Pit Boss Requests, Some Added Electronic Eyes - 2004-03-27
Casino operators have long comprehended that the best way to keep their guests gambling happily is to supply free goods and services, known in the business as comps. The gift of a deluxe hotel suite, for instance, may convince a high roller to visit a casino frequently.

"The problem with ratings on table games is that you have one supervisor, and he may be watching three or four tables and he may be rating multiple people on each table," explained Jimmy Wike, who was the Las Vegas Hilton's vice president for casino operations when the MindPlay tables were implemented in December 2002.
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China Takes Another Step Towards West - 2004-03-27
With its dozen blue-roofed villas, a brand-new sauna house, casino and three-star hotel representing the heart of what this frigid outpost at the border of Central Asia fancies as downtown, this would seem an unusual spot for the economic and political reordering of an entire area.

A deal this month to construct a oil pipeline through this tiny hamlet makes it the focus of an explosion of economic activity in what lately was one of the most backward corners of China.
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