Giant Vegas Project May File for Bankruptcy

Deal with MGM Mirage gives Persian Gulf state stake in gaming Mecca

(NEWSER) - Dubai World—a company owned by the government of the oil-rich Persian Gulf state—plans to invest up to $5.1 billion in MGM Mirage, the world's second-largest casino company, Bloomberg reports. The move would give Dubai a presence in booming Las Vegas and free up assets for MGM Mirage to diversify its holdings. More»

(NEWSER) - MGM Mirage, the gambling conglomerate, is considering the sale of casino properties in Michigan and Mississippi to pay down debt and save an underfunded Las Vegas development, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Vegas-based company has retained Morgan Stanley to shepherd the sales of the MGM Grand Detroit and Biloxi’s Beau Rivage, two of its best-performing casinos. MGM holds $13.5 billion in debt. More»

Lanni denies sudden resignation related to degree fib

(NEWSER) - The CEO of MGM Mirage has announced his resignation, but denied it had anything to do with lying about having an MBA, reports the Wall Street Journal. J. Terence Lanni, one of the most powerful figures in the gambling world, has long claimed to have an MBA from the University of Southern California. But university records don't back him up. More»

(NEWSER) - The many states hoping gambling will revive their troubled budgets are in for an unpleasant surprise, writes Nate Silver for Esquire. Gambling is supposed to be recession-proof, but that hasn’t been the case this time. "The year 2008 was the first time in history that total casino gaming revenues declined throughout the United States," writes Silver, of FiveThirtyEight.com fame. In Las Vegas, they were down a whopping 12%, and they’ve fallen another 15% this year. More»

(NEWSER) - Casinos are making big bank off the tiniest—and oft-most derided—denomination, USA Today reports. Gambling outfits have added penny slots at an amazing rate—in the last 2 years, Nevada has removed 12,000 more costly machines to make room for 7,000 penny slots—and the move has paid off. In Missouri, for example, penny bets make up 42% of the total and a whopping 63% of casino profits. More»