This Issue

Gaming News
Some Casinos Win,
Others Lose

Kentucky Derby Prices
Increased

Pokerproducts.com Helps
with "Thursday Night Poker
Games"

$86 Miklion Expansion Adds New Face to Sam's Town

Charlestown Races to Get 78 More Slot Machines

Proposed Betting Cap Dies

Meadowlands Racetrack Sees Attendance, Handle Drop

Harrahs Sponsors NASCAR
Winston Cup race

Internet Bookmaker offers betting line for 2004 Presidential Election

Columns
Should you divide your bankroll into session stakes? Gambling Guru Al Krigman tells you what to do

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Lorrie Morgan will perform at the Orleans Hotel & Casino Showroom Dec. 9-11

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Some Casinos Win, Others Lose

Like the blackjack player who's been playing for hours, the mighty corporate casinos can see by their stack of chips whether they've had a good shoe or have hit a bad one. Two Nevada casinos are looking for a new shuffle.

The Regent Casino in Summerlin, NV filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection on November 21. It defaulted on a $5 million loan payment in September and laid off 500 workers in October and closed two of its restaurants. It opened in July 1999.

The company reported that construction delays and cost overruns prior to its opening were the cause of its financial woes. The Regent will remain open as is reorganizes its finances and plans to reduce some of its minimum blackjack stakes from $5 in an attempt to attract more local business. It will also aggressively seek more meeting and convention business.

On the Strip, the newly-opened $1.4 billion Aladdin Casino also started taking heat as it reported a $40.2 million loss against $40.6 in revenues to Wall Street. The company said if necessary it would seek additional sources of financing through additional borrowing or debt or equity financing. It has two payments coming up. In December the Aladdin must make a $5 million payment to financial institutions and in January an $11.7 million interest payment.

However, management is optimistic citing the reconfiguration of some of its slot areas and the popularity the London Clubs casino and increased room occupancy and convention business.

"We recognized as all of our predecessors had experienced that we in fact were going to be in a ramp-up period," said Richard Goeglein, Aladdin Gaming's CEO, in a recent conference call to investors. He was alluding to the slow start of The Venetian and Paris openings in 1999.

But the skies aren't all cloudy in the gaming world. Mandalay Resorts Group, which owns such properties as the Mandalay Bay, the Luxor, Excalibur, Monte Carlo and Circus-Circus in Las Vegas and other properties in Laughlin, Reno and Detroit recently reported a 3% increase in business from last year. Isle of Capri Casinos, which operates casinos in the Midwest and Gulf Coast area, reported an 11% increase and Ameristars Casino, which also operates gaming properties in the Midwest, reported a 16% increase.