Atlantic City, New Jersey (AP) - Penn National Gaming on Thursday became the latest company to scrap plans to build a lavish new casino in Atlantic City. The Wyomissing, Pa., firm announced in a statement accompanying its fourth-quarter earnings that it won't exercise its option to build a new casino on Route 30 in an area far away from the existing 11 casinos. The company's chairman and CEO, Peter M. Carlino, blamed market conditions.
Penn National Gaming could be about to walk away from a state casino deal. Spokesman Eric Schippers said company executives were in Cherokee County, on Monday, meeting privately with county officials on “our thought process and the challenges of the competitive landscape.” “We wanted to show the county a courtesy and communicate with the county first,” said Schippers.
Columbus, Kansas - The Cherokee County commissioners on Monday met behind closed doors with their attorney for casino issues to discuss possible action if Penn National Gaming withdraws from its contract for a state-owned casino in the county. The Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board on Aug. 22 approved Penn National’s contract for the Cherokee County casino, but the board also went with a proposal by Harrah’s Entertainment for a casino in Sumner County.
In an effort to survive withering competition from Pennsylvania and New York slots parlors, Atlantic City is considering expanding casino gambling into areas that were never envisioned when gambling was approved in the 1970s. The City Council Wednesday night approved changes to its master plan that will rezone parts of Route 30 to allow construction of a casino on the site of a former oil depot.
Kansas City (Reuters) - Kansas gaming officials have awarded two contracts for development of state-owned casinos as the first in a series of such projects the Kansas officials hope will ultimately bring in at least USD 200 million annually. The Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board awarded 15-year contracts to privately held Harrah's Entertainment Inc and Penn National Gaming Inc to construct and manage casinos that will be owned and operated by Kansas, the first U.S. state to do so.
Atlantic City, New Jersey - A new casino on the outskirts of Atlantic City's Route 30? Don't bet on it. That's the message from a city councilman who says a proposal to build a casino on the White Horse Pike - away from the existing casino zones on the Boardwalk and the marina district - has only a limited chance of happening. Penn National Gaming wants to build a casino on the 23-acre property.
New York (Associated Press) - A leading casino operator could become a player in Maryland's slot machine gambling debate. Penn National Gaming said it is considering buying a site in Cecil County that could become one of the state's five authorized slots venues. The entry of Penn National, one of the country's largest gaming companies, could boost efforts to pass a November referendum that would authorize slots gambling.
Bangor, Maine (AP) -- Showgirls and Hollywood look-alikes greeted the first visitors Tuesday as Penn National Gaming Inc.'s [[USD]] 132 million Hollywood Slots opened its doors to the public. Hundreds who waited for up to two hours to begin playing slot machines formed a line that snaked outside the complex, which is directly across the street from the city's famous Paul Bunyan statue. Inside, a Jack Nicholson look-alike flanked by showgirls was waiting to greet them.
Penn National Gaming has extended the deadline for the completion of its USD 6.1 billion sale to Fortress Investment Group and Centerbridge Partners to Oct. 13. The leveraged buyout, announced a year ago, has been delayed because it will not receive necessary approvals from some regulators by the original June 15 deadline, the casino company, based in Wyomissing, Pa., said Friday in a statement.
It's a Thursday night at Hollywood Casino at Penn National - a day when gamblers will wager nearly USD 5 million on the glitzy new slot machines - and a payout machine breaks down. As a technician wheels a repair cart onto the floor and opens up the machine, Trevor Hassenbein watches from an eye in the ceiling. He's an enforcement agent with the state Gaming Control Board, and he's looking over the shoulders of Penn National's four-person surveillance team...
Penn National Gaming announced that it has filed a license application with the Kansas Lottery Commission to be considered as a Lottery Gaming Facility Manager at a proposed destination casino resort in Sumner County that the company has budgeted at USD 365 million. The second phase expansion will bring the total budget for the master-planned project to over USD 565 million.
Penn National Gaming received the endorsement of the Cherokee County Commission for its plan to manage a state-owned casino and hotel in the county. “This now clears the way for Penn Gaming to move to the next level to the state," Commissioner Rodney Edmondson said. Penn National was the only company to submit a proposal to the commissioners. Applications are due to the Kansas Lottery Commission by September 6.
