[font=Verdana]Gambling regulators were locking the slot machines and longtime patrons and employees posed for farewell photos while Adam Auriemma considered the closure of Boardwalk hotel-casino. [/font]

[font=Verdana]It seems like a lot of the smaller places have come and gone," the Boston resident said as the roulette wheel made its final spins Monday at the clown-festooned casino with the faux roller coaster superstructure at the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Indeed, the closing of the MGM Mirage-owned Boardwalk followed the closure last November of the 700-room Westward Ho and the closure in September of the [/font][font=Verdana]Bourbon Street[/font][font=Verdana] casinos. Both are expected to be redeveloped as the Las Vegas Strip undergoes a boom in multi-million dollar casino and condominium resort projects. [/font]

[font=Verdana]The 654-room Boardwalk won't go out with a demolition bang. It is due to be dismantled over the next few months to clear the way for MGM Mirage's $5 billion Project CityCenter development. That project is slated to feature a 4,000-room hotel-casino, boutique hotels, a shopping mall and high-rise condominiums when it opens on 66 acres in 2009. [/font]

[font=Verdana]The Boardwalk in recent years became best known in and around [/font][font=Verdana]Las Vegas[/font][font=Verdana] as the home of a 24-hour seafood buffet with television commercials featuring rotund boxer Eric "Butterbean" Esch. [/font]