Wynn resorts announced recently that the Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously approved Wynn Las Vegas LLC and all of their key employees to engage in gaming activities in Las Vegas.
Furthermore, the Clark County Liquor and Gaming License Board gave their blessings on March 22nd.
Yeah, there's no surprise here. But can you imagine how boring the place would've been on opening night, April 28th, if the approval hadn't come? No casino and no bar equals no fun.
According to a recent MarketWatch article, poker sites are the Net's fastest growing business.
The latest statistics indicate that there are now over 1.8 million people playing poker on-line around the world. Sites have taken in over $1.4B in the past year which makes it the fastest growing segment of the on-line $9B gaming industry.
Since nobody can say for sure whether or not it is legal to gamble on-line in the USA, it's hard to say if players are taking a risk when they play. This is why it is important for the US Government to take a stand once and for all. Either make it legal so that people can enjoy the pastime without having to worry about breaking the law or ban it so that people can understand the risk and make an educated decision on whether or not they want to play.
The longer our government drags their feet on the issue, the bigger the “problem” will become. And at some point, perhaps a time that has already passed, the practice of on-line gaming will have grown too big for anyone to stop it.
The poker bill we discussed last month from North Dakota which would have introduced a form of Online Poker regulation within the state was folded by the state's senate. It had already passed through the House, but failed in the senate by a 43-3 vote.
Supporters felt it would help regulate an industry and prevent minors and gambling addicts from accessing online poker sites. Dissenters sited the fact that many online poker rooms would simply operate unregulated anyway, and thus the bill would have no impact.
Most sadly, however, is that this bill could have further clouded the central issue of is online poker legal. Presumably, it would have established the legality of poker - at least within North Dakota.
What? Did you say Woman Poker Player? Yes, it is true, the 96% male-dominated card game does attract a few from the female sex. If you happen to be either one of the female poker players that actually reads the Cruzino Blog, you may want to check out Woman Poker Magazine, a new magazine targetting "women who enjoy the sport of Poker".
While we're discussing it - do women have an advantage over men when playing poker? We know that there are a lot more men playing than women, and a lot more men winning. But I do think women have an advantage. Especially in the friendly family game of poker. I've seen all too often that some men are intimidated by the women at the table - either because they need to prove their manliness, or because they don't expect the woman to play well, or because they flirt and completely change their tells due to the woman sitting at the table. Not all male players are affected, of course! But if some are, it gives the woman an edge if all else is equal.
If you are wondering how much casino lobbyists impact our government, you may want to check out opensecrets.org, the lobbyist tracking site. This is a great site that tracks who bribes donates to whom.
According to opensecrets, casino and gambling supporters donated a total of about $10M last year to our legislators. 52% of the money went to democrats and 48% to republicans. This is down since 2004, when donations were over $12M from these groups.
More interesting, however, is the rise in donations from Indian casino groups, which has risen from $4M in 2000 to over $7M in 2004. And Indian Casino supporters send 71% of their money to democrats, only 29% to republicans.
Conclusions that can be drawn from this? Republicans and Democrats are equally swayed by casino groups, except when it comes to Indian gaming, in which case the democrats favor the practice more.
In an ongoing effort to provide you with news and commentary that affects the casino industry, Cruzino.com is proud to bring you breaking news about the latest GoldenPalace.com purchase.
On March 22nd, GoldenPalace placed the winning bid on an eBay auction for a Dorito Chip that looks just like the Pope's hat.
In an effort to promote the item, the sellers developed a website to share this "miracle" with the world. On this page are a variety of items including a link to download "The Pope Hat Chip Song", pictures of the crunchy headwear, a store where you can buy all sorts of Pope Chip items, links to news reports about the chip and so much more.
I will now begin my search for a Cheeto that looks like Noah's Ark or a Pretzel in the shape of the Star of David. This seems like the only sure-fire way to make money off of a casino!
According to The Gambling Press, Integrity Casinos announced that they'll be conducting an audit of all of their player's accounts to determine which players simply have been establishing an account for the free new member bonus payout that most online casinos offer.
Speculation has been circulating that Integrity may be facing financial difficulties while others claim they're simply trying to fight the abuse these so-called "sharp" players have been getting away with.
Casinos owned by Integrity include Captain Cooks Casino, Kingdom Casino and Classic Casino.
I can't help but wonder why anyone would have a problem with a company taking steps to protect their assets? After all, the casinos offer these bonuses to attract potential players - not to give free handouts to people who have no intention of playing with them. Good for Integrity for showing some!
