Deadline Vegas – Do Casinos go Bust?

Excitingly, Deadline Vegas is now on Amazon Pre-Order at a discounted price until 18th June 2020, It involves the storyline of Dex Dexter’s obsession with casino revenge and destruction of a cheating casino. This makes it timely to answer one of the questions that I am asked about casinos and casino crime. There are two typical questions. Do casinos go bust? Do casinos cheat? I shall deal with cheating casinos in a separate Blog.

Yes – casinos do go bust and more often that you might think!

My Investigation.

Firstly, Deadline Vegas was inspired because I was hired to investigate why a major resort casino in Las Vegas was going bust. My role as an expert then living in Vegas started me thinking about what may happen if a casino runs into financial difficulty.This inspired Deadline Vegas. In my report, I identified a significant number of issues but fine-tuned them down to the top 20.

Interestingly, in a multi-billion casino, getting one issue wrong would rarely sink the ship. That would lead to reduced profits. But, like the drip-drip of a tap, 20 problems were just too serious. The cash flow needed never met the huge overheads. In effect, that casino went bust and over the years, other well-known resort casinos in Vegas and Atlantic City have rushed to Chapter 11 for protection from creditors

Old Vegas
Historically, in the early days of Las Vegas, the casino offering was the opportunity to gamble, have a drink and a meal. The focus was on gambling. Providing drinks, cheap or free buffets or comped gourmet meals for the high-rollers was the hook. Famous entertainers like Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley helped draw in crowds to the roulette wheels and craps. But Vegas gradually evolved into a resort destination providing a complete experience for families. Time spent at the gaming tables fell. Conference Centres filled vast areas but too many delegates partied in bars and restaurants than at roulette wheels or blackjack.The gaming-floor is no cash-cow to be milked like in the pre-1980s.

Pandemic
Now with the global pandemic, these glittering resorts have been empty and finances stretched to the ultimate. So far there has been no sign of the big boys again resorting to Chapter 11, perhaps due to furlough.

Casino Revenge
In conclusion, Deadline Vegas reveals how Dex Dexter learns the weaknesses in casinos as he plots to avenge his sister and destroy a huge casino group. They had cheated her at roulette. As he jets between London and Las Vegas, Dex finds that he has taken on a ruthless giant. Sadly, his sister had discovered that too late.