Three men entered the Gala Casino in Wellington Bridge Street, Westgate, on September 4 and threatened staff with what is believed to be a bladed instrument and a sledgehammer. Nothing was taken during the incident and no one was injured although four people were treated for shock.
The former general manager of Dunedin Casino said yesterday that, with the benefit of hindsight, more could have been done to help a woman who stole from her employer to feed her gambling addiction. But Rod Woolley told a Gambling Commission hearing in Auckland that Christine Keenan did not exhibit the characteristics of a problem gambler.
Laden with billions of dollars, the world’s biggest gambling firms are in the midst of an unprecedented international expansion drive. Macau, Singapore, Slovenia and Spain have become key territories for firms such as Las Vegas Sands, Harrah’s and MGM Mirage. Now, the British market seems to be the one of most interesting for the biggest casino companies.
A Government bid to penalise the Dunedin Casino for breaching problem gambling rules turned nasty yesterday when both sides in the case traded personal insults. The casino's former operations manager, Lawrence Peeters, told a Gambling Commission hearing in Auckland that his general manager at the time, Rod Woolley, was a big gambler himself who had said there was "no such thing as a problem gambler".
If any Las Vegan ever pushed the envelope more than Steve Wynn, it would be a surprise. He turned the downtown Golden Nugget into the equivalent of a Strip resort. He built The Mirage when Las Vegas seemed dormant and helped trigger a boom. He put Siegfried & Roy in his main showroom, charged high prices to see them and changed how the Strip presented entertainment.
The Malaysian gaming group Genting International is this weekend working towards an agreed GBP 605m takeover of Stanley Leisure, the British casino group. The two sides intend to make an announcement early this week. Leonard Steinberg, Stanley’s chairman, has agreed that his company will be taken over for 860p a share. He has also given an irrevocable undertaking to sell half his 11% stake to Genting.
A former employee of the Dunedin Casino has given evidence to the Gambling Commission today that its general manager did not believe a woman who gambled away NZD 6 million over three years had a gambling problem. A hearing is under way to decide whether the casino should have its licence suspended for failing to stop Christine Keenan's gambling.
When Macau officials decided to end the casino monopoly of Chinese gambling mogul Stanley Ho, they looked to Las Vegas. They looked not just for Nevada operators to invest in the Chinese enclave and to build competing casinos, but for the model of a vibrant resort city that offers more than gambling. Two-and-a-half years after the first Las Vegas-owned casino opened in Macau, the government seems well on its way to achieving its goals.
As the five-man Casino Advisory Panel took to the stage at Glasgow's Hilton Hotel last Monday morning, Kirk elder Ken Rolwegan was preparing to make his protest. The panel, led by Professor Stephen Crow, was in the city to hear business and civic leaders argue why Glasgow should house Britain's first Las Vegas-style supercasino.
For about three hours, Freddy Howard was showered with all the glamour and glory he had ever dreamed of. The struggling actor was told he had just won a USD 260,000 jackpot at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood in the early hours of Aug. 29. Complete strangers were asking to take pictures with him. Others ran up to hug him, and casino employees shook his hands.
Sportingbet Plc Chairman Peter Dicks was granted USD 50,000 bail in New York while he fights extradition to Louisiana on criminal charges of illegal Internet gambling. Dicks, 64, was released on bond by New York Supreme Court Justice John Latella today after spending last night in jail in New York.
Starting on 7 October, Casino Baden will be transformed into the centre of the poker universe in Europe. Baden will put its poker face on for one week and play host to two poker events of the highest calibre where international poker stars will meet to ante up, raise and bluff their hearts out.
