Not sure why it would be lights out for Vegas.  Is Monte Carlo no longer a gambling Mecca?

I actually wasnt trying to make a point, it was pure curiosity.  My knowledge of gambling is...rather limited.  I had forgetten Monte Carlo was in Monaco. 

 

I do still wonder why one's style of government dictates gambling though.  I mean, sure, if its outlawed thats one thing.  The style of government is completely irrelevant to people's gambling tastes however. 

Vegas isn't all about gambling. I go there every year for vacation and I never gamble. It's about providing entertainment in all its myriad forms and doing it in a very glitzy fashion. Doing things the way they do it isn't cheap and requires large capital investment. For that investment you have to be able to expect large returns or you won't bother in the first place. 

 

For example, the Wynn, one of the higher end hotel/casinos on the strip has to be pretty damned expensive to make in the first place. It's very elaborate in all its appointments. You can't afford to make a place like that if you can't expect substantial profits when it's running. By increasing both taxes on capital, labor, and income you drain all of that potential. Also by blatantly favoring labor in any situation, you make running costs appreciably higher. The casinos in Vegas are all union staffed, so any weighing in on the union side by the feds will have a big effect on contract negotiations and ultimately the bottom line. Macao won't be having this problem with the local cheap labor.  Right now Vegas has a large draw from all over the world, but if the prices get edged up too high, Macao is right in the middle of a lot of economic powerhouses. Why travel to the U.S. when you have an entertainment mecca closer to home?

Wynn is learning to tow the line well, he must have had to go to senior cadres for protection from the triads and PLA who actually run the city (PLA knows a cash cow when it sees one).

 

Wynn has been getting his ass handed to him since going there, having to pay bribes like mad, voluntarily give up more and more of his share of the profits, accept more and more responsibility for operational snafus, etc.  And of course like  many before him, he put so much money and time into the venture that he and his investors can't afford to pull out.  His name is just marketing schtick for the real Macau bosses.