Rick Santoro
Santoro is a thirty-year verteran of casino security who has worked executive protection, conducted investigations, and managed security departments for two of the biggest names in the business, Steve Wynn and Donald Trump. In this January 31, 2012 interview, Santoro discusses his career in casino security, issues facing casinos and other public and private sector organizations today, and Interbrief.org, his security/risk management consultancy.

Listen to the audio file (mp3)

Interbrief.org

It’s a great interview with an expert who really knows his stuff. Santoro worked for Steven Wynn for ten years and Donald Trump for twenty, and shared several stories about his time with both.

I also published the January 2012 Center for Gaming Research Update, which summarizes everything that’s been done at the Center over the past month. With seven reports, one occasional paper, a podcast, and lots more happening, it was a busy month.

Some people might consider the massive New Year’s Eve celebration—“America’s Party”—the ultimate night for Las Vegas casinos. True, that bash attracts more than 300,000 people each year. But ask the people charged with making money for casinos, and they’ll tell you that the holiday they really look forward to is Chinese New Year.

It is now arguably the second most important holiday in Las Vegas, right behind the “holiday” known as Super Bowl weekend. And it’s just about tailor-made for casinos: Traditionally, it’s considered propitious to gamble at the start of the new year.

via The Rise of Chinese New Year | Vegas Seven.

It’s definitely an interesting week on the Strip.

Aron Ezra: Wizard of Apps

Ezra is VP of Mobile for Bally Technologies

Fred Keeton: The Pathfinder

Keeton is VP of Finance for External Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer for Caesars Entertainment

Nor is this kind of chicanery limited to poker. MF Global was, until last November, a large global financial derivatives dealer, making its money on its traders abilities to correctly speculate on the upward and downward movement of prices for bonds, commodities, and currencies. Risky, yes, but, as with Full Tilt, these guys were supposed to know what they were doing.

via Las Vegas Business Press :: David G. Schwartz : In poker and business, be careful whom you trust.

Even though online poker’s had some issues, it’s nothing compared to the messes we’ve seen in financial services industries.

The site is called Viva Tot Vegas. It’s a guide to bringing small children to Las Vegas, supplemented with book, show, toy, and clothing reviews.

You might have seen a few mentions on my Facebook page—I did a very soft launch about two week ago–and I’ve now gained enough critical mass that I’m ready to officially roll the site out.

A few things contributed to my wanting to do this site. First of all, I get a lot of questions about what to do with little kids in Vegas. Instead of typing pages of email replies to every request, I figured I’d just create a site. Second, I’ve been saying for while that niche travel is the future of the business. What better way to test out my theory than by jumping in and getting involved with a niche that I’ve come to know a lot about. I’m not at a stage where I can creditably write about Vegas nightlife, fine-dining, or (adult) shows, but sharing the pros and cons of stroller vs. Bjorn in a casino? That I can do.

Thanks to Hunter Hillegas, fellow Vegas Gangster and majordomo of Vegas Media Group, I’ve got a nice sandbox where I can develop Viva Tot Vegas. Right now, I’m still developing the site, but the score of travel tips and reviews I’ve got are a good guide to where I plan to take it.

This site’s also a lot of fun because I get to work with my wife Suni, who’s going to be offering her own perspectives and reviews, making this a real family affair.

For all of you “kids don’t belong in Vegas, ever” people, I know where your coming from. In fact, I’ve stickied one of my first post, which gives you seven great reasons NOT to bring kids to Vegas. The point of the site isn’t to encourage people to bring toddlers to Vegas. It’s to help people who, because of a family gathering or other circumstances, find themselves having to bring their small kids to Vegas.

And, you’ll be happy to learn, the site has two main purposes:

• Shield your young children from the worst of Las Vegas
• Shield Las Vegas from the worst of your young children

In other words, people who come to Vegas to have an adult good time shouldn’t be subjected to your (or my) kids any more than they have to be, and vice versa.

Like with any new venture, I’ll see where this takes me. If you want to get involved, you can follow my site’s Twitter feed @vivatotvegas, subscribe to the RSS feed, or just plain bookmark it.

