"...eight straight months of declining revenue on the las vegas strip..."

I shouldn't be so harsh on Boyd Gaming, though. It's not like they're alone in this economic mess. The Big Three in Vegas--Las Vegas Sands Corp., MGM Mirage and Wynn Resorts Ltd.--are getting clobbered in the markets.

From Bloomberg.com:

Las Vegas Sands, MGM, Wynn May Signal 'Ugly' 2009
By Beth Jinks

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Las Vegas Sands Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Mirage, the three largest U.S. casino companies, may signal an "ugly" year ahead as gamblers curb casino trips and betting from Las Vegas to Macau.

Eight straight months of declining gambling revenue on the Las Vegas Strip and tightened visa limits by authorities in Macau, the only place in China where casinos are legal, eroded third-quarter profits, said Dennis Forst, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets in El Segundo, California.

Shares of Wynn, controlled by billionaire Steve Wynn, have dropped 67 percent this year. Sands shares plunged 23 percent on Oct. 24, bringing its year-to-date decline to 94 percent and forcing it to relinquish its ranking as the biggest U.S. casino company by market value to Wynn.

No. 2 MGM Mirage, majority owned by Kirk Kerkorian, has fallen 87 percent. Penn has shed 79 percent, while Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. has lost 72 percent. Read more.

I'm no economist, but Vegas will come back. It may take a year or two, but it'll come back. Gaming/travel/tourism are not recession-proof industries, you know. What I'm most curious of, though, is which hotel-casinos in Vegas will fold. The Big Three have deep enough pockets to survive. Harrah's is THE biggest casino company in the world, so they're probably safe. But it's going to be the little guys and outliers who lose. Are there any left in Vegas? Not many, but a few.

2009 promises to be nothing if not exhilarating.