An American classic, the hamburger can be found in many places around Las Vegas. The burger is a perfect meal for a lunch break from the sights and sounds of the Strip. Also great on the diner menu, the burger has gone gourmet in many Las Vegas restaurants. With so many different forms of burgers, people are creating burgers with all different types of ingredients. For some when it comes to burgers the simpler, the better, but in Vegas many chefs are putting a unique twist on the classic burger. There are places around Las Vegas to get a burger that is in a form of fast food or there are some restaurants that offer gourmet burgers in a fine dining atmosphere.

When it comes to the good old-fashioned American burger, people can’t go wrong with In-N-Out burger. There are many In-N-Out burger locations around Las Vegas so they are generally easy to find when you’re hungry. In-N-Out Burger is a fast food restaurant, but do be fooled the burgers are quite amazing here. Another great thing about In-N-Out burger is that the menu is very affordable with all of their items around the $5 range.

The Burger Bar at the Mandalay Bay is one of the best places to for burgers in Las Vegas. People can enjoy a casual dining experience while building their own delicious burger at this fun place to eat. The Burger Bar’s menu is a creative, offering diners the ability to build their own burgers from compartments of the menu that have names such as Colorado lamb, Black Angus beef, and Kobe beef. That is just to name a few of the meats, but there are also a few vegetarian alternatives available to build a burger. People can enjoy the American Classic Burger for only $13 with Prime grade beef, American cheese, crispy bacon on a slightly buttered sesame bun and served with sweet potato fries. The Burger Bar at Mandalay Place cooks up all different types of burgers in this family friendly restaurant.

At the Mirage, the BLT is also known for having the best burgers in Las Vegas. Enjoy casual dining from chef Laurent Tourondel who serves up gourmet burgers that are juicy, tasty, and inventive. The menu is in the $15 to $30 range per meal, but well worth the price for the quality. If you know what good burgers should taste like, then you will love BLT at the Mirage. BLT is also very famous for their wide selection of shakes, people can also add a shot to their shake if they want to kick it up a bit. They have a very good beer selection, with many kinds of beer on tap choose from, and many different types of bottled beer as well. At the BLT, the quality of the food is outstanding making it well worth checking it out when in Las Vegas.

A great insider tip for Las Vegas show tickets is to purchase them on the day of the show to save money. People can save from 30 to 50% off of the original ticket value on most Las Vegas shows. This will only work if people have an open mind on catching a variety of shows, so it’s best to have at least two in mind in case one show is not available. Although there are many shows to see in Las Vegas, there is no guarantee that there are tickets available for each particular show on certain nights.

Discounted Las Vegas show tickets become available for sale a few hours before the show. However, sometimes these discounted tickets are released during the morning of the show. These show tickets are released to the ticket sellers at different venues at various times as per the convenience of venue owners, which means there is a gamble when trying to get tickets to particular shows. Discounted show tickets are on availability only and are not guaranteed every night.

People can get a day of discount on Las Vegas shows at one of the eight Tix 4 Tonight booths. There is a booth in Showcase Mall at the giant Coke bottle across from New York New York. Another at Bill’s gambling hall between Flamingo and Bally’s. One just South of the Riviera, outside the Fashion Show Mall across from the Wynn. Another booth is in the Hawaiian Marketplace across from the Monte Carlo on the Strip. Also, north on the Strip there’s a booth between the Riviera and Denny’s. Off the Strip there is booth in Town Square Shopping Center, a mile south of Mandalay Bay. For those who are staying downtown a booth is set up outside the Four Queens on Fremont Street Experience.

Some examples of the shows people can get discounts on the day of the show includes, Criss Angel – Believe 40% off, Fab Four Live 50% off, Hypnosis Unleashed 50% off, Cirque Du Soleil KA 40% off, Mesmerised – Hypnosis 50% off, V The Ultimate Variety Show 50% off, X Burlesque 50% off. That’s just to name a few of the Las Vegas shows that people can save huge money off of the retail ticket value.

When it comes to a good steak, the meat has to be cooked with care and done to perfection for a truly mouth-watering meal. There are many steakhouses in Las Vegas, but where they differ themselves from each other is by their quality of meat, method of cooking, and dining experience. In search of the perfect cut of meat, here are some recommended steakhouses in Las Vegas.

A Las Vegas steakhouse that is growing in popularity in is the Carnevino Italian Steakhouse. Chef Mario Batali from the Food Network’s Iron Chef, has partnered up with wine maker Joe Bastianich. As the name insists, this restaurant offers great American meat with an exceptional wine list. Located at the Palazzo, a meal at the Carnevino with wine is going cost about $100 a person, but the price is well worth it for this dining experience.

