August 2006 Blog Archive
August 26th, 2006
Handheld, mobile gambling devices have been approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission for use in "supervised" areas of casinos. IGT, the largest maker of slot machines, has been pushing for this for a few years and finally got it's way. The way the plan is supposed to work is, a gambler would check out the device and deposit money into an online account. They would then be able to play slots, video poker and several other games from any public area of a casino including restaurants and the pool. They would not be allowed to be used in hotel rooms or other places that are not under surveillance. Supposedly, this will stop little Johnny for using them like a Sony PSP. The prototypes that IGT has been working with range from a small hand held device to large, laptop like computers.
I am torn on this idea. At first glace, I think it would detract somewhat from the casino experience. On the other hand, how sweet would it be to be able to kick back on a leather couch in a Harrah's Diamond Lounge and play video poker while enjoying great drink and food service? We will just have to see how the whole thing turns out. Will future casinos just turn into one big lobby?
August 19th, 2006
Not really Vegas related but... We just got back from a few days in Manhattan and Long Island. It was my Grandmother's 90th birthday so we spent a couple of days with family on the LI then 2 nights in Times Square. After almost 15 years in Orange County, Long Island just looks so crappy. Times Square, on the other hand, is infinitely better than in the late 80s when I go into the city to party. It was strange staying in a non-Vegas hotel for a change. At one point, I walked into the lobby of the Sheraton NY with a cigarette blazing, not thinking twice and the bell hop screamed "You can't smoke in here!" I totally forgot Vegas is the exception, not the rule!
August 10, 2006
For the first time in almost 2 years, the hold at Nevada casinos actually dropped on a year over year comparison. From today's LVRJ, "In June, the state's casinos reported gaming revenues of $921.1 million, a 3.47 percent decrease compared with $954.2 million in June 2005. Strip casinos were off more than 7 percent, winning $454.8 million from gamblers in June, compared with $489.5 million in June last year. Downtown casinos were off more than 13 percent."
Also, I finally got my latest updated posted from my trip last week. Check out the "What's New" page for a complete list of updates.
August 5, 2006
The MGM Mirage earnings report that came out this week had some interesting thing buried inside the mixed bag that was the overall result. Apparently, the weakest part of the company is the low end with Excalibur, Circus Circus and the casino in Primm on the CA/NV border suffering the most. It has been that way since January and the high end of the market has been picking up the slack. Also helping was almost $30 million in profit from the condos behind MGM Grand. The company this week also announced that it plans on building 2 more high rise condos in between Luxor and Mandalay Bay, dubbed THEplace. A take off on the terribly named "THEhotel," attached to Mandalay Bay.
August 1, 2006
I just got back for another trip to the city of Sin and it was, as always, a great time. It was a trip with Mom for her birthday and we slummed it at the Imperial Palace the first night then went from the outhouse to the penthouse with a night at Wynn. On Saturday night, the mid-strip was packed at every place we went to and on Sunday, Wynn and Venetian was pretty full of people paying too much for stuff. A full trip report is forth coming along with pics from both the IP and Wynn as well as a bunch of new property maps.
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