拉斯维加斯的博彩市场今年出现反弹，游客量接近2007年创下的3960万纪录。客房入住率和博彩收入近年来一直处于低迷水平，而游客已转移了他们的消费模式，他们的消费重点主要在于对一些特殊事件的投注以及参与一些高级俱乐部，而不再是在赌场内玩现金赌博游戏。所以拉斯维加斯的赌城品牌在2011年被打了折扣。在该地区失业率依然处于两位数以上。但其博彩经济的不确定性是永远存在的，不管是国内赌博市场还是国际赌场市场都处在持续的扩张阶段。谁会是最后的赢家呢？
“我认为拉斯维加斯的博彩市场今年出现反弹对赌博行业来说是一个良好的市场信号，因为它回复了，并开始反弹了。”一位匿名的赌场分析师如此表示，“不必要的市场风险说明也许会打击玩家们的信心。赌博行业目前虽然仍处于不明朗时期，但回过头来看加沙地带的赌博行业形势，我们会发现，加沙地带的赌博行业需要雇佣更多的全职职工，而不再是兼职工了。
本地赌博游戏市场的健康信号是什么？网上投注的前景如何？把拉斯维加斯赌博经济模式扩展到南佛罗里达州、马萨诸塞州等州是不是西班牙与东欧社会的政治阴谋？
分析师说：“今年是美国与国际游戏市场转型的关键年，在未来几年的博彩市场格局可能有一个很大的变动。今年的博彩业投资者有明显的输赢之分。”
那么，谁是赢家了？谁是输家了？谁最终出局了？
为了找到答案，拉斯维加斯太阳报编辑分别采访了赌场管理人，财务分析师，以及博彩研究专家，以确定2011年赌场行业的赢家和输家。
而采访结果是令人惊讶的一致：史蒂夫永利和谢尔登.埃德森，他们都在亚洲投资了博彩行业。
译文：
The Las Vegas gaming market rebounded this year with a jump in visitor volume nearing the record total of 39.6 million in 2007. Room occupancy rates and gaming revenue are up from the depressed levels of recent years, while visitors have shifted their spending patterns, focusing an ever-larger percentage of their cash on special events and clubs rather than casino floors. So, can you brand Las Vegas a winner in 2011 despite the region’s continued battle with double-digit unemployment, record home foreclosure rates, the ever-present sense of economic uncertainty, and the continued domestic and international expansion of the casino industry?
“I think it’s a winner in that it recovered. It did start to bounce back,” said one casino industry analyst who requested anonymity, not wanting to risk stating an opinion that would rankle any of his clients. “We’re still in uncertain times, but the Strip is looking back. Now, we need to see more workers hired with others moving from part- to full-time employment.”
What about the health of the local gaming market? The prospects for online wagering? Political and social machinations over the expansion of the Las Vegas gambling experience to Massachusetts, South Florida, Spain and Eastern Europe?
“This was a pivotal year for the transformation of gaming in the U.S. and internationally,” the analyst said. “There’s a great deal to be resolved over the next couple of years, but there were clearly winners and losers this year.”
So who’s up, who’s down and who’s out of the game?
To find out, the Sun asked an informal panel of casino executives, financial analysts, academics and journalists to identify the casino industry’s winners and losers for 2011.
The panelists were surprisingly consistent in their choice of winners: Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson, with their investments in Asian gaming properties; the newly opened casino market of Pennsylvania, another jurisdiction where Adelson operates; and Las Vegas - specifically downtown Las Vegas.
