Gambling: It’s not what it used to be

DSCN1276Nevada‘s casino industry is still in the Great Recession, if profits and losses are anything by which to go. Posting their fifth consecutive year of losses, they were $1.35 billion in the red, on $24 billion in revenues. No surprise, slots and tables produced a two-to-0ne mix of revenues. The losses themselves may be explicable by the Strip’s drift away from gambling as a revenue generator, down to 37% of the total. Downtown’s $18 million loss was chicken feed compared to the $1.4 billion in red ink on the Strip. The big winner was Laughlin, whose profits shot up 289%. Profits in “rest of Clark County” were down 100% but still $120 million. Reno also had a 100% revenue decline but eked out the tiniest of profits (less than $1 million). Lake Tahoe was not so fortunate, as casinos there lost $90 million.

It’s what’s for dinner. Craving a steak in Las Vegas? Here are 10 recommendations and I can definitely vouch for Brand at Monte Carlo and Strip House at Planet Hollywood.

As though Downtown were not sufficiently gridlocked, the Las Vegas City Council has voted to permit horse-drawn carriages. If you think this is a bad idea, sign here. There are so many better things to do, like hanging out at the Downtown Grand, quenching your thirst at Artifice, touring the Mob Museum, gambling at the El Cortez (coin-in slots, folks!) or checking out the Neon Museum. You can’t go wrong with anything on that list.

sheldonadelsonSheldon Adelson is going to carve out a chunk of his time to give a lecture on his experience in the casino business to students at UNLV. (It’s open to the general public.) He’s also bringing along Las Vegas Sands President Michael Leven as his warm-up act. And, no, we don’t think there’s any truth to the rumor that Adelson’s prepared text is, “You kids get off of my lawn!”

More seriously, Martin Fridson delivered a verbal beat-down of Adelson in Forbes, writing: “As an aside, Adelson has failed to cover himself with glory in his war on Internet gambling. He argues that displacement of casino gaming by online activity will result in job losses. With equivalent regard for consumers and the free enterprise system, bricks-and-mortar bookstores could have urged Congress to strangle Amazon in the crib. It ill befits someone who has succeeded so spectacularly in the capitalist system to lobby so vigorously against innovation and competition.”

Indeed.

This entry was posted in Animals, Dining, Downtown, Economy, Entertainment, Lake Tahoe, Laughlin, Planet Hollywood, Reno, Sheldon Adelson. Bookmark the permalink.