Macau Hotel - The Venetian® Macao Best Luxury Hotel in ...

(Bad) sign of things to come for Vegas? Surprised that Adelson would want to sell basically at the lows; things must be looking pretty bleak on the Strip to consider dumping Las Vegas.
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Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Exploring $6 Billion Sale of Vegas Casinos Gillian Tan and Christopher Palmeri, Bloomberg News
Pedestrians pass in front of the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020. Las Vegas Sands Corp. is scheduled to release earnings figures on October 21. Pedestrians pass in front of the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020. Las Vegas Sands Corp. is scheduled to release earnings figures on October 21. , Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp. is exploring the sale of its flagship casinos in Las Vegas, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that would mark the mogul’s departure from the gambling mecca.
The casino operator is working with an adviser to solicit interest from potential suitors, and may fetch $6 billion or more for its Vegas properties, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the talks are private.
The portfolio includes the Sands Expo Convention Center, the Venetian Resort Las Vegas and the Palazzo.
A representative for the company confirmed it was in very early discussions about a sale and that nothing has been finalized.
A sale would result in Adelson, one of the world’s richest men, exiting the U.S., with his remaining casino assets concentrated in Macau and Singapore.
Adelson is chairman, chief executive officer and a majority shareholder of Las Vegas Sands, which has a market value of $37.5 billion.
The stock rose as high as 12% in after-hours trading Monday, after Bloomberg reported on the news of the deal. The stock had closed down 3.1% to $49.13.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/adelson-s-las-vegas-sands-exploring-6-billion-sale-of-vegas-casinos-1.1513344

Located on the Cotai Strip, The Venetian is a massive resort with an enormous number of slots for you to choose from. 섯다 족보 순서 In total, there are somewhere around 3,400 slot machines in the complex, which dwarfs the slots options at even the other casinos you’ll find on this list. Really, there’s a ton of everything at The Venetian, and it’s a great spot to play at no matter what games you’re looking to play. But since slots are in relatively short supply in Macau, it’s definitely the best place to play if you’re a slot machine addict.

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 66%. (I'm a bot)

LAS VEGAS - Las Vegas Sands Corp. is considering selling its two hotel-casinos on The Strip, the company confirmed to the Reno Gazette Journal Monday.
News of the potential sale comes at a time when Las Vegas Strip properties are struggling to attract visitors due to COVID-19 travel fallout.
Las Vegas Sands Corp last week reported a third-quarter loss of $565 million, after reporting a profit in the same quarter last year.
Following Bloomberg's report, the company's stock jumped more than 3%.'We're in a world of hurt'The disappearance of conventions in the wake of COVID-19 contributed to a second quarter loss of almost $1 billion for Las Vegas Sands.
"Las Vegas cannot perform without return of these segments," said Las Vegas Sands President and COO Rob Goldstein in a July earnings call.
His Las Vegas Sands Corp. is one of the largest casino and resort companies in the world with the Venetian and Palazzo resorts on the Strip and lucrative casinos in Macau.

