Only six months after its last sale, downtown's Gold Spike has been sold again. The purchase price was $21 million, more than $5 million more than the previous sale. Whereas the former owners had planned to turn the property into an upscale boutique resort, the new owners will continue to market to the bargain crowd. Plans call for the one-acre property to merge with an adjacent and shuttered Travel Inn motel, which is also being renovated and reopened. The work is not expected to cause the Gold Spike to close.

PALACE CLOSING: The Nevada Palace will close its doors at the end of this week after 29 years in business on Boulder Highway. But the casino won't be closed for long — it will reopen this summer as the upgraded Eastside Cannery.

KITCHEN CLOSED: Bally's Big Kitchen Buffet has closed, apparently for good. One of Las Vegas' first upscale buffets, newer and more elaborate offerings have eclipsed it over the years. Bally's is directing its guests to the spread at sister-casino Paris, which leaves Bally's as one of the few Las Vegas casinos without a buffet.

GOOD BETTE: Bette Midler opened in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace last week. It was the start of an extended run at the resort, during which the Divine Miss M will split duties with Cher, who comes on in June. Midler tickets are $95, $140, $175 and $250; prices for Cher have not been released, but should fall in the same price range.

Q. Last week you wrote about the record gambling win in Nevada. What makes more money for the casinos, slots or table games?

A: Statewide, casinos won $8.4 billion from slots versus $4.4 billion from table games, for a roughly 66 percent to 34 percent split. However, these percentages aren't uniform in all casinos. As a rule of thumb, the high-end Strip casinos derive a much higher percentage from table games, in some cases more than 50 percent of the total take from gambling.

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