In this week’s Las Vegas Business Press, I look at what the continued reliance on baccarat means for Nevada: Since the second quarter of 2010, the fortunes of the Las Vegas Strip — and, by proxy, of Nevada’s gaming industry — have been tied to baccarat. The game’s had a presence in Nevada since the […]
Baccarat and gaming win in the LVBP Read More »
Las Vegas Business PressI’ve got a new column in the Las Vegas Business Press, in which I consider the meaning of the Sahara’s impending closure. Even in flush times, running a Las Vegas casino was never a license to print money. Casinos have changed hands, declared bankruptcy and even closed their doors. But the recently announced closing of
Sahara signals Strip woes in LVBP Read More »
Las Vegas Business Press, writingIn this week’s Las Vegas Business Press, I look a little more closely at what the two-incident “epidemic” of strong-arm casino chip robberies means” Strong-arm robberies aren’t exactly rare in the United States. According to Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics, there were almost 409,000 robberies in 2009, the last year for which data is available.
Casino crime in the LVBP Read More »
news about gamblingThis week in the Las Vegas Business Press, I take a look back at a year that raises more questions than it answered: From the start of last year, Nevadans had no illusions. The recession showed no concrete signs of letting up, and within the gaming industry hope, particularly about the newly opened CityCenter, was
Thoughts on 2010 in Las Vegas Business Press Read More »
news about gamblingMy latest column in the Las Vegas Business Press is now available. In it, I consider Governor Sandoval’s recent call for modernization in Nevada’s gaming regulations: In his State of the State address, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval briefly noted the necessity of updating the state’s gaming regulations to reflect the new realities of 21st century
Sandoval’s message to gaming in the Las Vegas Business Press Read More »
Las Vegas Business Press, news about gambling, writingIn this week’s Las Vegas Business Press, I share my thoughts about the just-passed Atlantic City casino regulatory reform: After suffering its fourth consecutive year of declining casino revenues, Atlantic City might finally be feeling the winds of reform. But will a planned regulatory overhaul be too little, too late to save the city’s slumping
A new hope for AC? in the Las Vegas Business Press Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingMy latest piece in the Las Vegas Business Press takes a look at why Leroy’s Blackberry sports-betting application is a big deal: The year is still young, but 2011 has already been groundbreaking for Nevada’s gaming industry. The Gaming Control Board approved an application that lets players make bets from their own mobile devices, pointing
BlackBerry to the future in the Las Vegas Business Press Read More »
news about gamblingThis week in the Las Vegas Business Press, I finally get a chance to discuss the October Nevada gaming numbers: For both the state and the Strip, it was the third consecutive month of positive year-over-year revenue growth — as good a sign as any that, for now at least, the bleeding has stopped. At
October & the future in LVBP Read More »
Las Vegas Business Press, news about gambling, writingIn my latest Las Vegas Business Press column, I talk about how the Cosmopolitan marks the beginning of an era on the Strip: With the opening of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, some observers believe we’;re seeing the end of an era. Unless the economy improves remarkably, it’;s likely the last new hotel-casino that will
Cosmopolitan will start an era in LVBP Read More »
news about gambling, Vegas Seven, writingIn this week’s Las Vegas Business Press, I offer a long view of the Global Gaming Expo: The conference panels are finished though they have been recorded for posterity, and the last of the exhibit booths have been disassembled at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It is an appropriate time to consider how the industry
G2E evolves in the Las Vegas Business Press Read More »
Las Vegas Business Press, news about gambling, writingThis week in the Las Vegas Business Press, I take a deeper look at the recent employment study I did over at UNLV: By the same token, examining the numbers isn’t just a dry exercise in statistics. It helps us understand what’s going on when people gain and lose jobs in the casino industry. And
Casino employment in LVBP Read More »
news about gambling, writingIt’s not every day that venting about the frustrating aspects of your job leads you to a column. But if you read my piece in the Las Vegas Business Press, you’ll see how I use some misconceptions about Las Vegas as an opportunity to set the record somewhat straight: Recently, for example, I received an
The complex Vegas story in LVBP Read More »
life in vegas, news about gamblingIn my latest Las Vegas Business Press column, I dissect the August 2010 Nevada gaming numbers: And if your casino doesn't offer baccarat or high-end play, you might be out of luck. With only 22 out of the 329 casinos with nonrestricted licenses in the state 6.7 percent offering the game, only a few are
Baccarat doesn’t = back in LVBP Read More »
Las Vegas Business Press, news about gambling, writingA while ago, I got a Twitter request for my thoughts on the Hard Rock lawsuit. Here they are, in the digital pages of the Las Vegas Business Press: There are several issues here. First is whether the “drunken debauchery” that the HRC folks accuse the HRH of allowing to take place somehow diminishes the
HRH, HRC thoughts in the LVBP Read More »
news about gambling, writingI’ve got another LVBP column up, in which I discuss whether looking at Nevada’s gaming numbers by quarters can yield any insights: The financial quarter is a handy time measure for evaluating the Nevada gaming industry’s recessionary progress. Three months is long enough to absorb monthly volatilities, but not as long as a year. Looking
Look at quarterlies in LVBP Read More »
news about gambling, writingMy latest Las Vegas Business Press column is out, in which I dissect the June Nevada numbers: The June results are in, and whatever the national economic picture, one thing is certain: Nevada gaming remains moribund. The figures released by the Gaming Control Board aren’t much cause for optimism, though things look a little better
Not a happy June in the LVBP Read More »
news about gambling, writingThis week’s Las Vegas Business Press column takes a closer look at the game of baccarat, which is becoming more and more important on the Strip: At the level of the individual casino, there are even greater swings of fortune. Unlike Nevada, New Jersey discloses separate results for each of its casinos. This allows analysts
Bacc talk in LVBP, thoughts on empiricism Read More »
news about gambling, writingJust to show you the kind of week I’m having, it’s Thursday and I’m just now getting around to posting a link to my bi-weekly LVBP column, which I should have done on Monday or Tuesday. I just got the beta version of the Macau gaming summary up, and I’ve jumped into a study of
Surprising AC slots in LVBP Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingI tried to douse some of the anti-gambling rhetoric yesterday, so it’s only fitting that in this week’s LVBP column I give a little perspective on calls for gambling legalization to bridge budget gaps: The legalization or expansion of casino gaming is a hot topic in many states across the country. Like Nevada, many states
Gambling, legalization, and taxes in the LVBP Read More »
news about gamblingThe latest Las Vegas Business Press is on the streets, and it includes my thoughts on the April numbers: April revenue results for Nevada’s casinos contained a not-unexpected surprise. The hands of fate, in the form of a lower-than-usual baccarat hold percentage, finally caught up with the state, proving that an over-reliance on high-end gamblers
Volatility attacks! in the LVBP Read More »
news about gambling, writing