Downtown Grand Adds Exclusive E-Sports Lounge

Seth Shorr was the first to acknowledge. Of the estimated 93 million Americans who play video games, Shorr has never really been one of them. In fact, Shorr would have had nearly zero time with his game controller in his hands if he hadn’t listened to his six-year-old son Dax’s persistent request to sit and play “Star Wars Battlefront.”

But Shor is not blind to the enormous influence the esports market can have in Las Vegas, where he serves as the owner of Fifth Avenue Gaming and chairman of Downtown Grand Las Vegas Hotels & Casinos. In fact, his eyes are probably wider than anyone else in the entire casino industry and he is optimistic about the tremendous potential.

“It’s undeniable that gaming environments are changing with every other industry due to cutting-edge technology and consumer behavior,” explained 39-year-old Shore. “I feel it’s my duty for my company and its investors to keep Nevada relevant by changing with the times and devising new ways to make the gambling experience more attractive.” 카지노사이트 순위

Enter eSports.

Last year, Shor and his staff began implementing a strategy to become a part of the customer experience at the Downtown Grand, which is located on the grounds of the former Lady Luck Hotel & Casino in the heart of the Third metropolitan area of Downtown. In February, it became the first casino Shor was known to have opened a dedicated space for video games. Right in the middle of the casino floor, the Downtown Grand now has an e-sports lounge in a room that was once used for high-restricted gaming, which can now be seen next to the furnace bar. The 1,140-square-foot lounge is ideal for teaming up with teenage PC banks as well as Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Within a month, a classic arcade game and a Nintendo 64 console will be added, an attempt to appeal to demographers in their late 30s to early 40s who grew up with widely popular games attached to TVs.

Every Friday, the casino runs eContests, where visitors compete for prize money with others in games such as Maddon, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and NBA2K for a fee of about $15. The events regularly attract as many as 50 players to the same number of spectators.

“It’s really cool to see two people do a head-on Mortal Combat while 40 or 50 people walk by and cheer for them,” Shor said. “What’s great is that we found that this really fits the casino atmosphere really naturally. It brings tremendous energy to the casino floor, which is always a good thing.”