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Cirque du Soleil is now offering up to 50% off all Las Vegas shows during a Valentine’s Day ticket special. Shows good for the 50% include The Beatles LOVE at the Mirage, KÀ at MGM Grand, Mystère at Treasure Island, and Zumanity at New York-New York. Michael Jackson ONE at Mandalay Bay is 30% off and O at Bellagio is 25% off. The offer is valid for dates in 2019 and you can purchase the discounted tickets through Thursday Feb. 14 at cirk.me/valentines2019 (then scroll to the Valentine's Day offers).
The FBI has concluded its investigation into the October 1, 2017, mass shooting in Las Vegas without identifying a definitive motive for Stephen Paddock's rampage. However, the Bureau concluded that Paddock was similar to other mass shooters: He had no identifiable grievance, he was seeking "a certain degree of infamy," he'd experienced a decline in mental, physical, and financial health over the last years of his life, and he was ready to commit suicide. Paddock acted alone and the shooting was "neither directed, inspired, nor enabled by ideologically motivated persons or groups."
The new Smith & Wollensky is on track to open sometime in April at the Grand Canal Shoppes in the former Zeffirino space. The two-story 14,000-foot venue will feature a 25-seat bar downstairs and seating for 40 diners; upstairs will be an 18-seat bar, a 39-seat lounge, the large dining room, and four private rooms. All told, S&W will accommodate nearly 450 diners and drinkers.
Another demographic study by Wallethub.com has ranked Las Vegas as the U.S.' runner-up most wedding-friendly destination. Wallethub compared more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities across 27 key indicators of cost-effectiveness, convenience, and enjoyment with a data set that ranges from average wedding cost to venues and event spaces to weather. Per capita, Sin City placed first in hotel rooms, fifth in wedding chapels and churches, sixth in flower shops, seventh in musicians and DJs, and eighth in videographers and photographers. Orlando beat out Vegas by a couple points, followed by Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, and San Francisco; Peal City, HI, Bridgeport, CT, and Warwick, RI, were the bottom three.
The 1,500 rooms at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas (which will replace the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino) will be managed by Hilton's Curio Collection brand and be part of Hilton Honors loyalty program. It will be Curio's largest hotel and the only one in Las Vegas. Along with that announcement, a restaurant and a bar coming to the Virgin have been revealed: Commons Club (Virgin Hotels’ flagship "dining and social-club concept") and the Shag Room, "an intimate secret den." All this and more will take place in 2020 after a four-month closure for renovations and upgrades.
As SLS undergoes a $100 million remodel, the first restaurant casualty has been announced. The Japanese room Katsuya will be replaced by a high-limit mini-casino and a Mexican restaurant, Uno Mas, will open sometime in the spring. Rumor has it that SLS will also bring back a buffet and introduce a food hall. Chef Jose Andrés' Bazaar Meat isn't going anywhere (especially after Andrés was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize) and the name SLS is so far unchanged, though it's also rumored that it will eventually be renamed the Grand Sahara (owner Alex Meruelo also owns the Grand Sierra in Reno).
In its fourth-quarter earnings report, Sands Corp. disclosed that the opening of the MSG Sphere would be pushed back from 2020 to 2021. It’s the first of several big projects scheduled for 2020 to announce a delay.
Christina Aguilera's "The Xperience” has been announced as the next residency at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood to run in rotation with Gwen Stefani; Aguilera will open on May 31, a month after the Backstreet Boys vacate the theater after a two-year engagement. Aguilera, so far, will perform 16 dates: May 31, June 1, 5, 7, 8, 13, 15, 16, September 20, 21, 24, 27, 28, October 2, 4, and 5. Ticket prices range from $159 to $1,151 (plus fees and taxes).
With a federal court appearance scheduled for today, Wynn Resorts and Resorts World have settled Wynn's copyright-infringement lawsuit over Resorts' alleged similar building design. To eliminate any threat of the temporary restraining order Wynn was seeking to stop work on the new $4 billion megaresort, Resorts World agreed to implement a number of design changes "that will clearly differentiate the two properties.” One of the changes is readily visible: The white horizontal striping between floors is being repainted a bright red.
According to the American Gaming Association, 22.7 million American adults will bet $6 billion on this year's Super Bowl. Of that total, one million will place their bets at legal sports books for $325 million. The rest will bet with illegal bookies and offshore sports books.
Other fun facts:
* Tickets to the first Super Bowl (1967) cost $12, while the average cost of a ticket to the past five Super Bowls was $5,145. In Sunday's game, $2,500-$3,000 will get you in the door at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; a seat close the 50-yard line can go as high as $25,000.
* A 30-second ad for Super Bowl I cost $42,000; for Super Bowl LIII, the average is $5.24 million ($166,000 per second).
Two notable jackpots were hit in the last month. Just before the new year a Las Vegas local hit for $2.7 million on a Monopoly slot at Green Valley Ranch. This week a player from Minnesota hit for $617,000 playing a Seinfeld slot at the Cosmopolitan.
In exchange for a pass for current Wynn executives, Wynn Resorts has agreed to pay a fine to Nevada gaming regulators who have completed their investigation into the sexual-harassment accusations by a number of employees against former chairman and CEO Steve Wynn. The amount of the fine will be determined in a Nevada Gaming Commission hearing at a date to be determined.
Let's see, which would you rather buy for $900,000: a one-bedroom condo in San Francisco or a four-story, 22-room, 8,000-square-foot self-sustaining castle in the Nevada desert? Nevada has a lot of crazy things, but this one is up there. Located at the top of a 6,000-foot mountain 35 miles south of Goldfield (185 miles north of Las Vegas), the Hard Luck Mine Castle is made of steel, concrete, cinder block, and glass, with 16-inch-thick concrete walls (including seven tons of rebar and 24,000 bricks) and engineered to last up to 500 years. It's completely off the grid and comes with 40 acres, a 4,000-gallon water storage/rain catchment system, a 3,000-gallon propane tank, electricity produced by solar and wind, a gold mine closed at the end of World War II but "still high in gold content," and a remodeled miner's cabin. Oh, and if all this isn't spooky enough, two working pipe organs "resonate through the halls when played." This bad boy's priced to sell! You can see it here.
