Gamesworld claims that annual costs of running the Gambling Commission now stand at GBP 15 million compared to the GBP 5 million overhead of its predecessor the Gaming Board.

After sifting through 2 000 applications, PokerStars settled on the 23 inaugural members of Team PokerStars Online in a group drawn from the full range of PokerStars’ games and stakes that hails from all over the world in online casino roulette, with 18 countries represented.

The diversity of this new team means PokerStars’ members are likely to find a Team PokerStars Pro presence whatever game they play, and whenever they choose to login.
A PokerStars spokesman revealed that there are plans to add further players to Team Online throughout 2010, along with improvements to the PokerStars lobby that will make it easier to find and follow all the big names as they play online.

The full Team PokerStars Pro contains some of the biggest names in poker, including six WSOP Main Event Champions, Tom McEvoy (1983), Chris Moneymaker (2003), Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), Peter Eastgate(2008) and Joe Cada (2009).

There will be twice weekly flights departing from Paris Charles de Gaulle, on Thursdays and Sundays, leaving room for short trips of 3 or 4 days as well as stays of a week, 10 days or longer. The departure and arrival timetables mean that travellers from all over Europe can be transported, and Paris will be established as a direct gateway to online slot<> and Las Vegas.

As well as innovating with this exclusive gambling partnership, Chilipoker is installing a free VIP counter in Las Vegas for all its European customers. This will offer a dedicated multilingual team in charge of helping tourists and poker players prepare their stays in Las Vegas, especially with reservations for restaurants, shows or limousines, or visits to the surroundings of Vegas, etc.

“Las Vegas is one of those destinations people dream of, but which appear inaccessible. As an online poker site we felt it appropriate to offer an answer to these dreams by offering all non-English speaking Europeans, and in particular the French, a chance to enjoy a unique experience,” states Alexandre Dreyfus, the French founder of Chilipoker.

“We hope that with the future regulation of the online gaming market in France, which is set to become effective before 23 May 2010, Chilipoker can occupy a significant place in this new market. From now on, Las Vegas will form an integral part of our marketing strategy in Europe for 2010.”

To celebrate this agreement, Chilipoker will refund 75 Euros to all Chilipoker account holders for each ticket* reserved between 15 November and 31 December 2009.

“In this way Chilipoker intends to assert itself as a partner for the “poker destination” of Las Vegas and in particular for the French community, as we have already been for 2 years in Marrakesh. It will mean an investment of several hundred thousand dollars for us,” explains the director.

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In a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Shuffle Master said Warner who was appointed to the board in November 2008, resigned “for personal business reasons.”

The filing added that Warner’s resignation “was not due to any disagreement with the company’s senior management or independent auditors or about any disagreement with the online gambling company’s operations, policies, practices, or online casinos financial statements.”

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But you couldn’t tell that from the reaction of internet gambling company Chairman Steve Wynn.

After opening the $2.3 billion Encore at Wynn Las Vegas last December in the middle of a recession, he was expecting a horrible 2009.

Not anymore.

“If things continue the way they are, we’re going to equal or beat 2008 in Las Vegas and we’re going to equal or beat last year in Macau,” Wynn said on a conference call with analysts. “It isn’t as bad as we thought it might have been.”

The Las Vegas-based company, which operates online casinos in Las Vegas and Macau, earned $34.2 million, or 28 cents a share, in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, down from earnings of $51.2 million, or 49 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet Research expected Wynn to earn 16 cents a share.

Revenue for the quarter came in at $773.1 million, up 0.5 percent from $769.2 million in the third quarter of 2008, due mainly to the Encore opening.

“Overall, it was a very good quarter for Wynn,” Susquehanna Financial Group gaming analyst Robert LaFleur told investors. “Results in Macau were not surprising given the positive data points we have seen over the past few months. However, results in Las Vegas were much better than expectations.”

In Las Vegas, casino revenue was $144 million, flat when compared with the 2008 third quarter. Noncasino revenue rose almost 18 percent because of Encore.

The company’s average daily room rate fell to $210 from $272 while occupancy fell to 83.9 percent from 96.1 percent.

