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Kamaru Usman is a -320 favorite over Rafael Dos Anjos in tonight's UFC main event. In the other featured match, Juan Espino is -170 over Justin Frazier.
VegasEater website reports that Pamplemousse Le Restaurant, Las Vegas oldest French restaurant, has been put up for sale. The asking price for the 2,000-square-foot restaurant, built in 1952, along with everything in it and a residential property next door is, $1.37 million. The restaurant, which is tied for the sixth oldest in the city (1976), remains open.
After a shaky start to the season, the Vegas Golden Knights have won their last five games and are now tied for second place in the Pacific Division, only one game behind the division-leading Calgary Flames. They're 6-1 since top defenseman Nate Schmidt returned to the lineup following a 20-game suspension. Read about the game in Joe Pane's Knights on Ice post. And if you're going to a home game, today's Question of the Day discusses the best places to park at and near at T-Mobile Arena.
Fuerza Bruta is on schedule to open on February 9 in a big theater-in-the-round performance tent at Excalibur. Translated as "Brute Force," it's an internationally acclaimed aerial show that premiered in Buenos Aires in 2003 and has appeared in 34 countries in front of more than six million people since then. During its six-month engagement, Fuerza Bruta will be one of three shows performed in tents in Las Vegas, along with Absinthe at Caesars and the soon-to-open Celestia at Stratosphere. In addition, it will be the fourth show at Excalibur.
The New Orleans Saints are -7.5 favorites over the Dallas Cowboys in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 51.5.
If you're looking for more Christmas festivities be sure to check out our latest blog entry.
An 80-foot-tall Christmas tree, Las Vegas’ tallest, will be lit tonight in Toshiba Plaza at The Park. The ceremony will begin at 5 pm and there will be complimentary hot chocolate and cookies, along with photos with Santa. A Golden Knights watch party in The Park will follow.
Water Grill, with four locations in southern California and one in Dallas, will open on February 15 in the Forum Shops at Caesars in the space previously occupied by Spago. Water Grill is one of six seafood-restaurant groups owned by King's Seafood Company, among which is King's Fish House, which has a location at the District at Green Valley Ranch. Spago, which opened in the Forum Shops in 1992, moved to Bellagio last June.
Uber-celebrity-chef Chef José Andrés, well-known in Las Vegas for his Bazaar Meats (SLS), along with é, Jaleo, and China Poblano restaurants (all at the Cosmopolitan), has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. The Washington Post reported that the Nobel Committee "discourages nominations being made public, but that it was confirmed by Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), who made the nomination." Andrés' non-profit foundations support relief efforts in disaster areas, such as Puerto Rico, Florida, North Carolina, Guatemala, and California. The awards are announced in October.
In last night's 8-3 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago, the Vegas Golden Knights scored the most goals in their (admittedly short) history. Six players scored a goal (Shea Theodore had two) and the Knights raised their record to over .500 (13-12-1) for the first time this season. Read all about the team's turnaround in Joe Pane's Knights on Ice post.
In one of the more bizarre (and amusing) press releases we've seen lately, the otherwise reputable Kirvin Doak, a 16-year-old Las Vegas-based PR firm, hints that the Falzone Family Circus, fresh from sold-out (free) shows at Burning Man, has bought the shuttered Milan Bakery at 1625 E. Fremont Street, corner of 17th, on the front door of which "the Falzone Circus banner mysteriously appeared this week." The release concludes, "This is clearly a developing story." Clearly, but about what, we might or might not ever find out.
Palace Station is nearing completion of its new food court, to be called the Marketplace. Two eateries have been announced so far. Mumfresh Asian Eats will serve noodle bowls and banh mi sandwiches; it's owned and operated by the same folks behind Palace Station's new Boathouse Asian Eatery. And the popular ¡Salud! in San Diego will open its second location at the food court, serving ceviche, tacos, mulitas (kind of a cross between a taco and a quesadilla), and other "authentic street-style Mexican dishes." All we know about when the Marketplace will debut is that it's "Coming Soon."
Diana Ross will perform in another mini-residency at the Encore Theater in February. The shows, billed as "Diamond Diana" in honor of her 75th birthday in March, are scheduled for February 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 20, 22, and 23. Tickets go on sale for Ross' fourth mini-residency at Encore at 10 a.m. on Friday November 30.
It's been announced that Eataly, the highly anticipated Italian marketplace -- restaurants, fast-food counters, bakery, cooking classes, wine tastings, and retail -- debuting on December 27 at Park MGM will be open 24 hours a day seven days a week. When it opens, the Las Vegas location will join 40 other Eatalys in Italy and around the world, including four in the U.S. (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston).
The Caesars Palace circus show Absinthe has announced a new dining venue for its performance tent. Two modified shipping containers will host food-truck-like vendors; diners and drinkers will eat at communal seating right outside the front entrance to the tent. The whole upgrade is called Green Fairy Garden, referring both to the traditional green color of absinthe and the lush foliage that will define the venue, including hanging gardens and a 35-foot-tall tree sculpture, "covered in LED lights that can change the color of every leaf." No timetable, budget, or food offerings were mentioned in the announcement.
