Patrons at the Act nightclub enjoy a performance at the club at the Palazzo hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The loudest, shiniest thing at the gambling trade show in Las Vegas last week was not a flashy new slot machine or a novel brand of touchscreen poker but a humble confetti cannon. A poll conducted this year by the national gambling lobby found that 26 percent of casino-goers now eschew gambling. Many of them are heading to the mega-clubs that are indispensable for any self-respecting casino on the Las Vegas Strip. These clubs are competing to offer partiers novelties they’d never see at their local dance spot.LAS VEGAS – The cannon at the Flutter Fetti booth near the front of the gambling trade show in Las Vegas last week delivered regular bursts of metallic and crepe paper cutouts, shooting them to the ceiling in big booms and carpeting the floor with shimmering hearts, stars and circles. The glittery mess outshone the slot machines and online poker touchscreens in more ways than one.
A poll conducted this year by the national gambling lobby found that 26 percent of casino-goers now eschew wagering, and the city’s growing mega-clubs are threatening to become the most lucrative draw for a town built on betting.
“It’s an arms race,” said CFO John Stern, eying the laser booth nearby at the Global Gaming Conference’s “entertainment pavilion.” Lasers flickered in blinding circles on a white screen. Brightness is one of his product’s major selling points.
“Clubs want to add an extra element of wow,” said Mary Canavan, owner of the laser company YLS Entertainment Inc. “It used to be you were lucky to have two lasers on your show. Now you might have 26.”
Sin City now boasts 21 of the country’s 100 most profitable nightclubs, according to the trade publication Nightclub & Bar. The town also dominates the top 10 spots, with seven clubs bringing in more than $25 million a year. The other three clubs with earnings in the same range are LIV and Mango’s Tropical Cafe in Miami Beach, and LAVO in New York City.