Thanks for checking it out, and look for more content (almost) daily. I’ll be answering the question of, “How friendly is hipster-heaven Cosmopolitan to little kids” next week. That should be worth the price of admission alone.

Average Big Las Vegas Strip Casino, 2011 
A statistical summary of the average Las Vegas Strip casino (with annual gaming revenues of over $72 million) with both gaming and non-gaming revenues and information on employment, taxes, and expenses

Average Downtown Las Vegas Casino, 2011
A statistical summary of the average Downtown Las Vegas casino (with annual gaming revenues of over $1 million) with both gaming and non-gaming revenues and information on employment, taxes, and expenses

Average Reno Casino, 2011 
A statistical summary of the average Reno/Sparks casino (with annual gaming revenues of over $1 million) with both gaming and non-gaming revenues and information on employment, taxes, and expenses

I’ve been doing these reports since 2009, mostly because I use them to answer questions about casino gaming in Nevada. I figure that since I’m putting together the information anyway, I might as well share it with people. And it makes answering questions over the phone easier, since I can usually just point someone to the pdf and walk them through it.

I might do a few more historical ones to get a better sense of the changes over time, and I might expand it to smaller markets, too.

November was good for Nevada’s gaming industry. Most reporting areas saw a second straight month of increases in gaming revenues.
Generally speaking, handle rose along with revenues, indicating an at least modestly rebounding demand for casino gambling. Partially this was
because November 2010 was a particularly bad month, but the increase in several areas indicates a small recovery for the gaming industry.

Statewide, casinos bounced back (+7.06%) from an atrocious November 2010 and then some—this was the strongest November since 2007; though revenues were still well (-10.29%) below their 2007 equivalents, this is a move in the right direction. Slot revenue, handle, and hold percentage all increased, and this pattern held for table games as well. These increases were small but definite, lending credence to the notion of a mild rebound.

Las Vegas Strip revenues grew by 9.02%, driven by slightly (+2.40%) higher slot revenues and what appears to be a major bounce in table play (+17.90%). But this is only because November 2010 was exceptionally weak for table games. It was a decent, but not a great, month when factoring in the favorable comparison. Table handle grew less than 7%, and much of the gain was driven by higher table hold percentage.

Downtown Las Vegas increased revenues by slightly more than the state average (+7.26%), due to high slot win (+4.63%) and especially table win (+17.31%). Much of the table increase was due to higher hold, however, so the actual increase in play is not as dramatic as it first appears.

On the Boulder Strip, total revenues grew by 12.44%, keyed by a 64.47% increase in table win. This was only, however, because November  2010’s hold percentage was just 4.88%; total table play actually fell, but a return to a normal hold made play more profitable for casinos. Slot  handle and win increased respectably, indicating continuing strength in the Las Vegas locals market.

Washoe County revenues increased slightly (+1.95%), a welcome respite from the usual decline. This bump was due to higher hold, however, as  handle remained nearly constant from last year. Perhaps this indicates a stabilizing trend in Northern Nevada.

Tables for Statewide, Las Vegas Strip, Boulder Strip, and Washoe County follow

Nevada Gaming Statistics: November Comparison

Second, the six-month analysis:

Statewide, November built on a strong October, canceling out—and then some—the disappointing
August and September results. It looks like the mini-downturn of the late summer has reversed, which
bodes well for strong December.

The Las Vegas Strip now has five out of six months in positive territory. Particularly impressive are the
three months of double-digit gains and one near double-digit increase (November). Slot revenues have
increased in each month in the period, with table revenues less consistent, but still showing an overall
increase. The Strip is moving in the right direction, albeit, in the case of slot machines slowly, and in the
case of table games, inconsistently.

Downtown Las Vegas now has an overall positive trend for the past half-year, with four out of six
months showing increases in revenue for tables and slots. This may be the long-awaited Downtown
turnaround. Consistent improvements in slot revenue are the key, looking ahead, for future growth.

