North Strip casino to temporarily close nightclub; other gaming news

Below is a roundup of other gaming and casino news from Las Vegas and elsewhere.

Analysts consider Station Casinos’ development pipeline

Executives at Red Rock Resorts could be considering different development priorities, according to an Oct. 8 research note from Deutsche Bank’s Carlo Santarelli. After a meeting with the Station Casinos operators, the analyst said he believed the company may now be prioritizing developing 128 acres at Cactus Avenue near Las Vegas Boulevard, along with its second phase at Durango and a development in Henderson’s Inspirada community.

“We believe the primary drivers of the pecking order relate to population growth in the local zones around the development, as well as, to a lesser extent, the experience from Durango related to the cannibalization circles,” according to the report.

BetMGM player turns $0.40 bet into $533K, trip to Las Vegas

An online casino player from West Virginia hit a huge jackpot, resulting in a half-million-dollar payday and a trip to Las Vegas.

Jonathan Hamrick turned a $0.40 bet on a Bison Fury online slot game into nearly $533,000. Hamrick’s big win included a VIP trip to Aria casino-hotel in Las Vegas, complete with spa treatments, a high-end shopping spree and dinners at celebrity chef restaurants.

Hamrick, a grad student, said he was playing on the BetMGM app while waiting for a class to start.

“I logged on, hit spin a couple times and it all of sudden like switched games and I clicked the button again and it said, ‘Congratulations, you won $532,000,’” he said. “I was in disbelief for a little while. But once it hit my account, it started getting real for me.”

Hamrick said he will use some of the winnings to pay off his student loans and other debts.

Caesars Entertainment board member abruptly resigns

Rodney Williams, executive chairman of the board of directors for Caesars Entertainment, resigned Monday, effective immediately, according to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Williams’s resignation was not the result of any disagreement with Caesars on “any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices,” the filing states.

Reno-based Caesars Entertainment operates eight casino- hotels on the Las Vegas Strip and one non-gaming hotel.

Big casino in UAE

Developers of Wynn Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates say the resort’s casino will be 225,000 square feet, on par with Las Vegas’ largest casino footprints.

Wynn is working with local partners Al Marjan Island LLC, and RAK Hospitality Holding LLC to build the resort and previously had said the casino would represent about 4 percent of the property.

The resort is expected to house a total 5.6 million square feet with 120,000 square feet dedicated to retail space, and 100,000 square feet of convention and meeting space.

It’ll be the UAE’s first casino gambling development and the nation’s General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority recently confirmed that other emirates could get casinos, opening the door to a possible MGM Resorts International property in Abu Dhabi where Sphere Entertainment last week announced it would locate the world’s next Sphere entertainment venue.

NBAA in town

The National Business Aviation Association begins its annual convention in Las Vegas Tuesday meaning a variety of corporate aircraft normally seen during the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix will be filling Southern Nevada skies this week.

One of the first-time exhibitors at NBAA this week: the Las Vegas Spaceport, which plans an airstrip between Las Vegas and Pahrump in Clark County.

Spaceport leaders are scouting for companies that want to park their aircraft there as well as vendors for the airfield.