An experienced gaming executive (who I once worked for at the Trump Taj Mahal) has acquired Resorts Atlantic City, and a former Resorts exec has some advice. From the AC Press: One of the executives who oversaw Resorts Atlantic City during its 1970s heyday said the money-losing casino should transform itself into a convention haven […]
Turning around Resorts Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingMy latest Las Vegas Business Press column is out, in which I dissect the June Nevada numbers: The June results are in, and whatever the national economic picture, one thing is certain: Nevada gaming remains moribund. The figures released by the Gaming Control Board aren’t much cause for optimism, though things look a little better
Not a happy June in the LVBP Read More »
news about gambling, writingIt seems like every month when the Nevada revenue numbers come out someone has a different spin on why things are looking up, or not looking up. It got me thinking that, even though all of these numbers are publicly available, there’s no readily-available source for some of the key numbers. That’s a void I’ve
Nevada gaming revenue: What’s the deal? Read More »
news about gamblingLynn F. Jacobs and Jeremy S. Hyman. The Secrets of College Success: Over 600 Tips & Tricks Revealed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010. 224 pages. Most college graduates feel that, if they’d have known everything going in that they knew when they graduated, they would have had a much better time. THE SECRETS OF COLLEGE SUCCESS
Book Review: The Secrets of College Success Read More »
book reviewsA little late, but still, it’s here today: the 2004-2010 June Nevada Gaming numbers analysis. A continuation of the trend we’ve seen for a while. Nevada Gaming Statistics: June Comparison Statewide, Las Vegas Strip, Boulder Strip, and Washoe County figures for the month of June, 2004-2010 CGR Reports Interesting trends. I’m going to be working
It’s Thursday, so you’ve got more Vegas Seven goodness to read. This week, my contribution is a look into the El Cortez’s Design-a-Suite-Downtown competition: Most casino executives view renovating hotel rooms as a necessary but disagreeable process. Room remodels are doubly expensive—they pull rooms out of the rental pool and incur labor and materials costs.
Creative El Cortez in Vegas Seven Read More »
news about gambling, writingMy interview with Steve Inskeep of KNPR’s Morning Edition has aired: Las Vegas just added a bit more bling to its famed Strip with the unveiling of a new marquee for The Cosmopolitan — a resort-casino opening at the end of the year. There already are questions about how the city will absorb another 3,000
Too many rooms? on NPR Read More »
life in vegas, news about gamblingI’ve updated the Nevada June revenue/handle analysis: >>>Nevada Gaming Statistics: June Comparison Statewide, Las Vegas Strip, Boulder Strip, and Washoe County figures for June, 2004-2010 read report (pdf) This time, I added a one-page “executive summary.” The summary’s necessary because I’ve realized that while the implications of the numbers in the tables seem perfectly obvious
Updated June Nevada gaming numbers analysis Read More »
news about gamblingIt’s Thursday, so the new Green Felt Journal is up at last:my weekend at the Star Trek convention, condensed to about 760 words, for Vegas Seven: Anthony and Deidre Flood Jenkins are about to have the moment of a lifetime. Pavilion Room 4 at the Las Vegas Hilton might seem a funny place for this,
This week’s Las Vegas Business Press column takes a closer look at the game of baccarat, which is becoming more and more important on the Strip: At the level of the individual casino, there are even greater swings of fortune. Unlike Nevada, New Jersey discloses separate results for each of its casinos. This allows analysts
Bacc talk in LVBP, thoughts on empiricism Read More »
news about gambling, writingI’ve got a pretty interesting Atlantic City History article this month–it’s about the original Atlantic City Airshow, circa 1910. From Casino Connection: The Atlantic City Airshow, “Thunder Over the Boardwalk,” has become a city tradition. Since 2003, the spectacle of U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and scores of other military aircraft buzzing over the Atlantic Ocean
AC aeronautical history Read More »
atlantic city, writingMatt Ridley. The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves. New York: HarperCollins, 2010. 448 pages. It seems like there’s always a market for doom and gloom, even though, for the most part, things have gotten much, much better for humanity over the past few centuries and even the past few decades. In THE RATIONAL OPTIMIST, Matt
Book review: The Rational Optimist Read More »
book reviewsThere’s a new podcast up, available on iTunes and on the UNLV Gaming Podcast page: 23-August 5, 2010 Jack Harpster, Author, King of the Slots: William “Si” Redd In this interview, Harpster discusses his background and his new book about IGT founder Si Redd. Listen to the audio file (mp3) Buy the book (Amazon.com) UNLV
New podcast: Jack Harpster talks about Si Redd Read More »
what's newIt’s a happy day in UNLV gaming-land. An article I wrote a while back about how Las Vegas bounced back from the 1980s recession is out in Gaming Law Review and Economics: MOST WHO HAVE CONSIDERED Las Vegas history have concluded that not much happened in Las Vegas gaming between the openings of the original
The Burger King Revolution Read More »
news about gamblingJoseph Mazur. What’s Luck Got to Do With It? The History, Mathematics, and Psychology of the Gambler’s Illusion. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. 277 pages. I’m on a real book-reviewing tear. I’ve got five more in the hopper, including two for academic journals that I’ll only post synopses of here. Today I’m sharing my thoughts
Book Review: What’s Luck Got to Do with It? Read More »
book reviewsJack Harpster. King of the Slots: William “Si” Redd. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010. 273 pages. Si Redd might have had a bigger impact on American casino gambling than anyone else in the years 1960 to 1990. He’s got some big competition–Jay Sarno, Steve Wynn, and Kirk Kerkorian are a few names that spring to mind.
Book Review: King of the Slots Read More »
book reviewsJonathan Weiner. Long for this World: The Strange Science of Immortality. New York: HarperCollins, 2010. 320 pages. Immortality’s a tricky subject to write about. There are few people who wouldn’t be at least a little interested in the prospect of living forever, but since no one’s been documented doing it, there’s really not much to
Book Review: Long for this World Read More »
book reviewsJust to show you the kind of week I’m having, it’s Thursday and I’m just now getting around to posting a link to my bi-weekly LVBP column, which I should have done on Monday or Tuesday. I just got the beta version of the Macau gaming summary up, and I’ve jumped into a study of
Surprising AC slots in LVBP Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingIf you want, you can take a sneak peek at the latest jurisdictional gaming summary I’ve done at the Center for Gaming Research, Macau: http://gaming.unlv.edu/abstract/macau.html I’m still honing it, so any suggestions are appreciated.
Soft launch of new Macau page Read More »
news about gambling, what's newAnother week, another smug, alarmist anti-online gambling editorial, this time from the Christian Science Monitor: Fresh from fixing Wall Street’s casinolike ways in high finance, Congress begins work Tuesday on a bill to overturn a 2006 law banning Internet gambling in the US. The measure is being rushed through the House Financial Services Committee on
Another anti-gambling editorial Read More »
news about gambling