From this week’s Green Felt Journal: Last year, I wrote that locals gaming was on the rebound (“Locals Casinos Are Back in Business,” July 8). At the time, several indicators suggested it was in the midst of a resurgence after several rough years. Its revival has become even more apparent thanks to recent moves by […]
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Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I look at the numbers in this year’s LVCVA Visitor Profile Survey: The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority recently released its 2015 visitor profile study. This report, based on interviews with Vegas visitors, charts the behavioral and demographic shifts in the population of those who come to town.
LVCVA Visitor Study Reveals Who’s Really Coming to Town – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn this week’s Vegas Seven, I wrote about one of my favorite places, the Vegas Roots Community Garden: Urban farming is on the rise across the country. School, community, backyard and even rooftop farms and gardens are becoming more prominent in American cities from New York to Los Angeles. Las Vegas has its own urban
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Vegas SevenMy latest Green Felt Journal is a brief look at a group that is proposing a revival of the fabled Moulin Rouge on Las Vegas’s Westside: That interest, though, never translated into meaningful action, which leads us to 2016. Scott Johnson, president of Moulin Rouge Holdings LLC, is committed to change on the Westside. His
Moulin Rouge Rebirth? – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn this week’s Vegas Seven, I have a feature story that puts the just-opened T-Mobile Arena into historical context: Casinos that followed—from the Hotel Last Frontier to the Tropicana—included dinner theaters as a matter of course; they were as necessary to a complete resort as rooms and gaming tables. This classic Las Vegas venue blossomed
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Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I consider the place of sports betting and DFS in Las Vegas. It’s growing: In the throes of March Madness, sports betting is just about omni-present in Las Vegas. States across the nation are legalizing daily fantasy sports. Locally, speculation about possible NHL tenants of the T-Mobile Arena or
A Winning Parlay – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I expand a little on my testimony in front of the Gaming Policy Committee: During a meeting convened by Governor Brian Sandoval earlier this month, the task before the Gaming Policy Committee was clear: Figure out how Nevada can adapt to emerging gaming—a sprawling, shifting area that, right now, comprises
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Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I get to share what I’ve learned about the burgeoning place of esports in Las Vegas: The IS-7 thunders over the rubble of a ruined cottage just as a T110E5 comes crashing through the trees. They simultaneously fire on the Spahpanzer Ru 251, which is rocked by explosions but
Embracing eSports Isn’t Such a Bad Idea for Casinos – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I consider the future of transportation in the “core” of Las Vegas: Today, Las Vegas gladly welcomes 42 million-plus visitors each year. But there’s one more guest who has been showing up too much lately: gridlock. Read more:The Future of Las Vegas Transportation – Vegas Seven In some ways,
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Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I consider the meaning of the 2015 Nevada casino numbers. How did the state’s gaming industry do last year? Overall, it was a year that showed the continuing transition in Nevada gaming. Read more: 2015 Casino Report Card – Vegas Seven It really was a continuation of 2014, with slight
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Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at why you might be checking into Caesars properties at a kiosk, and what it means: Yet times have changed. If you are one of the 42 million plus who come to Las Vegas each year, you can’t help but be aware that the city
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Vegas SevenPeople love to ask for predictions. I really don’t like predicting things. So naturally my first Green Felt Journal of the year is a look ahead at 2016. Keep in mind that I’m not trying to predict anything here; I’m just talking about what is scheduled to happen, and what it might all mean. So
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Vegas SevenIn my latest Green Felt Journal, I consider how chasing millennials will change Las Vegas casinos. It’s already started: Sit in at any gaming conference and you’re bound to hear despairing talk of millennials and gambling. Capturing the millennial market, the thinking goes, is the key to success for Las Vegas casinos in the near
Casinos Court the Newest Generation of Gamblers – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I consider the changes that swept Las Vegas thanks to an arrival over Thanksgiving weekend, 1966. For the weekend, though, it was business as usual. That Friday, 5,000 doctors arrived for an American Medical Association convention. Don Rickles could be seen at the Sahara’s Casbar lounge. And a young
How Howard Hughes Changed Las Vegas Forever – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I introduce you to Bernie Sindler, Meyer Lansky’s one-time protege and a new author. When card games were dealt in clubs and private homes, when the mob ran most American gambling and when Las Vegas was barely an idea, Bernie Sindler was there. Read More Read more: Mob Protégé Bernie
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Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I talk about a truly amazing group that recently visited Las Vegas: The men gathered in this room, however, are extraordinary. They are members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of the United States military. Read
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Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I consider what I found on the G2E expo floor: It was clear that the big question asked last year at the expo—how to appeal to a new generation of gamblers—has not been fully answered, but we got several tantalizing glimpses of the future. Old-School Is New Again at
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Vegas SevenThe day has arrived: Boardwalk Playground, my latest book, is now available for purchase via Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This book started as a series of columns for Casino Connection magazine, and I have edited, updated, and supplemented those original columns to bring the story up to date. Unlike my earlier books, this one isn’t
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atlantic city, writingIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I talk about the latest inductees into the Gaming Hall of Fame: The American Gaming Association recently announced three new inductees entering the Gaming Hall of Fame this fall: bookmaking pioneer Victor Salerno, tribal gaming advocate Lynn Valbuena and longtime industry executive Larry Woolf. Let’s get to know the
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Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I look at the comeback of history in Downtown Las Vegas: On the heels of the Las Vegas Club’s closing comes news that a revived interest in casino history is spreading on Fremont Street. Read More: The Revival of Casino History – Vegas Seven I like this development–Las Vegas
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