Featured Editorials

Napoleons Casinos enters into Manchester by David McKee

Napoleon Bonaparte was never able to achieve his goal of conquering Great Britain. But namesake Napoleons casino chain has made British gamblers surrender, achieving footholds in Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Bradford and now Manchester. The chain’s origins go back a long and serpentine way. Chairman and owner Dave Allen got his start as a musician, touring the length and breadth of Yorkshire before launching the Dave Allen Sound band. Miss World founder Eric Morley tipped him as a coming talent and signed him for the Ritz Manchester, Mecca Derby, Leeds, and Sheffield. Allen branched out into the club business in 1968, forming A&S Leisure Group, and opening numerous nightclubs including The Birdcage and five Adam & Eve’s across the United Kingdom.

Embracing and Entertaining Humanity. Jyoti Chopra, Chief People, Inclusion and Sustainability Officer, MGM Resorts International. By: Damien Connelly

This Casino Life article, based on a keynote presentation by Jyoti Chopra at G2E, has been edited for brevity and clarity. Any misrepresentation is my mistake.

Jyoti Chopra is a resounding role model emphasizing that MGM Resorts ‘walks the walk’ when it comes to its people, talent, and diversity and inclusion strategy. In the spirit of sharing and learning, MGM Resorts and Jyoti were kind enough to publicly preview this strategy with us for the first time during G2E.

Over the past decade, the market has seen an increase in remarkable online slots. There are thousands of games to choose from, and new ones pop up each week. It’s difficult to discern which ones you should play and which ones to skip, as they all feature perks such as bonus free spins.

While graphics and intricate gameplay are essential, what matters most is what you can collect? Is the slot you are thinking about playing worth it? Below, we answer which ones are and your chances of landing hefty prizes while spinning their reels.

How We Find the Best-Paying Slots

When considering a game, always check the return-to-player percentage. It tells you how much it will pay back to those that play it over time. Meaning, if the RTP of a slot is 95%, for every $100 wagered, it will give back $95 in winnings over time. The RTP average in the industry hovers around 96%, so avoid games below this limit.

Already unique, Kentucky Downs is moving up in the world. By: David McKee

If you want the sweetest racing purses in the U.S., take your thoroughbred to Kentucky Downs, in the southern tier of the Bluegrass State, near Nashville, Tennessee. During its select, six-day racing meet in September, the course awards $2 million in purses a day. It’s not money easily earned, as the course is a unique, kidney-shaped track, one of the longest in America at 1.15 miles. Much of that largesse is fueled by ‘historical horse racing’ machines, gaming terminals that—despite a resemblance to slots—are legitimate in casino-allergic Kentucky. They’ve not only underwritten a renaissance at Kentucky Downs, they’ll be the centerpiece of its new expansion, The Mint, which debuts next month.