This is probably the only positive expected value deal in Vegas: get paid $4000 to study gambling for a month. From H-Net:

What you get
• A $4,000 stipend to cover housing and expenses
• Desk space in the UNLV Special Collections Reading Room,
• Use of a laptop computer

What you give
• One month’s residency in Las Vegas
• A public lecture relating to your research near the end of your residency
• Ultimately, a publication (article, chapter or book) that showcases your research

Who’s eligible
Both faculty and graduate students are encouraged to apply. Applicants are expected to primarily represent the fields of history, English, sociology, criminal justice, and anthropology, though those from all disciplines with relevant research interests are encouraged to apply. Suggested fields of research include Las Vegas history, the history of gambling, and comparative studies of gambling in literature, history, and society.

View Job

I strongly encourage you to apply for this if you are eligible. We’ve got some great collections and it’d be wonderful to see them get some more use.

California Indian gaming is a $7 billion/year business already, but it would get substantially bigger, I think, if a casino popped up in the heart of Orange County. From the LA Times:

Even in a city that has entertained the most improbable of dreams, the latest plan to woo tourists and big bucks to Garden Grove is off the charts.

An Indian tribe has formally proposed building a Las Vegas-style casino complex just up the road from Disneyland in the latest and far and away most lavish plan for making Garden Grove a tourist destination.

The Gabrielino-Tongva Tribe’s proposal calls for two opulent casinos housing 7,500 slot machines, two upscale hotels, a 10,000-seat stadium and — the topper— a promise of a college scholarship for every high school graduate in Garden Grove.

The plan, submitted to the city this week, also promises $5.1 billion to the city over 30 years, payment of $100 million for infrastructure improvements within the city and nearly 10,000 permanent jobs.

“Everybody knows Disneyland is a huge tourist attraction and so are big Indian casinos,” said Jonathan Stein, who identifies himself as the CEO of the tribe. “Casinos just generate gobs and gobs of money, and everyone is going to benefit from this.”

But extravagant dreams have come in for hard landings before in this central Orange County city, which longs for identity and revenue but has grown weary of some of the dreamy pitches.

Tribe proposes Vegas-style casino in Garden Grove – Los Angeles Times

Seems like there are long, long odds on this actually happening, but it’s definitely something to think about.

First off, I’d like to apologize to all my readers for not posting yesterday. I was in Reno for spring training. If you haven’t heard about Michael Vick’s statement to the public, that won’t be funny at all, but trust me, it’s funny. At least to me.

I didn’t get a chance to visit my favorite casino when I was up there, but I’ll need to get over there soon to see the construction. From the RGJ:

The major components of the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino’s $350-$400 million expansion project, a 19-story hotel tower and adjacent convention center, should open on time in December, executives said Wednesday.

“In the convention business, that is a very busy month for us,” said Bill Hughes, director of marketing operations. “In fact, we are already booked in December in our new convention facility for special events.

“We are also taking reservations now for the tower. We are already renting the places so we have to get it done.”

Peppermill executives will celebrate the progress at 10 a.m. Friday with a topping-off ceremony, marking placement of the last piece of steel in the Tuscany Tower.

“What they do at a topping- off party is put a tree at the top of the building, so that is what we’ll be doing, said Kim Stoll, the Peppermill’s corporate director of advertising and publicity. “And then, we will take that tree at a later date and plant it on the property.

“So, it is a celebration for all of the people who have worked on the project, as a traditional milestone.”

RGJ.com: Peppermill celebrates new hotel tower

As long as they are adding to, and not changing, the look of the property, I’m fine with it. This is one of the few casinos that really feels fun inside to me. We’ve got a little taste of it down here in the Peppermill coffee shop, but there’s nothing like immersing yourself in thousands of square feet of dimmed lights, mirrors, and neon.

Now that Bader Field is closed, Atlantic City casinos can be built much higher. But will plans to make Pacific Avenue ever get off the ground? From the AC Press:

The Atlantic City of the future will include taller casinos, resort development on Atlantic Avenue and a one-way Pacific Avenue.

At least, those are some of the highlights of the new master plan that is expected next month, city Planning Director Bill Crane said.

At this point, the city and planners Karabashian Eddington Planning Group are working on the final details. The firm has worked on the plan since council approved its $300,000 contract in March 2005.

