Hilton is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, but today is the actual birth date: On May 31, 1919, Conrad Hilton opened his first hotel in Cisco, Texas, the existing Mobley Inn when he was 32. It wasn't, however, until 1925 that he built the first hotel to carry the Hilton name: the Dallas Hilton. Since then, Hilton has grown to operate more than 5,500 properties in 109 countries and territories under 16 different brand names, with more than 60 million Hilton Honors members.
We were at Ellis Island the other night doing Las Vegas Advisor work and we were happy to see that construction on the long-awaited Front Yard dining and entertainment expansion has taken over the whole front (yard) of the property. Steel framing has given the structure shape and now it looks like it'll be a steady march to completion. According to Scott Roeben of VitalVegas.com, the new debut date is September 2019.
The price of an average house in the Las Vegas area was up 8.2% in March, the highest year-over-year rise in the country for the 10th straight month. The gain nationally was 3.7%. However, signs of a slowdown include a doubling of inventory, indicating reduced demand; a smaller-than-usual increase in the median sales price of previously owned single-family homes, up only 3.8% in April compared to 16% in April 2018; and a noticeable increase of asking prices being reduced.
A new canopy show at the Fremont Street Experience featuring a compilation of songs from The Chainsmokers debuts tonight. The band will be present on the 3rd Street Stage to view the first show at 9 p.m.
The Toronto Raptors are -1 favorites over the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Championship series. The total is 213.
SLS Las Vegas has opened the Casbar Lounge in the space formerly occupied by Katsuya Japanese restaurant. Open 24/7, the Casbar features a double-sided fireplace and erotic art. In press releases announcing the opening, no reference is made to the original Casbah at the Sahara, the iconic lounge where Don Rickles got his start and Louis Prima, Keely Smith, and Sam Butera comprised the house band for many years.
Things have certainly calmed down since Memorial Day Weekend but the weather is finally warming up and there's still plenty going on. Here's this weekends highlights:
The infamous Clown Motel in Tonopah, 240 miles north of Las Vegas and 300 miles south of Reno on US 95, is featured in a new horror B-movie, Clown Motel: Spirits Arise. The Clown Motel opened in 1985 and over the years has attracted clown enthusiasts and clown dolls and figurines (nearly 1,000 on display at last report) from all over the world. It was named America’s scariest motel by Roadtrippers magazine due to its clown theme, which many people believe is sinister; its proximity to the Old Tonopah Cemetery, which can be seen from several motel-room windows; and reports of haunted activity, such as doors slamming, missing room keys, and mysterious voices. (However, we've stayed there on various peregrinations around Nevada and experienced only highway noise, spotty wifi, and a substandard continental breakfast.) The movie, in which ghost hunters and a group of women on their way home from a Vegas bachelorette party have close encounters of the first kind with angry clown spirits rising from the nearby cemetery, will be released on DVD on June 4.
The Boston Bruins are -170 favorites over the St. Louis Blues in tonight's Game 2 of the NHL's Stanley Cup finals. The goal line is 5.5.
Strip gambling revenues declined 3.5% in April compared to April 2018, the fourth month in a row that the Strip has booked a drop in casino revenue. For the first four months of 2019, Strip gambling revenue is down 3.3%. Downtown, on the other hand, casino revenue increased 2.1% in April and 2.8% for the first four months of the year over the same periods last year.
Frida Mexican Cuisine, with five locations in southern California, has been announced to fill the space vacated by Border Grill at the Forum Shops at Caesars last year. In addition to serving "authentic and traditional food hand-crafted every day from scratch," Frida is L.A.'s first restaurant to receive the T Certificate Award by Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council, verifying that all its tequilas have passed quality standards. Nearby in the Forum Shops is the space that will be occupied by Phoenix-based Healthy True Food Kitchen, backed by Oprah Winfrey and overseen by celebrity MD and alternative-medicine guru Andrew Weil, and San Francisco-based modern-Vietnamese restaurant The Slanted Door. At MGM Grand, a new Italian restaurant, Ambra, will replace Fiamma sometime this summer. And Xiang Hot Pot, from Queens, New York, will open soon at the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian with what promises to be the most exotic pan-Asian food on the Strip.
Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City has officially changed its name to Ocean Casino Resort. Wonder who got paid for coming up with that slick move.