Anyone who enjoys playing slot machines has fantasized at some point what it would be like to hit a jackpot. Well, some lucky bastard just became the latest slot machine millionaire.
Russell Sears was at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on March 20th when he was trying to decide if he should keep playing a $1 Wheel of Fortune slot machine or should just go to bed. Turns out he made the right decision as he spun a winning combination and won $4.1 Million!
When asked what he would do with the money, the 59 year old New Yorker said he would be looking into moving up his retirement as soon as he got back home. Not bad!
In their latest bizarre eBay purchase, GoldenPalace.com has bought the right to be crowned King and Queen of Conconully Testicle Festival. For a bid of just over $1,200, they've won all sorts of prizes and the honor of being King and Queen. GoldenPalace's CEO claimed that they did it just because it was good for them to participate in local events. Maybe. Or maybe they just wanted people to acknowledge that they have balls.
I'm actually a bit happy to read that the Pomo Indians have scrapped plans to build a slot-machine casino in San Pablo. San Pablo isn't too close too me, but its closer than I want. I guess in some ways I'm a not-in-my-back-yard casino supporter. I can go into more about that later.
But, as I read through the various press releases and news articles on Indian gaming, online gaming, state laws, and federal laws, some things are very clear:
1. States don't really want casinos
2. Casino operators want more casinos
3. State legislators want more tax dollars
4. Casinos are a safer political bet than raising taxes
5. Lawmakers are not fiscally motivated or intelligent enough to make good deals for our state.
Items 1-4 are obvious. But #5 is what every tax payer needs to know. When it comes to doing big-business deals with casino operators, our politicians and legislators are just not equipped for the job.
The San Pablo example is one of many. The state looked to get a small piece of the pie from the casino. The casino evaluated the deal on its financial merit and concluded it was not a deal. The financial analysis was completely done by the casino, not by the Schwartzenegger or the lawmakers. Lawmakers just figure out how much they *want* from the deal, and say take it or leave it. But that is pretty simplistic negotiating, and not financially prudent. Part of this may be that legislators are somewhat ambivalent about gaming overall, and part of it is certainly that the casino operators don't want to deal with the uncertainty of the government in their shorts.
But, if California wanted to be smart, it would need to do a few things. First, outlaw all gaming. This way, the casino operators can't retreat to "safe" types of gaming. Second, we'd then have to make specific carve outs with extremely high taxes. Now, because the casino operators would have no alternatives other than to leave the state entirely, the state would finally be in a negotiating position. Unfortunately, lawmakers don't understand how to negotiate with businesses, and as such, can never put effective pressure on a competitor to acheive the desired outcome.
Again, for me, I'm probably happy anyway. For now I'm just glad there aren't slot machines jingling in my back yard.
Never seen a royal flush in play during poker? Well, check out this blog. He seems to be able to whip em out twice a day!
BTW - the odds of a royal flush in your hand are 0.003%. (there are 4324 combinations of royal flushes in 7 card poker games). The chances of a royal flush anywhere on the table turns out to be much greater. It just seems I'm usually not the one holding the right cards!
Empire Poker is ginving away 50 seats to the World Series Of Poker main event this year that will be held in Las Vegas in June.
The buy in for this event is $10,000. This year, the first prize from the event is expected to exceed $10million. To be eligible to win, you must go to Empire Poker, and sign up. Be sure to enter the bonus code EPCARDBONUS.
Online casino 888.com is planning for a possible IPO in the UK. CEO John Anderson states, "We have appointed CFSB (Credit Suisse First Boston) to look at a whole range of options for us, one of which obviously is an IPO." For more information, check out this article.
If you play home poker in some areas, you might want to get a vault for your pot. Sadly, a player was killed on Wednesday when two robbers decided to steal the pot from a Pompano Beach game.
Have you ever built a new home only to have decided that it was time to add on an additional section even before the construction was finished? Of course not. But that's what Steve Wynn has done with his new property in Las Vegas.
Wynn just announced plans for the currently empty plot of land located next to his nearly completed, $2.7B casino, "Wynn Las Vegas". Plans include a new 2,000 suite tower, another casino, convention space and "other ammenities". If all goes as planned, the total number of rooms he'll have at this new resort will be around 4,700.
How would you feel staying in one of the newest rooms on the strip only to have to live with 24/7 construction noise going on outside your window?
The Reno Peppermill Casino announced this week that its hosting its next BLT Keno Tournament on Saturday April 23, 2005.
Players should bring $500 for their buy in (which includes two nights in a tower hotel room and four $20 food credits), and also knowledge that Keno has just about the largest house-edge of any casino game known to man....
