Matthew Jacob of Majestic Research told investors last week that casinos showed a significant jump in slot machine and table game use from a year ago.

Jacob based his findings on proprietary data and analysis.

He said overall game use was up 22 percent, comparing Saturday, July 7 with Saturday, July 8, 2006. Table game use was up 24 percent, while slot machine play was up 22 percent.

"On a sequential basis, game usage on 07/07/07 was 15 percent higher than on the average Saturday during the previous three months," Jacob said.

Caesars Palace could begin construction on a fourth tower and an expansion of its existing casino space in the next couple of weeks.

Clark County officials approved the property's plans on June 20 to build a 350-foot-high tower with 1,017 rooms.

The new rooms will increase the room inventory to 4,388.

Harrah's Entertainment was approved in January to add 37,122 square feet of casino space and 110,000 square feet of commercial space including restaurants, retail, and convention areas.

The new tower will face Flamingo Road next to the Augustus Tower.

The project is estimated to cost $1 billion, according to the Vegas Today and Tomorrow Web site.

Golf Digest Magazine ranked the top 40 golf courses in the United States owned by casino companies, and only two Las Vegas courses made the top 10. Five were listed in the overall top 20.

Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas, built by Steve Wynn but now owned by MGM Mirage, was considered the No. 1 casino course.

Cascata, located off U.S. Highway 93 between Henderson and Boulder City, ranked third. Cascata was acquired by Harrah's Entertainment when the company bought Caesars Entertainment in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Wynn Golf and Country Club ranked 12th; Reflection Bay Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas tied for 15th and the Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson tied for 19th.

Harrah's Chairman Gary Loveman returned to his academic roots. He wrote the forward for a new book published by Harvard Business School Press, "Competing on Analytics -- the new science of winning," by Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris.

Loveman was an associate professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration before joining Harrah's in 1998 as chief operating officer.

The Inside Gaming column is compiled by Review-Journal gaming and tourism writers Howard Stutz, Benjamin Spillman and Arnold M. Knightly. Send your tips about the gaming and tourism industry to insidegaming@reviewjournal.com.