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Monday, March 28, 2011

Las Vegas: The New Disneyland

Blackjack Champ: The number of tourists to Las Vegas who spend their time gambling is dropping each year as the Sin City is turning into yet another Disneyland clone.

The politicians wanted and dreamed of it for years and they are finally reaping what the sowed.

The dream of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel of a playground for ADULTS, where 24 hour action, excitement, blackjack card games, adult theme cabaret shows, nonstop gambling, boozing, dancing and easy women is dying.

On the bones of the pleasure palaces from where the likes of Sinatra and the Rat Pack painted the town red, now are built poignant politically correct McPalaces more suited for Disney Land or Six Flags Great Adventure.

“Mommy, Mommy can we go see the pirate show at Treasure Island and then the dancing bears at the Mirage,” is now heard on the Vegas Strip instead of the old, “Where (are) the dancing broads, the nearest bar and a one deck blackjack table, because baby, I am feeling lucky tonight!”

Passangers on flights to Vegas no longer read the latest black jack strategy book but prefer articles analyzing if Giuseppina Bozzacchi or Jean-Baptiste Hus would have danced better in the newest Snow White ballet revival on the Vegas Strip.

The numbers don’t lie. The recent report by the Las Vegas Convention & Visitor Authority shows that fewer and fewer visitors each year spend their time and money playing craps, slots and blackjack card games. The new 2010 report shows that 80% of tourists spent $466 each gambling that year, while in 2009, 83% of tourists spent $482 gambling. In 2009 tourists gambled an average of 3.2 hours while in 2010 it was under 3 hours.

So what happened? The new casino strategy of making Sin City into Disney Vegas is working!

Captain Hook style pirates and the cuddly clown shows happened. It’s probably easier to find dancing Can-Can burlesque girls on the Mickey Mouse Cruise Ship than on the Vegas Strip. The only woman of ill-repute left on the strip is the Wicked Witch of the West at the Casino Wizard of Oz Show (Ages 3+ Welcome!)

Bugsy Siegel is spinning in his grave.

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