The famous Las Vegas strip was recently joined by a pop-up casino for the day
As the saying doesn’t go, what opens and shuts in Vegas, stays open and shut in Vegas.
Fear not, there is a somewhat reasonable explanation behind the story of why a 20-by-20 tent emerged across from the entrance to the Las Vegas Convention Center for only a matter of hours.
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And the fact that nobody showed up to play the 16 slot machines available in this pop-up casino and it then shut for good by 2pm that same day didn’t bother a soul. In fact, quite the contrary. Why? The landowner, Marriott International, explicitly hired the Vegas-based United Coin Machine Co. to do this in order to preserve the ultra-valuable zoning designation for unrestricted gaming that exists in Vegas.
Indeed, county law demands that active gambling takes place on property zoned for gaming every 18 months or the zoning will expire. And that’s why this wasn’t a one-off but rather the continuation of a rather surreal event dubbed “Trailer Station” by local reporter Howard Stutz (it’s a riff on those middle-of-the-road casinos by Station Casinos).
Thanks to the utterly legal and above board pop-up casino for a day stunt, Marriott should now be able to erect a 3,500-room flagship casino-resort. And according to United Coin representative Rob Woodson, that’s exactly what will go down (or rather, go up). For what it’s worth, Marriott didn’t return AOL’s calls for comment, but it’s surely further proof that the house always wins. (via AOL)
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