Nevada Gambling Guide

In October 2006 there were 342 casinos in Nevada. Slot machines make up around 72% of total revenues from gambling in Nevada.

Nevada state gambling rules

Nevada's gambling is controlled by the Nevada Gaming Commission, which appoints a three man panel, the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, that licences all individuals and businesses who want to work in the state gaming industry. The Commission works out of Carson City, Nevada, despite the fact that almost all its business relates to the licensing of businesses in Las Vegas.

Getting a gaming licence in Nevada can be very difficult, especially for non-Americans. Potential applicants have to provide a life history and open their finances and private life to a full inspection by the Nevada authorities, which has to be paid for by the applicant. It is not unusual for an application to cost several hundreds of thousands for a businessman who has been operating outside the United States for a number of years.

Las Vegas

Las Vegas likes to think of itself as the capital of the gambling world, although in 2006 it was overtaken by Macau as the place where most money is bet each year.

Gambling in Las Vegas is dominated by The Strip, a long highway of mega-casinos which stretches approximately 7 miles from the Mandalay Bay Casino at one end to the Stratosphere at the other. A further mile or so beyond the Stratosphere are the downtown casinos which are grouped around Fremont Street and the Las Vegas railroad station. This is very much the 'old' Las Vegas and is full of slightly run down casinos such as the Horseshoe and Four Queens which were once the great gambling dens of their day.

Las Vegas' casinos are breathtaking in both their size and spleandour, although it does not pay to look too much beyond the facade. Casino owners have competed to produce the most spectacular casinos so you have everything from the Venetian Casino, which re-creates Venice's most famous sites including the Rialto Bridge and St Mark's Square, to Paris, which has an Eiffel Tower almost as large as the original French structure.