In tonight’s Monday Night Football game, the Houston Texans are -3.5 favorites over the Tennessee Titans. The total is 42.5.
Not surprisingly, given Las Vegas' nickname Sin City, Wallethub.com has named Las Vegas the most sinful city out of 182 U.S. cities measured. According to the demographic website, Las Vegas has a total "vice index" of 61.32 across 38 indicators; Los Angeles placed second at 55.04. We don't know exactly how Wallethub arrived at the following numbers, but Las Vegas placed third in laziness, fourth in vanity, fifth in greed, and 12th in lust, though only 33rd in excesses and vice and 35th in jealousy. North Las Vegas placed 14, Reno at lucky 21, and Henderson 24. South Burlington, VT, was last.
Tens of thousands of cars trying to return to southern California after the long holiday weekend hit a 23-mile-long traffic jam northeast of Primm yesterday. Vehicles were backed up for 15 miles as early as 8:30 a.m., the result of three lanes narrowing to two after crossing from Nevada into California on I-15. The new agricultural checkpoint seven miles west of Primm, which has been open around six months, exacerbated the situation. Then, a major crash at Cajon Pass in California snarled traffic again, reducing four lanes to two and adding another hour to the long trip.
Las Vegas Review-Journal man about town John Katsilometes reports that a new Cirque du Soleil production will open sometime in late 2019 at Luxor, replacing Cirque's Criss Angel magic show. Tentatively titled Jump, the show's theme will be extreme sports and feature electric motorcycles. It will be Cirque's ninth Las Vegas show, including Blue Man Group, which Cirque now owns.
The Minnesota Vikings are -3.5 favorites over the Green Bay Packers in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 49.
In last night's 6-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks, Marc-Andre Fleury racked up his second shutout in a row and continues to lead the league with five shutouts (in 22 games). The Golden Knights are now in third place in the Pacific Division, a mere three points behind the Sharks, who haven't won a regular-season game at T-Mobile. Joe Pane, in his Knights on Ice post, estimates that Krispy Kreme has possibly given away more than a million donuts in Las Vegas in their promotion of a free dozen donuts to anyone attending a Vegas Golden Knights shutout.
Black Friday is one of the busiest days of the year at the BLM's southern Nevada showcase, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, just 20 miles from the Las Vegas Strip. Upwards of 7,000 visitors jammed the park, more than three times the normal count for a Friday. At the busiest, dozens of cars lined at the entrance, waiting to drive the 13-mile scenic loop and fight for parking spaces.
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville began taking sports bets last week. The book is run by William Hill. Pennsylvania is the seventh state to offer live sports wagering. Rhode Island is expected to open its first book next week. You can check out the status of sports betting legislation throughout the country on our sports betting map.
In what's being called "gambling with a little golf thrown in," Phil Mickelson beat Tiger Woods in yesterday's one-on-one winner-take-all match-up at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas that required 22 holes to complete. Golf writer Brendan Porath, on SBNation, wrote about the gambling aspect: "It’s set in Las Vegas, features two notorious gamblers with deep pockets, and will encourage the kind of in-game side-bets you hear about during practice rounds on the PGA Tour, but never during actual play, at least not on TV. Real-time probabilities before shots incorporate course-mapping data and the players’ ShotLink data, having a similar effect of watching professional poker where you can see all the hole cards of the players at the table. This is a gambling event dressed up with golf wrapping paper." The PGA Tour was the most vociferous supporter of legalized sports betting of all the major leagues.
The Vegas Golden Knights number-one goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, stopped all 29 shots he faced in the VGK's 2-0 win over the Calgary Flames at T-Mobile last night. It was Fleury's fourth shutout in the 20 (out of 24) games he's played this season, which leads the NHL. Last night also marked Alex Tuch's 100th NHL game and he's still only 22 years old. To mark the occasion, Tuch scored a goal and had an assist on line-mate Cody Eakin's goal. Read all about the game -- and the VGK's playoff situation -- at Joe Pane's Knights on Ice blog.
Hate resort and parking fees? (We do too). If you make a reservation before Tuesday at SLS Las Vegas, you can take advantage of the hotel's Cyber Madness sale, which waives the resort fees. In addition, guests who book a standard room (Grand Tower) receive $25 in resort credit; it's $50 for a suite. The no-resort-fee deal is good on reservations through Sunday March 31, 2019, but you must book by this Monday, November 26. SLS doesn't charge for parking and best of all, you can book online at slslasvegas.com.
A new monorail station has been announced for the MSG Sphere going up near the Venetian. The 11,000-square-foot platform will occupy both sides of the existing track near Sands Avenue and Koval Lane at the northwest corner of the Sphere's acreage and connect with the pedestrian bridge between the Sands Convention Center and arena. Construction of the new station will take about nine months, though neither a timetable nor budget was revealed.
