The Borgata has become the face of the new Atlantic City. Today, in a GALA bash, the casino opened the first phase of its expansion project. Straight from the press release:

Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) and MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM) today announced the opening of its public space expansion at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, located at Renaissance Pointe in Atlantic City. The newly opened expansion is anchored by three new signature restaurants led by Bobby Flay, Michael Mina and Wolfgang Puck and adds additional casino games, an 85-table poker room, and a second nightclub experience called mur.mur.

Borgata’s next expansion is already underway and will include a second hotel adjoining the property. The Water Club at Borgata is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter 2007. The second hotel will feature approximately

800 guest rooms and suites with its own porte cochere and entrance, along with four swimming pools and a spa in the sky.

William S. Boyd, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Boyd Gaming, commented on the opening, “We began working on this expansion only five months after we opened Borgata in 2003. We believe this will add considerably to Atlantic City’s revitalization as an overnight destination with an abundance of entertainment options.”

Terry Lanni, MGM MIRAGE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, noted, “We’re very excited about how the public has embraced Borgata. These new amenities will further enrich the Borgata experience and herald a new era for Atlantic City as a center for dining, entertainment and leisure on the East Coast.”

Because I’m so industrious, I was on the scene and can give you a first-hand report. First, the expansion continues the winning design of the original Borgata. with a lot of interesting touches. It’s still light years ahead of 90% of the market here.

About 200 or so dignitaries, media people, and casino people were treated to the official ribbon cutting, which was followed by a fireworks display–a nice touch.

As we made our way through the expansion from the outside, the massed throngs were making their way in from the main casino. It’s always an experience to see a casino opening, with all of those optimistic people rushing in, looking for an empty slot machine.

The poker room is particularly impressive. There are 85 tables, which makes it one of the biggest in the world. As of 12:30, about 1 1/2 hours after the opening, I think that all of the tables were buzzing. There’s a separate tournament area, and even a program that lets people/company rent tables for special events. I’m guessing this might become a popular bachelor party stop.

I’d describe the overall design as somewhere between the more formal Bellagio and the more contemporary Red Rock Station, probably falling on the Bellagio side by a hair.

It’s good news for Atlantic City and for Boyd Gaming–hopefully this is a preview of some elements of Echelon Place.

It’s the end of an era on Las Vegas Blvd South, as the storied Klondike is closing. From the LVRJ:

Gaming operations at the Klondike were scheduled to cease this morning at 6. The restaurant and 153-room hotel will remain open through Friday, when the entire property permanently closes its doors.

The Klondike’s history stretches back to 1962, when it opened as a Motel 6.

Its location at the edge of town on then-U.S. Highway 91 made it a popular stopping point for tourists driving in from California.

John Woodrum and partner Katsumi Kazama bought the motel from Imperial Palace developer Ralph Engelstad for about $1.2 million in 1974. Two years later, Woodrum took control of the property. In 1978, he added a casino, restaurant, bar and lounge totaling 12,000 square feet. Woodrum held the Klondike until September, when he sold it to Royal Palm.

Woodrum said he’s selling the Klondike partly because its property taxes have doubled in recent years as new developments such as Mandalay Bay opened in the area.

But more important to his decision to sell, Woodrum said, was an understanding that the Klondike couldn’t keep up with its newer, flashier cousins.

“Progress is something that can be stifled and held up a little bit, but it can’t be stopped,” Woodrum said. “Progress is going to move on no matter what. I think we were standing in the way of progress.”

Progress in the Klondike’s case is a combination megaresort-condominium project.

CASINO CLOSURE: Well-worn Klondike bid a warm farewell

It’s looking to be a big year for closings, with the Stardust and the Frontier likely to join the Klondike by the end of the year, or soon after. So if you’re a chip collector, I suggest you get to Vegas ASAP to scoop up as many collectibles as you can.

The 2006 World Series of Poker has begun. You can follow the whole thing at PokerPages if you like. I went down to the Rio today and got the grand tour.

If you haven’t been there, the tournament takes place in a wing of Rio ballrooms. There are 208 tables, with tournament, satellite, and live action games going on. To give you some perspective, a largish poker room might have 50 or 60 tables. The average Strip casino has about 80-100 table games, period. It’s already bustling, with more sign-ups than table space. I can only imagine the pandemonium when the final tournament starts.

This is the first year I’ve seen corporate sponsorship really take off, with Milwaukee’s Best Light featured prominently throughout the room (bullpen? arena? neither seems right). If you don’t know, they’ve sewed up the “presented by” rights. Corum watches, who are the official watchmakers of the WSOP, are also well-represented in signage, along with PartyPoker.Net (on all the tables) and a few others.

The first series I went to was in 2002, which is pretty late in the game, but I’ve still seen some tremendous changes. The tournament has far outgrown “Benny’s Bullpen.” I don’t know if it would have been physically possible to have it at the former Horseshoe this year. I doubt it. Even the relatively spacious, high-ceilinged ballroom was feeling a little crowded, and it’s just th e first week.

Naturally, I collected a raft of materials to educate future generations–they’ll be placed alongside the existing Binion’s Horseshoe collection, which documents the Series through 2004.

A quick site note: I’ll be out of town through next Thursday, so don’t expect too much in the way of postings. Along the way, though, I’ll be checking out the Borgata expansion, the Pier at Caesars (if it’s open) and of course more pizza from the Baltimore Grill than is advisable for someone training for a marathon.

Not exactly. But there might be a chance that a casino resort could incorporate land from my alma mater, Atlantic City High School. From, of course, the AC Press:

The city’s white-hot gambling market is attracting another player.