Partner Thomas Eddington did not return a call seeking comment.

Casino height restrictions are a holdover from Bader Field, which closed in September. Although the historic airport was too small for all but recreational prop planes, some of those planes on final approach flew through the Boardwalk casino zone; therefore, heights in the Boardwalk-front Resort Commercial Development zone were limited to 385 feet.

Crane said the new limits would be between 700 and 800 feet, or about double the old restrictions.

The first building to benefit will apparently be a planned condominium complex next to Boardwalk Hall on Florida Avenue.

At last week’s Planning Board meeting, SOSH Architects said the 43-story complex would rise about 630 feet. The city’s redevelopment plan for the site said the maximum height would be capped at 700 feet.

Others have already crashed through the ceiling.

In March, the city passed an ordinance that would set heights in the Southeast Inlet’s Revel Redevelopment Area at 800 feet.

Revel Entertainment is currently building a casino on land bounded by the Boardwalk and New Jersey, Oriental and Connecticut avenues. Morgan Stanley subsidiary Ventura AC LLC owns the land.

Casinos in the marina district have long had more generous height restrictions than Boardwalk-front buildings. The city passed an ordinance in March 2006 that lifted the maximum height to 560 feet. Both Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and Harrah’s Atlantic City are building towers there.
Plan has casinos going higher

I’m all for higher buildings, but making Pacific Avenue one-way is an awful idea. What they should do is widen it in places with cut-aways for jitney stops and the like. Making it one-way is just going to make traffic worse, and make getting to casinos even harder than it is.

I say, let’s wait another 100 years on Pacific Avenue, and if we even still have automobiles then, give it a fair hearing.

Was this year’s WSOP, held under the shadow of UIGEA (also known as the Internet gambling ban), a success? Look at some of the numbers from CardPlayer and judge for yourself:

The dust stirred up by the thousands of players who traipsed through the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino the last two months has cleared, and now it’s time to look at some of the figures that came out of the 38th World Series of Poker. With 55 events, the 2007 version was the most ambitious one yet, attracting more entrants than ever before.

The folks at the cashier’s booth greeted 54,281 entrants this year, which is 5,925 more than the 46 events last year drew. Despite this, there wasn’t much difference in the total prize pool. This year’s was $159,492,119; last year’s was $159,018,925.

Last year, each event averaged 1,051 players; this year, that average was 986.

As far as the numbers are concerned, the biggest difference between this year and last year was the number of entrants who played in the main event. The 2007 WSOP champion, Jerry Yang, was one of 6,358 players who vied for a share of what will be the largest live poker tournament prize pool of the year.

Poker News – World Series of Poker by the Numbers

So there were more events, with more overall participants, but each event had a smaller number of entrants.

If you can’t get enough of gambling-related numbers, check out the Gaming Abstract, which we’ve been updating. In that sense it’s the New and Improved Gaming Abstract.

Here’s one item of note: Nevada casinos made almost $161 million from poker last year.

Most people are attracted to slots because there is no skill involved in playing them, so you can never feel stupid for making the wrong decision. But that might be changing soon–the skill part, not the feeling stupid part. From the LV Sun:

Pong, the game that turned pinball wizards into video-game junkies in the ’70s, is poised to make a comeback in casinos.

This time, it could help turn the video-game generation on to slot machines.

Las Vegas-based Bally Technologies is seeking approval for a Pong slot machine where a player’s video skill would help determine the payout.

“Ever since we showed it a couple of years ago, there’s been a great deal of interest,” said David Schultz, director of video games for Bally, which has show n the game at trade shows.

Pong and the twist of a payout based on player s’ skills were debated last week by the state Gaming Control Board. The panel said slot machines must have an element of randomness in their base game but noted that Pong’s skill element comes into play only in the bonus round – something not covered by regulations. So, the three-member panel recommended approval and sent Pong to the Nevada Gaming Commission, which has to sign off on the concept before it could be played in a casino.

If the commission approves skill-based gaming , Schultz said, it could open the door to other skill-based games that could be popular with a new breed of casino gambler – Generation X’ers who grew up with video-game consoles in their laps.