Hans Klok, an illusionist from the Netherlands, is bringing his show to the Excalibur. The World's Fastest Magician will open on July 29 in the Thunderland Showroom; tickets will start at $44.95 and go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. The showroom is undergoing a complete renovation for Klok and crew, while a new showroom is being built for Thunder from Down Under. The 50-year-old Klok, who can perform up to 50 large-scale illusions in his 90-minute show, has been around for a long time. He first played Vegas in 1994 in a TV show, “The World’s Greatest Magic,” broadcast live from Caesars Palace. In 2007, his show The Beauty of Magic ran at Planet Hollywood for six months; Pamela Anderson was his assistant. We saw that show and LVA subscribers can read the review in the July 2007 issue. Here's a snippet for non-subscribers. "This is the classic example of a show that's less than the sum of its parts. The whole thing is ill-conceived and by trying to do too much, it becomes overblown to the point of melodrama. On and on it drags, one cliche after another, with Klok intent on pulling every hackneyed trick from the illusionist's handbook." Perhaps Klok has upgraded his show in the ensuing 12 years; we certainly hope so.
During the D’s one-hour promotion offering Coney Island hot dogs for a nickel, a total of 1,108 were sold. Lines were long and the restaurant staff hustled to sell 18.5 per minute, which is one every 3.25 seconds.
According to Deadline.com, "the authoritative source for breaking news in the entertainment industry," the 2015 biography of Benny Binion, Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion by Dallas Morning News reporter Doug J. Swanson, will be adapted for television. The TV series is being bankrolled by Dallas oil and real-estate billionaire Tim Headington, whose film company also produced Argo and World War Z. Benny Binion was a racketeer and gambler from the Dallas area before relocating to Las Vegas in 1946.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is rolling out a new ad campaign that highlights entertainment and one-of-a-kind experiences. The "Vegas Changes Everything" ads will be in heavy rotation in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Phoenix, cities from which potential visitors can jump in their cars and be here in a matter of hours.
The Boston Bruins are -170 favorites over the St. Louis Blues in tonight's Game 1 of the NHL's Stanley Cup finals. The goal line is 5.5.
The Golden State Warriors are -300 favorites over the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Championship. Game 1 is Thursday in Toronto.
This year's Memorial Day promotions are fewer than years past. South Point is running a $32,000 free-play giveaway in the casino, with random $100 winners till midnight and giving away free buffets for two with military ID. Binion's and Four Queens are advertising $10 in slot free-play for showing military ID at the club booth. Stations and Fiestas have 3.3X points on slots and 2X on video poker. Check the Vegas With an Edge blog for additional promos today. If you’re heading home by car, you might want to monitor the traffic situation – the LV Review-Journal reports that the freeways are slow-moving, especially on I-15 South, with Californians trying to get an early jump on their travel.
As the mass exodus from Memorial Day weekend gets under way today, poker players are showing up with dreams of winning The Big One.
The World Series of Poker gets going tomorrow at the Rio. It's the 50th annual WSOP and it will feature 89 events over the 50 days of the tournament, which runs through July 16. The most anticipated of the 19 new events this year is the four-day Big 50, which starts on Thursday. With a buy-in of only $500 (rake-free for each player's first entry), 50,000 in starting chips, a guaranteed prize pool of at least $5 million, and a guaranteed first-place price of at least $1 million, the event is expected to draw more than 10,000 players. The $10,000- buy-in no-limit hold ‘em championship, a.k.a. the Main Event, begins July 3.
The Boston Bruins are -165 favorites over the St. Louis Blues to win the NHL's Stanley Cup. Game 1 is Monday in Boston.
Money Plays, the west-side dive bar that we’ve written about many times over the years, served its last drink early this morning. The bar ran lots of good promotions and its famous shuffleboard table hosted thousands of friendly matches among its patrons. It’s not known what will take its place or if the adjacent El Taco Felize will remain open.
Simon Pagenaud is the +700 favorite to win today's Indianapolis 500. He's followed by Will Power (+750), Josef Newgarden (+800), and Alexander Rossi (+850). Note that this was posted with the race in progress.
The Women's National Basketball Association's Las Vegas Aces start their season today at 5 p.m. at Mandalay Events Center against the Los Angeles Sparks. The Aces went 14-20 last year, but are the favorite to win this year's championship. The team now includes Australian Liz Cambage, who is six-eight and holds the WNBA's single-game scoring record of 53 points for the Dallas Wings (July 2018). She'll team up with six-four A’ja Wilson in front court. Six-foot Jackie Young from Notre Dame was the WNBA's overall first draft pick. She'll join all-star Kayla McBride, also from Notre Dame, as a shooting guard.
