Chance plays a big role in Las Vegas. But two events in the space of a week seemed to be more than just coincidence.(运气在拉斯维加斯扮演着重要角色。但一周内发生的两件事似乎不仅仅是巧合。) On May 28th Tilman Fertitta, a hospitality mogul, announced that he had agreed to buy Caesars Entertainment, a chain of more than 50 casino resorts, in a deal valuing the company at $17.6bn. Four days later Barry Diller, the high-rolling(豪赌的；挥金如土的) owner of People Inc, a publishing business, upped the ante(提高赌注；加码) with a bid for MGM Resorts that valued the casino operator at over $18bn.
运气在拉斯维加斯扮演着重要角色。但一周内发生的两件事似乎不仅仅是巧合。5月28日，酒店业大亨Tilman Fertitta宣布同意收购凯撒娱乐——一个拥有50多家赌场度假村的连锁集团，交易对该公司估值176亿美元。四天后，出版企业People Inc的豪客老板Barry Diller加码出击，对美高梅度假村发起收购，对这家赌场运营商的估值超过180亿美元。
It may seem a surprising time to be betting on the gambling industry, which has been on a painful losing streak(连败；连续失利). Online gaming has been disrupted by the arrival of “prediction markets” run by firms like Kalshi and Polymarket, which allow punters to bet on anything from sports results to American invasion plans. Meanwhile, bricks-and-mortar(实体的；实体店的) casinos have struggled as consumers have grown anxious about the state of the economy. Las Vegas, where MGM and Caesars operate glittering casino-resorts along the Strip, received 10% fewer visitors last year than at its pre-pandemic peak.
现在押注赌博业可能看起来是一个令人惊讶的时机，因为该行业一直处于痛苦的连败状态。在线博彩已经被Kalshi和Polymarket等公司运营的“预测市场”所颠覆，这些市场允许赌客对从体育比赛结果到美国入侵计划的任何事情下注。与此同时，实体赌场也陷入困境，因为消费者对经济状况越来越焦虑。在美高梅和凯撒沿着拉斯维加斯大道经营着闪闪发光的赌场度假村的城市，去年的游客数量比疫情前的高峰期减少了10%。
Having been dealt such a bad hand, many investors have folded.(拿到这么一手烂牌后，许多投资者已经弃牌。) In the five years up until last week, MGM’s share price had fallen by about 15%; that of Caesars, which is more leveraged(杠杆高的；负债多的) and less diversified, had dropped by nearly three-quarters. Messrs Fertitta and Diller, however, seem to have concluded that the market has now reached the bottom(触底；达到最低点).
拿到这么一手烂牌后，许多投资者已经弃牌。在截至上周的五年里，美高梅的股价下跌了约15%；而凯撒的股价——由于杠杆更高、业务更多元化程度较低——下跌了近四分之三。然而，Fertitta和Diller似乎断定市场现在已经触底。