This week, I’ve been honored with another cover story in Vegas Seven magazine. Here, I step a little bit away from the gambling beat and investigate the past and potential future of National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas: The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, which comes to the Thomas & Mack Center Dec. 6-15, is like […]
Our Rodeo Soul, Vegas Seven cover story Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingLast week’s Green Felt Journal in Vegas Seven took a look at how the repurposing of a nondescript piece of commercial real estate just west of the Strip is full of significance: The 20,000-square-foot converted warehouse’s history is just as interesting as its future. Before the new tenants started moving in, the building was the
The New Road Starts Here in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenIn addition to the cover feature, I’ve got a Green Felt Journal in this week’s Vegas Seven that takes us behind the scenes, into William Hill’s sports betting war room: It’s 8:30 on a Sunday morning in October, but for the crew of bookmakers at William Hill headquarters on Grier Drive, just south of McCarran,
Inside the Trading Room 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, writingLast week, Mike Colbert’s arrest was big news. I commented about it pretty extensively in a few places, but I didn’t have time until yesterday to pull my thoughts together and put them down in one place. The result is a Vegas Seven blog post: The arrest last week of 25 people—including Cantor Gaming’s sports
Colbert Arrest Highlights Hypocrisy of Prohibition in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThe rare Celine Dion headline title drop for a Vegas Seven piece this week. It’s about Professional Bull Riding: We’re used to early December being rodeo time in Las Vegas; that’s when the National Finals Rodeo takes over the town. But NFR’s not-so-little cousin, Professional Bull Riders’ Built Ford Tough World Finals, shakes the ground
With PBR, Rodeo’s Heart Will Go On in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThis week, Vegas Seven published its Storytelling Issue. The theme is “I Fought the Law, ” and in the Latest Thought, I discuss who and what the real Moe Daltiz was…and wasn’t: In the CBS version of Las Vegas in the 1960s, it’s pretty easy to know who the bad guy is: Michael Chiklis’ mobbed-up
The Organization Man | Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingThis is probably the last literary spinoff from G2E: a piece in today’s Vegas Seven about the man behind the music in many Las Vegas casinos: Here’s the funny thing about music in public places: If it’s working the way it should, you don’t even notice it on a conscious level. There’s just an extra
Music to Your Ears in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at the origin of the Fremont Street Experience: Fremont Street and the downtown casinos might be on the verge of a renaissance. Several casinos have reinvented themselves with renovations and expansions that try to blend nostalgia, modern comforts and value. But this isn’t the first
The Experience of Fremont in Vegas Seven Read More »
life in vegas, Vegas Seven, writingIn this week’s Green Felt Journal, I take a look at where poker stands in September 2012. On one hand, live poker’s been on the decline for a few years. On the other, online poker is, some feel, going to transform the state’s economy. Here’s where we are: Nevada poker is in an odd place.
Poker’s Perilous Perch in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingWhen I heard that South Point Poker,, LLC, had been awarded the first license as an online poker provider in Nevada, I was immediately curious about the company: who were the people making this historic step? Everyone knows Michael Gaughan, but I had a feeling he wasn’t coding the site in his spare time. So
South Point Puts It On (the) Line in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThis week, I’ve got a “Latest Thought” in Vegas Seven where I finally weigh in on whether we should rename McCarran International Airport. I say, why stop there? There’s been plenty of talk this summer of renaming McCarran International Airport. At first, it seemed like a lot of talk from people who hadn’t thought much
Name Games in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenI’ve got something besides today’s Green Felt Journal in today’s Vegas Seven: a look at Revel, Atlantic City’s latest casino: Revel, Atlantic City’s first new casino in nearly a decade, has been called “Cosmopolitan East,” for its similarities, real and supposed to the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Like the Cosmo, it’s put a great deal
Atlantic City’s Last Great Hope? in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingI’ve got a very special Green Felt Journal out in today’s Vegas Seven. No, it’s not like a “very special episode” of Diff’rent Strokes or The Fact of Life that’s going to pontificate on a current social issue. Instead, I’m talking about the usual stuff I talk about in that space–gambling, casinos, and tourism–but in a
My Boardwalk Homecoming in Vegas Seven Read More »
atlantic city, Vegas Seven, writingThis week in the Green Felt Journal I wanted to revisit an issue that continue to be relevant: casino debt loads” It’s the dark matter of the Las Vegas casino business: there, but not readily apparent to the naked eye. You can spy reflections of it in deferred maintenance and longer check-in lines on the
Debt Matters in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingMy next Vegas Seven contribution is a short piece about the strange mixing of the past and present that’s coming to define Downtown Las Vegas: Downtown continues to mine a balanced—and, so far, successful—strategy of mixing Old Vegas nostalgia with modernized amenities. Nowhere is the Janus-faced approach that’s come to define downtown as apparent as
Time Travel on Fremont Street in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingToday’s a big day for me in Vegas Seven. I’ve got four different pieces in the magazine. Let’s start with the cover, which is some VT-inspired musings on Hunter S. Thompson, influence on Vegas literati: July 18 would have been Hunter S. Thompson’s 75th birthday. His name is linked with Las Vegas; more specifically, with
Vegas in the Gonzo Mirror in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingToday, I can offer you a double-shot of prose pieces featuring a game called Double Action Roulette. First, this week’s Green Felt Journal takes a look at the odds against new table games, focusing on Double Action Roulette: Sometimes it seems like there are more people with ideas for new casino games than gamblers. From
Double Double Action in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingToday’s Vegas Seven includes a short piece I wrote about a Las Vegas start-up that’s worth looking at: Walls 360, a local wall-graphics producer, has just announced a partnership with Moshi Monsters, an online virtual pet community think Neopets meets Pokémon with 65 million registered pre-teen users. And the company, which is based just south
Wall-Spocks Are the Future in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingA few weeks ago I got to sit down and talk with a UNLV grad who’s gone pretty far in the Vegas hotel business and is poised to go further. The results of that talk? Today’s Vegas Seven cover story, a profile of Jon Gray: For one, the $550 million shopping and entertainment district between
Jon Gray and Linq in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writing