Casino Halls

For the die-hard casino gamer, the two best known game havens in the United States are Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Both Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos offer a variety of great amenities and services that provide them with great fun and enjoyment. There are some features that define and distinguish one place from the other. Both cities provide similar at the same time unique offerings that entice the gambler.

Choosing between Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos would depend a lot on a person preference. This is because each of them has something distinctive and wonderful to offer to every casino visitor and both provide ample opportunity for the visitor to enjoy all sorts of casino games. Still, if you have to choose one, here is a small comparison between Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos.

Las Vegas Casinos

The Sin City, Las Vegas, Nevada is known for the Strip. A long street filled with the grandest and most vibrant casino halls. The place has more hotels than Atlantic City. Nevada is also known for its temperate climate since it is practically situated on a dessert. The guests will feel comfortable any time of the year even during winter time.

Atlantic City Casinos

Atlantic City, on the other hand, may not be as populous as Las Vegas but there are a number of towering hotels to compensate for this lack. The beaches surrounding the place offer a welcome respite from the casino. This is one thing that Nevada lacks. Las Vegas is situated on a dessert with no beach in sight. The place also offers more exciting atmosphere than Nevada. The carnival feel is evident all day long.

The comparisons between Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos are endless. However, for the avid casino gamer, visiting both places is a welcome treat. They may be as different as night and day but they both satiate the gamers love of casino gaming. Both places are also believed to bring equal amount of luck to the game participants.

Casino gambling is a profitable business as we all know. But if you don’t know how profitable this business can be, check out this list of the highest earning casino companies at the first half of 2011. The top 9 casinos list, originally published at the Business Insider, is topped by Melco Crown Entertainment. The operator of casinos in Macau, a popular gambling vacation destination, is entering the second half of 2011 with market cap of almost 8 billion dollars. The list is closed by the Boyd Gaming Corporation, the operator of the famous Atlantic City Casino Borgata Hotel Casino (and the owner of fifteen other gambling establishments) with only $763.49 millions market cap.

What can you learn from the list of the strongest casinos stocks in 2011? First, that the house not only wins, but wins big time. Secondly, Macau casinos generate higher revenues for their operators. The top two casino stocks performers in the first half of 2011 are owners and operators of casino resorts in Asian Las Vegas. Interestingly, Wynn Resorts, which owns and operates casino resorts both in Macau and in Las Vegas, has enjoyed a 96.12% of its share prices in 2011.

One of the reasons to this prosperity is Wynn’s win percentage at the casino table games such as roulette, baccarat and others. While in its Las Vegas business, the players usually win in around 70% of the table games, in Macau, the players’ winning percentage goes down towards the 60%. And now, casinos namedropping and numbers:

1. Melco Crown Entertainment – developer, owner and, operator of City of Dreams and other casino resorts in Macau.

Market cap: $7.98B

Share prices +287.27%

2. Wynn Resorts – owner and operator of the award winning Wynn Las Vegas, Wynn Macau and Encore (Las Vegas and Macau).

Market cap: $20.24B

Share prices + 96.12%

3. Las Vegas Sands – owner and operator of the famous Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas and its Macau correspondence, and owner of additional Las Vegas Strip landmarks and their Macau correspondences.

Market cap: $32.91B

Share prices: +81.25%

4. Penn National Gaming – owner and manager of numerous casinos in the United States

Market cap: $3.18B

Share prices +69.52%

5. Ameristar Casinos – the developer, owner and operator of the dozens Ameristar gaming facilities in the States

Market cap: $740.42M

Share prices + 66.64% on the year

6. MGM Resorts International – owner and operator of famed Las Vegas casinos including MGM Grand, Bellagio, The Mirage, Circus Circus and more, on top of owning and/or operating additional casinos throughout the US.

Market cap: $7.55B

Share prices +54.04%

7. Pinnacle Entertainment – developer, owner and operator of casinos in Reno, New Orleans, and other local casinos.

Market cap: $920.13M

Share prices + 46.69%

8. Vail Resorts – owner and operator of ski resorts under the RockResorts brand and develops and owns real estate neighboring its resorts.

Market cap: $1.64B

Share prices + 28.37%

9. Boyd Gaming – owner and operator of Bogarta Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey, fifteen more casinos in Nevada and four other states, a jai alai facility, plus an owner of 85 acres of land on the Las Vegas Strip, the location of a planned multibillion dollars project.

Market: $763.49M

Share prices +2.17% on the year