Issue 240
April 18 - April 24, 2005
Volume 5
page 2
 

Deal for President Casino Resort complete; new owners take over
As reported by The Associated Press

BILOXI, Mississippi - Broadwater Development LLC has completed its deal to buy the 240-acre President Casino Broadwater Resort property.

The deal was closed Friday, two days after the Mississippi Gaming Commission gave its approval to Silver Slipper Casino Venture to operate the casino until Broadwater Development goes ahead with its plans to sell the gambling barge and replace it with a larger casino at the Biloxi beachfront site.

There was an unexpected development this week.

Roy Anderson III and W.C. "Cotton" Fore bought out the Miami-based Dezer Development Group's half of the new ownership group.

"They no longer have an interest in the project," Anderson said Friday. He would not reveal details of the buyout.

Anderson said he and Fore "have a specific vision for the project. Since we're local we wanted to own 100 percent."

The Broadwater property was sold because of the bankruptcy of its corporate parent. The winning bid was $82 million.

Anderson said the casino closed at 11:59 p.m. Thursday and reopened at noon Friday.

"Everything's back in operation," he said. "It should be a seamless operation."

Silver Slipper also will manage the hotel in the interim, while Broadwater Development will manage the golf course and marina.

Silver Slipper plans to move the President Casino barge to its new site in Hancock County later this year. Anderson said he and Fore are "continuing to work on our master plan and long term objectives for the project."

Anderson has said a new, larger casino likely will be placed on the north end of the Broadwater marina closer to U.S. 90.

 

 

 


Dakota Sioux Casino expansion plans still uncertain
As reported by The Associated Press

WATERTOWN, South Dakota - As the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate builds a $7.9 million hotel at its Dakota Sioux Casino north of here, it awaits a gambling compact with the state that could mean even more expansion.

The five-story, 93-room hotel is the first of what tribal leaders hope is a five-year expansion plan that would include an indoor music and entertainment facility, an indoor water park and a 24-lane bowling alley.

But without the ability to add more slot machines at Dakota Sioux, many of the expansion plans might not be feasible, tribal chairman James Crawford said.

"If the tribe is unsuccessful in getting more devices, then those were just good ideas," he said. "Without that, it wouldn't be feasible at this point."

Tribal representatives and Gov. Mike Rounds are scheduled to meet again Thursday to discuss a gambling compact that outlines how many slot machines will be allowed.

Although the number of slot machines the tribe wants to add has been proposed at 250, Crawford said earlier he doesn't want to put a hard figure on the number. The casino now has 200 slot machines.

Rounds has said he has concerns about the impact tribal gambling expansion could have on the state's revenue from video lottery.

"The overall concept - whether it's Sisseton-Wahpeton, Standing Rock, Oglala or Rosebud tribes - we have to balance all the competing interests for gaming revenue," Rounds' spokesman, Mark Johnston, said.






William Hill May Buy Stanley Outlets for $945 Million
As reported by Bloomberg.com

United Kingdom - William Hill Plc, the U.K.'s second- largest bookmaker, may buy Stanley Leisure Plc's betting shops for more than 500 million pounds ($945 million) as it seeks to supplant Ladbrokes as the country's industry leader.

Shares of Stanley Leisure, the biggest U.K. casino operator, rose as much as 14 percent to a record after London-based William Hill said in a statement it's in talks to buy about 600 outlets in the U.K. and Ireland to create a chain of about 2,200 bookmakers. Ladbrokes runs about 1,900 betting shops in the U.K.

``William Hill should be able to improve shop profitability significantly, as Stanley's operating profit per shop is around half'' as much as its competitor's, Lou Pirenc, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in London, wrote in a note to investors.

William Hill is pursuing the betting shops to boost earnings growth after raising annual profit by 19 percent.

The company, which has about 1,600 betting outlets, is focusing on bookmaking after the government limited the potential to expand into casinos.

The shares fell as William Hill delayed a proposed 453 million-pound return of capital while it looks at the shops.

Billy Idol

 

Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa: 80's rock star Billy Idol is back on tour again, promoting his first album in 12 years, "Devil's Playground."

Date: Friday, May 27

Time: 8:00pm

Ticket Prices: $40

For more information please call:1- 800-736-1420
 
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