“Will the change the game for the north Strip?” So asks the Las Vegas Sun. One could just say “no” and leave it at that, but there’s no getting around that SLS Las Vegas will be in a, um, challenged location. That’s not the only hurdle, as President Rob Oseland explains. “The fact that we’re able to sit on that [Sahara Boulevard/Las Vegas Strip] corner again is a really big advantage. It means we’re going to be accessible,” he says, trying to spin the SLS’s geographical isolation into a plus. He’s also promising a more casino-centric experience: “As a result of us having to work within the Sahara’s four walls, we’re able to re-create the energy we lost over the past two decades” to other amenities.
Oseland is something of a Vegas throwback: a man who worked his way up from dealing blackjack to running hotels. It speaks well of SLS owner Sam Nazarian that he went with such a person as opposed to bringing in some slickster from SBE Entertainment‘s nightclub empire. Work continues slowly but steadily at the old Sahara site, with the old Moorish fringes largely intact, but the hotel towers are evolving into the new look we’ve been promised. Continue, gentlemen.
Sheldon’s game. The antiquated vizier of Las Vegas Sands is pushing all his chips to the middle of the felt in an attempt to stop Americans from having access to Internet gambling. Before you buy into Adelson’s ‘Do it for the children’ crap, remember that he dabbled in i-gaming himself. Venelazzo‘s Web site shrieks that “you can even play from your room!” Yes, away from the prying eyes of casino surveillance and the Nevada Gaming Control Board. That’s as close to ‘Net betting as you can get without being in it.
New Jersey state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D) immediately saw and raised Adelson, telling reporters Continue reading →
If you added Melco Crown Entertainment to your portfolio of stocks, you’ve got a right to be feeling smart right about now. U.S.-traded shares of the stock are up 111% over the course of 2013. Weaker-than-expected high roller play has burned the company. But it’s got an ace up it sleeve in the form of new governmental policies from Peking that will occasion “this influx of affluent middle-class Chinese visitation coming to that area.” according to Craig-Hallum Capital Group analyst Bryan Maher.
