"Last year's weak high-yield market curtailed many plans for expansion in the industry," says Jason Adder, Bear Stearns' senior managing director and high-yield gaming analyst. "Now, however, the sentiment is turning around and that avenue of capital is now open," he says.

Several projects have improved chances of coming to fruition now that financing is easier to come by, among them: Steve Wynn's resort at the Desert Inn, the San Francisco Dreams resort, the Maloof family's Las Vegas Palm resort on Flamingo Road and World Port Resorts' large parcel across from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is probably best able to take advantage of the opportunity to expand, but many major gaming areas of the country are not because they are already saturated with facilities, Ader says. These sectors include Mississippi's Gulf Coast, Reno, NV, New Orleans and Shreveport, LA.