The Global Gaming Expo’s trade show in Las Vegas last week seemed more like Disneyland than Bellagio. The technology available to slot machine manufacturers has allowed developers and designers to create games that are a combination of amusement park rides and gambling devices.
Native American casinos have come a long way from the time, some 20 years ago, when tribes began offering casino-style gaming mostly in unattractive prefabricated buildings.
Owners of the bankrupt Hooters Hotel will have a chance to find a financial savior. A bankruptcy court judge Wednesday approved hiring Innovation Capital LLC to find investors willing to put tens of millions of dollars into the off-Strip property. The judge turned aside a legal maneuver by the largest creditor in the case that would have cleared the path to take over the hotel.
Patti Hart, chief executive officer of slot machine giant International Game Technology, had to endure a couple of body blows from fellow panelists Wednesday during a Global Gaming Expo roundtable discussion by female executives. The casino execs expressed reluctance to replace older slot machines with some of the newer games displayed in the G2E’s trade show.
While casinos evolve their marketing programs to include social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, technology and gaming companies have recognized the value of those networks for game distribution.
South Point casino launched a free play Internet poker website Wednesday, but owner Michael Gaughan hopes it’s just a beginning. The website will offer cash and noncash prizes to poker players, including trips to the 2,200-room hotel-casino on the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard to compete in live poker events.
The growth of gambling over the last 20 years has been remarkable, as the industry has transformed itself from a business of sin into a mainstream industry thanks largely to the growth of tribal casinos and state lotteries, panel participants at this week’s Global Gaming Expo said.
Comedian-magician Penn Jillette promised organizers of the Global Gaming Expo that he would refrain from profanities and blasphemy during his keynote address Tuesday at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. Jillette acknowledged that he does not drink alcohol or favor games of any kind, “but I also believe everybody who wants to gamble should be allowed to do so.”
