A Gallery of Our Favorite Gambling & Casino Deal Toys
May 29, 2015 by David Parry
The 2015 edition of the World Series of Poker—just getting underway at the Rio in Las Vegas—will feature a number of changes. Open-Face Chinese Poker, for instance, has sadly been eliminated from the competition. One constant at this year’s tournament, on the other hand, will be the participation of both past and present financial notables.
In honor of the WSOP, we therefore wanted to feature here some of our favorite gambling deal toys.
This 2004 deal toy faithfully replicates the iconic Wynn— minus the 3-acre man-made lake, 40-foot waterfall, and Ferrari-Maserati dealership.Private equity firm CVC Partners is also the majority owner of Formula One.The investment fund Emma Delta purchased its 33% stake from the Greek government. Among other exclusive rights, OPAP had a 10-year license to operate 35,000 video lottery terminals in the country.The man-made volcano at the Mirage erupts every hour on the hour from 7 to 11pm.A provider of outsourced processing systems to financial institutions, Bisys had its roots in ADP. Bear Stearns, its advisor in the acquisition, collapsed in March of 2008—almost two years to the day after the transaction date.The sand is genuine Vegas desert. Erected in 1959, the “Welcome” sign is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.After a buyout by MGM Grand owner Kirk Kerkorian, former Mirage owner Steve Wynn went on to build both The Bellagio and Treasure Island.The lever-activated reels of this Lucite slot machine actually spin.Among other high-tech features, the Avatar slot machine allows as many as 5 players at the same time.PokerStars was the brainchild of Isai Scheinberg, an Israeli-Canadian ex-IBM programmer.
