Nevada’s highest-grossing casinos generated a net loss of almost $6.8 billion in fiscal year 2009, according to a profitability measurement released this morning by the Gaming Control Board. The state Gaming Control Board today released its “Gaming Abstract” for fiscal year 2009, which ended June 30, showing a net loss of $6.8 billion among the 260 major casinos in Nevada.

Clubs along the Las Vegas Strip, which makes up 53 percent of the gambling revenue in Nevada, registered a $4.1 billion loss. The only bright spot, from a financial standpoint, was that people drank more. Sales of booze rose by 2.5 percent while revenue tied to casinos, rooms and food dropped. However, let’s not get too excited here because 36 percent were recorded as “comp” drinks. So it seems that the casino’s plan to get people drunk so they lose more gambling did not pay off.

The only other time Nevada gaming companies reported a loss was in 2003, of $33.5 million, when the business downturn came in the middle of the national recession. The 260 statewide casinos that grossed more than $1 million or more in gaming revenues posted $22 billion in gross revenue, down 12 percent from the prior fiscal year. In fiscal 2008, the clubs registered a win of $721.1 million. The $6.7 billion loss is before federal income tax and extraordinary items. And the casinos paid $778.7 million in taxes in fees, or 7.4 percent of their gaming revenue.

On the Strip, casinos reported $178 million in bad debts in the gambling portion of the business. That compares with $112 million in fiscal 2007. The casinos reported $1.3 billion in complimentary expenses that includes drinks, rooms and food. Statewide, total general and administrative expenses hit $14 billion with more than $5 billion of that being written down by casino as the value of assets.

In a breakdown, the report shows downtown Las Vegas casinos suffered a $54 million loss; Laughlin casinos reported a $158.8 loss; Boulder Strip casinos registered a loss of $823.3 million and the casinos in the balance of Clark County posted a $1.3 billion loss. On the Strip, the $4.1 billion loss reflects a 686 percent drop from the previous fiscal year, when the clubs reported a profit of $709.4 million.

Some of the most disheartening news from these reports shows that there were 98,711 employees at the Strip casinos, down from the 114,465 workers in fiscal 2008. In a gaming community, if the casinos are not making money, it’s the employees that suffer the most. The high unemployment rate in Nevada is the root to most of the economic challenges faced ahead.

Always a Las Vegas hot spot for lavish parties of the rock and roll life style the Hard Rock Hotel has spent $770 million on its expansion to add hotel rooms and suites, a concert hall, restaurants and more. The property is hoping this week will offer some clues about whether the resort’s new focus on Asian gaming will pay off. Hard Rock is using the two-week Chinese New Year holiday that began Sunday to highlight its new campaign aimed at attracting Asian customers, a demographic that typically sticks to the casinos on the Strip. The Hard Rock’s new campaign will target Asian players living in Las Vegas, as well as those from the elsewhere in the United States and Canada.

The property has planned several Asian-themed events to coincide with the Chinese New Year holiday, ranging from food specials to a concert, to lure Asian players to the property. It has also hired casino hosts with high-end Strip experience and is reaching out to the local Asian community through advertising. The Hard Rock believes it now has the right offerings to attract and keep Asian players coming back. A new international pit in the casino features games preferred by Asian players, such as baccarat, midi-baccarat, mini-baccarat and pai gow. It also added its first true high-limit room when it completed a 40,000-square-foot casino expansion in December.

“We think there’s a tremendous upside in that market,” said Mark Gore, the general manager of the casino. “Something the Hard Rock’s never ever had is a piece of that business that we want to tap into and get our fair share.” However, the off-Strip property is not planning to go head-to-head with the large Strip operators who already have a presence in the Asian market. Wynn Resorts Ltd., Las Vegas Sands Corp. and MGM Mirage all have casinos in Macau.

Also announced this week Skullcandy, a top class designer of audio accessories and other audio-enabled lifestyle products, and the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas have signed an exclusive partnership agreement to create the ultimate music and entertainment guest experience. The partnership will grant Skullcandy naming rights to three Hard Rock stages in the Joint, Wasted Space and the Friday Night Live concert series at the pool. More importantly, the Skullcandy deal will pave the way for a new event series at the Hard Rock titled The Next, which will give them heavy presence in the snow and skate-sport communities for what the Hard Rock has called “a premiere summit showcase for sports, music, technology and lifestyle industries.”

To complete the facelift, the property also opened a suite in the new HRH Tower designed by a feng shui consultant and there is an Asian-themed restaurant with a noodle bar near the new high-limit room. The new push to attract Asian players could be a welcome boost for a casino that has performed poorly as a percentage of property revenue since it opened in 1995.

Las Vegas continuously reinvents itself, and in an evolving environment only the strong will survive.  In the competitive casino industry of Las Vegas, everyone is trying to get an advantage above the rest. The two major players in Las Vegas are Harrah’s Entertainment and MGM Mirage. Las Vegas is the most exciting and entertaining city in the world, but due to recent economic woes the competition for gamblers has heated up between casinos.

In a surge to compete with industry leader Harrah’s, MGM Mirage has hired two companies to improve its customer database mining capabilities and boost its guest loyalty programs. The industry and Harrah’s in particular will be interested in how MGM uses the information for marketing and product development.

The Las Vegas-based MGM Mirage has partnered with ESS Analysis, a Boston-based advanced analytics-focused consulting firm, and A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm. MGM Mirage acknowledges that the two firms will align the state-of-the-art technological resources, including a database of more than 60 million customers, this combined with current business strategies will create innovative marketing solutions.

