Gaming

EAST COAST STYLE, VEGAS PROPORTIONS

Miki Naftali is the first developer to pay more than $1 billion for land on the Strip. And he's barely breaking a sweat.

27 September 2007
By Liz Benston

Dubai takes a lesson from Vegas on how to become a resort destination

Even though the Islamic-steeped government of Dubai rejects gambling, there are striking similarities between Las Vegas - specifically the Strip - and Dubai, one of seven emirates making up the United Arab Emirates.

9 September 2007
By Liz Benston

Q+A: Robert Frey

But then he watched the 2000 movie "Coyote Ugly" and saw what could happen when you combine appealing women, impromptu dancing and vodka shots.

2 August 2007
By Liz Benston

Own your own casino

Own your own casino

17 June 2007
By Liz Benston

Chips no longer good as cash

If $5,000 casino chips could talk, what would this one say? It might explain its recent travels and how it has ended up in the custody of a cashier at the MGM Grand, who questioned whether it really belonged to the gambler who turned it in. The gambler, a poker player, made the mistake of treating the chip like currency. And all he's got to show for it today is a piece of paper - a receipt for the chip he no longer has - and no money.

9 March 2007
By Liz Benston

Jeff Haney gets tutored by two famous MIT alumni on the inexact science of card counting

The lack of gaming on site was a significant consideration for Michael Aponte and David Irvine as they were planning the first public seminar linked to their fledgling business.

2 March 2007
By Jeff Haney

Pennies from heaven

PAHRUMP - Che McFadden, standing behind the counter at E-Z Cash Super Pawn, across the parking lot from the Pahrump Nugget, could recall only the customer's first name.

6 February 2007
By Timothy Pratt

Casinos not best seat in house for big game

Grant Hodson was just looking for a place to sit and watch the Super Bowl, and staying home wouldn't cut it. His search quickly turned into an episode of "The Twilight Zone," with a bewildered Hodson making dozens of calls to casinos, flipping through newspapers and magazines and wondering why in the world casinos were being cagey about promoting the biggest betting day of the year.

2 February 2007
By Liz Benston

Hooters struggling with startup blues

The glow from those notorious orange shorts at the year-old Hooters Casino Hotel is struggling to be seen against the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip.

28 January 2007
By Liz Benston

Casinos see private funds as a way to go

The private offers to purchase Harrah's Entertainment and Station Casinos reflect the evolution of who invests in casinos - from banks in the 1970s to junk bond dealers in the '80s to the stock market in the '90s, and now private, cash-rich equity firms on the hunt for places to invest their money.Private investment has brought more advantages than drawbacks to casinos, leaving some gaming bosses wondering why they should continue as a publicly traded company, especially because the primary reason for issuing public stock - to generate capital - has diminished.

6 December 2006
By Liz Benston

Jeff Haney on historian David Schwartz and his study of gambling through the ages

After writing a comprehensive narrative history of gambling, UNLV's David Schwartz finds himself in a similar frame of mind.

17 October 2006
By Jeff Haney

Bet. Lose. Cut. Run!

Every year, the Strip's biggest casinos - the ones that cater to the whales and other high rollers - loan huge amounts of cash to keep some gamblers betting.

14 September 2006
Sam Skolnik

Investors more bullish on Las Vegas casinos than ever before

Thanks to more attractive financing schemes and the growing ranks of wealthier visitors - and the money they're leaving behind - the investment appetite for Las Vegas is hotter than ever.

4 June 2006
By Liz Benston

Vegas boom going upscale

The Las Vegas building boom under way will usher in a slew of new luxury properties over the next five years, continuing a transformation from Middle America playground to the desert version of Southern California and Miami Beach resort enclaves.

8 April 2006
By Liz Benston

Betting the 'Net

Before Steve Fezzik put money on today's Texas-West Virginia game in the national men's college basketball championship, the Las Vegas man did some comparison shopping online.

23 March 2006
Liz Benston, Las Vegas Sun
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