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Mammoth post incoming..... I read a lot of posts in this thread and others to help me prepare for my first time backpacking in South East Asia, used mostly reddit and youtube to collect information and in return to all the helpful people who advised me, I want to add a bit to the info out there. This was our first time backpacking in Asia but we have both travelled a decent amount, apologies to those seasoned backpackers who might eye roll at the obvious things I point out! And how long this post is! few linked included where possible.
I travelled with my boyfriend (both in our mid 20s) for 7 weeks from Nov 2019 to Jan 2020 covering 4 countries; Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. We travelled as a couple, not really looking for the typical hostel/partying experience. I had spots/cities we wanted to stop in picked out more so I could check that our return flight back gave us enough time (bf had job to come back for). For those interest I travelled with 40l backpack (Osprey ladies size I recommend for small gals). and 15l day back and boyfriend had 65l backpack. I really reccommend getting up to date on vaccines and/or visiting somewhere like Nomad travel (UK major cities only) for additional shots. We also bought a medical kit from them which came in very handy and I would buy THIS one (works out cheaper than making your own).
Our original plan was to buy a motorbike in Ho Chi Minh and then use that as our main mode of transport to bike across Cambodia and then finally go to Bangkok, so there's a section about bikes at the end.
I am plant based / have a pretty strong dairy intolerance, so I'll add a section about travelling as a 'vegan' as I found it more difficult to get concrete advice on that before I left.
We are from UK so our budget/prices we evaluated against £ GBP
Hong Kong - this was the most built up and relatively similar experience to our lives at home and eased us pretty gently into travel. I would compare Hong Kong to a metropolitan place like London. We stayed in the Wan Chai district and would recommend the are for first timers. Not as expensive as the Central District and gives more local flavour with the street markets which you are likely to explore or pass through on the way to the MTR. Stay on Hong Kong Island over the peninsula as a lot of activities are there and though it is more compact you get a good sense of what HK is really like.
Prices - cost of restaurants was about the same as home - £8-10+ for a meal. Transport - incredibly cheap, routes often less than £1 or 50p Lots of 7/11 and Circle K with reasonable prices for snacks or eating in
Things we did: - Victoria Peak - there are some views more 'within' the city if you take the giant escalator up and walk a bit further as opposed to going straight to the top - Mong Kok area and surrounding markets - Hong Kong museum - quite dated and nothing on history of recent years but it is free - Hong Kong Peninsula night time view of HK island (symphony of lights show) - Temple Street night market - Dragon's Back - this was easy to get to via bus and a nice welcome break from the city. An easy hike. - Ching Chung Koon, Tao temple - really beautiful temple with turtles, easy trip by bus to visit
Shenzhen - We went to Shenzhen as we wanted to see what China was like and had some intrigue about it being a Special Economic Zone. My advice to absolutely everyone, unless you know of something on the other side you want to see, is do not go.
We read that it was free to enter but you would have to get a short stay visa stamp. We ended up stuck in immigration after getting off the MTR for about 2 hours, first you must go and get a photo and a visa put in your passport which includes filling our a form and being asked a few questions about your stay, then you go downstairs and fill our a landing card, get fingerprinted and then pass through to Shenzhen. There isn't a clear explanation as to where these different rooms are to get the whole process done and you're at the mercy of how busy the waiting rooms are for how quick you get out, no visas would be ready and then they would surge in 10 being ready for collection at once.
Shenzhen was a very homogenous city, we couldn't find any historical sites or areas designed for non Chinese to engage with the local fare, though bare in mind Shenzhen is absolutely huge and we were short on time after arriving later. Tube system is cheap and in English and we used cash to pay. When we tried to use bank cards to take out more money I had no luck with Mastercard, Visa and Visa credit card at more than one ATM. The best part of the trip was a small antique shop in the train terminal with genuine trinkets, pottery etc. The guy was quite fair with our haggling too.
Macau - Again we visited this as another special zone outside of HK. Again unfortunately I don't recommend going. To us, Macau was missing all the parts of the Vegas strip that would make a high concentration of casinos together worthwhile; no smoking indoors, no open carry on alcohol on the streets, no street vendors or anything to create an interesting people-watching street, not helped by how spread out all the casinos were from one another. We visited the Venetian which brought us away from the casinos on the ferry side of Macau, so that might have made a difference. The Venetian at Macau had the same feeling as The Trafford Centre if UK readers are familiar with it. If you have been there you'll have your own opinion about it and use that to inform going to Macau.
Hong Kong Protests - Before leaving for HK I'd been keeping up with the protest news. Though by November the 'peak' of protests seemed to have passed a lot in UK news there were still plenty of reports of violent clashes daily. From digging around online I felt that it was still safe to go but just to be mindful of large groups of people collecting or the university area. Whilst we were in HK we didn't see anything that alarmed us or made us feel unsafe. While I don't think the media outlets were incorrectly reporting protest clashes, the actual volume of them appears to be exaggerated (but that's how news makes money, right..). We saw graffiti at most MTR stations and some bus stations that had english text posters and print outs explaining the situation that were even updated overnight to new developments like Trump's treaty. One mall we tried to go to adjacent to some university buildings was closed and the MTR next to it was all smashed up but other than graffiti we felt very safe when wandering round the city both day and night. I would say the university area probably needs the most caution, but if the MTR is stopping there again then there has probably been improvement.
Vietnam - We flew into Ho Chi Minh city, stayed for about 3 days. I'm curious to return to Vietnam in the North of the country, while the South was very interesting to see I was more than ready to move on after about 8 days. Didn't really get a good feeling out of HCMC; extremely loud, sticky, busy place. The best thing we did was go to the War Remnants Museum, things like the old post office were interesting but they don't really take up much of your day. A phone sim for 2 weeks with unlimited data was easy to get and cost less than £10 I think.
HCMC is a good place to take advantage of cheap taxis and cheap food. We could get a good meal and a soft drink/smoothie for £2.50/£3, grab taxi was about £1 anywhere and £1.50 in a grab car, Circle K essentials like a sewing kit were about £2.
Would recommend the Grab app for getting around - though it wasn't my favourite place we visited, I was really able to appreciate the pace and culture of the city zipping through little side streets on the back of the bike from District 1 down to other places in Chinatown area.
There are plenty of markets to visit, but when you've seen the stuff at one the others aren't really much different and people didn't really want to haggle with us.
We did a Mekong Delta day trip, though I'm not always a big fan of a guided tour this was fun and worth going on. Have a look on a site like Klook and pick something that sounds interesting and in budget - we visited temples, honey farm, coconut farm, held some snakes, traditional boat on Mekong and lunch for about £18 each for everything.
Nha Trang - we visited here as somewhere in South Vietnam by the sea before heading westways for the rest of the trip. It was a much calmer and quieter city than HCMC but I'm not sure I would visit again, very windy in November. An unbelievable amount of Russians here, more built up and developed than I was anticipating too. Long Son Pagoda and Ba Ho waterfalls were good to visit, though Ba Ho seemed to be having a very big touristy development built on it which was a weird contrast to the very difficult to climb and almost untouched waterfalls. We biked to Bai Dai beach - just make sure to take the first turn down to the beach before you hit the strip of resorts being built because it goes on forever and they won't let you through for access to the sand. Beautiful views on the way down but can see the whole area and Vietnam in general being swallowed up by package resort tourism which is a shame.
Cambodia - This ended up being my favourite country of the visit. Though there's not really pavements or waste management or sewage and you can't drink the water etc, but there was little rampant tourism, people were kind, the weather was great and we saw some beautiful places. Phone sim will cost you about $5 and you can only top up limited data about $5 for 8GB.
Prices - Cambodia has 2 currency system with USD and riel though most of the time you're using USD (4,000 r = $1). I felt like because of USD prices were rounded up a bit more so it was still cheap, but more expensive than Vietnam. Eating out probably about $5-7 or more if you're not holding back. There aren't many chain stores in Cambodia so you're at the mercy of individual places for a good selection of snacks and then hopefully not grossly inflated prices especially on Western imports ($2.50+ for pringles?). I did find that pharmacies were cheap. Make sure you haggle with tuk tuks or use PassApp, but that app needs some work so it's often easier to take one that's in the street. In PP/SKampot getting around we paid no more than $3. In SR to go to the airport $7.
We took a bus to Phnom Penh from HCMC which made the border crossing quite easy. We had e-visa already printed out etc but it didn't seem to make our waiting time any shorter but saved us having to fill out any forms at border control.
Phnom Penh - felt a lot nicer than HCMC as soon as we got there really. Still hot and dirty and hassled like hell for tuk tuks but I felt more kindness from Cambodians. Compared to HCMC this was a whole lot quieter and more relaxed. Not every building has a formal address so if you're not staying at a hotel (airbnb) bear in mind you might need more visual instructions to find your stay.
We stayed near the Royal Palace and the area round there, though more for expats was chilled out and there were local markets, not far to walk to temples and sites etc. There are a few hotels in this area with pools if you need to cool off. The one we tried we just took the lift up to the roof no problem, but I had messaged another nearby that said it was for residents only.
Siem Reap - though this city is pretty much here for Angkor Wat tourism I enjoyed being here not just to see the temples. We stayed at THIS airbnb which was very reasonable and probably one of our favourite stays. No pool but there were a few places nearby that were happy to let us use theirs, we just bought drinks and food. There are a few temples in the city near the city where you can see fruit bats all in the trees. The river here is nice, big market, lots of cats.
Angkor Wat: we bought a 3 day pass and went on a sunrise tour one morning and then did our own thing on the other days. Doing the tour means you get up and in for sunrise at the right time and it's good to get some history about the places you're seeing. Angkor Wat temple itself wasn't the most interesting to me and there are hundreds if not thousands of people there in the morning that makes it a lot less enjoyable. We also visited:
Ta Phrom - temple from Tomb Raider Angkor Thom city gates Bayon Temple - this was a cool 2 storey temple that is merged with depictions of Hinduism and Buddhism Preah Khan
You can hire a tuk tuk driver for a day around $15 mark or you can hire electric bikes in SR centre and take those around (tourists not allowed to ride motorbikes in temple complex) $5 for 24hrs. Just make sure to give your electric bike a good charge beforehand as the battery doesn't always read right. There is a restaurant in the complex you can swap your battery at - the whole temple area is an extremely large place, you can be 15mins drive in between spots so plan carefully.
Koh Rong Island - we took a flight from SR down to Sihanoukville to then get the ferry across to Koh Rong. Our flight ended up being delayed by 12 hours (welcome to Cambodia) so we had to stay a night in Sihanoukville and go across the following day. Travelling from Sihanouk airport to Sihanouk we had to wear bandanas over our faces to stop breathing in the dust, even though only one window in the car was cracked, it's hella dirty. If you are travelling from the airport to town I highly discourage taking a tuk tuk or rickshaw; the roads are not well surfaced in a more extreme manner than what I saw in PP and SR, there are a lot of freight trucks which will need to be over or undertaken in order for the journey to not take hours. Taxis are unfortunately the most expensive here and the journey cost $20.
Sihanoukville - I'm told recent infiltration and development of Sihanouk by the Chinese has completely transformed the city in the last 2/3 years at an incredible rate with no care for the local Khmer population. It was possibly the worst place I've ever visited. Dusty and dirty on another level, open building sites and construction absolutely everywhere. Very young looking boy in a digger pulling up the pavement less than 5ft from a busy restaurant. I had to climb up a 3ft pile of loose rubble to get to an ATM because the whole side of the road had been obliterated.
If you are waiting for the ferry on Beach Road and you need an ATM but they're all broken like they were when I was there in December, there is an ATM on the actual pier. I was stressing about taking money out for Koh Rong as I heard there was no way to get cash on the island but when I was there I saw a few places that offered cash out (but I didn't try them).
I reccommend reading THIS reddit thread and the LINKED article by a Chinese blogger about Sihanouk.
I read THIS travelfish article about Koh Rong which was very helpful too. I had an impression from the article that the island is quite under developed, which in some ways was definitely true, however it was easy to do what we wanted and we didn't struggle for places to eat etc. We stayed on the main pier (though really this is still a small strip of restaurants and shops, no resorts) and spent most of our time on White Sand Beach. Koh Rong could not be any more different than Sihanouk and it was a great place to spend Christmas and unwind. We didn't do much other than swim and lie on the beach and it was great! There were boat tours to take but a lot seemed to end with 'free drink and party' and we weren't interested in that. Prices on the island were the same as PP/SR. The only things that were a lot more expensive were activities - someone had a jetski you could rent for $100.. and there was some tree top zip line you could do for about $20.
We visited 4k beach next door which was a lot more remote, beautiful as well but only one option to eat. We came past Coconut Beach when we left on the speedboat and that looked to a bit less than the main pier but still stocked with a good few options. Overall the food we had on Koh Rong was some of the best!
Kampot - A small town/city on the river. Very chilled with a nice central part of town with good places to eat. There are hardly any big hotels or buildings over 3 stories - it felt like a more real Khmer place than somewhere like Siem Reap. From Kampot you can visit Bokor Mountain, Kep, salt fields, a lot of natural escapes. Unfortunately we both got very sudden aggressive gastro-bug or food poisoning so we spent 5 days pretty much inside doing nothing (was going to happen at some point). Kampot was a quiet place and we were able to recover well here though.
Kampot to Koh Chang - From Kampot we travelled to Koh Chang, Thailand. I'd seen some speculation online that it wasn't possible to do this trip in one day, but having done it I can say yes it is but it is a long day. Almost every bus trip we took on our adventure meant that we lost all of the day (no motorways in Viet/Cambodia) however the quality of transport means it can take even longer. Vietnam was good with sleeper or semi sleeper buses, however in Cambodia our 6.5 hour trip from Kampot to the Thai border at Trat was 16 people in a 12 seater minibus plus a baby.. so bear in mind long distance trips in Cambodia can be testing! From Trat border we got a minibus to the bus station, then a songalew/thai taxi to the ferry and then a minibus took us to our hotel on the other side [12 hour trip].
Thailand - Much more infastructure and felt more modern than Cambodia and Vietnam, but I couldn't really get a vibe for the place and felt like a lot had been lost to the prevalent tourism. I would maybe visit again but staying away from coastal areas - if felt like the Spain of South East Asia.
Prices could be a little more on top of Cambodian prices but you could find cheap places to eat. About £5 for a meal. Taxis cost about £3 through Grab. 7/11 and Family Mart very cheap snacks for pennies.
Bangkok - as this was our last stop we didn't travel to many temples or big spots outside the city because money haha... we stayed away from the expat areas, the Museum of Art & Culture had a cool free exhibition, the malls Siam Discovery, Siam Paragon are worth visiting for the food halls and just to see. Where we stayed had a pool so we took it pretty easy. Went to Chatachuk but too much tourist and sweat..
Bikes:
We bought a bike in HCMC via facebook marketplace - I would suggest if you know anyone Viet to get them to help you get the true price because as a tourist you're probably seeing an inflated price tag. If not that it might be possible to get one from another backpacker, but then you may be at the mercy of any damages or issues with the bike they're not aware of as they aren't familiar with bikes.
We took our bike (Honda Cub c 50) to Nha Trang with us stowed in our sleeper bus - we visited a few bus trip/tourist places and one was happy to do it for us. I think for 2 people and the bike was about £23 one way, so not bad at all. You'll have to empty the fuel before it goes in the bus so just remember that at the other end you might have to give your bike a min to run the fuel through it again. We sold it in Nha Trang because it wasn't quite powerful enough to get us around with any bags (i was not in charge of buying bike haha...). Bikes are more than easy to rent in every country we went to for probably £5 a day max. We had a bike in Koh Chang but I know in Thailand there are more rules about tourist rental so I would swerve riding on the mainland. The most hectic place we rode was HCMC so I would just suggest avoiding that if you can, even if you ride in your home country.
We sold our bike in Nha Trang via facebook marketplace. We took a loss but it was more about cutting our dead weight before the rest of our trip so to speak. If you really want to ride a lot in SEAsia, Cambodia has no restrictions on tourists having bikes up to 125cc if you want to play the legal legal route (not that I saw any police in Cambodia over 3 weeks!). A bike is also a responsibility and if you're wanting to feel completely free while travelling it might not be right to buy one. Do thorough research! I travelled with a full face helmet and I was grateful for it on windy rides and hectic places likes HCMC. If you're not planning on riding a lot then this is definitely not essential but finding a full face helmet, that fits, that isn't too bootleg to break on you might be some things to consider (bare in mind I was planning on doing long rides when planning this trip initially).
Veganism / plant based / special diets: As mentioned I have strong intolerance to all dairy products and am generally vegan; I still eat eggs maybe once a week and might have fish and chips a few times a year.
With the exception to intolerances and allergies I think the best approach to eating in South East Asia or travelling in general is be willing to be flexible. I only like to eat plant based, but I'm happy to eat eggs and at a push will eat fish or chicken. This is obviously not what I want to do for every meal but consider that you might be getting places late at night, options that are clearly described in English as not containing your allergens may only have meat in them etc.
When I travelled to Japan and also for all these countries, I wrote 'I cannot eat dairy etc' in English on Google translate and then screenshotted the response in the desired language if I needed to show someone to confirm ingredients. For Japan I looked up pre made examples as I know the kanji can sometimes not translate directly, but here I just had the google translate page as a back up.
Hong Kong - a lot of English spoken here and a lot of specifically vegan places however they are more expensive. At 7/11 they sell the 'Kind' granola bars which are vegan and yummy! and I also ate the ready made egg and rice sushi balls. Some ingredients were listed in English but I don't remember finding any other easy go-to's. At bakeries, of which there are a lot, almost everything appears to be cream filled, buttered, flaky pastry. I found I could eat walnut and raisin breads without any noticeable issues, but I didn't have an ingredients list to check.
Vietnam - in HCMC I was very lucky to be staying down the road from a fully vegan restaurant that had ice cream, vegan banh mi, smoothies etc (Healthy World in District 1, there is another somewhere else in the city). Tofu was on menus and on an English menu in a Viet place I could safely pick something veggie. Asking for a dish to be 'chay' means veggie and that works too. Because everything is so cheap, it seemed to be easy enough to eat here. Desserts were limited with the exception of a vegan shop.
They do have Oreos, in general for all these countries, I hope you like Oreos because they're the only dessert option most place !
Cambodia - Sometimes easy and sometimes not. Tofu did appear on menus, I would recommend trying Tofu Lok Lak as a veggie Khmer dish (it will probably come with a fried egg) and I was able to ask for curries just veggie or with tofu. I ate mostly eggs and toast of some kind for breakfast because that was a filling option. Every city I was in there was at least one vegan cafe or restaurant that was not too much more ££ than a normal meal so I knew at least I could get myself something nice and safely vegan every other day while keeping a budget. I was concerned about Koh Rong being a remote island that I would struggle to eat but this was one of the best places! There is a purely veggie/vegan restaurant on the main pier, as well as other restaurants offering vegan pizza, veggie pad thai, tofu curries etc. I also found a second kind of chocolate biscuit that wasn't an Oreo here!
Koh Chang/Thailand - though we were back to having access to 7/11 the options seemed more limited and Thailand was my least favourite place to eat. In 7/11 I did find a few different kinds of Almond milk (& oreos!) but ingredients were rarely in English. Some options at the food halls were inari sushi, Subway (hash browns) and a few other (but more pricey) dedicated vegan restaurants in the central district.
You deserve a medal if you made it this far - any questions please ask me, thanks :-)

