5/05/2008 at 12:30 PM
Tags: Casinos, Gambling, Restaurants, Sex (all tags)
Why are we not surprised that this news is out of Vegas? Caesars Palace is starting up summertime lunch-and-booze service at its Italian restaurant, Rao's. But rather than just have grilled food outside, the place is stepping it up with bocce courts and some Bocce Bellas, ostensibly hanging out to help you with your game.
The food menu is on the simple side, channeling that barbecue vibe with sausages, burgers and chicken wings. The specialty drinks sound a little sweet for our taste, but you can't really go wrong with pitchers of sangria.
The bocce bar menu is set to be a seasonal thing, starting this Thursday and running until just after Labor Day. And, yes, we have a gratuitous photo of the Bocce Bellas after the jump.
MORE...
by pbb
3/03/2008 at 4:06 PM
Tags: Beaches, Casinos, Travel Media, Budget Travel Magazine (all tags)
We're not afraid to admit that Biloxi, Mississippi has never been high on our "To Visit" list. True, it does host killer Kid Rock concerts, but that alone won't get us on a Skybus flight to the Gulf Coast.
Budget Travel magazine, though, thinks we should reconsider. Biloxi's done a lot of rebuilding since Katrina smashed the city in 2005, and big casinos are a major draw. So too is bingeing on seafood: The city was once the world capital of oysters and shrimp.
We're not too taken by the couple of museums BT suggests, but that's no big deal when there are 26 miles of beach around to enjoy. Cruising on a replica of a turn-of-the-century schooner sounds pretty cool, too.
Related Stories:
· Biloxi, Alive and Thriving [Budget Travel]
· Beaches coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: mrbill]
by pbb
1/10/2008 at 3:00 PM
Tags: Casinos, Travel Media, Gambling (all tags)
The Consumer Electronics Show is wrapping up in Las Vegas, which means all the tech geeks and fameballs are clearing outta town. That means it's up to you to find the cheapest blackjack tables and spend, spend, spend. And when you're playing the three dollar tables, you can play all night.
Temporary Gridskipper correspondent Jordan Golson took a C-note to the Sahara to see not how much he could win but how fast he could go broke. Turns out, not fast:
After six hours, I'm still up $52. I have to do something to break the monotony. I vow that if I am up $100, I'm walking away, and I start playing badly. Of course, I win...
After six and a half hours, the casino is almost deserted, save for my hugely bored dealer, the cleaning staff, and a busty young woman who called to me from the slots, "Hey handsome, come see me when you're finished," as I returned from the bathroom.
If the glamourous life of $3 tables and prostitute solicitation is for you, your best bet is at older casinos. The Sahara is one, Sunset Station is another. Also worth a try is Imperial Palace. Not into blackjack? The ever-shady Ellis Island Casino and Brewery has an off-menu $5 full steak dinner.
Related Stories:
· Dying to Lose in Vegas: The $3 Blackjack Death March [Gridskipper]
· The Sahara [Official Site]
· Sunset Station [Official Site]
· Imperial Palace [Official Site]
· Las Vegas Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: ishane]
by pbb
7/12/2007 at 8:47 AM
Tags: Casinos, Britain Travel (all tags)
Great Britain just got its biggest casino with the opening last week of Isle Casino Coventry. It's the first overseas casino for the Isle of Capri Casinos gang who are gambling on Brits being big gamblers. A cascading indoor waterfall, 30 slot machines, a 12-table poker room, and 50 roulette stations fill the 100,000 square feet of the new casino.
Coventry, England's ninth largest city and nearly a hundred miles northwest of London, was until now famous for being further from the coast than any other British city. Whether its fortunes will go up or not with the new Isle casino might just be a matter of chance.
Related Stories:
· Isle Casino at Coventry Opens [CNN]
· Casinos coverage [Jaunted]
· Coventry hotels [HotelChatter]
[Photo: lopolis]
by amandak
1/31/2007 at 12:42 PM
Tags: Casinos, Gambling, Kazakhstan Tourism, Borat (all tags)
It's official: President Nursultan Nazarbayev, no longer busy vogueing for his country's tourism commercials, has passed a law requiring all casinos to be located in one of two approved cities: Kapchagai or Shchuchinsk. Kazakhstan is gambling crazed, and though the move reads like a negative blow at first, it could draw in some major dough. Kazakh officials hope to turn the cities into tourist draws, and major investments have been proposed by Chinese companies. Kapchagai could well turn into the Las Vegas of Kazakhstan (that's where the largest Chinese-proposed complex would be based) and Shchuchinsk its Atlantic City--not a bad deal, considering we feel far more comfortable at least trying to pronounce
Kapchagai.
Kapchagai is close to Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city and former capital. We've never really felt compelled to visit Macau, but should Kapchagai turn into something better, you might be surprised to learn that you'd be able to reach it fairly easily. Almaty airport is served by several international airlines, including Turkish, KLM, and Asiana and Lufthansa, in addition to those with more highly questionable safety. Start saving those tenge!
[Photo: NYT via
IHT]
Related Stories:·
Kazakhstan gambles on casinos [IHT]
by djk
12/29/2005 at 1:12 PM
Tags: Casinos, Nightlife (all tags)
With cooler clubs and casinos, could Atlantic City really be on the upswing? By pushing social games like poker and blackjack rather than slots, and booking the likes of Snoop Dogg, AC has gotten more and more people under 50 to show up. But it's not exactly kindergarten there, either. The casinos don't want to alienate any of the oldsters -- as one of them said to CNN, "We've got the time. We're retired. [These younger people are] living paycheck to paycheck. We're living Social Security check to Social Security check."
Related Stories:
·
Atlantic City draws younger crowds [CNN]
·
House of Blues events [Official site]
·
Borgata Hotel [Official site]
by johnrambow
9/12/2005 at 8:49 AM
Tags: Casinos, Travel News (all tags)
The tiny island of Macao, 37 miles southwest of Hong Kong, is apparently turning into Asia's new party spot. The Times reports that its boom in popularity is no accident, Steve Wynn's newest $700 million venture there is set to open next year, as well as the opening of a new MGM Grand soon after.
The island's also building up the Cotai Strip--basically a replica of the Vegas verison. The Sands Corp. plans to invest $4 billion to build a group of hotels and condos there. And no one's concerned about success-esp not Sands Corp. CEO:
"This is a no-brainer," Mr. Adelson said. "If you build it will they come? In my mind, not only will they come, but they'll come in droves."
The gambling's also taken seriously. The average table revenue in Macao is aboout $18,000 versus just $2,500 in Vegas. The word is they don't swill the booze, but focus on tea only-for concentration. A ferry ride to Macao from Hong Kong is under $20 one way.
Related Stories:
· In Macao, Giant Pleasure Domes Decree [NY Times]
by sedona
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