casinos

It’s (possibly) a faaake!

Really good piece in the LV Sun today about the rise of phony online hotel reviews, and what travel sites are doing about them: The rise of traveler-generated online reviews has forced hotel managers to contend with anonymous posts from angry or disappointed customers. For people in the business of promoting Las Vegas hotels, it […]

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news about gambling

Evolution of AC: locals

Interesting article in today’s AC Press about local casinos’ new focus on…locals: The sluggish economy and fierce competition from Pennsylvania’s slot parlors for out-of-state customers have forced Atlantic City casinos to fine-tune their marketing strategies to focus more on the local area. In doing so, they have discovered there is a lucrative market right in

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atlantic city, news about gambling

Details of AC “overhaul”

Here are more details about the proposed regulatory changes in Atlantic City, which seem to make the tax process even more byzantine. Ah, I just wanted an excuse to use “byzantine” in a sentence. It’s one of those words that I don’t get to use enough. From Business Week: The new casinos would have to

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atlantic city, news about gambling

AC in decline

Casinos in Atlantic City continue to post revenue declines, as the July number prove. From the AC Press: Casino revenue sank to its lowest level in 12 years in July, another ominous sign that there will be no summer turnaround for the troubled gaming industry. In what is ordinarily the biggest money-making month on the

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atlantic city, news about gambling

New UNLV Gaming Podcast: Casinos and New Media

Not much time to write because of a big project I’m working on, but I’ve posted the latest UNLV Gaming Podcast: it’s an interview done at the Casino Marketing Conference with Nichole Barker and Hetty Fore, who share their expertise about casinos using the “new media” to talk to patrons and potential customers. You can

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what's new

Gambling history in Colorado

Colorado casinos are getting ready to start play with more games and higher betting limits. From the Colorado Springs Gazette: At the Colorado Grande Casino in Cripple Creek, the last security cameras are being placed over the roulette table. At Bronco Billys Casino, gamblers are laying wagers on blackjack table in the new table games

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news about gambling

Utah gambling ahead?

Utah is one of two states that has no legal gambling, but that might be changing–online at least. From the Salt Lake Tribune: Prominent poker players have teamed with big Las Vegas casinos to push for a law legalizing — and heavily regulating — online gambling. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff likes the idea, as

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news about gambling

No casinos need apply

I am shocked–shocked–to learn that Congress has chosen to bar casinos from getting any of the nearly trillion dollars in stimulus money that’s floating around. From CNN: Congress has moved to prevent money from the proposed $825 billion stimulus package from being used for zoos, aquariums, golf courses, swimming pools and casinos, an effort to

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news about gambling

A very quotable newsletter

Just to give you an idea of what I’m working with, I wanted to post this letter from my Homeowners’ Association. It’s probably no better and no worse than most HOAs, but they went a little “nuts” with the “quotation marks” and capitalizing Common Nouns. You’ve really got to click and read the whole thing–it

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life in vegas

To boldly go where no analogy has gone before

I’ve been watching reruns of Classic Trek lately (that’s Star Trek: The Original Series for purists, or The One With Kirk and Spock for those with a non-geek awareness of the show), and it gave me an idea: what if the new wave of Las Vegas casinos and condos is Star Trek: The Next Generation

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news about gambling

Limiting gambling in South Korea

I don’t think you’ll see officials in Nevada, or anywhere else in the US, adopting this approach any time soon. From Bloomberg: South Korea’s National Gaming Control Commission yesterday said it intended to limit total annual revenue of the gambling industry, including horse racing, lottery tickets and casinos, to about 14 trillion won $13.4 billion.

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news about gambling

Fake Vegas explored

My latest Business Press column is out, in which I turn an offhand comment by an LA Times movie reviewer into grist for 550 words about Fake Vegas. From the LVBP: Casinos, certainly, have taken their place as legitimate businesses, and a former Harvard business professor runs the world’s biggest gaming company. So it’s not

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life in vegas, news about gambling

Aria alternatives

If you haven’t heard it, here’s the press release, more or less verbatim: MGM Mirage is naming the big casino resort at its in-development City Center project on the Strip the “Aria Resort and Casino.” I don’t have an inside line on the creative process that led to the choice, but from what I’ve read

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news about gambling

Wastin’ Away on Huron Ave

Unless something derails the deal (and how often has that happened with the Trumpster’s Atlantic City casinos?) the Trump Marina will soon become the Margaritaville casino resort. From the AC Press: Trump Marina Hotel Casino is being sold in a $316 million deal that will transform the poorest-performing property in Donald Trump’s gaming empire into

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atlantic city, news about gambling

Strip shell game!

It’s hard to believe, but one of the oldest gambling con games is alive and well in the shadow of the Las Vegas Strip. I snapped some pictures of a shell game in action on Monday between the Tropicana and Hooters. Technically that’s not the Strip, but it’s in the Strip tourist corridor, so the

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life in vegas

Book Review: Winner Takes All

Christina Binkley. Winner Takes All: Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, Gary Loveman, and the Race to Own Las Vegas. New York: Hyperion, 2008. 304 pages, hardcover. Over the last decade, the Las Vegas Strip has become increasingly consolidated. Once, there were a host of casino owners: Aztar, Bally Gaming, Boyd Gaming, Circus Circus Enterprises, Grand Casinos

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book reviews, life in vegas

Reno, pedestrian Reno

I’m going to be teaching in Reno next semester, and from judging from this article I should feel right at home. From the RGJ: The gaming industry is soaring worldwide but not in Reno, a leading gaming analyst told a group of young Reno business leaders Wednesday. “This is an $85 billion industry (annually in

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news about gambling