Great service from the sommelier is helpful in finding a great wine that both your taste and budget can agree on. The wait staff is very attentive making sure wine glasses are filled at all times during the meal helping to make this an enjoyable experience. Carnevino is known for its aged steak, which when cooked right tastes remarkable. The key effect of dry aging is the concentration of the flavors of meat with a large, evenly distributed fat content. Also only the higher grades of meat can be dry aged, which ensures that you are getting a great steak at the Carnevino.  

Another great steakhouse in Las Vegas with good value is the Capital Grille. Located at the Fashion Show Mall, the Capital Grille Las Vegas is said to be the top steakhouse in town for the price. Capital Grille is famous for their dry-aged steaks and award winning wines. People can take part of the elegant, club-like atmosphere with a steakhouse dining experience.

The Capital Grille has an outstanding staff that is very knowledgeable both in steak and fine wine. For a steak at the Capital Grille it is going to cost about $40 just for the meat, with appetizers and side dishes about $10 to $15 each then wine on top of that. Meals are cooked to perfection with delicious appetizers and desserts which are nice attributes to a great meal.

Although most of Las Vegas focuses on the world-famous strip, Downtown Fremont Street Experience offers a memorable time for people of all ages. People can  revisit old Las Vegas with its classic casinos downtown including Main Street Station, Plaza, California, Las Vegas Club, Mermaids, Golden Gate, La Bayou, Binion’s, Golden Nugget, Fremont, Four Queens, Lady Luck, Fitzgeralds, Gold Spike, El Cortez, and The Western.

Different than the Vegas Strip, downtown Fremont Street has a lot of character. To attract tourists from the Strip, all the Downtown casinos grouped together to create the Fremont Street Experience. The casinos are bright and filled with lights which takes people back to the days of old Las Vegas.

The Downtown in Las Vegas is known to be a local’s area for gaming and nightlife. However, the Fremont Street Experience developed the downtown into more of an attraction for tourists. The north end of Fremont Street is covered with local casinos connected to the street with each casino unique in its own way.

The gigantic shelter covering the street occupies 5 blocks of Fremont Street. Watch the night sky come to life when you visit the world’s largest audio-video system combined with over 12 million LED lights. Individually designed light shows take place every hour from about 8pm and they are all free for people to watch.  Each show lasts approx 6 minutes and is different from the one before it.

Another form of entertainment on Fremont Street is the casinos, made famous from downtown gaming. Locals from Las Vegas tend to do most of my gambling downtown, because as the odds are better. Although the casinos downtown have smaller gaming areas than the Strip, there is a great atmosphere while you are gambling. Enjoy the dynamic characters of downtown Las Vegas and listen to great live music during play at your favorite casino games.

Las Vegas is known for being an adult’s playground, a place where almost anything goes, cleverly labelled as Sin City. Vegas primarily caters to the adult senses of entertainment. However, there are attractions for kids, which will ultimately draw parents to Vegas for a family vacation. There are many things to do around Las Vegas for the whole family of all ages. 

There are various family-oriented activities in Las Vegas that are absolutely free. A simple stroll up and down the Strip offers hours of free entertainment for all to see. In a town known for spending, Las Vegas does have a lot of expensive activities for families. It’s easy to spend a fortune on keeping the whole family amused, but there are affordable activities out there in Las Vegas.

With so several attractions around Las Vegas catered towards kids, the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead is only 30 miles SE of Las Vegas. Although the younger ones might not get too much excitement out of the Hoover Dam, parents should keep in mind that there are some activities for kids. An American engineering and architectural icon, the Hoover Dam is one of those things people should try and see at least once in their lifetime.

Another family activity that is tailored to kids amusement is the Gameworks arcade. This arcade has video games that can provide hours of entertainment for all kids. Gameworks arcade is located in the Showcase Mall, which is next to the MGM Grand. Also in the Showcase mall there is a movie theater for families who want to take a break from the Las Vegas excitement.

There are some that suggest Circus Circus is the most kids-friendly place on the Strip. Circus Circus caters to families, with their Adventuredome Theme Park. This it is an indoor attraction that is a huge hit with kids. Open daily, the Adventuredome also has ticket prices that fit most budgets making it a great way to enjoy family fun in Las Vegas.

It seems that local Las Vegas casino operators are looking elsewhere for their business ventures in the future. Las Vegas and Atlantic City have suffered the worst in the recession, but Asian and smaller East Coast gambling markets are proving that there’s still is a lot of money to be made in the industry.

Wynn Resorts announced an agreement to manage one of two major casinos scheduled to open in Philadelphia, which would become the largest metropolitan city in the nation with Las Vegas-style gambling. In Nevada, Wynn and his fellow casino owners pay a tax of 6.75 percent on the money they win from gamblers. The Philadelphia casino that Wynn will manage will pay at least 55 percent in taxes on its slot machine winnings and 16 percent on its winnings from table games. Pennsylvania’s casinos operate some of the nation’s most profitable slot machines.