But, you do get a nice stay in Reno for the weekend, and the chance to have a little fun guessing numbers.
According to bloomberg, Wynn Resorts is offering to build a $1.5B casino in Singapore. The proposal is one of 19 competing bids. Other bidders include MGM Mirage, and Las Vegas Sands. The "winner" will be announced in April.
Of course, this is nothing compared to the $2.7B project he's completing in Las Vegas.
Perhaps no city has seen as much change as Las Vegas has over the past 30 years. What started as a dusty town with a few scattered casinos for those building the Hoover Dam, soon became a risky town run by individuals with Mafia connections, and then turned into a corporate run Disneyland for adults.
Through these changes, people started to look at Vegas differently. Some felt that the change was good as it brought a more modern, high tech feel to it. Others felt that with every new casino attraction and mega-resort, Vegas was losing the character that made it so great. Now again, change is in the air.
A couple of days ago, the shareholders of Caesars Entertainment and Harrah's approved the merger of these two companies into one. But what does this mean for Vegas and the rest of the gaming community? Plenty!
1) There will be less competition in Vegas as there are now fewer casino companies in control. Take into consideration the MGM/Mirage and Mandaly Resorts merger, and that adds up to even fewer companies.
2) Fewer hotel owners will equal higher hotel room rates.
3) Fewer casino managers will mean that casinos will have fewer reasons to offer comps and various promotions to attract players. After all, if you don't like Casino A, you'll just go across the street to Casino B which is also owned by them.
4) Vegas casinos could lose the uniqueness they each hold now. Wouldn't it be easier/more economical to run each establishment like the others?
5) It will be difficult for new competition to become established. Whenever anyone tries, what would stop the multi-billion dollar companies from flexing their political muscle to put the squeeze on the newcomer?
Don't get me wrong - I love Vegas! And I love many of the individual casinos that line the Strip. But it's this love that I have that makes me worry about what the future holds.
One thing is for sure - The days of 99 cent breakfasts, $1 shrimp cocktails and liberal comps are a thing of the past. We can only hope that the little things we take for granted won't begin to disappear as merger-mania continues.
Without Pink to entertain at their casinos, how do they "get the party started" at Casino Poker Tables?
Well, like with everything else in life, they pay people. "Prop Players" is the name given to the folks that are paid to sit at the poker table and play and get the poker games rolling. These players are paid to play, but the money that they win or lose at the table is their own money. They have no house advantage.
So, if you were a casino, where your target audience is the 21-35 year old single male, who would you hire as your Prop Players? Well, pretty women, of course. I'm definitely not saying that women of poker are just there for their looks, mind you! (Read this for proof!) I'm just saying that a casino might find these people very effective. Still, I suspect most prop players are actually male...
Anyway, if you want to read the experiences of a real-life cute and sassy prop player, who happens to also write a fantastic Poker blog, go check out http://www.poker-babe.com/.
If you are curious what Indian casinos look like, one successful one to check out is that of the Seminoles in Florida. They own and run a set of themed casinos, including the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa and the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL.
How much do they make?
Since opening in March, 2004 and May, 2004 respectively, both casinos have done extremely well - attracting 20,000 visitors per day and generating over $1B in annual revenues.
According to this article, that means that each of the 3,000 Seminoles in the tribe will receive about $42,000 per year, free health care, and college tuition. This amount may increase as the casinos do well.
Taxes
Maybe the only good news is that the IRS is investigating the tribes having recently sold $345 million worth of tax-free municipal bonds to fund yet two more of their themed casinos. But that will likely hit the bond-holders, not the bond-sellers if the IRS determines it isn't tax-free.
Jealousy
Yeah, I'll be the first to admit I'm pretty damn jealous. I thought we lived in a land of freedom and equality, but apparently I'm not the right race to share in the propsperity of gambling.
With poker having been so heavily publicized by virtually every TV network and cable channel, more and more people are getting into the game. Some are traveling to the card rooms of Vegas, Atlantic City or just across town while others are deciding to begin hosting games in their own homes. While home games can be fun, there are risks which one should consider before they host their buddies.
1. Don't violate the law! Many states have laws prohibiting games such as poker being played in the privacy of your own home. The punishment can be as minor as a small fine or can be as big as time in jail and community service. You increase your chances of getting in trouble simply by charging a fee to cover costs or even by charging your guests for beers. You can check out the laws for your state at Gambling-Law-US.com.
