VegasChatter

Tags: Westin Casuarina / Casinos / Gross Vegas / Snapshot / → All Tags

We May Know Why The Westin Casino Is Empty

Although we had a pretty good time in the spa at the Westin Casuarina the other week, we couldn’t help noticing that the casino was, erm, a little odd. Not just odd as in tiny (although tiny it is); odd as in weird.

There’s a weird lay out – you come in through the casino, and check in is tucked wayyy over to the right of that. There’s a weird bad quality screen dangling from the ceiling showing sports (one at a time), and the sports book looks like this:

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Tags: Cheating / Crime / Scandals / Do Not Do / Casinos / Blackjack / Monte Carlo / → All Tags

Don't You Forget: Casino Security Will Mess You Up Quick

"The real crime here is not having Kate Bosworth is this picture, Larry."

You’ve seen how Hollywood plays out the scene. Casino security monitors the blackjack table from the eye in the sky, confirms the savvy gamblers cheaters are counting cards, then sends Larry Fishburne down for a loooooooooong, slow walk to the table. Then either a calm discussion convinces the heroes culprits to follow security to the “office”, or chips are jammed into pockets before the winners scoundrels head for the exits. In both cases, security never breaks stride or works up a sweat.

While we believe most things we see in movies and are anxiously awaiting our turn to fly to another world and hang out with hot, blue skinned chicks, Hollywood seems to underestimate just how quickly casino security can move.

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Tags: Aria / Gambling / Casinos / CityCenter / → All Tags

A Vegas First? Aria's Casino Will Embrace Natural Light

With the debuts of CityCenter darlings Vdara and Mandarin Oriental this week, nobody seems to paying much attention to Aria Resort & Casino, which opens Dec. 16.

Still, because Aria is the only one of the bunch to offer gaming, we're already is geeked.

Officials have been relatively mum about what the new casino will look like. One thing they’re willing to reveal: the 150,000-square-foot gaming floor will be bathed in “pools of illumination” (their phrase, not mine) from natural light.

Technically speaking, Aria’s gaming floor is the second to boast some degree of natural light; some of the gaming salons at Encore receive a portion of their light from windows invisible to the naked eye (a touch that, not surprisingly, makes just about every gambler a tad happier to lose there).

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Tags: Casinos / Crime / Cheating / Gambling / → All Tags

The Economy, Tips and Winnings are Down, Therefore Cheating is Up

The LV Sun reports that in this down economy, crimes against Las Vegas casinos are on upward trend. And not all of these crimes are committed by "Catch Me If You Can" people. The Sun reports that with tips for casino workers down 40 percent, it's not surprising that some of them are in on the game.

Some examples of the ballsy crimes include:
· A man who exploited a slot machine glitch that allowed him to multiply the money he inserted into slot machines then cash out with 10 times that amount. Victims include The Silverton Casino.
· Four casino workers at Planet Hollywood were arrested for falsifying poker room payouts to show that players had won jackpots when they hadn’t. Then these workers took the money for themselves.
· A ticket writer at the Caesars Palace sportsbook was caught stealing chips used for bets and then having an associate cash them out.

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Tags: Future Vegas / New Developments / Casinos / Oscar Goodman / → All Tags

Just What Vegas Needs? A New Casino at The North End of The Strip

We can’t say we’re too bullish on this new project but, given its relatively high-profile location, we figured it was worth a blurb.

The LVRJ is reporting the Las Vegas City Council – either out of eternal optimism or outright desperation to see some positive development get under way in its jurisdiction, we’re not quite sure – has approved plans to build a new casino/retail complex on the north northeast corner of Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.

This is the site the City originally approved as the location for Ivana Trump’s high-rise condo tower several years back, right across from the magical Bonanza Gift Shop. Like so many other grand Vegas condo plans, however, Ivana’s went kaplooey long ago, and the building that housed her sales offices – replete with lipstick-pink awnings, now caked in that particular variety of Vegas dust/grime – has since sat vacant and forlorn.

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Tags: ATMs / Defcon / Hackers / Casinos / Crime / → All Tags

Speaker at Hacker Conference Says ATMs in Las Vegas Have Been Hacked

So we all know now that both Twitter and Facebook were hacked today, leaving Twitter basically dead to the world for a few hours and Facebook loading slower than a dial-up connection. All of us micro-bloggers flailed about wondering who the heck we were going to tell about our nasty tequila hangover or the new color we painted our toes--in other words--WWAKDO? What Would Ashton Kutcher Do?