The personal-finance website WalletHub.com compared more than 240 U.S. cities with at least one college or professional football team based on 21 key metrics, from the number of NFL and college football teams to average ticket prices. Out of 240 with 1 being highest, Las Vegas ranked 96th for the minimum season-ticket price for college football; 184th for the performance level of its college football team; 210th for its college football stadium capacity; and 213th for the city's college football fan engagement. Overall, Las Vegas ranked 208 out of 240 and 43 out of the 50 largest football markets. (Of course, this will all change when the Raiders come to town in 2020.) Not surprisingly, Pittsburgh, Boston, Green Bay, Dallas, and New York placed one through five.
In today’s NFL Pro Bowl Game, the NFC and AFC are pick ’em. The total is 55.
MGM Grand has completed an upgrade to the lobby with four new giant ultra-high-rez video screens behind the front desk. It has also been announced that plans are under way for a complete redevelopment of the casino's Las Vegas Strip frontage. For one of the largest casinos on the Strip and one of the biggest hotels in the world, access from the Strip and Tropicana Avenue is obscure at best. We approached it from the street the other night on our way to Greek Sneek for an LVA review and had a hard time finding a way in. The difference between that and the nearly irresistible magnetic pull of the monumental Eataly entrance to Park MGM is notable.
DJ's Clam Shack, "Where Northern and Southern Seafood Meet," is heading west to open a third location at the struggling Boulevard Food Court on the Strip next to the defunct Hawaiian Marketplace. With two East Coast restaurants, the original in Key West, FL, that opened in 2009 and the other in Wantagh, Long Island, NY, DJs specializes in clams, lobster rolls, shrimp, and conch; it also serves hot dogs, tacos, and chicken and fish fingers. DJs will be located right next to Fatburger across from Park MGM.
Novak Djokovic is a -130 favorite over Rafael Nadal in tomorrow's Australian Open men's tennis final. Djokovic is going for a record 7th Australian Open Championship and his 15th Grand Slam title, while Nadal is seeking his 18th Grand Slam, second only to Roger Federer’s 20. The match starts early, at 3:30 am EST.
In tonight’s final of Bellator's heavyweight championship tournament, Ryan Bader is a -265 favorite over Fedor Emelianenko. In the other featured match, Aaron Pico is -625 over Henry Corrales.
You can’t bet on the Super Bowl at Jerry’s Nugget. Today is the last day the sports book will operate as an independent. It will close Sunday-Tuesday to convert to a William Hill, and consequently, they aren’t accepting any wagers that don’t settle before the switch, including Super Bowl bets.
The newly restored Hard Rock Café guitar sign has been restored in six separate pieces and will be transported next Monday on a flatbed trailer from the Young Electric Sign Company's production facility to its new home at the Neon Museum. After the move, it will take five days to put the pieces of the 27-year-old sign back together, after which it will be on display at the museum's outdoor exhibition space, the Boneyard, joining a number of other Las Vegas' historical signs preserved there for posterity.
The Las Vegas' housing market gets a lot of national attention as a bellwether for boom and bust cycles, but according to local economist Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis, our market isn't particularly out of line. He says that though home values have gone up at a record-setting pace since the recession, they've risen only 9% since before the recession (2005) -- the lowest increase in any Western state. Meanwhile, the percentage of homeowners whose mortgages are underwater is a mere 4.7% today, right in line with the national average; it was nearly 70% in 2010 and 25% in 2014.
According to Marc Badain, president of the soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders, the first year that Las Vegas will be eligible to host the Super Bowl will be 2025 for Super Bowl 58 (for those who've never quite gotten the hang of Latin numerals). Badain says that the Raiders will be "very aggressive in going after that bid."
Petra Kvitova is a -135 favorite over Naomi Osaka in tomorrow's Australian Open women's tennis final. Both are seeking their first Grand Slam title. The match starts early, at 3:30 am EST.
The Rebel Republic bar at Sahara and Valley View has closed, the latest of several bars that have opened and closed at the site about a mile west of Palace Station. Another block west is G.O.A.T., which offers LVA members a comped menu item for $20 in video poker play.
Opening in April, the Palms' new 100,000-square-foot multi-level day- and nightclub, KAOS, will replace the entire pool area and the old nightclub Rain. It will feature a huge glass wall separating indoors from outdoors (with a door between the two); a 360-degree rotating DJ booth; a removable dome that will render KAOS Las Vegas' first year-round dayclub; 39 cabanas on all levels with individual glass pools; and what's being touted as “the city’s largest LED wall” on the outside of the original hotel tower streaming live video from the club for passersby to see.
The number of visitors to Las Vegas dropped in 2018 for the second year in a row. Las Vegas hosted 42.1 million visitors last year, down from 42.2 million in 2017. The 42.9 million in 2016 is the current record. Hotel and motel occupancy for 2018 hit 88.2%, down a half-point from 2017's 88.7% and nearly a point from 2016. The record of 90.4% was achieved in 1996 and 2007. Convention attendance was also down a bit, to 6.5 million in 2018 from 6.6 million in 2017; however, last year's convention attendance was the second highest in Las Vegas history. Room inventory remained steady at 148,800. Las Vegas and Convention Authority CEO Steve Hill says Las Vegas has reached its capacity for visitor growth for now, but next year, things will heat up substantially with the opening of Resorts World, the Raiders' stadium, MSG Sphere, downtown's Circa, and the massive expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The big unveiling at the D that was referenced earlier in this space didn't materialize and it looks like the sports books are taking steps to stem the rush. There were no crowds, and more important, no betting lines up at the D at 3 p.m. Some early prop lines were put up earlier today at South Point and the MGM books, but both are reportedly putting their propositions out in groups, rather than all at the same time as will be done at the Westgate at 7 tonight.