A casino investment group headed by one of the country’s former top gaming executives is buying 11 acres of land from the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort for a reported $88 million, according to industry officials familiar with the deal.

The property includes three blocks at the foot of the Route 40-Albany Avenue entryway, at the southernmost tip of the city’s casino zone. Part of the site is where the hulking remains of the ill-fated Dunes Casino Hotel stood for five years before finally being torn down in 1991 after the project went bust.

The land buyers include Wallace R. Barr, former president and chief executive officer of Caesars Entertainment Inc., and Curtis Bashaw, a Cape May hotel owner and real estate developer who once served as executive director of the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Limited by the relatively small size of the land, Barr and Bashaw reportedly plan to build a smaller, boutique-style casino complemented by nongaming retail and entertainment attractions. They are already lining up retail tenants, officials said.

Hilton, a tiny property that has struggled financially in recent years, will benefit from the deal by getting a cash infusion. Hilton has been hampered by its relatively remote location at the southern end of the Boardwalk, but a new casino next door would generate extra traffic off the Route 40 corridor.

The new casino would rise from the old Dunes casino site overlooking the ocean between Albany and Trenton avenues. The deal also includes beachfront land between Albany and Hartford avenues and adjacent property where the old Atlantic City High School once stood.

Although the former high school site is not zoned for casino construction, a gaming hall would be allowed on the other two parcels, city and state officials said. The site has been waiting for a new casino ever since the unfinished superstructure of the Dunes casino was torn down.

Cape May developer Bashaw part of group buying A.C. casino land

I’ve said before that that site would be a great spot for a Station-style casino. After visiting Red Rock Station this weekend, I think it’d be an even better fit.

I could see something with a 800-1000 room hotel, casino, and amenities, with room for condo towers nearby. It would really complement that end of the Boardwalk.

Speaking of Red Rock, I’ve added it’s carpeting to the carpet gallery. The casino itself is incredible–if I could design a casino myself, the decor would look a lot like Red Rock. Of course, I’d probably want to put the Boardwalk Clown on the property somewhere too, but it’d be a nice start.

Parties bidding on the casino license for Sentosa Island, Singapore, might want to follow Las Vegas Sands’ winning strategy for the Marina Bay casino: an innovative design, multi-faceted marketing approach, and proven experience in the region and industry. Or, they might just want to read their star charts and consult with feng shui experts. From the Taipei Times:

Bidders for Singapore’s second casino resort on Sentosa Island were warned yesterday not to ignore the site’s bloody World War II past.

With the Las Vegas Sands beating three other competitors for the US$3.2 billion Marina Bay complex in the commercial district, geomancers, recalling a massacre during the Japanese occupation of Sentosa, have suggested ways of harmonizing bad vibrations on the site of the second casino.

They told the Straits Times that a pavilion or memorial should be erected, or a multi-religious service held, before construction starts to avert accidents, suicides or a loss-making venture.

While acknowledging feng shui alone will not secure the second winning bid or a successful venture, the experts suggested charting the stars.

“If they want to win, submitting at an auspicious time gives a small advantage,” feng shui author Adeline Pang was quoted as saying.

The Sands, the owner of the Venetian in Las Vegas, was declared the winner of the first resort last month with a design which had three slanting hotel towers overlooking three low-rise waterfront domes and roofs resembling waves.

The government dropped its longstanding ban on casino gambling in its zeal to attract a greater share of the Asian tourism market.

Bidders now have until October 10 to submit proposals for Sentosa with its combination of a casino and theme parks.

Geomancers and feng shui experts agree that the Sentosa resort should have its back to the mainland for support.

Master Ang Kian Cheong said the orientation will make all the difference to its success.

Irregular or sharp angles in the designs should be avoided, feng shui expert Victor Li told the newspaper.

“Round, semi-circle or an ellipse will be good,” he added.

A winner will be announced by the end of the year.

Casino bidders warned of bad vibes

Incredibly enough, Sentosa Island is one of the very few places I’ve been to outside the United States. I stayed at the Rasa Sentosa resort, and they didn’t mention anything about a bloody past.

I think this article shows how cultural sensitivities are very important. If an American casino executive starting calling an astrologer before announcing a new venture, stock prices would plummet. But calling in a geomancer might actually be a sensible thing in this context.

Harrah’s Entertainment just released its big survey of casino entertainment. Once, this was just a neat thing that a smallish company into progressive marketing did. Now, it’s the voice of the world’s largest casino operator. From biz.yahoo:

A new national survey demonstrates Americans’ enthusiasm for casino gambling and their desire to experience a broad array of entertainment choices offered by gambling venues in states throughout the country.

Profile of the American Casino Gambler: Harrah’s Survey 2006 reports that Americans made more than 322 million casino trips in 2005 and that 52.8 million Americans age 21 and older (25 percent of the U.S. adult population) visited casinos to gamble at least once during the same year.

On average, gamblers averaged just over six casino visits a year, the study found.
SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

Casino Gambler Demographics

* The median household income of casino gamblers is $56,663 — nearly $8,000 higher than the U.S. household median of $48,997.
* The median age of casino gamblers (46) and gender profile (52 percent female) closely mirrors the profile for the U.S. adult population.
* Casino gamblers are 3 percent more likely than the national average to have pursued a post-high school education (56 percent vs. 53 percent) and 3 percent more likely to be white-collar workers (45 percent vs. 42 percent).

