I think you're underestimating the Casino.
Storage:
I've found 7 NPC's that provide storage so far, each of which tend to be pretty spacious. Key among them is Qatik and his expandable storage via tokens. Don't know what the cap on this will be but I'm looking forward to finding out. Combined with the new ability to see all NPC storage in a zone from any NPC, the storage is substantial. Where Serbule has it beat isn't in volume, it's that Joeh, Ivyn, Marna and Tadion all now store anything while in the Casino, only Otis and Qatik store anything. I was somewhat disappointed that Eveline Rastin doesn't store tailoring, leatherworking, and textile manufacturing items but I'll hope that changes in a future patch (oh how I'd love somewhere to store all that cotton, hides, rolls, thread, cloth, dye pots, and so on). The only other weird thing is that Tavilak's gardening and tools storage doesn't let you store things like water bottles, dirt, and bone dust... in other words gardening tools.
Skill support:
Literally every skill that requires some sort of "toolbench" has it in the Casino. And there's a compact farming area that doesn't require running across town to get more water and has close at hand storage as well. No more trips to Elitbule Keep just to get to the cotton gin. Given the specialized storage (other than cloth/leather), there's tons of storage for each of the skills.
Location, location, location:
On this one, the Casino is a clear winner. Connected to Rahu on one side (which makes Rahu and the points beyond far more accessible) and Eltibule on the other, the Casino provides quick access to two distant zones. In fact, with the portals between Rahu and the Casino, they're almost one large extended city and I'm treating them that way (especially since that gives 4 extra NPCs with storage that are only a free portal ride away). On top of that, there's the direct portal to the daily dungeon. And during events, the admins/guides have been creating portals to and from Serbule and the Casino so it's incredibly accessible even for mules. And the stage area in the Casino is actually pretty nice for the poetry jam and drawings.
Games:
Yeah, I'd like to see more games but you left one out... the arena. Work on your favor with NPCs and they'll give you tips for the day on the various arena fighters. With that you can make some smart bets. I do wish that I could see the health/armor/energy of the fighters as they fight but I'm guessing that's a bug.
NPC Vendors:
I'm waiting to see. They're spaced out all over but then I don't get the weird turning problems that plague the NPC vendors in Serbule. I've also had a bit more of a problem tracking down a vendor search golem as easily as I can find one in Serbule. Perhaps just post a couple in specific locations rather than have them move about?
You also went on to bemoan the lack of other changes with this patch, largely ignoring the new recipes for a number of craft skills (and those 20% boost potions), the 200 or so new work orders, monster crits, pet crits, and a pile of bug fixes and minor enhancements.
For me, I'm moving all of my crafting inventory to the Casino as soon as I finish raising favor with the NPCs there. Having everything in one place trumps everything else. And having Rahu a free portal away, makes it more like two cities in one (including two work order boards and bunch of extra NPCs that will buy my stuff). I'll use Serbule and Kur for less frequently used storage. If players move their shops to the Casino, there won't be much reason for me to go to Serbule other than for my extra storage, secondary sell-off vendors, and a couple specific vendors to hit their buy used tab looking for stuff.