Vegas casino “Stardust” calls “no more bets”
Ian Brockwell
March 13, 2007
As the Las Vegas casino “Stardust” literally became dust, after it was demolished on Tuesday, it provided us with a reminder of the casino business in bygone days. The “Stardust” casino was famous for its earlier mafia connections and inspired the film “Casino”, starring Robert De Niro.
Unfortunately, it was these past connections that gave many casinos a bad name, and the public began assuming that all casinos were owned by people like this. Films like “Casablanca” or some of the James Bond movies didn’t help, by making people think croupiers could spin the number of their choice at will.
Such reputations are not easy to shake off, despite all the rules and regulations that have been introduced over the years. In countries like Britain casinos are monitored very closely by the “Gaming Board”, an organization that decides who can work in a casino by issuing a license to the successful applicants. Games must follow certain rules, and even the roulette wheels are checked frequently to make sure they are balanced correctly.
Times have certainly changed for casinos and this can be seen very clearly in Russia at the moment. A new law was recently introduced that will force all casinos into four “Vegas style” gambling zones by July 2009.
None of these zones are close to Russia’s capital, Moscow, which caters for almost 60 casinos at the moment, and these too will have to find a new home before the deadline in two years from now.
The government believes that by removing the casinos from Moscow, it will also remove the criminal element attached to some of them. Just last year, several casinos were closed because their owners (Georgian) were allegedly involved with crime. However, this may have been more of a retaliatory action following a political disagreement with Georgia (a former Soviet state).
It would be a lie to say that criminals are not involved in some Russian casinos, or indeed some of the players who use them, but this could be said of many businesses anywhere in the world. Generally speaking, the casinos in Russia are run fairly, and evicting them will only encourage the opening of illegal establishments and probably increase the level of criminal involvement, not reduce it.
A casino is one of the most popular places for the more affluent Russian to socialize, carry out some business, do some hard drinking and of course have a little gamble. Their gaming skills have improved greatly in the last 17 years and it is rare to see players walking into a casino anymore with plastic carrier bags filled with money, sometimes losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in just a few hands of blackjack.
But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining, and with Moscow casinos shortly becoming extinct, players will seek out new venues to satisfy their gambling urges. With other countries situated close to the Russian capital, there will be a strong interest in opening new casinos in these territories and huge profits await those who take advantage of the situation. Investing in a casino is not as difficult or as expensive as some may think in this part of the world, and providing you are cautious, the risks are minimal.
Unfortunately, it was these past connections that gave many casinos a bad name, and the public began assuming that all casinos were owned by people like this. Films like “Casablanca” or some of the James Bond movies didn’t help, by making people think croupiers could spin the number of their choice at will.
Such reputations are not easy to shake off, despite all the rules and regulations that have been introduced over the years. In countries like Britain casinos are monitored very closely by the “Gaming Board”, an organization that decides who can work in a casino by issuing a license to the successful applicants. Games must follow certain rules, and even the roulette wheels are checked frequently to make sure they are balanced correctly.
Times have certainly changed for casinos and this can be seen very clearly in Russia at the moment. A new law was recently introduced that will force all casinos into four “Vegas style” gambling zones by July 2009.
None of these zones are close to Russia’s capital, Moscow, which caters for almost 60 casinos at the moment, and these too will have to find a new home before the deadline in two years from now.
The government believes that by removing the casinos from Moscow, it will also remove the criminal element attached to some of them. Just last year, several casinos were closed because their owners (Georgian) were allegedly involved with crime. However, this may have been more of a retaliatory action following a political disagreement with Georgia (a former Soviet state).
It would be a lie to say that criminals are not involved in some Russian casinos, or indeed some of the players who use them, but this could be said of many businesses anywhere in the world. Generally speaking, the casinos in Russia are run fairly, and evicting them will only encourage the opening of illegal establishments and probably increase the level of criminal involvement, not reduce it.
A casino is one of the most popular places for the more affluent Russian to socialize, carry out some business, do some hard drinking and of course have a little gamble. Their gaming skills have improved greatly in the last 17 years and it is rare to see players walking into a casino anymore with plastic carrier bags filled with money, sometimes losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in just a few hands of blackjack.
But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining, and with Moscow casinos shortly becoming extinct, players will seek out new venues to satisfy their gambling urges. With other countries situated close to the Russian capital, there will be a strong interest in opening new casinos in these territories and huge profits await those who take advantage of the situation. Investing in a casino is not as difficult or as expensive as some may think in this part of the world, and providing you are cautious, the risks are minimal.
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