The casinos are coming, and their coming to Ohio. Voters on Tuesday reversed the decision they made on four earlier occasions and said they’d allow casino gambling in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo. The vote was a reflection of just how receptive people have become to any promise of new jobs, however dubious the numbers.
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Why is this so hard? What won't Massachusetts do to get their gambling act together? Well - apparently discuss it until they do nothing. Times are tough all over, and jobs from the State's dog tracks to budget shortfalls have casinos back on Beacon Hill's mind - what are they considering?
Read the full story at The Boston Globe, but we'd like to see at least the Dog Tracks fixed and get some of those job back.
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Yep - they're still down on revenues as fewer people play the slots. I think this is to be expected for at least the next 6-12 months, but since I'm headed to the woods tonight I'll see what I can do to help their revenue.
Slot revenues continued to tumble at the two Connecticut casinos as gamblers spent fewer dollars on the one-armed bandits last month.
Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Grand reported that slot revenues in September fell by nearly 3 percent to $54.8 million, down from $56.4 million a year ago, the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
Mohegan Sun saw slot returns slip to $59.4 million last month compared to $67 million one year ago, an 11 percent dip and the 16th consecutive month of declines.
Via BostonHerald.com
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We thought we'd tip our hat to the Las Vegas Blog. We get their updates via email and the web each week - and they're awesome. Yep - if you want daily Vegas news - the Las Vegas Blog is for you. Recent stories include:
We do hope you like the current casinos in Las Vegas, because that's what you can look forward to for the next 10 years or so. There simply will be no new casinos built due to overbuilding, and of course the wonderful economy we're in.
No newly built Mount Rushmore facade, no Mini Grand Canyon indoor shopping avenue, no Godzilla-shaped hotel—nothing new to delight the vulgar parts of your optic nerve. The Wall Street Journal says after a decade in which casinos spent more than $30 billion on expansions, they're now going to pay off debt and focus on "branding, marketing and customer loyalty."
The bad economy abruptly ended a boom period earlier this decade when visitations, gambling, and room rates were all climbing. Now casinos are loaded with debt and searching for more cost effective ways to bring in business.
The new approach represents a challenge for an industry that has relied on glitzy casino and hotel openings as one of its primary draws. "It's the theme-park dilemma," says Robert LaFleur, an analyst for Susquehanna Financial Group. "You've got to build a new roller coaster. Everyone likes to go but you need a reason to keep them going back."
Via Consumerist
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Want the history of the new in trouble Foxwoods casino? This Boston Globe article outline it and the current state of affairs at the Foxwoods Casino.
When the doors at Foxwoods first swung open in 1992, more than poker fanatics and bingo mavens began trekking to the sparkling new casino nestled in the thick forests of the Mashantucket Pequot reservation.
Dozens of Pequots traveled from as far away as California and Hawaii to their native lands in southeastern Connecticut. Many came for the promise of a steady job, and to reconnect with a tribe that had come close to extinction. But Foxwoods did not just help revive the Pequot nation; it made it fabulously wealthy. Within a few years, Foxwoods was the world’s largest and most successful casino resort, an entertainment mecca that racked up more than $1 billion annually.
Read at Foxwoods casino, tribe’s fortunes linked - The Boston Globe
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Nightline just did a segment on the underground tunnels in Las Vegas that are home to thousands of homeless people. The segment is both amazing and horrifying. In a city with so much money - why are the homeless options to live underground in filth?
Millions of tourists walk up and down the Las Vegas strip every year, looking to have fun and make some money. But beneath the flashing lights, there is a much darker side of Las Vegas.
Underneath Sin City's most famous casinos is a secret world: a labyrinth of tunnels that run for miles under the Las Vegas Valley. Built to protect the desert city from flash floods, the tunnels have become home to hundreds of Las Vegas' homeless.
Nightline visited the underground world beneath the Las Vegas strip, with Matthew O'Brien, author of "Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas," as our guide.
Video at Las Vegas Strip Home to Homeless
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Seems like poker rooms are starting to really pull in the money. Since 2003 poker has steadily been rising in popularity and it really contributing to the bottom line.
Poker is becoming a revenue generator for Las Vegas. According to state figures, Nevada's 106 poker rooms generated $155.7 million in revenues in 2008. That is more than the $136 million gained by the state's 185 sports book and almost twice the $80 million won by the state's 96 race books.
Poker play in Nevada has more than doubled since 2003, the beginning of the poker boom.
Poker, like all gaming, suffered a slight setback in 2008, but it was much lower than all other games of chance. Poker play revenues fell 4.6 percent in Nevada. Overall gaming revenues dropped 9.7 percent.
Full read at Vegas casinos ride wave of poker boom
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Looks like you need to pay your debts Mr. Billionaire.
Unwell, behind bars and stripped of his fortune, the billionaire financier Sir Allen Stanford is facing yet another headache - a Las Vegas casino is suing him for $258,480 (£160,000) in unpaid gambling debts.
The Bellagio,on the Las Vegas Strip, has filed a lawsuit in Nevada's Clark County district court accusing Stanford of running up gaming losses in January barely a month before the US authorities raided the Houston headquarters of his Stanford Financial Group and charged him with fraud.
At Las Vegas casino files lawsuit against Sir Allen Stanford | World news | guardian.co.uk
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Yep - penny slots. We like them too and find them always a blast to play on max bet when we visit a casino. Seems like gamblers in the recession find penny slots alluring too - they are raking it in.
The penny slot machine, once a joke among serious gamblers, is the hottest form of betting during this recession. Even casinos that cater to wealthy gamblers are replacing $1 machines with video slots that accept bets one cent at a time. "You can play longer with less money on penny slots," says Ed Feigenbaum, editor of Indiana Gaming Insight, a newsletter. The penny machines accounted for 36% of bets at Indiana casinos in July, up from 8% in 2005.
At USATODAY.com
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We just got word of a Casino video game for iPhone. We downloaded it and can safely say it's pretty solid. You can read a full review here.
Astraware has made a casino video game into an app for the iPhone called Astraware Casino. Here you can play blackjack, two types of video poker, Texas Hold em, roulette, craps, baccarat , 3-card poker, keno, slots and horse racing. It's 99¢ right now and looks easy to play. In addition, it's only a game. No money is lost. Except your 99¢.
Via Digital City
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Yep - it's not looking like a very HOT summer in Las Vegas or other casinos across the US. Things should rebound once we have jobs, money, a home to stay in - etc. :-)
Gambling revenue is no longer a sure thing for many states.
In yet another sign of the recession's toll on the U.S. economy, eight of the 12 states that allow commercial gambling, including Nevada, experienced declines in revenue, the Wall Street Journal reports.
In 2008, states' take from casinos was down 2.2 percent to $5.7 billion, according to the American Gaming Association, and casinos as a whole earned roughly $33 billion, down 5 percent from the previous year's total.
At Gambling Revenue Down Across U.S. - Gambling Casinos Profits Down - WKRG.com
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Paradise Tower becomes the newest addition to Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The highly anticipated project, completed almost two months ahead of schedule, has created jobs and hope as the Las Vegas horizon begins to see signs of resurgence. The new tower opened this past week and is ready for booking.
Just as Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is known in a sense for upping the game in Las Vegas, the new Paradise Tower steps up the Hard Rock's game on the hotel side. The tower's 490 lavish rooms were designed with the property's signature party attitude in mind but with a jolt of sexy sophistication. Hotel devotees will notice a significantly more luxurious atmosphere in Paradise Tower, but without sacrificing the irreverent, anything-can-happen feeling that they've come to expect. Rooms evoke visions of a rock 'n' roll manor house, using iconic materials like leather, wood and silver studded velvet to enhance the sensory experience and emphasize that this is no standard hotel room. Designed by Mark Zeff, the rooms exude a chic playfulness with atmospheric touches that allow for optimal comfort and function by day, but then come alive at night.
The pool suites, aptly named because they overlook and some offer direct access to Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's world famous Beach Club pool, each offer something entirely different. Predictably the most coveted real estate in the tower, the pool suites boast features such as two-level "duplexes", doors that open to direct access to your own cabana or to the pool deck, or a spacious glass balcony that places you hovering over the best pool scene in town. Four of these mini jewels are Zeff-designed to follow the same guest room aesthetic but on a larger scale. The remaining six pool suites are the visions of local design talent Mark Tracy of Chemical Spaces. Tracy was given carte blanche to create six suite versions of the ultimate ultra lounge. Each suite has a life of its own, transporting the guest into another world of rock 'n' roll fantasy using giant hand painted graphic murals, bold colors, shimmering tiles and high gloss elements mixed with white hardwood floors.
"The Hard Rock is evolving," said Phil Shalala, Hard Rock's vice president of marketing, "It has really melded into the perfect property for the young affluent consumer that is into music, fashion, technology and lifestyle in general. It really stands for that perfect balance."
It's about time. We think cheap rooms, cheap tickets, and the like should be standard fare. Room rates over the past 10 years have just climbed and climbed - and we're thinking Casinos should worry about making money from our gambling losses and not everything else too. We do understand good entertainment costs money - but maybe they can put some of that money back into the operation instead of the profit train they've been on.
Discounted tickets are being offered to the biggest shows such as Cirque du Soleil - two tickets can now cost as little as $124 instead of nearly $200.
Some hotels are even offering credit in their casinos as part of their deals to attract more customers.
The dash to cut prices comes as big casino operators post losses or insignificant rises despite new casino openings, swathes of new slot machines and table games being introduced.
At Las Vegas hotels go budget as casinos post huge losses | Mail Online
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How cool is that? If you live in Vegas you'll be able to tap into the new Spring 4G Network at speeds of 3 to 6 mbps. WOOT! I can imagine doing some video calls and other cool phone things while taking a break from a winning streak in Black Jack.
Sprint customers in Vegas might be claiming "Jackpot!" right now, as they will be among the first in the U.S. to experience Sprint's 4G network starting this August. Sprint claims the 4G speeds are three to five times faster than 3G, with a peak downlink speed of more than 10Mbps and an average of 3 to 6Mbps. Sprint's 4G services are running on Clearwire's WiMax network, which is no surprise considering Sprint's 51 percent stake in the WiMax company.
Via CNET
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The New York Times has posted an amazing article detailing the woes of Vegas restaurants in the recession. The big woes really belong to all the displaced and out of work waiters and staff.
IN the late, lamented boom, waiters at luxury restaurants here could make $150,000 a year and more thanks to the electrifying arrival of high rollers renowned as “the whales.”
Robert Martinez, a 33-year-old waiter at Rao’s in Caesars Palace, said these heavyweights “had wads of $100 bills and gave them to everyone on the staff, and tipped generously on $12,000 to $15,000 checks.”
But now, said Kevin Carter, a 49-year-old waiter at Craftsteak in the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, “the whales have migrated.”
At For Chefs in Las Vegas, the Odds Grow Longer - NYTimes.com
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This amazing primer and guide will get you started on your road to Blackjack success.
]]>Blackjack basic strategy is based on the mathematics of the game. It has been tested and refined through computer simulations. When it is followed correctly it reduces the house edge to the minimum, which is usually about one-half of a percent. Minor adjustments are made to basic strategy depending on certain rule variations that the different casinos can chose to use. For example some casinos will allow you to double down after splitting (DOS) and some do not allow it. There are also some changes made to basic strategy for single and multiple deck games.
We love the Wizard of Odds, and just found out about this book that makes Casino Strategy a little more interesting than just speculation. Plenty of gambling books explain how to play the games; that's Gambling 101. Gambling 102 takes you to the next stage, where you're playing the games in the best manner for the least amount of effort. Within these pages, gambling's Wizard of Odds provides the best strategies possible along with the easiest learning curve for all the casino games, from baccarat to video poker, from sic bo to sports betting.
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That's right - Blackjack, baccarat, craps, and roulette could be coming to PA. The money that could be generated would far outweigh any potential problems, according to an analyst, but we think there's always a few problems. The state believes it could bring in $165 million annually if table games were allowed.
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We love the MGM, and would find it sad to be in anyone else's grubby little hands. Looks like MGM is not getting the money it wants for offers, and we expect they won't for awhile.
]]>MGM Mirage Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren doesn’t plan to sell any casinos on the Las Vegas Strip because of low offers.
“As it relates to Strip properties we haven’t engaged in any discussions on those,” Murren said yesterday in a telephone interview. “We don’t feel like we could come close to what we believe the values are worth. The multiples are low, it seems like the wrong time.”
The company, the largest operator of casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, will probably decide “within the next month” whether to sell three properties in Michigan and Mississippi, and is in a fresh round of bidding, Murren said. Prospective buyers are offering more “now that we’re not as forced a seller,” he said. “Bid valuations are rising.”
If you are looking for a casino used slot machine, look no further. These are genuine Pachislo skill stop slot machines that were used in international casinos are perfect for your home casino. Skill Stop Slot Machines get their name because you control when each reel stops which also adds an element of skill to the game.