Where Casino Gamblers Live

* California generated the most casino visits (or trips) in 2005 (50,354,152), which represented 16 percent of the national total. The states generating the next highest number of trips were (in order): New York, Illinois, Nevada, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Michigan, Missouri and Louisiana.
* The top eight states in terms of visitation generated more than 10 million casino trips each, and 31 states produced more than 2 million visits in 2005.
* All but five of the states in the West and North Central census regions of the country have casino participation rates exceeding the national average of 25 percent, but only six states in the North East and South were above the national average (participation rate is the percent of adults that gambled in a casino at least once in 2005).
* Sixty-two U.S. Designated Market Areas (DMAs) each generated more than 1 million casino trips in 2005.
* The top DMA for generating casino trips in 2005 was New York City (22,234,034) followed by (in order): Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Minneapolis-St. Paul, San Diego, Seattle and Sacramento.

Trendsetters

Technology

* More casino gamblers (79 percent) than non-gamblers (65 percent) have a home computer (PC or laptop). Casino gamblers are also more likely to have more than one computer in the home (21 percent vs. 16 percent for non-gamblers).
* Casino gamblers are more likely to own the latest consumer electronics. For example, 18 percent of casino gamblers own MP3 players vs. 10 percent for non-gamblers.
* In 2001, 13 percent of all survey respondents owned a DVD player. In 2005, that number had increased to 59 percent overall, and 71 percent for casino gamblers.

Consumer Purchases

* Casino gamblers tend to spend time researching brands before a major purchase (38 percent vs. 24 percent for non-gamblers) and are more likely to use the Internet as a source of information (casino gamblers 36 percent, non-gamblers 29 percent).
* When deciding on clothing, the “latest fashion” is more important to casino gamblers than non-gamblers (22 percent vs. 15 percent).
* As cars first come on the market, casino gamblers are more likely to be buyers (24 percent) than non-gamblers (18 percent).

Travel

* Casino gamblers are more often asked for advice on where to go on vacation (29 percent) than non-gamblers (21 percent).
* Gamblers are more likely to view the Internet as a good source for travel planning and information (32 percent) than non-gamblers (17 percent).

Food & Beverage/Eating Out

* Casino gamblers more frequently try trendy new foods and beverages (25 percent vs. 16 percent for non-gamblers).
* Gamblers are more likely to try new restaurants than non-gamblers (21 percent vs. 12 percent).
* Gamblers like to experiment with cooking (42 percent vs. 32 percent for non-gamblers).

Personal Finances and Money Management

* Non-gamblers are more likely to rate themselves as “beginners” when it comes to investment decisions (50 percent vs. 44 percent for casino gamblers), while casino gamblers are more likely to indicate that they have intermediate (35 percent vs. 27 percent for non-gamblers) or advanced investment skills (8 percent vs. 6 percent for non-gamblers).
* More casino gamblers said their personal debts were lower than the previous year (21 percent vs. 14 percent for non-gamblers). A greater number of casino gamblers also had higher savings than the previous year (23 percent vs. 16 percent for non-gamblers).

Planning for Retirement (among those not retired)

* More casino gamblers than non-gamblers said they will have enough money to live comfortably during their retirement (46 percent vs. 37 percent).
* Casino gamblers were also more inclined to be looking forward to their retirement years (42 percent vs. 36 percent for non-gamblers).

Using New Technology

* Casino gamblers are more enthusiastic about new technology (“find it exciting and use as much as I can”): 40 percent vs. 29 percent for non-gamblers.
* Casino gamblers are more likely to have used the Internet in the last 30 days for a variety of reasons: Staying in touch by email (51 percent vs. 44 percent for non-gamblers); education for themselves or their children (37 percent vs. 29 percent for non-gamblers); accessing news (40 percent vs. 28 percent for non-gamblers); and playing games alone or with others (28 percent vs. 19 percent non-gamblers).

Home Improvement

* Casino gamblers take great interest in improving their homes and living environments. Fifty-two percent of casino gamblers said they are very interested in furniture and home decoration vs. 41 percent of non-gamblers.
* Among casino gamblers, 47 percent had redecorated their home and 34 percent had remodeled their home in the last five years, versus 35 percent and 24 percent, respectively, for non-gamblers.

Automotive

* When asked about the car they drive most often, casino gamblers are more likely than non-gamblers to have bought the car new (50 percent vs. 44 percent for non-gamblers).
* Cars with model years between 2001 and 2005 are more likely to be a casino gambler’s primary car (50 percent) vs. non-gamblers (35 percent).

Food & Travel

* When asked about their last vacation, casino gamblers were more likely to have taken a domestic trip of 500+ miles (36 percent vs. 31 percent for non-gamblers) or a trip outside the country (20 percent vs. 13 percent for non-gamblers).
* Gamblers are more likely to enjoy regional/national foods, including: Italian (72 percent vs. 61 percent for non-gamblers); Chinese (65 percent vs. 45 percent); Mexican/Tex-Mex (58 percent vs. 54 percent); and Greek/Middle Eastern (25 percent vs. 17 percent).

Values

* Both casino gamblers and non-gamblers were similar in their volunteer participation with social issues, but casino gamblers were more likely to have donated money to a social issue (33 percent vs. 20 percent).
* Casino gamblers were more inclined to view work as a career (58 percent vs. 48 percent for non-gamblers).

CORRECTING and REPLACING More Than Quarter of U.S. Adults Visited a Casino At Least Once Last Year, Harrah’s Survey Finds: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance

That’s pretty comprehensive. You know, as a non-gambler, I feel like a lowlife–less education, less money, less technical savvy (on average) than my friends playing Megabucks.

There’s obviously a certain element of PR here–naturally, Harrah’s looks like a more responsible company if the people using its products are well-educated and financially secure–but these surveys are a goldmine of information for future historians. If only they’d done these 50 or 100 years ago. Of course, a lot of the questions wouldn’t have made sense then.

