In today’s Green Felt Journal, I take on a subject that some in the industry don’t like discussing–whether high-profile crimes mean the Strip is less safe than it should be: When tragedy strikes, police and tourism officials are usually quick to stress that these are random events in an otherwise safe city. They point to […]
Crime and Perception | Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I tackle the issue of smoking in casinos on the Las Vegas Strip: The implicit question raised in those cheeky billboards is this: Smoking is banned in restaurants, movie theaters and indoor arenas. Why is it still permitted in Nevada casinos? The short answer: because casinos were exempted from
Smokeless on the Strip? | Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenFor this week’s Green Felt Journal, I offer you an 800-word version of the 10,000-word paper I presented at the International Conference on Gambling and Risk-Taking. It’s my attempt to assess whether the mid-decade spate of mergers was good for anyone…and from what I’ve discovered, it looks like the answer is “not really.” From Vegas
Casino Concentration and the Logic of Empire | Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenAuthor David G. Schwartz summarizes chapter 10, “A Place in the Sun: The Las Vegas Strip is Born,” of Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling (Casino Edition).
This chapter covers the development of the Strip from the 1941 opening of the El Rancho Vegas into the 1960s. It discusses pioneers like Thomas Hull, Bill Moore, and Billy Wilkerson, and the infamous Bugsy Siegel who muscled Wilkerson out of the Flamingo casino.
It also explains the three factors that gave mob-connected casinos an advantage (for a time) in Las Vegas, discusses syndicate ownership as exemplified by the Desert Inn, and takes on topics as varied as the Rat Pack, the development of skill play and card-counting, and the desegregation of the Strip and Downtown.
If you don’t see a video, go here: http://youtu.be/5PwpS528RLc
Author David G. Schwartz summarizes chapter 10, “A Place… Read More »
videoIn addition to the two features (Light and space) in this week’s Vegas Seven, I have a Green Felt Journal, which talks about the probably impact of MGM’s proposed Park development: How about getting back to urban basics and creating a worthwhile street-level experience? That’s what MGM did on April 18 with the formal announcement
MGM’s Park Will Be Good in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenWhen it opened in 1952, the Sands casino was known as “A Place in the Sun,” and once it signed Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin as entertainers, it became the most popular casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
Today, the Sands name lives on in Las Vegas Sands, Inc., the company that owns the Venetian, Palazzo, and Sands Expo Center on the Strip as well as casinos in Pennsylvania, Macau, and Singapore.
As a result, the Sands name is found in the world’s top three gambling markets—a fitting tribute to the place where Vegas got much of its magic back in the 1950s and 1960s.
You can read more about the Sands and other Las Vegas hotels in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
A Place in the Sun Read More »
fromthebook, life in vegasWhen they began their show at The Mirage in 1990, Siegfried and Roy’s tickets, which started at $70, were by far the most expensive in town. They were also successful, leading to an increase in higher-budget shows on the Strip.
You can learn more about Vegas casino entertainment in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
Siegfried and Roy: Pioneers Read More »
fromthebookThe Sun City resort, which Sol Kerzner opened in Bophuthatswana in 1979, featured many of the amenities that would characterize Las Vegas Strip “mega-resorts” in the 1990s, and Steve Wynn credited Kerzner’s resort as an influence on The Mirage, which itself sparked the boom on the Strip.
Learn more about casinos in South Africa and everywhere else in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
South Africa and the Strip Read More »
fromthebookFor the first 20 or so years, Las Vegas Strip casino restaurants were strictly loss leaders, with the fare passable but nothing to write home about.
Chester Simms, general manager of the Flamingo, changed that when he opened the Candlelight Room, the Strip’s first real gourmet restaurants, in 1961. Today we’re used to casinos sourcing seafood from all over the world, but flying in fresh Maine lobsters daily was innovative fifty years ago.
You can read much more about the Flamingo and other casinos, in Las Vegas and around the world, in Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.
Go here to read an excerpt from the book, or learn where to buy your copy.
