Liz Benston

Reporter/ Gaming

Contact Liz via e-mail

Call Liz at 702-259-4077.

« Older
Newer »

Story Archive

CityCenter: One man's concept of a real city: To Jim Murren, a CEO who had studied art and architecture and lived in New York, Las Vegas needed a true urban center; Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009; Visitors to CityCenter, the Strip’s newest spectacle, will be driven to look up at the glistening glass and steel. It is an inexorable pull, to cock your head backward and take in the sweep of six high-rise towers — including two that lean — that create an urban scene unlike any other. The man who conceived of this place, however, would like to draw your attention to a small park bench. It is found near the center of the 67-acre site, alongside Aria, the flagship high-rise filled with 4,004 guest rooms.
Could the game be partly to blame for addiction?: Some say features common in machines may lull players into crossing the line; Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009; Hoping to solve the decades-old mystery of why some people develop gambling problems, a growing number of researchers are studying the other side of the equation: the games that gamblers fixate on.
Illness theory gaining ground for gambling addiction: Similar disorders found in alcoholics, those with a compulsion to gamble; Monday, Nov. 23, 2009; Experts who study gambling addiction remain a long way from knowing why people develop gambling problems. But researchers now know what happens inside the brains of gambling addicts that fuels the addiction, and how best to help them.
At CityCenter, it's not your usual uniforms for workers: Second looks may be needed to spot employees by what they’re wearing; Monday, Nov. 23, 2009; At CityCenter’s 25,000-square-foot uniform distribution center on Dean Martin Drive, Jhane Barnes, a slight woman with squarish glasses and short hair, proudly shows off clothing racks heavy with new uniforms.
Hotels rein in risque advertising campaigns: Friday, Nov. 20, 2009; Before the recession, ads for Las Vegas resorts appealed to a desire for frivolity and conspicuous consumption with taglines such as, “Some fantasies just don’t work anywhere else,” “Everything in moderation? Yeah, right,” and “Parents gone wild.”
Some seeing signs of Strip’s economic recovery: Convention planning, stabilizing of housing nationally good signs for Vegas; Monday, Nov. 16, 2009; As a real-time indicator of how confident American consumers feel about spending their money, earnings of the big casino operators on the Las Vegas Strip haven’t inspired much confidence lately. And yet, a growing number of industry executives and analysts believes the market has bottomed and are forecasting a modest rebound in 2010, in part based on evidence that convention groups are more confident about booking rooms next year and signs that year-over-year gambling revenue declines have plateaued on the Strip.
Vegas resorts get new places on Monopoly game board: But in assigning most-coveted spots, maker cops out; Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009; There may be some squabbling among Vegas aficionados over whether these assessments of relative value are accurate. The resorts, though, are just happy to have won a place at the table — or, more specifically, the Monopoly game board.
They are, after all, in the gaming business.
Vegas is inspiring, but not buying, ideas for tourism ads: Professionals say they can handle promotion themselves; Monday, Nov. 9, 2009; With Las Vegas tourism in the dumps, Virginia Ridgway, a retired gift shop owner in Goldfield — a mining boomtown decades before Vegas became a vacation hot spot — is doing her part. She hosted a luncheon to present her catchphrase, “Deal Vegas In,” to tourism bigwigs in Las Vegas including honchos with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Eager to get to work: Struggle to find jobs led these six people — and 11,994 others — to CityCenter; Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009; When MGM Mirage’s $8.5 billion CityCenter resort opens next month, its financial and artistic merits will be debated the world over.
MGM Mirage following Harrah’s lead on marketing conventions: Friday, Nov. 6, 2009; In its last earnings report before the company opens its $8.5 billion CityCenter complex next month, MGM Mirage on Thursday projected an improvement in business next year. Part of this optimism is based on a new sales strategy for filling its hotels.
Steve Wynn’s politics in the news, but not new: Casino magnate was an industry advocate before an Obama critic; Monday, Nov. 2, 2009; Steve Wynn, one of the most charismatic figures in American business and the man largely credited with launching the modern building boom in Las Vegas, is also fiery-tempered, with mercurial moods and politically incorrect outbursts.
Casinos saving face online: Companies use social networking to connect, lessen damage from complaints; Monday, Oct. 26, 2009; Social media Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter are changing the face of customer relations at major Las Vegas hotels. Resorts are setting up their own fan pages where executives can monitor customer suggestions on how to improve business, bask in guests’ kudos, offer immediate assistance to customers in distress — and cringe when unhappy patrons post critical remarks that ding their companies.
How CityCenter’s room rates will compare with Strip rivals’: Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009; Online reservation sites are offering discounted room prices that reflect the effects of the recession on the three hotels opening for business in December at MGM Mirage’s CityCenter complex.
