Online Casinos Directory

The single most important thing you have to do when wagering—whether online or at a land-based casino—is set your bankroll. Your bankroll is the amount of money you are setting aside to wager with. One mistake a lot of people make is to not think about their bankroll much until they get to a casino or log into one online. This is dangerous because of the nature of a casino. Remember that casinos are built to encourage gambling. The lights, the promotions, the sounds, the excitement of a casino are all put there for a reason…to keep you putting down your hard-earned cash. If you aren’t wagering, the casino isn’t making money so they do their best to coax you into spending more and more. Casinos build promotions with higher buy-ins and bigger payouts for a reason—to keep you interested. They know full well that if the deal is sweet enough, people are going to take advantage of it. Just visit any casino and you no doubt will see a long list of promotions to get in on; these are the lifeblood of a good casino.

Because of the excitement factor it is always important to set your bankroll well before you get to a casino floor. You want to calculate how much money you can reasonably afford to lose. Not that you are going to lose it, but what if you do? You want to make sure that you aren’t wagering your rent payment or phone bill money. Make sure you set your bankroll well before you start your computer or pull into a casino parking lot. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a great sounding promotion or good game. Casinos thrive on your impulse decisions! You want to calculate how much you can afford to wager and the stick to it. Remember too that a casino makes it twice as easy to get more money if you run out. Just look at a cashier and you can see a line where people are waiting to withdraw more cash to play with. And online it’s even easier to click on a few buttons and have more money transferred to your account. Be smart with your money and always watch it. Stick within your predetermined limits and stop when your bankroll is out—you never want to go overboard with your hard-earned cash.

The Las Vegas City Center is a point of debate for two major players in the Las Vegas circle.  MGM Mirage and Perini Building Co. are disputing payment of almost $500 million from the total construction budget of $8.5 billion for the City Center development. All of this arguing has lead to some serious consequences.  In a filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the casino operator said the project’s primary contractor intends to file mechanic’s liens to collect on $492 million in construction bills. To support their position, a filing by the MGM Mirage was also introduced.  In the filing, MGM Mirage and Dubai World, its 50-50 joint venture partner in City Center, said the amount owed is far less, primarily due to construction defects that halted building of the Harmon Hotel.

One specific point of conflict is the Harmon tower. The Harmon tower was delayed and reduced in size because county officials said reinforcing steel wasn’t spaced at intervals to support it as designed. “While City Center’s investigation into the general contractor’s potential liability regarding the Harmon Hotel is continuing, there can be no assurance at this point as to the ultimate outcome of any action City Center may undertake,” according to a company statement in the SEC filing. MGM Mirage said the amount being claimed against Perini may exceed the amount of City Center’s estimated remaining liability to the general contractor. A message left with Perini Building Co. by The Associated Press on Friday was not immediately returned.

MGM Mirage spokesman Gordon Absher said Friday postconstruction settling disputes are not uncommon. “While $492 million is a significant figure, it is a small fraction when compared to the overall budget for City Center,” Absher said. He added that MGM Mirage wants to try and resolve the matter quickly because small contractors who worked on the project are waiting to be paid. “We’re hoping to have a speedy resolution to this,” he said. Another, although unmentioned, reason the Mirage is eager to have the new hotel opened is that it will produce millions in revenue and help the severely hurting Las Vegas economy.  The 67-acre City Center development opened in December.

More and more land-based casinos are having a difficult time managing in the economy. Although the recession is over, it has left a longstanding aftermath that has yet to be sorted out. Many casinos turned to bankruptcy protections as a means of regrouping and reorganizing debt to make it more manageable. Part of the problem is that almost all casinos are struggling under heavy debt structures and with the economy’s down fall, they were hard-pressed to find the cash to continue paying for debt.  Analysts at the Global Gaming Expo said that casino operators under a substantial amount of debt are choosing the bankruptcy option more and more.

Despite the negative connotation of bankruptcy, some casino operators are heralding the legal option for a restructure.  Tropicana Entertainment Chief Scott Butera stated, “You can have a viable business if you have the appropriate capital structure. Bankruptcy allows you to get a second chance. There’s a huge advantage in being able to reduce debt.”  Eric Browndorf, partner in the law form of Cooper and Levenson, stated that “The gaming world is painfully aware of the current economy and of operators becoming less hesitant to try to restructure their debts either in bankruptcy court or out of it.” He added, “Unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcy filings have increased exponentially. Casinos operating all over the country are experiencing restructuring and Chapter 11. With supply increasing and demand waning, positive cash flow has been difficult to maintain.” The Tropicana recently filed for bankruptcy protection and eliminated about $3 billion in debt. Without the legal move, there were few options to save the company.

Although bankruptcy can save a casino’s operations, there is a downside. When lenders see the word, they can automatically have preconceived notions about the company’s financial viability. Financial adviser Alex Calderone stated, “[Bankruptcy] is not good for business. Market share slides 10%. It’s a terrible thing to have to do, but oftentimes these companies have so much leverage, debt and obligations that the only logical solution is to file for bankruptcy protection.” If a company is in the position of having to file bankruptcy, experts warn that the key ingredient to the mix is to play a good public relations campaign around it.  Butera said, “Play your public relations well. I have found it to be a very effective tool so long as you plan ahead.”