But Pong is expected to be popular with Baby Boomers who make up the core demographic in most casinos and who will view the game with nostalgia.
Las Vegas SUN: Slot players might get new crack at an old video game

Skill-based slots might be the most important game development since wide area progressives, because they could revolutionize how people play. I think that most people who spend 4 hours a day playing video games are turned off to slots because they are so mindless. Adding skill elements, even if its just something as basic as hand-eye coordination, could make a difference.

In general, I see a bigger convergence between table games, including ones that require skill, and slots, and between slots and other media, including TV and video games.
Definite points for referencing Pinball Wizard in the opening there.

This might put the kabosh on plans to bring an NBA franchise to Las Vegas…or not. An NBA ref has reportedly used his position to influence the outcome of games he had action on. From UPI:

An NBA referee is reportedly under investigation by U.S. authorities for allegedly fixing games over the past two seasons, the New York Post said Friday.

The newspaper’s report said the National Basketball Association was aware of the investigation but had been requested by the FBI not to comment.

The investigation allegedly involved members of New York’s organized crime community to whom the unidentified referee owed money because of a gambling problem. The Post said the referee allegedly made calls to affect the outcome of games he was betting on. The number of affected games was said to be “in the double digits.”

The FBI’s yearlong investigation was concluding and arrests were expected soon, the report said.
United Press International – NewsTrack – Sports – Report: NBA ref probed for gambling

That’s about the biggest crime you can pull in sports today–fixing games damages the credibility of the league itself.

That being said, it doesn’t look like this case has anything to do with legal sports betting. If the ref was in debt to New York’s “organized crime community” (what a euphemism!), he was probably betting with an illegal bookie to start with.

Still, it’s a bad way for the words “NBA” and “gambling” to be seen in the same sentence. I’m not sure this will hurt Mayor Goodman’s efforts to bring a team here, but it certainly won’t help.

Moving to stem a decline in business following the advent of Pennsylvania slot parlors, Atlantic City casino regulators are allowing casinos test out electronic table games. From the AC Press:

New Jersey gaming regulators Wednesday approved a new form of electronic gambling to help Atlantic City’s casinos counter extra competition from slot parlors in surrounding states.

The new regulations allow for live testing of electronic versions of poker and roulette, a key step before the games are introduced to gamblers in the casino hotels.

Although the regulations have been given preliminary approval by the state Casino Control Commission, it is not yet known when live testing will begin and which casinos will offer the electronic table games.

Regulators noted that electronic games will broaden Atlantic City’s appeal to gamblers at a time when slot parlors in Pennsylvania and Delaware continue to steal customers from the resort’s $5.2 billion gambling industry.

“I think it adds a new element to the Atlantic City market and is particularly important because Pennsylvania and Delaware have them,” Casino Control Commission Chair Linda M. Kassekert said of the growing popularity of electronic games.

Three of Pennsylvania’s five slot parlors offer electronic blackjack games that mimic the live version of blackjack in Atlantic City. Life-like video “dealers” in the electronic games perform the same functions as their human counterparts in live blackjack.

In Delaware, gamblers can play electronic versions of blackjack, poker, baccarat and Let It Ride.

Currently, casino gambling in Pennsylvania and Delaware is limited to slot machines. The electronic table games technically are modified slot machines whose computer software has been programmed to comply with the slots-only laws in those states.

Daniel Heneghan, a spokesman for the Casino Control Commission, said the electronic poker and roulette games planned for Atlantic City are totally different than what is offered in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Up to this point, Atlantic City’s games have only been tested in a laboratory operated by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. The commission’s approval of the new regulations sets the stage for full-fledged testing on the casino floor.

In electronic poker, gamblers sit at a poker table, but their cards appear on a video screen instead of being dealt to them by a live dealer. The electronic version of roulette features a real roulette table and human dealers, but the wagering and payouts are done electronically, Heneghan said.
Electronic table games coming to Atlantic City

These video/live hybrids are becoming more common in casinos everywhere, so it isn’t shocking to see them coming to Atlantic City, though as usual it’s a little later than elsewhere. As people get more used to electronic interfaces everywhere, they will want to gamble with them.

Plus the roulette version lets you run one game with a large number of bettors and one dealer, with no worrying about past-posting or other funny business. I think that casinos will still keep traditional tables, but you’ll see more of the electronic version over time.

I wonder how advantage players like electronic blackjack–does it help them fly under the radar, or can their patterns be tracked easier?