The 2019 Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl between the top teams from the Mountain West and Pac-12 will be played on Saturday December 21 at 4:30 p.m. and televised on ABC. It will be the last year the college-football bowl game will be played at Sam Boyd Stadium; starting in 2020, the new Las Vegas Stadium will host the game. Tickets go on sale July 8, ranging from $35 to $250; they can be purchased at unlvtickets.com.
The LINQ is being transformed into an Instagrammers dream, with holographic displays and games, interactive exhibits, virtual-reality grottos, even a small e-sports arena. The LINQ has become a proving ground by rolling out an "experiential space," introducing technology that Caesars Entertainment claims hasn't been seen before in a casino. In the coming weeks, look for games in which you can compete against a hologram at tic-tac-toe, balloon-popping, and rock, paper, scissors; a "reactive-art" installation with LED screens and sculptures and immersive interaction zones; virtual-reality adventures that turn participants into DJs in outer space, action heroes, and heavyweight boxers; retro skill-based games like Pac-Man at which players compete for prize pools; and life-sized holographic dancers. The LINQ was deemed perfect for the test, as its customer base tends to be on the younger side than Caesars' other casinos. Even the name will be changed from LINQ Hotel and Casino LINQ Hotel and Experience.
If you're among the tens of thousands of motorists driving in from southern California this weekend, be aware that state troopers from both California and Nevada are aggressively going after speeders. In a seven-hour stretch yesterday, the Nevada Highway Patrol issued nearly 250 speeding tickets in the "zero-tolerance" zone between St. Rose Parkway and Primm on Interstate 15, and California Highway Patrol picked up the detail afterwards on the stretch between Primm and Baker. “Even the most minor traffic infraction will be enforced on the busy holiday weekend" in the zero-tolerance zone, a press release stated.
Upwards of 3,000 more bollards are being installed along Las Vegas Blvd. S. sidewalks from Sahara to the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. The four-foot-tall steel posts are stabilized by being linked underground and are capable of stopping a truck traveling 55 miles per hour. The 3,000 posts, which protect hordes of pedestrians from swarms of cars, bring the number of bollards on the Strip to 4,600. The project is costing $22 million and is expected to be completed by late July; lanes will be closed from 2 to 10 a.m. weekdays.
The third member and ringleader of a four-man crew of crap cheats at Bellagio has been listed in Black Book, also known as the “Nevada List of Excluded Persons” who can never enter a casino in the Silver State. Marc Branco was the crap dealer at Bellagio who paid off hop bets to confederates who never placed them over a two-year period from August 2012 to July 2014. Branco spent three years in prison for the scam, which netted an estimated $1.2 million for him and his agents, two of whom are also in the Black Book.
Of the 330,000 visitors expected to flood Las Vegas over this long Memorial Day weekend, nearly 200,000 of them will arrive by auto. The most congestion will be experienced this afternoon during rush hour, as commuters share the road with incoming traffic, and Monday around Primm, where I-15 narrows from three lanes to two and traffic has to pass through a California agricultural checkpoint. We posted a Question of the Day about alternate routes last Christmas eve, if you're among the hordes in cars and want to consider an end-around.
Henderson, Nevada's second-largest city, is also its fastest-growing for the second year in a row. The municipality increased in population by approximately 10,800 (3.6%) from July 2017 to July 2018. This was after growing by nearly 10,000 people (3.4%) in the same period of the previous year. Henderson has grown by more than 50,000 people since 2010 and now has approximately 310,000 residents, which is still less than half the 645,000 of the city of Las Vegas, which added 9,000 people (1.4%) in the 2018-2018 period.
Debuting with downtown’s Circa sports books at the D and Golden Gate will be the Circa Sports Million Pro Football Contest. According to available information, there will be $1.5 million in guaranteed prizes and a $1 million first prize. The entry fee is $1,000 with a maximum of three per person. Picks can be submitted through the Circa Sports app. The deadline for entering is September 7.
It's another busy busy weekend here in Vegas! Here's a quick roundup of events and keep an eye out for our Memorial Day Weekend blog post later today at VegasWithanEdge.
Lyft's Shared Saver program has expanded to Las Vegas. Similar to Uber's Express Pool, Lyft users who don't mind walking a little can now hoof it to nearby pickup spots, where they catch their rides with other passengers; all are dropped off at the same spot no more than a few blocks from their destinations. It's Lyft's most affordable option and it's in force 24/7 with no surge pricing even at the busiest times. Las Vegas is the eighth city in which Shared Saver is now available.
