This week’s casino news covers a spectrum of stories, including yet another troubling story out of The Bellagio. It’s been the target of another robbery, which is concerning, but at least this time the criminal did not get away.
Bellagio Poker Room Robbed Again
It’s been a rough 12 months for the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The iconic casino on The Strip was robbed again. However, the culprits weren’t able to get away this time.
The robbery attempt happened at 9:45 p.m. as the perpetrator walked into the poker room and demanded all of the cash from the cage be packed up. Then he made a beeline for the north casino entrance and tried to steal a getaway car from a guest. However, security was on the ball and four responding police officers were on-site before the bandit could get a hold of a car.
Sadly, the situation continued to escalate as the suspect started firing off rounds at the police officer and actually hit him. Fortunately, his bulletproof vest protected him. The suspect was also hit. He was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
This was actually the second attempt to rob the poker room in a year as the first bandit is still on the run. The Bellagio was also robbed in 2010 for $1.5 million in chips, although that suspect was later caught.
We can expect The Bellagio to tighten up security measures as it looks like the casino has become a clear target.
Caesars, Eldorado Looking To Merge?
Caesars Entertainment Corporation has been linked to all sorts of recent rumours in terms of either investors or mergers. The latest comes from Reuters, who is reporting that Eldorado Resorts Inc. and Caesars could merge.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has recently upped his stake in the Caesars and appears to be taking on quite the active role. The company has given three board seats to Icahn and his representatives and it appears that he’s pushing for a sale.
Caesars has a market cap of $5.4 billion while Eldorado is at $3.6 billion, so this would be a very significant partnership. Both have sizable debt loads, though, so it’s unclear what the benefit of a merger might be. On one hand, they’d be a more sizable competitor to outfits like MGM Resorts International and Las Vegas Sands. At the same time, their combined debt would balloon past $12 billion.
Overall, Caesars operates 53 properties while the Eldorado owns 26.
Lucky Tourist Hits It Big With $1 Million Jackpot On St. Patrick’s Day
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? For one lucky tourist, what happens in Vegas will have a big impact on their life outside of it.
A Hawaiian resident visited Sin City on Sunday and spent just five minutes on the Monopoly Millionaire slot at the Plaza Hotel & Casino. That’s all they needed to collect the $1 million prize after hitting the jackpot.
Further details were not announced as the player requested to stay anonymous.