The first prop bets for the Super Bowl go up today with an unexpected first-revealer. Whereas Westgate's SuperBook has traditionally been the first to put up lines, William Hill will apparently be first this year according to an announcement that its lines will go up at the D at 3 p.m. Westgate is scheduled to unveil its board at 7. Not only will the WH lines come out first, but they may have even more than the Westgate, although both are expected to offer more than 400 betting options. There should be big crowds at both venues, as bettors descend to get a first crack at the numbers. There will also be an ESPN crew at the Westgate filming for a feature airing next week for which Anthony Curtis and Frank B were both interviewed.
The owner of the National Basketball Association's Phoenix Suns, Robert Sarver, got what he wanted. He'd been threatening to move the NBA team to Seattle or ... Las Vegas ... if he didn't get help from the city to finance a $150 million upgrade on the Suns' home court at the Talking Stick Resort Arena. Well, he got what he wanted, a 23-year deal that includes the renovations, to which Sarver will contribute $80 million. And Vegas won't see a Las Vegas Suns team playing at T-Mobile.
Cardi B, nominated for seven Grammy Awards for her debut album Invasion of Privacy, which debuted last year at number one on the Billboard 200, will perform at the Palms' new dayclub and nightclub Kaos when it opens this spring. The amphitheater-style complex, complete with a rotating 360-degree DJ booth, is scheduled for an April grand opening. Details about the residency, including what Cardi B will earn, haven't been released yet.
Right on the heels of the World of Concrete's nearly 60,000 trade-show attendees comes the five-day furniture and home-decor Las Vegas Market. Upwards of 50,000 people are expected to attend the winter show (there's one in the summer too) that starts on Sunday, but the congestion is a little different than for the typical large convention: This one takes place at the World Market Center, which is on the outskirts of downtown. And with Project Neon further snarling traffic in the area, anyone driving to Fremont Street between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the show might want to use an app that recommends an alternate route.
Adventurous eaters will be in hog heaven when Xiang Hot Pot opens at the Grand Canal Shoppes "soon." Established in Queens, New York, in 2003, Xiang Hot Pot will serve things like ox tripe and aorta; duck gizzard, tongue, and feet; fish head; six exotic 'shrooms including wild bamboo fungus; pig kidney, intestine, and blood; ox-bone marrow, and other stuff we didn't want to type right before lunch. Elaborate presentations and decor, nightly entertainment, and retail will complement the menu. The Las Vegas location will be one of five new venues for Xiang Hot Pot around the country.
In the latest shuffle of shows at Caesars Entertainment, Tenors of Rock will close at Harrah's in the next couple of months and most likely move to the Sin City Theater at Planet Hollywood. No dates have been announced for either.
There's movement afoot at the Downtown Grand. In preparation for the hotel expansion, the porte cochere is being demolished. The bright and shiny new 495-room tower that will grace the front of the place is scheduled for completion in 2020.
Mumfresh Asian Eats, a Vietnamese street-food counter-service fast-foodery, has been grafted onto Boathouse Asian Eatery at Palace Station and is now serving five pho soups and noodle, rice, and teriyaki bowls ($10), along with chicken, pork, beef, and tofu banh mi sandwiches ($7.49-$10.49), spring and egg rolls, boba tea, and Vietnamese iced coffee. Mumfresh will be joined shortly by ¡Salud!, a Mexican street-food counter. Mumfresh is also a late-night play, open till midnight Sun.-Thurs. and 2 a.m. Fri. and Saturday.
An inaugural Las Vegas Stripper Parade and expo downtown is being planned for August 10-12. Advertised as an "expressive sex-positive event that respectfully honors and supports the art and trade of strippers," the three-day event will kick off with a Mardi Gras-style parade (no nudity) and continue with a "groundbreaking" conference with speakers, vendors, and seminars on "self-preservation, safety and consent, and financial and promotional strategizing."
According to an analysis by PlayNJ.com, a million Americans will make legal wagers on this year's Super Bowl in more than 250 legal online and brick-and-mortar sports books. New Jersey expects a $100 million handle, while nationwide, it could top $325 million. "An intriguing matchup with two high-powered offenses and plenty of star power, and the proliferation of proposition bets, should all combine to make for an impressive total,” PlayNJ.com writes.
Early betting on the Super Bowl moved the opening line from pick 'em to -2 Patriots at Las Vegas sports books. The total settled on 58½, right between opening lines of 58 and 59. Last year's Super Bowl set a record for betting handle at $158.6 million, which broke the record of $138.5 set the year before. Sports book directors are predicting that this year's Big Game will break the record for the third year in a row.
Project Neon is now less than six months away from being completed and on schedule to be done on July 17. The most expensive public-works project in Nevada history, at $900 million and more than one million man hours of labor, the four-mile-long widening of I-15 from the Spaghetti Bowl to Sahara Avenue began in 2016. When the 28th and largest of the 29 new bridges is finished in March, the I-15 HOV lanes will run for 22 uninterrupted miles.
The Las Vegas Summer League, an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association to experiment with rookie, sophomore, unsigned free agents, and affiliate-player rosters, has been taking place every year since 2004. It's the largest of the various summer leagues (Orlando, Utah, California Classic) with 24 teams participating; a true tournament format, a champion is crowned every year (last year, it was the Portland Trailblazers). This year's dates will be July 5-15.
In today's AFC Championship, the Kansas City Chiefs are -3 favorites over the New England Patriots. The total is 56.
In today's NFC Championship, the New Orleans Saints are -3 favorites over the Los Angeles Rams. The total is 55.5.
The New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams opened pick 'em in the Super Bowl, with either team favored by 1 to 1.5 at different books. The total opened at 59.
