Online Casino Edition – Casino News News about online casinos and gambling

November 24, 2013

Caesars Staying Quiet on Rumors of Bankruptcy As Presented in Recent Newsletter

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 2:59 am

Caesars is having its share of dismal news lately. In a recent newsletter that reports on Las Vegas, it was suggested that people not make cash reservations for the famous hotel or make any type of deposits in any of the casinos that are operated by Caesars Entertainment. The reason for saying this are rumors of a possible bankruptcy filing.

Bill Mandel, who is the publisher of the newsletter said: “In an abundance of caution, this newsletter advises you not to deposit any funds (deposits for hotel reservations, deposits in the cashier’s cage or not redeeming casino chips, etc.), in … Caesars hotels, until the situation at Caesars becomes clearer. The newsletter is called Openings and Closings in Las Vegas.

The newsletter, according to Mandel, has been in business for more than 16 years and has more than 64,000 subscribers. Most of whom are Las Vegas visitors as well as various gamblers.

For its part, Caesars says that it is not considering bankruptcy. Even so, some analysts have made speculation that such a course may, indeed, be in the cards for the company. According to one expert, even if the company did file for protection, it would have little or no effect on its hotel reservations or on its casino deposits. It would be a problem for shareholders, but for customers, according to this expert.

An example was cited of the 2009 Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Station Casinos. In this, the company did have to sell off some assets and it did have to reorganize finances, but its customers were not harmed. The company has emerged from bankruptcy in 2011. Many suggesting that the company came out stronger.

Caesars has also said through a spokesman that the company does not respond to these types of speculation or rumors and that this has been its policy for a long time. He also said that these rumors have been around for many months now.

Perhaps the reports by Moody’s Investors Services back in April have had a lot to do with this. They downgraded the company’s credit rating, downgraded it, in fact, to one of its lowest levels ever. Mandel says he used this information to make his decision to post the article.

It was reported by Caesars in the earnings report that came out in July, that they bought back some $275 million in debt. It also reported that it planned to beef up its many and various product offerings in Vegas and that it planned to get into the Maryland casino market. They said that they were also reducing spending in its marketing departments for those areas that are not seeing much gain.

While some may find the news about the company distressing, investors are sticking with it. Right after the Moody’s post, stocks did drop, but they have since rebounded. Only time will tell if the rumors are based on fact or on fancy. In the meantime, many loyal customers are continuing to patronage the famous landmark and its hotel.

August 31, 2013

Spinoff for Caesars Gets the OK

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 11:10 am

Recently, the Nevada gaming commissioners gave its approval for Caesars Entertainment Inc to spinoff its Planet Hollywood Resort, as well as its interactive gaming business, along with a planned Baltimore casino, all into a new and separate company which will be owned by Caesars Entertainment.

According to company officials the new transaction may be able to close by fall of this year. Even so, the new restructuring plan still requires approval from both the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) as well as the Maryland gaming regulators.

Caesars now controls over 50 casinos and hotels which are located throughout the U.S. It has said that the new plan will give the company potential growth investments as well improve its balance sheet. The company also runs 10 casinos and other businesses that are either on the Strip in Las Vegas or just off the strip. As one might expect, Caesars is considered a major player in the Vegas area.

According to Caesars officials, the newly formed Caesars Acquisition will be known as Caesars Growth Partners. It will include Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Planet Hollywood, and will also include the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore which is under development and expected to open in 2015.

The company reported in a SEC filing they plan to raise an estimated $1.18 billion through selling stock which will be under the new public entity name. Additional funding will come through private equity groups, Apollo Global Management and TPG Global.

It was also reported that up to 70 percent of the new company may be owned by Caesars Entertainment and TPG Global and Apollo Global Management. The latter two are private equity groups and they are expected to invest approximately $500 million into the new venture. It was also reported that Caesars will be allowed to bring the businesses back into CE Inc after a five year period. No information was released on just how that might occur or if Caesars is planning to move forward with that plan in the short or long term future. For those who enjoy these venues, on terms of business operations, nothing is expected to be changed and customers will find the same quality service that they now experience.

For those who may not know, Caesars Interactive operates the social gaming Playtika as well as the very popular World Series of Poker (WSOP) and it considered by many industry experts to have a huge potential for the company. It is considered one of the company’s most attractive and lucrative operations. In addition, it has been announced that Caesars is planning to launch regulated and legal World Series of Poker websites located in both New Jersey and Nevada. This may prove to be a real boon for the company as the WSOP is now a globally known brand.

In addition, it was announced that Caesars Growth Partners will also be able to earn management fees from the very popular Planet Hollywood. Also fees can be earned from the new Horseshoe Baltimore which is expected to open sometime in 2015.

August 19, 2013

Caesars Surpasses Zynga

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 11:01 am

It was just a couple of years ago that Caesars Entertainment Corporation had Wall Street in a tizzy when the company acquired the social gaming operation known as Playtika. Now, Caesars has managed to surpass its rival Zynga Inc. Caesars is now considered to be that the top of this competitive business model.

For the most part, social casino games can be had through Internet sites such as Facebook. They are free to play, making them very popular. In some cases, those playing will have an option of paying a small fee, usually around $1, and for this fee they get thousands of tokens that can be used to increase their online gaming bankroll. What surprised many experts is that these small fees are really adding up to some big money. It is estimated that online social gaming is currently worth around $1.2 billion globally annually.

It should also be noted that Caesars Interactive Entertainment now owns a substantial part of this increasing market. The bingo games and slots that are under the Playtika Slotomania brand are credited for much of this increase. Zynga, which owns numerous games, is now occupying the second slot.

According to Eilers Research, it was only a few years ago when social casino gaming was virtually nonexistent. It is now considered to be one of the most profitable and popular gaming genres currently available for desktop or mobile devices. Eilers Research focuses on the gaming technology, gaming equipment, and interactive gaming sectors. The company, based in California, was founded in 2012.

It has also been estimated that the total social gaming market may be able to hit $2 billion at the end of 2013. This would be a whooping 67 percent increase from what occurred in 2012.

Much of this is credited to platforms such as Facebook as well as to increased use of mobile devices. The traditional gaming industry also sees this as a potential money-maker as it considers how to turn it into real-money gambling. This may be years off, however.

In May of 2011, Caesars acquired 51 percent of Playtika. Back then, Playtika, which was just a tiny social game developer in Israel, was working to gain more players with its Slotomania. To date, Caesars has not said how much it paid for this 51 percent purchase but some experts estimate it cost between $80 million and $90 million.

At the beginning of 2013, Caesars also purchased Buffalo Studios which is based in California. It can be said that as the potential for legal online gaming in many states as well as in some of Canadian provinces improves, those companies that got into social gaming early will see the best results.

For its part, Zynga, has recently seen its price per share fall by some 75 percent. This is off its IPO price when it went public in December of 2011. Negative news from Wall Street has not helped. Recently, Zynga made some more news when it said that it plans to introduce online, real-money gaming within the UK via Facebook.

Powered by WordPress