A gorgeous view of the mountains and a moonlit Colorado River as seen from Harrah's in Laughlin.

I think one of the best ways to recall a year is to sort through the photos I’ve taken over the past twelve months.  They bring back lots of great memories either through the specific image or by tweaking my brain into remembering what all happened on that occasion.  To break down a whole year into a few paragraphs isn’t easy, especially when I’m fortunate enough to say lots of great stuff happened in the past twelve months.  So rather than doing a monthly blow-by-blow, I chose to pick out some highlights from our year in gaming.

Best Casino “Hits”:  P.B. – Dealt four 4′s then hit for two out of three kickers on the draw playing Triple Double Bonus Spin Poker Deluxe™ with a payout of $1190.  C.C. – Dealt four 3′s and a kicker playing TDB Spin Poker Deluxe™ with a $1600 payout.

Best Discovery:  The Diamond Lounge patio over-looking the Colorado River at Harrah’s Laughlin, Nevada casino.  A great spot for relaxing with a drink, especially on a warm full-moon night.

Second-Best Discovery:  Green Valley Ranch in Las Vegas with its selection of video poker machines and its very cool pool area.  (Yes, we know it’s been there all along but we usually stay and play on the Strip so this was a big “ah-hah” moment for us.  You’ll see more here on off-Strip properties this coming year.)

Most Surprising Stay:  Harrah’s Joliet casino.  Beautiful spacious room, really nice Diamond Lounge, and a winning night in the casino.

Best High-End Meal in Las Vegas:  BOA Steakhouse at Caesars Palace.  Meltingly tender steaks, truffled potato chips and for dessert – warm, crispy donuts with caramel dipping sauce.

Best Casual Meal in Las Vegas:  Lunch at our perennial favorite, Mon Ami Gabi at Paris, with chicken liver pate, sautéed trout with capers and chocolate-drenched profiteroles for Le Dessert.

Best New Spot in Las Vegas:  The Double Helix Wine Bar at the Palazzo.

Best Las Vegas Dessert:  A tie between the Lemon Tart ice cream at  Sugar & Ice at the Wynn and the Chocoban Tart at Jean-Philippe Patisserie at The Bellagio.  (Thankfully, much more research is needed for this category in 2009.)

Best Meal at a Casino Not in Las Vegas:  The Indian Fry Bread plate at Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde, Arizona.  (Good doesn’t have to be expensive.)

Most Memorable Night in Las Vegas:  Attending a surprise party at Table 10, Emeril’s new restaurant at The Palazzo, for our friend’s sixtieth birthday.  Friends and family from across the country showed up and the look on her face when she saw all of us was priceless.

2008 Will be Memorable for:  Starting this website, RoyallyFlushed, and for all the new experiences we’ve had, things we’ve learned and friends we’ve made because of it.

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MGM Mirage – Announced in its third-quarter earnings release on October 29 that the company is postponing indefinitely its MGM Atlantic City project citing “current economic conditions and the impact of the credit market environment.”   In Las Vegas, MGM Mirage has also halted plans “for the development of a major resort complex on the southwest corner of the Las Vegas Strip and Sahara Avenue in Las Vegas….” 

There’s better news, however, for MGM’s CityCenter Las Vegas development.  In an interview with Market Watch, company officials said the $9 billion resort complex “will get the financing it needs to be completed.” 

Pinnacle Entertainment - The company’s plans to build a casino resort in Atlantic City are on “indefinite hold due to credit market conditions and an evolving competitive environment….”  The company cited the recent election results allowing casinos to be built in Maryland as one of the factors in its decision to suspend the project.

Boyd Gaming - Construction abruptly stopped in August on the company’s $4.8 billion Echelon project on the Las Vegas Strip.  The site – previously occupied by the legendary Stardust which was imploded to make way for the new Echelon – is now a deserted reminder of the lousy economy.  Boyd has announced that it will take most of 2009 to “evaluate alternatives” to the halted project. 

Las Vegas Sands Corp. – While continuing to build the casino portion of the Bethlehem, PA project, construction was stopped in late-October on the non-gaming portions including the planned hotel, events center and shopping mall.

Seneca Gaming Corp. - This Native American casino operator suspended both the construction of a $333 million casino and hotel in Buffalo as well as a planned $130 million expansion of the hotel at the Seneca Allegany Hotel and Casino in Salamanca, NY. 

Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority – Plans for a House of Blues theater and a 39-story, 922-room hotel addition to the Mohegan Sun casino complex in Uncasville, CT were put on hold in September.   The tribe did open its new “Casino of the Wind” – part of its “Project Horizon” expansion plan – in August of this year.

Like I said above, so far….

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Voters will have their say on gambling issues in several states.

Election 2008 sees some interesting gambling-related issues on ballots in several states.  Of these, two are of particular interest to me and here’s why.

This past summer, P.B. and I took a cross-country jaunt and stopped to stay and play at several mid-West casinos including Harrah’s St. Louis.  When we arrived at the casino, we were informed that we needed new player’s club cards and to obtain them, we had to produce picture ID’s plus sign the backs of our replacement cards.  We were told that we must insert these cards into the machines in order to play and that’s when we learned about the $500 loss limit.  Huh?  Yes, unique to Missouri, is a law that says a player cannot lose more than $500 in any two-hour period.  (The cards keep track of your play.) 

While obviously the intent is to limit individual losses, is that really the state’s responsibility?  In my opinion — no.   If, as a state, you allow gambling, then allow it.  Why put artificial spending limits on patrons?  I say artificial because depending on your personal loss capabilities, the games you play, etc., $500 is simply a relative number.  One hundred dollars could be too much for one player while $1,000 may be little more than a drop in the bucket for another. 

 Proposition A is on the ballot in Missouri and would:

 1.)  Repeal the limit that’s currently in place on how much a person can lose per gambling session. Proposition A would not only repeal that limit, it would also prohibit any future loss limits.  

2.)  Prop A would require ID to enter a gambling area if a person appears to be under 21.

3.)  It would prevent any additional casinos from being built.

and 4.)  It would increase the casino gambling tax from 20 percent to 21 percent, and would create a new specific education fund from gambling tax proceeds that would go to Missouri schools.

In other gambling news, my home state will decide on the “Ohio Casino Measure” also known as Ohio Issue 6.  This is a proposed constitutional amendment which would allow a $600,000,000 privately-owned casino resort to be built near Wilmington, Ohio. 

If I still lived in Ohio, I would, as you probably guessed, vote “Yes” on this proposal.  I know lots of Ohioans who regularly go to Las Vegas, Atlantic City — even Mountaineer in West Virginia — to play so why shouldn’t the state benefit from keeping some of these vacation/entertainment dollars at home. 

For an excellent article on the pros and cons of this ballot prop, read this article, “Issue 6:  high stakes in casino vote” at Cincinnati.com by Alexander Coolidge.

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