Halal Guys has announced its second location on the Strip, at the food court at the Grand Canal Shoppes in the former location of Kabob Empire. The menu will reportedly be the same as the one currently open at the Forum Shops at Caesars food court: gryos, falafel, hummus, baba ghanoush, fries, and baklava. It will share the space with 7 Leaves Cafe, an Asian beverage chain from southern California. The first 7 Leaves opened in Chinatown late last year and serves Asian coffees and teas. Halal Guys and 7 Leaves will open sometime in the spring.
If you'd like to combine a full Passover celebration with a Vegas vacation, you can do so at the JW Marriott, which will host a 10-day Passover event from April 18 to 28, including seders, lectures, poolside barbecues, day trips, and a performance by a Billy Joel tribute group. For more information, go to pesachinvegas.com.
T.J. Dillashaw is a -250 favorite over Henry Cejudo in tonight's UFC main event. In the other featured match, Greg Hardy is -500 over Allen Crowder.
Manny Pacquiao is a -350 favorite over Adrien Broner in tonight's championship boxing match. The total is 10.5 rounds, with over the favorite at -265.
The Pizzeria at Cosmopolitan, widely known as Secret Pizza, has a locals outlet at 2916 Lake East Drive out at The Lakes Town Plaza (take W. Sahara out to Lake Sahara Dr., go left, then left again on Lake East Dr., then right into the shopping center). If you love Secret's pizza (as we do), but don't want to fade the Strip and parking fees at Cosmo, this is definitely your play.
Perhaps in response to the infringement lawsuit filed by Wynn Resorts against Resorts World Las Vegas last month, the prominent white lines that run horizontally across Resorts World between the windows, just like Wynn/Encore's, are being painted red. The before-after difference is dramatic.
Las Vegas' highly publicized "underground house" has been put up for sale for $18 million. Built in 1978 by a local entrepreneur, the "doomsday bunker" is more than 16,000 square feet and made out of steel and concrete. For an in-depth look at the underground house, read our Question of the Day of a few years back on the subject. If it achieves anywhere near the asking price, it will be nearly 30% higher than the most expensive house sold in Las Vegas in 2018 -- bought by Steve Wynn for $13 million.
A recent post on VitalVegas.com publicizes a possible premature announcement or Freudian slip on the part of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The LVCVA posted an image on Instagram of the Park Theater with the text, "See three female stars -- Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, and Cher. The LVCVA quickly deleted the post, then issued a denial. But ... VitalVegas' Scott Roeben writes, "The LVCVA might know something the rest of us don’t." He also goes on to speculate that Britney Spears jumped ship from Caesars Entertainment (at Planet Hollywood) to Park MGM, but cancelling her residency at the Park Theater has left a "gaping hole" in the schedule; that Jennifer Lopez also switched her allegiance from the former to the latter; and that Celine is rumored to be building a new home in Las Vegas, which "doesn’t sound like somebody who’s hanging it up." Time will tell.
One of our favorite tribute bands, The WHO Invasion, with sports handicapper Alf Musketa on bass, plays the Sand Dollar Lounge tonight. The band has played multiple casino venues and the House of Blues, so this is an excellent opportunity to see them up close and with no cover charge. The show starts at 10 p.m., with three sets of music from The WHO and one set of British rock. Get there early, this one could get crowded.
We have a new real-estate blog on our blogsite Vegas with an Edge. Actually, it's an old blog that took a hiatus and is returning with a vengeance. "Neighborhood Realty" is written by long-time local realtor Robin Camacho, whose agency of the same name has sold more than 1,000 properties over the past 20 or so years. You can read her analyses of Las Vegas real-estate-market conditions by clicking on Vegas With An Edge under Blogs in the top navigation menu, then Neighborhood Realty under Lifestyle and Travel Tips there.
The Palms has opened a pop-up White Wedding chapel, inspired by the Billy Idol song and dubbed "Til Death Do Us Part." The 800-square-foot black-and-white minimalist space looks 2D, was designed by California street artist Joshua Vides, and is described as an "Instagram-worthy installation" that in the words of Forbes is "about to become the most social media-friendly spot in Vegas to get hitched." The new Palms has placed itself at the intersection of Vegas culture and contemporary art and the White Chapel is the latest representation, available for wedding ceremonies, renewal of votes, and social photos -- though only for a few months. The installation pops back out of existence in the spring.
The hit show A Mob Story at the Plaza has gone dark and won't return until the spring, at the earliest. Financial difficulties are blamed for the closure, as opening the show ran nearly $1 million over budget. A new producer and investors will be needed to pay off the debt and stage a comeback.
At a loose end? Looking for inspiration? Here are some of this weekend's highlights:
Lotus of Siam, once named the greatest Thai restaurant in the U.S., is opening a second location at the huge new retail and office project being built around the Las Vegas location of IKEA, near the intersection of South Durango Drive and West Sunset Road, just north of the 215 Beltway. Ground is expected to be broken for the 18-acre Bend Center, so-named for the 90-degree turn the Beltway takes there, in March and it will take around a year to build out. When completed, the two-year-old IKEA will have a Galaxy Theater, a third Freed's Bakery location (the original Freed's opened in 1959), and several other announced eateries for neighbors.
The Bourbon Square Casino in downtown Sparks is being demolished. Formerly the Silver Club, and before that, Karl’s Silver Club, the casino has been closed since 2015. Owner Marnell Gaming says that a new project is planned, though details were not made public.
The Las Vegas home in which Mob enforcer Tony "The Ant" Spilotro lived with his wife Nancy and son Vincent is up for sale. Built in 1974 at 4675 Balfour Drive (near East Tropicana and Eastern), the 2,400-square-foot property has four bedrooms, two baths, an oversized third-of-an-acre lot, and backyard swimming pool. Nancy and Vincent Spilotro lived in the house until selling it in 1997. It's had four owners since, including the current owner, who bought the house in 2017 for $275,000 and is selling it less than two years later for $420,000.