The Boulder Strip continues to impress relative to the rest of the state, with a revenue increase well
above the statewide average. While the overall economic indicators for the Las Vegas Valley continue to
remain flat or worse, this reporting area is outperforming its expectations.

Washoe County appears to be stabilizing. Three out of the past six months have seen slight (less than
2%) revenue increases, which may be a signal that the decade-long slide of Northern Nevada’s gaming
revenues might have reached bottom. There doesn’t appear to much room for growth, but this market
may be through the worst of its contraction.

Tables for Statewide, Las Vegas Strip, Downtown Las Vegas, Boulder Strip, and Washoe County follow

Nevada Gaming Statistics: The Last Six Months

And finally, I took a look at exactly what the numbers mean on Two Way Hard Three:

This appears, at first blush, to be a good month for Nevada casinos with no qualifications. There were, however, a few qualifications, though November was still a net positive for the state and the industry.

First, lets put November in context. The state’s gaming industry has been on a bit of a roller coaster, with an apparent recovery trend through much of the first half of 2011 ended by two consecutive months of declines (August, September). Then came October, which had an 8.12% increase in year/year revenues. Some started to believe that the recovery was back on track.

November makes it more likely that the state can anticipate further (modest) growth in its gaming industry. For the month, the state had a 7.06% increase in gaming revenues. And nearly every major reporting area posted positive results. For the first time in as long as I can remember, all five of the reporting areas I look at for my monthly reports (Statewide, Las Vegas Strip, Downtown Las Vegas, Boulder Strip, Washoe County) reported gains. That in and of itself is good news.

November in Nevada

That’s what I think. Share any of your opinions in the comments.

Closing the book on 2011 in the Las Vegas casino scene, one word comes to mind: paradox. There wasnt a clear trend leading us either into a more prosperous future or into the muck of even worse economic malaise. Instead, we got a little bit of everything, which means that the last page of this story hasnt been written yet.

via Las Vegas Business Press :: David G. Schwartz : In 11, lots of noise, little certainty for casinos.

This is probably the last look back at 2011 I’ll do–from here on out, it’s looking ahead–at least until next December/January.

Jason Falls and Erik Decker. No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing. Indianapolis: Que, 2012. 253 pages.

This book, with a word that you still can’t say on the radio in its title, is certainly trying to be provocative. Beneath the swagger, though, there’s an intelligent, well-conceived manifesto for why social media matters today and how to do it correctly.

No Bullshit takes as its starting point that you, the reader, are working–maybe in marketing, but also maybe in public relations, advertising, or customer service-for a business that has been slow to get on the social media bandwagon. If you’ve picked up the book, you’re a little curious, at least, about how social media works and whether to get involved. Still, there are others in the organizations–including those you report to–who aren’t convinced that social media is relevant. This book will give you the arguments you need to convince them,

By the same token, if you own your own business, this book will tell you what you already know: that you need to embrace social media, not for fuzzy reasons like “community building,” but because it will help your bottom line. The book gives you some tools to diagnose just what you need to invest to make social media work, and what you should expect to get out of it.

Obviously, a 250-page book written by two guys you’ve never met isn’t going to give you a full blueprint for how to manage Twitter and Facebook on a day-to-day business. But it does explain how you can set realistic objectives and how you can evaluate your progress towards them.

There are three parts to the book. The first explains just what social media marketing–which is more focused than plain old social media–is. The second explains how it works, and considers the question of ROI (return on investment) from several angles. The main point here is that in some ways it’s possible to measure social media marketing ROI in very focused ways (click-throughs), while in others it isn’t. That’s OK, though, because traditional marketing’s ROI, it turns out, isn’t easy to quantify either.

The third section of the book explains how to get started, in necessarily broad brush strokes. Again, you won’t see an org. chart or a social media policy widget that you can plug into your business here: just the tools for you to build your own.

