Kris Johnson Deputy Editor -- CasinoBeats.com
Kris Johnson is a Charlotte-based deputy editor. He joined CasinoBeats in July 2025 and oversees the daily news flow of editing and publishing. Kris also reports on all aspects of the gambling industry with a...
Read Full BioCirca Resort & Casino owner Derek Stevens, who also owns The D Las Vegas and Golden Gate, keeps finding unique ways to combat Sin City’s reversal of fortune.
His most recent initiative is designed to have our neighbors to the north return to Las Vegas at previous levels by offering even money on Canadian and US currency at his three properties.
“What I want to do is I want to invite Canada back to Las Vegas,” Stevens said. “We’re a smaller company compared to others, but we want to make an offer. Something that I remember happened living (in) a border town in the Detroit metropolitan area.
“I want to go to At Par. So, if you book on our website, you book a hotel room, Canadian dollars go off as American dollars.
If you don’t want to stay here, you’ve got offers with another company, that’s good too. Because all the hotels behind me, they all want Canada to come back just as much as I do.”
Stevens, who grew up in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, across Lake St. Clair from Windsor, Ontario, is also offering at-par opportunities at the bars in his trio of properties, and up to $500 in funds to gamble at any of them.
Circa a ‘Survivor’ During Extended Vegas Slump
Earlier this month, five winners enjoyed the spoils from Circa Survivor’s record $18.7 million prize pool. Circa’s football contests continue to grow annually, with a record $31.6 million in prizes offered last year for Survivor, Million, and Grandissimo.
“We raise the bar every year because our owner continues to [entice contestants] by raising the guarantees,” Circa Sportsbook Operations Director Jeff Benson told CasinoBeats. “Derek is all-in. He is passionate, involved, and overall just a great guy who loves to be on the floor with his staff and customers.”
Prior to that, Circa was among the operators that overcame last year’s summer slump in Las Vegas by adopting a sports-centric approach that included catering to visitors in town for UFC fights.
“In specific pockets, like where we at Circa Las Vegas are located in downtown — I think people feel there’s maybe a little better value,” Stevens said at the time. “Things were really booming.”
There are several factors behind Sin City’s extended slump, some of which are beyond operators’ control. US President Donald Trump continues to draw the ire of Canadians with tariffs and talk of annexation. Trump fired off this zinger yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Canada lives because of the United States,” he said.
Trump could take a class in diplomacy from Stevens, who ended his X post yesterday this way.
“I miss Canada,” he said. “Las Vegas misses Canada. Our team misses Canada.”
Circa has benefited from being a smaller operator, making it more nimble than some of its competitors. Its downtown location on Fremont Street also differentiates it from behemoths on The Strip, but constant innovation by Stevens and his staff really underpins its ongoing success.