According to a new study, casino revenues are expected to rise over the next few years. From the AP via Washington Post:

Global revenue from gambling is expected to climb 8.8 percent annually from $82.2 billion last year to $125 billion by 2010, according to a new estimate by consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Fueled by new casinos in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, the Asia-Pacific region will grow the fastest at 14 percent annually, surpassing revenue from the region encompassing Europe, the Middle East and Africa when it hits $23 billion by 2010, the firm said.

The United States, which is predicted to remain the world’s largest gambling market, is expected to see gambling revenue grow 6.9 percent per year, from $53.4 billion in 2005 to $74.5 billion in 2010, it said.

Billions of dollars of investment in new casinos in Nevada are expected to give the state’s gambling revenue an annual 8.2 percent increase from $11.7 billion to $17.3 billion, boosting the state’s share from 21 percent to 23 percent of the U.S. gambling market.

Tribal casino operators are seen increasing their share of the U.S. market from 42 percent to 43 percent, growing from $22.7 billion to $32.5 billion by 2010.

Casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., are expected to see revenue inch higher from $5 billion to $5.8 billion, as its share falls from 9 percent to 7 percent of the U.S. market because of competition from new slot machine operators in surrounding areas.

Global Gambling Revenues Expected to Rise

This article is inaccurate, because what it calls “gambling” revenues are actually “casino revenues.” Small point, but this isn’t factoring in lotteries, pari-mutuel, or sportsbetting. I think actual total global GAMBLING revenues (i.e., everything) are in the neighborhood of $1 trillion/year.

Remember Lewis the aggro cat? Well, he’s had his day in court, and he now has a new lease on life. From ABC News:

A state judge spared the life of alleged neighbor-assaulter Lewis the cat on Tuesday, but ordered that he remain inside his owner’s Fairfield home at all times.

“There are no exceptions. None,” said Judge Patrick Carroll, who also granted accelerated rehabilitation to Lewis’ owner, Ruth Cisero. That means her record will be expunged if she successfully completes two years of probation.

Cisero had faced a charge of reckless endangerment because neighbors complained that the cat’s long claws and stealth have allowed it to attack at least a half-dozen people and ambush the Avon lady as she was getting out of her car.

Cisero had fought to keep Lewis alive and in Connecticut. She rejected a previous offer of accelerated rehabilitation if she agreed to euthanize Lewis.

ABC News: Judge Spares Life of Lewis the Cat

The best thing about this story is this sentence, which says it all:

“I live with a cat just like Lewis, and I live with danger every time I go home at night,” he said, adding, “I’m from South Jersey, so I don’t take any crap from a cat.”

Being from South Jersey, I don’t have much to be proud about, but I guess that I too can say that I won’t take any crap from cats.

Animal rights activists are probably reposting this story to draw attention to the inhumane treatment of animals. I just think that the name of the restaurant deserves some notice. From Reuters:

Banner-wielding animal rights protesters swarmed into a restaurant serving cat meat in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and forced it to shut, Xinhua news agency said Sunday.

The 40 or so, mainly female demonstrators — holding banners reading “cats and dogs are friends of human beings” — entered the Fangji Cat Meatball restaurant and demanded the owner free any live cats on the premises, Xinhua said.

There were none in the building, as the owner had already moved them out, it said. But some burst into tears upon finding a skinned cat in a fridge.

Animal rights protest shuts restaurant

Personally, I find the idea of cat meatballs a little off-putting, but there are millions of devout Hindus who would definitely pass on a nice cheesesteak.

I’ve posited before that humans may be genetically predisposed to gamble because, as hunter-gatherers, those who didn’t take risks starved to death and didn’t pass on their genes–or behaviors–to their offspring. Neuroscience is coming one step closer to proving this theory. From the Financial Times:

In an uncertain world, we are often pulled between sticking with what we know will reap rewards and exploring new options.

Now neuroscientists have discovered which parts of the brain are involved in exploration and which in exploiting the familiar.

By scanning the brains of volunteers as they gambled, Nathaniel Daw and colleagues at University College London found that trying out new things uses the frontopolar cortex and intraparietal sulcus – high-level regions of the brain – whereas falling back on familiar territory involves more primitive regions associated with reward and pleasure.

This brain activity may reflect the fact that exploring new options requires overriding the desire for immediate profit.

“Whether you are a stockbroker, a gambler choosing between slot machines or an animal trying to forage for food, the desire to select what seems the richest option is always balanced against the desire to choose a less familiar option that might turn out to serve better,” said Dr Daw. “This exploration is often critical to survival.”

The UCL researchers studied 14 people while they were playing for money on a range of computerised slot machines.

Players had to balance their desire to select the richest option, based on accumulated experience, against the desire to try another option that might have a bigger payoff.

To find out whether the subjects were using exploit- ative or exploratory gambling strategies, the scientists compared their human behaviour with the decisions made by intelligent robots; functional magnetic resonance imaging showed which brain areas were activated when exploring or exploiting.

The research is published in Nature.

www.nature.com

Seek new options and survive

This is great research–hopefully I can get the funding to launch my proposed lecture series on “Gambling and the Emerging Future” and have these researchers come to Las Vegas to talk about the significance of their study. All I need is the funding….

Well, it’s a few days old, but you can still read it in the Las Vegas Business Press. Here’s a tease:

It’s often said that college athletes get the star treatment because they are, well, stars. When 100,000 people pack a stadium to hear a talk on Joyce’s use of light and dark imagery in “The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”, they say, then English departments will get the acclaim — and funding — that football programs do.

