Thursday, June 03, 2004
Daily Racing Form - Horse Racing -Sports Betting NewsHard Rock spruced up just in time
By DAVE TULEY
The race books here always seem to be in a constant state of flux.
They get built big, then the corporate bean counters say that more can be made with slot machines, and they get downsized. Then handle drops, and the suits wonder where the customers went, so they pump more money into the books.
The latest race book on the upswing is at the Hard Rock, and with Smarty Jones's Triple Crown quest and the increased interest in horse racing, the Hard Rock's timing couldn't have been any better.
The Hard Rock has torn down the wall at its old race book and combined it with the Sports Deluxe bar next door to make one large book. There are 24 large TVs, all plasma, and 10 posh booths with Interactive Player Terminals at each table so players can make their bets without leaving their comfy seats.
Another major change is a glass wall at the back of the book, which filters out the rock 'n roll music coming from the casino so horseplayers can actually hear the race calls.
"I went around to other race books and talked to a lot of players and found what they thought of the Hard Rock," said race and sports book manager Jamie Shea. "They thought it was too loud."
Shea said more plans are in the works, including a Wednesday handicapping contest starting later this month and a twin quinella on Thursdays.
Among other things, the Hard Rock is known for its commemorative pins, mostly of rock bands, but it has also given away 500 pins on Derby Day and Preakness Day, and the complete set is sure to be a collectors' item. The Belmont pins - labeled "Third Crown" to avoid infringing on copyright laws - will start being handed out with a $25 wager when betting opens Friday, so they're expected to go fast.
Other Friday Belmont activities
Sam's Town will be having a Belmont seminar at 6 p.m. Friday with host John Kelly and handicappers Gordon Jones and Patrick McQuiggan from the "Track Talk" radio show. The seminar will also serve as a prelude to the Hollywood Park card Friday night, with a first post at 7 p.m.
The Stratosphere will also be hosting a seminar Friday night with handicapper Jerry Jacovitz and race book host Jay Kessler. Jacovitz is credited with predicting that Smarty Jones would win the Kentucky Derby. Big deal, you say? Well, his prediction was made back in January after Smarty Jones won the Count Fleet at Aqueduct and before he even went to Oaklawn Park.
Saturday Smarty Parties
The fun doesn't end Friday. All eyes Saturday will be on Smarty Jones, and all the race book managers want those eyes to be on the TVs in their casinos.
The Coast Casinos are treating Belmont Day just like they do Derby Day and the Breeders' Cup. The Orleans and Suncoast are opening ballrooms to show the big race on huge projection screens, and the Gold Coast is opening its showroom. Turf club members should have already received their free tickets in the mail, but anyone can join the party by making a $20 race wager in the book either Friday or Saturday.
The Station Casinos are extending their celebration to the whole casino. At the station-branded Palace, Boulder, Sunset, Green Valley Ranch, Texas, and Santa Fe, as well as the Fiesta Rancho, there will be 10 tickets drawn at the top of every hour from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The top prize each hour at each property will be a $150 wagering voucher, with vouchers of $100 and $50 also given away. The vouchers can be used on the Belmont or anytime in the next seven days. The remaining prizes will be dinners, logo merchandise, and other mystery prizes. In all, 490 prizes will be given away, plus slot players will receive triple points in honor of the Triple Crown.
Three free tickets can be obtained by showing your Boarding Club pass at the players' club desk Saturday or signing up for one, as well as by bringing in ads from the Review-Journal or GamingToday.
But the locals casinos don't have a monopoly on the festivities. T-shirts are the most common giveaway, including at Caesars Palace, Bally's, Aladdin, Imperial Palace, the Stratosphere, and the Palms, with a wager between $20 and $30.
Sports book notes
Assuming a flood of public money and the requisite souvenir tickets, Smarty Jones should be bet down to a 1-5 favorite, the same price that the L.A. Lakers are to win the NBA Finals over the Detroit Pistons. Game 1 is Sunday, with the Lakers an 8-point favorite and a total of 171. I'll be looking to play the Pistons plus the points during the series; I can see them keeping the games close with their defense and slow-down style of play, but I wouldn't recommend a series bet on them. The Lakers are more of a lock in my book than Smarty Jones, who has to go 1 for 1 in a single day against eight rivals with no chance for a misstep. The Lakers have to win four of seven games against only one rival.
