Station Casinos looks to build 600-room hotel-casino in Henderson
 
Station Casinos looks to build 600-room hotel-casino in Henderson

The locals-focused casino chain aims to build a 600-room project in Henderson’s Inspirada community that would feature an 80,000-square-foot casino floor and 30,000 square feet of meeting space. It would also include restaurants, a bowling alley and a movie theater.

Las Vegas Casinos Reopen Thursday – Video
 
Las Vegas Casinos Reopen Thursday – Video

Casinos on the Strip welcomed guests for the first time since March 17, when Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered them closed them due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Downtown Las Vegas casinos reopen – VIDEO
 
Downtown Las Vegas casinos reopen – VIDEO

Las Vegas casinos reopened for gaming at 12:01 am. Thursday, ushering in guests eager to try their luck 78 days after resorts were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Le’Andre Fox and Reed Redmond/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Health experts: Smoking in casinos should be banned – Video
 
Health experts: Smoking in casinos should be banned – Video

Experts say smoking can spread the COVID-19 coronavirus. But not because of airborne particulates. The virus could spread from a smoker’s likely pattern of fingers-to-mouth-to-gaming-device. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

MGM Resorts plan to reopen by early June – Video
 
MGM Resorts plan to reopen by early June – Video

MGM Resorts International said Tuesday it plans to reopen its Southern Nevada resort properties by early June and released a seven-point safety plan. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Caesars Entertainment to phase In reopenings – Video
 
Caesars Entertainment to phase In reopenings – Video

Caesars Entertainment, the operator of Caesars Palace and eight other Las Vegas resorts, on Monday announced it would phase in reopenings with a comprehensive safety and health plan with employees wearing masks across its network of properties. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Treasure Island plans to reopen May 15 – VIDEO
 
Treasure Island plans to reopen May 15 – VIDEO

Treasure Island is planning to open its doors to guests May 15, despite Gov. Steve Sisolak saying Wednesday that gaming shutdowns, currently set to end April 30, will probably be extended an undetermined amount of time. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

South Point furloughing most employees – VIDEO
 
South Point furloughing most employees – VIDEO

South Point announced on April 20 that it is furloughing most of its employees “for an indefinite period,” starting May 3. (James Schaeffer/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Casino companies burning through millions daily
 
Casino companies burning through millions daily

RJ reporter Bailey Schulz talks about how much Las Vegas Casino companies are losing and how the Emergency bill could help if they run out of money or need help recouping what was lost.

MGM Resorts last Las Vegas operator standing in Osaka bid – VIDEO
 
MGM Resorts last Las Vegas operator standing in Osaka bid – VIDEO

Japan is getting ready to issue three highly coveted gaming licenses. The country’s gaming market is estimated to be worth more than $25 billion a year once resorts open in 2025. If the estimates stand up, Japan would become the second-largest gaming market in the world behind Chinese gaming enclave Macau. MGM and at least eight other companies had been vying for the Japanese licenses. In 2019 Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. turned their attention to other areas. Caesars Entertainment Corp. dropped out of the race altogether. MGM teamed up with Japanese financial services group Orix for its bid for a gaming license. MGM/Orix group was the only one to participate in the RFP process. “We think MGM is in a very good position in Osaka at this point” – Union Gaming analyst John DeCree (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Stratosphere to rebrand to The STRAT
 
Stratosphere to rebrand to The STRAT

The Stratosphere, a 1,150-foot-tall property in Las Vegas will be renamed The STRAT Hotel, Casino and Skypod.

MGM’s sports betting deals
 
MGM’s sports betting deals

MGM Resorts International signed a sports betting sponsorship agreement with the NBA in July It was the first professional sports league to have official ties with a legal sports betting house. The deal came just two months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a law prohibiting sports betting in most states. In October, MGM became the first gaming company to sign a sports betting partnership with the NHL. In November, MGM became the first gaming company to sign a sports betting partnership with the MLB. Financial terms of Tuesday’s deal and earlier partnerships have not been announced.

MGM Resorts will use solar array to power Las Vegas casinos
 
MGM Resorts will use solar array to power Las Vegas casinos

MGM Resorts International is planning to power Las Vegas Strip casinos using solar arrays. MGM Resorts is partnering with a Chicago-based renewable developer on a new 100-megawatt photovoltaic array set to go online in 2020, about 25 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The dedicated solar array will be capable of supplying up to 90 percent of daytime demand at the company’s 13 Las Vegas casinos. The array will consist of 336,000 solar panels capable of producing enough power for about 27,000 homes. Construction is slated to start next year, and is expected to employ about 350 people during construction . All of the electricity generated by the array will go to MGM Resorts under a 20-year agreement.

Las Vegas hotel maids to ask for panic buttons in guest rooms
 
Las Vegas hotel maids to ask for panic buttons in guest rooms

The Culinary union will ask Las Vegas casinos and hotels to supply guest room attendants with panic buttons amid national attention to the issue of workplace sexual harassment. The proposal is part of the union’s demands as it readies for talks for 50,000 of its 57,000 employees on a five-year contract with casinos next month, said Bethany Khan, a spokeswoman for Culinary Local 226. Panic buttons would allow guest room attendants to notify security if they are in an uncomfortable or threatening situation. The union will be renegotiating contracts with Caesars, MGM Resorts International and several downtown casinos starting in mid February.

Casinos in the mix
 
Casinos in the mix

Several Las Vegas-based operators have casinos in states likely to enact legislation to regulate sports betting, according to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, assuming a favorable U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Lucky Dragon closes gaming and restaurants until further notice
 
Lucky Dragon closes gaming and restaurants until further notice

Lucky Dragon was designed to to the Asian-American and Asian immigrant crowd in Las Vegas and West Coast cities Lucky Dragon was positioned to become that community’s locals casino, The Dec. 2, 2016, launch of the first direct flight between Beijing and Las Vegas right before the official opening gave the casino another potential customer base. But things didn’t go according to plan The Review-Journal investigated signs of financial struggles in December 2017 A statement from officials Thursday said, “Effective immediately Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino is beginning the process of repositioning and, in doing so, will have a reduction in staff while it temporarily closes all gaming and restaurant operations.”