Anti-smoking coalitions are using the COVID-19 pandemic as a weapon in their crusade to convince lawmakers to permanently stop the indoor consumption of tobacco on casino floors.

COVID-19 continues to impact the national and local economy, forcing the Las Vegas hotel industry to make some major adjustments.

On Nov. 21, 1980, a devastating fire raced through the MGM Grand hotel (now Bally’s Las Vegas) killing 87 people and injuring more than 600. That tragedy led to sweeping safety changes that now stretch far beyond the Las Vegas Strip.

There are several good authors currently working the casino/gaming genre, but in my view, David Schwartz is at the top of the list. He came to my attention almost 15 years ago upon publication of his Roll the Bones in 2006. It was, and is, a definitive history of gaming, beginning in Pompeii and ending at the opening of Wynn Las Vegas in late 2005. Schwartz is an academic with a Ph.D. in History from UCLA and was serving at the time as the director of the Center for Gaming Studies at UNLV. I have to confess that I initially bought that book to have it sit on my shelf and, ideally, impress my bosses.

Not long after the fire burst out of the deli, sending columns of thick black smoke shooting up inside the MGM Grand hotel tower, then-Nevada Gov. Robert List arrived at the flooded casino floor to survey the damage.

A group of gaming industry researchers and consultants said 2021 will be “an inflection point” for the future of Las Vegas in charting a potential blueprint for the economic recovery of the nation’s largest casino market, even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to challenge resort operators.

The voter approval of sports betting in Maryland, South Dakota and Louisiana during Tuesday’s election understandably drew much of the gaming community’s attention.

The U.S. gambling industry won big at the polls Tuesday, with three states authorizing legal sports betting and three others either approving or expanding casino gambling.