Random Vegas
When bill acceptors were added to slot machines in the '90s, it generated a 30% increase in the amount of money played. (@VitalVegas via Natasha Dow Schull)
Twitpic of the week
The story of Rio is a tragic tale. When it opened, it was a monster success, pioneering the move to fine dining and celebrity chefs. 3 years after opening in 1990, the property was so popular that it built and opened a 20-story expansion tower, showcased this week by @LuckysLasVegas. In 1997, at a cost of about $200 million dollars, it unveiled the “Masquerade in the Sky” show. When Harrah’s Entertainment decided to relocate their corporate headquarters from Memphis TN to Las Vegas in the late 90s, they didn’t feel they owned a property that was worthy to setup operations in. So they purchased the Rio in 1999 for $888 million and established it as their corporate headquarters. And so began its downfall. Years later, after all the celebrity chefs left, CEO at the time Gary Loveman would admit that they made the mistake of thinking they could run Rio with the same way they run Harrah’s. Despite making Rio the home of their prized acquisition, the World Series of Poker, the property has noticeably not received any of the renovation love that has been given out to all its sister properties. While Rio has been at the middle of many sale rumors, the latest claiming it will be demolished so a baseball stadium can be built on the land would not only be its final indignity, it would be its most egregious. The irony isn’t lost on me that a sport infamous for its many cheating scandals wants to move to a city that originally identified the importance of insuring that the games had to be fair to the player only to recently adopted the practice of hidden fees.
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