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 83%. (I'm a bot)

Officials in the Chinese city of Macau on Tuesday asked its 41 casinos to close for half a month as they rush to stop the coronavirus outbreak afflicting China and the region.
The authorities said 10 people in Macau have been sickened by the pneumonialike illness, among them a hotel employee at Galaxy Casino, one of the city's busiest gambling establishments.
In more recent years, the biggest American casino operators like Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands Corporation have come to rely on their towering outposts in Macau.
Wynn Resorts, until recently run by casino mogul Steve Wynn, owns three properties in Macau.
The shift coincided with Lunar New Year, the most lucrative time for Macau casinos, and the city has already seen visits drop by 80 percent, according to Fitch Ratings.
Mr. Lobo, the consultant, who has lived in Macau for 25 years and has worked for the Macau government and the Venetian, visited some of the biggest casinos in Macau on Monday.

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.shao dongmingYouTube Shao Dongming is the CEO of Chinese property development company Dongding Investment, and he's one of richest men in Shanghai. 邵东明是中国一家地产开发公司东鼎投资的董事长，也是上海滩上最富有的人之一。

Unfortunately his luck has run out.不幸的是，他的好运到头了。译文来源:龙腾网 HTTP://WWW.LTAAA.COMShao is being investigated for corruption in the country's ongoing, far-reaching anti-corruption campaign. Specifically, the government is looking into the $160 million worth of gambling debts he's racked up in Macau. According to reports, Shao refused to pay these debts when his creditors tried to call them in, and he reportedly even threatened representatives of his creditors with bodily harm. 中国正刮起一场大范围的反腐风暴，邵东明正因腐败问题受到调查。政府特别关注他在澳门欠下的1.6亿美元赌债。据报道，债主打电话给邵东明催款时，他不但拒不还钱，还威胁要修理债主的代理人。His story is a reflection of a new China. 邵的故事反映出中国的新环境。Two years ago, this probably wouldn't have been a problem, but with a national anti-corruption campaign afoot in China — in which President Xi Jinping vowed to go after lowly "flies" and powerful "tigers" — and Macau's casino industry going through a massive slowdown, there is no longer any tolerance for the red king's excesses. 2年前，这可能不会成为问题，但是随着中国反腐运动愈演愈烈——*河蟹*誓要将"苍蝇"和"老虎"一起打——澳门的赌博业受到很大影响，不会再容忍红色赌王的大额欠债。

MacaoKin Cheun/AP People walk across a road in front of the Venetian Macao casino resorts. 澳门，人们走过威尼斯赌场门前。There's also little tolerance for his pride. A report from China's NDTV noted that Shao bragged that "anyone creating trouble for him would end up in jail." He has close ties to the mayor of Shanghai, and he has held high-level positions within the Communist Party. 他的傲慢也不被见容。中国NDTV的一份报道称邵东林吹嘘"谁找我麻烦，我让他进监狱。"邵与上海市长关系密切，在党的队伍中占据高位。No matter. He's still going to get a "string ent inspection," according to the Party.但是不管怎样，他都将受到"严肃调查"。It's about more than Shao 不仅仅是邵Now, the fact that Shao's being targeted for corruption is not the only way his case reflects Xi's new China. His investigation may spell more trouble for the country's slowing housing market and show that an already dire situation in Macau isn't getting any better.邵被调查不仅仅是反映了习领导下的中国新环境，对邵的调查也许会给中国已然放缓的房地产市场雪上加霜，同时澳门的悲惨处境也不会变好。Overall, Shao's business has seen better days. Chinese housing is facing its roughest patch since 2011. New home prices fell 5.1% in January from the same time the year before. In December that figure was 4.3%.邵的企业曾经辉煌过。中国的房地产业现在正面临自2011年来最严峻的形势。1月份一手房的价格同比下跌了5.1%。而12月份同比跌幅是4.3%。Last month, massive property development company Kaisa defaulted , and now $2 billion worth of its assets are frozen. Naturally, having a billionaire property developer under investigation won't help matters. 上个月，大型开发商凯撒股份违约，现在其20亿美元的资产被冻结。显然，一个房地产界的亿万富翁被调查只会使情况更糟。As for Macau, the fact that Shao's debts are being called in at all is a sign of weakness, especially for the island's high roller segment. Coming off of the worst year since it opened to western casino operators, analysts think that the global gambling hub will continue to slow. Foot traffic is up slightly among retail gamblers, but it's not nearly enough to make up for the loss of high rollers, who've been scared off by Xi's corruption crack down.而对于澳门来说，邵被催偿赌债这件事说明了澳门的衰落，特别是大赌场。自从澳门开放给西方赌场以来，这是最糟糕的一年，分析师认为澳门会继续走下坡路。小赌场的客流量稍有上升，但是远不够弥补大赌场的客流减少，大赌客都被*河蟹*的反腐给吓跑了。Moreover, one would think Chinese New Year would be a boon for Macau, but it hasn't been.更糟的是，一般认为春节能给澳门带来一波火爆生意，但是也没有。"Based on checks through February 22, we believe Chinese New Year (CNY) revenue trends have been soft to date. Our checks suggest that revenue trends in both the VIP and mass segments have been soft. Notably, there were a number of mass tables empty on the third and fourth days of CNY," wrote Wells Fargo analyst Cameron McKnight in a recent note. "Continue to expect -35% to - 45% growth for February.""根据2月22号的支票，相信农历新年的收入会比较疲弱。大户和散客的收入都不高。特别是在春节长假的第三、四天，散客桌空了很多。"Wells Fargo 的分析师 Cameron McKnight称，"预计2月份收入会减少35-45%。"What's more, reports indicate that the Chinese government is looking to cap the number of visitors to Macau — period. That means the end of the islands massive boom, and the beginning of what McKnight calls a "new normal."并且，有报道称，中国政府将限制访问澳门的人数。这意味着澳门的大繁荣到头了，取而代之的是McKnight所说的"新常态"。Oh and there's this: "our analysis shows a 95% correlation between Chinese home price growth and VIP volume growth," McKnight wrote in a note.哦还有："我们的分析发现，中国房价增长和大户业务量增长有95%的相关性。"McKnight在他的文章中说。So if the ship starts to go down, it all goes down together.所以如果船要沉了，那就是全体下沉。

Gaming operator Sands China indicated today that it recorded some US$1.06 billion in profits in the first half of this year, reporting a 9% year-on-year increase.
Sands China (1928.HK), the owner and operator of integrated resorts, retail malls and casinos, is planning to renovate and rebrand the 1,200-room Holiday Inn at Sands Cotai Central in Macau as The Londoner, a higher-end 600-suite hotel, in line with brands like The Venetian and The Parisian. This will be central to a larger expansion plan costing over USD 2 billion. The new development features a replica of the Big Ben.
Analysts view this positively. The upgrade is important as some Sands properties are aging. Sands have also been more successful with city-branded properties. The upgrade will also draw in a more premium segment of the market, attracting higher-end gamblers and thus enhancing gaming revenues. Sands China has profit margins above industry averages and is in good shape to fund the project.
[Special Delivery]: Could This Conglomerate Offer You A Good Opportunity
Sands believe the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and the expected increase in traffic will contribute positively to the business.
Casinos are becoming a more competitive business in the region, with countries including Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, and Cambodia all seeking to gain market share.
Nevertheless, Sands recognise such threats, which is why they have been serious in the non-gaming businesses. The same cannot be said about some of its competitors. To provide some context, over a quarter of Sands’ global revenue is from non-gaming sources, including retail property, hotels, conferences and exhibitions. With Sands, investors can expect to be dealt a good hand.

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[Read More]
Higher visitor numbers push up casino shares
NagaCorp Ltd (HK:3918) is Set to Keep Growing

Gaming operator Sands China indicated today that it recorded some US$1.06 billion in profits in the first half of this year, reporting a 9% year-on-year increase.
Sands China (1928.HK), the owner and operator of integrated resorts, retail malls and casinos, is planning to renovate and rebrand the 1,200-room Holiday Inn at Sands Cotai Central in Macau as The Londoner, a higher-end 600-suite hotel, in line with brands like The Venetian and The Parisian. This will be central to a larger expansion plan costing over USD 2 billion. The new development features a replica of the Big Ben.
Analysts view this positively. The upgrade is important as some Sands properties are aging. Sands have also been more successful with city-branded properties. The upgrade will also draw in a more premium segment of the market, attracting higher-end gamblers and thus enhancing gaming revenues. Sands China has profit margins above industry averages and is in good shape to fund the project.
[Special Delivery]: Could This Conglomerate Offer You A Good Opportunity
Sands believe the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and the expected increase in traffic will contribute positively to the business.
Casinos are becoming a more competitive business in the region, with countries including Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, and Cambodia all seeking to gain market share.
Nevertheless, Sands recognise such threats, which is why they have been serious in the non-gaming businesses. The same cannot be said about some of its competitors. To provide some context, over a quarter of Sands’ global revenue is from non-gaming sources, including retail property, hotels, conferences and exhibitions. With Sands, investors can expect to be dealt a good hand.
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[Read More]
Higher visitor numbers push up casino shares
NagaCorp Ltd (HK:3918) is Set to Keep Growing

I am from Las Vegas and was previously a Sen. Financial Analyst at one of the major casino groups. Macau has been hit tremendously in the past year due to stricter VIP money restrictions and poor junket performance. Basically - the wealthy aren't gambling anymore.
Add on the potential economic crash in Chinese markets, currency devaluation, and potential housing market crash and it would spell more disaster for Macau. WYNN, LVS (Venetian), and MGM all have substantial exposure to China. Not only that, but two of them are opening new mega-casinos in the near future costing in excess of $4bn each.
City Center for MGM is the last time a casino cost that much and it was at the peak of the financial boom in the 2000s. The debt on their sheets was catastrophic and still exists there today. These casino groups about to open new resorts will suffer catastrophic losses in value if the Chinese housing market busts or stocks crash.
So, the logical move (to me) is shorting the casinos most likely to take a hit. WYNN has the highest revenue exposure and is opening one of the mega-casinos. They are on top of my list.
Next would be MGM, who has the lowest exposure to China, but in habit of making the same mistakes their wise executives are about to open a megacasino there too late again. How much debt can the company incur before imploding? If China's markets crash, MGM will have debt on their balance sheets that total two full years of Las Vegas's entire gaming revenue. Not their own, not income.... total revenue. They aren't that profitable, especially if Asian high rollers continue to stay home.
Venetian is also widely exposed to Macau's health. It's a worthy short as well. Venetian and Wynn aren't as diversified as MGM either, so trouble in China will be a bigger issue.
Thoughts? My biggest issue is that I'm a complete novice with shorting a stock. I understand the concept but have never performed one. My Ameritrade account seems limited in shorting features as well.
EDIT: Thanks for the input all. I will look over other options that are less risky than an outright short.

