Reno Thrives Although Most Bets Are Off

(NEWSER) - The many states hoping gambling will revive their troubled budgets are in for an unpleasant surprise, writes Nate Silver for Esquire. Gambling is supposed to be recession-proof, but that hasn’t been the case this time. "The year 2008 was the first time in history that total casino gaming revenues declined throughout the United States," writes Silver, of FiveThirtyEight.com fame. In Las Vegas, they were down a whopping 12%, and they’ve fallen another 15% this year. More»

(NEWSER) - Casinos are making big bank off the tiniest—and oft-most derided—denomination, USA Today reports. Gambling outfits have added penny slots at an amazing rate—in the last 2 years, Nevada has removed 12,000 more costly machines to make room for 7,000 penny slots—and the move has paid off. In Missouri, for example, penny bets make up 42% of the total and a whopping 63% of casino profits. More»

Mardi Gras promotion at Gulfstream Casino aims to put big butts in the seats

(NEWSER) - It's Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, and the Gulfstream Park and Racing Casino in Florida is celebrating—what else?—fat people. In a promotion that's sure to make Michelle Obama cringe, the casino is offering players 10 cents in free slot machine credits for every pound they weigh. The casino will even have Krispy Kreme donuts on hand in case patrons want to bulk up a bit before their weigh-in, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. More»

10K evacuated from homes as hundreds battle blaze

(NEWSER) - A fast-moving brush fire south of Reno has burned several homes and forced around 10,000 people to be evacuated from their neighborhoods. More than 200 firefighters are tackling the blaze, which grew to more than 5 square miles after starting yesterday afternoon and has not yet been contained, CNN reports. It's moving at a very fast rate," a sheriff's deputy says. "The winds are extremely powerful in this area." By nightfall, flames were visible from Reno's downtown casino district, reports the AP . More»

Two bikers in rival gang wounded

(NEWSER) - The boss of a Hells Angels gang was killed and two rival bikers were injured in a weekend shootout at a Nevada casino. A second drive-by shooting of a biker later triggered a state of emergency in the town of Sparks, though it wasn't clear if the shootings were related. Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew, 51, the leader of the Hells Angels San Jose bikers, was killed in the first shooting during a confrontation with members of the Vagos motorcycle gang, according to cops. Shots were fired in the middle of the Nugget hotel and casino near Reno, but only the three bikers were struck by bullets, reports ABC News . More»