Lets cash in on the online gaming future in the US.

Sam Odom · 11-01-06, 11:49 AM

Harrah's is a natural for Poker with their ownership of WSOP

bigboydan · 11-01-06, 12:49 PM

It's probably going to be park place company for sure. Think about it ... you wouldn't throw millions of dollars in kickbacks if you didn't plan on getting that 100x's over in some type of fashion.

clonecat · 11-01-06, 01:01 PM

I think it will be great if they give it to a US company to run. Nothing like being comped with a trip to Vegas instead of a mouse pad, XFL football, polo shirt and other various things I've received through the years.

SBR_John · 11-01-06, 10:08 PM

Maybe the easiest way to cap this is which US casinos give the most bribes...errr... "contributions" to Bill Frist. Sam has a real strong point about Harrahs and their relationship to the World Series of Poker. Stock is in the mid 70's now.

Pistol Pete · 11-02-06, 01:30 AM

I think john is right here and Harrah's would be the obvious choice. Now I am not a stock guy or really even have much knowlegde of how it works, but I think the prime time to buy would be after the 2007 WSOP. With entires expected to be way down without anymore internet buy-ins stocks are sure to fall. After Harrahs see's how much they are losing out on 1) they may again accept internet buy-ins, or even better work even harder to get law passed legalizing poker.

scottyy11 · 11-02-06, 02:10 AM

i think this is all wishfull thinking imo, land casinos will benefit with this ban so why would they support it, they have their monoply back.

pags11 · 11-02-06, 04:38 AM

if they run things like they do their casino's I've been to then they will do very well...Harrah's is a good casino...

egamingnews · 11-02-06, 07:13 AM

U.S (even U.K) landbased casino operators have failed in the past several times in the egaming industry.

If they get their act together they may grap a huge share of the casino and poker markets.

Regarding sportsbetting they are doomed to fail when it comes to the online market.

SBR_John · 11-02-06, 08:56 AM

Originally posted by egamingnews

U.S (even U.K) landbased casino operators have failed in the past several times in the egaming industry.

If they get their act together they may grap a huge share of the casino and poker markets.

Regarding sportsbetting they are doomed to fail when it comes to the online market.

I guess the first point is the US casinos have never gone full force into the online business because of the legal issues. If the US was to license to say 5 US casino companies you would see them attack the market like nothing we have ever seen.

As far as Sports; spot on there. They would probably offer a full juice, low limit and few offerings just so they have all sides covered. Hmmm...kind of like they do now.

I agree that if they offer sports at all it would be a token effort.

JoshW · 11-02-06, 09:08 AM

"Few short years" I still think we are at least a decade out on online gambling in the US. There are SO MANY local casino and gambling interests that will fight it.

Justin7 · 11-02-06, 02:37 PM

I can't see the general legalization anytime soon. States would lose too much money - right now, players lose more on lotteries than all other gambling forms combines (I think).

isetcap · 11-02-06, 02:47 PM

I think Josh and Justin are right about this, and although a regulated industry would definitely be safer, I'm not so sure that's exactly where I want it to go.

Justin7 · 11-02-06, 03:06 PM

Originally posted by isetcap

I think Josh and Justin are right about this, and although a regulated industry would definitely be safer, I'm not so sure that's exactly where I want it to go.

The new regulation has made offshore betting anything BUT safer. The new law only hurts publically traded books, which are on average safer than books rated D or below (which are the vast majority).

SBR_John · 11-02-06, 04:02 PM

Very good points. But keep in mind that sports will be a different ball game. Once regulation arrives then so do taxes and oversight and compliance and license fees. The very first casaulty will be bonses and then transfer fees. Low juice is way past unthinkable as is improved teaser and parlay odds or just about any other perk that offshore players enjoy today.

The offshores will prove to be tough competition even with legalized sports betting. You can play at Harrahs and get no bonus, full juice and pay $50 for a payout or play at Pinny and get a 10% bonus, 1/2 price juice and one free payout a month. Hmmm

eny meny miny moe...

sjelveh · 11-02-06, 04:04 PM

as long as there pinny cris i will never give my bussiness to a us sport book and i live in las vegas

McBa1n · 11-02-06, 04:53 PM

God, I hope Harrahs doesn't get into online poker. They have the absolute WORST rooms in Vegas, by FAR. Granted, the competition is very soft, but the rake/comps are amongst the worst, if not THE worst. They offer no value to the player other than fishy games and horribly structured tournaments.

I'm actually hoping that Boyd Gaming can get into it - they run the finest card rooms in Vegas (after Bellagio and for 'nice factor' the Wynn) - both on and off the Strip. They actually do a reasonable job of taking care of their players. MGM's umbrella (I think Bellagio is under the same), is damn fine, also.

Harrah's is probably the worst thing that's ever happened to poker - it corporatized it, and now we're all paying higher tokes with crappier service because of it. I boycott Harrahs properties 100% due to how they've 'sold out' the WSOP. The only problem is, the WSOP is lucrative for card players (because there's sooo much action outside the tournament)... That said, there are many better options for tournaments in Vegas, cost-wise.
I hate Harrahs in a major major way. I think they're a garbage organization that doesn't realize how big of a bite they are taking out of the hands that feed them.

Actually, they are basically the one thing that is wrong with gambling right now.

If anything, I'd love to see Pokerstars BUY OUT a casino group in the US - and then legitimize their site. Pokerstars runs probably the best shop online - and has the most reasonable rake (don't get me going on Party, the rake is nuts) and offers the best tournaments/sit n gos and cash games - with the most options.

JoshW · 11-02-06, 05:11 PM

McBa1n - Good post. I wouldn't trust Harrahs to do any better with sports betting.

isetcap · 11-02-06, 05:16 PM

Originally posted by Justin7

The new regulation has made offshore betting anything BUT safer. The new law only hurts publically traded books, which are on average safer than books rated D or below (which are the vast majority).

Agreed, but this bill is no attempt at regulation of the industry in my opinion. It is an attempt at prohibiting the industry. That prohibition attempt in reality has only served to cut off the members of the industry that have a transparent financial profile making them clearly visible and vulnerable to the US government.

operaman · 11-02-06, 06:46 PM

I think it was announced that Harrah's was going private.
(it would be like the 4th largest action of this type in history.)

McBa1n · 11-03-06, 04:42 AM

No one knows for sure what's going to happen with Harrah's. I've been out of the news loop the last week or so, though.

It COULD be good if it went private. You get 0 playthrough at their joints and with no real benefit to doing so. If I'm gonna give my money away, I at least want to get loaded and maybe get a cheap meal out of the deal:>.