LV Strip’s 1st Gourmet Casino Dining Read More »
fromthebook, gambling & cultureThis week, I’ve got four pieces in Vegas Seven magazine. The first is the Green Felt Journal, where I take a look at whether nightclubs are reaching a saturation point: If there’s a proven moneymaker on the Las Vegas Strip today, it’s a top-flight nightclub. With tremendous margins on bottle service and measureless lines of
Does Las Vegas Have a Nightclub Bubble? in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingThis week, I’m privileged to have a cover story in Vegas Seven. It’s about the mostly-unsung hotelier who, I think, is the real discoverer of the Las Vegas Strip, Thomas Hull: The natural advantages of Las Vegas, Fisher said, would make it “the metropolis of Nevada,” but only if properly pushed: “If a good hotel
The Columbus of Highway 91 in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingFor this week’s Las Vegas Business Press column, I talk about the importance of renovation to Las Vegas today: When The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas opened its doors in December 2010, there was some regret: This was, we were assured, the last casino opening on the Strip for some time. In a town that had
Las Vegas mantra in the LVBP Read More »
Las Vegas Business Press, writingIf you’ve been thinking about running in the Zappo’s.com Rock and Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half-Marathon on December 4 but haven’t been sure, this might tip the scales. You can–guaranteed–run the half marathon with me. I’ll be leading the 1:52 half-marathon pace group, so if you don’t mind a somewhat leisurely pace, I’d love
Run the Strip with me Read More »
life in vegasMy column in this week’s Las Vegas Business Press is out. It’s a meditation on what less ambitious Strip developments really mean for Las Vegas. With just about everyone in the industry mistaking the 2005-2007 boom for a new normal, it made tons of sense to trade in your sun-faded casino for a newer, bigger
Dreamer’s paradise reality check in the LVBP Read More »
Las Vegas Business Press, life in vegasWhen I was at the Linq-announcing press conference, I had many questions about how building this project would impact the casinos it will linq together. So I asked them. The result is this week’s Green Felt Journal in Vegas Seven: With all due respect to artists’ renderings, the recent unveiling of plans for Caesars Entertainment’s
Linq’s stirring up the Strip in Vegas Seven Read More »
life in vegas, Vegas SevenMy Las Vegas Business Press column on the dubious benefits of cost-cutting in a hospitality company is out today: It goes without saying that there are several ways to cut costs. Shaving off some perks — first-class travel for jet-setting execs or caviar in the employee dining room — makes eminently good sense when revenues
Cut costs or invest? in the LVBP Read More »
Las Vegas Business Press, life in vegasIf you missed it, I had a short piece about what’s going on with the exterior of the Palazzo and Venetian in Vegas Seven: If you’ve been in the vicinity of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue lately, you might have noticed some work being done on the Venetian/Palazzo megacomplex. Several weeks ago, the letters
Polishing the Palazzo in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIf you’ve missed it, I’ve got what I hope is a lighter look at today’s angry showgirl march up at Two Way Hard Three: If you love those Las Vegas Sun slideshow-riffic stories (15 intersections of certain death! click now!), you might like this quick, numbered list of potential future events that will likely never
Five Potential Strip Protest Marches at Two Way Hard Three Read More »
Two Way Hard ThreeIt’s Thursday, so that means another Vegas Seven. This week, I look at the Vegas staycation in the Green Felt Journal: Not everyone has the luxury of a Malibu summer home or the accrued sick/personal leave to spend their summer crashing in the Pacific waves or touring the Continent, so Las Vegans have increasingly turned
Staycations in Vegas Seven Read More »
life in vegas, Vegas SevenYesterday morning, after I read about the second homicide on the Strip in less than two weeks, I decided to write a short piece for Two Way Hard Three about why it was important for the County and Metro to get in front of the issue: But most people have the perception–or at least the
Talking Strip Safety on Two Way Hard Three, and more commentary Read More »
life in vegas, Two Way Hard Three