No Bullshit Social Media is focused and filled with useful statistics and anecdotes that make a strong case for social media marketing. Throughout, the tone is a bit blustery for my taste (using words like “ass” and “suck” more than most business books), but the common-sense, real-world focus is a plus. It’s ironic that a book with “no hype” in its subtitle takes great lengths to demonstrate how bullshit-free it is–which, in my book, is a form of hype. It’s kind of like the guy you work with who is genuinely talented but has a few idiosyncrasies; if you can look past them and work with him, you’ll really be rewarded. It’s a really good guide to using social media marketing in real-world businesses.

The first, Biggest Story of 2011–Six Nominees, breaks down what I think were the six biggest stories of 2011.

The second, The Las Vegas Hilton: Looking Back, takes a look…back at the history of the Las Vegas Hilton, which as of Tuesday became “LVH–The Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.”

So if you want a look at recent and not-so-recent history, that’s about 4,000 words worth of history for you to read.

One of the weaknesses the site has had has been how it displays on mobile devices. Muddling around the WordPress plug-in site, I stumbled upon WPTouch, which automatically creates a smartphone-friendly version of the site for mobile devices. I really like it, and I wish that I’d looked into this two years ago.

I’ve added something new: an Amazon store. Right now, I’ve just got a link in the navigation bar above, but I’ll integrate it better into the site in the coming days. I started by just putting my books in there, but I’m going to add books by people I interview and other friends, as well as books I review.

As always, I still want to improve the site and showcase my work better, so if you’ve got comments or problems, share them. The one issue that I’m most aware of isn’t with this site–it’s a podcast problem that, as best I can figure out, has something to do with UNLV’s server. I’m going to talk to the UNLV web folks this week and try to find a solution. But if you’ve got anything to share about this site, please let me know.

Thanks for reading!

Thord Daniel Hedengren. Tackling Tumblr: Web Publishing Made Simple. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. 258 pages.

When I got the chance to review a book about Tumblr, I figured I’d give it a shot. I’d heard about the web publishing platform and thought it might be a good fit for a project I’m working on. Tumblr, it turned out, was a lot less flexible than I’d hoped so my experiment with it lasted about three days (switched back to WordPress), but I got a book review out of the endeavor.

In TACKLING TUMBLR, Thord Daniel Hedengren provides novice users with an introduction to the blogging/mini-blogging service. He starts out by explaining just what Tumblr is–and isn’t. Although he clearly believes that it’s a versatile platform, he admits that it’s not for everyone, and in his first chapter provides the low-down on a few Tumblr rivals. Hedengren has also written about WordPress, so he’s clearly got an understanding of the broader blogging world.

Hedengren then walks you through several initial steps: setting up a Tumblr account, creating a blog (or several), and using your own domain name. The last is particularly valuable, because while Tumblr lets you use a custom domain for blogs they host without an additional fee (which WordPress.com does not), they don’t provide any support for the feature.

That’s where much of the value of books like TACKLING TUMBLR lie. You could probably figure most of this stuff out yourself or google to find answers for problems, but this book gives you most of the answers in one place, clearly laid out for you. It’s not a bad thing to have if you’re doing this for the first time.

After you’ve set up your account and started your blog, Hedegren tells you how to change the theme, connect Tumblr to other social networking services, and modify themes using html and css. The final chapter walks you through creating your own theme from scratch.

All in all, this is a good guide to Tumblr. It’s clearly written and has some helpful information. Unfortunately, between the time the book went to press and now, Tumblr changed its dashboard, so not everything is where Hedegren says it is, or is called by the same name. That’s one of the dangers of publishing a paper books guide to something as dynamic as a web publishing system, which can change overnight. But if you’re willing to do a little exploring on your own, this is a good introduction to Tumblr.

The bigger question is whether Tumblr is right for you. For what I wanted, which was a prose-heavy, content-driven blog site, it wasn’t a good fit, but if you just want to communicate in a way that’s longer than Twitter but shorter than a full-on blog post, this could be a good fit.

The opposition of Adelson, who has solid political connections, particularly within the Republican party, would seem to render that possibility moot.Or does it?

