
Customers enjoy the look at board the tall Roller Ferris wheel, but there must be a lot more of them, says Caesars.
Caesars Entertainment’s High Roller Ferris wheel at the Linq is not exactly yet in a deflationary spiral, nonetheless it isn’t proving become the money maker that the organization had hoped for either. The 550 foot attraction, which towers over the Las Vegas Strip, is billed as the world’s observation wheel that is tallest.
It opened very nearly a 12 months ago included in a $550 million redevelopment of this area involving the Flamingo and the Linq, previously the Imperial Palace, and represents a current trend as Vegas seeks to diversify its entertainment offering away from traditional gambling.
It is hardly revolutionary: the new generation of visitors prefers a Ferris to a roulette wheel, the thinking goes; except that they don’t, apparently.
Caesars said this week that while numbers were up 10 percent regarding the quarter that is previous simply under zuma 3d slots 5,000 day-to-day riders, it was still means quick of expectations; the company had predicted that the ride could be attracting between 8,000 and 11,000 visitors per day, or 3 to 4 million a year.
Persuading around 10 percent of the Strip’s 41 million visitors that are annual yield up to $60 million in yearly revenue, the company had hoped.
Pleased Half Hour
These numbers had been extrapolated partly by looking at the 2010 figures for similar tourist attractions. Very nearly four million visited the London Eye that while the Empire State Building had 3.5 million visitors, and 700,000 people climbed the Stratosphere in Vegas year.
However, Caesars outgoing Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Loveman admitted that the company had underestimated the amount of teams and corporate site visitors the ride would attract, adding that this might be now being addressed through a broader marketing outreach.
The vast majority of riders thus far have been leisure tourists or locals, Loveman explained.
An option that now accounts for a quarter of all bookings along with Groupon deals, airline package discounts and half-price tickets for locals, Caesars has begun offering an open bar during the 30-minute ride in a ‘Happy Half Hour’ package.
$1.01 Billion Q4 Losses
Meanwhile, shares in Caesars Entertainment fell 7.9 % to $10.15 in extensive trading following the company reported a $1.01 billion Q4 loss. The business’s biggest division, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co, has filed for bankruptcy security as the business struggles to reorganize its industry-high debt of over $25 billion.
Meanwhile, Caesars was involved in months of negotiation and litigation with its low-level creditors, who argue that its restructuring plan, exercised having its major creditors, unjustly protects the company’s interests during the cost of their own.
Despite all this, Loveman remained positive: ‘Ongoing strength in the business that is interactive new hospitality offerings and sequential improvement in same-store regional outcomes had been key drivers of our fourth quarter performance despite the continuation of exceptionally unfavorable hold at Caesars Palace.’
MGM Will No Longer Allow Cash To Play At Poker Tables
MGM casinos will no allow poker players longer to use cash at the tables before converting it into chips. (Image: highstakesdb.com)
MGM Resorts will stop permitting cash to be considered ‘in play’ at poker tables in the United States beginning on April 1, a move that will expel possibly the only major way to gamble cash without transforming it into chips in their gambling enterprises.
In accordance with a study by on line Poker Report’s Chris Grove, MGM has confirmed the noticeable change, though they will have not stated what’s behind the decision to no longer allow cash to be played at the poker tables.
Prior to the change, $100 bills which were on the table during money games in MGM poker rooms were regarded as part of a player’s stack, which could be wagered and could have to be included as part of any all-in bet.
But starting next month, this will no longer be the truth at major Las Vegas poker rooms including at the Bellagio, the ARIA, MGM Grand Las Vegas, and the Excalibur.
The move will also influence the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi, along with the MGM Grand Detroit.
Change Likely Made to Enhance Anti-Money Laundering Standards
While there has been no specific term on why MGM has made the change, speculation that is most has suggested that it is related to some kind of compliance issue, a typical reason for casinos to alter their money-handing policies.
In particular, MGM could be focused on the federal government’s recent interest in money laundering policies at casinos: cash is more problematic for casinos to trace than chips, especially at higher denominations, where chips have actually RFID tags embedded they can be traced in them to ensure.
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) happens to be more earnestly discussing potential problems with anti-money laundering procedures at casinos over the past year. In June, FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery gave a speech in which she mentioned exactly how casinos should be going for a more ‘risk-based approach’ to anti-money laundering efforts, and that casinos should be more proactive in the Bank Secrecy Act to their compliance.
Decisions such as the could be a response to requests that are such. FinCEN has also recently exposed a working workplace in vegas, suggesting they could be planning on taking a closer look just just how the gaming industry protects against money laundering in casinos.
