Vegas Seven

What the Future of Tech and AI Looks Like for Las Vegas – Vegas Seven

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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

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Vegas Seven

Why Las Vegas Casinos Need Better Infrastructure – Vegas Seven

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In the latest Green Felt Journal, I talk about the importance of casino infrastructure: It’s not as sexy as a new restaurant opening or a big winner in a sports betting contest, but infrastructure—all the stuff that needs to work for any large building to operate—has been in the news quite a bit lately for

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Vegas Seven

What Will Gaming Look Like in 2017? – Vegas Seven

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In my last Vegas Seven column of 2016, I look ahead to 2017: Having gotten through a year that has seen the first post-recession casino opening and the birth of paid parking on the Strip, 2017 will likely bring even more change. The year ahead will see many shifts in gaming and hospitality in Las

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Vegas Seven

Where the Grass Is Greener – Vegas Seven

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In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I wrote about the 15th anniversary of Green Valley Ranch: The resort opened with a bang—literally—on December 18, with a gigantic fireworks show at its pool area just before the official 9:30 p.m. unveiling of the casino. Then Station Casinos president Lorenzo Fertitta kicked the gambling off with Rande Gerber,

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Vegas Seven

Games Millennials Play – Vegas Seven

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How about those millennials? I’m more interesed in video games than demographics, but that seems to be the hook that is getting casinos interested in a different kind of gaming. You can now find tournaments at the Silver Sevens, as I talk about in the latest Green Felt Journal: Millennials—technically those born between 1980 and

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Vegas Seven

Links in the El Cortez Chain – Vegas Seven

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The El Cortez turned 75 earlier this month. I was there. I wrote about it for Vegas Seven: You might have missed the El Cortez’s 75th anniversary celebration. It didn’t have the glitz of Caesars Palace’s 50th, in which a summer of events and promotions culminated in a gala featuring stars of yesterday and today.

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Vegas Seven

The Fantasy Lives On – Vegas Seven

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Slow news day, so it’s a good time to post this week’s Green Felt Journal, a look at a Nevada startup that is hoping to bring fantasy sports betting to Nevada’s regulated environment: Calling itself “next generation Daily Fantasy Sports,” USFantasy Sports uses a pari-mutuel model, which means that players aren’t betting against the house.

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Vegas Seven

Howard Hughes: Neon Ozymandias in Vegas Seven

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This week in Vegas Seven, I took a different look at Howard Hughes in Las Vegas. The story has been told plenty of times by lots of other people and even me (I first wrote about Hughes in Las Vegas in my dissertation back in 1999) but with the 50th anniversary of his arrival, I

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Lessons From the Fall of Atlantic City – Vegas Seven

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In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I look at the death of my former workplace, the Trump Taj Mahal: Even without the current Republican presidential candidate’s name on the building’s crest, the Taj is as perfect a symbol of Atlantic City’s quick decline as can be imagined. Opened in 1990 as the city’s largest, it

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Casino Industry Makes a Bid for Millennial Attention – Vegas Seven

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In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at the new machines at this year’s just-concluded Global Gaming Expo: Some subtext of the 2016 show (if you haven’t been keeping up on recent gaming developments) is that the streak of expansion that drove the industry from the late 1980s is largely over; there

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Vegas Seven

Redesign, Rebuild, Reconnect Remains a Must for Casinos – Vegas Seven

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I went full meta in this week’s Green Felt Journal. It was the first issue of a revamped Vegas Seven, so I talked with architect Brad Friedmutter about why Las Vegas hotels are constantly refreshing themselves: With that in mind, while the new look of your favorite casino or weekly magazine might take some getting

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Vegas Seven

E. Parry Thomas Built This City, One Loan at a Time – Vegas Seven

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In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I look back at the legacy of Parry Thomas, with an assist from Steve Wynn, who knew Thomas better than most: It’s no understatement that without Parry Thomas, Las Vegas would look much different today. Read more: E. Parry Thomas Built This City, One Loan at a Time –

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Vegas Seven

My Thoughts on an ROH Weekend in Vegas Seven

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I went to two ROH events last weekend. I had something to say about them for Vegas Seven. If you’re not a wrestling fan or don’t follow ROH, this might give you an idea of what you’re missing: And this—the action in the ring—is where ROH really excels. The opening tilt, a four-corners survival match to

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Vegas Seven

ROH Overview & Jay Lethal Interview – Vegas Seven

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I had two pieces in Vegas Seven last week connected to Ring of Honor’s Las Vegas events. The first was an overview of Death Before Dishonor and the subsequent TV tapings: A global pro wrestling organization, Ring of Honor focuses more on in-ring action than World Wrestling Entertainment, the established “sports entertainment” kingpin, and its

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Vegas Seven

A Look Back at Caesars Palace in Vegas Seven

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In this week’s Vegas Seven, I’ve got a cover feature on the 50 years of Caesars Palace: Caesars Palace has always been more than the sum of its parts. Yes, it’s just a place where people pay for rooms, eat dinner, watch shows and gamble. But there remains something compelling about the property. It may

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Vegas Seven

Leviosa Con Proves Las Vegas Is Both Muggle- and Wizard-Friendly – Vegas Seven

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I’m continually impressed by the range of meetings that happen in Las Vegas. Here is my write-up of one that happened last week at Green Valley Ranch: It might be the wand that chooses the wizard, but it’s the Harry Potter enthusiast that chooses where she wants to share her fandom. Henderson’s Green Valley Ranch

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Vegas Seven

The Artisan Craft Festival Is a Perk for Real People – Vegas Seven

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In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at a lower-profile casino perk, and the local group of entrepreneurs that it benefits: Smaller-time gamblers play for smaller perks: T-shirts, six packs of soda, even meat thermometers. So it’s not surprising to get a Boyd Gaming promotion offering the chance to redeem B Connected

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