Bill Hornbuckle, MGM Mirage chief marketing officer, said in a statement. “This initiative increases our ability to cater to our guests’ personalized needs with a one-to-one marketing outreach.” The move may improve MGM Mirage’s competitive position against industry leader Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., which is known for mining its own databases with scientific formulas to produced personalized offers to customers through its Total Rewards Program, which launched in 2000 and now has some 40 million members.

Khalid Khan, analytics director at A.T. Kearney, said in a statement, which has offices around the world including 11 in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. “Sophisticated analytic techniques transform reams of data stored in disparate databases into a vivid 360-degree view of how a customer responds to the onslaught of products and services before them. These detailed profiles provide predictive insights on customer preferences that can be leveraged to improve the overall customer experience through more targeted, cost-effective offers resulting in a true win-win.”

There are many who feel that all Las Vegas has to do to get people coming back to gamble is to lower the room rate, drop food prices, increase odds on the table games and loosen up the slots. Of course there are the naive people who come to Las Vegas expecting to make money, but the casinos should make gambling fun again. In reality, what difference is it to them if they get your money in 1 hour or 12 hours? Maybe this new system will help cater to people’s wants resulting in a more enjoyable gaming experience.

The broad details of President Obama’s scheduled visit to Las Vegas later this week have been released by the White House. On Thursday evening he’s due to attend a closed fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee at Palms owner George Maloof’s house. The following morning he’s due to hold a town hall meeting at a high school and then speak at CityCenter about job creation. While the main purpose of the visit is to give a boost to Sen. Harry Reid’s re-election campaign, an apology for recent controversial comments about Las Vegas is also anticipated from the president.

On Thursday evening, President Obama is scheduled to be on hand for a $30,000-a-person Democratic National Committee fundraiser at the home of Palms owner George Maloof. The fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee is expected to raise $1 million. Like all presidents when they leave Washington, Obama has become a prodigious fundraiser for party committees. Obama has several economic events on tap with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, according to the White House. Obama will visit with business leaders and residents to discuss the ways he and Reid are working together to address the economic challenges facing Nevada.

President Obama will hold a town hall meeting Friday in Henderson. With details of the president’s upcoming visit to Las Vegas slowly being released, it’s just been announced by the White House that several hundred tickets will be made available to the general public on a first come, first served basis for his town hall meeting this Friday. Tickets to the event, which is taking place at Green Valley High School, can be picked up at the school’s football field office (460 Arroyo Grande Blvd.) from 4 p.m. on Thursday.

This recent Presidents Day began with the ribbon-cutting for “The Oval Office Experience” at Madame Tussauds at The Venetian. Costing $300,000 the replica Oval Office includes photos of the Obamas on the president’s faux desk and even a depiction of presidential canine Bo on the background, outside the window. The visit will be much anticipated after Obama made a remark recently saying a family shouldn’t go to Las Vegas and blow money, “when you’re trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices. It’s time your government did the same.”

Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday, which kicks off Mardi Gras and although it’s not traditionally a big date in the Vegas party calendar, there are some fun events going on around the city. Mardi Gras was brought to people’s attention a little early this year with the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl. Rolling into one of the world’s most famous parties, there are many places that will be celebrating Mardi Gras 2010 in Las Vegas.

For some fine Southern cooking, Lola’s Louisiana Kitchen downtown had their big party on Saturday, but they’ll be continuing the festivities through dinner tomorrow with fresh crawfish. McCormick & Schmick’s is offering a special Fat Tuesday menu Feb. 15-17, with New Orleans culinary specials, including crab hush puppies, mini oyster po’ boys, jambalaya, and étouffée, plus specialty “voodoo” and “black magic” cocktails.

The Fremont Street Experience is hosting a free Fat Tuesday Party from 5 p.m. tomorrow, with free zydeco music until 11 p.m., hourly VIVA Vision shows on the canopy, and food by Rhythm Kitchen. And there’s also a Fremont Street Pub Crawl, with access to food and drink specials.

Mardi Gras will be celebrated Vegas style on the Las Vegas strip. Harrah’s, O’Sheas and The Flamingo Las Vegas will be hosting a Mardi Gras celebration outdoors between the Carnaval Court, O’Sheas and Margaritaville. The Las Vegas Mardi Gras party will begin at 4 p.m. and will be going well into the night.  Look for the party to kick off with a lively parade starting at Harrah’s, moving past O’Sheas and ending at the Flamingo. The vibrant Mardi Gras-style parade will make it’s way between the three hotels every half hour from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. joined by a Dixie Band, Harrah’s and Flamingo showgirls, greeter girls, a baton twirler and Margaritaville stilt-walkers.

In true New Orleans fashion, showgirls and greeters will toss ceremonial beads to spectators. Give-a-ways and coupons for drink specials at Carnaval Court, O’Sheas and Margaritaville will also be distributed throughout the evening. Specialty cocktails created just for Mardi Gras include cleverly themed libations like the Southern Comfort “Harrahcane” and “Southern Lemonade.”

After the parades end, the celebration will continue with live entertainment at Carnaval Court, O’Sheas and Margaritaville. Guests must be 21 years of age or older. Carnaval court is located right next to Harrah’s and is the perfect place to spend an evening listening to live music and being entertained by some of the friendliest bartenders on the strip.