In what has become almost routine, an amateur with only a few years experience won poker’s top prize, the WSOP’s No-Limit Texas Holdem event. From the AP via the LV Sun:

Jerry Yang, a 39-year-old psychologist and social worker from Temecula, Calif., won the $10,000 buy-in main event of the World Series of Poker and its $8.25 million top prize.

Yang, who said he uses his professional training and reads of players as a weapon, vaulted quickly from eighth to the chip lead soon after final table play began shortly after noon Tuesday.

Nearly 16 hours later, just before 4 a.m. Wednesday, a devout Yang made a straight on the river when his pocket eights looked beat versus a pair of queens, giving him the win.

“I’ve seen the miracles of God with my own eyes,” said the married father of six. “I did a lot of bluffing also.”

Yang not only made it through a field of 6,358 players that began play July 6, he knocked out seven of his eight final table opponents single-handedly, reminiscent of last year’s final table when Jamie Gold ran over his opponents.

The main difference, Yang did it from the back of the pack.

A Hmong person who grew up poor in Laos and escaped as a refugee to the United States when he was 13, Yang said he would donate 10 percent of his winnings to charity, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, and the Ronald McDonald House.

“I know what it’s like to be poor,” he said.
Las Vegas SUN: California psychologist wins World Series of Poker in Las Vegas

Congratulations to Yang. The way things have been going, it will be a big deal the next time a pro wins the big event.

Frederick Jackson Turner might have liked that headline. In any event, the New Frontier has closed. From the LVRJ:

Amid tears and hugs, the New Frontier closed its doors for good at 12:01 a.m. today.

“I hate to say bye but I must say bye,” said Helen Madison, a casino porter for 34 years, with tears in her eyes.

The hotel estimated that 3,000 people were on the property at 11 p.m. Sunday, an hour before it was to close.

Approximately 1,000 continued to mingle at 12:01 a.m. today, when an alarm sounded signaling the end of the Frontier.

Earlier, longtime employees and customers, mixed with curious onlookers, shared the final minutes as another old Strip property shut its doors to make way for another multibillion-dollar development.

…

The 105-room Hotel Last Frontier opened in 1942, the second hotel-casino on the now famous Strip.

The property grew under various ownerships, most notably Howard Hughes who bought it in 1967 for $14 million.

The latest owner, Kansas-based businessman Phil Ruffin, sold the 34.5-acre property in May for $1.2 billion to New York-based El-Ad Group.

The development group, which is controlled by Israeli billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva, plans to spend $5 billion to construct a mixed-use development modeled after New York’s Plaza Hotel.
ReviewJournal.com – News – LAS VEGAS PIONEER: Frontier’s days end

Even though this is an older casino than the Stardust, this isn’t as big a news story locally. I wonder why?

It’s Friday the 13th, so get out those broken mirrors…or not. From the Buffalo News:

Today is Friday the 13th, traditionally a day to avoid black cats, ladders and broken mirrors.

But in the year 2007, does anyone care?

Once, people feared bad luck when the 13th day of the month fell on a Friday. Now, for most people, Friday the 13th is no more remarkable than Friday the 8th or Friday the 21st. Some probably don’t even notice when the formerly chilling day-date combination dawns.

“I don’t find a whole lot of people are really worried about it anymore,” said Thomas Fernsler, an associate policy scientist at the University of Delaware who knows enough about the number 13 to earn the unofficial title “Dr. 13.”

“I like to call it a historical superstition.”

The day was once imbued with great significance. Stories about how it arose range from the arrests and killings of the Knights Templar on a Friday the 13th in the 1300s to the hangings routinely carried out on Fridays and Jesus’ status as the 13th guest at the last supper.

But now, few will admit to harboring qualms about Friday the 13th. Amy Koban, owner and reader at Amy’s Mystick Boutique in Lewiston, said she encounters plenty of people who are inclined to be superstitious — and even they brush off the inauspicious date.
The Buffalo News: Lifestyle News: Friday, the 13th – not the ominous day it once was

This proves that God does play dice with the universe, I think: is it just a coincidence that this unlucky day falls less than a week after the “lucky” 07/07/07? I don’t think so.

I wonder what kind of business the wedding chapels are doing today.

