title: california set to let public schools teach primarily in spanish
text: new las vegas casino only for chinese gamblers  
  los angeles times 
  casino operators know there are no gamblers quite like the chinese 
  with their affinity for baccarat the most lucrative game in las vegas chinese gamblers have long commanded special treatment  be it with private chinese gaming salons lunar new year festivities or performances from pop stars flown in from hong kong and taiwan 
  no one in las vegas however has built a casino and hotel strictly for chinese visitors until now 
  the lucky dragon hotel  casino is billing itself as las vegas first asianthemed resort funded in large part by chinese investors the property set to open dec  with a traditional lion dance will offer bilingual staff and signage a luxury tea bar and a host of restaurants with food that wouldnt look or taste out of place in guangzhou or shanghai 
  no general tsos or egg rolls here said david jacoby chief operating officer for the resort which left no chinese superstition unturned 
  the rosecolored resorts front entrance is designed in a dragon motif a feng shui master blessed its kitchens the main bar is eightsided for good fortune and its hard to find a no  on the property the unlucky digit is absent from room numbers and the phone directory the ninestory hotel even skips a fourth floor 
  this place is heavily feng shuied jacoby said 
  with all that attention to detail youd think lucky dragons brain trust was born in beijing but the idea behind the room boutique resort off the northern end of the las vegas strip was largely conceived by an american veteran gaming executive bill weidner the former president and chief operating officer of las vegas sands corp 
  weidner an advisor to lucky dragon is no neophyte to the chinese market he worked with some of chinas most powerful government figures to lead sands expansion into macau when the former portuguese colony relaxed its monopoly on gaming licenses in  macau now generates nearly five times the gambling revenue of the las vegas strip forever changing the fortunes of the global casino industry 
  weidner was also involved in the development of the billion marina bay sands in singapore before leaving the company in a bitter dispute in  
  weidner and jacoby know major las vegas gaming resorts like the sands venetian mgm or wynn already cater to chinas high rollers with vip parlors and relationships forged in macau 
  lucky dragon though tiny compared with those properties addresses what they see as a gap in the market middleclass chinese gamblers chinese americans as well as the broader asian american community 
  let them fight over the  and let us fight over the remaining  said jacoby who previously worked for weidners firm global gaming asset management opening a casino resort in the philippines 
  that pool of chinese gamers will almost certainly grow on dec  hainan airlines will fly the first direct flights from china to las vegass mccarran international airport lucky dragon guests are confirmed to be on that flight jacoby said 
  already a record  visitors from china traveled to las vegas last year nearly double the number in  according to the las vegas convention and visitors authority 
  meanwhile ground was broken on another asianthemed resort this one much bigger than lucky dragon resorts world a malaysian hospitality and casino giant with decades of asian gaming experience is spending up to  billion for a room property on the north strip that will feature chinese architecture such as an ersatz great wall its slated to open in  
  plans are also underway to build a billion resort on the strip called alon las vegas the project is owned by australias crown resort who count chinese gamers as a major source of business 
  its going to be even more of a competitive market said john decree an analyst at union gaming in las vegas everyones coming for the same customer its going to be a challenge with  rooms the hotel is small compared with many on the strip but with five restaurants it offers more dining options than many its size isaac brekken  for the times 
  competition could also be fierce for chinese high rollers whose gambling activity has been curtailed by a slowing chinese economy and an anticorruption campaign at home that until recently sent macau gambling revenues into a twoyear slump 
  las vegas isnt immune to those headwinds after years of explosive growth casinos on the strip experienced a decline in the amount of money bet on baccarat to about  billion in  thats nearly  billion less than  according to the nevada gaming control board 
  the casino industry uses the card game as a proxy for chinese gambling activity because of its massive popularity within the culture thats both for practical and superstitious reasons baccarat has the best statistical odds of beating the house compared with other games and as a game of chance over skill baccarat also plays into chinese fatalistic attitudes toward luck 
  the vast majority of baccarat play comes from the asian market said jacoby of lucky dragon 
  jacobys casino will offer seven vip baccarat tables on a secondfloor terrace with access to a vast menu of authentic chinese food in addition to live seafood flown in from all over the world the property will serve staples like congee wonton noodles and dim sum 
  food is expected to be a big draw because chinese vacationers overwhelmingly prefer their native cuisine over others 
  las vegas has a number of wellregarded chinese restaurants such as ping pang pong at gold coast hotel  casino china mama in chinatown and an outpost of chengdu taste the san gabriel valley stalwart for sichuan cuisine highend chinese food is also served at highroller rooms such as the venetians paiza club 
  no casino however boasts the concentration of chinese restaurants that lucky dragon will with five altogether the hope is chinese tourists staying at other properties will choose to eat  and gamble  at lucky dragon when they venture off the strip 
  the emphasis on food means lucky dragons owners can eschew things that arent particularly important to chinese tourists like a whiskey bar or nightclub and because chinese tourists often dont like to sunbathe lucky dragons pool isnt much bigger than the backyard variety 
  jacoby says his competitors on the strip offer chinese gamers a diluted experience by operating a handful of chinese restaurants and parlors in megacasinos that have to serve all manner of people not just chinese by comparison visitors to lucky dragon can start conversing in mandarin with staff as soon as they walk in he said 
  were trying to take the asian gaming experience and bring that front and center instead of hiding the most valuable customer in a segregated portion of a large building jacoby said 
  though lucky dragon will rely heavily on asian american customers at first its funding was largely drawn from mainland chinese investors through the federal eb visa program the visa allows foreigners and their immediate family to gain permanent us residency in exchange for a minimum investment of  that also creates american jobs rather than focusing on bars and nightclubs the casino is prioritizing dining options that includes a tea room still under construction isaac brekken  for the times 
  chinese investors have dominated the program nationwide accounting for  of applicants awaiting eb visas though occasionally subject to fraud the program has successfully funded a handful of mixedused projects in new york the jw marriott hotel at la live and the sls hotel  casino across from lucky dragon 
  jacoby declined to say how many chinese investors are involved in lucky dragon which is expected to employ  people jacoby also declined to disclose how much the project cost adding that earlier media reports pegging the price tag at about  million were inaccurate 
  the company hit a snag last year when it unsuccessfully sought tax subsidies from the city but financial commitments from weidners family and others put the project back on track 
  lucky dragon isnt the first las vegas resort to target a specific demographic the hard rock hotel  casino and the palms casino resort opened years ago catering to young partygoers and clubbers before eventually being overshadowed by larger competitors on the strip such as the mgm grand and the cosmopolitan 
  lucky dragons early backers even considered building an lgbt resort before settling on their current strategy one they say will live and die on being able to deliver an authentic chinese gambling experience 
  we set out trying to put together a place that would stand alone in shanghai if you dropped it off down there today jacoby said we didnt want to have just gongs asian tapestries and caricaturestuff like that