginary player’s hand.

To most people, he says, “It’s completely unfathomable that I could be arranging cards as I shuffle them.” But his preternatural connection to cards could be his big break.

At a time when poker’s popularity has swelled to the extent that it has become a national pastime, Wessmiller has mastered a sleight-of-hand few pros could detect. What’s most surprising about his trickery may not be how he does it, but how he plans to use it.

Despite the glamour and prestige the game now enjoys, Wessmiller says he has no interest in using his skills to win big bucks or to score a dealer’s gig. Instead, he hopes to parlay his ruses into a career spotting scams.

His timing is key.

“In recent years, the proliferation of gambling has expanded across the United States and the globe,” says Ric Alford, enforcement agent of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board. “This has attracted the attention of film producers.”

Alford is a Richmond native who graduated from Midlothian High School in 1993. Today he works in Las Vegas, helping catch cheaters in some of the city’s most famous casinos. Such TV programs as “Las Vegas,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” and televised tournaments help spread poker’s allure in popular culture, Alford says.

“Casinos can’t make new poker rooms fast enough,” he says. “Casinos that didn’t have poker tables before are moving out slot machines to make room. And, in most cases, a player will have to put his name on a waiting list to get a seat.”

It’s a seat Wessmiller refuses. “It’s a lose-lose when I play,” he says, explaining that his talents cause him to be regarded as a cheat or a louse. Every night of the week some dorm room or apartment or frat house is home to a game where VCU students ante up and bow out in a hand of Texas Hold’ Em. He exclaims: “It’s absolutely insane how popular it is!”

And not just with students. The popularity of poker crosses generations, cultures and household incomes. So much so that it’s on the radar of state officials. Section 18.2-325 of the Code of Virginia defines illegal gambling. How it’s interpreted varies. (It can be played in private homes provided no “house manager” takes a fee or share of the money.)

In recent months, some nonprofit organizations with licenses to hold bingo games and raffles have blurred the line between what gambling is acceptable and what isn’t. Poker isn’t, according to the Virginia Department of Charitable Gaming.

On Sept. 27, agency director Clyde Cristman sent a memo to all organizations with charitable gaming permits or exemptions, stressing that poker games would result in fines and penalties.

“We tried to be proactive,” Cristman says of the memo and discussions he’s had with various commonwealth’s attorneys throughout the state. Poker’s image had become so prevalent and so innocuous that the Fraternal Order of Police in Virginia Beach had started holding Texas Hold’ Em tournaments, Cristman says. Virginia may one day allow poker — if not in casinos, then in Bingo halls and local lodges. He says there has been interest in introducing legislation to allow it.

Regardless, Cristman is intrigued when told by a reporter of Wessmiller’s talents, adding that he could prove a valuable intern.

Wessmiller has an affinity for fooling people, even if only on the up and up.

“I love anything that’s underground knowledge,” Wessmiller says. He’s drawn to eccentric interests. He’s spent time as “Ivan the Iranian Butcher,” his professional-wrestler alter ego. He’s been a ventriloquist, too, as well as a juggler and a magician.

He says he’ll stick with cards. It’s been more than five years since he picked them up. They’re a natural fit, he says, and full of possibility. He employs a card shark’s psychology: “The knowledge is so hidden it’s almost impossible to find.”

Wessmiller flew to Colorado Oct. 21 — where poker for profit is legal — to produce a DVD that shows players how they can be cheated. It’s called “Weapons of the Card Shark: Underground Cheating Techniques Exposed.”

Next week Wessmiller turns 21. In January, he’ll take his first trip to Las Vegas to scout the casinos. “With more poker comes more cheats, so I’m going to try to shut it down.” His confidence is palpable. After all, he demonstrates the real sleight of hand and manipulation that movies like “Ocean’s 11,” “Rounders” and “Shade” can manufacture.

Wessmiller sums it up: “With the image card sharks have today, it’s kind of like comparing James Bond with real-life espionage.”

First "Onshore" Online Casino is Now Live on http://www.euvegas.com/

Talking about online gambling... :-) from www.casinocitytimes.com

EUVegas.com, brand new online casino using the first and only online gaming platform licensed by a member of the European Union (news - web sites), is live on http:/www.euvegas.com EUVegas.com ( http://www.euvegas.com/ ) offers to players an entertaining and regulated online casino environment, plus a secure gaming experience.

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EUVegas Casino uses a random number generator, drawing numbers and cards at random. Numbers cannot be forecast nor related to one another thanks to a special and sophisticated algorithm: everything is left to chance and luck. Its software is monitored 24/7, in compliance with Maltese legislation.

EUVegas.com chose AssociatedPlayers.com to plan its integrated marketing strategy and manage relationships with affiliates.

EUVegas.com is searching for affiliates and marketing partners. It offers a strong unique selling proposition, using the first and only online gaming platform licensed by a member of the European Union (Malta). Other benefits to improve conversion rate and affiliates' performance are no-download games, certified payouts to players and commissions to partners, Las Vegas-themed casino games, marketing tools as monthly newsletters and contents, several payment options, from credit cards to Neteller, from Western Union to prepaid cards.