Indeed, right here in Las Vegas, it’s plain to see that college sports are far more popular than academics. More than a decade removed from his stint as head coach of the Running Rebels, Jerry Tarkanian is still a public figure, even appearing in commercials. But what kind of name recognition does Wole Soyinka, a Nobel Laureate and true academic all-star, have among the general population? It’s doubtful you’ll see the acclaimed writer shilling used cars on your TV any time soon, because, despite his achievements, most people just don’t care.

Betting just might raise the profile of legitimate academics. If there is a line on a spelling bee — maybe the least useful test of intellect — imagine the kind of buzz that could be generated for college-level student achievement. How many students in PoliSci 102 will score over 90 on the final exam? What percentage of History 101 students will comprehend the professor’s explanation of the causes of the Civil War? The possibilities are endless.

Suddenly, the general public would have a reason to care about education (since preparing the next generation for the future is obviously not much of a draw). Organic chemistry and macroeconomics might elbow aside football and baseball as fan favorites. Academic departments could build huge arena/classrooms with the latest equipment. Maybe someone would finally discover Fermat’s Lost Theorem if there was an over/under on it.

Elementary, my dear Watson. Spelling that is

It’s another piece in the “modest proposal” vein, where I hope that by taking an idea to its logical conclusion, I can make people think about things in a different way. In this case, the idea is: what if people cared as much about education as they do about sports? I made the same point but hopefully a little better in a KNPR commentary that might have aired already.

You might remember a post a few weeks ago about the spelling bee. I really do find it compelling TV, and think it would be neat to try to televize other feats of academic achievement.

Then again, I thought that tivoing a Buck Rogers in the 25th Century marathon was a good idea. I can guarantee that most of those episodes are going to be deleted without being watched. I thought I’d get things off on the right foot by watching the episode where Gary Coleman guest stars as a boy genius cryogenically frozen in the 20th century and awoken in the 25th to become the president of a planet. Although it was a whimsical notion, the uninspired plot and bare-bones budget really killed most of the enjoyment. It’s not quite bad enough to fall into the “so bad it’s good” category, a la “Manos:” The Hands of Fate or anything by Ed Wood.

There is some funny stuff, though. The headquarters of the Earth Defense Directorate, apparently, are in the 1-bedroom apartment of Dr. Elias Huer. Seriously–you never see any kind of control room, or galactic senate–just a viewscreen in his room. And the wedding celebrations for Princess Ardala (who has a tantalizing array of metal bikinis, at least) and Buck featured entertainment by a quarter of roller skaters! It definitely dates the action to the late 1970s, in an almost endearing way.

All this is just my roundabout way of saying that I’m acutely aware that my taste in TV might not be for everyone, so I doubt that we’ll be seeing History 101 final exams broadcast on ESPN2 anytime soon.

Everyone, it seems, wants to know the future. Unfortunately, history isn’t a predictive science, so most people have to make do with vague Nostradmus-type predictions or simple guesswork. But you don’t need a crystal ball to see that, in a few years, the Las Vegas Strip will be a much different place. From the LVRJ:

The five-year, $20 billion building boom under way on the Strip will roughly double the high-end inventory of rooms costing $200 a night or more, a new Standard & Poor’s study said.

This newfound focus on upscale visitors is largely a response to continuing demographic shifts, the report said.

But it will leave Las Vegas vulnerable to the throes of the national economy and could prove challenging to absorb.

Projects that S&P said probably would be completed include:

• The $1.8 billion Palazzo with 3,025 rooms.

• The $1.7 billion Encore at Wynn Las Vegas with 2,054 rooms.

• The $7 billion Project CityCenter with 7,700 rooms.

• The $4 billion Echelon Place with 3,300 rooms.

Projects whose fates S&P called uncertain include:

• The $2 billion Cosmopolitan with 3,000 rooms.

• The $1.5 billion Fontainebleau with 4,000 rooms.

• The canceled $3 billion Las Ramblas with 1,225 rooms.

• The $1.7 billion W Las Vegas with 3,000 rooms.

Las Ramblas was sold to Edge Resorts for $202 million earlier this month.

Together, those projects represent a 30 percent increase in room inventory, gaming space, convention space and retail space.

Strip booms again

While it’s unfortunate to see classic casinos like the Stardust and New Frontier disappear, Las Vegas’s history has been one of “grow or die.” I did a great oral history interview with John Woodrum, owner of the Klondike, last week, and he really drove home how that’s been the attitude in town for the past 40 years. I’d say it goes back at least 60 years.

For another look at the future, read this LV Sun story about the coming Montreux casino. It will replace the New Frontier, and the description of the design is fascinating. Let’s just hope no one goes crazy with a flare gun–even though they’ve got an impressive water feature in the lobby, we don’t need any more “smoke on the water.”

Here in the US, we are relatively insulated from World Cup fever. But in most of the world, passions run high, and the tournament is a holiday of sorts. Even religious devotion takes a backseat to “football,” to a point. From the Chicago Tribune:

The chief of Cambodia’s Buddhist monks is cutting his charges some slack for the duration of the World Cup: They may watch the matches on television, but no cheering or getting excited. (Much like U.S. fans on Monday). And absolutely no betting. The country’s holy men — more than 90 percent of Cambodia’s 13 million people are Buddhist — normally aren’t supposed to watch TV, movies or artistic displays. But Supreme Patriarch Non Ngeth is willing to make allowances for such a special occasion as the World Cup. “The monks can watch the games on TV but they may not bet on the games,” Non Ngeth said. “So far, I have received some complaints that some monks are betting during this World Cup tournament.” According to the strictest tenets of Buddhism, monks should abstain from pleasurable activity. Gambling is a major no-no. He also says he urged the country’s monks, if they do watch the matches, not to scream or laugh. “Cheering or screaming while watching TV are acts appropriate for children,” he said.

