# "The Era of the New Mega Casino is Over"



## ricoba (Dec 15, 2010)

...so says, William R. Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno....

From this article in the Los Angeles Times....

I thought this was a good read and is probably true, for right now, in Vegas, the building party is over....


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## riverdees05 (Dec 15, 2010)

So many options now with all the casinos in the various states.


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## Passepartout (Dec 15, 2010)

*Cosmopolitan....*

Opening today (December 15, 2010).... http://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/ I read this is the last mega-resort built since the financial mess-up of 2007-08.

Jim Ricks


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## cotraveller (Dec 15, 2010)

Passepartout said:


> Opening today (December 15, 2010).... http://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/ It's also West of I-15 and that's a tough nut for any place to crack.



The Cosmopolitan building we saw last month is in the new City Center complex.  The address listed is 3708 Las Vegas Boulevard South.  That's on the strip, not west of I-15.

They have been running TV ads for it here in Denver for a month or more now.


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## Passepartout (Dec 15, 2010)

cotraveller said:


> The Cosmopolitan building we saw last month is in the new City Center complex.  The address listed is 3708 Las Vegas Boulevard South.  That's on the strip, not west of I-15.



Beg pardon. The article I read led me to believe that it was further west and more difficult to access than most of the Strip resort casinos. I've modified my post to remove my misunderstanding. Thanks for clarifying.   Jim


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## ricoba (Dec 15, 2010)

cotraveller said:


> The Cosmopolitan building we saw last month is in the new City Center complex.  The address listed is 3708 Las Vegas Boulevard South.  That's on the strip, not west of I-15.
> 
> They have been running TV ads for it here in Denver for a month or more now.



Actually it's not "in" CityCenter, it's a bit north, separated by Harmon. 

CityCenter is owned and operated by MGM, Cosmopolitan is owned by Deutsche Bank. They are two separate resorts.

Here is an article from today's LV Sun about the ribbon cutting today.


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## Karen G (Dec 16, 2010)

ricoba said:


> Actually it's not "in" CityCenter, it's a bit north, separated by Harmon.


 It's on the Strip (east of the I-15) and just across the street (Harmon) from City Center. Here's what it looked like about this time last year from Marriott's Grand Chateau. To the far right of the picture you can see the Bellagio. The two gray towers are the Cosmopolitan. I can't wait to check it out--it looks really interesting from what I've read in the paper. Many of the rooms have balconies with great views up and down the Strip.


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## Karen G (Dec 16, 2010)

There are some way cooler pictures than mine of the Cosmopolitan in that link to the LV Sun article in Rick's post above mine. Check out all the photos and the video. We're going to go see it in person next week.


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## cotraveller (Dec 17, 2010)

I stand corrected too. As someone who has trouble remembering that the strip runs North-South and not East-West (we come from the east in Colorado and the road continues on to California in the west) I should know better than to try to pin down locations in Las Vegas.


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## ricoba (Dec 17, 2010)

Here is a whole page from the LV Sun dedicated to the new Cosmopolitan.

We drive up to Vegas this morning (yuck in the rain!).

Probably won't go see the new resort this trip, still haven't been to CityCenter, and in fact only just recently went to the Miracle Mile Shops at the Planet Hollywood...

I guess we just don't "do" the Strip thing too much anymore.


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## Karen G (Dec 17, 2010)

ricoba said:


> We drive up to Vegas this morning (yuck in the rain!).


Bring a coat. It's cold outside!


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## travelguy (Dec 17, 2010)

cotraveller said:
			
		

> As someone who has trouble remembering that the strip runs North-South and not East-West (we come from the east in Colorado and the road continues on to California in the west)




I have this exact same problem.  After 30 years spending 2 weeks a year in LV ... I STILL cannot get it that the Strip runs North-South.  I always think it's East-West based on the same rational that you stated even though we fly in.


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## John Cummings (Dec 17, 2010)

travelguy said:


> I have this exact same problem.  After 30 years spending 2 weeks a year in LV ... I STILL cannot get it that the Strip runs North-South.  I always think it's East-West based on the same rational that you stated even though we fly in.



That is very interesting. We have been to Las Vegas far more times than I can count and the strip always felt North-South to me.


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## ricoba (Dec 17, 2010)

Karen G said:


> Bring a coat. It's cold outside!



It's already packed


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## John Cummings (Dec 17, 2010)

Are we talking "Mega casinos" or "Mega Casino Hotels"? We have "Mega Casinos" here in California. Our "Mega Casinos" have relatively small hotels ( ~ 600 rooms ). However some of our casinos are larger than any in Las Vegas, for example Pechanga in Temecula, CA.

I believe Las Vegas is severely overbuilt and there will be problems for the foreseeable future.


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## kjd (Dec 17, 2010)

John:  Thanks for the LA Times article and thanks Karen G for the picture of City Center.  It's really true what the article states IMO.  Having two units at MGC I appreciate the fact that these new hotels and casinos at Harmon ave and the Strip will bring business to the area.  For years the views from MGC was a big hole followed by a big construction mess.  I'm glad they are almost finished.  Unfortunately, the new business will come from other casinos who are now struggling.  

I also don't anticipate that the new resorts will bring much business to LV as the LA Times article states.  What it may do is skim the cream from the older casinos on the Strip.  I think the prices for everything at most Strip casinos will have to go down in order to bring back the low rollers.  

Some casino/hotels will either go broke or be sold at a big loss to operators who can run these businesses at a profit. There will always be a place for casinos like the Bellagio or the Cosmo.  You have to wonder what Harrah's business plan is for all of those Strip casinos they have bought over the last ten years.  They're going to have to take a cue from the operators of South Pointe who are now eating the Strip casinos lunch.


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## derb (Dec 18, 2010)

Its easy to find the Cosmo,  go the the roof of the Jockey
Club and look in almost any direction.


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## MULTIZ321 (Dec 18, 2010)

ricoba said:


> Here is a whole page from the LV Sun dedicated to the new Cosmopolitan.
> 
> We drive up to Vegas this morning (yuck in the rain!).
> 
> ...



Rick,

I thought you were going to the Louis Vuitton store this trip.


Richard


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## pianodinosaur (Dec 18, 2010)

ricoba:

Thank you for the interesting articles.  The main reason we go to Las Vegas is for conventions.  As long as Las Vegas remains friendly to conventions Las Vegas will continue to get the convention business.


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