Bodog Beat

An artist's rendering by Boyd Gaming of what the Echelon casino project will look like. (AP Images)

The Echelon, a massive Las Vegas casino and hotel building project, has been suspended by Boyd Gaming. Like pretty much all of Vegas they are feeling the pinch of reduced gambling and hotel revenue. While normally when a company halts a project that is already under construction it’s a bad sign, but investors were actually encourage by the move and Boyd (nyse: BYD) saw shares go up 19.4% to $11.92.

Boyd stated that the halt would probably only last one year, assuming market conditions have improved by then.

Echelon sits on the 87 acres where The Stardust, Westward Ho and Budget Suites once were.

The Stardust, which was imploded on March 13, 2007, was surprisingly new with its main tower constructed in 1991. But that's how things work on the Las Vegas Strip, especially when real estate prices were sitting at around $34 million per acre.

But now Vegas has become one of the hardest hit cities in the American real estate slump.

According to Forbes.com, “Developers have plans to add more than 40,000 luxury hotel rooms to the Las Vegas Strip - about one-third more than today - but scarce credit and the slowing U.S. economy have led to reassessment of some projects.”

The Echelon, which was originally to be completed in 2010, was to be the crown jewel of the north end of the Strip with a building cost of $4.8 billion and the third largest casino in Vegas.

Here are the details on what the Echelon is supposed to have: 57 floors (eight are currently finished), 4,713 rooms, five towers, 140,000 square-foot casino, 300,000 square-foot shopping venue, 750,000 square-foot convention center, 30 restaurants and bars and a 4,000 seat stadium-style theater.

Want to enjoy a casino that won't get delayed or imploded? Bodog's online casino is has over 100 casino games ready to be played from the comfort of your home.