Las Vegas Business News

Woman hits $1 million jackpot at Fremont

An exterior view of the Fremont casino in downtown Las Vegas, Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013.

A woman from Hawaii hit a $1 million jackpot while playing a Wheel of Fortune slot machine Saturday night at the Fremont in downtown Las Vegas. The woman, who asked to ...

Nevada casinos top $1B in monthly winnings; 6th time in 2019

In this Sept. 21, 2018, file photo, the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino reflects the last sunlight of the day along the Las Vegas Strip.

Nevada casinos reaped more than $1 billion in winnings in October, marking the sixth time this year the state has topped the mark in a key index of fiscal health, regulators said Tuesday. Despite the ...

Move to Las Vegas helps put visa processing company in a good position

Ben Ives is founder and CEO of RapidVisa.

Started in 2009 in Colorado by software developer Ben Ives, the immigration document processing firm RapidVisa has handled more than 50,000 visas, and was started after ...

The Notes: Nov. 25, 2019

In the Notes: College of Southern Nevada, Penta Building Group, Core, Continental Realty Group, Din Tai Fung, Maxx Properties and more ...

Food exec vows to return the french fry to its former glory

Lincoln Spoor pulls a sword from a giant potato June 26, 2019, at the ribbon cutting and VIP reception at Frites at the Excalibur.

Lincoln Spoor is founder and CEO of Feel Good Brands, which franchises nine food concepts, including Einstein Bros. Bagels. After years of working with global brands, it recently opened its first homegrown concept — Frites at the Excalibur.

Harry Morton, son of Hard Rock Cafe co-founder, dies at 38

Harry Morton is planning to bring a new Pink Taco restaurant to the Las Vegas Strip in 2014.

Harry Morton, a restaurant mogul who was the son of the Hard Rock Cafe chain co-founder and grandson of the Morton’s The Steakhouse founder, has died.

Casino workers find chips are stacked against them in battle against secondhand smoke

Teresa Price worked in the casino industry full-time for 28 years and part-time for seven years until fall 2017, when she took a medical leave after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and heart disease. A nonsmoker, Price, like other casino workers facing similar diagnoses, is convinced that constant on-the-job exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke contributed to her illness.

Teresa Price was 22 when she quit college to become a table-games dealer, landing a job in 1978 on the Strip. At that time, smoking was allowed nearly everywhere — casinos were no exception.

Skill-based gaming company: Testing machines in Vegas was 'great move'

A Safari Match skill-based gaming machine by Las Vegas-based Synergy Blue.

As casinos try to lure younger customers, skill-based gaming has become a hot topic. One company bullish on skill-based games is Synergy Blue, which moved its operations ...

Player hits $2.3 million pai gow poker jackpot at Paris Las Vegas

A player at Paris Las Vegas hit a Face Up Pai Gow Poker progressive jackpot of $2.3 million with a 7-card straight flush on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2019.

A player at Paris Las Vegas hit a Face Up Pai Gow Poker progressive jackpot of $2.3 million on Thursday with a 7-card straight flush in ...

Atlantic City casinos’ 3rd-quarter profits up from year ago

This May 15, 2019, photo shows the exterior of the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J.

Atlantic City’s nine casinos saw their collective gross operating profits increase by 12.5% in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period last year. The comparison was boosted by two new casinos that opened last summer doing much better in ...

Top Tech Awards: Government Agency, John Lee

John Lee

Mayor John Lee is credited for making major economic and infrastructure improvements in North Las Vegas, in part by encouraging and supporting an influx of new businesses and fixing the city’s credit rating. Over the past six years, Lee and his team have worked diligently to transform North Las Vegas and have breathed new life into areas once feared irrecoverable.

Top Tech Awards: Nonprofit, Garrett Pattiani and Russ White

Russ White and Garrett Pattiani

The Charity Gurus founders Garrett Pattiani and Russ White have made it their mission to improve the online operations of nonprofit organizations. As longtime supporters of local LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS nonprofits, White and Pattiani set out to create software that caters specifically to the unique needs of charitable organizations, allowing for fewer technology disruptions, streamlined IT operations, social media and online advertising management, and increased donor contributions.

Top Tech Awards: Private Business, George Guevara

George Guevara

Directing and managing the information technology department of a brand-new sports franchise is no easy task, but George Guevara, director of IT for the Vegas Golden Knights, did so seamlessly. Guevara built the VGK tech department from scratch in 2015, implementing cutting edge technology to support operations and playing an integral role in the growth and success of the organization.

Top Tech Awards: Education, Rebecca Thomas

Rebecca Thomas

West Career and Technical Academy’s Rebecca Thomas teaches IT and cybersecurity to high school students and inspires them to explore the information technology field after graduation. As a passionate educator, Thomas takes learning to the next level and changes students’ lives by giving them technical skills and industry certifications, and preparing students for postsecondary technology education.

Top Tech Awards: Publicly Traded Company, Louisa Choi

Louisa Choi

Louisa Choi joined Lyft Nevada as the operations manager before being promoted to general manager in 2019. In the past three years, Choi and her team launched and scaled Lyft in Southern Nevada, employing thousands of drivers and employees, and serving millions of passengers.

Top Tech Awards: Startup Tech, Daniel Shaked

Daniel Shaked

The founder of Home365, Daniel Shaked combined his passion for tech and real estate into a useful platform for streamlining single-family property management, a service that he felt Las Vegas needed. With more rental properties per capita than any other city of its size, Home365 seeks to prevent homeowners, property managers and tenants in Las Vegas from overpaying for maintenance costs.

Top Tech Awards: Health Care, Jonathan Baktari

Jonathan Baktari

E7 Health offers technology-based solutions to common issues in health care administration. Founder and CEO Jonathan Baktari, MD, has leveraged technology to transform the health care landscape in Southern Nevada by developing software that streamlines medical records and treatment options. With an emphasis on wellness and preventive care, Baktari strives to ensure that patients receive the fastest and highest quality of care.

Top Tech Awards: Hotel/Gaming, Macario Gallegos

Macario Gallegos

A former Marine, Macario Gallegos has 15 years of experience at Caesars Entertainment, dating back to when the company was Harrah’s Entertainment. Gallegos leads hundreds of employees across the country, including dozens of team members in Southern Nevada across Caesars properties. Responsible for driving on-property technical capabilities, Gallegos’ reach is vast and encompasses everything from guest check-in to keeping back-of-house and casino floor operations running smoothly.

Top Tech Awards: Community Exemplary, Maria Sexton

Maria Sexton

With more than 22 years of experience in information security, information technology and audit/compliance industries, Maria Sexton channels a wealth of expertise through her role at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada.

Top Tech Awards: Lifetime Achievement, Snehal Bhakta

Snehal Bhakta

Beginning his career as an IT professional, Snehal Bhakta now works as the Career and Technical Education administrator at the Clark County School District, inspiring and empowering women and people in minority populations to explore technology and STEM fields.