2. Do it right. As we mentioned in another posting we did, a game will run a lot smoother and be a lot more fun if you have the right equipment. Be sure to have at least two decks of cards so that someone can shuffle one while the other it being used, have more than enough chips for the number of players you're hosting, and invest in either a good gaming table or, at the very least, a piece of felt you can lie across the breakfast table.
3. Be sure to have enough players. 6-8 people is good because the game can still continue should one or two need to leave. Having more than this can be too crowded.
4. Set smart limits. Don't encourage stakes which are more than you or your buddies can afford to lose. If anyone decides to up the ante with their car keys or wedding ring, reconsider whether your goal was to have a fun night of cards with the boys or a major financial disaster.
5. Don't take the money and run! Nothing is worse than a guy who wins a big pot then stretches and announces he's tired and is going home. A good rule is to agree to a quitting time at the beginning of the night. That way there will be no surprises and everyone will have a chance to win back their losses or go deeper into debt!
Information for this article was taken from Men's Health magazine, April 2005, pg 74.
Today on Bill's Blog you can read about his wishlist for poker software features.
While the poker software is reasonably good, I mostly agree with him that its lacking - particularly in notifications, watchlists, and instant messaging. I'd add regular messaging (ability to send/receive messages, start discussions, etc) as another weak area for the software.
It seems that there is such a "land-grab" going on right now for online poker, that the online sites are currently working on "get the site up and get players". And from a business model, that is probably the right thing to do.
But if software arrived that really did fix the gameplay problems, and also integrated notifications of games, players, tournaments, and specials such that you didn't have to weed through tons of random noise, I think it would fare pretty well!
One other feature I'd like to see would be a sidebar which showed all the details from the last hand. Each of the poker sites is sooo anxious to move to the next hand that you can hardly tell what happened.
Lastly, I'd like the game to auto-mark players I've already played against. It should keep track of when, where, and how we fared without my having to do anything. Some of the sites do allow you to pin notes to other players, but the interfaces so far are pretty clumsy.
I've been reading a lot about Poker Tracker software today. And I just tried it. I must admit, its pretty impressive. It works with most of the major poker sites, and it creates a database of your poker play. You can use this to determine how well you are playing, when you were really "gambling", and when you were going with the odds. Its a great way to reflect back on your play and learn about it.
To read the perspective of a more experienced poker tracker, read this.
If you use linux at home, you may be interested in what this site has to say. They've done a nice job summarizing which online casinos do work on Linux and which do not...
If someone were to ask you, "What is the biggest gaming area in the world?" you'd be correct in saying "Las Vegas". However, the correct answer will soon be changing to "Macau".
Where's Macau? It is a peninsular city located in southern China. And it is quickly turning into the Gambling capital of the world How big? Just look at the numbers:
Las Vegas Strip Casino Revenue (2004): $5.3B
Macau Casino Revenue (2004): $5.2B
Average Bet Per Hand in Macau: $85
Average Bet Per Hand in Las Vegas: $25
Average Table Revenue At The Sands Casino in Macau: $6,100 / day
Average Table Revenue at The Venetian in Las Vegas (Same Ownership): $3,050 / day
Number of Slots at The Sands Casino in Macau: 850
Number of Slots at The Venetian in Las Vegas: 2,000
Number of Tables at The Sands Casino in Macau: 360
Number of Tables at The Venetian in Las Vegas: Around 120
And the Chinese play more hands per hour as they insist cards are brought to the table already shuffled. Plus they play while drinking tea and warm milk instead of the free cocktails most gamblers slam down in excess in Vegas.
One can only wonder how long it'll be until Macau has erupting volcanos, dancing waters shows, an Eiffel Tower replica and other Vegas-type attractions.
If you watch the latest gambling news, you'll see that laws are in the works in North Dakota, Arkansas, Florida, and several other states to expand each state's stance on gambling. The opponents are concerned, rightly so, about how this affects our economy and does it send a set of poor people even deeper into the poor house.
But, so far, the bills are all passing, and treasury departments are lusting over their passage. Why? Because pretty much every state has budget problems. And money, ultimately, is what gambling is all about.
For a politician, raising taxes is a pretty good way to lose your next term. But gambling, well, nobody is going to fire you over gambling right now. People may not like it, but its an easy way to fix a budget crisis.
Now, my question is - why is every state in our nation facing a budget problem? Why do we constantly have budget problems year after year? I think the reason is that our governments are handicapped. Our government leaders are not as smart, and also not as motivated as the leaders in the corporate world. Corporate leaders walk all government all the time, and the government leaders actually walk away thinking they got a good deal. Take Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders and the city of Oakland. At the time he struck the deal to come back to Oakland, he got a sweetheart deal. The city just had to guarantee to sell a few expensive luxury seats, and the city would make tons of money. If the city couldn't sell them, well, tough luck, the city would take the loss and not big Al. (If you don't know, the city took a HUGE loss) This is just one example among many where the corporate world can do anything with government, because the politicians are just not skilled enough to handle it.