In down economy, crimes against casinos are up: Agents making more arrests; casinos reluctant to publicize cheats; Monday, Oct. 19, 2009; The state’s casino cops have been busy. Could recession-fueled money troubles be blamed for the brazen acts of theft that have surfaced in recent months? Gaming board agents have made nearly 400 arrests in connection with casino and gambling-related crimes in Nevada this year, compared with fewer than 300 for all of 2008.
Unpaid bills may deter a bid for Fontainebleau: The bills amount to more than likely offer; Penn National exec says building worth 'about zero'; Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009; Whether front-running bidder Penn National Gaming buys the unfinished Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort out of bankruptcy in coming weeks may turn on the success of recent negotiations with attorneys representing the resort’s subcontractors. They are owed about $375 million for work completed in the months leading up to the end of work on the resort. Penn wants to use the Fontainebleau as the flagship destination for customers who patronize its nationwide network of smaller casinos, much as Harrah’s Entertainment does with its Las Vegas properties.
MGM Mirage wants the right tone for CityCenter’s first night: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009; In another economy, CityCenter might have opened with the kind of pageantry befitting royalty.
Fontainebleau a symbol of bad timing, not the only victim: Monday, Oct. 12, 2009; Of all the buildings under construction nationwide left unfinished because of the recession, the Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort, which analysts say may be nation’s largest and most expensive stalled construction job, might be the poster child for badly timed development.
CityCenter reduces condo prices 30 percent: MGM Mirage planning one-on-one meetings with buyers; Monday, Oct. 5, 2009; CityCenter has reduced prices of its condos by 30 percent in an effort to satisfy concerns from condominium buyers who signed purchase contracts for the units more than two years ago, when the real estate market was booming. "We believe that in this economic climate this price reduction is an appropriate step to take on behalf of our buyers as to provide them greater flexibility in closing on their residences," Bobby Baldwin, president and CEO of CityCenter, said in a statement.
P.R. efforts low-key even as opening of CityCenter nears: Monday, Oct. 5, 2009; In normal times, a casino company within months of opening a major resort would use every opportunity to tout its virtues. But until recently, MGM Mirage has been distracted by a steady grind of negative news surrounding CityCenter.
Downturn lights a path to casino control: Rather than buy into companies, investors mull buying up debt — with chance of calling shots; Monday, Sept. 28, 2009; One man’s troubled casino is another man’s potential buying spree. When times were good, private equity firms were knocking down doors to invest in Las Vegas casinos. Stung by the recession, some of these same firms are now looking to buy them for cents on the dollar.
Will Vegas advertising that worked before, work again?: Return to an iconic theme follows ad campaign tied specifically to the recession; Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009; For an ad man with an ounce of imagination, Las Vegas is rich with sales material — cheering gamblers, sexy nightclubs, celebrity-chef restaurants, haute couture boutiques and stunning stage productions. But none of these would be highlighted in Las Vegas’ most successful advertising campaign. Instead, the commercials would only tease, thick with innuendo, to unspoken tourist experiences. “What happens here, stays here” sold Vegas for years.
Johnny Avello, Wynn and Encore’s race and sports operations director: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009; The director of Wynn and Encore’s race and sports operations visited his first racetrack at age 5, bet with a bookmaker as a teen and played team sports through college. Johnny Avello welcomes the beginning of football season — which accounts for more than 60 percent of race and sports bets on the Strip — like the beginning of the holiday season.
Gaming giants didn’t go bankrupt, so stock prices rose: Fundamentals haven’t changed much, but debt is cut, business in Macau is up; Monday, Sept. 21, 2009; Shares of Boyd Gaming are up nearly 30 percent from three months ago, while the stocks of MGM Mirage and Wynn Resorts are up more than 100 percent.
Harrah's buys Planet Hollywood debt: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009; Deteriorating financial results at the Planet Hollywood casino resort have forced the property to negotiate with lenders to stay afloat – raising the possibility that the property will file for bankruptcy protection as an alternative to reorganizing debts out of court.
Penny machines have growing appeal, but also a price: Monday, Sept. 14, 2009; The media have focused on penny slots as an increasingly popular form of entertainment for newly budget-conscious players. The image of pennies supplanting quarters and dollars resonates in this economy, but, in fact, penny slots represent a technological transformation that began years before the recession and continues, though at a slower pace as casinos can less afford to replace older slot machines.
Winners begin to emerge in fight for Station assets: Major lenders, with best collateral, appear likely to end up on top; Friday, Sept. 11, 2009; Capitalizing on super-low interest rates and a frenzy for Las Vegas real estate, Station Casinos went private in 2007 by accumulating more than $5 billion in debt. It wasn’t a simple process.
