It was easy to tell when Michael Gaughan bought South Coast Casino from Boyd Gaming. The first thing he did was change the name to South Point. When I first heard the name, I thought it sounded like a name suitable for a hospital soap opera or evening drama, but the name has grown on me. And officially, it's Michael Gaughan's South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa.

The Las Vegas Blvd. marquee, casino chips, players' cards and internal signage have already changed names while parking garage rubbish bins, the main sign and random "coastal" clues remain.

Non-cosmetic (and more welcoming) differences can be found inside on the casino floor. Except for the mandatory dinging of the army of slot machines, South Coast's casino was rather dull. When the casino was originally built, they made it look pretty, but there was no soul. Now, the atmosphere is more exciting and the property is definitely going for a niche. The pit crews wear cowboy hats while some of the cocktail servers dress like they're from Hazzard. Music is pumped into the casino floor and they've brought in dueling pianos that entertain nightly near the sports book. Overall, It's a little but country and a little bit rock 'n' roll and on Friday and Saturday night, it's a little rowdy.

Without recreating a Hee-Haw sketch or a Crook & Chase TV set, the subtle touches are perfect and as a theme, fit in nicely with the equestrian center.

There's still work to do on the gaming front. The poker room isn't much of a room as it is more of an enclave en route to the bowling alley, massive (and highly recommended) bingo hall, arcade and movie theater. Noticeably absent is Let It Ride which, along with Three Card Poker, is popular with the cowboy set.Three Card Poker is well represented in the mix of table games, but if it were up to me, I'd install the Let It Ride/Three Card Poker hybrid game available at a few of the other casinos.

As much as the atmosphere is improved, there is still something missing that ropes the experience all together. It seems like the experience could be do something similar to the Party Pit at Harrah's and set up a rock 'n' roll zone, preferably close to the popular center bar. The property is installing a club/showroom which should provide additional entertainment opportunities for the growing South Strip area.

The restaurants are good enough and pretty standard offerings for a locals casino. The sports book is big and a good place to watch Sunday football. The casino is a few minutes from a Lee's Liquor, but one thing I really appreciate here is the liquor store in the gift shop. The prices are incredible for a casino. A bottle of Grey Goose is on par with grocery store prices in the $25-$35 range. So if you're at South Point for bingo or bowling and need to pick up a bottle, you're set. I also like that the ATM withdrawal fee is only $3.

I hope they're able to right the rodeo as it were and continue with the improvements. If they can successfully get their message out, they'll be just fine, now or in the distant future, when there are more casinos on the South Strip.

I'll offer the obvious slogan for t-shirts, ads and MySpace banners as a conclusion for this post: "Get to the Point"