The casino mogul Steve Wynn was drawn to Pennsylvania is the limited competition is one reason why each of Pennsylvania’s nearly 25,000 slot machines, according to Spectrum Gaming, won an average of $295 per day. That compares with less than $100 per slot machine in Las Vegas.

Another group that is looking elsewhere for the future is the Las Vegas Sands Corp. who will open the first phase of its $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands project in Singapore on April 27, the company announced Tuesday. The company said it is planning to open more than 960 hotel rooms, part of the shopping mall, convention center, some restaurants and the casino at the resort.

The second phase of the project will include a rooftop park, more retailers, additional dining options, an event plaza and nightclubs, and is scheduled to open June 23 for the resort’s grand opening celebration. Two theaters will open in October, one showcasing Disney’s “The Lion King” and the other hosting special events and headliners, and the Marina Bay Sands Museum will open in December.

The resort’s plan calls for 2,500 rooms, 1.25 million square feet of meeting and convention space, an art and science museum, two theaters and 300 retail shops. The three 55-story hotel towers were topped off in July 2009. Las Vegas Sands was selected by Singapore’s government who granted approval for two casino projects on the island-nation in 2005 as a way to boost tourism. Gaming was required to be just one component, but not a major feature, of a development.

Ever since it became clear a month ago that financier Carl Icahn would be the new owner of the bankrupt Fontainebleau Las Vegas on the Strip, everyone has been wondering when will it open? With an oversaturated supply of rooms, one of the last things Las Vegas needs during this Great Recession is Fontainebleau’s 3,812 hotel rooms. Tourism and consumer spending still struggling, Las Vegas is under pressure to absorb the hotel rooms that have been added in past year, which turned out to be a 6 percent increase. So much so that Strip hotels have had to lower their rates to try to maintain occupancy levels.

Although Carl Icahn has kept silent about his plans for Fontainebleau, gaming analysts predict it won’t open until 2015 at the earliest. It’s hard to estimate how much the shutdown, remediation and completion of the 68-floor project would cost, but it could be $1.5 billion in today’s dollars to bid out the interior and finish the exterior.

Another contributor to the problem is the Cosmopolitan, adjacent to CityCenter. The 3,000-room Cosmopolitan was foreclosed on by Deutsche Bank, but it is expected the property might open in the fourth quarter. The future of another stalled Strip project, Boyd Gaming’s Echelon, is even more complicated. Construction on the 87-acre multiuse development on the site of the former Stardust shut down in August 2008 for what was then described as a three- or four-quarter delay. As the economy worsened, Echelon was put on hold for three to five years.

When business was brisk in Las Vegas, developers and speculators fought over Strip parcels. Casino executives were quoted declaring the land beneath their casinos was worth $20 million per acre. Those estimates inched upward during the boom years, topping out at more than $30 million per acre. For a price of $25 million for the acquisition of 2.15 acres at Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard by developer Brett Torino and two undisclosed partners.  One of the last pieces of land on the Strip is adjacent to Planet Hollywood and across the street from CityCenter. With too much supply at the present time, and more rooms opening soon, it’s unlikely that Las Vegas will ever again enjoy an average occupancy rate in excess of 90 percent and average room rates of $132 a night.

With the economy caught up in the Great Recession, state tax revenue is projected to be $887 million short between now and June 2011. Nevada needs to look beyond the current crisis and figure out what the state eventually wants to be, how it will attract the next generation of innovators and where it will get the money to pay for it all. As state lawmakers consider ways to close a budget shortfall and face the likelihood of huge cuts to education, many are asking why Nevada doesn’t follow many other states in creating a state lottery. While this could be one way to help get the state’s economy back on track, there is a huge force that stands in the way of this becoming a reality.

Nevada’s longest serving state senator, Joe Neal represented Clark County’s District 4 in the senate from 1973 until 2001. He tried for years to start a lottery, but continuously hit a major roadblock: the gaming industry. “Gaming did not want anyone to make any money in gaming but them,” says Neal.  “These people have a powerful lobbying group and they’re the ones who put the money in the legislator’s pockets for them to run on.” While Neal calls the chances of overcoming gaming opposition ’slim to none,’ because a state lottery would require a constitutional amendment which would take an estimated 5 years.

For a state that was built on gaming, why not try and get more money out of the casinos by increasing the tax they have to pay. Wynn, LV Sands & MGM fought to be licensed in Macau knowing they would have to pay a 40% gaming tax to the Chinese. In Detroit, MGM pays a 19.1 gaming tax, the gaming tax in Colorado is 20%, Louisiana 21.5%, New Jersey & Mississippi 8%. In Nevada, the gaming tax is 6.75%; not only the lowest in the USA, but in the entire world. The casinos in Nevada have everyone convinced that they will go bankrupt if they have to pay anything higher than 6.75% in Nevada.

