Gaming briefs for June 6, 2003

Friday, June 6, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

Casino operator buys land

Station Casinos Inc. has purchased about 18 acres of land next to its Wild Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel on Tropicana Avenue in Las Vegas for about $28 million.

The property includes several low-rise buildings totaling about 270,000 square feet of office and warehouse space. Station expects to earn about $2 million in net lease revenue from the property, the company said.

Station expects to hold on to the land for lease revenue in the near term and hasn't yet made any decision about whether to develop the property, spokeswoman Lesley Pittman said.

"This is an opportunity to purchase land around one of our existing properties, which we always think is a good idea because you can control what goes on there," she said.

Slot maker in deal for games

Sigma Game Inc. of Las Vegas has entered into an agreement with Cyberview Technology to introduce server-based downloadable games on Cyberview terminals worldwide.

Cyberview, based in London, has so far installed thousands of such terminals across Europe and South America.

The first Sigma slot machine titles to be offered will be a multi-hand poker game called "10/7 Poker" and reel games called "Full of Sheep" and "easy Riches."

Cyberview appeared at a gaming technology conference last month at Green Valley Ranch Station Casino in Henderson to discuss the potential for downloadable games.

Such games, which are not yet available in the United States, allow casino operators to instantaneously change the mix of games on the floor by swapping in games that are downloaded from a central server. Such technology, which lets operators customize their casinos and respond more quickly to player demand, does raise some security and oversight issues, conference panelists said. Regulators now require Nevada casinos to operate slot machines that each contain unique computer chips that govern the outcome of the game.

The companies didn't reveal the deal's potential effect on future earnings or revenue.