No cheering–or gambling–in the temple | Chicago Tribune

Somehow, “a major no-no” sounds a lot less serious than “a mortal sin.”

Melvin Dummar, who you might remember as the guy who reportedly picked up Howard Hughes in the middle of the desert and, in return, was named in the “Mormon will,” has filed a lawsuit seeking his rightful share of the Hughes estate. From the WSJ:

Melvin Dummar had long since given up on getting a share of the late billionaire Howard Hughes’s fortune. And for good reason: In 1978, Mr. Dummar became a national joke when a Las Vegas jury ruled that the basis for his claim — a handwritten will that surfaced mysteriously — was fake.

“I’ve never really gotten over it,” Mr. Dummar says. “For 30 years, everybody just laughed at me and treated me like some kind of criminal, a forger. Until a few months ago, I thought it was a lost cause.”

But now Mr. Dummar is back, seeking another day in court and what he considers his rightful share of Mr. Hughes’s estate. In a lawsuit filed yesterday, Mr. Dummar claims to have new evidence and a compelling new witness: a pilot who says he flew the late Mr. Hughes to a brothel near where Mr. Dummar claims he happened on to him.

With the suit filed yesterday in federal district court in Salt Lake City, Mr. Dummar began another chapter in one of the wildest estate battles in U.S. history.

When the eccentric billionaire died in 1976, Mr. Dummar (pronounced Doo-MAR) emerged as an improbable heir. He said a will delivered to a gas station he ran in Utah entitled him to $156 million, a reward for the night in 1967 when he said he had found a dazed man face down on a desert road and drove him to Las Vegas. That man, Mr. Dummar claimed, told him he was Howard Hughes.

But Mr. Dummar’s tale fell apart at trial. And he got nothing but a dubious place in history, folklore and Hollywood, thanks to the Oscar-winning 1980 film “Melvin and Howard.”

Now 61 years old and eking out a living delivering meat along those same desolate Nevada roads, Mr. Dummar is hoping for a real-life sequel. His co-stars this time include an author who once was a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent; a former Hughes pilot who is breaking his silence; a prostitute with a diamond-encrusted tooth; and a lawyer who has a weekly radio show about estate planning.
….
Then a man named Robert Deiro — once a Hughes Tool Co. pilot — surfaced with a sexier explanation. Mr. Deiro had long dismissed Mr. Dummar as a charlatan. But in 2004, Mr. Deiro, a Las Vegas businessman, read a story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal that sent him bounding for the telephone to contact Mr. Dummar. A detail in the article, in which Mr. Dummar was interviewed, made him think: “Jesus Christ, this guy’s telling the truth!”

That clue was Mr. Dummar’s stray reference to finding Mr. Hughes near the Cottontail Ranch brothel. In 1967, Mr. Deiro was managing a North Las Vegas airport owned by Mr. Hughes and occasionally flying the boss on discreet missions. One night between Christmas and New Year’s, Mr. Deiro says, he flew Mr. Hughes to the holiday-festooned Cottontail for a regular tryst with Sunny, a redhead who had a diamond in an upper incisor. “You couldn’t see it unless she smiled broadly,” he recalls. “She was the class of the field.”

By Mr. Deiro’s account, he fell asleep on a banquette in the brothel’s kitchen, waking up around 4 a.m. to be told that his “friend,” Mr. Hughes, had left. Mr. Deiro flew back to Las Vegas. No one mentioned the incident, and he never again saw Mr. Hughes or the aide who had arranged the secret flights.
WSJ.com – Mr. Dummar Is Back, Taking Another Shot At the Hughes Estate

I know Robert Deiro, and two years or so ago I wrote an article about his claims to have flown Hughes around. I couldn’t find any takers. Maybe with the lawsuit, that’ll change. It’s a great story that I think more people should hear.

So if you are a magazine editor and want to talk, let me know.

Steve Wynn spent millions of dollars creating the Bellagio fountains, an impressive spectable by any yardstick. Every day, thousands of onlookers thrill to the incongruity of dancing waters in the heart of the desert. It suggests that humans are capable of overcoming even the largest environmental hurdles.

The next casino to open on the Strip might want to just hire these guys and supply them with Diet Coke and Mentos. As seen on Eepybird.com, the results are both dramatic and explosive:

What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? It’s amazing and completely insane.

The first part of this video demonstrates a simple geyser, and the second part shows just how extreme it can get. Over one hundred jets of soda fly into the air in less than three minutes.

It’s a hysterical and spectacular mint-powered version of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, brought to you by the mad scientists at EepyBird.com.

I’m intrigued that of all the natural and manmade phenomenon that they could have recreated with their candy and soda, these guy’s chose the Bellagio fountains. You can’t underestimate the influence of Las Vegas on culture today.

The The New York Times Magazine, on 6/11 at least, is all about money. You know, the folding green stuff. Jackson Lears has a piece about The American Way of Debt. Being the excellent historian he is, Lears dissects the anti-debt jeremiads and discovers that Americans have always been quick to going into hock:

But as the history of debt in America shows, condemnations of extravagance can obscure more than they illuminate. The equation of debt and decline assumes that once upon a time Americans lived within their means and saved for what they bought. This is fantasy: there never was a golden age of thrift. Debt has always played an important role in Americans’ lives — not merely as a means of instant gratification but also as a strategy for survival and a tool for economic advance.
The American Way of Debt

But that’s not all. Remember the Lehigh University student who robbed a bank, reportedly to pay off his poker debts? If not, this might remind you:

Greg Hogan Jr. was on tilt. For months now, Hogan, a 19-year-old Lehigh University sophomore, had been on tilt, and he would remain on tilt for weeks to come. Alone at the computer, usually near the end of one of his long online gambling sessions, the thought “I’m on tilt” would occur to him. Dude, he’d tell himself, you gotta stop. These thoughts sounded the way a distant fire alarm sounds in the middle of a warm bath. He would ignore them and go back to playing poker. “The side of me that said, ‘Just one more hand,’ was the side that always won,” he told me months later. “I couldn’t get away from it, not until all my money was gone.” In a little more than a year, he had lost $7,500 playing poker online.