Politics is only part of the online gambling equation, and, despite current appearances, not necessarily the most important part. A comparison with Prohibition, which banned alcohol in the 1920s, is instructive.

via Las Vegas Business Press :: David G. Schwartz : Prohibition may offer lessons for Net gaming.

I wrote this well before last Thursday…a week before, to be precise. That’s when the echo chamber was reverberating with news that Adelson was morally opposed to online poker. The “consensus” was that online poker was dead in the water.

But, as we saw, the politicians haven’t had the last word on this–at least, Congress hasn’t.

I’ve been saying for years now that the best way to handle online gaming is to let states regulate it. As with horse racing, states can decide on their own if they want to legalize online poker, then figure out how to split the revenues among themselves. And it looks like that’s where we’re headed.

On December 22, 2011, the Nevada Gaming Commission adopted amendments to its regulations that make possible the licensing and operation of online gambling operations within the state. Specifically, these regulations were amended:
• Regulation 3 (Licensing): Adds “operator of interactive gaming” and “service provider” to the list of entities that have to report “qualifying employees” to the Board.
• Regulation 4 (Applications): Creates three new categories of gaming license: manufacturer of interactive gaming systems, operator of interactive gaming, and service provider.
• Regulation 5 (Operations): Adds a new section, 5.240 Service Providers, to the regulations that currently govern the gaming operations; creates classes of service providers, defines them, and elucidates the disciplinary framework
• Regulation 5A (Operations): A new regulation that outlines exactly how online gaming will be conducted in Nevada.
• Regulation 8 (Ownership): Adds “operator of interactive gaming license, or a service provider license” to the list of licensees who must report loan/lease transactions to the Board.
• Regulation 14 (Manufacturers, Distributors, Operators): Adds language about interactive gaming systems to the devices covered and mandates that games display the rake and wagering limits.

Nevada’s Online Gaming Regulations: Changes Adopted December 22, 2011

There’s a lot more, including lots of details of what’s included in the regulations. It’s an interesting five pages if you’re a fan of gaming regulation or want to play online poker in Nevada.

I then wrote a semi-opinion piece for Two Way Hard Three about the changes:

So what does all this mean? Basically, that Nevada casinos will be able to start offering online poker as soon as they can get their systems together and get them approved by regulators.

How is all of this going to happen? There are going to be two ways casinos will offer online poker:

1. By building (or buying, or partnering with the supplier of) an “interactive gaming system” themselves. They would own it outright and run it.

2. By contracting with an “interactive service provider” to do the same….

Nevada Online Poker: What Just Happened? Two Way Hard Three

On top of that, I wrote up the UNLV Center for Gaming Research December Update and then fielded a bunch of calls about the Department of Justice memo that says, “Sorry for the confusion, but the Wire Act only applies to sports betting.

I can hope that the Wire Act being in the news will trigger a surge of interest in my 2005 book on the statute, Cutting the Wire: Gambling Prohibition and the Internet, but I won’t hold my breath. It being so close to the holidays, I can’t think of any better way to celebrate than by giving an academic monograph on federal gaming law as a gift to your loved ones. I’m only half joking there.

UNLV is closed next week thanks to budget austerity measures, so I’ll say thanks to everyone for an interesting 2011 right now. I hope 2012 is even better for all of us.

In the wake of the Great Recession, nightclubs have been a crucial part of the identities and business plans of Las Vegas casinos. Major operators such as Wynn, the Venetian and even the storied Caesars Palace have made their clubs integral to their overall operations. Meanwhile, such resorts as the Palms and Hard Rock Hotel have built themselves almost from the ground up as party destinations. When clubs work, they generate buzz, foot traffic, ancillary casino gaming and food-and-beverage spending. But when they don’t, they can be a drag on a property.

via Reinventing the Party Machine | Vegas Seven.

It’s definitely a different aspect of the hospitality business, and one that, for the amount of money it brings in, generates surprisingly little literature. That might be by design.

Anyway, I had fun learning more about how nightclubs brand themselves, though it’s safe to say you won’t see me doing the bottle service thing anytime soon.