At the Wynn Macau, revenue fell to $448.5 million from $474.8 million.

Shares of Wynn Las Vegas closed down $6.94 at $56.13 on the Nasdaq National Market on Tuesday.

“Wynn reported a solid quarter in both Las Vegas and Macau, although note that we have lowered our estimates dramatically over the past year,” Goldman Sachs gaming analyst Steven Kent told investors. “In Las Vegas, gaming revenues came in better than we expected.”

The company raised $1.63 billion through an initial public offering this month on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Wynn hinted that the proceeds might be used for investment in Asia, including a new resort on Macau’s Cotai Strip.

The company expects to open the $675 million Encore at Wynn Macau in April, which is being paid for through cash flow.

“We’re working on the project in Cotai, but until we’re finished with the changes and are satisfied, we won’t discuss it or show it,” Wynn said.

On the conference call, Wynn spent about five minutes discussing his recent signing of entertainer Garth Brooks to a long-term contract to perform at the showroom inside Encore.

Wynn said the signing will affect the company’s corporate expenses — the cost of buying Brooks a private jet to fly him between Las Vegas and his home in Tulsa, Okla., and his contract. But that money will be made up from the revenues that surround Brooks’ concerts.

Tickets for the first 20 shows sold out in five hours last weekend, and Brooks will perform during the National Finals Rodeo weekend in December.

“This event will have a tremendous impact on our company in a positive way,” Wynn said. “He is a crossover artist of enormous popularity. Garth Brooks is a category breaker.”

In an interview after the conference call, Wynn said the company will spend about $65 million to change the front entrance at Encore to become the Beach Club, which will include a new nightclub called Surrender. The back wall at Switch Restaurant will be all glass so patrons can look out onto a terrace.

Las Vegas-based Harrah’s, which was taken private last year by private-equity firms TPG Inc. and Apollo Management LP, said its net loss from online poker operations was $1.05 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with net income of $349.6 in the same quarter a year ago.

The company posted a $1.33 billion charge against earnings to write down the value of certain assets around the country. Without the impairment charge, Harrah’s would have reported net income of $278.4 million from operations.

The overall third-quarter net loss from continuing operations after taxes was $1.62 billion.

Harrah’s reported earnings early Tuesday, but company executives did not hold a conference call to discuss the results with analysts.

“The third quarter was challenging from an operations standpoint, as lower spending by consumers affected by the global recession continued to impact revenues,” Harrah’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Loveman said in a statement. “During the third quarter, we continued our focus on aligning expenses with revenues and addressing our capital structure to cope with the protracted economic slump.”

Harrah’s companywide revenues were $2.28 billion, a decline of 13.7 percent compared with $2.64 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Andrew Zarnett said Harrah’s also experienced a nearly 15 percent decline in cash flow during the quarter regardless of the impairment charge.

“The decline in (cash flow) during the latest quarter was primarily due to continued (midweek) rate disintegration in Las Vegas and competitive pressure at Harrah’s Atlantic City properties,” Zarnett told investors. “On the flip side, results somewhat benefited from management’s efficiency initiatives and relatively strong performances at Harrah’s Iowa and Missouri regional properties.”

On the Strip, where Harrah’s operates eight properties including Caesars Palace, Rio, Bally’s and Harrah’s Las Vegas, the company reported a net loss of $778.8 million in the quarter, compared with net income of $155.4 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Revenues in Las Vegas were $657.2 million, a decline of 17.5 percent compared with $796.8 million in the 2008 third quarter.

Harrah’s said the net loss was due to lower spending by visitors and impairment charges of $875.8 million in the third quarter surrounding several of the company’s Strip properties.

Harrah’s raised $1.7 billion in capital during the quarter with much of the proceeds being used to pay down the company’s multibillion-dollar debt load.

Harrah’s has nearly $501.8 million in debt maturing next year and $168.9 million due in 2011, an August filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed. Harrah’s has $6.3 billion in term loans maturing by 2015 and all of a $1.1 billion credit agreement that is due in 2014, SEC filings show.