Hong Kong is a vibrant and futuristic city and it's a wonderful idea to visit this place with family for vacations. Enjoy a weeklong holiday in Hong Kong and a day or two in nearby Macau. If you are going from India then there are many direst flights from New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata for Hong Kong. There are connecting flights from Chennai, Ahmedabad and some other places too. It takes 5 hours to reach Hong Kong from New Delhi. Hong Kongbeing a subtropical region, it becomes an all the year round destination. Summers in Hong Kong are really hot and humid and so it should be avoided. Winters are dry and cool making it the ideal time to visit Hong Kong. During autumn, the evenings are cool and there is pleasant breeze throughout the day with moderate temperature. Autumn is really the best time to visit Hong Kong. Autumn in Hong Kong is from September to November and winter is from December to February. Best months to visit Hong Kong would be from October to December. One more thing to keep in mind while planning a trip to Hong Kongis to avoid going there during Chinese New Year as many shops will be closed. You can check the dates as they keep changing.
Hong Kong is one of the busiest and developed metropolitan places in Asia. Hong Kong consists of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, New Territories and 200 outlying islands. All these areas are very well connected with trains and bus networks.
Hong Kong Island is where Central area is located. It is the political and economic center of Hong Konghaving an expensive look but you can find a number of affordable guesthouses and hostels in this area. Victoria Peak is a tourist attraction in this area. It is a hill station with natural wonders.
In Kawloon Peninsula you find the museums, the markets and Avenue of Stars. Modeled on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, Avenue of Stars honors the celebrities of Hong Kong film industry. Kowloon is full of affordable and cheap guesthouses. The New Territories is that region of Hong Kong which has parks, wetlands and mountains. It includes the outlying islands. The Lantau Island has the famous Disneyland theme park and Tian Tan Buddha which is a giant bronze statue with gardens and restaurant of Po Lin Monastery. This is a place you cannot miss as a tourist. You also have Lamma Island with beautiful laid back beaches for relaxation.
After going around Hong Kong you can visit Macau which is one hour ferry ride from Hong Kong. Once in Macau, visit the most famous The Venetian Macau which is a luxury hotel and casino resort. It is the largest casino in the world. After having spent some time at the casino, you can visit City of Dreams, a resort and casino full of entertainment. A unique aquarium, The Bubble Fountain and Dancing Water Theater are the attractions of this place. "House of Dancing Water" is a show you cannot afford to miss.
Wear casual shoes and carry lots of water with you as you will be walking a lot at Disney Land and Ocean Park in Hong Kong.
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For the ultimate baccarat. The largest in the world This may be known by people around the world. The luxury and excellence in the source of the skill. And a place to invest money on the issue of gambling. The casinos are huge, including the City of Dreams Macau, China.
One of the largest casino hotels in the vicinity of the Venetian, there are also world class restaurants and bars. Foxwoods Resorts Casino is located in the USA. Located in Ledyard, within the casino are both game consoles and poker games.
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It is the largest hotel and casino in the world. Use a lot of budget and now become the world's most popular tourist destination. The casino floor is located on the ground floor of the building, with 900 gaming tables, 3700 slot machines, a large hall and seating for up to 15,000.
Sands Macao China is another casino in China, offering a wide range of food and beverage services. But nowadays, as technology advances, it makes playing. Baccarat Online It has developed along with.

The area of ​​baccarat. There are 900 gaming tables, 3700 slot machines, a large hall and 15,000 seats for special events. City of Dreams Macau, China is another hotel. The largest casino in the neighborhood with the Venetian.
The Foxwoods Resorts Casino in the USA is the ultimate casino. The hotel is located in Ledyard. The casino has both a games room and a poker room. Casino Ponte in China Baccarat Online.
It is the fourth casino in the world. The casino is a mix of traditional Portuguese and Chinese designs. There are gaming machines and poker room games with the Tusk Rio Casino in South Africa. It is a place built inside South Africa and offers excellent food and beverage service. MGM Grand China
This place is going to become a new symbol of the city with a unique mobile structure. Sands Macao is one of the most popular casinos in China, offering a wide range of food and beverage services.
From the mention of casinos around the world, it can be seen that most of the casinos in China is the number one, and is the world's leading casino that people are interested in. To access the service. But playing the casino for the Thai people would be a bit difficult.
Must travel to play Baccarat Online Overseas and must have a good financial position to be able to play casino abroad. But nowadays, as technology advances, it makes the casino to develop accordingly.

Many of you will already know that this is a game-oriented casino or casino. Online casino And where is the biggest resort in the world? Where are you on this planet? And can travel to each other, it will be answered that way.
The largest casino and resort in the world is the venetian resort and casino, a casino and resort with a total area of ​​10.5 million square feet, located in the exclusive economic zone of China. In the Oceanic Period of China
Many people would guess where it is. It is a casino and resort on the island of Macau, a special administrative region of mainland China itself. We can travel to Thailand easily, and take a trip that is not very long about 3 hours from Thailand to China.
Macau is on our Asia. It is unbelievable that Asia will have the largest casinos and resorts in the world. Many people will think that if the casino and resort is the largest, it must be a superpower in the United States or Las Vegas certainly.
But where is Asia closest to the ears near our eyes? By resort and Online casino This is the budget to create and create everything for the world to visit the US $ 1.5 billion, it must say that God.
Why the budget to build a casino and a place to visit one of the reasons why this expensive expensive. All I can think of is that the budget for the investment and the cost of building this expensive then the profits will be. Before investing or building a business, one must have a calculated break-even point.

For the best in the world. This may be known by people around the world. The luxury and excellence in the source of the skill. And a place to invest money on the issue of gambling. The casinos are huge, including the City of Dreams Macau, China.
One of the largest casino hotels in the vicinity of the Venetian, there are also world class restaurants and bars. Foxwoods Resorts Casino is located in the USA. Located in Ledyard, within the casino are both game consoles and poker games. Tusk Rio Casino in South Africa Gclub .
It's a place built inside South Africa and offers excellent food and beverage service. MGM Grand China is set to become a new symbol of the city with a unique mobile structure. The hotel is growing and popular among people who are interested in the casinos. Casino Ponte in China.
It is the fourth casino in the world. Gclub combines the traditional design of Portugal and China together perfectly. Gaming and gaming rooms are also available. Venetian Macao in China is the largest hotel and casino in the world. Use a lot of budget and now become the world's most popular tourist destination.
The casino grounds are located on the ground floor of the building, with 900 gaming tables, 3700 slot machines, a large hall and 15,000 seats for special events. Sands Macao China is a casino. Built in China, it is also available in food and beverage. But nowadays, as technology advances, it makes the casino to develop accordingly.

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 35%. (I'm a bot)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. is selling its Pennsylvania casino to an American Indian tribe from Alabama for $1.3 billion, the company announced Thursday.
Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem opened in 2009 on the site of Bethlehem Steel's former headquarters plant, transforming what was then the nation's largest abandoned industrial complex into an $800 million destination that lured gamblers from New York and New Jersey.
"Sands Bethlehem has become one of the leading regional entertainment and gaming destinations in the United States and we are extremely proud of the positive contributions the property has made for Bethlehem ... and eastern Pennsylvania," Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire mogul who leads Sands, said in a statement.
Though it raked in nearly $550 million from slot machines and table games last year - second among Pennsylvania's 12 casinos - the casino is the smallest in Sands' portfolio, which includes The Venetian in Las Vegas and resorts in Macau and Singapore.
Sands, which had long been rumored to be seeking a buyer for Bethlehem, did not immediately reveal what it planned to do with the proceeds but said the sale would "Enhance liquidity as Sands pursues new development opportunities and returns capital to shareholders."
Sands Bethlehem President Brian Carr said the pending sale would have no impact on casino operations.