When it opens in mid-January, a new one-of-a-kind attraction at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Police Chase Las Vegas, will allow drivers (or passengers) to participate in a high-speed simulated police-pursuit scenario. You're picked up in a former prisoner bus for the trip to the Speedway, where you can drive (or be a passenger in) a getaway car or police cruiser in a chase scene that's billed as "an adrenaline rush of a lifetime." Instructors are retired Metro and North Las Vegas police officers for the experiences, which start at $179 for the "Roll Code": Just as a description of the suspect's car comes over the police radio, the car passes cruiser and the chase is on. For an additional $109, you're involved in a Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT), in which the cruiser forces the getaway car to turn abruptly, causing the driver to lose control and stop. For more information, go to https://policechaselv.com/police-chase.
In today's final Thanksgiving game, the New Orleans Saints are -13 favorites over the Atlanta Falcons. The total is 60.5.
In the second of today's three NFL Thanksgiving games, the Dallas Cowboys are -7 favorites over the Washington Redskins. The total is 40.5.
In the first of today's three NFL Thanksgiving games, the Chicago Bears are -3 favorites over the Detroit Lions. The total is 43.
The Vegas Golden Knights Ticket Exchange is up and running at vgkticketexchange.com. Supported by Flash Seats, the exchange gives VGK fans access to the best seats for all home games, serving as the only official marketplace to purchase secondary market seats! According to the press release, "Tickets purchased from non-authorized sites are not guaranteed by the Golden Knights to be authentic."
In addition, the exchange is a one-stop shop for single-game tickets sold by the team and/or resold by season-ticket holders.
In the words of Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking (1952), “The more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.” Our office is closed through Monday at 9 a.m., but we continue to count our blessings, which include Vegas News and Question of the Day contributors, our bloggers, and some staff who will bring you your favorite LVA.com features until then. In the meantime, have yourselves a safe holiday weekend filled with warmth, joy, and above all gratitude -- if you're not grateful for what you have, you probably won't be grateful for what you want and get.
This week's Monday Night Football game was one of the most exciting in history for fans, but a major downer for the sports books, which sustained a "healthy seven-figure loss" on the contest. The o/u number, 64, was already the highest in history for an NFL game, yet so much money came in on the over that at one point, it rose to 104.5 -- and the books still lost when the final score stood at 105. CBS News quoted a William Hill spokesperson who said that 69% of the people betting on the total took the over. It was the third highest scoring game ever, with the L.A. Rams beating the Kansas City Chiefs 54-51. It was also the first-ever game in which both teams scored more than 50 points.
Golf greats Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will match up on Friday in a winner-take-all pay-per-view bout at Shadow Creek. The duel, with a $9 million prize, is being called "one of the biggest sports exhibitions in Las Vegas history." In the pre-game staredown, the two made a $200,000 side bet that Mickelson would birdie the first hole (the winnings will be donate to charity). Lest the side bet offend some viewers or compromise the integrity of the match (ahem), it and possibly others will be referred to in the telecast as "side challenges." Woods is the favorite at -220, with Mickelson at +180.
If Nevada Governor-elect Steve Sisolak gets his way, McCarran International Airport will be renamed after former Democratic U.S. Senator Harry Reid, who is suffering from pancreatic cancer. The new governor also wants to rename Reno-Tahoe International after Republican Paul Laxalt, a former governor and U.S. Senator who died a few months ago at age 96. Paul Laxalt was the grandfather of Nevada Secretary of State Adam Laxalt, whom Sisolak defeated in the gubernatorial election. Sisolak, a current Clark County Commissioner, is the first Democrat elected as governor in 24 years.
Las Vegas insider, man about town, and blogger Scott Roeben reports on VitalVegas.com that the Cosmopolitan is being readied for a sale to Hard Rock International. Scott writes, "Two solid sources have confirmed Hard Rock International is in the due-diligence phase with Blackstone Group." Blackstone bought the Cosmopolitan from Deutsche Bank in 2014 for $1.7 billion. Scott calls it a rumor, but puts the odds of it happening at even. He also posted lines for the sale of the Rio (pick-em), Station Casinos (2-1), and the Wynn (5-1), plus the financing of the All Net Arena (8-1).
Vetri Cucina has opened on the 56th floor of the Palms tower in the space previously occupied by Alizé. It's the first satellite restaurant for Marc Vetri, who has owned and operated the wildly popular restaurant of the same name in Philadelphia for 20 years and won the James Beard Award for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic in 2005. Vetri Cucina specializes in Italian fine dining and is known for outstanding pasta dishes.
The Rolling Stones have added 13 U.S. stadium dates to their "No Filter" European tour next year, but they won't play the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. The closest they'll come is the State Farm Stadium in Glendale (near Phoenix) and the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena.
