Amy Calistri

Poker, Casino and Gaming Biz Industry Beat

Posts by AmyCalistri:

• Casino Poker Rooms Suffer in Post-Black Friday Era

  Live poker a weight to recovery without online support

  30 Apr 2012

  Las Vegas casino gambling revenues have been on a notable rebound. But in the year following online poker’s Black Friday, brick and mortar poker room revenues haven’t necessarily kept pace. From February 2011 to February 2012, according to the the latest Nevada Gaming Control Board report, the state’s total gaming revenues (excluding sports books) increased by [...]

• Horses at the Gates

  Racetracks jockeying for position with online play

  30 Apr 2012

  We are all looking for the Big Casinos to benefit from online gamining legislation. But the parimutuel race tracks are also setting themselves up to be players. Kentucky-based Churchill Downs, now owner of Bluff Magazine, operates TwinSpires, one of the country’s only legal online gambling sites (thanks to the UIGEA carve out for horse racing). [...]

• What’s in a Name

  Does Federated Gaming's domain obsession reveal "wicked" intent?

  09 Apr 2012

  URL-envy? FS+G apparently wanted to own all things epic, wicked and otherwise on the web. Lawsuits and bankruptcies are a corporate voyeur’s dream. Legal disclosures offer an upskirt peak at a company’s financial panties. In the case of Federated Sports & Gaming, parent of the troubled Epic Poker League, bankruptcy filings reveal a full-fledged internet [...]

• Billionaire Break-ups

  Navy Seals on the lookout for Steve Wynn drama bombs

  09 Apr 2012

  Trouble at Spring Mountain and Paradise … But is Seal Team Six really necessary to protect a casino boss with relationship problems? It seems now wherever he goes, Steve Wynn has a team of bodyguards trailing behind him. And according to this article, Steve is supposedly drawing his protection from a pool of ex-Navy Seals. [...]

• Vegas is Changing…Again

  Nothing Dies in the Desert

  22 Mar 2012

  There are times when a gambler yearns for a fresh start, when past losses magically disappear. You could also say that the gambling city of Las Vegas is built — and rebuilt — on the idea of fresh starts. Rooms are gutted and names are changed at a frenetic pace, all with a goal to [...]

• Is the Price of Poker Going Up?

  Statistical Cost Survey for the 2012 WSOP

  13 Mar 2012

  Vegas was hit hard by the bursting housing bubble and recession. As a result, WSOP-bound poker players found travel and lodging bargains over the past few summers. But with these and other ancillary economic factors in flux, 2012 could prove to be more challenging for frugal gamblers … unless you are an alcoholic vegan who flies no frills [...]

• Paperwork Mishaps at MGM and Wynn

  Casino News of the Weird

  04 Mar 2012

  Investors received the latest financial news from the world’s largest casino companies last week. And while Dan was thinking standard SEC filings from Caesars were signs of impending online poker happiness, it was the unexpected word from MGM and Wynn that really had tongues wagging. MGM: Documents Shredded and Shares Dumped Back in the day, gambling establishments [...]

• Wall Street Isn’t Betting on Online Poker before 2013

  No expectation of Congressional quid pro quo in an election year

  20 Feb 2012

  Online poker may be a difficult issue to either defend or fight in an election year. At least one hedge fund manager and one analyst are betting Congress will fail to act on online poker this year. Rumors reached fever pitch last week that a bill to legalize and regulate online poker in the U.S. would be tacked on [...]

• Casino Corporations Hooking Up at Epic Pace

  20 Feb 2012

  There’s a corporate rush like something that hasn’t been seen for a while in the casino industry — to secure and develop poker-related assets. After the Department of Justice’s quiet reinterpretation of the 1961 Wire Act, and subsequent political buzz it created , corporate gaming partners jumped into bed together faster than you can change a relationship status on [...]

• Governor Calls for More Casinos ASAP!

  New York gaming landscape taking shape, ahead of laws to allow it

  27 Jan 2012

  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivered his State of the State address on Jan 4 to say, “We have long flirted and dallied with another potential economic engine — casino gaming — and when it comes to gaming, we’ve been in a state of denial.” Instead of flirting, Cuomo recommended a constitutional amendment that would [...]