According to Page Six, the 32-year-old Canadian rapper currently known as Drake has signed a deal reportedly worth $10 million for a minimum 10-show stint at XS Nightclub at the Wynn. The award-winning rapper, who holds at least four Billboard records, appeared at XS last Thursday night and earned $2 million, a one-night record for the club; the old record had been about half that much. Details about dates and prices haven't been announced.
Bids for the shuttered Lucky Dragon are due by the close of business on Friday and a representative for the venture-capital company that now owns the property has indicated that they're expecting up to 10 offers from prospective buyers. Several, apparently, aren't interested in keeping the 203-room hotel-casino in the gambling business; it could be turned into a convention center, esports facility, or even a big food hall or nightclub. A decision on selling the Lucky Dragon, which cost $165 million to open, but didn't attract any bids of more than $35 million at the foreclosure auction last fall, could be made as early as the end of this month.
In a listing of “The 21 Best Nachos in America,” Thrillist included Nacho Daddy, with three locations in Las Vegas. In a listing of “The Best Small-Town Bar in Every State,” the Nevada choice was Northern Nevada’s Genoa Bar and Saloon, built in 1853 and a location for several movie shoots, including Honky Tonk Man and Misery. And for “The Best Small-Town Restaurant in Every State,” the Nevada choice was the Cellblock Steakhouse in Ely.
An opinion written by lawyers for the federal Justice Department in November and released yesterday has reversed the 2011 opinion that paved the way for Internet gambling in the U.S. While the 2011 opinion, that the 1961 Wire Act applied only to sports betting and not other forms of gambling, signaled a major shift in federal gambling policy, this new opinion holds that "the words of the [Wire Act] are sufficiently clear and that all but one of its prohibitions sweep beyond sports gambling.” The release of the opinion brings renewed confusion into online gambling in this country, including agreements among Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey that allow Internet poker players to compete in the three states.
It's been raining for nearly 24 hours in Las Vegas, a rare strong steady storm that's sent several feet of water through flood channels and clogged traffic throughout the city. A Dense Fog Advisory is in effect through this afternoon, flights at McCarran are delayed an average of 60 minutes due to low clouds, and snow levels are around 5,000 feet, above which a Winter Storm Warning is in effect. Conditions will dry out temporarily tomorrow, though another storm is predicted to pass through the area on Thursday.
According to PlayNJ.com, New Jersey sports books and online casinos both broke the billion-dollar mark at the end of December. The states' sports book surpassed the billion-dollar milestone after only seven months in the business; online casinos and poker sites generated $29 million in December to push the industry to $1.02 billion in revenue since launching in 2013.
The inaugural Sports Betting National Championship sponsored by DraftKings last weekend in New Jersey ended in controversy, when technical glitches prevented the leader from betting on the last game. The player had just doubled his bankroll to take the lead, but his bet didn’t settle -- meaning the funds from the win weren’t added to his account -- in time for him to bet to protect the lead. It resulted in two players passing him when the Eagles covered the spread against the Saints. The winner, reportedly a poker dealer from New Jersey, took home the $1 million first prize while the former leader got $250,000. Anthony Curtis played in the contest and confirms that there were several challenging technical problems. He’ll provide a complete report in the February Las Vegas Advisor.
The Naked Magicians, a pair of buff young Australians who perform some of their tricks without sleeves, pockets, shirts, and sometimes pants will open at Brad Garrett's Comedy Club at the MGM Grand on February 13. The R-rated show evolved from female audiences imploring the pair to take it all off and when they obliged, naked magic was born. According to the website, “The show strips away the top hats and capes, promising full-frontal illusions. Good magicians don’t need sleeves and great magicians don’t need pants. When we say ‘abracadabra,’ the audience isn’t always looking at our hands.” The Naked Magicians have reportedly performed in upwards of 200 cities in seven countries. The Naked Magicians appear at 10 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays; tickets start at $54.90 and go up to $104.90, not including fees.
Conceptual artist Damien Hirst's "Demon With Bowl," a 60-foot-tall bronze sculpture of a naked and headless ogre, holding (what looks like) a shellfish bowl and encrusted with barnacles, coral, and other underwater stuff, will reportedly be on display at the new Palms pool when it opens this summer. The asking price of the somewhat grotesque statue was $14 million. It's the second Hirst piece at the Palms; the first is "The Unknown (Explored, Explained, Exploded)", a three-piece tiger shark at the Hirst-themed Unknown Bar.
In today's NFC playoff, the New Orleans Saints are -8.5 favorites over the Philadelphia Eagles. The total is 52.5.
In today's AFC playoff, the New England Patriots are -4 favorites over the Los Angeles Chargers. The total is 47.5.
Blue Ribbon Restaurants was founded in 1992 with the Brasserie in SoHo, Manhattan. Today, 20 locations include brasseries, fried-chicken eateries, a wine bar and beer garden, food service at Brooklyn Bowls, and seven sushi restaurants, including Manhattan, L.A., and South Beach. When it opens on January 25, the Japanese-style restaurant and bar at Red Rock Resort will feature indoor and outdoor dining, with a traditional 12-seat walnut sushi bar, a roofed cocktail bar with patio seating, and an outdoor beer garden.
The PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) World Series of Darts North American championship and the US Darts Masters finals return to the Las Vegas for the third year in a row, with the four-day event taking place in early July at Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Following qualifying rounds July 2-3, eight players will vie for the North American title and a place in the 2019-2020 World Darts Championship on July 4. The same eight players will compete in the US Darts Masters along with eight top PDC stars in the main World Series of Darts event on July 4 and 5. Darts is most popular in Britain, which has millions of players and thousands of registered clubs, and in other northern European countries, but is becoming an international sporting event.
Due to popular demand following six sold-out shows in 2018, legendary music group Earth, Wind & Fire will return to the Venetian Theatre for another six-show mini-residency. The band, which has won six Grammys from 17 nominations and sold nearly 100 million albums over the past 50 years, will perform at 8 p.m. on March 20, 22, 23, 27, 29, and 30. Tickets for the nine-piece band, whose big hits are "Shining Star" and "That's the Way of the World," start at $86 and go all the way up to $649, before taxes and taxes.