Gambling is going to go the same way. You know that lobbyists are pushing for legalization of gambling. They are probably telling the politicians "it will work", "you'll get lots of tax revenue", etc. But will that really happen? Or will the governments get almost nothing while the casino operators walk away with all the money? Sadly, I bet its the latter... At the end of the day, we'll have gambling in place, but the governments will still have their budget problems, and very little revenues coming in from gaming.
Sorry to be so pessimistic today!
Here's a shocker - According to Strategy One, an independent public research firm, 50% of Americans said they'd be willing to completely give up sex for one year in exchange for a big poker win. How much does "big" equal? For men willing to give it up, the pot would have to be at least $2.1M.
I'd have to say that it would be a long year, but the new Porsche that I could buy with just a bit of the $2.1M would be a nice way to pass the time!
Harrah's, an industry leader in the land-based casino business, has announced the closing of their UK-based LuckyMe.com online casino.
If I had to bet on which company could be successful with an online casino, I would've said Harrah's. They're leaders in most of their other gaming ventures and have some of the best executive staff in any industry. But the site, which has been open since November '03, closed after losing $9.4M in 2004.
The site was unique in several ways including that they charged a membership fee to the players and they used technology to block US based players from logging on.
While it is a shame to see Harrah's fail at this attempt, I still believe the online casino industry has a lot of growth ahead of it!
They're at it again! We've all heard about some of the crazy publicity stunts GoldenPalace.com. has done in the past to advertise their casino site. They were the ones who bought the Grilled Cheese sandwich that looked like the Virgin Mary from eBay, bought an "Evil Kermit Doll", paid someone to tatoo "GoldenPalace.com" permanently on their forehead and more. (You can view their page of strange purchases by clicking here.)
So what's their latest stunt? They just paid $5,600 for the right to name a baby boy! This is the world's first known sponsored birth. The mother is the same woman who they paid to print "GoldenPalace.com" across her pregnant stomach.
As part of the event, they decorated everything possible in the delivery room with their logo. Surgical masks, gowns, blankets, baby stuff and more. They even decorated the baby's room at home in a similar way!
The press release announcing the event said the child's name will be "Parker". Maybe when he turns 18 they can pay him a few bucks to change his name to "GoldenPalace.com". I'm sure they're already drawing up the documents!
Wynn Las Vegas has signed the last of its 10 premier chefs this week. The chef selected is Richard Chen, from the Shanghai Terrace at the Penninsula Chicago Hotel. He will run "Wing Lei", which means Wynn in Chinese.
Wynn Las Vegas is gearing up for its grand opening on April 28. Have you booked your rooms yet? Ah... too late.
North Dakota's senate is discussing a bill which would make North Dakota the first state to allow licensed, online poker sites. The bill is sponsored by Representative Jim Kasper. On Tuesday, the House approved 50-44 a resolution which will put this question on N.D.'s June ballot.
Its hard to tell if this bill is good or bad. It is certainly good that it is being discussed. And the state wants to regulate poker, which means that we may be able to better trust online poker sites. But, in its final form, this bill may also impose state taxes and bank charges which increase the overall cost of playing online in North Dakota. Will that just mean that players continue to play elsewhere? The opposition's arguments are the typical anti-gambling arguments, that it will encourage people who can least afford it to play.
In order to pass, the proposal will require an amendment to the North Dakota Constitution. That amendment was approved on Tuesday by the state House, but has not yet passed the Senate.
Sources:
Internet Poker Debate Continues
WPT Enterprises announced their results from the Q4, 2004 today. Revenues were at $5.7M compared to $379K last year. This yielded a net loss of $459K
I'd bet this is a good stock (Nasdaq:WPTE) for next year if it weren't for their stratospheric P/E ratio of 722! (And we thought google was overrated!)
Think you know a lot about casino slang terms? I thought I did too until I went to this FunTrivia page and took their "Casino Slang and Jargon" quiz. While I did score 8 out of 10, and I did do better than the average of 6/10, I really thought I would ace it!
If you want to learn a bunch of terms, check out the official web page for NBC's "Las Vegas" TV show. They list a bunch of terms which are fun to know.
Why is it that government agencies always look to gambling to solve their problems? Why should one industry be expected to rescue politicians who don't know how to spend our tax dollars within their means?
