Mass Gov Pushes Casino Bill - Will it Pass?

Just not sure at this point if we're going to see a casino bill pass this July in Mass. Gov. Deval L. Patrick said Thursday that legislators should approve a casino bill that he can support or one that can withstand a veto, but he emphasized he wasn't threatening a veto. How about trying to get this thing done and get some jobs for Mass citizens?

"As they work through their differences, they also know they're going to have to either get something to me that I can support or they're going to have to send something to me with a veto-proof margin," the governor said.

"Now, we're not at the point of threatening a veto because they're not at the point of agreement," he added.

Via MassLive.com

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Casinos In Mass Being Discussed in Secret

Well - almost in secret. It seems to get the final bill done, they've locked out the naysayers and are wrapping stuff up behind closed doors.

A legislative conference committee was working behind closed doors last night to make a deal that would allow casino gambling in Massachusetts.

One member of the conference committee, Senate President Pro Tempore Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, said keeping the talks private would be the best way to produce a compromise.

At EagleTribune.com

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Nevada Casino Winnings Down 5.7% in April - Yuck

That's right folks - things are still down in Vegas. COME ON PEOPLE - Gamble! Hehehe. Regulators say monthly casino winnings in Nevada decreased 5.7% in April, to a little more than $810 million, compared with the same month a year ago.The state Gaming Control Board reported Wednesday that state tax collections based on those winnings was just under $40 million, or 23.4% less than last year.

More at Nevada Casino Winnings Down 5.7% in April

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Poor People Spend 9 Percent Of Income On Lottery Tickets and Keno

Is this really a surprising number? When you have so little, you gamble a bit to think about getting rich, and well it leads to poor tracking of how much you spend right? Right.

The study neatly illuminates the sad positive feedback loop of lotteries. The games naturally appeal to poor people, which causes them to spend disproportionate amounts of their income on lotteries, which helps keep them poor, which keeps them buying tickets.

Via The Consumerist

At Frontgate

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Hard Rock Considers Boutique Style Atlantic City Casino

With New Jersey saying it will downsize the requirements from 60,000 square feet for a casino to 20,000 feet and also the number of hotel rooms a casiono needs to have, Hard Rock International said it's considering building a casino hotel in Atlantic City with Och- Ziff Real Estate after a New Jersey lawmaker proposed allowing smaller developments at the seaside resort.

The first phase of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino would cost about $300 million, excluding land, and be located at the beachfront at the intersection of Albany Avenue and the Boardwalk, the company said today in a statement.

Via BusinessWeek

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The City Beneath Las Vegas - Life in the Las Vegas Tunnels

We've covered this before, but Austin Hargrave has captured a ton of really amazing pictures of this dark and screwed up world. You'd think with all the money this wouldn't happen in Las Vegas - a city with enough temptations to make even one week in it tiring for mind, body, and soul. Despite that exhausting nature though, some crave to be there—even if forced to live underneath it all.

More pictures at Life Beneath the Epitome of Sin

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Online Gambling Under Renewed Scrutiny - Go Figure

Like this is a big surprise according to Information Week Congress has begun to grapple with the thorny issue of online gambling and Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has indicated he'll push new legislation that will legalize some forms of online gambling while regulating the practices at the same time.

At Frank's House Financial Services Committee hearing Thursday, supporters and opponents of Internet gaming alternately advocated for and condemned online gambling, which is said to add up to $16 billion a year with most of that figure coming from U.S. bettors.

Via InformationWeek

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Prof's Las Vegas News Blog - Las Vegas Gets Posted There

We thought we'd tip our hat to the Las Vegas Blog. We get their updates via email and the web each week - and they're awesome. Yep - if you want daily Vegas news - the Las Vegas Blog is for you. Recent stories include:

• Garth Brooks out of retirement, in Las Vegas
• Las Vegas Halloween Photos 2009 Hi-Rez Free
• Cobra, Mustang auctioned in Las Vegas for over $300,000
• Palazzo/Venetian takes flight with Southwest Airlines
• Paranormal Activity followup filming in Las Vegas

At Prof's Las Vegas News Blog - Las Vegas Gets Posted Here

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Homeless People Live in Tunnels Under Las Vegas

Nightline just did a segment on the underground tunnels in Las Vegas that are home to thousands of homeless people. The segment is both amazing and horrifying. In a city with so much money - why are the homeless options to live underground in filth?