Barry Manilow has announced the dates of his 2019 residency at the Westgate. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at $39.95 to $329.75 (plus fees and taxes) for shows February 14-16 and 21-23, March 7-9 and 28-30, April 11-13 and 18-20, May 9-11 and 18-20, and June 6-8 and 13-15.
In tonight’s Monday Night Football game, the Los Angeles Rams are -3 favorites over the Kansas City Chiefs. The total is 64, which is the highest ever for an NFL game.
The second-to-last Sigma Derby analog horse-race gambling machine, which had been at the MGM Grand, is now gone. Only one of the popular, communal, coin-operated machines remains in Las Vegas (and maybe even the U.S.) -- at the D downtown.
In the Vegas Golden Knights' 21st game of the season, the team scored what blogger Joe Pane has dubbed a "Wayne Gretzky Hat Trick": a shorthanded goal by Cody Eakin at 2:21, an even-strength goal by Max Pacioretty at 3:53, and a power-play goal by Jonathan Marchessault at 4:33. Top defenseman Nate Schmidt's return to the lineup after a 20-game suspension energized the Golden Knights, who beat the Oilers 6-3 in Edmonton. The VGK record now stands at 9-11-1 and are tied with the Oilers and Arizona Coyotes for fifth place in the Western Conference. Read all about it in Joe's Knights on Ice post, "Schmidt Happens."
The esports arena at Luxor has sold naming rights to California-based Kingston Technology; the arena is now called HyperX Esports
Arena Las Vegas. Thirty-year-old Kingston Technology is the world's largest independent manufacturer of computer memory products -- SD cards, SSD drives, memory modules, and USB flash drives -- and HyperX is Kingston's gaming division. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
The Chicago Bears are -2.5 favorites over the Minnesota Vikings in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 44.
Celestia, a new show in the vein of Cirque du Soleil, is opening soon at Stratosphere. It will be housed in a 200,000-square-foot tent, which is now and up and being readied for the premiere in mid-January. Celestia's website describes the show as presenting "an international cast of 30 in an other-worldly story of beauty and love of life through dynamic acrobatics, aerialist feats, dance and song" employing "technological advances that have, to date, not been used in a performance setting of this type." A former music director for Cirque, a technical director from Circus Tihany (Europe's largest), and an executive from Ringling Bros. are behind Celestia.
Steve Wynn and his wife of seven years, Andrea Hissom, bought the most expensive existing house in Las Vegas this year. The 13,000-square-foot six-bedroom house in the Country Club Hills subdivision of Summerlin, which backs up to the TPC Summerlin Golf Course, was built in 2001 and remodeled in 2014 and was listed in 2017 for $22 million. The Wynns had to vacate their duplex villa at the Wynn last May as part of his forced exit from Wynn Resorts.
Crowds equivalent to the entire population of Pittsburgh or Cincinatti, roughly 300,000 people, are expected to be in Las Vegas for the Thanksgiving weekend, filling upwards of 140,000 of the approximately 150,000 hotel and motel rooms and generating more than $380 million, up a couple percentage points from last year. (Henderson, NV, also has a population of 300,000.)
Santiago Ponzinibbio is a -200 favorite over Neil Magny in tonight's UFC main event. In the other featured match, Ricardo Lamas is -170 over Darren Elkins.
Ferraro’s Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar runs Sotto le Stelle from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. tonight on the patio (the name means “Under the Stars”). It’s a buffet-style set-up that features a charcuterie assortment, grilled meats, pastas, risottos, and vegetables for $25. Wine is 50% off, cocktails 25% off, and one free specialty drink comes with the meal. Soto le Stelle runs every second Saturday.
Station Casinos' Winter's Village holiday-themed venues opened today at Green Valley Ranch and Red Rock Resort. Both are free to enter and feature ice-skating rinks, fire pits, and other holiday activities.
The Wynn Plaza Shops have opened. The two-story 75,000-square-foot mall is a mix of high-end stores, restaurants, and bars, located at the front of the casino where the poker room used to be.
Southbound Interstate 15 from the Spaghetti Bowl to Charleston Boulevard will close tonight at 10 p.m. and won't reopen until Monday at 5 a.m. All cars heading south on I-15 will have to exit at Martin Luther King Blvd., then reenter at Pinto Lane (near the Las Vegas Premium Outlet Mall). Four freeway ramps in the area will also close and reopen around the same times. It's all part of Project Neon, which is on schedule to be completed this summer.
The speculation (including on this site) is over and it was correct: Google is developing a $600 million data center on 64 acres in Henderson. The data center, which will be built on West Warm Springs Road east of Boulder Highway in the southeast valley, is scheduled to open in December 2020, with 3,000 workers at the height of construction and 50 full-time employees at the center when it's completed.
Anthony Granito and James Cooper have been entered onto the list of personae non gratae in Nevada casinos, known officially as the Nevada List of Excluded Persons and often referred to as the Black Book. Granito and Cooper were convicted of cheating Bellagio out of more than $1 million over a two-year period (2012-2014). The scam involved last-minute bets by both agents that went through a crooked dealer and never lost. Both served time, but have been released from prison. They're the 33rd and 34th people listed in the Book. The dealer, Mark Branco, is serving four to ten.
