Green Felt Journal
Green Felt Journal
South Point Puts It On (the) Line
September 6th, 2012
On Aug. 23, the Nevada Gaming Commission approved the South Point’s application to run a legal online poker room—the first Nevada casino to be granted such a license. We are on the cusp of writing history. So what’s really going on with the operation, which will probably start accepting real money bets on poker before Halloween? Read more »
Green Felt Journal
The End of Empire-Building?
August 23rd, 2012
The American gaming scene is changing. Call it maturation, or an adaptation to the post-recession, long-recovery economy, but the industry is shifting. For the past generation, expansion has been the rule, not the exception. That’s not the case anymore, and Las Vegas will have to adjust to a new paradigm. Read more »
Green Felt Journal
A Boardwalk Homecoming
August 9th, 2012
The Atlantic City I left was on the other side of history: a city left for dead, one that maybe, someday, might come back. Like Las Vegas, it blew up its past; some of my earliest memories were the implosions of the grand Boardwalk hotels. But this wasn’t replacing the Dunes with Bellagio. Old Atlantic City—the Traymore, the Marlborough-Blenheim, Million Dollar Pier—hadn’t been improved upon; gold had been replaced with concrete and red neon, when anything was built at all. Unlike Las Vegas, you never could shake the sense that you were one or two generations from the golden age Read more »
Green Felt Journal
Debt Matters
July 19th, 2012
It’s the dark matter of the Las Vegas casino business: there, but not readily apparent to the naked eye. You can spy reflections of it in deferred maintenance and longer check-in lines on the Strip. It’s casino debt, and it could remake the Strip over the several next years. Or not. Like other businesses, casino operators borrow money for a variety of reasons: to cover start-up costs, to expand and to keep up appearances. When revenues keep pace with borrowing, that’s not a problem. Read more »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Green Felt Journal
Electric Daisy Economics
June 7th, 2012
Generally speaking, if you want to bring an event to Las Vegas, the town is happy to oblige, provided you do three things: 1. Fill rooms with people who … 2. Open their wallets and … 3. Don’t disturb the other paying guests. Read more »
Green Felt Journal
Here’s One Trip Worth Taking
May 24th, 2012
VegasTripping.com isn’t a marketing mouthpiece. It’s not trying to sell you anything. And that might be why it’s become an Internet sensation. Read more »