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Let me start by saying this is my first reddit post so forgive me if I do this wrong. I'm 19 and currently in Macao China staying at the Venetian hotel on holiday with my family. This place is a huge, fancy, resort-casino and my dad wanted to take me gambling for the first time. My dad gave me the equivilent of about $40 U.S. in macau money (300 MOP) to gamble with this vacation. I'm pretty good at poker but we couldn't find a table anywhere so we started looking for blackjack since those were the only two games I understand well. I'm not really good at all in blackjack but it was better than nothing i guess. So we tried looking for the cheapest minimum bet table (table where the minimum i needed to bet to play was low like 50 or 100 MOP). But the lowest we could find was a 300 MOP table. I was upset, cause this meant I'd have to go all in on my first hand with the only amount of money I had, and therefore my gambling experience would be short lived if I lost. I gave the dealer my cash and got my chips, and sat there for a bit just watching to see if the dealer was doing well on this table. Finally I felt like I had a shot so I put my money in the square in front of me that indicated I wanted in the next round and to give me cards. Let me stop real quick and say that no one in this casino speaks a spot of english, neither gambler nor dealer. The local guy next to me then proceeded to place a bet in the same square (my dad assured me that this has never happened before cause that means the guy is either giving me his money to place a bet on my hand or he's trying to steal my money so he can control the round and play with my bet). I was so confused, the dealer dealt the cards out like it was normal, and me and that guy now had a shared set of card that added up to 15 (a queen and a 5). I had no idea what to do since i was confused if he was in control or me...after an awkward minute of me being new to the game and tapping for a hit, while the man beside me swiped his hands for a pass, I agreed to stay with him on 15 as we proceeded to lose to the dealers 20 right after. I lost 300 MOP right there on my first hand ever and the experience was over. Is this at all normal? or is it just normal in Macau? Someone explain
TL;DR - I'm an American who gambled in Macau china at a Casino, and local non english speaking gambler placed a bet on the same square as me in black jack. We lost on miscommunication of hit or stay. Is this legal?
P.S. I forgot to mention something important. There were 8 spots to bet on the table, the guy who put his bet in my square could have placed it in the empty spot to the right of it. For some reason before i put my bet there while I was waiting he would put his bet in my spot instead of his. Finally when i put my bet in he didn't move spots and placed it in my spot. Does that make it my fault?
P.S.S. The spot i chose was one of the last 2 open spots on the farthest left of the table and I was seated at the edge on the far left so it was difficult to choose any other spots, the man next to me was in front of the 2nd open spot standing and showed up a few minutes after i sat

