The Barbary Coast, smack in the center of the Las Vegas Strip, closed last week with little warning. Customers were met by taped-shut doors and security guards wearing shirts that said "Bill's." Bill's Gambling Hall and Saloon, it turns out, is the new name of the casino; the sudden name change followed on the heels of the approval of a land swap between Harrah's and Boyd Gaming. Boyd traded the Barbary Coast to Harrah's in exchange for 24 acres that the Westward Ho used to occupy. This acreage will be incorporated into Boyd's Echelon Place project. The new Bill's (named after Bill Harrah) reopened later in the week. The original Bill's is at Stateline, Lake Tahoe.

ALIANTE STATION: Aliante Station — Station Casinos has broken ground on its next resort-casino, the $600 million 40-acre Aliante Station. The 17th Station property is scheduled to open late next year with 200 hotel rooms, six restaurants, and a 16-plex movie theater.

EATING ON THE FLOOR: Downtown's El Cortez is offering slot and table-game dining service from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The food, including appetizers, sandwiches, and burgers, is prepared in the casino's Kitty's Café and served on a rolling cart that's set at a convenient height for players sitting at slot machines and at table games. While casinos have always offered free drinks, this is a first for a casino-wide offer of food.

JERSEY NEXT?: There's talk that the next Broadway show to make its way to Las Vegas will be "Jersey Boys" at the Palazzo when it opens at year's end.

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