vegas seven

The Importance of People in Vegas Seven

In this column for Vegas Seven, I think a little about how not everything can be automated: It’s hard to argue against the financial benefits that a robot bartender or check-in kiosk can have over a human employee. In many cases, automation can lead to a better customer experience. If you don’t believe me, tell […]

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Hometown Hero Kenny King Preps for the Fight of His Career – Vegas Seven

My latest for Vegas Seven is a pair of interview with ROH wrestlers. The first I’m sharing today is with Kenny King: Kenny King has shown the world many faces: aspiring sports entertainer, reality show contestant, multiple-time wrestling champion. A participant on the WWE-produced Tough Enough and cast member of the most recent season of

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Esports Draw an Audience – Vegas Seven

In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I reflect back on EVO 2017, which I attended a while back: Which brings us to EVO 2017, which took place at the Mandalay Bay last month. EVO is short for the Evolution Championship Series, an annual tournament that seeks to crown the best players in several fighting video

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The Enduring Fascination of Casino Carpet – Vegas Seven

I’ve had a weird relationship with casino carpet for a long time. In my latest Green Felt Journal, I get the low-down from a real expert: Carpets that adorn casinos look very different, but they are somehow easy to classify—a certain mixture of garish and gaudy that balances mirth with disorientation. This, perhaps, makes the

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Vegas for Everyman (and Woman) – Vegas Seven

The key to Las Vegas’s post-recession rebound (I don’t like to call it a recovery because the casino industry didn’t take back lost ground; it pivoted into slightly new areas to make up for its losses), some argue, is doing everything bigger and flashier. It’s hard to argue with that approach since many of the

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Live Out Your Dreams in the Ring at Fantasy Slam Wrestling – Vegas Seven

This was a fascinating story to write. With the growth of fantasy camps for just about everything, it was probably only a matter of time before one sprung up for professional wrestling. It has, and it’s in Las Vegas: And that’s why you’re all in a small but professional studio in a generic industrial space

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Is Skill-Based Gaming Really the Future of Slot Play? – Vegas Seven

I went out to Planet Hollywood to play some skill games in the wild. The results, which I report completely candidly here, certainly taught me much about the future of gaming: The three Gamblit games are easy to find, just off the main table games area and adjacent to a bubble craps game that had

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The Tiffany of the Strip – Vegas Seven

In this week’s Vegas Seven, I take a six-decade look back at the Tropicana, which celebrates its 60th birthday next week: However, a piece of paper police officers discovered in Costello’s pocket while he was at Roosevelt Hospital was more eloquent. “Gross casino wins as of 4-26-57,” it read. “$651,284. Casino wins less markers $434,595.00.

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WWE’s Dean Ambrose and Renee Young: Power Couple – Vegas Seven

In this week’s Vegas Seven, my interview with Dean Amrbose and Renee Young is the cover story. Great pictures by Krystal Ramirez: It’s a path that shows the world really does work in strange ways. Six years ago, Ambrose was getting forks jammed into his forehead until he was streaming blood and powerbombed on thumbtacks

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The NCAA Tourney’s Economic Impact on the Las Vegas Strip – Vegas Seven

This week in Vegas Seven, I also had a short article about how March Madness betting impacts Las Vegas: In the past decade, the amount bet on the tournament has almost doubled. That’s more about the expanding popularity of sports betting itself, though, since the percentage of money bet on the tournament has remained close

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30 Years of Tribal Gaming – Vegas Seven

In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a (very brief) look back at the legacy of the Cabazon decision: February 25, 1987, was a milestone date for gambling in America. On that day, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, a verdict that paved

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Seven Year Switch: How Las Vegas Hospitality Has Changed – Vegas Seven

Not to fear. Yes, I talked about the past seven years of casinos in Vegas Seven this week. Yes, I began with a scenario from the book of Exodus. But no, I have not abandoned talking about gambling for a career in Biblical exegesis. This was just my way of trying to think more deeply

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What the Future of Tech and AI Looks Like for Las Vegas – Vegas Seven

In this week’s Green Felt Journal, I dwell (hopefully not excessively) on what less human interaction might mean for Las Vegas: Hospitality is labor-intensive. It takes many hands to create the Las Vegas experience, from housekeeping to meal service. But perhaps that human touch won’t be needed at all someday. Two recent developments in autonomous

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Why Las Vegas Casinos Need Better Infrastructure – Vegas Seven

In the latest Green Felt Journal, I talk about the importance of casino infrastructure: It’s not as sexy as a new restaurant opening or a big winner in a sports betting contest, but infrastructure—all the stuff that needs to work for any large building to operate—has been in the news quite a bit lately for

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What Will Gaming Look Like in 2017? – Vegas Seven

In my last Vegas Seven column of 2016, I look ahead to 2017: Having gotten through a year that has seen the first post-recession casino opening and the birth of paid parking on the Strip, 2017 will likely bring even more change. The year ahead will see many shifts in gaming and hospitality in Las

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Redesign, Rebuild, Reconnect Remains a Must for Casinos – Vegas Seven

I went full meta in this week’s Green Felt Journal. It was the first issue of a revamped Vegas Seven, so I talked with architect Brad Friedmutter about why Las Vegas hotels are constantly refreshing themselves: With that in mind, while the new look of your favorite casino or weekly magazine might take some getting

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A Look Back at Caesars Palace in Vegas Seven

In this week’s Vegas Seven, I’ve got a cover feature on the 50 years of Caesars Palace: Caesars Palace has always been more than the sum of its parts. Yes, it’s just a place where people pay for rooms, eat dinner, watch shows and gamble. But there remains something compelling about the property. It may

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Caesars’ Room Art Gives Guests Something to Gawk At – Vegas Seven

Reading the VegasTripping review of the new Julius Tower rooms, I was struck by the art. So I wrote my latest Green Felt Journal about it: Usually, hotel room art at best presents a regional accent; at worst, it says nothing and moves no one. For the creatives at KNA Design, the distinctly Caesars touch

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E-sports Start to Take Hold of Casinos’ Imaginations – Vegas Seven

This week’s Green Felt Journal is a night in the life of an esports lounge in a Las Vegas casino. In other words, exactly what I thought I’d be writing about when I went to graduate school. I love that this is a concept that you might not be able to explain if you time

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