Jack Binion Bought Out By Harrah's

[adios]

Harrah's Bets $917 Mln on Horseshoe (http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/030911/leisure_horseshoe_harrahs_8.html)

Don't know how big Jack's piece is of Horseshoe (of course it doesn't include Vegas Horseshoe) but I would guess it's > 50%. That kind of money goes a long way. Is Jack coming back to Vegas? A few rumors that Becky isn't doing that great at the Vegas Horseshoe and I believe she's making payments to Jack on a promissary note. Jack could probably buy some govt bonds, lose money on the Vegas Horseshoe and still due very well. I would guess the price of the Horseshoe in Vegas is insignificant to him now.

[johnb]

My first reaction is that this is not the best of news for poker. It certainly does not seem to me that Harrahs has much of a committment to spreading the games in it’s casinos. The only Harrah’s that I know of that has a room is the one in New Orleans and, if I recall correctly, this is really not a part of the Harrah’s corp per se. None of the Harrah’s in Nevada, Louisiana or Mississippi that I have been to spread poker.

I would expect to see a significant drop off in tourney action at the very least.

The next big question will be who gets the Shreveport property. It would be nice to see someone like Park Place that runs the Grand Casino group and does have a committment to poker buy it and open a 2nd poker room in shreveport.

[CrackerZack]

I thought harrah's in vegas had a small room.

[slamdunkpro]

Nope, Nada. Small room at the Marina in AC

[MaxPower]

It says in the article that Harrah's is in talks to buy the Horseshoe in Vegas. That would be horrible.

[ChipWrecked]

The Vegas 'Shoe overrun with the visor-and-nylon warmup suit crowd... say it ain't so Joe.

"Hey Mildred! Isn't that an open seat at the quarter Wheel of Fortune machines? Hurry!"

[Ray Zee]

it would be almost a certainty that they would buy out the vegas proerty as well. they want to have the horseshoe name to themselves and thats what they are paying for. to not have it all would be really foolish. i bet my sweet bippy that they have already an option on it before they would close on the other stuff.
and you can expect them to screw up any poker they get their hands on as they have little knowledege of how to run high stakes anything.

[AceHigh]

Check out this article:
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BBF6D1DEC%2D1975%2D482E%2DA2D9%2D 30A6755B59A5%7D&siteid=mktw

In summary it says, "Majority owner Jack Binion will also "provide guidance" on how to integrate his properties and possibly expand the franchise under the Harrah's umbrella."

Maybe Jack will be looking to buy the Horseshoe in Vegas.

[Abe]

Harrahs Poker Rooms I have played in the last few years:

Location------Now

Las Vegas---closed
St Louis-----closed
Tunica-------closed
E.Chicago---still open, $6 rake, and dirty.


Others can surely add to this list.

[Twodogs]

That WILL be interesting in Shreveport. Will they have THREE Harrah's there? They already have one and have Louisiana Downs "Casino" and Racetrack.

It really doesn't matter I guess, since I have to go to Hollywood casino for my poker.

[Mark Heide]

Abe,

It wasn't long after Harrah's took over the small limit poker room in Vegas, which used to be the Holiday Inn, that they screwed that one up.

I have not been to the one in East Chicago and was not aware that they had raised it to $6 for the rake and I'm sure they drop an extra dollar for the jackpot.

So, where are the best places in the midwest that you have been playing at?

Mark

[Abe]

So, where are the best places in the midwest that you have been playing at?


HA! No correct answer to that question.

Tunica is always good. Shoe and Gold Strike especially. You are still coming down for this WPO in January, right?

St Louis (Ameristar, actually in St Charles) has a nice new facility.

Other than that, its a long drive to Kansas City or Minneapolis.

Looking forward to Ho Chunk opening in Baraboo Wisc.

Anything worthwhile in Mich outside of Detroit now?

[PAUL-IN]

so does that mean Harrah's will eventually discontinue the WSOP? that would be sad, horriffic, and retarded. SURELY they have better sense than to do that...

[westmt01]

No, the Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas where the WSOP is held is not part of the Jack Binion empire, so Harrahs hasn't bought it yet. It's run by his idiot sister Becky, who is the majority owner (Jack owns a small piece, as do several other members of the Binion family). She's ran the place into the ground, but the one good thing is that she's kept the WSOP going at the Horseshoe, something her father created.

Now, if Jack buys Becky out, which is widely anticipated and hoped for, it's very unlikely he would eliminate the WSOP. If fact, he would probably restore the Horseshoe to the great casino it once was, thereby ensuring that the WSOP wouldn't be going anywhere in the remotely foreseeable future. But if Harrahs buys the downtown Horseshoe, which is also rumoured, who knows what will happen. You would think that they would have enough sense to keep what has to be a huge money maker for the casino. But as other posters have noted, Harrahs' track record when it comes to poker is not great.

So stay tuned! It seems that anything connected with the Binion family makes for high drama.

[Mark Heide]

Abe,

Since, I now have a new job, my vacation time has been cut. I used to get 4 weeks vacation with my last employer, but now I have to wait 6 months to get a week!

Anyway, I'm on a 4 day work week schedule, and I will try take at least 4 days off in January to go to the WPO.

I don't know any good places to play and have been going to home games playing dealers choice.

Good Luck,

Mark