Marijuana sales and taxes set new records in August: sales of $48.8 million for recreational and medical pot and paraphernalia and total taxes of $8.1 million, beating out the previous monthly record, from July 2018, of $7.9 million.
The Seattle Seahawks are -3 favorites over the Green Bay Packers in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 49.
The Regional Transportation Commission will roll out 55 new environmentally friendly buses throughout the Las Vegas metropolitan area next year, replacing as many diesel vehicles. The 40- and 60-foot-long buses are powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), part of the RTC’s plan to operate more than 400 buses at nearly 100% CNG to reduce exhaust emissions.
Eataly, the long-anticipated Italian marketplace -- restaurants, fast-food counters, bakery, and retail -- will open on December 27 at Park MGM. The first Eataly, which stands for “Eating Italian,” debuted in Torino, Italy, in 2007; since then Eataly has expanded to 40 venues in Italy and all over the world. The Las Vegas location will be its fifth in the U.S., along New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston.
Investigative reporter George Knapp and Las Vegas' CBS affiliate's I-Team aired a recent story about Las Vegas about Las Vegas being the number-two city in the country for the number of UFO sightings reported by putative witnesses. The information comes from the UFO Sightings Desk Reference, which presents data and analysis by state and county for 100,000+ sightings of unidentified flying objects reported by individuals from 2000 to 2015. During that period, Phoenix, the number-one city, had 929 sightings, while Vegas had 639.
The Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition has respectfully declined a request by the International Olympic Committee to submit a bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics. The Coalition cited the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the U.S.'s hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup as impediments to attracting sponsors for and marketing the games. Squaw Valley hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics; the next Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing in 2022.
The world's largest cannabis trade show begins today at the Las Vegas Convention Center. With a 25,000 industry participants, more than 1,000 exhibitors, and an estimated $22 million in estimated economic impact locally, the 2018 MJBizCon is 50% larger than the 2017 show and double the size of 2016's event.
The seafood restaurant Catch has opened at Aria in the space that formerly housed BarMasa. Catch is being positioned as a hang-out for celebs and got off on the right foot with a big Halloween party hosted by big Casamigos (tequila) and attended by owners George Clooney and Rande Gerber.
In the latest “Chain Reaction Report” from Friends of the Earth International, only two of the top 25 fast-food burger restaurants received A grades for banning antibiotics in beef. One is BurgerFi, which doesn’t have a Las Vegas presence. But the other is Shake Shack, with five Vegas locations including NY-NY. Chains receiving “failing grades” included McDonald’s, Burger King, Jack in the Box, Steak ‘N’ Shake, Five Guys, White Castle, and In-N-Out.
If the budget is any indication, the Raiders' $1.8 billion stadium is 25% of the way toward completion. So far, according to figures submitted to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, around $450 million has been expended to date on the project. However, today is the one-year anniversary of the stadium's groundbreaking ceremony, so timewise, it's a little more than 30% complete. Height-wise, the stadium stands at 80 feet tall, which is about 50% of what it will be. Regardless of the current differences, the stadium is scheduled to be completed by July 31, 2020, and the UNLV Rebels have a date to play the stadium's debut game the following August 29.
Lavo Italian Restaurant at Palazzo is one of the highest grossing non-chain restaurants in the U.S. (#55, with $16.5 million in sales and 139,000 entrees served annually); it's also known for its one-pound meatballs, of which it's served 165,000 in its 10-year history, deep-fried Oreos, and Saturday party brunch from October through March. During the brunch, Lavo serves the Ultimate Belgium Waffle, served in a table-sized bowl with several waffles, 16 scoops of ice cream, Kit Kats and M&Ms, whipped cream, and sparklers. A bottle of Avion Espresso liqueur also comes with the Ultimate Waffle, which can feed eight and costs $800.
Boulder Station's bingo room, which closed August 15 for a major renovation, held its grand reopening last Saturday night. The parlor is a little less than 10,000 square feet, with 398 seats, each outfitted with a USB charger; 46 monitors, including a video wall made from 16 fifty-five-inch screens; a separate enclosed smoking area; a pastry and bar area; upgraded sound and lighting systems; and a VIP area featuring recliners. The new bingo room mirrors those at Santa Fe and Palace Stations. Bingo sessions are hosted daily on the odd hours from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
In tonight’s Monday Night Football game, the San Francisco 49ers are -3 favorites over the New York Giants. The total is 45.