Coincidentally, it’s Day 4 of the WSOP final, and there are plenty of people who will remember this as an lucky day, and plenty of people who’ll think it’s a lucky one: it’s all a matter of perspective. I was just down there, and I saw a guy go all-in on the first hand of the day and lose. He had a pair of jacks, but unfortunately, the other guy had stomach aces.

The Gold Spike might get new owners and a regeneration into a four-star property. From the LVRJ:

The rise of boutique-chic in Las Vegas could start at one of downtown’s shadiest dives.

A Miami developer with an eye for converting rundown properties into trendy boutique hotels has an agreement to pay $15.6 million to buy the Gold Spike, a longtime locals grind joint at the intersection of Ogden Avenue and Fourth Street.

Gregg Covin, 38, said he could close on the Gold Spike as early as September and reopen it as an upscale boutique hotel with rooms fetching $125 to $150 per night. The current owners, Tamares Las Vegas Properties, confirmed the purchase agreement.

Covin plans to visit Las Vegas next week to take a closer look at the Gold Spike. But he’s already confident the Spike’s smoky ambience and grungy reputation won’t take the shine off his vision.

“Our specialty is taking crack houses and turning them into four-star boutique hotels,” Covin said. “I think the Gold Spike is perfect for that.”

If Covin succeeds, the rechristened Gold Spike would be the first boutique-style hotel in a downtown market that’s currently dominated by value and volume-oriented casino properties attached to the Fremont Street Experience.

ReviewJournal.com – Business – Dreary hotel to get revamp

I say don’t even bother with renovating the hotel: just “antique” it a bit more with smoke, cigarette burns in the furniture, and general decay, and just raise the room rates to $249/night one morning. Call it “Crackhouse Chic” or whatever you want–it might work. You could get the actor who played Bubbles on The Wire to work as a host (in character, of course).

I’m not saying it’s a good idea–it’s just an idea.

Seriously, this is the kind of project that, if it’s successful, makes the developers look like geniuses.

Pennsylvania hasn’t had slots for long but already people are beginning to suspect that the state is dependent on the revenues the one-armed bandits bring in. From the Inquirer:

Pennsylvania’s new casino industry established itself as a commanding presence in the great budget showdown, leading some to wonder: Is the state already hooked on slots?

Less than a year old, the five slot-machine casinos pour $1.7 million into state coffers each day, evidence offered by legislators who hoped the facilities would remain untouched by the partial government shutdown.

When furloughs became a reality, the casinos – including Philadelphia Park Casino & Racetrack in Bensalem, and Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack – were granted an injunction from Commonwealth Court that allowed them to stay open during yesterday’s one-day government shutdown.

Any closure would have “devastating effects on the employment, on the market share that our casinos have – and we have Atlantic City right down the street,” State Sen. Robert M. Tomlinson (R., Bucks) said last week.

Gambling revenue: The new mother’s milk | Inquirer | 07/10/2007

I posted this mostly because of the title. I just like the image of smoke-filled slot parlors as nurturing mother’s milk for the state’s budget.

There used to be a time when people who didn’t like their jobs (and, let’s face it, who does like their job?) could only vent to co-workers and their friends and family outside the job. The former usually agreed and added their own gripes, while the latter were politely bored to death by hearing long, drawn out stories about people they didn’t know doing things in places they’d never been to.

But now, thanks to the magic of the Internets, you can share your complaints about management, working conditions, and even cafeteria food with millions of people you’ve never met. CasinoDealers.net is a great place for this, but why stop there? Why not start your own myspace page for your unfun casino workplace? Here’s an excerpt:

WORKPLACE SAFETY: At skyshitty we DO have a great health care plan… unfortunately for you if you hurt yourself or are feeling sick but it is nothing TOO serious then Skyshitty will keep you working. Workplace safety is a big concern with previous Employees being Cut, burnt and even Electrocuted by Faulty machines that were not earth leakage protected.

MEALS: At skyshitty we provide 3 meals per shift. Sure the food may be compared to poison or waste material… and sure after eating the chicken or fish MANY employees mysteriously get stomach aces and other problems… we think this is purely for the fact that the employees are just not use to the FINE quality food that we provide.

www.myspace.com/skyshitty
Sounds like a pretty dangerous place to work. That’s some Chucky stuff going on with those slot machines.

But the food–THREE meals a shift? I always thought you were entitled to one hot meal per. Speaking from experience, gastro-intestinal disturbances can be an occupational hazard when you’re eating in casino cafeterias.