It’s hard to believe that the politicians, who are elected by the people, are controlled by the casinos. The casinos run this state, not the legislators & executive branch. The politicians, line their pockets with legal graft and free comps from the casinos. Instead, they want to cut the pay and lay off teachers, cops and fireman. Along with that, raise one of the highest sales taxes in the country, but don’t make the casinos pay their fair share. Also, don’t forget about the breaks the casinos get on their real estate taxes, that the people struggling don’t receive. Nevada, not of the people, by the people and for the people; it’s of the casinos, by the casinos & for the casinos.

Clubs along the Las Vegas Strip, which makes up 53 percent of the gambling revenue in Nevada, registered a $4.1 billion loss. The only bright spot, from a financial standpoint, was that people drank more. Sales of booze rose by 2.5 percent while revenue tied to casinos, rooms and food dropped. However, let’s not get too excited here because 36 percent were recorded as “comp” drinks. So it seems that the casino’s plan to get people drunk so they lose more gambling did not pay off.

The only other time Nevada gaming companies reported a loss was in 2003, of $33.5 million, when the business downturn came in the middle of the national recession. The 260 statewide casinos that grossed more than $1 million or more in gaming revenues posted $22 billion in gross revenue, down 12 percent from the prior fiscal year. In fiscal 2008, the clubs registered a win of $721.1 million. The $6.7 billion loss is before federal income tax and extraordinary items. And the casinos paid $778.7 million in taxes in fees, or 7.4 percent of their gaming revenue.

On the Strip, casinos reported $178 million in bad debts in the gambling portion of the business. That compares with $112 million in fiscal 2007. The casinos reported $1.3 billion in complimentary expenses that includes drinks, rooms and food. Statewide, total general and administrative expenses hit $14 billion with more than $5 billion of that being written down by casino as the value of assets.

In a breakdown, the report shows downtown Las Vegas casinos suffered a $54 million loss; Laughlin casinos reported a $158.8 loss; Boulder Strip casinos registered a loss of $823.3 million and the casinos in the balance of Clark County posted a $1.3 billion loss. On the Strip, the $4.1 billion loss reflects a 686 percent drop from the previous fiscal year, when the clubs reported a profit of $709.4 million.

Some of the most disheartening news from these reports shows that there were 98,711 employees at the Strip casinos, down from the 114,465 workers in fiscal 2008. In a gaming community, if the casinos are not making money, it’s the employees that suffer the most. The high unemployment rate in Nevada is the root to most of the economic challenges faced ahead.

Always a Las Vegas hot spot for lavish parties of the rock and roll life style the Hard Rock Hotel has spent $770 million on its expansion to add hotel rooms and suites, a concert hall, restaurants and more. The property is hoping this week will offer some clues about whether the resort’s new focus on Asian gaming will pay off. Hard Rock is using the two-week Chinese New Year holiday that began Sunday to highlight its new campaign aimed at attracting Asian customers, a demographic that typically sticks to the casinos on the Strip. The Hard Rock’s new campaign will target Asian players living in Las Vegas, as well as those from the elsewhere in the United States and Canada.

The property has planned several Asian-themed events to coincide with the Chinese New Year holiday, ranging from food specials to a concert, to lure Asian players to the property. It has also hired casino hosts with high-end Strip experience and is reaching out to the local Asian community through advertising. The Hard Rock believes it now has the right offerings to attract and keep Asian players coming back. A new international pit in the casino features games preferred by Asian players, such as baccarat, midi-baccarat, mini-baccarat and pai gow. It also added its first true high-limit room when it completed a 40,000-square-foot casino expansion in December.

“We think there’s a tremendous upside in that market,” said Mark Gore, the general manager of the casino. “Something the Hard Rock’s never ever had is a piece of that business that we want to tap into and get our fair share.” However, the off-Strip property is not planning to go head-to-head with the large Strip operators who already have a presence in the Asian market. Wynn Resorts Ltd., Las Vegas Sands Corp. and MGM Mirage all have casinos in Macau.

Also announced this week Skullcandy, a top class designer of audio accessories and other audio-enabled lifestyle products, and the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas have signed an exclusive partnership agreement to create the ultimate music and entertainment guest experience. The partnership will grant Skullcandy naming rights to three Hard Rock stages in the Joint, Wasted Space and the Friday Night Live concert series at the pool. More importantly, the Skullcandy deal will pave the way for a new event series at the Hard Rock titled The Next, which will give them heavy presence in the snow and skate-sport communities for what the Hard Rock has called “a premiere summit showcase for sports, music, technology and lifestyle industries.”

To complete the facelift, the property also opened a suite in the new HRH Tower designed by a feng shui consultant and there is an Asian-themed restaurant with a noodle bar near the new high-limit room. The new push to attract Asian players could be a welcome boost for a casino that has performed poorly as a percentage of property revenue since it opened in 1995.