According to the personal-finance and demographics website Wallethub.com, Las Vegas is in the top 20% of best cities for finding love. Upwards of 45% of the U.S. adult population is unmarried and Wallethub compared 182 U.S. cities across 34 key indicators for dating-friendliness. Las Vegas ranked number 32 overall, placing very high for most nightlife options (tied for 1st) and opportunities for fun and recreation (fourth), though much lower in the economics of dating (prices of movies, beer, haircuts, taxis, etc.) and percentage of the population on online dating sites. Atlanta, Denver, and San Francisco were the top-three singles-friendly cities, while Hialeah and Pembroke Pines, FL, and Brownsville, TX, were the bottom three.
Veterans can get a free buffet today at all Station Casinos properties. The offer is good for all meals; swipe your Military Boarding Pass at a kiosk to get a voucher.
Celebrity chef Rick Moonen's two Mandalay Place restaurants, RM Seafood and Rx Boiler Room, have closed over a failure to come to terms on a new lease. About 120 employees were affected. RM Seafood had operated for nearly 15 years and Moonen, who lives in Las Vegas, says he wants to open another restaurant in Las Vegas "off the Strip."
The Philadelphia Eagles are -7.5 favorites over the Dallas Cowboys in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 45.
Road closures are snarling traffic all over the city today. Along with being closed for this morning’s Veterans Day parade, several downtown routes will also close beginning at 2:30 p.m. for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. The marathon has also closed portions of the Strip since early this morning, with full access not expected till past midnight. Some freeway ramps will also be affected.
Several casinos are running deals today for Veterans Day. Veterans get a free buffet today at Rampart and Westgate, a buffet for two at South Point; and a buffet and a beer at Aliante, Cannery, Orleans, Gold Coast, Suncoast, and Sam's Town. Caesars Entertainment is offering free rides for veterans on the High Roller observation wheel. All offers require military I.D. El Cortez is passing out free White Castle burgers to all players from noon to 6 p.m.
Yair Rodriguez is a -130 favorite over Chan Sun Jung in tonight's UFC main event. In the other featured match, Mike Perry is -200 over Donald Cerrone.
Mott 32 will bring Cantonese, Szechuan, and Beijing cuisine direct from Hong Kong to the Palazzo next month. The restaurant is named for 32 Mott Street, the site of the first Chinese convenience store in New York City, which opened in 1851 and was the nucleus for what's now one of the most dynamic Chinatowns in the western world. It will be the fourth Mott 32 location, joining branches in Hong Kong, Vancouver, and Bangkok, serving Chinese barbecue, seasonal dishes, abalone, dim sum, clay pots, and much more.
Our current poll offers up more than 100 selections of places, people, meal deals, thrill rides, games and machines, shows and attractions, imploded casinos, and more that have disappeared from the scene over a number of decades. Obviously bringing out the nostalgia in Vegasphiles, the poll choices have garnered more than 14,000 votes and several dozen comments. Now that Election Day is over, you can make your voice heard in this lighthearted stroll down Vegas' Memory Lane.
An exhibit by a Japanese artist that's attracting sold-out crowds around the world will open at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art next week. Yayoi Kusama installs so-called "infinity rooms," consisting of mirrors and lights that combine for an infinity of reflections. Two viewers enter the rooms along a catwalk and are immersed in the multi-sensory experience. The exhibit opens on November 17 and runs through April 28.
Ike's Love & Sandwiches, an 11-year-old chain launched in San Francisco's Castro District in 2007 that now boasts more than 40 locations in California and Arizona, plus one in Reno, will open two branches in Las Vegas early next year. Ike's is known for its signature Dirty Secret Sauce, a creamy garlicky aioli smeared onto the sandwiches and baked right into the bread, along with such sandwiches as the Paul Reubens (a Reuben with poppy-seed coleslaw), the Mark Cuban (ham, jack cheese, and jalapeños in place of pickles), and the Alan Wong (turkey, roast beef, pastrami, provolone, and another sauce called Godfather, a mild creamy horseradish and Dijon mayo). Though the Vegas locations haven't been officially announced, they're expected to be in the Fashion Show Mall and at UNLV.
According to Forbes' annual list of the seven richest magicians, Las Vegas claims the top three: David Copperfield earned $61 million between June 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018; Penn and Teller came in second at $30 million; and Criss Angel placed third at $16 million. Copperfield has won the financial sweepstakes for several years in a row; he performs 15 shows every week. His net worth was placed at $875 million.
Lending Tree has found that Las Vegans are third worst at sticking to a budget. The loan company compared credit-report data and non-housing debt to determine that San Antonio, Texas, and Riverside, California, are the only two metropolitan areas in which residents are living more beyond their means than Vegas. San Jose and San Francisco residents are the best at living within their means.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are -3.5 favorites over the Carolina Panthers in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 51.
Originally announced at $485 million, the price tag of the Palms renovation by Station Casinos has soared to $690 million. Construction costs in a tight labor market and rising materials prices were blamed for the rising costs. The company also announced that the project was on schedule to be completed the third quarter of 2019, while Palace Station's remodel will finish by the end of this year -- and within budget.
