Vegas Showdown was named Games Magazine's Game of the Year for 2007 and has been proclaimed by many as the best "Gamer's Game" produced by the new Avalon Hill. Designed by a long-time Magic player, Henry Stern, Vegas Showdown players are challenged to bid for and place basic and specialty rooms, all in an effort to build the best Hotel/Casino on the Vegas strip.

Number of players per game: 4 (first choice); 5 (second choice); 3 (only if necessary).

If there are more than 25 winners, then the top 25 winners will advance according to the HSW tiebreakers
If there are 25 or less total winners, then all winners will advance to the semi-finals.
If less than 16 winners appear for the semi-final, then the semi-final will be filled to 16 if the total field was 32 or more total participants or up to half the field (rounded down) if there was less than 32 total participants.

Semi-final advancement for non-winners will be determined according to the following criteria.
1.  Average finish in all heats entered
2.  Average Total Points behind first place
3.  Best individual finish in any heat
4.  Lowest total points behind first place in any heat
5.  Most heats entered
6.  High dice roll

If two players are tied on points and money in an individual game in the preliminary heats, both will receive credit for the tied position, and any players behind them will not move up (i.e. two players tie for first, next player is third, not second).

In a 16 person semi-final, four 4-player games will be held.
If 17-20 winners attend the semi-final, the field will be filled to 20 using the standard HSW tiebreakers.  Five 4-player games will be held.
If 21+ winners attend the semi-final, the field will be filled to 25 using the standard HSW tiebreakers.  Five 5-player games will be held.

In the above scenarios, only the winner will advance to the Final.

If the the total field is 30-31 participants or there are not enough people to fill to 16, then the semi-final field will be 15 people, Three 5-player games will be held. Winners and best 2nd place will advance to the Final.
If the the total field is 24-29 participants or there are not enough people to fill to 15, then thesemi-final field will be limited to the top 12.   Three 4-player games will be held.  Winners and best 2nd place will advance to the Final.
If the total field is 20-24 participants or there are not enough people to fill to 12, then the semi-final field will be limited to the top 10.   Two 5-player games will be held.  Winners and 2nd place will advance to the Final.
If the total field is 16-19 participants or there are not enough people to fill to 10, then the semi-final field will be limited to the top 8.  Two 4-player games will be held.  Winners and 2nd place will advance to the FinalF
If the total field is less than 16 participants or there is not enough people to fill to 8, then the top four will proceed directly to a final to be held during the semi-final time slot.

Best 2nd place will be determined by least points behind first place.  In the event of a tie, the performance in the preliminary rounds using the tiebreakers for advancement to the semi-final will break the tie, with the exception that most wins will now be the first tie-breaker.

If there are five finalists and one cannot attend the scheduled Final, a 4-player game among the remaining finalists will be held.

If there are four finalists and one (or more) cannot attend the scheduled Final, the GM will attempt to contact 2nd place players (in order of proximity to first place) from the semi-final games to ensure a 4-player Final. If no 2nd place players can be found, a 3-player Final will be held.

Rules clarifications:
1. There is a confirmed (with the game designer) misprint on one of the Sports Book tiles. There should be two "A" tiles and one "B" tile. Before game play, take one of the "B" Sports Book tiles and shuffle it into the "A" pile. If the properly marked "A" Sports Book gets revealed first, replace it with the "B" Sports Book in the "A" pile and then re-shuffle the remaining A tiles.
2. If the Event card "Lower Prices" is pulled when a Prestige tile is at the minimum bid of 3, that tile is to be discarded and a new one
drawn immediately, using a new Event card to determined which stack to pull from.
3. If two Taxes events are drawn, the effect is not stacked. Income for everyone is halved, not quartered.
4. If two Visionary events are drawn, the effects are stacked. (i.e. gain 2 fame per overbid)
5. If two Good Relations events are drawn, the effect is not stacked. The effect is the same as if one were drawn.