Work has begun on a new 10,000-square-foot lodge at Lee Canyon, the ski resort an hour northwest of Las Vegas near the top of the Spring Mountains. The two-story Hillside Lodge, designed to better accommodate the 100,000 annual visitors to the resort, will have a ski-in bar, new restaurant, heated terrace, expanded restrooms, and event space for weddings and meetings. It's expected to be completed in early December, in time for the winter ski season. It's Lee Canyon's largest construction project since the resort opened in 1964.
Acres Cannabis on Western Avenue in the City of Las Vegas has announced plans to open a marijuana lounge with a concert hall and full-service restaurant operated in conjunction with the Morton family, founders of the Morton's steakhouse chain. Acres intends to provide an experience that's "elevated" over the typical Amsterdam consumption space. However, the CEO of Oasis Cannabis contends that the lounges will be money-losers for a while after they open, since neither marijuana nor alcohol will be permitted to be sold. Complicating matters is a state initiative to create a Cannabis Control Board that's moving through the legislature; if established, it could quickly issue a ruling that supersedes Las Vegas' ordinance permitting lounges. Finally, if nothing changes and lounges are allowed, due to the protracted permitting process, the first one isn't expected to open till late this year. The marijuana-lounge ordinance was passed by the Las Vegas City Council nearly a month ago, but only one application for a lounge permit has been filed so far.
Skift.com, a website that "deciphers and defines global trends across travel, dining, and wellness sectors," reports it has confirmed a recent tweet by Scott Roeben of VitalVegas.com that Booking.com will soon start taking a commission on resort fees charged by hotels worldwide. Skift writes, "This is believed to be the first time Booking.com or any other major online travel agency has charged commissions on controversial resort fees, although it may be in some hotel contracts, but was never implemented." Skift also called it a "game-changing move," since resort fees are, in large part, a way for the hotel industry to add a room charge on which they don't have to pay a commission to online travel agents. Will other OTAs follow Booking.com’s lead? Will hotels stop doing business with Booking.com? Time will tell.
Buffets that feature all-you-can-eat lobster aren't easy to pull off. Lobster needs to be cooked fresh, with the bands off (dangerous), timed perfectly, and served immediately, none of which buffets are naturally suited to. Overcooked lobster is rubbery and stringy, often barely edible. That's why Las Vegas lobster buffets have come, but mostly gone, over the years. Boomtown in northern Nevada has had a long-time lobster buffet; nine out of 10 reviews say the lobster is tough and dry. But though we haven't tried it yet, if the crowds are any indication, Silverton's new Friday-night lobster buffet seems so far to be a rousing success. We've heard it can take up to an hour to get in. It's served 4-9 p.m. and costs $37.99 ($2 off with a players card) and includes bottomless house wine and Miller Lite. Ahi poke, peel-and-eat shrimp, oyster on the half-shell, lobster cocktail claws, and assorted sushi are also on the menu. We'll check it out and be back with a further report.
In support of her new album, Madame X, due to be released on June 14, Madonna will tour this fall, with three shows scheduled for the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. You can put in your "ticket request" for the shows on Nov. 7, 9, and 10 through 9 a.m. Friday at madonna.livenation.com. These shows are a slam dunk to sell out; Madonna is the best-selling female solo touring artist in history. Her 2008-2009 tour had the highest gross ($400 million) of any female artist in the world.
Caesars Entertainment and "nationwide" rock band ZZ Top are developing a Mamma Mia!-type jukebox musical that will open sometime next year at an unnamed Caesars venue (though the Colosseum at Caesars Palace and Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood are the two likely candidates). The musical, Sharp Dressed Man, is described in the press release as an “outrageous, bawdy, musical romp about a Texas auto mechanic who becomes a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing hearts — and car parts — with the help of a merry band of beer guzzlers and hell raisers.” ZZ Top standards, including “Legs,” “La Grange,” “Gimme All Your Lovin,’” and “Cheap Sunglasses,” will "help tell the satirical saga." All three ZZ Top band members are serving as executive producers.