Vegas high schooler goes to court over dress code

From www.krnv.com

A Las Vegas high school junior spent the day in federal court Tuesday, challenging her school's dress code.

17-year-old Kim Jacobs was suspended from Liberty High School for wearing shirts with religious messages to class.

US District Judge Roger Hunt listened to arguments but made no immediate decision on an injunction to ban enforcement of the Clark County School District dress code at the school.

Nantkes leaves the Rebels

According to Mark Anderson, www.reviewjournal.com

Former UNLV starting quarterback Kurt Nantkes said if he didn't show up for practice Tuesday night to figure he's off the team for good.

Nantkes didn't show up, and his temporary leave became permanent. His wife, Mande, confirmed the senior would not return for the Rebels' final two games, including Saturday's at Colorado State.

"I'm afraid so," she said.

Messages left for Nantkes the past two days were not returned.

Nantkes was not with the Rebels this past Saturday for their 53-45 triple-overtime home loss to Wyoming. Nantkes said Sunday there were several reasons why he left the team, but did not rule out returning.

Coach John Robinson did not confirm Nantkes' status Tuesday, but said the former player has plenty happening on and off the field.

"He's had a series of unfortunate events in his life," Robinson said. "He's gone through some big injury problems and kind of come back from them, and got some illness in the family. Just some frustration in the way things are going."

All indications are that Robinson left the decision up to Nantkes.

"There's a lot going on that the coaches have been understanding about," Nantkes said Sunday. "I really didn't want my personal business to be aired. I didn't want it to be like it had something to do with my wife or my family."

Had Nantkes returned, he would've backed up Shane Steichen, who was promoted over Nantkes two games ago. Now Steichen, backed up by Scott Turner, knows he doesn't have to worry about sharing time anymore.

"You know you've got the whole game," Steichen said.

Steichen said he has not spoken with Nantkes recently.

"I want to get ahold of him soon, but I'm not sure what's going on," Steichen said.

Nantkes became the starting quarterback before the 2003 season. He struggled with inconsistency last season before putting together his best game Nov. 1 at New Mexico. However, Nantkes injured his pelvis in that game, and missed the following spring.

This season, he aggravated the injury Sept. 11 at Wisconsin and had been hampered ever since. Nantkes completed 48.4 percent of his passes for 800 yards with four touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Nicky Hilton does a Britney Spears and ends quickie marriage!:

More about Hilton... on www.newkerala.com

[Hollywood News]: Washington, Nov 10 : Following in the footsteps of Britney Spears, socialite Paris Hilton's younger sister Nicky Hilton has annulled her quickie wedding to businessman Todd Meister.

According to Eonline, the couple ended the marriage on a friendly note in Vegas, the city where they had married three months ago.

A judge granted the newlyweds an annulment in Las Vegas recently.

"Both parties have ended the marriage amicably, and they remain good friends," representatives for the couple were quoted as saying.

What happens in Vegas, you find it in commercials!

According to Chris Jones, www.reviewjournal.com

Vegas just wouldn't be Vegas without a little augmentation.

And thanks to a few million unexpected dollars, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority will soon pad its already expansive war chest used to promote this city before prospective visitors around the globe.

The convention authority board on Tuesday agreed to add $9.4 million to its previous $66.7 million advertising budget, plus allocate another $1.05 million toward its original $30.8 million marketing budget for the current fiscal year.

Expect more "Vegas Stories" ads airing more often and an intensified marketing push in select foreign markets as well as a jazzed up online presence, convention authority President and Chief Executive Officer Rossi Ralenkotter said Tuesday.

Better-than-expected visitor demand coupled with increased room rates at Clark County hotels and motels helped the convention authority collect $156 million in room and gaming tax revenue in fiscal 2004, about $14.1 million more than initially expected.

Expenditures were also $5.4 million below budget at $152 million, a combination that created approximately $19.5 million in excess or "augmented" revenue, finance director Brenda Siddall said.

Most of that extra money -- about $18.9 million -- will be added to the authority's general fund for fiscal 2005, which ends June 30.

"When you start a budget ... you always have a list of things that for whatever reason just can't be funded," Ralenkotter said. "This gave us the ability to do" those things.

Through August, Las Vegas had welcomed more than 25.1 million visitors this year, up 5 percent from a year ago and on pace to top its best-ever 12-month total of 35.85 million visitors set in 2000.

"We just need to keep this momentum going," Ralenkotter said.

The convention authority will move to capitalize on bmi's recent introduction of nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Manchester, England, by stepping up its promotional efforts in the United Kingdom. That effort will be supplemented by a matching funds program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Ralenkotter said.

Programs touting next year's Las Vegas centennial celebration will also be expanded, as will the authority's Web site, at www.vegasfreedom.com.

