Concluding a really good run of podcasts in 2009, over at UNLV we’ve posted the Colloquium talk that Rob Bone, VP of Marketing for WMS Gaming, gave today. The UNLV alum talks about his career path, the behind-the-scenes of slot development and marketing, and the challenges ahead for slot manufacturers. Listen to the audio file […]
New podcast up: Rob Bone talks slots & innovation Read More »
news about gambling, what's newSide discussion to the Vdara opening: I heard one PR person reference it as “the Vdara,” and it sounded wrong. It’s funny how some casinos need the definite article in front of them, others don’t, and others sound OK either way. I know there’s a debate about “the Wynn/Wynn,” but you’d pretty much never say,
The definite article? Read More »
gambling & cultureIn the midst of all the talk about Vdara, I thought I’d mention my latest article in the LVBP: While doing some research, I recently happened across an article in the July 1997 issue of Casino Executive magazine in which then-Harrah's Entertainment CEO Phil Satre sounds downright oracular. “If you're the last person to build
Billion-dollar musing in the LVBP Read More »
news about gamblingNow that I’ve seen the inside, I’ve got something to say about Vdara and City Center. The guy in charge of it all says that it can’t be explained, only experienced, but I’m going to give it a shot since it’s sort of my job to explain these kinds of things. To set the stage,
Is the law of supply and demand catching up with casino hotels in Las Vegas? Binion’s hotel downtown is closing, which may be a sign of things to come if casinos aren’t able to raise their room rates and/or maintain high occupancy. From the LV Sun: Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel in downtown Las Vegas
An alternative to low room rates? Read More »
news about gamblingHarold S. Kushner. Conquering Fear: Living Boldly in an Uncertain World. New York: Alfred F. Knopf, 2009. 192 pages. Humans are the only animals that fear the future–a consequence of the gift of foresight. Harold Kushner, best known as the author of WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE, takes on fear in this quick
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book reviewsI was doing some research in the 1997 time frame and happened across this quote in the July 1997 Casino Executive Magazine: “If you’re the last person to build that last $1 billion project in Las Vegas, you might be wishing you hadn’t spent your money that way.” –Harrah’s [then] CEO Phil Satre From the
The big talk at G2E has been the recession. Last year, it was how to fight it. This year, it’s how to survive it. Anyone else get the sense that we’re living in an age of rapidly diminishing expectations? Here’s a bit from the story from the LV Sun: The recession is forcing Las Vegas
Recession evolution Read More »
news about gamblingWith G2E upon us, I’ve been even busier than usual–hence no post yesterday. Here’s a preview of what I’ll be saying about food and beverage operations and casino brand identity, as covered in my LVBP column: A property’s brand includes a great many things: the name, the architectural style, fonts used in signage and advertising,
More about F&B and branding Read More »
news about gamblingHere’s the word from a member of Nevada’s Gaming Control Board: look for competition in legal sports betting. From the LV Sun: Nevada will face competition for race and sports books, a state gaming regulator predicts.“The most pent-up demand is for sports wagering,” state Gaming Control Board member Randall Sayre told more than 60 lawyers
Sayre says sports betting to grow Read More »
news about gamblingI’ve heard many projections out there about the potential size of an American online poker market. I’ve yet to see a peer-review study that addresses the question, and most of them are mysterious when it comes to their methodology. Earlier this week while talking to a reporter, I gave my own attempt at finding the
Total American poker revenue guestimate Read More »
news about gamblingAs you may know, I’ve been immersed in a mammoth study of Nevada casino slots’ hold percentages. It’s driven by the question: “Does raising hold percentage actually decrease play?” That would seem to be the intuitive answer. If people get less value for their dollar (assuming that value=time on device), then they will be less
Higher hold=less play? Read More »
news about gamblingI found this courtesy of Stiffs and Georges. Take a look at these transcripts, then tell me that this scenario wasn’t a lot funnier when Jon Favreau did it in Swingers. John Fredericks Voicemail Transcripts – Las Vegas Now. That’s one of the greatest single-actor scenes I’ve ever watched. The transcripts are just…awful. We don’t
Real life vs. reel life Read More »
life in vegasGaming revenues fell about 9 percent in September, compared to the previous year’s take, as the slump continues for a 21st month. From the LVRJ: Nevada gaming revenues fell for the 21st straight month in September.Casinos statewide collected $911.1 million during the month, an 8.99 percent decrease compared with a little more than $1 billion
Michael Greenberg. Beg, Borrow, Steal: A Writer’s Life. New York: Other Press, 2009. 240 pages. Longtime fans of Doctor Who, the British sci-fi tv classic, talk about watching it “from behind the sofa.” Scared out of their wits by the Doctor’s horrifying adversaries like the Daleks, Cybermen, or Autons (but definitely not the Myrka) they
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book reviewsIf nothing else, today I learned that I’m not the only one with casino carpet as a wall decoration (three guesses about which carpet it is). I got an email from a gentleman whose father manufactured carpets during the 1950s and 1960s. He made this one for an unknown Las Vegas casino, and now it’s
For a few years now, everyone who is anyone in casino design has known that theming has gone the way of the 99-cent shrimp cocktail. But has it actually gone the way of the $29 room rate, surprising everyone with a boomerang comeback? This LA Times story made me wonder: Only two months after announcing
Themed hotels alive and well–in SoCal Read More »
news about gamblingI’ve got a new column in the Las Vegas Business Press about how food and beverage offerings (well, mostly food) can help or hurt a casino: Napoleon once said that an army marches on its stomach. The same is true for the masses of gamblers, conventioneers, and tourists who visit hotel-casinos. With a generally similar
Talking about food in the LVBP Read More »
news about gamblingEditors of Babble.com. Dirt is Good for You: True Stories of Surviving Parenthood. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2009. 256 pages. This book is intended for “urban, hipster” parents, which I’ve concluded is code for “since we pay $2500 a month for a 4th floor 800 square-foot walkup, we think we’re better than people who live
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book reviewsIt’s a happy day in my writing career. The Polish translation of Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling is out at last. For those of you who speak Polish, here’s the first bit of the prologue: Jak feniks z popio?ów By? 5 czerwca 1637 r. Puryta?scy osadnicy, przybyli niedawno ze starego kontynentu, posuwali si?
Roll the Bones in Polish Read More »
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