Harrah’s seeks more guests from abroad: International marketer hired to work with travel planners in other nations; Monday, Sept. 7, 2009; To plan its Garden of the Gods pool area, which opened last week at Caesars Palace, designers for Harrah’s Entertainment plotted the precise movement of the sun to create enough shade to satisfy customers, particularly from Asia, who prefer not to tan.
Use of foreign labor by slot makers sparks regulation consideration: Monday, Aug. 24, 2009; Amid a slew of little-noticed gaming bills, the Legislature this year passed a law enabling the Nevada Gaming Commission to draft regulations requiring licensing of third parties, including contractors, who have significant roles in building gambling devices for use in Nevada.
Seduction by room rate: Las Vegas’ luxury hotels are using bargains to lure tightfisted tourists. But could the strategy hurt them in the long run?; Monday, Aug. 24, 2009; Rob Kronman, who works in finance in Los Angeles, would have been willing to pay at least twice what he spent for two nights at the Encore last week. Thanks to a heated price war in Las Vegas, Kronman snagged a suite at the Encore for $109 per night, with a $50 credit toward resort purchases. “I’ve stayed at the Hilton and Monte Carlo but this was a whole level above,” he said. “It was an extraordinary stay in what was probably a $400 room.”
Why casinos in Nevada won't go online (for now): Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009; While Nevada officials pass on an opportunity to pursue Internet gambling for state residents, gambling interests in California, the nation’s most populous state and one of the world’s largest regional economies, are pushing legislation to allow online wagering in that state. California’s efforts, made possible by a loophole in federal law, come as the federal government begins a comprehensive crackdown on offshore Web casinos by taking down the middlemen who pay gamblers from American bank accounts.
Fate of Fontainebleau will likely be determined by new owner: Monday, Aug. 17, 2009; The troubled Fontainebleau resort — which may not be worth more than the debt accumulated to build the project — is likely to change hands in bankruptcy.
Points for playing are targets of thieves — often casino employees: Monday, Aug. 17, 2009; At the heart of a casino’s marketing machine lies its players club, which uses swipe cards to track gamblers’ play as they rack up points to redeem for meals, hotel stays, merchandise and even cash. Casino insiders are raiding gamblers’ loyalty points.
Some casino promos not as advertised: With some gamblers feeling misled, regulators seek to set casinos straight; Monday, Aug. 17, 2009; Amid crumbling profits, Las Vegas casinos are marketing aggressively with freebies, gambling discounts, contests and special events. Among them are inaccurately advertised payouts, gambling promotions available only to more profitable customers and comped hotel stays with hidden costs.
CityCenter gives condominium buyers hope for price cuts: Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009; Buyers of CityCenter condos, grumbling about the drop in real estate values and other concerns, say MGM Mirage officials who were previously reluctant to discuss the issues are now reaching out to them. Buyers say they hope the talks lead to price reductions on existing sales contracts, which is their primary goal. MGM Mirage officials, worried that some buyers will not want to close on their units, are also inviting customers to discuss their concerns about construction problems uncovered at CityCenter in recent months.
Former Prive workers blast handling of tips: Monday, Aug. 10, 2009; Former employees of the beleaguered Prive nightclub have spilled juicy stories of how management condoned drug use, allowed pimps into the club and entertained VIPs with drugs and strippers in a backroom called “Table 69.” One major reason why they’re talking: They’re unhappy with how the club handles the distribution of workers’ tips. Tips are a sensitive subject on the Strip: Witness the dispute between dealers and Wynn Las Vegas over the casino’s decision to have dealers share tips with their immediate supervisors.
John Civitello, Food & Beverage Director at El Cortez: Monday, Aug. 10, 2009; While many casinos have turned restaurants into profit centers, El Cortez has maintained a Las Vegas tradition of serving food at a loss.
Making sense of gaming's big crash: Three retired executives discuss lessons learned, regrets and the future of their struggling industry; Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009; Imagine that you’re a retired gaming executive and you’re watching the industry crash all around you, in the biggest recession in the modern casino era. You take a deep breath, counting your lucky stars you’re retired but wondering: What could I have done differently? What would I do now? The Sun invited three former casino executives to sit down for a Sunday Conversation, to candidly reflect, with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, about the gaming industry — then, now and in the future.
Is the party over for Prive?: In letter to regulators, tipster detailed drug use, underage drinking at Planet Hollywood venue; Wednesday, July 29, 2009; As a result of the unprecedented enforcement action against Planet Hollywood for allowing a nightclub to run wild, contracts between hotels and their nightclubs are now being rewritten to give the hotels greater authority to lay down the law with nightclub managers.