* The other major sporting event this weekend is a doubleheader boxing card at the MGM Grand on Saturday night, with Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Sturm and Bernard Hopkins vs. Robert Allen. Both De La Hoya and Hopkins are -1100 favorites, and the underdogs prices are at +700. Most people are seeing these as the equivalent of public workouts for an anticipated De La Hoya-Hopkins megafight Sept. 12. In fact, Station Casinos already has a line up on that fight, with Hopkins at -180 and De La Hoya at +150.
Vegas programming notes
Las Vegas is front and center in two reality TV series. "American Casino" makes its debut Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific on the Discovery Channel. The series is based on the happenings at the Green Valley Ranch, and this Friday's pilot episode focuses on Super Bowl week.
"The Casino," which chronicles the purchase and start-up adventures of the Golden Nugget's new owners, Tim Poster and Tom Breitling, is slated for June 14 on Fox.
By DAVE TULEY
The race books here always seem to be in a constant state of flux.
They get built big, then the corporate bean counters say that more can be made with slot machines, and they get downsized. Then handle drops, and the suits wonder where the customers went, so they pump more money into the books.
The latest race book on the upswing is at the Hard Rock, and with Smarty Jones's Triple Crown quest and the increased interest in horse racing, the Hard Rock's timing couldn't have been any better.
The Hard Rock has torn down the wall at its old race book and combined it with the Sports Deluxe bar next door to make one large book. There are 24 large TVs, all plasma, and 10 posh booths with Interactive Player Terminals at each table so players can make their bets without leaving their comfy seats.
Another major change is a glass wall at the back of the book, which filters out the rock 'n roll music coming from the casino so horseplayers can actually hear the race calls.
"I went around to other race books and talked to a lot of players and found what they thought of the Hard Rock," said race and sports book manager Jamie Shea. "They thought it was too loud."
Shea said more plans are in the works, including a Wednesday handicapping contest starting later this month and a twin quinella on Thursdays.
Among other things, the Hard Rock is known for its commemorative pins, mostly of rock bands, but it has also given away 500 pins on Derby Day and Preakness Day, and the complete set is sure to be a collectors' item. The Belmont pins - labeled "Third Crown" to avoid infringing on copyright laws - will start being handed out with a $25 wager when betting opens Friday, so they're expected to go fast.
Other Friday Belmont activities
Sam's Town will be having a Belmont seminar at 6 p.m. Friday with host John Kelly and handicappers Gordon Jones and Patrick McQuiggan from the "Track Talk" radio show. The seminar will also serve as a prelude to the Hollywood Park card Friday night, with a first post at 7 p.m.
The Stratosphere will also be hosting a seminar Friday night with handicapper Jerry Jacovitz and race book host Jay Kessler. Jacovitz is credited with predicting that Smarty Jones would win the Kentucky Derby. Big deal, you say? Well, his prediction was made back in January after Smarty Jones won the Count Fleet at Aqueduct and before he even went to Oaklawn Park.
Saturday Smarty Parties
The fun doesn't end Friday. All eyes Saturday will be on Smarty Jones, and all the race book managers want those eyes to be on the TVs in their casinos.
The Coast Casinos are treating Belmont Day just like they do Derby Day and the Breeders' Cup. The Orleans and Suncoast are opening ballrooms to show the big race on huge projection screens, and the Gold Coast is opening its showroom. Turf club members should have already received their free tickets in the mail, but anyone can join the party by making a $20 race wager in the book either Friday or Saturday.
The Station Casinos are extending their celebration to the whole casino. At the station-branded Palace, Boulder, Sunset, Green Valley Ranch, Texas, and Santa Fe, as well as the Fiesta Rancho, there will be 10 tickets drawn at the top of every hour from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The top prize each hour at each property will be a $150 wagering voucher, with vouchers of $100 and $50 also given away. The vouchers can be used on the Belmont or anytime in the next seven days. The remaining prizes will be dinners, logo merchandise, and other mystery prizes. In all, 490 prizes will be given away, plus slot players will receive triple points in honor of the Triple Crown.
Three free tickets can be obtained by showing your Boarding Club pass at the players' club desk Saturday or signing up for one, as well as by bringing in ads from the Review-Journal or GamingToday.
But the locals casinos don't have a monopoly on the festivities. T-shirts are the most common giveaway, including at Caesars Palace, Bally's, Aladdin, Imperial Palace, the Stratosphere, and the Palms, with a wager between $20 and $30.