A 10,000-square-foot arcade and eatery/bar has opened at the Fashion Show Mall. Arcade City Food and Fun features nearly five dozen games, including classic arcade activities, video, basketball, virtual reality, racing, and more, with a selection of upscale prizes (headphones, AirPods, designer handbags, Under Armour clothing) for ticket winners. The restaurant serves sandwiches, fries, and desserts, along with specialty drinks from a full bar, with inside and outside seating. Arcade City is open daily 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., till 11 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Then One Day ... 40 Years of Bookmaking in Nevada is back from the printer and ready to ship. The author is Chris Andrews, who began his unofficial career in sports betting when he was a kid in Pittsburgh under the watchful eye of his uncle Jack Franzi, a legend among bookmakers and wiseguys. Chris launched his official career as a ticket writer in Las Vegas in 1979. He rose quickly through the ranks and became the director of the sports book at the Club Cal Neva in Reno at age 25. He’s now the sports book director at South Point. Then One Day is packed with classic stories from both sides of the counter and offers a unique look at how a sports book director talks, thinks, and makes book. Best of all, it's discounted from $19.95 to $14.95 through May 31.
The current LasVegasAdvisor.com poll is a survey on Las Vegas' most influential people. Three dozen choices run the gamut from casino owners to entertainers, politicians to hockey players. And here's a sneak preview in case you need a little incentive to click and vote: The top three vote-getters so far are Sheldon Adelson, Derek Stevens, and our very own Anthony Curtis.
The Downtown Events Center will host two fútbol-viewing parties for the Mexico National Team's U.S. Tour in early June. On Wednesday June 5, fans can watch Mexico compete against Venezuela at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; doors to the event open at 4:30 p.m. with the game beginning at 5:30 p.m. On Sunday June 9, Mexico matches up against Ecuador in Dallas; doors open at 3 p.m. with the game starting at 4 p.m. Both events are free and open to all ages. Seating is first-come first-served. The DEC shows the games on 72 feet of HD LED screen, with stadium sound, private man caves, and reservable tables.
Going into the final round of golf's PGA Championship, Brooks Koepka, leading by seven shots, is the -1600 favorite to win. He’s followed by Dustin Johnson (+2000) and Luke List (+8000). Koepka is such a big favorite that there are lines on a winner “without Koepka” and on how many shots he’ll win by.
Twenty-two miles of High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes, added during Las Vegas' massive Project Neon highway upgrade over the past few years, will open tomorrow morning from Ann Road on US 95 in the north through the Spaghetti Bowl to Silverado Ranch Boulevard on I-15 in the south. The rules are mostly typical for HOV lanes nationwide: no entering or exiting except at one of the broken-line points; vehicles must have at least two occupants, including electric cars; trucks with three or more axles are prohibited. After a 30-day grace period, violators will face $250 fines. The one unusual rule will come as a surprise to many out-of-towners: All rules will be enforced 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Generally, HOV-lane regulations are enforced only during rush hours on weekdays.
James Holzhauer retakes the stage on "Jeopardy! tomorrow evening after a two-week break for the show's annual Teachers Tournament. Holzhauer has the 12 highest single-day totals in the history of the show, holds the record for consecutive correct responses (187), has answered correctly 803 times in 830 attempts (96.7%), and has seven games in which he was perfect. He won't receive his winnings until 120 days after his final show -- which could take a long long time.
Kevin Lee is a -135 favorite over Rafael Dos Anjos in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Vicente Luque is -1200 over Derrick Krantz.
The current odds for the Preakness Stakes make Improbable the favorite at 2-1, followed by War of Will at 3-1, and Alwaysmining at 7-1. The long shot is Everfast at 100-1.
Tiger Woods is out of the PGA Championship after missing the weekend cut and the sports books are breathing easily again. A torrent of Tiger money, not only to win the tournament, but to also complete a Grand Slam of majors victories, reportedly created a liability of tens of millions of dollars for the books had he been able to pull off the feat.
One of the largest conventions of the year, the RECon retail real-estate annual trade show, starts tomorrow at the Las Vegas Convention Center. With an estimated 50,000 RECon attendees added to the 175,000 festival-goers and workers jamming the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Electric Daisy Carnival, this is one of the busiest weekends of the year in Las Vegas -- in case you're here and wondering why it's so crowded.
The metal rock bands that will appear at the Psycho Las Vegas 2019 festival have been announced. Electric Wizard will headline, while Megadeth performs its only Vegas show of 2019 and Opeth arrives for its only U.S. show in the past three years. Clutch, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Beach House, High on Fire, Bad Religion, Mogwai, the Black Angels, Mark Lanegan, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, Graveyard, Deafheaven, Glassjaw, the Faint and Cold Cave will also play the festival, which takes place at Mandalay Bay Events Center the weekend of Aug. 16-18. Kicking off the three-day festival is Psycho Swim, an all-day music and pool party at Daylight Beach Club at Mandalay Bay on Aug. 15.
