Lucky Dragon was designed to to the Asian-American and Asian immigrant crowd in Las Vegas and West Coast cities Lucky Dragon was positioned to become that community’s locals casino, The Dec. 2, 2016, launch of the first direct flight between Beijing and Las Vegas right before the official opening gave the casino another potential customer base. But things didn’t go according to plan The Review-Journal investigated signs of financial struggles in December 2017 A statement from officials Thursday said, “Effective immediately Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino is beginning the process of repositioning and, in doing so, will have a reduction in staff while it temporarily closes all gaming and restaurant operations.”
Sheldon and Christine Smith talk about their Las Vegas casino memorabilia collection. (Bailey Schulz/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
1. Two downtown Las Vegas casinos will open temporarily to preserve gaming licenses. The Las Vegas Club and Mermaids casinos must have casino play on the floor for at least 8 hours every two years to preserve a gaming license. United Coin Machine will set up slot machines in the two casinos in late June to help maintain the license.
2. Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that two dozen reputed Russian mobsters and associates were arrested on racketeering charges. Razhden Shulaya, the alleged leader of a Soviet mafia syndicate, was arrested in Las Vegas and is accused of running gambling, stolen goods and protection rackets in several states. Thirty-three defendants in total were charged in the indictment.
3. A Las Vegas judge posted and removed a doctored photo of herself with Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson. The photo was posted on Heidi Almase’s campaign Facebook page Tuesday night before it was quickly removed. Almase’s campaign manager Jennifer Barrier says she is close family friends with Johnson, but did not have authorization to post the image.
Clark County Fire Department Chief Greg Cassell explains what caused the fire at Bellagio hotel-casino April 13th. According to officials, the main culprit was a faulty light fixture. (Gabriella Benavidez/Las Vegas Review-Journal)