There may be no place more calculating, more confident and with more swagger than Las Vegas, a seemingly invincible boomtown built on the finely honed skill of talking people out of their money and offering them nothing tangible to take home. And then, some of those people move here to get a piece of the action — finding work at a casino or hotel, or building homes and high-rises, or erecting booths inside convention halls.

A fire on the roof of the Monte Carlo hotel-casino forced guests and gamblers to flee and sent flaming embers raining down on the Las Vegas Strip. Firefighters quickly gained control of the blaze and no serious injuries were reported. The morning fire spread across the rooftop facade, made of a foam building material. Flames lapped at the 32-storey hotel's name.

Las Vegas (AP) -- Billionaire Sheldon Adelson flipped the switch "on" for his newest creation, the USD 1.9 billion Palazzo hotel-casino, with a modest fireworks display and champagne toast in the brisk January air. The gigantic hotel-casino -- Palazzo means "palace" in Italian -- officially debuted Thursday as the biggest resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip in three years.

Las Vegas - The Las Vegas Strip adds its first major resort in nearly three years on Thursday when the USD 1.9 billion Palazzo, the second Italian-themed property from Las Vegas Sands Corp., has its grand opening. Despite economic fears buffeting the United States, casinos are betting that high rollers and vacationers will keep flooding into the gambling center, especially as a weak dollar draws foreign travelers and keeps Americans from leaving the country.

Las Vegas Sands informed that the company has entered into a credit agreement which provides financing of up to USD 3.7 billion for the development of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Borrowings under the credit agreement will bear interest at a spread of 2.25% above the Singapore Dollar SWAP Offer Rate for a selected maturity of one, two, three or six months. The current Singapore Dollar Swap Offer Rate for a maturity of three months is approximately 2.16%.

Las Vegas - In the deep recesses of the Luxor, visitors pay USD 9.99 to view replicas of the contents of King Tutankhamen's ancient burial tomb as it was discovered in 1922, including a gilded cow's head, a gold-covered depiction of the jackal-headed Egyptian god Anubis, and minitombs that held the bodies of premature babies. The Luxor's audio-guided tour through fake artifacts is the kind of cultural recreation for which Las Vegas is famous.

The move this month by New Jersey regulators to deny a license to Columbia Sussex to operate the Tropicana casino in Atlantic City is both a stark reminder of the unique demands of the casino business and a cautionary tale for newer entrants. Perhaps more significantly, it's the latest example of how New Jersey's regulatory system differs markedly from Nevada's, which is closer to a free market system than any other gaming jurisdiction's and is generally reluctant to pull licenses from Nevada operators.

Sands executives had planned to open the 50-story resort next to The Venetian by the end of 2007, and the company said during an August earnings report that the date would be December 20. In recent weeks, company officials focused on plans for a "soft" opening this month to let guests begin arriving while staff ironed out last-minute kinks. "The Palazzo ... is nearly complete," Reese said in a statement that noted the company would not grant interviews until the grand opening.

Immerhin acht Monate hat es gedauert, bis der Weg für den Verkauf von Harrah's an die privaten Investmentfirmen Apollo Management und Texas Pacific Group endgültig frei war. Denn in der Casinoindustrie muss der Käufer eines oder mehrerer Casinos eine entsprechende Lizenz zum Betrieb eines Glücksspielunternehmens erhalten.

Las Vegas -- Celine Dion has called it a wrap at Caesars Palace, acknowledging in her final show that pregnancy and poor early reviews almost sank her titanic five-year engagement. As adoring fans cheered, stood and clapped through Saturday night's performance, Dion interspersed her usual numbers with emotion-filled monologues. "At one point, it was like feeling like the Titanic was about to sink again,'' she said.

Las Vegas is building a museum dedicated to the notorious mobsters that helped make it America’s gambling capital, and the FBI is supporting the project. The mob museum will acknowledge the role played by figures such as Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, his banker Meyer Lansky and casino boss Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, and how they gave the city its image of dissolute glamour during the 1940s and 50s.

Wer zum Jahreswechsel mit Fortuna flirten und feiern möchte, kann dies in der Spielbank Frankfurt (Oder) Joker’s Place tun. Zum einen mit dem „Anstoßen auf „Happy New Year“ – einem Glas Sekt aufs Haus – und einem Ballon aus der Luftballontombola mit attraktiven Sofort-Preisen. Der Eintritt ist frei.