In today's NFC playoff, the Los Angeles Rams are -7 favorites over the Dallas Cowboys. The total is 48.5.
In today's AFC playoff, the Kansas City Chiefs are -4.5 favorites over the Indianapolis Colts. The total is 54.
A formal sit-down Italian restaurant, Manzo ("beef" in Italian), is scheduled to open a week from Wednesday, January 23, at the massive Eataly 24-hour food court and retail center at Park MGM. As the name suggests, meat will be the focus of the menu. The Manzo at Eataly in Manhattan is described as a "casual butcher’s restaurant." At the entrance to the New York restaurant, a glass-enclosed butcher's space provides an inside look at the art of butchery. "The open dining room serves a simple but complete menu, which highlights the best weekly offerings from our regional producers in meat, vegetable, and pasta dishes." We figure Manzo Las Vegas to be similar.
Resorts World Las Vegas has issued a statement responding to the intellectual-property infringement suit brought by Wynn Resorts last month over the "similarities" between the two resorts. The "fatal flaw" of the lawsuit, according to Resort World's response, is that it's based on “speculative extrapolation regarding the appearance” of the new megaresort and that Resorts World will look so different from Wynn’s properties that no "reasonable consumer could confuse the two resorts for each other.” Resorts World states that it incorporated the shape of the tower from the design of the failed Echelon project that was planned for the property, the bronze hue is a popular and non-proprietary color, and the lawsuit is a “heavy-handed holiday-timed filing.”
AirBnB reports that homeowners in the Las Vegas metropolitan area hosted nearly 720,000 guests in 2018, collecting roughly $100 million in rental fees. Compared to the 40 million or so visitors who stay in hotels and motels, it's a negligible number, but AirBnB says that it's been growing significantly as visitors look for less expensive accommodations with no resort or parking fees and an opportunity to live like locals during their stays. The city of Las Vegas has restricted new home-sharing business licenses, but more than 5,000 greater Las Vegas homeowners offer rooms or homes for rent through vacation-rental services. AirBnB reports that 16% of them are 60 or older, as "many seniors are home sharing to earn supplemental income to age in place.”
American Express’ Centurion Lounge at McCarran International is closed for renovations. Platinum, Business Platinum, and Centurion card holders are entitled to complimentary access to the eight AMEX Centurion lounges in the U.S., along with the one at Hong Kong International.
Meant to honor Las Vegas eras gone by ("circa 1940, circa 1960, circa 1990"), the long-anticipated unveiling of the new downtown megaresort occurred yesterday following the mayor's state-of-the-city address. Circa will occupy 1.25 million square feet along the city block on Fremont between Main and First, with 777 rooms in a 44-story tower, a new nine-story 1,200-space parking garage (nicknamed “Garage Mahal”) with a pedestrian-bridge connection, five restaurants to be revealed later, the longest outdoor bar on Fremont Street, and a two-level casino. The tri-level sports book will be the largest in Las Vegas, with the "biggest screen in sports book history." The pool area will be multi-tiered, creating an amphitheater effect; all tiers will have a view of a 125-foot-tall video screen for pool events and team watch parties. The neon cowgirl, Vegas Vickie, will be incorporated into the lobby design. Construction is scheduled to start in February, with a grand opening date in December 2020.
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Mount Charleston, and the Spring Mountain and Lake Mead National Recreation Areas remain open, but it's unclear for how long. The Department of the Interior has allowed the Nature Conservancy to open the fee booth and visitor center at Red Rock Canyon and Opportunity Village maintains the restrooms. The restrooms at Mount Charleston, however, remain closed, along with picnic areas and campgrounds, though the rest of the recreation area is open. And out at Lake Mead, everything is open, at least through this weekend; trash pickup is sporadic and visitors are asked to pack out their trash.
At a loose end? Looking for inspiration? Here are some of this weekend's highlights:
Comedian Ester Goldberg will perform her schtick in a "high-energy adult-themed brunch show" at the Sayers Club at SLS for six weekends from February 23 through the end of March. We've seen two different names for it, "Totally Twisted Brunch" and "Totally Outrageous Brunch"; either way, the auditions for the show last month called for "unique, funny, mind-blowing specialty and variety acts: ventriloquists, contortionists, hula hoopers, Trump impersonators, comedians, except no fire or swords." The show along with a full brunch buffet, promise to be a "naughty and sexy way to cure a hangover." Tickets for the buffet and show, Saturdays and Sundays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., are $69; add $19 for all you can drink.
When it opens in a couple of weeks in the space at the LINQ Promenade that formerly housed the Polaroid Museum, Pop Vegas will be Las Vegas' first "selfie-driven immersive-art experience." Hyperimmersive art spaces, such as "The House of Eternal Return" in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Museum of Ice Cream in San Francisco, the “Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity” installation at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, and in fact the annual Burning Man festival, are the new breed of "museum" and Pop Vegas will feature four changing "pop-culture popups" per year. The first exhibit will dissect the history and vogue of ... can you guess? We'll give you a hint. It involves needles, ink, flesh, and pain.
Details are emerging about plans for Bonnie Springs Ranch, the 60-year-old Old West and petting zoo tourist attraction 20 miles from Las Vegas. A Las Vegas developer has purchased the property, which was listed for sale for $31 million, and expects to close by mid-March. The developer plans to subdivide the ranch, which is zoned for 31 houses, into around 20 residential lots of two-three acres and to build a 25-room motel, restaurant, and 5,400-square-foot event barn. The Bonnie (Levinson) of Bonnie Springs died in 2016 at age 94; her heirs are selling the ranch.
According to a blurb on the New York Post's PageSix.com, Barbershop Cuts and Cocktails will open at the Cosmopolitan in March. The salon will "combine a full-service barber shop, a high-end bar with a 'parlor vibe,' including an entrance via a hidden door, and live music." It's the latest in "hidden" rooms at Las Vegas casinos, a trend that started at the Cosmo with Secret Pizza and continued with Ghost Donkey Bar at its Block 16 food court, and has been adopted by MGM Grand with Greek Sneek and Mabel's BBQ at the Palms.
