Opinion
Why Double Action Roulette Will Catch On
July 5th, 2012
Lower labor costs will be the key to Double Action Roulette's success. Read more »
The Latest Thought
No, You Don’t Need Your Own Nonprofit
Making a difference starts with the realization that it’s not about you
July 5th, 2012
Maybe it’s the ego-tinged duality of do-goodism: There’s charity, and then there’s being known for one’s charity. Or maybe it’s an extension of managing one’s money well: If I’m going to give money to a cause, I want to be super sure that every penny goes exactly where I want it to go, not wasted on unnecessary office supplies or staff outings. Read more »
Green Felt Journal
How to Set a Fresh Table
July 5th, 2012
No one knows if Double Action Roulette will be the next Three-Card Poker or will disappear after its evaluation (early reports are favorable). But it’s crucial to the casino business that Richard Fitoussi and those like him keep fighting the good fight. Because even though most games never make it on the casino floor, those that do offer enough novelty to keep the business moving forward. And that is the only way, in the long term, it will continue to have appeal. Read more »
The Latest Thought
Character Assassination
A costumed menace on the Strip? This sounds like a job for the Copyright Gestapo.
June 28th, 2012
No, the most unsavory thing I’ve recently encountered while walking the Strip—the one thing that gets my blood going—is that rat bastard Mickey Mouse. I wish I knew how it happened or why, but sometime between when I left Las Vegas in 2002 and when I returned last month, this town became infested with people—drunk men, mostly—dressed up like superheroes, pirates, ninjas, anime sprites and, yes, Disney characters. Read more »
Comrade Grumpy’s Peeve of the Week
Sheep Art
June 21st, 2012
It always scares me. I’m driving down I-15 near Russell, and suddenly (and repeatedly) a massive bighorn sheep jumps out at me. I brake and doubletake. WTF is a massive bighorn sheep—or a horse; is that a horse next to that sheep?—doing so close to the freeway? Read more »
The Latest Thought
Siegel’s Shadow
Sixty-five years after Bugsy got whacked, an old associate’s got some theories to share
June 21st, 2012
The police never solved Bugsy Siegel’s murder. There is no shortage of suspects or theories; Siegel was a violent man in a brutal world with more than his share of enemies. Estes Kefauver, chairman of the U.S. Senate’s early-1950s mob-busting committee, thought that a squabble over the race wire doomed Siegel. Or it might have been his role in a Mexican heroin-trafficking operation gone bad. Bernie Sindler has his own theory: Siegel, always a volatile man, got abusive with Hill one time too many; she fled to Europe, but not before one of her six brothers, a marine with an expert rifleman’s badge stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., vowed his revenge. Read more »
Green Felt Journal
Are Bartenders the New Dealers?
June 21st, 2012
For decades, becoming a casino dealer was a guaranteed ticket to a middle-class income, even without the benefit of a college education or long vocational training. But because of changes in technology and in the casino business itself, bartending is looking more and more like the new deal for post-recession Vegas. Read more »
The Latest Thought
Cancer Makes a Killing
Have we turned a disease into a celebrity?
June 14th, 2012
Cancer is a rock star. I want to hire cancer’s PR firm. The damn thing has diversified, outsourced, broken into every market. It has clothing lines, houseware accessories, those fucking annoying rubber bracelets that give adolescent boys the excuse to sport “I ♥ boobies” on their wrists. Cancer pushes magnet ribbons of varied hue and trinkets that would be the envy of any swag-bag-toting conventioneer. Even firearms distributors are trying to profit from cancer’s PR glow. Now you can rob the corner store while raising awareness of breast cancer with your pink-slide Walther “Hope Edition” handgun. We just love cancer. Read more »
Inside the Friday Effect
June 12th, 2012
The April numbers for Nevada gaming are in, and at first blush they look fantastic ... but a closer examination reveals the disappointing truth: Things were actually only so-so in April. Read more »
The Latest Thought
Breaking the Spell
It’s time to teach the DJ culture to mind its ABCs and 123s
June 7th, 2012
Is this going to be one of those grumpy-old-man commentaries?” Read more »