Sports book notes
Assuming a flood of public money and the requisite souvenir tickets, Smarty Jones should be bet down to a 1-5 favorite, the same price that the L.A. Lakers are to win the NBA Finals over the Detroit Pistons. Game 1 is Sunday, with the Lakers an 8-point favorite and a total of 171. I'll be looking to play the Pistons plus the points during the series; I can see them keeping the games close with their defense and slow-down style of play, but I wouldn't recommend a series bet on them. The Lakers are more of a lock in my book than Smarty Jones, who has to go 1 for 1 in a single day against eight rivals with no chance for a misstep. The Lakers have to win four of seven games against only one rival.
* The other major sporting event this weekend is a doubleheader boxing card at the MGM Grand on Saturday night, with Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Sturm and Bernard Hopkins vs. Robert Allen. Both De La Hoya and Hopkins are -1100 favorites, and the underdogs prices are at +700. Most people are seeing these as the equivalent of public workouts for an anticipated De La Hoya-Hopkins megafight Sept. 12. In fact, Station Casinos already has a line up on that fight, with Hopkins at -180 and De La Hoya at +150.
Vegas programming notes
Las Vegas is front and center in two reality TV series. "American Casino" makes its debut Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific on the Discovery Channel. The series is based on the happenings at the Green Valley Ranch, and this Friday's pilot episode focuses on Super Bowl week.
"The Casino," which chronicles the purchase and start-up adventures of the Golden Nugget's new owners, Tim Poster and Tom Breitling, is slated for June 14 on Fox.
reviewjournal.com -- Business: Harrah's benefits from first poker seriesHarrah's benefits from first poker series
Company expects entries to triple next year, just as they did in 2004
By ROD SMITH
GAMING WIRE
Binion's Horseshoe saw more players this year than ever for the World Series of Poker, and Harrah's executives expect the event to have similar growth in 2005.
Photo by Clint Karlsen.
The record-shattering 2004 World Series of Poker, which drew 34,000 players at satellite, Internet and championship events, proved pivotal in defining the event's emerging image and attracting new customers to its new owners, Harrah's Entertainment.
However, even as the dust settles and planning starts for the 2005 tournament, one analyst doubted the series will have much financial effect on the company.
Harrah's executives and analysts said the popularity of the 2004 series served the company well in attracting added customers and it has the potential for doing even more next year.
The success of Harrah's marketing strategy was reflected in that paid entries in the World Series championship event tripled to 2,576 this year, up from 839 a year ago.
Ginny Shanks, who heads acquisition marketing for Harrah's, said the company's satellite games at 16 regional casinos were so successful this year, it is kicking off the first satellite tournament for 2005 in July in Atlantic City.
She said the success of the satellite tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where the Bluffs Run Casino had its highest table drop since Harrah's bought it in 2001, illustrated the effect of regional competitions.
Company executives stressed that fan and spectator interest also gave the company a boost, and that it will get another dose of exposure with similar results when 24 hours of the tournament start airing July 6 in two-hour prime time segments on ESPN.
Deutsche Bank analyst Marc Falcone said the visibility of managing the national poker tournament helped the company increase brand equity in the Harrah's name.
Still, he said while Harrah's has tied the brand into its individual properties, Falcone doubts managing the series gives the company any significant financial gain in the short run.
Howard Greenbaum, who oversaw the World Series of Poker for Harrah's, said the company is still compiling data on the effect of the tournament.
However, Harrah's executives are quick to point out that they expect participation and spectator interest to at least triple again next year, and that ESPN will again increase its air time for the series, as it did this year.
Harrah's executives and analysts also said the company's management of the tournament did a great deal to build the strength of the World Series of Poker brand, which should reinforce interest next year.
As a result of Harrah's running the series and poker Web sites offering contests that awarded players their entry fees, for example, many of the players in the 33 events that made up the 2004 World Series had never previously visited Binion's Horseshoe.
World Series officials said "most" of the nine finalists qualified for the championship by virtue of their success on the Internet or at satellite tournaments where they earned their $10,000 buy-in for a fraction of that figure.
With the number of paid entrants expected to triple in 2005, Shanks said, the final prize pool should exceed $40 million, and while the top prize will probably be capped at about $6 million, the number of players winning major prize money will increase.
A World Series official said, "Harrah's has the national marketing muscle to make those numbers reachable."
