By LIZ BENSTON, Las Vegas Sun

LAS VEGAS -- You're heard of the megaresort, the destination resort and the locals casino. But the "locals resort"?

Station Casinos executives have coined the term for Aliante Station, which opens Nov. 11 as the latest step in the evolution of the suburban Las Vegas casino.

LAS VEGAS -- These days, Caesars Palace is looking a lot less Roman Empire and more Empire State.

When it opens its sixth hotel tower, Octavius, next summer the flagship property of the world's largest casino company will be another step closer to the look and feel of luxury hotels found in other major cities.

LAS VEGAS -- Casino companies' earnings are plummeting by double digits. Debt costs are rising for many companies. And their customers are spending less.

In the financial world, in this economy, those are the trend lines of doom.

Indeed, a few smaller operators are already close to bankruptcy. But could giants like MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment be next?

LAS VEGAS -- Lorelle Ellis and her husband have settled into a comfortable routine: A few times a week, often before dinner, they stop by Green Valley Ranch Station Casino and drop a few bucks in the slot machines.

LAS VEGAS -- When times are flush, managers think big: Budgets balloon, plans take shape and perks flow. When times are tough, as they are now for casinos on the Strip, they're thinking small, combing budgets, reviewing expenses and trimming where they can.

LAS VEGAS -- Imagine being able to lay a bet on a New England Patriots-Green Bay Packers game while eating at a casino buffet, instead of being stuck waiting in line in a smoky sports book.

Before taking that next bite of prime rib, you might place numerous bets using a small handheld device.

LAS VEGAS -- The Cosmopolitan, which sits half-built in the middle of the Strip, has been held up as a symbol of Las Vegas' doubtful future.

In fact, the $3 billion property -- part of the resort corridor's largest construction boom, amid its worst economic slump in recent memory -- might better serve as a symbol of the Strip's long-term economic strength.

LAS VEGAS -- Around the time MGM Mirage was trimming its management ranks and the tourism slowdown - only hinted at in research statistics and earnings reports - had become a hard fact in Las Vegas, competitor Steve Wynn was playing it cool.

His business strategy, he said, wouldn't shift to suit Wall Street's whims.

LAS VEGAS -- Las Vegas casino giants are eyeing big profits in Macau, the port city in China that has overtaken the Las Vegas Strip in gambling volume.

And now, the Las Vegas-area companies that make slot machines for the world's casinos are looking to far-flung locales for another reason: talent.

LAS VEGAS -- Southern California gamblers who regularly drive to Las Vegas have cut back their visits by a third because of record gas prices, and those who still come say they've cut their gambling back by 29 percent, a new poll has found.