Big ﬁne establishes hard line on nightclubs: Regulators take a tougher stance against Planet Hollywood than in past; Monday, July 27, 2009; When posh nightclubs became a big profit center for casinos a few years ago, many wondered how far gaming regulators would go to police activity — where a combustible mix of free-flowing booze and scantily clad patrons create potential, even inevitable, problems. Regulators have a broad mandate to impose fines and revoke the licenses of casinos whose activities are “inimical to the public health, safety, morals, good order and general welfare” or bring “discredit” to the state or gaming industry.
Liquor license rejections force Planet Hollywood clubs to close: Gaming Commission approves $500,000 fine against resort; Thursday, July 23, 2009; The Clark County Department of Business License has denied the liquor license applications for the Prive and Living Room clubs at Planet Hollywood, forcing the clubs to cease operations when their temporary licenses expire next week.
For CityCenter’s nongaming Mandarin Oriental, service is ‘be-all, end-all’: Guest experience to start with ride to 23rd-floor ‘sky lobby,’ greeting by name; Tuesday, July 21, 2009; Employees at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, which opens Dec. 4 at CityCenter, are not allowed to point. They must escort guests to their destination rather than simply signaling or telling them how to get there. This small detail is one of many that Mandarin Oriental executives hope will set a new standard for service in Las Vegas. Customers who walk into the receiving lobby off the Strip will be escorted to the main lobby on the 23rd floor, where they will be greeted by name.
M Resort’s trial by fire: What’s worked, what hasn’t for the still-young, family-run casino on the edge of town; Monday, July 20, 2009; Many Las Vegas casinos have lengthy customer lists built up over years in the business, as well as a fine-tuned sense, after years of trial and error, of what customers want. Not the M Resort, which opened March 1, in the worst economy in the modern casino era. In its first few months of operation, the M, at the southeast corner of St. Rose Parkway and Las Vegas Boulevard, saw revenue soar as thousands of customers took in the property, hailing its modern yet comfortable design and reasonably priced gourmet restaurants.
Wynn dealers persist in fight to topple tip-sharing policy: Monday, July 13, 2009; Nearly three years after Steve Wynn implemented a policy requiring that dealers share tips with their immediate supervisors, what he thought would be a short-lived skirmish has turned into an all-out war.
Harrah’s plans new ‘street’ of bars, eateries near Strip: Sunday, July 12, 2009; More than two years ago, executives at Harrah’s Entertainment made a momentous decision: They wouldn’t tear down any of their Las Vegas casinos to build new ones.
Gauging casino buyouts’ role in misfortune: Taking companies private ballooned debt, led to layoffs, but the moves have defenders; Thursday, July 9, 2009; Private equity firms made offers to acquire Harrah’s Entertainment and Station Casinos in 2006 and early 2007, when capital was cheap and business was booming.
Michael Paladino, lead gaming analyst for Fitch Ratings: Monday, July 6, 2009; When business was booming, people like Michael Paladino — who assess bankruptcy risk — were little seen or heard. In the recession, Paladino, the lead gaming analyst for bond rating agency Fitch Ratings in New York, is making headlines with his assessments of the casino industry’s cash crunch.
Judge detours cabbies’ drive for minimum wage: Drivers can pursue federal claims, but may find that road dead-ends; Monday, July 6, 2009; Nevada’s minimum wage increased this month, entitling workers to receive at least $5.85 per hour, or $7.55 for workers whose employers don’t offer health insurance plans that qualify under state law.
That is, unless you drive a limo or taxi.
Primm’s lure: Freebies: Herbst’s gamble to win visitors with deep discounts keeps Primm hotels hopping, money coming in; Thursday, July 2, 2009; On a recent Monday afternoon, Buffalo Bill’s — a Western-themed casino about 45 miles from the Strip at the California border — offers a glimpse of Las Vegas’ past.
The place is hopping.
A line to sign up for the players club snakes through the casino and toward the lobby. Nearby, people in shorts and flip-flops play slowly, pausing to gulp sodas and take in the crowd. In the food court, families and young couples take up most of the available seats, eating on the cheap amid kiddie rides and arcade games.
Lower blackjack minimum may not be deal for players: What might seem like a bargain often comes with rules that increase the house’s edge; Monday, June 29, 2009; You’ve seen bargain-basement hotel rates and coupons for meals, show tickets and retail purchases — even volume discounts on bottle service in nightclubs and lounges.
Practice of building before designs are done hits wall at Fontainebleau: Sunday, June 28, 2009; When Fontainebleau’s lenders pulled $600 million-plus in prearranged financing to finish the project, it exposed the strategy of how big resorts are built — quickly and with a wink between owners and lenders that more money probably will be needed.