The half-size replica of the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas is about to be decorated in an animated red-white-and-blue lighting scheme. Clark County Commissioners have approved the lighting modifications, which will add more than 300,000 square feet of bulbage to the north and south sides of the tower. No timetable has been announced.
Phil Satre, former chairman of IGT and Harrah’s, has been named chairman of the board of Wynn Resorts. Satre joined the board in August, one of six board members new in 2018, four of them women. It was also announced that the Paradise Park project has been finally abandoned, the golf course it was replacing will be restored and redesigned (with the help of original architect Tom Fazio), and the convention center, under construction as Phase 1 of the project, will be completed. The golf course will reopen before the convention center, scheduled for around this time next year.
The latest sports book to be upgraded is at The LINQ. It features 87 TVs and what’s claimed to be the “Strip’s highest resolution LED video wall. There’s also an indoor food truck, a drink-delivering “Relay Robot,” and a serve-yourself beer wall with 24 selections.
Ethel M Chocolates 25th Annual Holiday Cactus Garden light display opened last night, it's free to enter and open daily from 8 a.m.-10 p.m. The Glittering Lights, Nevada's largest drive-thru light show, featuring millions of lights along a 2.5-mile course at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, opens this Friday at 5:30 p.m. ($20-$30).
The Strip’s first zipline, Fly Linq, opens at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. Riders will ascend 12 stories on an elevator, harness up, and start off from 114 feet over the Strip. Either seated or flat and face-down "superhero-style," the flight travels nearly 1,100 feet in 30 seconds, then lands on a platform near the base of the High Roller observation wheel. Fly Linq is roughly 250 feet longer than Slotzilla, the zipline above Fremont Street downtown. Riders must weigh between 80 and 300 pounds. Flights from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. cost $25 seated and $35 superhero. Between 5 p.m. and 2 a.m., they go up to $30/$40 (save $5 by buying tickets in advance online).
After abandoning its long-running dollar-beer deal late last year when it raised the price to $2, Casino Royale has raised it again to $3 on all bottled beer. The good news in this is that Heineken and Corona were formerly $5 and are now a good deal as part of the $3 pricing.
A Miami company that paid $73 million for the Fashion Outlet's mortgage a year ago has repossessed the mall connected to Primm Valley Resort 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas on I-15. At the time the company acquired the mortgage, the mall owed $67 million in payments. The future of the shopping center is unknown, though it's currently only two-thirds occupied.
With a tentative undisclosed deal between the Culinary Union and the D and Golden Gate, labor-contract negotiations with every property Local 226 had on its list have been concluded. Roughly 400 employees at the two hotel-casinos must ratify the contracts in voting that hasn't been scheduled.
In tonight’s Monday Night Football game, the Dallas Cowboys are -4.5 favorites over the Tennessee Titans. The total is 40.
An article on the Motley Fool website shows the extreme disparity between revenue generation in Macau and Las Vegas. Macau is the undisputed gambling capital of the world, with $37.1 billion in annual gaming revenue, compared to $6.5 billion on the Las Vegas Strip. Fool.com's comparison between the Venetians and Wynns in both cities is instructive: The Venetian Macau earns 80.4% of its revenue from the casino floor, with a mere 6.8% on dining and 2.4% on rooms, while the Venetian Las Vegas' casino revenues account for 23.2% of the total, with food at 15.8% and rooms 36.4%. Similarly, the Wynn Macau takes 87.1% from gambling and 5% from rooms, while the Wynn Vegas earns 23% from the casino and 28% from rooms. It doesn't hurt that Macau's market is made up largely of rabid gamblers from mainland China and Hong Kong.
When the favorites cover, the bookmakers run for cover. According to the Associated Press, Nevada sports books lost between $7 million and $10 million on NFL games yesterday "in one of the most lopsided days in state betting history." The favored Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Kansas City Chiefs all paid off, with Kansas City the big winner for the public when they won 37-21 against an eight-point spread. Bettors also cashed on the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots favorites and the underdog Houston Texans and New Orleans Saints.
The New England Patriots are -5 favorites over the Green Bay Packers in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 57.
Don't forget to move your clocks back one hour for the end of daylight savings time. Sports bettors have an extra hour to get their NFL bets in today.
According to the New York Post, Britney Spears' new residency at the Park MGM Theater set to begin in February has sold less than half the available tickets for the first month of the 32 shows. By contrast, ticket sales by Spears' fellow Park MGM headliners have been strong. Lady Gaga sold out in the first week. Aerosmith's residency sold 85% of the available tickets in a week.
In a stat that doesn't mean much but is fun to track, Vegas has never lost a regular-season Saturday game at T-Mobile Arena. In 2017-2018, they won all five Saturday regular-season home games and last night’s 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes was the second of this season. (They did lose two post-season games: the first against the San Jose Sharks on April 28, the second on June 2 against the Washington Capitals.) The shutout over Carolina was the 50th of Marc-Andre Fleury's career; it was also his 410th career win. Read all about it in Joe Pane's Knights on Ice blog post.
