If you’re interested in some off road driving and want to stay on the strip then The Drive Vegas, a few steps away from the Sahara Hotel is a great place to kill some time. Getting there is easy if you take the Monorail to the Sahara station then it’s only around a 5 minute walk to the track. If you would rather drive a sports car then an off-roader then they have a track there as well. Be careful if you’ve been drinking, they breathalyse you before going out. It’s around $10 for 2 goes round the tract in a sports car and once around an off road track with the Hummer.

If you are looking for a wild club in Vegas then Studio 54 at the MGM Grand is one to crawl into. Better still if your staying at the hotel then it’s not far to get back, well only what seems a 100 mile walk through the Casino.

Not that we wanted a picture of an ass in our photo when we went in December but nice to look at now. The ass being in the background, just to save the comments thank you !

Champ Cars are the Formula 1 cars of the American racing circuit, and they are enjoying immense popularity thanks to the number of street races that are being organised. Last year the cars tore through the streets of San Jose, and in the past the likes of Long Beach and Denver have also hosted street race events. However, in 2007 it will be the turn of Las Vegas to hold a Champ Car street race, becoming the sixth North American city to host an open-wheel race event.

Although it doesn’t seem that Vegas needs much more money, there are downtown areas that could do with an injection of cash, and Las Vegas officials hope the event will have the same impact that it did on the Long Beach area. The Long Beach race prompted a massive revitalisation of the area, and Vegas will hope for something similar.

However, there have been problems at some of the previous races, and this sort of event can backfire if not properly organised. Events are often tarnished by the amount of money spent and the difficulty in bringing in the crowds. Despite this, the success of such events has been increasing as motor sport enthusiasts try to find excitement in a sport increasingly dominated by technology.

Despite the failures of previous cities like Denver, Las Vegas organisers are highly confident that the event will be a massive success. They hope it will attract over 150,000 fans and have an economic impact of nearly $80 million on Vegas as a whole, which could improve the downtown area significantly.

The event will be hosted by a Phoenix-based company for the next five years, and will be run on a 14 turn, 2.4 mile circuit. The event will be the opener for the 2007 World Champ Car season and will be part of a three-day ‘festival of speed’ in the area.

Although it is likely that the event will experience some teething problems along the way as all of these races do, Las Vegas looks set to be one of the most exciting race venues on the 2007 open-wheel racing calendar, and sporting spectacle not to be missed

The debate over what the focus of a new $30million museum proposed for Las Vegas should be, rages on. The debate centres around whether the museum, which is scheduled for completion in early 2008, should focus on the organized-crime figures that helped turn the city into a gambling Mecca.

The ‘Mob Museum’, as the project is commonly referred to, is being backed by former mob lawyer cum Vegas mayor, Oscar Goodman, who has in the past, represented some of the biggest organized-crime figures. Goodman agrees that the museum should not glorify mobsters or their brutal acts but instead portray them merely as they are. “I just want the truth depicted about that very colourful era,” says Goodman.

On the other hand, some Las Vegas historians think that limiting the focus of the museum to mob figures is unwise. They suggest rather broadening the perspective to include the entire history of Las Vegas. “The goal and the need are to create a museum that will appeal to both locals and visitors alike,” says Michael Green, a professor at the Community College of Southern Nevada and a board member on the project.

Museum consultant, Mike Radice can see both sides of the story. He agrees that the mob angle might allow this project to succeed were other heritage museums have not because, as he puts it “a museum needs to be something that people want and that ties into the community – and the mob is certainly that.”

However, Radice says that a strong historical focus can create a bridge to the school system which could help fuel and maintain the success of a museum.

Radice adds that with cities such as New York and Las Vegas, were a wealth of entertainment exists, opening a museum can be challenging. “People who come to Vegas are there to gamble and it might be a tough sell to get them to take time out to go to a museum,” he says.

A final decision on the museum is still forthcoming. Last month the council approved a project contract for architectural and associated services of up to $7.5million from the Parks and Leisure Activities Capital Projects Fund. Goodman has said that the city will fund the remainder of the project with bonds.