The January issue of the Las Vegas Advisor contains a bonanza of information about our fair city. First up is our annual "Report Card and Progress Report,” containing the lowdown and timetables on all the upcoming projects (hint: 2020 is a doozy). Then there's the analysis of this years Member Rewards Book, which includes 126 offers from 65 casinos, including 24 buffet twofers and discounts; 18 shows, attractions, and drinks; and 46 gambling offers with more than $550 in expected value from gambling matchplay and bonuses. Plus, get the scoop on another $100 free-roll, a national sports betting contest, the best bouillabaisse in town, a new tent show on the Strip, Las Vegas’ only female magician, an afternoon happy hour with $2 IPA, a four-to-the-royal bonus, a new casino restaurant featuring Cleveland style BBQ—even a primer on the rules for playing and paying matchplay coupons. You can't lose!
Minnesota-based Sun Country Airlines has announced it will start flying nonstop from McCarran International to Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta, and Anchorage, Alaska, later this year. Sun Country will compete on the Cabo route with Frontier Airlines, which started flying there from McCarran last month.
According to man-about-town Scott Roeben of the VitalVegas.com blog, Bonnie Springs Ranch, the longtime Old West attraction 20 miles west of Las Vegas just beyond Spring Mountain Ranch State Park on Blue Diamond Rd., has been sold. The theme park, complete with petting zoo, horseback riding, kiddie train ride, and motel-resort, has been in operation since 1958; Roeben reports that the motel is taking no reservations past February of this year.
AquaKnox, a seafood restaurant at the Grand Canal Shoppes that flew in fish daily from around the globe, has closed a couple weeks ahead of schedule. It was one of the last original restaurants that opened with the Venetian in 1999. Other recent closings at the Venetian-Palazzo-Shoppes have included B&B Ristorante, Carnevino, and Otto Enoteca; Public House also closes this month. No replacements have been announced for AquaKnox or Public House.
In the college-football National Championship, Alabama is a -5.5 favorite over Clemson. The total is 57.
In a one-hour episode of “The Profit,” CNBC's primetime hit series, which airs tomorrow night, January 8, at 10 p.m., entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis spends three days in Las Vegas, plus $20,000 of his own money, "to learn how Las Vegas got so good at separating visitors from their cash." He plays blackjack with a veteran dealer, interviews Derek Stevens, Criss Angel, Leticia Nunez (executive chef of the Bacchanal Buffet), and Brendan Paul (Elvis officiant at the Graceland Wedding Chapel), and "Finally, after a last and wild try at craps, Marcus cashes in and takes stock of his time in Vegas."
The Downtown Grand has made it official: It's expanding by 250,000 square feet, including a new hotel tower that will bring the room count to more than 1,000. Just three days before the big reveal by Derek Stevens concerning the new hotel-casino going up at Fremont and Main and to celebrate its fifth anniversary, the Grand will add 495 rooms to its existing inventory of 629 with a third seven-floor tower on Stewart and Ogden that will have direct access to the third-floor Citrus Grand pool deck. The expansion is expected to debut in mid 2020.
The Vegas Golden Knights won their sixth straight game yesterday, beating the New Jersey Devils 3-2 at T-Mobile. Two more wins in a row and they'll tie their record eight-game winning streak, set between Dec. 14, 2017, and Jan. 2, 2018. Read about the game and see post-game videos in Joe Pane's Knights on Ice blog.
In the second NFC Wild Card Playoff game, the Chicago Bears are -6.5 favorites over the Philadelphia Eagles. The total is 42.
In the second AFC Wild Card Playoff game, the Baltimore Ravens are -3 favorites over the Los Angeles Chargers. The total is 43.
You have until 1 p.m. EST today to enter the LVA free-roll to win a $10K seat plus expenses for the DraftKing’s Sports Betting National Championship with a first prize of $1 million. You have to open a DK account, but you don’t have to fund it to play.
The fest that turned out to be a bust is an unfortunate reminder that Vegas visitors and locals are a ripe target for scammers. The ad for "Crab Feed 2019," scheduled for January 5, ran on the Las Vegas Arts District website starting in November and appeared on Facebook, promising a one-pound crab dinner for $10 or an AYCE buffet for $50, including "bottle(s) of Champagne at your table, gourmet hors d’oeuvres, entrees, sides, salads, and sweets, and a large selection of fun party favors." The address of the event was listed at 400 S. 4th Street, but when ticket holders arrived, they found a vacant building. It's perhaps easy to say in hindsight, but the address -- with no business name or phone number -- was a giveaway, as was a pound of crab for $10. Be careful out there.
To commemorate Chinese New Year (February 5) and the Year of the Pig, a huge Chinese dragon will be on display at the Forum Shops at Caesars. The steel dragon, which will be erected on Wednesday near the main entrance off Caesars casino, will be 22 feet long, 12 feet tall, and six feet wide and festooned with 30,000 red and amber LEDs. It will be on display from January 9 through February.
In the first NFC Wild Card Playoff game, the Dallas Cowboys are -2.5 favorites over the Seattle Seahawks. The total is 43.
In the first AFC Wild Card Playoff game, the Houston Texans are -2 favorites over the Indianapolis Colts. The total is 48.5.
RCLCO, a national real-estate consultant, has ranked Summerlin number four among master-planned communities nationwide in terms of new home sales. In 2018, 1,318 new homes were sold in Summerlin, its strongest performance in more than a decade, a 25% increase over 2017, and the highest of all U.S. master-planned communities for the year. Summerlin, the sprawling 65,000-acre suburb in the west Las Vegas Valley, has appeared on RCLCO's annual top-ten list 23 times since the firm began its tracking 25 years ago and was the number-one-selling master-planned community eight times between 1994 and 2002.
