As you may have seen reported on this website over the last few days, there is currently a major refurbish program taking place over at the Stratosphere Casino in Las Vegas.
However, one of the strangest aspects of that refurbishment program is that the high limit slot machine area has just been turned into a Starbucks coffee shop, and that is possibly a sign of the times, with more and more people now spending their money on non-gambling activities in Vegas.
Maybe the clientele at the Stratosphere are not fond of playing high limit slots, and the one time high limit slot area was, to be fair, always the quietest part of the casino, but it would appear there is more money to be made selling coffee at that casino than there is to be made from high limits slots in that huge casino resort.
The slot machines that were once found in that now gone high limit slot area are now dotted randomly around the casino floor, and whether there is a new high limit slot area to be built remains to be seen, as no one working in the casino seems to know.
It is going to be another couple of years yet before the $140million transformation of the ageing Stratosphere Casino will be complete, but it is very fair to say it was beginning to show its age, but the new owners, that being Golden Entertainment, are throwing plenty of money at the property moving forward.
In fact, many city brokers are tipping Golden Entertainment stock as a long term investment, which does give an indication of the commitment that company is giving to their newly acquired land based casinos.