The kicker, no pun intended, has to be stomach aces. Is that like pocket aces but better? Or pocket aces but worse–a hand that gets beat out by someone nailing a flush or full house? Please, please let this become the latest poker slang.

Stomach aces.

I’m waiting to go one KNPR’s State of Nevada right now so I’ve got time to post this. If you haven’t heard already, there was a shooting early this morning at New York-New York. From KLAS:

A man opened fire from a casino mezzanine inside a Las Vegas Strip casino early today, wounding three people before being tackled by officers and patrons.

Police revised initial reports that four people were wounded in the 12:45 am shooting at the New York New York hotel-casino, and credit bystanders with subduing the gunman before on-duty police arrived.

Thirteen-year-old Troy Sanchez of California was wounded in the left ankle. He says he heard more than ten gunshots. Initially, he thought it was fireworks.

The suspect, a man believed to be in his early 50s and a Las Vegas resident, discharged his firearm several times at patrons below causing panic among casino patrons.

Las Vegas Now – Shooting at New York New York

None of the injuries were apparently life-threatening, but these kinds of shootings are a risk in any public place these days. It’s ironic that right now I’m listening to some blowhard argue against CCTV cameras in public spaces, when footage from these cameras might have helped alert security to exactly what was happening and will certainly help to prosecute the shooter.

As someone who’s been on both sides of the surveillance camera, I really don’t have a problem with surveillance in public places where there is no expectation of privacy.

This anti-CCTV guy is really obnoxious–I would honestly turn this off if I could, but I’m wired in waiting to go on in the next segment to talk about 07/07/07.

I must be psychic or something–it turns out I can stop listening now. The producer just told me I got bumped for time reasons. So while I won’t be able to pontificate on lucky sevens, I do get to stop listening to that guy blathering on.

If you want to read what I have to say about 07/07/07, you can check the Detroit Free Press or the Times Herald-Record. I did a bunch of interviews about this already, and I’ve got a piece about the history of luck that’s going to run in tomorrow’s LVRJ.

I’m amazed at the amount of press the hot-dog eating contest got–and even more amazed at the results. From the LVRJ:

There is something all-American, though, about contests where the ultimate goal is to consume more food than the eater next to you. This is a country, after all, where two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese, and where 177,000 people underwent surgery to lose weight last year alone.

Maybe that’s why the thousands who crowded around the stage at Coney Island seemed so excited to see Chestnut break Japan’s recent dominance of an institution we once called our own. He ended up not only beating Kobayashi, but setting a world record of 66 dogs in just 12 minutes.

…

Chestnut was the hero of this Fourth of July, but another young American, Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago, finished third with 49. Bertoletti already has the title for eating 19 slices of pizza in 10 minutes last year, and he owns the record for eating 5.75 pounds of corned beef and cabbage.

No conversation about great gorgers is complete without a mention of Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, who was the 2003 International Federation of Competitive Eating rookie of the year and is currently ranked fourth in the world.

Thomas, food aficionados might remember, once ate 8 pounds, 2 ounces of Wienerschnitzel Chili Cheese Fries in 10 minutes, and holds records in foods as diverse as fruitcake and deep-fried okra.

ReviewJournal.com – Sports – TIM DAHLBERG: Chestnut leaves no doubt who’s top dog in eating hot dogs

I don’t even know what to say about this. Why don’t they have some kind of big eating event in Vegas? How about a contest to see who can eat the costliest array of food? Let loose one of these eaters in Joel Robuchon or Guy Savoy and see how many $100+ entrees they can scarf down in ten minutes.

Seriously, I wonder exactly how much a dedicated individual could eat–would it be thousands of dollars? Tens of thousands?

This isn’t a huge story but it’s not often that I can blog on what was once my favorite Gulf Coast casino. From the Sun-Herald:

Treasure Bay casino, once known for its pirate ship facade, opened a new casino floor and a buffet on Monday in the hotel across the street that has been its home since Katrina came ashore.

“Biloxi needs to be proud,” said Charlotte McIntire of Gulfport. “We got our treasure back.”

She and her husband, Stanley, joined more than 100 others in line, eager for their first look at the casino.

Treasure Bay reopened onshore in summer 2006 with just slot machines on the hotel’s lower floor. The new main floor has 400 more slots plus table games and is accessible by elevator or staircases that look out toward the water.

