Craftily arranged nouns, verbs, and more.
This week, I’ve got a “Latest Thought” in Vegas Seven where I finally weigh in on whether we should rename McCarran International Airport. I say, why stop there? There’s been plenty of talk this summer of renaming McCarran International Airport. At first, it seemed like a lot of talk from people who hadn’t thought much […]
Name Games in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenI’ve got something besides today’s Green Felt Journal in today’s Vegas Seven: a look at Revel, Atlantic City’s latest casino: Revel, Atlantic City’s first new casino in nearly a decade, has been called “Cosmopolitan East,” for its similarities, real and supposed to the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Like the Cosmo, it’s put a great deal
Atlantic City’s Last Great Hope? in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingIn today’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at what the more restrained growth of the gaming industry will mean for Las Vegas: The American gaming scene is changing. Call it maturation, or an adaptation to the post-recession, long-recovery economy, but the industry is shifting. For the past generation, expansion has been the rule,
The End of Empire-Building? in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingI’ve got a very special Green Felt Journal out in today’s Vegas Seven. No, it’s not like a “very special episode” of Diff’rent Strokes or The Fact of Life that’s going to pontificate on a current social issue. Instead, I’m talking about the usual stuff I talk about in that space–gambling, casinos, and tourism–but in a
My Boardwalk Homecoming in Vegas Seven Read More »
atlantic city, Vegas Seven, writingThis week in the Green Felt Journal I wanted to revisit an issue that continue to be relevant: casino debt loads” It’s the dark matter of the Las Vegas casino business: there, but not readily apparent to the naked eye. You can spy reflections of it in deferred maintenance and longer check-in lines on the
Debt Matters in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingMy next Vegas Seven contribution is a short piece about the strange mixing of the past and present that’s coming to define Downtown Las Vegas: Downtown continues to mine a balanced—and, so far, successful—strategy of mixing Old Vegas nostalgia with modernized amenities. Nowhere is the Janus-faced approach that’s come to define downtown as apparent as
Time Travel on Fremont Street in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingToday’s a big day for me in Vegas Seven. I’ve got four different pieces in the magazine. Let’s start with the cover, which is some VT-inspired musings on Hunter S. Thompson, influence on Vegas literati: July 18 would have been Hunter S. Thompson’s 75th birthday. His name is linked with Las Vegas; more specifically, with
Vegas in the Gonzo Mirror in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingToday, I can offer you a double-shot of prose pieces featuring a game called Double Action Roulette. First, this week’s Green Felt Journal takes a look at the odds against new table games, focusing on Double Action Roulette: Sometimes it seems like there are more people with ideas for new casino games than gamblers. From
Double Double Action in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingToday’s Vegas Seven includes a short piece I wrote about a Las Vegas start-up that’s worth looking at: Walls 360, a local wall-graphics producer, has just announced a partnership with Moshi Monsters, an online virtual pet community think Neopets meets Pokémon with 65 million registered pre-teen users. And the company, which is based just south
Wall-Spocks Are the Future in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingA few weeks ago I got to sit down and talk with a UNLV grad who’s gone pretty far in the Vegas hotel business and is poised to go further. The results of that talk? Today’s Vegas Seven cover story, a profile of Jon Gray: For one, the $550 million shopping and entertainment district between
Jon Gray and Linq in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingYesterday I wrote a blog piece for Vegas Seven about the significance of Fertitta Interactive launching Ultimate Gaming: The story here isn’t so much the debut of a new online gaming platform. It’s the way that Ultimate will be branded and marketed. The Fertittas will align their betting platform with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the
Fertittas, UFC, and Online Gaming in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingYesterday (June 20) was the 65th anniversary of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel’s murder. Vegas Seven editor Greg Blake Miller asked me to write something about it, and I thought it would be a good time to introduce someone I’ve recently met, Bernie Sindler, who actually knew Siegel. I share a little of Sindler’s story and his
Siegel’s Shadow in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn today’s Green Felt Journal, I look at whether tending bar is the new dealing: For decades, becoming a casino dealer was a guaranteed ticket to a middle-class income, even without the benefit of a college education or long vocational training. But because of changes in technology and in the casino business itself, bartending is
Are Bartenders the New Dealers? in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingThis week, there’s no Green Felt Journal column, but I have two stories in Vegas Seven nevertheless. The first is a look at what I consider to be one of the most interesting things about Sunset Station, the Gaudi Bar. Sunset Station has just celebrated its 15th anniversary: As Sunset Station turns 15 this month,
Worst Night Ever and a Prescient Casino Bar in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingIn the Green Felt Journal available in today’s Vegas Seven, I take a look at the real impact of the Electric Daisy Carnival on Las Vegas: Generally speaking, if you want to bring an event to Las Vegas, the town is happy to oblige, provided you do three things: 1. Fill rooms with people who
Electric Daisy Economics in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThis week in Vegas Seven, I’ve got a short piece about why BMM’s move to the gaming tech corridor is significant: The gaming-testing lab BMM International announced in late May that it was moving its world headquarters from its current Eastern Avenue digs to the south-of-McCarran industrial area that’s become the city’s gaming-tech corridor—an area
The Rise of the Gaming-Tech Corridor in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIt’s Thursday, which means a new Vegas Seven is available at news racks throughout Southern Nevada and online. In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at Vegastripping.com, trying to figure out what makes the site tick: VegasTripping.com isn’t a marketing mouthpiece. It’s not trying to sell you anything. And that might be
One Trip Worth Taking in Vegas Seven Read More »
Two Way Hard Three, writingThis week in Vegas Seven, I have a Latest Thought that looks back at the life and career of Stuart Mason, as viewed through the lens of something you don’t hear enough about in Las Vegas, at least in the news: community: We’ve all heard the stereotype: Las Vegas is nothing more than a transient
Moving Mountains, Building a City in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingIn today’s Vegas Seven, I have an About Town profile of the work Russell Joyner’s done with Miracle Mile Shops: The International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual REcon event is the Super Bowl for retail real estate professionals. It’s going on right now at the Las Vegas Convention Center, so all eyes in the shopping-mall
Miracle Man & More in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingThis week, I wrote my final column for the Las Vegas Business Press. Here’s how it starts: Its been an interesting seven years. When I started writing a biweekly column for the Las Vegas Business Press in 2005, Las Vegas and the casino industry were in much different places. Models of Project CityCenter had just
Ending an era in the LVBP Read More »
Las Vegas Business Press, writing