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Date: 2014-05-07
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Questions	Answers
So if he was making more than 500k it would be okay in your book? That's pretty messed up.	Seems like I'd be even more of a piece of shit if I was that successful.
Are you involved much with the general goings on of the casino? If so, what goes through your head when you see huge amounts of money being gambled away by someone who doesnt know when to walk away?	Yes, I'm an executive so I'm in touch with most everything that goes on. Most of the time when I see something like that, I just say "good for us" and try not to think about whether or not the person can afford it or not.
How much do you make a year? Unless you are making like $500,000+, then you are a piece of shit. you are destroying thousands of people's lives so that you can make a living and afford your bmw and other status symbols.	I don't make $500K a year so I guess that makes me a piece of shit.
What is the worst most tasteless thing you or the casino in general did to make money?	I, obviously, like to think I'm uber classy. But in general I think paycheck cashing promotions are pretty tasteless. E.g., Cash your paycheck and get 5% of the total value in free slot play.
Can you ELi5? Sorry, to me that just sounds like you hand over your $1000 you earned, and get back $50? Which seems wrong...? Or do you get an extra $50? Hmmm... Thoroughly confused myself.	Let's say your check is $1,000. The casino will cash your check and then also give you $50 in promotional credits to be used on the slot machines. The idea is that since we've given you some "free" money to begin playing the machines you will also dip into the $1,000 cash that we also handed you.
Are there any clauses that prevent you from just spending the $50 in free bets and cashing out the $1k without actually playing with it?	No, you get the $1K in cash and the $50 can only be used in the slot machine. I've done this once when I started my new job and my direct deposit wasn't set up yet so they issued me a live check.
How many people just walk directly out of the casino after cashing the check with their 5% bonus?	I don't know, I've never run this promotion but generally speaking when we give away promotional credits, the "walk rate" is in the 25% range.
How often do you go to the strip clubs in vegas? If you go how much do you spend? Do you get treated better if they know what your job is?	I really don't like them so not often unless someone is in town that wants to go. I don't have a moral objection, just think it's a waste. "Hey do you like to eat steak? Give me $20 to smell this delicious steak! No, you can't try it!!!".
	So that having been said, I might spend $20 to give to the girls on the stage and maybe a lap dance.
	No, I don't get treated better because of my title really. They usually just care about how much money you spend and that's it.
What are some sneaky strategies that you use to get people to spend more money? I don't mean obvious things like having ATMs...but things related specifically to gambling..	Ummm... Off the top of my head I think the sneakiest thing is probably side bets on table games (e.g., play an extra $5 and if your two cards are a pair then you win $25) because the odds are terrible or things like advertising low table game limits but modifying the rules (e.g., blackjack pays 6:5 vs 3:2) to increase the house advantage.
Some casino customers are super cheap and only play $1 Blackjack. Others are whales and the casino spends a lot of money to attract them, but they are rare. Somewhere in between, I imagine, there are customers who spend a significant amount and exist in numbers to make most of the casino's profits.	First, we quantify most everything by "theoretical worth". That is, how much we can expect to win from you based on the house advantage of the game you play and how long you play. The general formula is decisions per hour X house advantage X hours played X average bet. So, $25/hand at blackjack X 1.5% house advantage X 2 hours played X 60 decisions per hour = $45 in theoretical worth.
Is that true? How much does a "bread and butter" customer gamble in a day?	Second, It really depends on the particular property. The number is a lot higher for Wynn then it would be at Joker's Wild (a really, really dumpy casino on the outskirts of Vegas). That having been said, most places will be very happy to have you if you are in the $150-300 a day in theoretical worth range.
That sounds pretty affordable. Assuming a 30% comp return I guess that comes out to $50-90 in comps a day.	30% includes the stuff we send you in the mail generally too so at the $300 range you could expect a room and a meal a day.
What kind of awful rules are you using to have a 1.5% house advantage, or is that number based on the average player being really terrible? How much in comps would I actually generate for two hours of $25 a hand Blackjack?	I just threw the 1.5 number out there. We also factor in skill into house advantage so as to be more favorable to the player, comp wise. comp wise we'd probably give you 15% of the $45, or $6.75. That's just in what we call discretionary comps that the pit supervisor or host can give you. Then you could expect another 30% in the mail via free bets, hotel, food, etc.
I guess you need to register with the casino loyalty club so you know what we are spending.	Correct.
I currently reside in Arizona, where you can't swing a dead cat without hitting an Indian reservation and - as a result - a casino.	Well I've worked all over the country and, yes, of course we always keep an eye out on new competition that would impact our existing customer base, especially as the business has seen much more legalization in new jurisdictions in the past 20 years.
The casino/resorts are getting increasingly sophisticated. Better facilities, better entertainment, and better marketing.	For Vegas, I think most strip properties have dealt with this by investing in properties in regional markets so as to send their customers to their Vegas properties so it is pretty accretive. Someone from Harrah's Ak-Chin in the Phoenix area gets offers from Harrah's Las Vegas quite often.
Is this something the Vegas casinos consider a rising threat, welcome competition, or something else? How do you - as a marketing guy - react to the fact that a trip to a casino no longer necessarily means a trip to Nevada or New Jersey?	The bigger problem really is for the markets where they were a monopoly for some time and really rested on their laurels. Reno and Atlantic City come to mind. Those markets are dying fast and there really isn't much upside. In Atlantic City, for example, you have casinos buying competitors just to close them so as to reduce the inventory.
What really happens when somebody wins on a slot machine? Like, what is the behind the scenes stuff that we don't see? Are they checking out the cameras to make sure it was that specific person before they payout? What if you switch seats? What if an underage gambler wins?... What if they switch seats with an of-age gambler?? Honestly, I've never done that, but I've always wondered the underage stuff because I've never ever got carded on slots! I've won hand-pays before (nothing really exciting) and they always hit me with the tax form. What do you guys do with the tax form? Does it get sent out from you guys or does it remain my responsibility from thereon?	I worked as a slot analyst (analyzing machine performance) years ago and never on the floor so I don't know/remember the exact steps. Essentially, though, it's verifying that the machine is functioning properly and recording the details of the jackpot for audit/regulators. If it is a taxable jackpot ( >= $1,200) then we are required to fill out the IRS W2G form to report it to them for tax purposes so at that point we have to get your ID, etc. to facilitate that. Then of course, there is the matter of actually paying you the money, verifying that it is the correct amount, etc. The tax form does get sent to the IRS. You can request the taxes not be taken out of your jackpot as you are only taxed on the net win at the end of the year.
How did you get involved in the casino bussiness?	1/2.) Just needed a job and applied to a very entry level job and worked my way up.
Did you set out to work at one or did it come about another way?	3.) It can be fun and exciting.
What do you enjoy most about your job? Least?	4.) There's a lot of pressure to make money/meet your budget so all of the bullshit that goes along with that. Dealing with politics, having to adjust staffing, etc. And I don't like that at my level the usual tenure is 2-3 years so you move around a lot. I'd like to be more settled, especially in a place I'd really want to live for a long time and I don't feel like I have much control of that in this business.
1) When you talk about being moved around a lot, is that relating to being moved around in what you do at a particular casino? or more like which casino your working at? 2) Do you feel that your skills at this current job gives you fallback options should your tenure run out? ( Such as in other service based industries?)	1.) I mean there is only one of me at every casino so if something happens whether I don't like where I work or what something different (e.g., more money) or they don't like me (shocking, it happens!) then the likelihood that I have to move is high, especially if I'm in a city that only has a handful of casinos. 2.) I obviously feel like my skills could take me anywhere! But in reality, it has been tough to change industries when I've tried. Usually places like hotels don't pay as much as casinos and look for more sales-related skills and restaurants don't really have marketing people except at the corporate office whereas my skills are more analytics-oriented. And both usually pay less than casinos.
time I went to Vegas (around 30 years ago) it still had that "mob" vibe. When I got married there in the 90s (I joke now that I gambled on marriage in Vegas and lost half my stuff) it was much more "corporate" and "family friendly." The "What Happens in Vegas" campaign seemed to try and change that perception. Do you think there's value in returning Vegas to a more "wise guy" kind of feel...playing up the classic vibe, or is it just a big collection of theme parks with gambling?	The problem with returning to that type of vibe is that it's difficult/impossible given how big the casinos are. Sure it was easy for Benny Binion to control everything and not be "corporate" when the old Horseshoe was literally 1/10th the size of MGM Grand.
What was UNLV like? Did you live in the dorms? It seems like a strange school where everyone commutes and there's no college life around the campus. What are the pros and cons of going there?	I went there for grad school so was older and had a wife and a house. It is definitely a commuter school so there's not a lot of school spirit. I went to undergrad a school with a huge, huge, huge, football program so it was a bit of a change for me. I also didn't find the students to be terribly bright (with exceptions, of course). On the upside, a lot of people like living in Vegas and the Hotel Administration College (where I went) has very, very good brand recognition.
Do you find people have lots of misconceptions about the casino industry?	That the games are rigged and that we love giving away a lot for nothing/little in return are probably the two biggest.
So what's up with prostitutes and the casinos? I understand that prostitution is illegal in Vegas, but that they're still there. Is it like the movies, where they're just hanging out in the casino bars waiting to be picked up?	Yes, they hang out at the bars and then there are services you can call and have them sent to your room. If it's overt, casino security will clear them out of the bar area but the vice cops generally focus on human trafficking kind of stuff.
As an insider, what do you think the job prospects are in the industry for someone with a similar education background, but no casino experience?	1.) The industry relies heavily on industry experience so job prospects are good if you're willing to start in a low position and work you're way up. If you go to UNLV and get the degree I got and expect for some casino to make you a Director of VP with no experience then you're going to be very disappointed.
Is that just bizarre luck?	2.) Bizarre luck.
What does the industry think about states with Indian reservations that prohibit casinos like Texas?	3.) Definitely potential opportunity. I've read about that small tribe in Texas. It'll happen eventually in Texas. The people in Louisiana will not be happy, though.
Is it viewed as a potential opportunity for growth with a small tribe, more competition, or a wedge to open the state to gambling?	4.) No problem!
For every average person out there, would you suggest not playing? I mean, in the sense that, it's just not a viable option?	Viable for what? Making consistent money? Then definitely not. If you are entertained by thrill of gambling and have the discretionary funds to do it, then by all means.
Aw okay! cool. Any idea why people do it? Is it just a thrill? Would being a "whale", make more of a difference?	For the people that do it for entertainment, it's the thrill of anticipation.
Was it hard getting a job with such a detailed degree?	My undergrad degree is pretty bland, political science, so it wasn't hard at first. I did my grad degree in casino management because I was living in Vegas, wanted to get an MBA, didn't want to take 2 years off from work to get a full-time degree, didn't have the support of my job to get an executive MBA, and didn't like UNLV's MBA program.
EDIT: Thanks for answering my first AMA question! Really good answer too!	NP! Keep asking away!
