Liz Benston

Reporter/ Gaming

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Call Liz at 702-259-4077.

Recent Stories (view all stories)

Despite few layoffs, workers feel fear: Gaming companies are cutting other costs first, predicting fast rebound; Tuesday, May 13, 2008; After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, thousands of hourly Strip workers were laid off as tourists stayed home. In the current economic downturn, casino companies are moving more cautiously. But workers worry the shoe is still going to drop.
Vegas slump hits Station Casinos: With operations concentrated here, its fate closely tied to local economy; Tuesday, May 13, 2008; Station Casinos has historically reaped impressive gains by putting most of its eggs in one basket: Las Vegas. But the housing slump appears to be hurting Station more than companies that own casinos outside of the Vegas.
Despite slowdown, casino giant spending big: MGM Mirage is investing beyond the $8 billion it’s paying to build CityCenter; Monday, May 12, 2008; Even as gamblers, shoppers and diners are clutching to their dollars and Las Vegas reels from the worst economic slowdown since Sept. 11, MGM Mirage is spending billions of dollars on itself.
CityCenter still selling condos despite slowdown: Friday, May 9, 2008; While some Las Vegas condos are in foreclosure as buyers walk away from purchase contracts, MGM Mirage — defending a lawsuit filed by unhappy Signature condo-hotel owners — says no buyers have canceled purchases at CityCenter despite the housing slump.
Slot makers pull together: New way of controlling machines forces competitors to cooperate; Tuesday, April 29, 2008; As steel girders and shimmering glass define the exterior of the rising CityCenter, slot machine engineers and computer techies behind the scene are trying to figure out how to wire the casino of the future. Their new slot machines will behave like a network of personal computers with high-speed Internet access, linked to a computer server in a back office that will give players and the house alike unprecedented control over the slots.
New device makes it harder to walk away from the game: Sunday, April 27, 2008; A new crop of gambling machines has arrived in town — stacked on a countertop at the Venetian like so many GameBoys or the buzzers that a restaurant hostess uses to let you know when your table is ready.
Station Casinos banking on biggest being best: Plan for huge complex in play despite economy; Wednesday, April 23, 2008; At a time when businesses across the country are cutting back in the face of economic turmoil, the brothers at the helm of Station Casinos are accelerating plans for an enormous Las Vegas resort larger than CityCenter.
Garage goes up next door, and condo owners want out: Tuesday, April 22, 2008; Several dozen Turnberry Place residents in the 120-unit luxury condominium tower are selling their units because they don’t want to look at the parking garage of the under-construction Fontainebleau Las Vegas high-rise resort next door.
A mogul's softer side: Sheldon Adelson plies his charm, but can’t suppress combative streak; Saturday, April 19, 2008; Sheldon Adelson was forced into public view this week, providing a courtroom glimpse of the casino tycoon not offered in any annual report or official biography. Adelson, chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., viewed by his industry brethren as a ruthless, combative iconoclast, used the opportunity to cut a sympathetic, almost folksy portrait of himself.
Trial outs Sands’ dealings for Macau: Adelson defending the license approval process against claim on profit; Thursday, April 17, 2008; The biggest players in the gaming business have long wondered exactly how Sheldon Adelson’s company won one of three lucrative casino licenses in 2002 to operate in Macau. It was the deal of a lifetime — one that made Adelson one of the world’s richest men and spawned an Asian gaming frontier richer than the Las Vegas Strip and evolving to adult size in one-tenth the time.