In 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 SevenIn 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
Why Las Vegas Casinos Need Better Infrastructure – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn 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
What Will Gaming Look Like in 2017? – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn 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,
Where the Grass Is Greener – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenA new casino opened in Las Vegas. It’s only been six years since the last one. I wrote about it in my Green Felt Journal for Vegas Seven: When the Lucky Dragon had its official grand opening earlier this month, there were few surprises. After all, the casino had been open for nearly two weeks.
Lucky Dragon Casino Eyes Its Target in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenHow 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
Games Millennials Play – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThe 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.
Links in the El Cortez Chain – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenSlow 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.
The Fantasy Lives On – Vegas Seven Read More »
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