A third round of "Vegas Stories" television ads is being developed by R&R Partners, the convention authority's contracted marketing and advertising agency. Those spots will debut early next year, Ralenkotter said, though they'll be preceded by one more ad filmed late last year featuring characters from previous 2004 "Vegas Stories" ads.

"It looks like that campaign is still very strong," Ralenkotter said, citing recent consumer research.

The convention authority recently aired a "Vegas Stories" ad that played off of this month's presidential election. Ralenkotter said more event-focused ads are likely.

"We'll still have the Phase 3, but this augmentation gives the ability if we want to do something around New Year's, the Super Bowl time frame or it might be St. Patrick's Day," Ralenkotter said. "If something happens, we'll have the ability to react."

About $5.8 million will be shifted to the convention authority's capital fund. Coupled with another $27.5 million in leftover funds from last year's capital fund, the current year's capital budget was augmented by $33.3 million, Siddall said.

In January, Ralenkotter will present the board with recommended improvements at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which the authority owns and operates. Changes under consideration include parking improvements, additional meeting rooms and relocation of the convention authority's administrative offices at the convention center.

"We'll see what the customers say their needs are" related to the 2.3 million-square-foot building, Ralenkotter said.

Separately on Tuesday, the board also approved several changes to its policies, including allowing the convention authority president to approve expenditures of less than $50,000 without board approval. The limit was previously $25,000.

Also, the president can now adjust salaries and salary ranges for all convention authority employees below the executive level.

Legal counsel Luke Puschnig said the changes enable the president to better handle the authority's day-to-day affairs. The board, which includes seven elected officials from area municipalities plus six local business leaders, will maintain control of strategic policies such as marketing, advertising and improvements to Cashman Center and the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Hilton's Marriage Officially Over

Nicky changed her mind... according to www.teenhollywood.com

Hotel heiress Nicky Hilton is a single girl once again, after officially ending her brief marriage to New York businessman Todd Andrew Meister.

On November 9th 2004, a judge in Las Vegas - where the pair wed just under three months ago - granted the newlyweds an annulment.

A statement from the former couple's representatives reads, "Both parties have ended the marriage amicably, and they remain good friends."

Hilton, 21, married Meister, 33, at the Las Vegas Wedding Chapel on August 15th 2004 in a surprise ceremony attended by her older sister Paris and actress Bijou Phillips.

It's not clear when the pair filed the annulment paperwork in Clark County Family Court. A court spokesman says a case under the name of Todd Meister was filed on Monday but the judge sealed it.

A city inside Sin City - MGM Mirage to build urban living center on Vegas Strip

According to bizneworleans.com

LAS VEGAS (AP) - MGM Mirage plans to build a new 4,000-room mega-resort and sprawling urban development in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip.

Officials of the gambling giant call the plan "Project CityCenter." They say it'll help transform Vegas into a sophisticated, multi-dimensional city -- one they think will rival other major metropolitan areas.

The multi billion-dollar project includes three, 400-room boutique hotels, approximately 550,000 square feet of retail shops, dining and entertainment venues, and a 1,650-unit luxury condominium complex.

It's to be built on a 66-acre site between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo hotel-casinos. MGM Mirage says the first phase of the project will create 12,000 jobs when completed in 2010.

Shopping just outside Vegas - Barrick Gaming buying Golden Nugget in Laughlin for $31 million

According to www.lasvegassun.com

Barrick Gaming buying Golden Nugget in Laughlin for $31 million LAS VEGAS (AP) - The owners of the Golden Nugget hotel-casino in Las Vegas announced Wednesday they plan to sell the Golden Nugget Laughlin to Barrick Gaming Corp.

Poster Financial Group president and chief executive Tim Poster called the $31 million sale a strategic move designed to let his company to focus on its primary asset, the Golden Nugget Las Vegas.

Barrick President Stephen Crystal called the purchase an opportunity to expand his company's growing casino portfolio.

"That we were able to work together with one of our neighbors in downtown Las Vegas on this transaction was an added bonus," Crystal said in a statement.

The deal is subject to approval from state and federal regulators. It also includes working capital at sale close, and would let Barrick continue using the Golden Nugget Laughlin name for two years.

Las Vegas-based Barrick this year bought the Plaza, Las Vegas Club, Western and Gold Spike from longtime casino operator Jackie Gaughan for about $82 million. The four downtown properties have a combined 1,830 hotel rooms and about 1,900 workers. Barrick also acquired the downtown Queen of Hearts and Nevada hotel-casinos in October.

The Golden Nugget Laughlin is part of a strip of hotel-casinos on the Colorado River, about 100 miles south of Las Vegas.

Poster and partner Thomas Breitling bought both Golden Nugget hotels last year from gambling giant MGM Mirage Inc. for $215 million.

The Golden Nugget Las Vegas, which dates to 1946, is the largest hotel-casino downtown. It has 1,907 guest rooms and about 3,000 employees.

The Golden Nugget Laughlin has 300 rooms and about 1,000 workers.