Anyone who has ever gambled at legally regulated brick ‘n mortar casino knows there are strict laws in place ensuring that fair odds are being offered, payouts are being properly handled and a minimum payout percentage is being met on the various games. Just as important as it is to never gamble at an online casino that is operating outside of legally regulated jurisdictions, gamers should never play at online casinos who are not legally licensed or who are operating outside the domain of regulatory gaming bodies.

For instance, much in the same way the Nevada Gaming Commission and Control Board regulate and watch over Las Vegas casinos, there are gaming commissions operating in various jurisdictions around the world who have laws in place to license and regulate online casinos. The most well known and respected of these are the Antigua and Barbuda Directorate of Offshore Gaming, Kahnawake Gaming Commission (of the Mohawk territory in Canada), the UK Gaming Commission, and regulatory bodies in Gibraltar, Curacao, Isle of Man and Alderney.

Therefore, it only serves the best interests of online gamblers to only gamble at who are licensed by any of these regulatory bodies. If you come across an online casino you are thinking of opening an account with, search the website to find out where they are licensed and regulated. This can usually be found on the “About Us” page, and is something that any self-respecting gaming site will publish for their visitors to see. If you come across a jurisdiction you are not familiar with, do an online search to find out if they are legitimate. If they are not, you will assuredly come across something of the sort, for information doesn’t travel anywhere faster than the internet.

Legitimately licensed and regulated online casinos offer fair odds (up to par with Atlantic City and Vegas casinos) and usually offer payout percentages surpassing those of many land-based gambling casinos. Along with customer service, payout percentages should be a major consideration of yours when selecting an online casino to open an account with. Only play at those sites who have their payouts verified by independent, third-party auditors, and whose findings show payouts consistently in the mid to upper-nineties percentile. Contact the customer support department of prospective gaming hosts to ensure you are dealt with in a friendly and responsive manner, and you will have covered the most important factors ensuring that you are gambling at the best host available.

Official figures show that the gross revenue from the gaming sector in Macau, China at the end of the third quarter of this year exceeded those of Las Vegas by US$433 million, making the Chinese territory, the world’s biggest gaming and gambling centre.

By the estimates of leading Vegas-based leisure industry consultancy Globalysis, Macau is just ahead of the cluster of casinos on Nevada’s most famous boulevard. According to the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, gross revenues for gaming and gambling from casinos totalled some US$4.821 billion while Las Vegas casinos made US$4.388 billion in the same period.

“The recent numbers look like our estimates for 2006 will come in line. Currently, the monthly run rate for Las Vegas would put it at an annualised revenue rate of US$6.6 billion. At Macau’s current month run rate, it now exceeds that of Las Vegas strip by about US$20 million, so it looks,” says Globalysis partner, Jonathan Galaviz.

Gambling earnings have boomed in Macau since 2001, when the government ended tycoon Stanley Ho’s 40-year monopoly on casinos in the city and allowed foreign operators to move in. The result has been a rush of up to US$25 billion of mostly American cash into the once-moribund century-old local industry.

Added to that, growth has been fuelled by a similarly explosive rise in tourism from China, following the relaxation of travel restrictions from the mainland in the wake of the former Portuguese enclave’s reversion to Chinese rule in 1999. In 2005 revenues from the gaming sector totalled 44.725 billion patacas, while gambling revenues totalled 45.8 billion patacas. Macau, which has 23 casinos running 24 hours a day with a total of over 2 500 casino tables and over 5 500 slot machines, currently has seven new casino projects approved and/or under construction, all of which are said to be completed by 2010.

However Macau’s modest 23 casinos are by no means close to Las Vegas’s 200 casinos in operation. Las Vegas is staying positive in the wake of losing its title as the world’s top gambling hub. For years Las Vegas has been the gambling capital of the world and is sure not to give up that title without a fight.

If you are looking for a fun and different way to spend some quality time in Las Vegas, here is the solution: The Gun Range and Firearms Center.

Located on Blue Diamond Rd., just minutes from The Strip, the center offers the opportunity for anyone who is fascinated by guns to rent one and try it in the indoor range. Even as a “beginner” you can enjoy the safe indoor range mostly because the staff is very friendly and professional. If you are looking for the ultimate thrill, you must rent a machine gun and try it in the indoor range.

For those who collect firearms you can find pretty much anything you want to complete your collection.
by axxyutza