Just try to name a state lottery which doesn't give at least a portion of its proceeds to public education.
The latest example comes from the state of Louisiana. Like many states, Louisiana is looking for ways to pay for the over abundance of public programs they've put into place. Although the talks are still in the early stages, Louisiana casinos could soon face higher taxes which then means the casinos need to increase their revenues by increasing the house edge, raising room rates, or charging more for meals and entertainment. And if you're the type of player who gets comps, it'll probably become even more difficult to earn your fair share.
Considering that in 2003 gaming companies in the 11 states which offer commercial casinos paid over $4.3B on revenues of over $27B, one could easily argue that the casinos already pay more than their fair share. Wouldn't you complain if the government taxed you an additional 16% on top of the normal business taxes you already had to pay?
Let's hope that the government stops their greedy ways and treat the industry like any other legitimate business.
Source: TheStreet.com
One complaint that is coming up more and more in the press is the complaint from charity groups that creation of Indian Gaming sites will hurt charities. Why? Well, it turns out that 45 states allow some form of charitable gaming, and these fundraisers represent significant portions of the charities' overall revenues. When Indian Casinos open up, these local fundraising events allegedly are less successful.
North Dakota has been complaining of this recently. Apparently they run bingo halls for charities almost 24x7, and raise over $20M annually through these games.
I wonder if casinos really are a threat? Is there empirical evidence that indian casinos cause the charities to raise less? I suppose that if the charities run 24x7, then it might be true, as they will find it hard to compete with the real money spent on entertainment in a professional casino.
Here is an interesting article too.
According to this article, you'll have to dress nicely if you want to get into some parts of the Tropicana in Atlantic City after 11pm.
I think its a good idea!
Tonight there is a world poker tour event being hosted in San Jose at at Bay 101. If you are in the bay area, this is your chance to see the pros, and also a few celebrities. Spiderman, aka Tobey McGuire, will be there too.... See also the Bay 101 site.
ESPN is getting into the business of Poker. Its just a free online poker room for now. They say they'll fund the project through advertising and cross promotional sales.
Just yesterday we posted a couple of comments on Steve Wynn's new hotel, Wynn Las Vegas. But I found something out today that surprised me!
Have you seen the TV commercial he's been running for the last few weeks? If not, before you read any further, check it out here.
I remember thinking when I saw the ad for the first time, "Clever. It's amazing what they can do with computer animation nowadays!" Turns out it wasn't computer animated. He actually stood on top of the hotel right at the edge! Don't believe it? Go back to the TV Commercial link above and click on the "Was He? Or Wasn't He?" link on the right. Your doubts will be gone!
I love what Steve has done for Vegas and I respect the man more than any other business man. All I can say is that I'm glad it wasn't a windy day.
Personally, I have a fear of heights and could never do what he did!
In the land of legal gambling, Nevada is one of the few US states to NOT offer a lottery. I've always assumed that wouldn't change since the casinos probably wouldn't like the idea of the state competing with them. And since casinos are the #1 employer in Nevada and bring in so much revenue that there are no state taxes, why would the state threaten their biggest revenue generator?
Well, it looks like my assumption may have been wrong. Tomorrow (Monday, March 7th) Nevada's legislature will vote on whether or not they want to be the next Lottery state. The lottery ban has been in effect since 1864 when Nevada joined the union. Those in favor say that the extra revenues will help their public education system while those against are afraid to upset the casinos.
So what do you think? I think it's a mistake for the state to compete with the casinos. Why bite the hand that feeds you? If you have an opinion, please post it!
(Source: Reuters)
Looking for something different to do in Vegas? We all know about the gambling, fine restaurants, world class shows, pools and spas. Plus there are plenty of unique museums (Gambling Museum in the Tropicana, Imperial Palace Auto Museum, etc). But have you heard about the Barbershop at the Bellagio?
"The Salon at Belagio" is a unique shop which devotes itself to providing men with the ultimate shave. Using the finest products, the right temperature waters and soothing after-shave solutions, The Salon provides men with the ultimate shave and instructions on how to get the best shave at home.
Next time you're in Vegas, and the wife/girlfriend decides she wants to spend the day at a spa, head on over to The Salon and try a more masculine pampering! Prices start at $35 for a 30 minute shave. If that sounds expensive, ask yourself just how much you could lose in the casino playing for 30 minutes!
(Some of the above information provided by Avery Cardoza's Player Magazine.)
Just to lighten things up a bit on this weekend, thought I'd collect a few Poker Jokes to share:
Q: How do you get a professional poker player off your doorstep?