“Tilt” is the poker term for a spell of insanity that often follows a run of bad luck. The tilter goes berserk, blindly betting away whatever capital he has left in an attempt to recoup his losses. Severe tilt can spill over past the poker table, resulting in reputations, careers and marriages being tossed away like so many chips. This is the kind of tilt Hogan had, tilt so indiscriminate that one Friday afternoon this past December, while on his way to see “The Chronicles of Narnia” with two of his closest friends, he cast aside the Greg Hogan everyone knew — class president, chaplain’s assistant, son of a Baptist minister — and became Greg Hogan, the bank robber.

On Dec. 9, 2005, Hogan went to see “Narnia” with Kip Wallen, Lehigh’s student-senate president, and Matt Montgomery, Hogan’s best friend, in Wallen’s black Ford Explorer. Hogan, who was sitting in front, asked Wallen to find a bank so he could cash a check, and Wallen pulled over at a small, oatmeal-colored Wachovia. Inside, Hogan paused at the counter for a moment and then joined the line. He handed the teller a note that said he had a gun, which was a bluff. “Are you kidding?” her face seemed to say. He did his best to look as if he weren’t. With agonizing slowness, she began assembling the money. Moments later, a thin sheaf of bills appeared in the tray: $2,871. Hogan stuffed it into his backpack, turned around and walked back out to the car.

The Hold-’Em Holdup

I’m waiting for someone to shift the blame for the holdup from poker to Narnia.

There’s a great comic-style illustration of Hogan’s slide in crime. It is eerily reminiscent of this 19th century series of lithographs about an earlier young gambler’s descent into madness.

A historian of Lears’ stature is able to rebut fears about current runaway debt by elegantly tracing the historical patterns of borrowing. I, on the other hand, see a somewhat hokey comic strip, and link to a series of lithographs with sarcastic captions. I’m guessing that I have a great, great deal of maturing as a scholar ahead of me.

Still, where else can you read about “a stern moralist in a silky komono?”

When we look back at it, data mining might be the biggest transformation of gambling to take place in the 1990s. On one level, it’s about reducing the human factor–interaction between casino managers and players to determine the players’ comping levels–to a software program. On the other, it’s about the growing sophistication–and power–of computers.

So when I read this article in New Scientist about the Pentagon tapping into the web’s social networks to learn more about people, I got to thinking that savvy casino marketers might not be far behind:

New Scientist has discovered that Pentagon’s National Security Agency, which specialises in eavesdropping and code-breaking, is funding research into the mass harvesting of the information that people post about themselves on social networks. And it could harness advances in internet technology – specifically the forthcoming “semantic web” championed by the web standards organisation W3C – to combine data from social networking websites with details such as banking, retail and property records, allowing the NSA to build extensive, all-embracing personal profiles of individuals.

Americans are still reeling from last month’s revelations that the NSA has been logging phone calls since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. The Congressional Research Service, which advises the US legislature, says phone companies that surrendered call records may have acted illegally. However, the White House insists that the terrorist threat makes existing wire-tapping legislation out of date and is urging Congress not to investigate the NSA’s action.

Meanwhile, the NSA is pursuing its plans to tap the web, since phone logs have limited scope. They can only be used to build a very basic picture of someone’s contact network, a process sometimes called “connecting the dots”. Clusters of people in highly connected groups become apparent, as do people with few connections who appear to be the intermediaries between such groups. The idea is to see by how many links or “degrees” separate people from, say, a member of a blacklisted organisation.

By adding online social networking data to its phone analyses, the NSA could connect people at deeper levels, through shared activities, such as taking flying lessons. Typically, online social networking sites ask members to enter details of their immediate and extended circles of friends, whose blogs they might follow. People often list other facets of their personality including political, sexual, entertainment, media and sporting preferences too. Some go much further, and a few have lost their jobs by publicly describing drinking and drug-taking exploits. Young people have even been barred from the orthodox religious colleges that they are enrolled in for revealing online that they are gay.

New Scientist Technology – Pentagon sets its sights on social networking websites

Harrah’s doesn’t have a MySpace page yet, but I would guess that that would be the first step in a casino getting involved in social networking. From there, marketers could measure the zeitgeist by seeing who’s linking to who, and create incredibly targeted promotions. In a few years, flashmob events could become incorporated into traditional marketing stratgies (giveaways, slot tournaments).

Not coincidentally, I’m just finishing up Joel Garreau’s Radical Evolution, and I think that the potential impact of emerging technologies on the gambling world is worth considering.

Think that a major hurricane will rain down death and destruction on the United States this year? Well, thanks to the Internet, you can now put some money on the proposition. This Knight Ridder story is all over the place, but I think the Sun Herald nailed the headline:

While ever-diligent South Floridians stockpile hurricane supplies and prepare the shutters for this year’s storm season, strange forces speculate on their misery.

Online and around the world, people are betting on the Atlantic hurricane season, wagering on how many strong storms will make landfall this year, and at what strength.

Several sites are now offering 1 to 5 odds that a Category 3 storm or higher will hit the United States this year.

Those numbers closely match official forecasts from the National Hurricane Center, which predicted last month that four to six major storms will make landfall by December.

