Las Vegas Review Journal – The Rampart Casino increased its gaming offerings April 19, opening a new bingo room that can accommodate 300 people, with another 40 in a separate, glass-enclosed smoking room. The bingo room is just off the main casino floor near Starbucks. The day before the official opening, the casino at 221 N. Rampart Blvd. offered a preview to select players. The room was nearly full. Gamers used electronic devices that can display multiple cards, using FortuNet software. The software automatically marked the corresponding square on the device. “It guarantees you’re not going to miss a number,”…

Gambling 911 – Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn insists he did not call US President Barack Obama an “a**hole” during a heated argument last month while having dinner with Hollywood actor George Clooney. Wynn accused Clooney, who stormed out of the Las Vegas restaurant following the alleged remarks, as having been “a little into the tequila”.  He also branded the Ocean’s Eleven star as “mollycoddled”. Clooney quickly responded to Wynn’s remarks via People.com: “I will not let his version of the truth go unchallenged. He now says he didn’t call the president an ‘a******.’ That is false. He bellowed…

The impact of “severe” weather, increased competition and market softness found Caesars suffering losses for the three months of 2014. The company posted net revenue of $2.1 billion (€1.5 billion) in the first quarter of 2014, a decrease of 1.9% on the $2.14 billion achieved in the corresponding period in the previous year. Casino revenue fell 8.6% to $1.4 billion but losses were slightly offset by the growth of the firm’s social and mobile business in its Caesars Interactive Entertainment subsidiary. Elsewhere, Caesars reported that adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the quarter also fell 9.9% from…

Card Player – As a tribe moved to open a poker room in Idaho despite a state ban on poker, the governor and the attorney general filed a lawsuit to try to put a stop to it all. Idaho Governor “Butch” Otter and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Friday, according to JRN.com. “Under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Indian tribes are authorized only to offer those types of games that are legal within the state where they are operating,” said Otter spokesman Jon Hanian. “The Idaho Constitution prohibits poker, classified under IGRA…

Bloomberg – Caesars Entertainment Corp. (CZR), the largest operator of casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is looking for ways to reduce capacity in the struggling market, including closing properties. “We are looking at all of our options to reduce the cost of doing business here,” Chief Executive Officer Gary Loveman said yesterday on a conference call after reporting a wider first-quarter loss. “All the businesses in A.C. are under tremendous pressure.” Caesars has been struggling to remain solvent amid a glut of casinos and weak consumer spending, following a 2008 leveraged buyout that left the company with about $23…

Bloomberg – Wynn Macau Ltd. fell the most in more than two years in Hong Kong trading, leading declines among operators of China’s only legal casinos, amid concern that a crackdown on illegal money transfers will pare demand. The unit of Wynn Resorts Ltd. slumped 8.5 percent, its biggest decline since October 2011, at the close in Hong Kong trading. MGM China Holdings Ltd. (2282) dropped 8.2 percent, while Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. fell 7.6 percent. China is cracking down on the use of hand-held card-swipers within casino resorts amid concerns that tens of billions of yuan in illicit funds…

iGaming Business – Gaming solutions provider Scientific Games has signed an amendment to its deal with the Loteria Nacional de Beneficencia (National Lottery of Panama) in order to provide the country with its first online lottery game. ‘Pega 3’, a standard pick three game, is scheduled to launch in the country in June of this year. The new game will fall under an existing 10-year deal that was agreed in October 2013, under which Scientific Games agreed to support the National Lottery of Panama with the rollout of instant games. “Pega 3 is our very first online lottery draw game…

Las Vegas Review Journal – The Gaming Control Board told its license holders Tuesday they cannot participate in the state’s potential medical marijuana business. In an industry notice posted to the Control Board’s website, the agency, which is charged with licensing and regulating the state’s casinos and gambling equipment providers, said the federal government views distribution, possession and sale of marijuana as a crime. “Accordingly, unless the federal law is changed, the board does not believe investment or other involvement in a medical marijuana facility or establishment by a person who has received a gaming approval or applied for a…