Thankfully, service was restored and all is normal on the oversharing-through-Twitter front. But is all ok with ATMs in Las Vegas? PC World article says that Las Vegas ATMs may have been suffering from a hacker attack as well. And the person who pointed this out was a speaker at a popular annual Hacker conference.

The case came to light after Defcon hacker conference presenter Chris Paget tried to withdraw $200 on Sunday from his account at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. He wanted to buy a metallic copy of the Bill of Rights, a joke gift designed to set off airport metal detectors from the magicians Penn and Teller. The ATM "whirred and chugged," Paget said, "but no money came out." His account, however, was debited.

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Tags: Hotel Rooms / VegasChatter Reviews / Treasure Island / Casinos / → All Tags

Not Much Treasure To Be Found at Treasure Island

Amidst all the drama unfolding below at Social House, we were able to have a fairly decent stay upstairs in the renovated rooms of Treasure Island.

You've seen the video tour; now we'll walk you through the rest of our stay. Overall, we liked the rooms which were spacious and equipped with new-ish amenities and decor. But we still think we paid too much for what we got.

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Tags: Michael Jackson / Tragedies / Vegas Celebs / Casinos / Rumors / → All Tags

In Memory of Michael Jackson, The Thriller Casino HAS To Open

In seriously shocking and sad news, Michael Jackson suffered a heart attack and died today in Los Angeles. The King of Pop was only 50 years old.

Jackson was a frequent visitor to Las Vegas, although sometimes his appearances here didn't garner the best press.For instance, he famously let a documentary team film him during a bizarre shopping spree at the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian. Reportedly, he returned most of the stuff later. And there's always been whispers of MJ starting up a residency here a la Celine Dion. But sadly, that will never happen now.

However, the Gambing Online Magazine reported earlier this month that plans were underway for a Thriller Casino to open in Vegas:

The Thriller casino will replicate sets from the hit song Thriller, from the multi-platinum-award-winning album of the same name, and will feature zombies behind slot machines and “the living dead” roaming round the casino at night.

We're not so sure how far this idea got with any prospective partners but we really think it should happen now. Until then, we'll pay our respects at the Michael Jackson at Madame Tussauds Las Vegas (above.)

[Photo: LifeCinematic]

Tags: Gambling / Poker / Casinos / Poker Machines / → All Tags

Anyone Still Good For An Old-Fashioned Hand?

We heard the rumblings from some people in the valley. Uneasy as the concept was, some casinos in Las Vegas were, like an episode of the Jetsons, had replaced the human aspect of a poker table with a - wait for it - machine. Both the MGM Grand and the Excalibur last summer introduced electronic poker tables from PokerTek, which were generally touch screens that was similar to playing poker only with (ahem!) no chips, no cards and no dealer.

Again, this wasn’t just a video poker machine, but an approach to an actual table, with an individual monitor for each player. Based on our observation, the result was a game of eerie and uncomfortable sterility for the players, and without having a real dealer at the helm, activity moved way too turgidly, especially with far too many novices who were trying to strike up conversations with other players.

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Tags: Cheap Vegas / Deals / Casinos / Karaoke / Ellis Island / → All Tags

Recession-Weary Find Refuge at Vegas' Ellis Island

"Give me your underemployed, your foreclosed upon, your down-and-out masses yearning for cheap prime rib...."

So might read the Vegas version of the famous poem memorializing the time when America processed thousands of immigrants through the port at New York’s Ellis Island. It seems we have our own refuge seekers here in Sin City, regular Janes and Joes who find safe haven – and cheap eats – at the underheralded, just-off-Strip Ellis Island Casino and Brewery.

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Tags: Cheap Vegas / Slots-A-Fun / Blackjack / People-Watching / Casinos / Gambling / → All Tags

Hit Up Slots-a-Fun for Cheap Blackjack and People-Watching

As Vegas casinos go, Slots-A-Fun is, well, on the funkier side of chic. And by funkier we mean swankier. If you replaced the "w" in swankier with a "k". But also funner. And cheaper. Waaaayyyy cheaper.

If you're the type who likes to plop down at a blackjack table and play all day on the same forty bucks, you'll love it here. For $2 a hand, you can put up with the occasional ruckus outside (usually caused by an errant homeless person, a roving college fraternity gang, or some strange combo of the two). And the table odds aren't exactly going to be in your favor (not that they ever are), but with such cheap play, who cares?

At Slots-A-Fun, you might rub elbows with the occasional working lady on the arm of her big spender. You might be sitting next to a card counter who's loving the single deck and lack of automated card shufflers, or you might be leaving with a stomach ache from gorging yourself on one of their half-pound(!) 99-cent hot dogs.

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