Craftily arranged nouns, verbs, and more.
In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I talk about two of Derek Stevens’ latest moves in Downtown Las Vegas. How are they tied to the past? The past few weeks have offered a good perspective on the dance between old Vegas, new Vegas and new old Vegas that characterizes our times. In particular, two incidents
Derek Stevens Looks Toward Downtown’s Past to See Its Future – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn my latest Green Felt Journal, I talk about a recent survey that detailed hotel miseries: Vacation is supposed to be a fun time, a chance to get away from your everyday problems. And hotels are the cocoons that travelers return to, their homes away from home. A good hotel experience can make a vacation,
Survey Shows Bad Hotels Make Guests Cry – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThe key to Las Vegas’s post-recession rebound (I don’t like to call it a recovery because the casino industry didn’t take back lost ground; it pivoted into slightly new areas to make up for its losses), some argue, is doing everything bigger and flashier. It’s hard to argue with that approach since many of the
Vegas for Everyman (and Woman) – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThis week, my job for Vegas Seven is to explain why wrestling fans should be excited about what Future Stars of Wrestling is doing this weekend: Future Stars of Wrestling, the Las Vegas-based grappling promotion that features both local and national talent kicks off its Inaugural Wrestling Hall of Fame Ceremony on Friday May 19.
A Big Weekend Ahead for Future Stars of Wrestling – Vegas Seven Read More »
pro wrestling, Vegas SevenMy latest Green Felt Journal: International Game Technology recently announced that it is selling its social gaming division, Double Down Interactive, for $825 million. The sale could offer a glimpse into how casinos will be working with social games in the future. Read more: At the Intersection of Social Games and Casino Games – Vegas
At the Intersection of Social Games and Casino Games – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThis was a fascinating story to write. With the growth of fantasy camps for just about everything, it was probably only a matter of time before one sprung up for professional wrestling. It has, and it’s in Las Vegas: And that’s why you’re all in a small but professional studio in a generic industrial space
Live Out Your Dreams in the Ring at Fantasy Slam Wrestling – Vegas Seven Read More »
pro wrestling, Vegas SevenI went out to Planet Hollywood to play some skill games in the wild. The results, which I report completely candidly here, certainly taught me much about the future of gaming: The three Gamblit games are easy to find, just off the main table games area and adjacent to a bubble craps game that had
Is Skill-Based Gaming Really the Future of Slot Play? – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn this week’s Vegas Seven, I take a six-decade look back at the Tropicana, which celebrates its 60th birthday next week: However, a piece of paper police officers discovered in Costello’s pocket while he was at Roosevelt Hospital was more eloquent. “Gross casino wins as of 4-26-57,” it read. “$651,284. Casino wins less markers $434,595.00.
The Tiffany of the Strip – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThis week’s Green Felt Journal is a serious investigative look into who, if anyone, McCarran Airport should be renamed for: Fast-forward to 2017, and a name change for McCarran is back in the news. This time Reid isn’t proposing the switch, although he is part of the story: State senator Tick Segerblom wants to rename
Mr. Las Vegas … Airport? | Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenI’ve written up a few thoughts for the Washington Posts’s Post Everything on why Las Vegas is suddenly acceptable to the NFL: The gambling industry here and football have been seeing each other secretly since the 1960s. But Monday’s 31-to-1 vote by league owners to permit the Oakland Raiders to move to Las Vegas with
The NFL used to shun Las Vegas. Why is it moving a team there? – The Washington Post Read More »
washington postThis week’s Green Felt Journal looks at how Lucky Dragon has adjusted in its first 3 months of operation, and what it means for Las Vegas casinos: The latest Las Vegas hotel casino to open, the Lucky Dragon, has been up and running for more than three months. It may not have the immediate landscape-altering
Lucky Dragon 3 Months in | Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIf you’re a Ring of Honor fan, you should like this. In advance of this Friday’s PPV and Saturday’s TV Tapings, I’ve got interviews with three prominent ROH personalities: Adam Cole, the reigning ROH champion; Christopher Daniels, his challenger; and Joe Koff, ROH COO: On March 10, the company, which bills itself as providing “the
ROH Stars on 15th Anniversary Show in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThis weekend, my write-up of FSW’s most recent High Octane taping made Vegas Seven: The FSW Arena is small but well-suited to the drama of professional wrestling. It’s the same kind of larger-than-life characters you’ll see on TV, but quite literally up close and personal. The grapplers can taunt, slap hands with and snatch the
Future Stars of Wrestling’s High Octane Event Didn’t Disappoint – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn this week’s Vegas Seven, my interview with Dean Amrbose and Renee Young is the cover story. Great pictures by Krystal Ramirez: It’s a path that shows the world really does work in strange ways. Six years ago, Ambrose was getting forks jammed into his forehead until he was streaming blood and powerbombed on thumbtacks
WWE’s Dean Ambrose and Renee Young: Power Couple – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThis week in Vegas Seven, I also had a short article about how March Madness betting impacts Las Vegas: In the past decade, the amount bet on the tournament has almost doubled. That’s more about the expanding popularity of sports betting itself, though, since the percentage of money bet on the tournament has remained close
The NCAA Tourney’s Economic Impact on the Las Vegas Strip – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a (very brief) look back at the legacy of the Cabazon decision: February 25, 1987, was a milestone date for gambling in America. On that day, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, a verdict that paved
30 Years of Tribal Gaming – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenNot to fear. Yes, I talked about the past seven years of casinos in Vegas Seven this week. Yes, I began with a scenario from the book of Exodus. But no, I have not abandoned talking about gambling for a career in Biblical exegesis. This was just my way of trying to think more deeply
Seven Year Switch: How Las Vegas Hospitality Has Changed – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenLast Sunday I went to see FSW wrestling. I wrote about it for Vegas Seven. Here it is: It’s the kind of place that’s common enough around the Valley: a multi-use industrial space in a lowkey warehouse complex, maybe 50 feet across and 100 deep. But this isn’t an auto body shop or scooter wholesale
Future Stars of Wrestling’s High Octane Is an Intimate Spectacle – Vegas Seven Read More »
pro wrestling, Vegas SevenLast weekend, I attended a Future Stars of Wrestling show. It was a ton of fun, so I wrote it up for a Vegas Seven online exclusive: Future Stars of Wrestling is a Las Vegas-based promotion that has been running shows since 2009, and currently hosts cards in its own venue and at the Silverton.
In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I dwell (hopefully not excessively) on what less human interaction might mean for Las Vegas: Hospitality is labor-intensive. It takes many hands to create the Las Vegas experience, from housekeeping to meal service. But perhaps that human touch won’t be needed at all someday. Two recent developments in autonomous
What the Future of Tech and AI Looks Like for Las Vegas – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven