Tag Archives: vegas

2009 will be a year that many casino operators on the Vegas strip will want to forget. Although online poker players have found it a great year for rakeback deals. It was to be expected that the global financial downturn would have a knock on effect on Las Vegas but no one really expected the drop in visitors that resulted. Everything has been blamed for the drop in takings, from the Vegas lavish reputation to the legislation in the USA. Now however there are a few hushed whispers that there may be a few signs of recovery showing up. No …

The PokerStars.net 2009 tournament was eagerly awaited and was in full swing in the Philippines when a sudden halt was called to the tables. The reason for the stop to play was the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight! It probably doesn’t occur that often that one sporting event will be halted in favour of another. The card play was furious and was four days into the tournament when the fight was due to broadcast and it was a strange sight to see the players’ attention shift from focusing on the cards to cheering on the fighters. Poker players are known for …

Macau has definitely been the darling of the gambling industry in the past few months and this has continued this week with Las Vegas Sands Corporation announcing that they will be going back to work on their new gambling resort build in the region as of January 2010. The company needs to raise over $3 billion dollars to fund the venture and $500 million is needed now to re-launch the build. Once the casino build is back underway, it is estimated it will provide around 12,000 jobs in the region. Sands has come through with a positive plan for the …

Macau has been hitting the headlines a lot recently as it seems to be totally recession-proof! The Asian Vegas has been doing a lot better than its USA original as it has suffered little in the economic downturn. To add to the success of the area, Galaxy Entertainment Group has announced that its flagship casino resort will be opening in the first quarter of 2011. The project had been put on hold previously as accountants and shareholders watched the markets with baited breath. But Macau has proved itself to be a goose that continues to keep laying golden eggs. Macau …

It is not often that Vegas has its breath taken away. Sin city has seen it all, but a snow storm in Vegas will always be a rare occurrence and one that has the residents of the city with their jaws open! As flakes of snow are lit up by the bright neon-lit colors, there is a hush that falls over the city. Snow is not unheard of but it is unusual and certainly brings with it an air of excitement that it may snow and give them a truly white Christmas. Further up in Nevada, snow at this time …

The hit 2008 film starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher may have been a good watch but most of us laughed off the possibility of this ever happening. Well it seems the impossible has actually happened in France!  Straight out of the movie script, two warring friends are in a court battle over who should have over $3 million in winnings from a slot machine! In March this year Marie-Hélène Jarguel placed $70 equivalent into a slot machine in France. With her was her male friend Francis Sune who she considered her lucky charm and accompanied her often when she …

America has been known for sometime now for its dislike of smoking and smokers. Today there has been an announcement that a second Vegas strip casino is being sued for second hand smoke. As a result, casinos now conform to US law and do not allow smoking as of the 1st of October. However, many gamblers find the idea of placing their bets and not being able to smoke is horrific! Not really surprising when you consider how much money people spend and how stretched their nerves get.  It is natural that a smoker would want to fall back on …

The last twelve months have been difficult for everyone financially, but none more so than the American Casino industry. When times are tough people tend to cut back on luxuries and two of the top luxuries to go are holidays and gambling!  People in the tourism trade in Vegas would rather erase the past twelve months from their memory as the economic downturn has hit them hard. “In 28 years in the industry I have never seen anything like it,” says Bobby Baldwin, chief design and construction officer of the MGM Mirage.  As you walk around the city you can …

The neon city of sin continues to suffer in August as the latest figures came in and paint a clear picture of the effect the US recession is having on the strip. For the 15th month running now, visitor numbers have fallen. In total the numbers over the past 20 months have shown that tourism has taken this hit 18 times. There was high hopes that the summer months would see a reversal of the trend for hotels and casinos operating in Las Vegas and several campaigns were launched in the hope that they would attract people back to the …