Gambling

ST. GEORGE — A Utah man arrested last week along with 10 others and charged with bank fraud and illegal gambling has appeared in federal court.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Ernest Scherer III was found guilty Monday of brutally killing his parents in a bid to gain control of a more than $1 million inheritance the 32-year-old professional poker player needed to pay off a rising debt.

LAS VEGAS -- The Sahara was once an exotic desert locale where Frank Sinatra could enjoy a cocktail and bathing beauties were paid to frolic in the Garden of Allah pool. In recent years, the hotel-casino had sunk to touting $1 blackjack and a NASCAR Cafe known for its 6-pound burrito.

Now the 59-year-old-icon of the Las Vegas Strip is shutting its doors, yet another victim of a deep recession that has squelched Vegas tourism for more than three years.

In southern Nevada, casinos are frequently bought, sold, remodeled or imploded to make way for a new resort -- but rarely shuttered.

LAS VEGAS -- After years of neglecting its public schools and high-tech sectors to dote on a mighty gambling industry, Nevada now needs to get smart to get rich, a sociology professor told state leaders Friday.

The Silver State's all-consuming love affair with casinos has made Las Vegas the least educated metropolitan area in the West, overwhelmingly dependent on the wealth of other states and vulnerable to every economic tremor, said Robert Lang, director of Brookings Mountain West at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"We are way more dependent on consumer spending than anywhere else," said Lang at an economic summit attended by lawmakers, business leaders and policymakers.

LAS VEGAS -- Where Harmon Avenue slices through this town's incandescent Strip, two neighboring casino complexes mark the waning days of the Las Vegas boom -- and the hope for a rebound.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The amount of time gamblers are spending in Atlantic City casinos is falling, and they're holding on more tightly to their wallets while they're there.

A new statistical study shows the amount of time gamblers spent inside casinos in the nation's second-largest gambling market is down more than 22 percent, and the amount of money they spend there is down almost 30 percent over the last four years.

LAS VEGAS -- Sports fans are betting online each night on athletes' performances -- and it's all legal.