the imperial palace...surviving like a cock-a-roach.

I've often compared the Imperial Palace—my home base of operations in Vegas—to a cockroach: despite all it goes through, it survives everything.

The ol' IP has been flirting with being shut down for years. And, for years, it defies the talk and keeps on truckin'. To be fair, the talk of closing the place down makes sense. It, along with a handful of other casinos right next door, have been gobbled up by Harrah's in recent years. And, let's be honest, they are anachronistic and falling apart, compared to the lavish palaces that have been going up on The Strip over the past 15-20 years.

The word on the street last year is the IP would be closing some time in 2k7. Well, according to the Las Vegas Business Press, the rumors of the Imperial Palace's demise may be greatly exaggerated:

Harrah's sends mixed signals: Experts predict stagnation in U.S., growth overseas

BY DAVID MCKEE

Retrenchment continued at Harrah's Entertainment, as the company announced the elimination of 230 jobs at corporate headquarters. The downsizing, which was revealed Jan. 26, was achieved through a combination of terminations, transfers and leaving open positions unfilled....

"Acquisitions would be close to nil," predicted Jeff Hwang, who follows the gaming sector for The Motley Fool. "Development would mostly be put off indefinitely, or even permanently in some areas."

Eadington looks to Harrah's oft-postponed announcement of a major, CityCenter-scale development that would unite its Strip holdings. "Very obviously, that's going to get slowed down, if not stopped," he said. "Harrah's Las Vegas, Imperial Palace, Flamingo, Barbary Coast, Bally's ... that's a lot of contiguous property that is pretty tired and obsolete. Those are pretty good candidates for tear-downs." For the moment, Eadington says, it's a wait-and-see situation on the Strip.

"It's kind of been broad-based generalities," Steinberg concurred. Read more.

In case you missed it earlier, Harrah's was bought out by Apollo Management, L.P. and Texas Pacific Group for a nearly $28 billion (yes, BILLION) back in December.

Looks like the new owners are focusing less on Vegas and American gaming expansion and more on the world.

Fine by me. I still get my free room at the ol' IP!