This year, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, a patent attorney from Stonington, Conn., won $5 million when he won the championship event, out of a final prize pool of more than $24 million.
It's clear why Harrah's was so interested in acquiring the World Series of Poker brand after Binion's Horseshoe was closed in January.
Players spent $105 million on organized poker in 2003, up from $90 million the year before, according to data compiled by the American Gaming Association.
Harrah's will move most of the tournament activity to the Rio next year, except for the last round of the final event, which will take place at the Horseshoe.
That should further reinforce the branding boost for Harrah's, but it may also be necessary.
Greenbaum said the number of poker tables needed to host all the expected players in the initial events is expected to increase from 120 to 200, and Binion's Horseshoe generally was mobbed this year as it never has been before.
Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson called this year's series a learning experience for Harrah's, but said players were pleased with the operation, based on comments the company has heard.
Company expects entries to triple next year, just as they did in 2004
By ROD SMITH
GAMING WIRE
Binion's Horseshoe saw more players this year than ever for the World Series of Poker, and Harrah's executives expect the event to have similar growth in 2005.
Photo by Clint Karlsen.
The record-shattering 2004 World Series of Poker, which drew 34,000 players at satellite, Internet and championship events, proved pivotal in defining the event's emerging image and attracting new customers to its new owners, Harrah's Entertainment.
However, even as the dust settles and planning starts for the 2005 tournament, one analyst doubted the series will have much financial effect on the company.
Harrah's executives and analysts said the popularity of the 2004 series served the company well in attracting added customers and it has the potential for doing even more next year.
The success of Harrah's marketing strategy was reflected in that paid entries in the World Series championship event tripled to 2,576 this year, up from 839 a year ago.
Ginny Shanks, who heads acquisition marketing for Harrah's, said the company's satellite games at 16 regional casinos were so successful this year, it is kicking off the first satellite tournament for 2005 in July in Atlantic City.
She said the success of the satellite tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where the Bluffs Run Casino had its highest table drop since Harrah's bought it in 2001, illustrated the effect of regional competitions.
Company executives stressed that fan and spectator interest also gave the company a boost, and that it will get another dose of exposure with similar results when 24 hours of the tournament start airing July 6 in two-hour prime time segments on ESPN.
Deutsche Bank analyst Marc Falcone said the visibility of managing the national poker tournament helped the company increase brand equity in the Harrah's name.
Still, he said while Harrah's has tied the brand into its individual properties, Falcone doubts managing the series gives the company any significant financial gain in the short run.
Howard Greenbaum, who oversaw the World Series of Poker for Harrah's, said the company is still compiling data on the effect of the tournament.
However, Harrah's executives are quick to point out that they expect participation and spectator interest to at least triple again next year, and that ESPN will again increase its air time for the series, as it did this year.
Harrah's executives and analysts also said the company's management of the tournament did a great deal to build the strength of the World Series of Poker brand, which should reinforce interest next year.
As a result of Harrah's running the series and poker Web sites offering contests that awarded players their entry fees, for example, many of the players in the 33 events that made up the 2004 World Series had never previously visited Binion's Horseshoe.
World Series officials said "most" of the nine finalists qualified for the championship by virtue of their success on the Internet or at satellite tournaments where they earned their $10,000 buy-in for a fraction of that figure.
With the number of paid entrants expected to triple in 2005, Shanks said, the final prize pool should exceed $40 million, and while the top prize will probably be capped at about $6 million, the number of players winning major prize money will increase.
A World Series official said, "Harrah's has the national marketing muscle to make those numbers reachable."
This year, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, a patent attorney from Stonington, Conn., won $5 million when he won the championship event, out of a final prize pool of more than $24 million.
It's clear why Harrah's was so interested in acquiring the World Series of Poker brand after Binion's Horseshoe was closed in January.
Players spent $105 million on organized poker in 2003, up from $90 million the year before, according to data compiled by the American Gaming Association.
Harrah's will move most of the tournament activity to the Rio next year, except for the last round of the final event, which will take place at the Horseshoe.
That should further reinforce the branding boost for Harrah's, but it may also be necessary.
Greenbaum said the number of poker tables needed to host all the expected players in the initial events is expected to increase from 120 to 200, and Binion's Horseshoe generally was mobbed this year as it never has been before.
Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson called this year's series a learning experience for Harrah's, but said players were pleased with the operation, based on comments the company has heard.