A: Pay him for the pizza.
Q: Why didn't the elephant play poker in the jungle?
A: Because there were too many cheetahs.
Q: What is the difference between a large pizza and a poker player?
A: The pizza can feed a family of four. The poker player can't.
Q: Whats the difference between a prayer in church and a prayer in the casino?
A: In the casino, you really mean it!
I found this blog (via BoingBoing), which is run by an alleged ex-casino cheater. He's now promoting his book about his experiences.
I guess this goes to show that book writing is a better business than trying to cheat in the casino.
NBC has announced it plans to produce its own Las Vegas-based poker tournament. (cred)
I guess this means we're getting mainstream!
At the end of the day, I'm not against legalized gambling. However, our system is completely screwed up. For most of our citizens, our laws clearly ban running of casinos. However, the Indian Casinos are a massive loophole in the system that is subverting our laws. What are we thinking?
Several problems exist. First, in order to accept Indian Gaming, you have to believe that American Indians today are somehow wronged and treated unfairly. For some reason, these people not only receive ridiculous government subsidies that most Americans don't get, but these people also get to make their own laws. How long is it before its legal to do crack cocaine on some Indian Reservation? Many Americans are victims of discrimination and hardship from the past. For Indians, its now been 200-300 years since their forefathers lost their land. Todays American Indians are no more "victimized" than you or I. African Americans arguably had an even tougher (and more recent) hardship than American Indians with slavery. Yet African Americans don't get to set their own laws. And they don't get extra subsidies either. Why do we think we owe American Indians anything whatsoever?
The next problem is that Indian Casinos would not exist were it not for big business coming into reservations, planning the casinos, subsidizing them, and then walking away with a majority of the profits. Don't be fooled into thinking that all this money gets pumped back into the tribes. It doesn't. One famous company which does exactly this is Lakes Entertainment, Inc. You've probably heard of them. They are also the creators of the World Poker Tour. The owner of this company is Lyle Berman, a definitely NON Indian, but he manages many indian casinos. He has been quoted saying, "We're the most successful company in Indian gaming".
And recognize that Indian Gaming is basically completely unregulated. The NIGC allegedly oversees what is going on, but the industry is known for loopholes to billion dollar business. The financials of most all Indian Casinos are closed books- we don't get to see how much they are making, who is getting paid, and how much really goes to the tribes. If we're going to be so naive as to think that we owe these people something, shouldn't we at least allow ourselves a little audit? Lets make sure that if we're treating a group of people as "special", that the special treatment is going to the right place.
Lastly, the worst offense in all this is taxes. Indians are allowed to run casinos in areas where they should be illegal, and then they don't even pay taxes on their profits! How is it that these people can consume products from the rest of our nation, and take money from the rest of our nation, and not contribute to the governmental overhead required to make it all exist? Its absolutely asinine to let this happen.
I don't blame the American Indians. We should take advantage of the laws which benefit us. Its not their fault - its ours. And it is definitely time that we start treating American Indians as equals. They are not dumb. They are not underprivileged. They are not unable to survive on their own. The injustices that occurred to their ancestors is now hundreds of years in the past. Allowing any group of people within the United States to be exempt from the laws of this nation is immoral, unjust, and against our very own constitution and bill of rights.
Some people will say that my statements here are to recommend recinding the sovereignty that "we" gave Indians long ago. They are right. They would probably say it was just "one more lie from the white man". But come on, these people are not sovereign. If they were, they would not need to travel outside of their nation for food, gasoline, equipment, supplies, and *everything* which maintains their existence. About the only thing produced in quantity on reservations is gambling. If they want to live as their ancestors did long ago, and hunt on the land, etc. That is fine. But if they want to run casinos, that is not indian culture. That is American culture. And the American culture pays taxes and abides by American laws.
If we were to continue to abide by the ridiculous laws that gave them sovereignty, when does it ever end? Is it forever? What about the other people that have been victims of injustice? I guess they lost the "lottery". They weren't Indian blooded.
References:
Time Magazine's Indian Casinos Reports
This is Time Magazine's report, so its a little less in depth. But overall, it sites excellent examples and is a good overview.
The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC)
This site is interesting, because it appears to be down, and has been down, for days. I suspect its their modus operandi.
Indian Scam
An article from the National Review Online.
Thunder in the Foothills - The State of Indian Gaming
A series of articles from the Reno Gazette Journal.
Casinos and Indian Sovereignty
Do Native Americans really have it bad as we think?
This blog raises a couple of great points about why its unfair to treat American Indians as special.