Daniel Cormier is a -415 favorite over Derrick Lewis in tonight's UFC main event. In the other featured match, Chris Weidman is -175 over Ronaldo Souza.
The popular chicken chain Chick Chick-fil-A has announced the opening date of its newest Vegas location in the northwest part of the city (Rainbow and Lake Mead): November 29. It will be Chick-fil-A's fourth restaurant in the Las Vegas valley.
In the new November issue of the Las Vegas Advisor, we review A Mob Story, the new show at the Plaza downtown, which includes a segment we've never seen before: real greenbacks dropping on the audience. We also report on more upticks in resort fees, a new $200 rebate-on-loss deal, crab dishes everywhere, the swankiest food court in Las Vegas, a new show twofer for members, two comp-stingy sports books, 5¢ and 25¢ beers, a $2.95 breakfast — even a positive-return play on the lottery. Bottom line: If you don't read the Advisor, you don't know Vegas.
Caesars Entertainment CEO Mark Frissora, who came on board in 2015 to usher CZR through a protracted bankruptcy reorganization, has given notice that he will step down on February 8. Though Caesars emerged from bankruptcy a year ago, Frissora has reportedly had major disagreements with Caesars' largest stockholders (mostly hedge funds) and Caesars' stock rose on the announcement. Frissora will be retained as a consultant for six months (at $83,333 per month) and receive $8 million in severance, plus bonuses, stock options, and unnamed benefits.
The Raiders organization and Caesars Entertainment have entered into a 15-year agreement in which Caesars becomes a "founding partner." Though Caesars isn't buying naming rights to the stadium (yet), the Caesars brand will grace one of the stadium's main entrances. Caesars also gains digital-signage and media benefits, appearances at Caesars properties by Raiders' players and cheerleaders, and various high-roller comps, such as suites on the 50-yard line, VIP dinners on the field, and tickets to home games and other stadium events. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
According to plans filed with Clark County, the 18,000-plus-seat Sphere Arena, scheduled to open in 2021 at the Venetian-Palazzo, will have a mere 304 parking spaces. Parking for Sphere events "will be mostly at Venetian and Palazzo garages." But with the Venetian-Palazzo's 7,000 rooms, the Sands Events Center also using the Venetian and Palazzo garages for its huge conventions, and the Sphere attracting thousands more to center Strip, we foresee a bottleneck that will make the 65,000 attendees vying for the 3,000 parking spaces at Raiders Stadium look like a Sunday drive through the park. If it's any consolation, Sands Expo and Sphere claim they won't schedule concurrent major events.
The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders are pick ’em in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 44.
According to a study by RestaurantBusinessOnline.com, Las Vegas claims (a lucky) 13 of the highest-grossing independent (non-chain) restaurants in the United States. Tao Las Vegas at the Venetian is the nation's number-one highest grossing restaurant, with $43.45 million in sales, a $93 average check, and 230,668 covers (individual meals) served. Next is Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak, and Stone Crab at the Forum Shops: $21.7 million, $87, and 216,000. Carnevino placed at number 23, but it closed in late July. The other 10 are: Bazaar Meat/SLS (#25, $20.3 million, $108, 194,000), SW Steakhouse/Wynn (#27, $20.1 million, $133, 152,000), Mon Ami Gabi/Paris (#44, $17.65 million, $69, 315,000), Aria Cafe/Aria (#51, $16.7 million, $27, and a whopping 690,000 covers, the most in Vegas), Prime Steakhouse/Bellagio (#52, $16.7 million, $160, 113,000), Lavo Italian/Grand Canal Shoppes (#55, $16.5 million, $88, 139,000), Top of the World/Stratosphere (#60, $16.1 million, $99, 175,000), Delmonico Steakhouse/Grand Canal Shoppes (#63, $16 million, $95, 148,000), Jean Georges Steakhouse/Aria (#75, $14.6 million, $112, 142,500), and Beauty & Essex/Cosmopolitan (#99, $12.4 million, $88, 142,500).
A new club, dubbed DB172, is opens tonight at the Rio. The 7,000-square-foot music-dining-drinking venue will occupy the space vacated by Cafe Martorano. The name represents the loudest sound ever recorded, the eruption of the volcano Krakatoa off the northwest coast of Java in 1883, and the sound level at DB172 will be ... LOUD. With "up-and-coming" (i.e., small local) acts performing, tickets will start at $10.
Meatloaf's smash-hit album Bat out of Hell, released in 1977, along with Bat out of Hell II (1993) and III (2006) have been turned into a musical that's playing 16 shows in Las Vegas between December 25 and January 6. The original album, a collaboration between composer Jim Steinman and producer Todd Rundgren, has sold 43 million copies, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Steinman turned the three-album opus into a romantic adventure against a dystopian backdrop and the musical premiered in Manchester, England, last year, then moved to London and Toronto; more than 650,000 tickets have been sold. Tickets for the Vegas shows start at $59 and can be purchased at venetian.com.