“We conducted another round of financing activities to shore up our balance sheet and enhance our financial flexibility, which has enabled us to take advantage of some exciting growth opportunities,” Loveman said.

Zarnett thought any cash that was left after the debt repurchase would bolster the company’s balance sheet.

“We believe that a portion of cash on the balance sheet will be used to acquire distressed assets, such as the recent purchase agreement signed to acquire Thistledown racetrack in Cleveland,” Zarnett said.

In September, Harrah’s announced an $89 million agreement to buy the Thistledown horse-racetrack. The acquisition is in anticipation of the legalization of video lottery terminals for certain racetracks in Ohio.

The Review-Journal on Sept. 14 reported that Harrah’s purchased 16 percent of Planet Hollywood Resort’s $860 million debt in a possible bid to acquire the Strip hotel-casino. Neither Harrah’s nor Planet Hollywood Resort officials would comment on the reports. Multiple sources have said executives from Harrah’s Entertainment toured Planet Hollywood Resort.

During a conference call Tuesday with analysts, Boyd Gaming Chief Executive Officer Keith Smith said Station Casinos executives dismissed the company’s Feb. 23 offer to purchase a significant portion of its rival for $950 million as a half-hearted gesture.

Smith said the bid is real. Boyd Gaming has a $2 billion line of credit designated for Echelon that can now be directed toward acquisitions.

“Let me be clear. This is a serious offer,” Smith said in prepared remarks Tuesday. “Bankruptcy can be a distracting and expensive process and it does not appear to be in the best casinos interests of anyone for this to drag on.”

Station Casinos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the end of July. Last week, company attorneys asked the court to extend a deadline for the exclusivity period for filing a plan of reorganization until March.

After the earnings call, Smith said buying key assets within Station Casinos’ 18-property portfolio in Southern Nevada makes sense for all parties, including Boyd Gaming shareholders, customers, and Station Casinos’ creditors, employees and customers.

“We can deliver more value to the creditors with a fair offer and these assets,” Smith said. “We believe strongly in the long-term viability of the Las Vegas market.”

Station Casinos declined comment.

Smith added that Boyd might be interested in acquiring “distressed” properties and looking at opportunities in regional gaming markets.

Boyd Gaming suspended construction of Echelon on the site of the former Stardust more than a year ago, saying it would consider restarting efforts after this year. However, the continuing recession and the December opening of CityCenter may continue to depress the Las Vegas market.

“Given the ongoing weak economic conditions, the significant new supply coming online and a difficult capital-market environment for projects of this nature, resuming construction in the near term is not an option,” Smith said.

It will cost Boyd Gaming $15 million this year to maintain and secure the Echelon site, which has several steel structures in place. The company expects the annual costs to go down next year and has no plans to remove any of the structures.

The recession also reduced Boyd Gaming’s third-quarter profits. The casino operator said its net income fell about 27 percent in a period that ended Sept. 30.

Boyd Gaming said its net income was $6.3 million in the quarter, or 7 cents per share, compared with $8.7 million, or 10 cents a share, for the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated, on average, the company would report earnings per share of 12 cents.

Boyd said revenue fell 6.6 percent in the quarter to $398.2 million. The company blamed the slump on reduced consumer spending, especially in Las Vegas.

“Improved results in our downtown Las Vegas, Borgata, and Midwest and South regions helped offset softness in the Las Vegas locals market,” Smith said. “While visitation levels remained fairly constant, spend per visitor continues to be down significantly year over year, as consumers are still being cautious with their spending.”

Shares of Boyd fell $1.90, or 17.79 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange to close at $8.78.

JP Morgan gaming analyst Joe Greff speculated that the Las Vegas economy may continue to suffer into next year, adversely impacting the company’s results.

“While Boyd has done a commendable job reducing operating costs in the locals market, the headwinds from record Las Vegas unemployment and foreclosure activity, which we believe will take some time to improve, are proving to be too much as it relates to net revenue growth, something we do not see as a 2010 event,” Greff told investors.

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