For the first time in forever, the famed Las Vegas Strip is closed for business amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Slot machines at Four Queens were still not fully operational as of midday Monday, March 2, 2020. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Slot machines, video poker and computers are down at the Four Queens and Binion’s on Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. (Elizabeth Brumley/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
The computer system, slot machines and video poker at the Four Queens and Binion’s in downtown Las Vegas were down on Friday afternoon, Feb. 28, 2020. (Elizabeth Brumley/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
The computer system, slot machines and video poker at the Four Queens and Binion’s in downtown Las Vegas were down on Friday afternoon, Feb. 28, 2020. (Elizabeth Brumley/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Japan is getting ready to issue three highly coveted gaming licenses. The country’s gaming market is estimated to be worth more than $25 billion a year once resorts open in 2025. If the estimates stand up, Japan would become the second-largest gaming market in the world behind Chinese gaming enclave Macau. MGM and at least eight other companies had been vying for the Japanese licenses. In 2019 Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. turned their attention to other areas. Caesars Entertainment Corp. dropped out of the race altogether. MGM teamed up with Japanese financial services group Orix for its bid for a gaming license. MGM/Orix group was the only one to participate in the RFP process. “We think MGM is in a very good position in Osaka at this point” – Union Gaming analyst John DeCree (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Next Gaming of Las Vegas is bringing classic video games, like Asteroids and Missile Command to casino floors. (Mat Luschek / Review-Journal)
The company consolidation of Eldorado Resorts and Caesars Entertainment would offer more than 51,000 rooms, 4 million square feet of gaming, 71,000 slot machines, 4,000 gaming tables and some 300 food and beverage facilities.
Casino operator Boyd Gaming Corp. has filed plans to build a new corporate campus. The plans call for two 10-story office buildings and a six-level parking garage in the southwest Las Vegas Valley. Boyd Gaming operates The Orleans, the Suncoast, downtown’s California Hotel and other properties. The new headquarters would be just a mile from its current main office building.
Caesars is using about 44,000 square feet inside The Linq Hotel to experiment with technology to attract younger audiences. (Todd Prince/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Everi had developed Shark Week slot machines, based on the popular Discovery Channel show, with plans to roll out the games before the end of 2018. (Mat Luschek/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
The popular Buffalo slot games by Aristocrat were created 10 years ago, and the latest version, Buffalo Diamond, was on display at the G2E Global Gaming Expo at the Sands Expo & Convention Center.
Konami unveiled its new Fortune Cup casino game — reminiscent of the cult classic Sigma Derby — on the floor of the G2E Global Gaming Expo at the Sands Expo & Convention Center on Wednesday.
Attendees at the 2018 G2E Global Gaming Expo discuss the show floor on the second day of the conference. (Bailey Schulz/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Skills-based games and new slot machine themes put a fresh face on an industry mainstay as the show floor opened at G2E at the Sands Expo & Convention Center. Pac-Man, Penn and Teller, and Mad Max competed for attention as the Golden Knights drumbots roamed the floor. (Mat Luschek/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Aristocrat Gaming introduced a “Mad Max Fury Road” slot machine on Tuesday at the G2E Global Gaming Expo at the Sands Expo & Convention Center.
Penn and Teller were at the G2E Global Gaming Expo on Tuesday as Everi introduced a new slot machine that featured video appearances and audio from the popular magic act. (Mat Luschek/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
A Golden Knights-themed slot machine was on display Tuesday at the G2E Global Gaming Expo as AGS showed two products that came out of a 3-year contract with the Knights. A video roulette game featuring a Knights helmet and an enormous slot machine were on the floor along with Knights cheerleaders, the Drumbots and Chance, the Knights’ mascot. (Mat Luschek/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
AGS is the nation’s second-largest manufacturer of Class II slot machines used primarily in tribal jurisdictions. It announced a marketing partnership with the Vegas Golden Knights NHL team. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Massachusetts’ first hotel-casino opens in downtown Springfield. The $960 million MGM Springfield has 252 rooms and 125,000-square-feet of casino. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
William Hill CEO Joe Asher comments on the Supreme Court decision to overturn a federal ban on sports gambling in states other than Nevada.
Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, has acquired the Hard Rock Hotel with partners and plans to turn it into a Virgin-branded property by the end of 2019.
Dan Lee, CEO of Full House Resorts, discusses investments the company has made in casinos outside of Nevada.
Buck Wargo interviews Brent Pirosch who is a gaming analyst with CBRE.
1. Two downtown Las Vegas casinos will open temporarily to preserve gaming licenses. The Las Vegas Club and Mermaids casinos must have casino play on the floor for at least 8 hours every two years to preserve a gaming license. United Coin Machine will set up slot machines in the two casinos in late June to help maintain the license.
2. Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that two dozen reputed Russian mobsters and associates were arrested on racketeering charges. Razhden Shulaya, the alleged leader of a Soviet mafia syndicate, was arrested in Las Vegas and is accused of running gambling, stolen goods and protection rackets in several states. Thirty-three defendants in total were charged in the indictment.
3. A Las Vegas judge posted and removed a doctored photo of herself with Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson. The photo was posted on Heidi Almase’s campaign Facebook page Tuesday night before it was quickly removed. Almase’s campaign manager Jennifer Barrier says she is close family friends with Johnson, but did not have authorization to post the image.
Matt Youmans, Aaron Kessler (filling in for Kelly Stewart) and Tony Miller give their picks for NFL and college football for week eight.
Matt Youmans, Kelley Stewart and Tony Miller give their picks for NFL and college football for week seven.
Matt Youmans, Kelley Stewart and Tony Miller give their picks for NFL and college football for week five.
Matt Youmans, Kelley Stewart and Tony Miller give their picks for NFL and college football for opening week.