What Downturn? Vegas Gets New $2.3B Resort

Gambling's red hot, but local middlemen take a huge cut

(NEWSER) - Casinos on the Chinese island of Macau create more gambling revenue than the ones in Las Vegas and Atlantic City combined, but US operators—permitted to set up shop there since 2004—are decidedly not rolling in the money. The Wall Street Journal looks at the bumps in the road for MGM Mirage, Wynn and Sands, and finds that local middlemen exert untold control over VIP players—and rake in huge commissions in the process. More»

Casino owner says that's why no one's hiring or investing

(NEWSER) - Why aren’t businesses hiring more people with the piles of cash at their disposal? Casino magnate Steve Wynn thinks it’s because they’re scared of Barack Obama. “I'm telling you that the business community in this company is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the president,” Wynn said on a recent conference call, according to USA Today . “Until he’s gone, everybody’s going to be sitting on their thumbs.” More»

Hotel-casino-condo-shopping behemoth brings 12K jobs, optimism to battered state

(NEWSER) - A gigantic addition to the Las Vegas Strip is a one-stop stimulus package for a city and state walloped by the recession and an $8.5 billion bet that happy days are near again. With 12,000 jobs, the CityCenter project—a kaleidoscope of condominiums, boutique hotels, shopping, and, of course, gambling—is the “single biggest hiring opportunity in the history of the US,” a rep tells Time, and with Nevada’s 13.2% unemployment, its December opening can’t come soon enough. More»

(NEWSER) - MGM Mirage, the gambling conglomerate, is considering the sale of casino properties in Michigan and Mississippi to pay down debt and save an underfunded Las Vegas development, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Vegas-based company has retained Morgan Stanley to shepherd the sales of the MGM Grand Detroit and Biloxi’s Beau Rivage, two of its best-performing casinos. MGM holds $13.5 billion in debt. More»

Kerkorian-Dubai megaconstruction will miss debt payment

(NEWSER) - City Center, the sprawling $8.6 billion Las Vegas development and the largest private construction project in history, will likely fail to make a $220 million debt payment today and may file for bankruptcy. The project is a collaboration between Kirk Kerkorian's MGM Mirage and Dubai World, a conglomerate owed by the emirate's government. The project's collapse would eliminate thousands of jobs and could have major consequences across Las Vegas, reports the Wall Street Journal. More»