Oddsmakers use meteorological data, including Colorado State University professor William Gray’s annual forecast for the Atlantic hurricane season, as well as historical data to determine the likelihood of storm strikes.

But professional forecasters, who view their job as a public service, say that’s not what they have in mind when they issue predictions.

Mickey Richardson, CEO of BetCris.com, a Costa Rica-based site offering several hurricane-related propositions, said the idea of betting on calamities seemed depraved at first. But customers demanded the wagers.

“We had to wrestle with it. Some people view it as a morbid thing to offer,” he said of his site’s storm-season bets. “But we can’t stop hurricanes. There’s been a true interest in it from the public.”

Richardson, along with CEOs of other sites, including Wagerweb.com, said they’ve refused to take bets on destruction or casualties.

The Sun Herald | 06/06/2006 | No shortage of ghouls willing to bet on next hit

I did an interview about this with an AP reporter earlier this week, and I predict that, if she couldn’t get anyone better, I’ll be in the “resident expert” slot that psychology prof Andy Meyers has in this article.

Personally, I think betting on hurricanes is pretty morbid, but at least we’re not betting on disease mortalityrates, as happened as late as the 1790s in the United States.

As far as using gambling as a way to become “part of an event,” as someone who grew up in Atlantic City, where hurricanes aren’t unknown, I’m grateful that I’ve never been in a hurricane (except Gloria, but that didn’t pack much punch by the time it reached us). And I don’t think too many people were lining up last September to join the fun in New Orleans or the Gulf Coast.

I can’t imagine what a desolate personal life one would have to feel this way:

Someone in Nebraska is unlikely to face a Category 4 storm, but wagering on that storm can help justify – and enliven – hours spent watching wall-to-wall coverage on CNN and The Weather Channel.

“Now I get to count how many storms, how big they are and when they hit. Gambling… draws you into a level of involvement you might not otherwise have in activities,” Meyers said.

The only thing more disturbing was that one of the betting site operators said that he would bet against a hurricane hitting, “hoping my bet will keep the storms away.”

Yes–the complex system dynamics of weather can indeed be affected by someone betting on the under. At least in the bizarro world of superstitious sports bettors.

It’s possible, on the other hand, that there truly is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in science. Maybe God does play dice with the universe, and the key is to bet with the bank.

Proving that things that happen in other parts of the country also happen in Vegas, there’s talk of banning smoking indoors in Nevada. But in hotel rooms? From the LVRJ:

Nevada voters could be asked in November whether they want to ban smoking in hotel and motel rooms, restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores and bars.

A separate business-backed initiative will allow voters to choose a less restrictive ban on smoking, including in areas of bars and restaurants where children are allowed.

Neither of the ballot questions would outlaw smoking on a casino floor.

The more restrictive measure, being proposed by Nevadans for Tobacco-Free Kids, would make Nevada the first state in the country to prohibit smoking in all hotel and motel rooms, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights said.

Nevada now ranks as the worst state in the nation for protecting nonsmokers, said Bronson Frick, the organization’s associate director. With passage of the ballot question, Nevada would be among the best states for nonsmokers rights, he said.

Most of the big casino companies are taking a wait-and-see approach to the matter.

reviewjournal.com — News – SMOKING QUESTION: Worries over ban surface

The most compelling reason for banning smoking in indoor areas, I would think, is worker safety. If it’s been proven that working in a smoke-filled room presents health hazards, then it makes sense to end indoor smoking.

But I can’t think of any good reason why someone who wants can’t smoke in their own hotel room. Besides being hard to enforce, this ban won’t help anyone avoid second-hand smoke, and might actually increase smoking on casino floors, as hotel guests light up there instead of in their rooms.

If you read nearly to the end of the article, you’ll see that I got my 2 cents in. In addition to what I said about smoking in movie theaters–which I can’t even imagine–I made another historical parallel. Are bans on smoking a sign of an enduring societal shift, such as women’s suffrage or the outlawing of slavery? Or is it a foolish gambit by a puritanical minority, like the attempt at alcoholic Prohibition? One day, we’ll know, but not today.

I’m late in posting today because I spent much of the morning doing a stint on KNPR’s State of Nevada–check the link for the details–and recording a few commentaries that will air at a later date. One of them is an elaboration (no, it’s definitely not a rehash) of my thoughts on spelling bee betting, and another is a just-for-radio piece on the role of gaming studies in today’s busy gambling world.

I just got back from recording an interview with Roger Gros for his Global Gaming Business podcast. I’ll link again when it airs. Of course, you should check out this month’s podcast as well–it’s a great discussion about the rebuilding efforts on the Gulf Coast.

Finally, I checked amazon and there’s been some progress on the Roll the Bones page. The cover art is now up, and as of today the book has broken the 500,000 sales rank plateau–it’s ranked higher than both Suburban Xanadu and Cutting the Wire, and it won’t even be out for four months.

I’d like to thank everyone who’s pre-ordered the book. If you’re still on the fence, check out the enhanced content for Roll the Bones on my own pages.

In light of all the hype about the opening of the remake of The Omen on 06/06/06, I’ve got a request–can anyone think of an uncanny numerological significance for 10/05/06?

So far, all I’ve got is that it the digits add up to 12, a number redolent with mystical associations.

Checking Wikipedia for October 5, I’ve found a definite shortage of material. It’s the 40th anniversary of a partial core meltdown at the Enrico Fermi demonstration nuclear breeder reactor near Detroit, and, more happily, the 37th anniversary of the first broadcast of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

So if you’ve got a good numerological coincidence, etc for October 5, 2006, let me know, and if it’s something that can help in the marketing of the book, you’ll get a galley copy.