A mere week after cleaning up from New Year's weekend, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) invades Las Vegas with the kickoff event at Mandalay Bay tomorrow night and the convention itself running Tuesday through Friday. The year's largest Las Vegas convention, more than 180,000 people are expected to attend, with 4,500 exhibitors spread out over 11 Las Vegas facilities. Most of the exhibitor spaces are at the Las Vegas and Sands convention centers and Westgate; a number of Strip hotel-casinos will host smaller events. The convention will set a record this year with more than 2.9 million square feet of exhibits. Airlines have added nearly 20,000 extra seats each way during CES and the average Las Vegas Strip room is going for $216, roughly 70% higher than 2018's average rate. Heavy Strip traffic will be compounded by Vegas Golden Knights games on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
Britney Spears has cancelled her new 32-show Las Vegas residency, "Britney: Domination," scheduled to begin at the Park Theater on Feb. 13 and run through August. She cited recent health struggles of her father, Jamie Spears, as the reason. Ticket refunds are available at the point of purchase.
The 2019 edition of Eating Las Vegas -- The 52 Essential Restaurants is in-house and shipping. We're extending the pre-publication sale of our preeminent guide to dining in Las Vegas and for a limited time it's only $9.99. It's also available from most booksellers, including Amazon.
According to a study by ApartmentList.com, the rent on Las Vegas apartments rose by 4.4% in 2018 compared to the 0.2% average nationwide. However, the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment here is $1,160, $20 lower than the national rent of $1,180. The median for a one-bedroom in Las Vegas is $930. Other than a few cities in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, the highest rents in the country are found in California; the highest of 75 cities for a two-bedroom is in Danville (east Bay Area) at $5,472.
A commemorative certificate is now available for couples coming to Las Vegas to renew their wedding vows. The Certificate of Vow Renewal is issued by the Clark County Marriage License Bureau and costs $21. Thousands of couples renew their vows annually in Las Vegas and many ask for a "license" or some document to memorialize the ceremony; the certificate isn't official, but it does include how long the couple has been married, where the vow-renewal ceremony takes place, and an official stamp from the Marriage License Bureau.
The 2019 Member Rewards Books are in. We're distributing them now at our office and loading envelopes for mailing. We're here till 5 p.m. today and will open at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Come on in!
It'a quiet one, with everyone recovering from New Year's still, evidently, but here are this weekend's highlights:
Wayne Newton's last show in the Windows Showroom at Bally's was last Friday night, as the small Windows venue is being reconfigured for illusion shows. A new version of his Wayne Newton: Up Close and Personal will debut at Cleopatra's Barge -- minus the moat, which will be drained -- on January 28. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, with additional performances on select dates February through May. Tickets start at $87.14. All ages are welcome to attend, the first time this has been the case throughout Cleopatra's Barge's long and varied history.
Marc-Andre Fleury, the Vegas Golden Knights' outstanding goaltender, has been selected to appear in his fourth NHL All-Star game that takes place on January 26 at SAP Center in San Jose. He's the only VGK to be named to the team, but he was a shoo-in, leading the league with 37 starts, 23 victories, and six shutouts. He has a 23-10-4 record with a .912 save percentage and a 2.48 goals-against average. It's Fleury's second appearance as a VGK; he also played for the Pacific Division in last year's All-Star game.
The Member Rewards Books are due today, but delivery isn't expected till this afternoon. Call before you come in to confirm. We'll post when they're in the door or other updates as necessary.
According to United Van Lines’ 42nd annual National Movers Study, Nevada placed fourth in the ratio of people moving into the state over out of the state. More than six out of 10 of moving Nevada households came into the state in 2018. Vermont topped the list at 72.6% moving in, while New Jersey had the highest ratio of households moving out (66.8%). Oregon and Idaho placed second and third for moving in, while Illinois and Connecticut took second and third for moving out.
If you're picking up your Member Rewards Book from our office, they won't be available today. Due to a scheduling conflict at the printer, they'll be delivered to us on January 3. We apologize for any inconvenience. We also suggest that you call before coming in tomorrow to confirm that they are available.
Taxes collected from legal marijuana sales set another record in October, soaring to a little more than $8.2 million, $120,000 higher than the previous record set in August. Roughly 140% of the initial tax projections were collected in the first 12 months of recreational pot sales and nearly 50% were collected in the first four months of the new fiscal year. Clark County accounts for 80% of sales, with Washoe County (Reno) at 14%. At the same time, gaming stocks took a beating in 2018. The Dow Jones Gambling Index fell 33% (the DJ Industrial Average dropped 6%), with nine of the top-10 casino companies in the red between -65% (Scientific Games) and -22% (Las Vegas Sands).
In today's Sugar Bowl, Georgia is a -13 favorite over Texas. The total is 60.
In today's Rose Bowl, Ohio State is a -5.5 favorite over Washington. The total is 55.
Thousands packed the Strip and downtown last night for the fireworks display and no major altercations were reported. If you're in town today, the buffets and restaurants will be serving New Year's specials and the sports books will be humming with a full college football schedule.
In today's Fiesta Bowl, Louisiana State is a -7 favorite over Central Florida. The total is 57.5.
In today's Citrus Bowl, Penn State is a -4.5 favorite over Kentucky. The total is 47.5.
In today's Outback Bowl, Mississippi State is a -7 favorite over Iowa. The total is 39.5.
It was cold last night, it's cold today, and it'll be cold tomorrow as Las Vegas cleans up after the New Year's Eve festivities. Winds threatened the Strip fireworks, but they went off as scheduled at midnight. Temperatures were in the low 30s, and felt like the 20s with the wind chill, as an estimated 375,000 people celebrated on the Strip. Today's high temp is predicted to be 45 degrees, while overnight lows will bottom out at 27; residents are being warned of a "hardfreeze." Vegas warms up on Thursday to 54, a couple degrees below average for early January, then rises to 59 on Friday, but could see more cold, winds, and some precipitation over the weekend.