We love the Vegas slot machine above, and we think there may be a little slot machine in our home casino soon.
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There's a really interesting article over at CNN. Seems like luck and money is running out in Las Vegas, and this means more than just cheap rooms.
]]>A search online turns up rooms at Fitzgeralds Casino and Hotel for as low as $26 -- a sure sign the recession is taking a toll on Las Vegas and rates are being slashed to attract visitors.
Judy Bagley, a casino cashier who traded chips for cash and vice versa, found out about recession's toll another way.
"My supervisor came and said I had to close the booth and she was going to count me out and I was to go and meet with the manager and director," Bagley told CNN. "When I went up there they said my services were no longer needed and my job was being eliminated."
So three months ago, after more than 28 years at Fitzgeralds, she was out of work.
"It felt like I was more or less stabbed in the back after all the years I had been there," Bagley said. "I'd been very loyal to the company and never called in sick and I have very little discipline [issues] and it felt like betrayal."
Pennsylvania is in for a treat because nearly 14 years after a century of steelmaking ended in south Bethlehem, PA, gambling will step into the void left by the death of Bethlehem Steel. At 9 a.m. today, Bethlehem will become Pennsylvania's eighth casino town.
The $743 million gambling hall in the former Bethlehem Steel ore field at the south end of the Minsi Trail Bridge features four restaurants and two lounges.
]]>In a move that shows the US Congress aren’t all misguided and shooting in the dark, a new bill that would overturn the 3-yr old ban on Internet gambling was introduced last Wed.
The new bill, titled “Internet Gambling Regulation Consumer Protection & Enforcement Act” would allow the US Treasury to regulate the industry instead of the current practice.
As representative Frank puts it “The government should not interfere with people’s liberties.” Well said.
For those that disagree, consider this - if we’re going to ban online gambling, shouldn’t we ban other forms of gambling as well?
Via Gizmos for Geeks
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That's right - the numbers are still slipping, but we predict a Summer and Fall turn around.
]]>Numbers from the Nevada Gaming Control Board released on Thursday show that the recession's hold on Las Vegas could be loosening.
Although gaming win on the Strip fell 12 percent year over year, there was an uptick in revenue when compared to February 2009.
For Las Vegas, March revenue came in at $456.1 million -- up 6.7 percent from $427.4 million in February. In February, year-over-year Las Vegas casino win dipped 23 percent.
Looks like it's a go!
]]>Shares of MGM Mirage skyrocketed Thursday, gaining as much as 50% after the company cut a deal with a joint-venture partner -- and its lenders -- that will apparently ensure the completion of its massive CityCenter project.
After the close of trading Wednesday, MGM Mirage (MGM:MGM 7.97, -0.41, -4.9%) and Dubai World, co-owners of CityCenter, ended more than a month of turmoil and infighting with a pact under which they will fund their remaining contributions to CityCenter via letters of credit, while current lenders will fully fund a $1.8 billion senior secured credit facility.
Furthermore, Dubai World said it will dismiss a lawsuit it filed last month against MGM Mirage, which charged that the casino giant was mismanaging the project.
"CityCenter is now fully funded and on track to open in December 2009," the two companies said in a joint statement.
Las Vegas Sands plans to put the Sands Macao (left) up for about US$1.3 billion (S$1.95 billion) after failing to sell its luxury shopping centres in the southern Chinese territory. This is more bad news for the already troubled Las Vegas Sands corporation.
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Ouch - blame it the recession? Maybe blame this one on stiff competition from neighboring Pennsylvania slots and other factors.
Atlantic City topped itself for all the wrong reasons yesterday, and posted a monthly revenue decrease that outdid its record 19.2 percent drop in February compared with the same month a year ago.
The seaside resort's 11 casinos reported a 19.4 percent decrease in March, the largest year-over-year decline in Atlantic City gambling's 31-year history, according to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
The casinos took in $318.4 million in March, compared with $395 million a year earlier.
At N.J. casinos post biggest monthly revenue drop | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/10/2009
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Yep - Carlos Santana is getting his own Vegas show. Finally something a bit less revolting than Celine Dion.
Perpetually mustachioed guitar god Carlos Santana has signed a multi-year deal to launch a Las Vegas residency on May 27 -- and that the show, entitled Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits, will make him the "first rock and roll resident" to come to the Strip (suck it, Celine Dion!).]]>