Tom Pleau has been publishing a handy magazine of news on our hobby for 8 years now. He called it Coast to Coast's Casino Collectible Magazine. With the current issue, the name changed to "Casino News" which Tom hopes will allow him to get past the publicity department of some casinos and generate some ad revenue.

Here are some Nevada items from the July/August issue. I have paraphrased Tom's articles:

The Nevada legislature passed the "save the whales" legislation that will allow private gambling areas for casinos who want to accommodate their very-high rollers. Till now, all gaming had to be open to any of the public. At the time Tom reported, the Governor had not signed this bill. Anyone know if it is now law?

Ballys/Paris was fined $25,000 for violating the anti-money laundering regulations. They were set up by gaming agents who deposited small bills at the cage and did not get the same denominations back when they cashed in. This is not the first of these fines for LV casinos.

Eric Endy of Paul-Son Gaming has sued Burgogne et Grasset SA for a million in termination fees since they did not complete the planned merger by the deadline in the agreement. Endy advised he regretted demanding the fee, but he was acting in the best interests of the company's shareholders.

Bellagio may be the world's most profitable casino. They reported a $323 million win over the past twelve months, which experts estimate to be a 20% Return on Investment. The figures are marginally greater than that of Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut, the world's largest casino for the past 5 years.

A group of investors has proposed to build a 475' high Ferris wheel at the intersection of Harmon Ave and the Strip. Capacity is planned to be 576 passengers at a time. The planning commision was to review the proposal this month. Anyone know if it approved??

If you like this kind of news every couple of month, and can appreciate Tom's style of creative syntax [g], you can subscribe for $15 (six issues). Write Tom at:

Casino News Magazine
PO Box 1111
Twinsburg, OH 44087

I've received the publication since it was a newsletter several years ago. He also has good prices on current chips that he picks up on his periodic tours of the country's casinos.

DonL