Compliance with IRS requirements on reporting is also an issue that is secondary as chips must be cashed out and therefore are tracked, while cash can go right into a person’s pocket without ever being reported.
Players Have Mixed Viewpoints on Cash in Poker Games
While the rules that are new be restricting to some players who enjoy having cash at the tables, not all poker fans are reacting adversely to the change. In a thread regarding the topic in Two Plus Two’s ‘News, Views and Gossip’ forum, player reaction was blended, with a few saying that eliminating cash at the tables will also eradicate a ways that are few players can try to cheat during poker games.
‘Fantastic news,’ wrote NickMPK. ‘I hate playing with money on the table. It much harder to see a person’s stack size, also it facilitates passing counterfeit bills.’
Not everybody consented that cash was a problem that is real poker tables, however.
‘[It is] 100x more easier to angleshoot hiding big chips than $100 bills, and the $100 bills are much easier [to] see from one other end of the table,’ wrote posted sevencard2003. ‘This is wonderful news for angleshooters and cheaters.’
According to Grove, similar modifications will likely arrive at a great many other Las Vegas casinos in the future that is near though it’s not likely that all poker rooms would take up such a ‘no cash’ policy any time soon.
Las Vegas Mob Writer Susan Berman Murder Suspect Robert Durst Arrested
The long-unsolved murder of Susan Berman, Mob daughter and author, may finally be thawing out of the Las Vegas case that is cold. In a strange twist of occasions, the man long suspected of her brutal killing 15 years ago is now in custody.
Robert Durst has become something of a home name in recent weeks, thanks to an HBO documentary series called The Jinx that detail by detail several ‘mysterious’ disappearances and deaths surrounding the 71-year-old guy.
Now, perhaps thanks, at the very least in part, to evidence uncovered during that documentary, Durst may have to face finally costs for one or more of those deaths.
Durst was arrested on Saturday night in New Orleans for the 2000 murder of Susan Berman, a crime writer and friend that is long-time of arrestee. While he had been always a suspect in case because of his propensity for being surrounded with unsolved homicides, there was uncertainty into the Berman case due to just what she had often written about: the history of Las vegas, nevada and her family’s ties towards the Mafia, herself being the daughter Mobster Davie Berman.
Extra Evidence Prompts Arrest
Which was enough for many people to suspect that she had been killed for one thing she had investigated or discussed. But now, police say they have more fodder pointing to the chance that it had been Durst behind the killing all along.
‘ As a result of investigative leads and evidence that is additional has come to light in the last year, investigators have identified Robert Durst as the individual responsible for Ms. Berman’s death,’ the l . a . Police said in a declaration released over the weekend.
Durst had been selected up on Saturday, staying under a fake name at the JW Marriott hotel in brand New Orleans. Authorities say they believe Durst ended up being planning to leave the national country and head to Cuba.
‘Jinx’ May Have Uncovered New Proof
Given the promotion surrounding Durst because of The Jinx, many have actually speculated that the makers of the documentary uncovered proof that resulted in their arrest. While there might be some merit to that particular, police have tried to downplay the connection between your program and the choice to arrest him.
‘We based our actions based on the investigation and the evidence,’ stated LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese. ‘We didn’t base anything we did in the HBO series. The arrest was made due to the investigative efforts and at a time that we believe it was needed.’
For his part, Jinx director Andrew Jarecki has denied that there was any deal to have the police make the arrest right before the series finale, which aired Sunday night. However, he did admit it was difficult to determine when and how to share information that ended up being uncovered aided by the police.
‘We talked a great deal if we go to the authorities now, we’re missing the opportunity for us to actually get the real story from him, and it may take years for them to do that because the truth is, as filmmakers, we have the freedom to do things that maybe the law enforcement authorities wouldn’t have,’ Jarecki said in an interview on Good Morning America about it with our legal advisors and we said, look.
Durst Also Suspected in Disappearance of Wife
Durst is suspected, but not implicated, in other cases because well.
In 1982, his former wife Kathie Durst went missing; her family members has believed he was involved, but it offers never been proven. Berman ended up being set to be interviewed by a Westchester County District Attorney about that disappearance when she was killed, which supplied a link between Durst and Berman’s death.
And in 2003, Durst admitted to dismembering neighbor Morris Black, but was acquitted after arguing the killing was done in self-defense.
The Jinx could have brought Durst’s questionable participation in these cases back in to the limelight. In the penultimate episode, the filmmakers revealed Durst a letter he published that was strikingly similar to an anonymous note to police that led them to Susan Berman’s human body in 2000.
In the final episode, Durst had been heard (perhaps unaware that his microphone was still live) muttering what some have interpreted as a confession to his crimes.