Billionaire investor, Carl Icahn, is back on the Caesars bandwagon after taking what has been termed a “sizeable” position on the Las Vegas gaming icon.
The Icahn Lift
If Carl Icahn buys into a company, the results are usually profitable for its investors. Such was the case recently when the investor, and at times, corporate raider, took a substantial piece of Caesars. Upon the news breaking, the stock immediately rose as high as 18% and the Icahn Lift was effectuating another series of retail investors flocking to Caesars.
This is not Icahn’s first dalliance with the gaming giant as he successfully navigated a purchase and sale between Caesars and Eldorado Resorts when the financial waters were turbulent during the COVID pandemic. But through sheer will and determination, Icahn made it happen despite the external influences muddying the landscape.
What non-investors may not know is that Icahn pushed the sale of Caesars to Eldorado Resorts and not the other way around. The deal manifested in an $8.5 billion transaction but the decision was made to keep the name Caesars due to its iconic standing in the betting world. He would ultimately sell his shares but now he’s back in the Caesars game and has stated that his role will not be as an activist but as a shareholder.
“There’s absolutely no activism contemplated in Caesars,” Icahn told Bloomberg. “A number of years ago we were instrumental in putting Caesars and Eldorado together. Our opinion of Tom Reeg as CEO was very high then and continues to be high at this time.”
Caeaars’ recent financial filings have been disappointing with both the end of year 2023 and Q1 2024. But there is a reason why Icahn is bullish on one of gaming’s most recognized names and investors are more concerned with the buy than the why.
Caesars Pools Poker
Caesars WSOP.com has become the first U.S. licensed digital poker platform to combine players from Michigan, Nevada, and New Jersey into one large pool which will allow poker players in those states to compete against each other. This will ratchet up the prize pools, creating more activity and greater options.
“This platform upgrade is long overdue and is a big win for our players,” said Danielle Barille, vice president of online poker at Caesars Digital. “The best is yet to come for WSOP Online tournaments, and we’re thrilled to bring Michigan players into the fold with Nevada and New Jersey, resulting in a better experience, more value, and the biggest prize pools of the year.”
This could be the first step in what will be a more expansive pool of players once states that have already approved online poker like Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia sign the Multi-State iGaming Agreement.
Should that happen, the number of players will increase significantly which will have a positive effect on the size of the tournaments and the cash prizes that will be awarded. The company also rebranded the name of the site from WSOP.com to WSOP Online and has improved both the technology, functionality, and features added including four-table options, multi-flight re-entry tournaments, and in-app gift drops, to name but a few.