How
Funny article about special treatment for American Indians. A bit colorful - not to be read by the too serious or faint of heart.
"Indian Gambling" and Farm Subsidies
Takes the opposite view on Indian Gaming as myself.
I just found a program called Poker Spy, which is a pretty neat add on if you like to play poker. It basically just watches the behavior of other players and tries to classify their play. Some may call this cheating, but its not doing anything that you couldn't do yourself with a pad of paper and a lot of note taking.
Its a 1.4MB program, and it worked fine for me when playing against Party Poker. One bummer - it really doesn't do anything if you aren't playing for real $$.
Anyone else have experience with it?
I've been meaning to write a little about Wynn Las Vegas for a while. We've been anticipating the arrival of this new resort for quite some time - way back to when it was going to be titled "Le Reve" (and we need to update that page)!
But alas, our wait is finally almost over. The latest Steve Wynn resort will open next month. According to this article, its going to be a great place to work. So, if you live near Las Vegas, you may want to apply!
Several years ago, I shook Steve Wynn's hand. I'm sure he doesn't remember me. I wish it were worth a stay at his new hotel!
Well, the casinos are doing great. And here is further evidence that its going to continue:
Online gambling generated $9.2 bln in 2004, driven mainly by poker by ZDNet's IT Facts -- Gamblers lost $237 bln to gaming companies worldwide in 2004 and will be losing about $277 bln a year by 2008, according to investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. Online gambling has grown to $9.2 bln globally since its birth in 1995 and is forecast to produce a 22% compound annual growth rate between 2003 and 2008, driven in particular by poker. Sports betting represents 45% of total online gambling spending with other gaming representing 32%, but both could be overtaken by poker by 2008, if not earlier.
Casino stocks this past 6 months have done tremendously well.
Check out these results:
Harrahs Entertainment (HET) up 32%
Caesar's Entertainment Inc (CZR) up 25%
MGM Mirage (MGG) up 65%
Mandalay Resort Group (MBG) up 30% [being acquired by MGM]
Gamble in the casinos, or gamble in the market!
The other day we were playing Texas Hold'Em in a casual not-for-money game.
On one hand, we had four 9s show up in the face up cards on the table. "Wow! What are the chances of that?!" was exclaimed. One at the table even took a picture of it. Its pretty rare, but is it really photo worthy?
Well, lets figure it out. There are 13 different ways you can get 4 of a kind. The fifth card can be any of the remaining cards, so there are 13*48 = 624 different combinations which can yield 4 of a kind showing. The total possible hands that could be showing is the combinatorial problem of choosing 5 cards of 52, which is 52! / (5! * 47!) = 2,598,960.
So, the chances of getting 4 of a kind showing in texas hold'em is 1/4165 or 0.024%.
Not too rare!
The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas plans a $600 million expansion, with an addition to the hotel and a 50-story luxury condo tower. Read the press release here.
They also said they have an agreement with Playboy Enterprises to use the Playboy brand with their new high-end lounge.
Just as Cruzino.com has been doing casino reviews for the last 6 years, we've now added a section for doing online poker site reviews. If you play poker online, definitely take a few minutes to write your own review!!
This is your chance to get your opinion out. Its free and easy. The reviews were just posted last week, so you can be the first mover on this opportunity...
If you don't see your favorite poker site listed, just let us know and we'll get to work on adding it to the site.
When we go to vegas, we pride ourselves on getting good comps. I'm not sure why, its usually not a lot of money. But there is appeal to challenging the notion that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Because for some reason, thats seems untrue.
Over the past few years, we've written a couple of articles on how to get comps. You can read the quick version here, or read the full Cruzino.com comps book here.
We recgonize that much of this is common sense. But hopefully these pointers show what works for us and may be useful to you. The biggest thing you need to learn is TO ASK. If you don't ask, your comps will be limited.
What do you think?
Rumors are flying that PartyPoker.com's parent company iGlobalMedia is planning an IPO with an estimated valuation between $4 and $8billion.
You may have read some of the contraversy going on at the Borgata. Those waitresses can't gain weight without risking their jobs.
From my perspective, this policy is just fine. The business works because they attract clients. Part of attracting clients is having attractive waitresses and bartenders. The Borgata is not being unfair - they are applying this policy evenly across the board. Whats the gripe?
Hooters certainly wants to have a certain physical appearance in their employees. Why shouldn't casinos be allowed to do the same?
Absolute Poker claims to have had over 100 million hands of poker played on their popular website.
We need to get a review up for their Poker Site!
With poker having grown significantly in popularity over the past few years, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss the types of equipment that you may want to purcha
