The iconic Lady Luck Casino opened in downtown Las Vegas in 1964 as Honest John’s casino. At the time of its opening, other historic Vegas Casinos MMC33 like the Tropicana and Circus Circus were opening their doors on the Vegas Strip. In 1983, the property was renamed Lady Luck and was at the height of its popularity. Between 1986 and 1989 a 17-story tower and another 25-story tower were added.

Lady Luck Closes

The 743-room Lady Luck closed in February 2006, but in the time between 1964 and 2006 the Lady Luck was one of the premier casinos in all of Las Vegas. When the Lady Luck closed it was downtown’s third-largest casino, sitting on 6.27 acres of land. The closure meant the loss of 684 jobs. The original plan was to close the hotel/casino for one year for major renovations, but those plans never came to fruition and the building was sold again in 2007 to the CIM Group, a California development company. Despite the purchase, the company has allowed the property to continue sitting dark. The interior spaces of the hotel were largely demolished in preparation for renovations, but no further action has taken place.

Future Plans

In July of 2009 CIM did begin tearing down a building skeleton at the corner of Fourth Street and Stewart Avenue, but nothing of note has happened since. Part of a 2008 deal that CIM reached with Las Vegas City Council states that renovations to the casino must be started by December of 2009, however that deadline could be extended. It is not clear if the deadline will be extended, but it is clear that city officials are not happy with the large amounts of debris and garbage that have piled up on the property.

CIM claims current economic conditions as the reason for the stall in renovation plans. They say they do plan on forging ahead with renovation plans once the economy turns around. At this point the empty building seems to have little chance of returning to its former iconic status. The best bet for this historic building is a wrecking ball, as has been the case with so many hotels and casinos that made Las Vegas famous.

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Rival Gaming is fairly new to the online casino software development industry. Created by Black Chip Ltd. in 2006, Rival Gaming powers some of the most popular gaming sites while continuing to accept players from the United States. In addition to graphically pleasing games, Rival Gaming also provides an online casino management system for reporting, security and affiliate management.

Hot Features

There are a few areas in which Rival Gaming does well with its software. First their slot games (iSlot) provide excellent audiovisual effects. The sounds and graphics are top-notch. Second they accept U.S. players. Although there are several online casinos accepting U.S. players, that number is slowly dwindling due to the amount of red tape involved.

Third, Rival Gaming’s software download is compatible with Macintosh computers. Usually downloadable software is only congruent to Windows operating systems. This adds many more players to the mix. Fourth, their iSlot or Interactive Slot software is extremely unique in that tells a story and takes the player on a journey by utilizing video clips and bonus rounds.

Finally, their casino management system is an industry leader. It stores a wealth of information such as casino operations in real time, customer data, reports, bonuses, comp points and other promotions. Communications can be sent through email, handheld devices and PDA’s.

Cold Features

Unfortunately there are a few unfavorable features with the Rival Gaming software. First, there is a little blackjack and video poker selection offered. Also, there are much less games available compared to competing sites.

The Games

The games offered are fairly standard in most online casinos. Single hand and multi-hand blackjack formats are playable. Also both European and American roulette are found on the software. Additionally there are a number of video poker and other popular poker variants. Other games include slots; craps, baccarat and keno are provided. Furthermore, less-known games like Casino War, Red Dog and Let-it-Ride can be played.

The slot games are their most crowned achievement. Rival Gaming offers 3-reel and 5-reel slots along with progressive and iSlots. Although fewer games are offered compared to the competition, Rival gaming compensates with excellent graphics within the games they have.

Although there are a few flaws with Rival Gaming’s online software, the advantages greatly outweigh the disadvantages. Since its conception, Rival Gaming has offered some of the most visually appealing graphics of any online gaming developer. If they continue to release excellent games while expanding their library, Rival Gaming could become an online gaming industry leader.