MGM Grand
Although superseded as the largest hotel complex in the world by the First World Hotel in Malaysia and the Venetian, also on the Las Vegas Strip, the MGM Grand remains the largest single hotel in the United States. Built as an extension to the 700-room Marina Hotel – which forms the ‘West Wing’ of the current hotel – in 1991, the MGM Grand opened in 1993.
Situated at the intersection between Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana, the entrance to the MGM Grand is guarded by the unmistakable figure of ‘Leo the Lion’, the mascot of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio. The huge, 45-foot bronze statue replaced the original entrance in the Nineties, after many superstitious Asian visitors refused to enter the casino through the jaws of a lion, as was previously the case.
In any event, the MGM Grand has a casino floor covering 171,500 square feet or 1.59 hectares – in other words, larger than Lords Cricket Ground – making it the largest in Las Vegas. Table games include baccarat, blackjack, craps, roulette – in both European, single-zero and American, double-zero versions – and several poker variants, such as crazy four poker, pai gow poker and three card poker, as well as Texas hold’em poker. The MGM Grand also offers an extensive selection of electronic gaming machines, including slot machines and video poker machines, with stakes ranging from £0.01 to $1,000.
Unsurprisingly, The Venetian Macao, like The Venetian Las Vegas, is owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and was designed to be a Las Vegas-style integrated resort casino. In fact, The Venetian Macao is a carbon copy of the Venetia Las Vegas, right down to the canals, gondolas and gondoliers.
The casino industry has developed a great deal over the past decades. This has seen some countries building the biggest casinos in the land based casino industry. However the reason has been to keep gamblers in the building for the longest time with all the entertainment they need.
After the COVID 19 lockdown, casino tourism might just be the next big thing for gamblers. For a long period, going about and moving around freely has been taken for granted. Hence, going to the casino was just one thing that you could easily overlook.