Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Gaming briefs for May 3, 2005

BELLAGIO GALLERY OF FINE ART

New French paintings in June

Starting June 10, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art will present a new collection of nineteenth century French paintings on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

The exhibition, entitled "The Impressionist Landscape from Corot to van Gogh," will replace the existing exhibition of paintings by French Impressionist painter Claude Monet and is expected to be the largest Impressionist exhibition ever presented in Las Vegas.

The exhibition will consist of 34 paintings by 16 artists including Theodore Rousseau, Eugene Boudin, Paul Cezanne, Paul Gaughin, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It will run through Jan. 8, 2006.

The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, a for-profit gallery located inside the resort, paid the Museum of Fine Arts to receive the Monet paintings on loan. The Boston museum and the Bellagio gallery have declined to discuss the specifics of the arrangement, which has been criticized in the art world but has largely been embraced by local advocates as a means to bring art to the masses.

The Monet exhibition runs through May 30.

The Monet show, one of the most successful art exhibits to date in Las Vegas, began in January 2004 and was extended by popular demand. The exhibition has been a "massive success" and has drawn nearly 400,000 viewers from around the world, Ann and Graham Gund director of the Museum of Fine Arts Malcolm Rogers said in a statement.

"We are thrilled to share our collection with this international audience and look forward to bringing the arts to those who live in or visit Las Vegas each year," Rogers said.

Jackpots may be doubled

Veterans groups, churches and charitable organizations hope doubling jackpots will help bring back crowds lost to other gambling venues and a bill passed by the Senate on Monday would let them.

Jackpots at bingo halls would go from $250 to $500 and top prizes in non-jackpot games would double from $50 to $100. It would be the first bump up in prizes in 35 years.

Veterans groups statewide rely on bingo games to raise millions of dollars for charitable efforts, such as providing transportation to Veterans Administration hospitals and food and shelter to veterans in need after last years hurricanes, said Dick Giese of the Disabled American Veterans.

But crowds at bingo halls have dwindled as competition has grown with pari-mutuels, Indian gambling halls and casino cruises, Giese said.

Casino bid scrapped

Hotel Properties Ltd. and Metro Holdings Ltd., which were last month named on a shortlist of 14 groups bidding to develop a casino resort in Singapore, no longer plan to continue with their joint bid.

"Both Hotel Properties and Metro Holdings decided that they will not proceed with the request" for casino-development proposals, Hotel Properties said today in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange. The decision followed a meeting with the Singapore Tourism Board "to discuss and clarify the requirements and selection criteria."

The two companies are the second group to withdraw from the shortlist of casino bidders. Argosy Gaming Co., the Alton, Ill.-based operator of riverboat casinos and hotels, last week said it won't bid because of a pending merger.

Two officers arrested in raid

Two Roxbury, N.J., police officers face gambling charges following a raid on a social club in Dover, N.J.

Authorities said officers Richard M. Winstock and Thomas J. Juskus, along with two co-defendants, Jennifer A. Winstock, the officer's wife, and Scott K. Furer, formed a corporation to conduct illegal gambling on poker games.

They were charged with conspiracy, maintaining a gambling report and promoting gambling. The officers also were charged with official misconduct.

About 50 law officers backed by a helicopter raided the Fifth Street Club about midnight Friday. The operation was housed in an 8,000-9,000 square-foot warehouse.

More than $27,000 in cash was seized, along with gambling materials and records, authorities said. There were 45 people engaged in poker games at the time of the raid, authorities said.

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