Millions of tourists walk up and down the Las Vegas strip every year, looking to have fun and make some money. But beneath the flashing lights, there is a much darker side of Las Vegas.

Underneath Sin City's most famous casinos is a secret world: a labyrinth of tunnels that run for miles under the Las Vegas Valley. Built to protect the desert city from flash floods, the tunnels have become home to hundreds of Las Vegas' homeless.

Nightline visited the underground world beneath the Las Vegas strip, with Matthew O'Brien, author of "Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas," as our guide.

Video at Las Vegas Strip Home to Homeless

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Gambling Revenue Down Across U.S. - Las Vegas Down 15 Percent in June

Yep - it's not looking like a very HOT summer in Las Vegas or other casinos across the US. Things should rebound once we have jobs, money, a home to stay in - etc. :-)

Gambling revenue is no longer a sure thing for many states.

In yet another sign of the recession's toll on the U.S. economy, eight of the 12 states that allow commercial gambling, including Nevada, experienced declines in revenue, the Wall Street Journal reports.

In 2008, states' take from casinos was down 2.2 percent to $5.7 billion, according to the American Gaming Association, and casinos as a whole earned roughly $33 billion, down 5 percent from the previous year's total.

At Gambling Revenue Down Across U.S. - Gambling Casinos Profits Down - WKRG.com

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Sprint Offering 4G Network to Las Vegas Residents

How cool is that? If you live in Vegas you'll be able to tap into the new Spring 4G Network at speeds of 3 to 6 mbps. WOOT! I can imagine doing some video calls and other cool phone things while taking a break from a winning streak in Black Jack.

Sprint customers in Vegas might be claiming "Jackpot!" right now, as they will be among the first in the U.S. to experience Sprint's 4G network starting this August. Sprint claims the 4G speeds are three to five times faster than 3G, with a peak downlink speed of more than 10Mbps and an average of 3 to 6Mbps. Sprint's 4G services are running on Clearwire's WiMax network, which is no surprise considering Sprint's 51 percent stake in the WiMax company.

Via CNET

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Vegas Restaurants in Trouble - Recession Woes

The New York Times has posted an amazing article detailing the woes of Vegas restaurants in the recession. The big woes really belong to all the displaced and out of work waiters and staff.

IN the late, lamented boom, waiters at luxury restaurants here could make $150,000 a year and more thanks to the electrifying arrival of high rollers renowned as “the whales.”

Robert Martinez, a 33-year-old waiter at Rao’s in Caesars Palace, said these heavyweights “had wads of $100 bills and gave them to everyone on the staff, and tipped generously on $12,000 to $15,000 checks.”

But now, said Kevin Carter, a 49-year-old waiter at Craftsteak in the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, “the whales have migrated.”

At For Chefs in Las Vegas, the Odds Grow Longer - NYTimes.com

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Luck running low in Las Vegas - Will it Turn Around?

There's a really interesting article over at CNN. Seems like luck and money is running out in Las Vegas, and this means more than just cheap rooms.

A search online turns up rooms at Fitzgeralds Casino and Hotel for as low as $26 -- a sure sign the recession is taking a toll on Las Vegas and rates are being slashed to attract visitors.

Judy Bagley, a casino cashier who traded chips for cash and vice versa, found out about recession's toll another way.

"My supervisor came and said I had to close the booth and she was going to count me out and I was to go and meet with the manager and director," Bagley told CNN. "When I went up there they said my services were no longer needed and my job was being eliminated."

So three months ago, after more than 28 years at Fitzgeralds, she was out of work.

"It felt like I was more or less stabbed in the back after all the years I had been there," Bagley said. "I'd been very loyal to the company and never called in sick and I have very little discipline [issues] and it felt like betrayal."

At King: Luck running low in Las Vegas - CNN.com

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New Bill May Make Online Gambling Legal in the US

Let's hope this passes - come on Mr. Frank!

In a move that shows the US Congress aren’t all misguided and shooting in the dark, a new bill that would overturn the 3-yr old ban on Internet gambling was introduced last Wed.

The new bill, titled “Internet Gambling Regulation Consumer Protection & Enforcement Act” would allow the US Treasury to regulate the industry instead of the current practice.

As representative Frank puts it “The government should not interfere with people’s liberties.” Well said.

For those that disagree, consider this - if we’re going to ban online gambling, shouldn’t we ban other forms of gambling as well?

Via Gizmos for Geeks

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