What's your favorite aspect of your job? And do you like to gamble yourself?	1.) It can be exciting. Picking new acts to play in your showroom seems more exciting to me than selling propane. 2.) Yes...
What is the best way for tourist to get the best bang for buck in your casino for entertainment, food, gambling etc to have a good time and not go broke?	I'm currently working at a Vegas strip property.
If you can answer in terms of Vegas, that would be great also.	Unless you have something more specific in mind, the first place I'd direct you to is the Las Vegas Advisor Top 10 Deals List.
With legal online poker gaining momentum which might mean eventual legal online gambling for other house games online; are the casinos doing what they can to kill this before it starts or your thoughts on this?	Las Vegas Sands / Venetian is actively trying to kill it (which I don't really understand) but everyone just sees it as a means to make more money so are ready to pounce when it's legal.
I don't know if you're still answering questions, but what are the qualifications for being, say, a Texas Hold'em Dealer in Vegas, specifically your casino, and are the dealers specific to just one game? I.e. omaha, hold 'em, pai gow, stud... Also, without being too specific, what is the average annual income for said occupation? Are the dealers payed solely by tips/do they get to keep all tips?	1.) Generally there are poker dealers and table games (e.g., blackjack) dealers. Few do both. Among the table games dealers, most know multiple games as the more you know the more hirable you are. In terms of the qualifications it's just that you've gone to some sort of dealer school (there are commercial ones and some casinos do it in-house), experience, and a live audition. 2.) Really depends on the market and the casino. At the high end like Wynn or Venetian they will do close to $100K/year but at an entry-level place it could be more like $25K/year. It's base salary plus pooled tips (aka tokes).
	3.) You've never thought of dealing the WSOP? They need as many dealers as they can find.
Do Casino's design their decor for different target groups?	Of course. Hard Rock and Cosmo are designed for younger demographics and Wynn and Venetian for older affluent ones.
I find all Casino's to be outright horrible to my senses due to the noise/flashing lights.	Encore and the new Barrymore are definitely designed for the Asian gambler. And you'd, obviously, have to assume the casinos in Macau are, too, although I've never been.
Could you describe your typical work day? also I've had some great times a Joker's Wild!	Ha! I honed my dice skills at JW!
	Typical work day is get to work and look at the previous day's financial results and react accordingly. I.e., ask the analysts to pull numbers, talk to the head of a certain department about their opinion on something, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	Then it's usually a lot of meetings about upcoming things whether it be planning an event, approving new advertising, doing the strategic planning for the property for 2015, meeting with vendors, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	By this time the numbers or reports I've asked to be run are ready so I sit down and look at them and act accordingly (e.g., hey, looks like we're spending too much on postage to mail to customers too far away, let's change the way we do this for next time), etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	Then it's usually time to go home but 2-3 times a week I'll have a dinner or event to go to with a vendor or colleague or someone from the press.
	Emails emails emails.
	Probably 2-3 Saturdays a month I'll go in and work for a few hours just to catch up on stuff or if there's an event to meet and greet players, make sure everything is going well, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
Has the rise of 6:5 blackjack been hurting the game's popularity, or are there enough people who don't "get" the odds change (or don't care) that it all works out in the end? Is the odds change enough to swing the game back in the casino's favor in the long run even if players count cards? And what about continuous shuffling machines: have any of the casinos you've been with used them, and how did the players react?	The masses don't care about either especially if you're able to offer low limits. The limit and the number of decks is what attracts people to a bj game. Still never going to allow counting.
Is is harder to get jobs in the background or management functions of the casino?	Well certainly there are more what we call "front of house" positions (dealers, porters, servers, bartenders, etc.) than "back of house" positions (accountants, IT, warehouse, etc.) so in terms of pure numbers, yes it's easier to get -any- FOH than -any- BOH position.
I'm an IT grad looking to move back to Vegas and wondered if there were more "non-floor" jobs than actually functional jobs.	That having been said, if you're wanting an IT position shouldn't be too hard if you're willing to work anywhere and have a little experience. If you're wanting to just jump into the CIO job at Bellagio, more difficult.
Great! thank you. I've got about 8 years under my belt, but dear god...no CIO for me. This really eased my worry about options. thanks.	You should be OK as long as you're not too picky.
Just how rigged are the automatic roulette machines?	They aren't. The games have to go through pretty rigorous testing by the state or an agency of the state to be allowed to be sold. Gaming Labs International is one such company.
I would think that SEO campaigns and similar web based marketing would be ineffective techniques for a casino in a place like Las Vegas. Is this the case? I know I'm quite late but I would love to know if you have time.	We definitely do SEO/SEM campaigns but primarily for hotel related keywords for people looking for hotel rooms. I worked at a place a little outside of the main city in the south one time and we'd buy broader search terms for people looking for "entertainment in main city" in case they didn't know there was a casino nearby.
Thanks for the response. I was just curious about engaging people in person in public? Do you operate campaigns on the street such as call to action flyers or similar? Are there laws specific to this type of promotion in Las Vegas?	Not a typical marketing channel most casinos explore, but it's not entirely unheard of. Sorry I'm not entirely sure of the laws.
Who owns the casino you work at? Is it one guy or a publicly traded company?	I'd rather not say as I don't want to be outted but I have worked for large publicly traded companies, privately held companies (e.g., owned by hedge funds), and publicly traded companies where one individual owns the majority of the shares. I've never worked at a privately owned casino owned by one individual, though.
How do I get over 65 year olds excited about my product?	Without knowing what said product is, the best thing I can say is to figure out how to make it relevant to them.
What does a marketing exec. at a casino make a year?	Depends on the size of the property. 75 at a small riverboat casino to 250 at a large place like Bellagio.
To succeed in marketing, what is the first step to landing a successful job? and what should be the over arching goal in mind to maintain a competitive advantage over fellow competition as well as new shifts in market trends?	1.) be tenacious. take any job you can get. be a sponge and learn everything you can.
	2a.) don't be afraid to fail, but be smart (and profitable) about it.
	2b.) don't rest on your laurels. stay in touch with your customers.
Go on ... What does a casino do in that regard?	From a gambling standpoint, people in that age range like penny slots so we offer a lot of penny slots. We put on shows that would appeal to them. We would make the decor more classic vs hip. Etc.
I've always wanted to work in the gaming industry. I have a strong sales background and a B.S. degree... which department would you recommend to get my feet wet?	Probably player development which is the department that deals with VIP guests or maybe special events/promotions.
What's the best movie you've seen this year? You did say we could talk about life in general...	Absolutely! 12 Years a Slave.
	Edit: Also, Dallas Buyer's Club.
Dang, haven't seen it yet...will have to wait for it on DVD or streaming. Edit: Haven't seen that one either. I'm starting look like a Philistine.	It's pretty heavy but sometimes that's good.
Do you prefer to market for families or adults? Casinos are adult fun, but I've noticed a shift in the past decade.	Definitely adults.
Your AMA was one of the best, you answered almost every question, so if you're still answering here's one: If a young person comes in and wins more than 100k and then just leaves, would you suspect him/her of anything?	It really depends more on the manner in which you win and how you behave. We're required by law to fill out a Currency Transaction Report for transactions over $10,000. So if you got to that point you would have already given us your ID, etc. We'd obviously make sure that surveillance is watching you to make sure you're not cheating but if you're on a random hot streak and betting $10K/hand then it wouldn't be a huge deal at most strip properties.
How about a free load just this once? lol. But hypothetically what would 10 grand get you :(	At my place, (which is not an uber classy place like Wynn or Venetian), you'd get pretty much whatever you'd want. Suite, dinners, limo from the airport, show tickets, etc. We'd generally reinvest in you 30% of your loss so just figure out what $3,000 in comps would get you.
What advice can you give to new grads who want to get into marketing, but can get work due to lack of experience?	As I mentioned in a previous post, I believe you really just need to be tenacious and take anything to get your foot in the door. It's a very crowded field, especially on the what I call "pretty picture" side of marketing. I wish I had a more specific answer to give you.
What does being a marketing executive involve?	I usually say I'm in charge of driving profitable revenue. The departments that report up to me are charge of advertising, promotions, entertainment, public relations, direct mail/database marketing, and VIP marketing.
I'm coming to Vegas in December from Australia, can you PM me your email address?	Just PM me. Happy to see if I can help
Do casinos hire interns? I'm currently a student at a public university.	Absolutely. I think most of the major companies have management training/internship programs. Go to their careers websites. Caesars Entertainment, MGM International, Pinnacle Entertainment, Penn National Gaming, etc.
Would you recommend a job in marketing? what skill sets would be helpful for marketing? i'm interested in it but not entirely sure what it's about.	I think the best combination in today's world is to be more right brained with a creative bent as more and more the question asked of marketing folks is "quantify how your idea makes me money?" and less and less "what's the most most creative idea you have?"
	It's a crowded field especially on the left brained side (e.g., advertising and public relations) because people think it's "cool". So if that's you're interest, I'd say being tenacious and creative is what is going to get you far in that world because it's tough to get your foot in the door and you have to have thick skin and then when you do get your foot in the door you are going to have a very short leash to prove yourself.
Any specific company you recommend?	If you're at the intern stage, apply liberally.
Do you have the sides backwards, or do I?	Um, well I think of left brained as creative and right brain analytical?
How selective is the casino management program at UNLV?	The hotel management program in general is not selective but the casino management program is difficult because it's pretty quantitatively-focused so there's a lot of attrition.
What do you do for family entertainment in Vegas?	I'm single so that having been said, there's all your typical family stuff to do here: parks, camping, hiking, movies, bowling, etc.
You don't have any family in Vegas? What's something that you go do with your friends, then?	I'm not from here and my ex-wife hated living here thus why she's my ex. My friends and I go and see concerts, go to bars, we like guns so go shooting sometimes, and most Sundays cook for each other.
Sounds like a nice life!	It's OK. City is kind of soulless and superficial.
One of my favorite aspects of Vegas is that if you want your experience to improve, it's usually a strategic $20 tip away... whether that be a tip to upgrade your room when you check in, to skip the long line at a club, to get a table with a great view at dinner... What potential 'Experience' improvements would you recommend in Vegas?	Link to thetwentydollartrick.com
Vegas or Macau. Which is better?	Better for what?
Have you read The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester?	I haven't.
So basically I should just buy from the half off kiosks?	Yes.
How do you feel about those who are addicted to gambling and those who have lost everything because of it?	Bad, obviously.
Late to this ama, are you still taking questions?	Sure!
Sure buddy.	Do you mean to say that you don't believe me?
I just got started in hospitality marketing, any advice?	Doing what, exactly? Just be willing to make not a lot of money for awhile and be willing to relocate frequently if you want to move up the ladder. I guess those are the first things that come to mind.
Have you had any good marketing ideas that you couldn't do due to marketing regulation.	Not necessarily due to regulation but a lot of times you're gun-shy to do a promotion because well, what happens if no one shows up?
Bastard.	Danka.

Last updated: 2014-05-11 03:39 UTC
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