Susan Varnes, chief operating officer of Treasure Bay, said the expansion will add about 400 employees, bringing the casino’s total workers to 600. More will be hired soon. “Hotel rooms in the tower are coming online very quickly,” said Varnes.

SunHerald.com : EXPANSION AHOY!

That pirate ship was the best ever–and the carpet was the best, too.

Interesting summary of the current state of Macau from Fortune, via CNN:

Hunter S. Thompson would have found much to fear and loathe in Macau, the former Portuguese colony rebranding itself as a gambling paradise. The good doctor (rest his soul) would have been vexed to discover that Macau, surrounded by water and crowded immigration checkpoints, is best entered by ferry, not gas-guzzling Caddy. No doubt he’d have been dismayed to learn that since Macau’s 1999 return to Chinese rule, hallucinogenic substances aren’t easily procured. But then again, when you can gaze at the Grand Lisboa casino, the newly built neon orb that throbs and pulses at the edge of the Macau peninsula like the Technicolor egg of some gargantuan radioactive monster, who really needs peyote?

Indeed, Western gamblers looking for something more exotic than Reno or the Riviera are in for a bit of a shock when they arrive in this smog-shrouded enclave. In Macau’s city center, the pastel façades of Senado Square and the ruins of St. Paul’s cathedral evoke Macau’s four centuries under Portuguese rule. But the frenzy of development elsewhere lends this Old World city the feeling of a frontier boomtown (albeit a relatively sober one: Macau’s hard-core gamblers prefer tea to liquor).

While Macau is now the world’s gaming capital last year revenue surged 22%, to $7 billion, vaulting the city ahead of Vegas – there are just a few decent restaurants and not much in the way of shopping or shows to speak of (yet). Still, Macau is a fascinating place to watch some of the most intense gambling around, both at the baccarat tables and amid vast, dusty construction sites, where high-rolling developers are betting billions.

The island was closed to all foreign competitors till 2002, when Beijing stripped local tycoon Stanley Ho of his monopoly over the island’s gambling concession, which he had held for 40 years. Faced with new competition, Ho (who also controls the lottery, dog and horse racing, the ferry and helicopter terminals, and the city’s largest land bank) rushed to gussy up some aging properties and build new ones. On a recent visit to his newest, the Grand Lisboa, a troupe of Russian street players performed slapstick routines beneath crystal chandeliers in the front lobby, while on the gambling floor upstairs, a trio of cabaret dancers shimmied in front of a giant oval of orange jade.

Ho’s offspring have also benefited from the boom: His son Lawrence partnered with James Packer, Australia’s richest man, and in May they opened the $500 million Crown Macau on the island of Taipa. MGM Mirage, owner of Las Vegas’s Mirage and Bellagio casinos, has teamed with Ho’s daughter Pansy to build a 28-story, 600-room hotel and casino set to open later this year on the waterfront.

Vegas entrepreneur Sheldon Adelson, however, is making the biggest wager that visitors here will want to do more than just gamble. After recouping his $240 million investment in the Sands Macau in just eight months (the cavernous casino set the world record for the largest number of gaming tables under one roof), he’s getting ready to throw open the doors of another Vegas outpost, the $2.2 billion Venetian Macau, on Aug. 28. The Venetian is the first phase of a truly mammoth complex slated for completion next year, which will include 20,000 rooms operated by five luxury hotel chains such as Four Seasons and Raffles. This so-called Cotai Strip (named for a bit of reclaimed land between the islands of Coloane and Taipa) will feature hundreds of yet-to-be-named restaurants and boutiques; a labyrinth of exhibit halls, performance stages, and conference rooms; and three Venetian-style canals plied by authentic Italian gondolas. The whole shebang will be sheathed in an air-conditioned biodome.

Around the perimeter of Adelson’s complex, Packer and Lawrence Ho have begun construction of City of Dreams, a giant casino and underwater theme park. Nearby, another group is building Macau Studio City, a casino-cum-multimedia-center that will include a boutique hotel designed by Shanghai Tang founder David Tang.

Macau now – July 9, 2007

It’s interesting to see how the idea that Macau is the leading gaming destination in the world is slowly filtering into the mainstream. I wonder if 10 years from now anyone will even have to say it.