Celebrity chef Scott Conant's Masso Osteria restaurant at Red Rock Resort will close on May 31. It opened a little more than a year ago in March 2018, but Station Casinos is transitioning the space "back to a Red Rock-managed concept."
The Regional Transportation Commission has introduced a pilot ride-share program between McCarran Airport and the north Strip. You can sign up for the service by downloading the app from the RTC website (at rtcsnv.com/triptostriplv) and creating an account, then booking your ride in 11-passenger vans. Pricing is based on the distance of the ride and the number of people in the booking party and unlike Uber and Lyft, there are no surge periods during peak ridership; other passengers might be picked up and dropped off during your ride. The service area stretches from the airport to Circus Circus and Sunset Park. Complete instructions are found on the app page.
The ninth annual Electric Daisy Carnival descends on Las Vegas this weekend. Upwards of 175,000 attendees and workers are expected for the three nights of the festival, which takes place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, right off 1-15 at the north end of North Las Vegas. Traffic is expected to be heavy all weekend on and around the interstate, especially Monday morning, and motorists are advised to allow extra time to get where they're going. Temperatures will peak at 80 degrees tomorrow and drop into the low 50s at night.
Tiger Woods is the +800 favorite to win the PGA Championship golf tournament, which began today. He’s followed by Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, both at +1000.
An unidentified slot player hit a Wheel of Fortune jackpot for $1.88 million at the Venetian a couple days ago.
Smith & Wollensky reopened yesterday on the Las Vegas Strip at the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian exactly two years after closing a standalone building next to the Showcase Mall, which investors bought for $60 million. The 450-seat restaurant is in the former location of Zeffirino Restaurante, which also closed in May 2017. S&W is open Sun.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Fri. and Sat. till midnight.
Though Las Vegas continues to struggle, Atlantic City is experiencing a resurgence. The city's 16.9% increase in total gaming revenue in April marked the 11th straight month of growth for the casino industry. Gambling revenue has gone up by double digits every month since the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Atlantic City opened last June. Through the first four months of this year, casinos have generated $977.37 million in revenue, an increase of 20.8% over the same period last year; the more than $141 million in online revenue since January 2019 is a 52.4% increase over the first four months of 2018.
The Diamond Chinese restaurant in Sonny’s Saloon on Sammy Davis Jr. Dr. has closed (with rumors that Sonny’s is next). That means no more fukien fried rice (yes, that was a real menu item).
On this date in 1905, only a month after the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad began through service on the new 800-mile track between Utah and southern California, railroad officials conducted a land auction at the corner of what would become Fremont and Main, selling lots from a 40-square-block townsite. In an effort to build a settlement around the Las Vegas Valley's plentiful water supply needed for its steam engines, they sold more than 700 lots to investors, speculators, and settlers and Las Vegas was on the map -- one of the last railroad boomtowns on one of the last major railroad lines across the United States. Happy Birthday, Vegas. You've come a long way, baby.
The Neon Museum is set to lease the nearby 32,000-square-foot Reed Whipple Cultural Center from the City of Las Vegas for $1 per year, allowing it to add an indoor gallery, neon craft demonstrations, classrooms, and offices. In addition, part of the Cultural Center’s parking lot will open up space to expand the boneyard portion of the museum, which is maxed out by its 200 signs. The Cultural Center building opened in the early 1960s as an LDS church and was sold to the city in 1970 for use as an arts venue, but closed three years ago due to disrepair. It will need upwards of $3 million to renovate, but $2.2 million will come from a city grant to the non-profit museum. Phase 1 of the expansion will begin in August and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.
The new 10,000-seat Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin has averaged 9,034 attendees over the first month of the Las Vegas Aviators' first season. Fifteen of the 18 games have been sellouts; the lowest attendance was just under 8,000. Aviator ticket sales are the highest in the Pacific Coast League since 2007. After a blistering start to the season, the Aviators have fallen back to second place in the Pacific Southern Division, 3.5 games behind the El Paso Chihuahuas. Meanwhile, the WNBA Las Vegas Aces play their only preseason game against the Minnesota Lynx this Sunday at Mandalay Bay Events Center; the season starts the following Sunday, May 26, against the Sparks in Los Angeles. Finally, ESPN has announced that it's teaming up with Caesars Entertainment to build a TV studio at the LINQ, from which the sports network will broadcast a variety of programming, including digital and social shows, ESPN.com and the ESPN app, along with sports betting content, including its new show, "The Daily Wager." Caesars Palace will also host a new studio for the BleacherReport.com, a major website that focuses on sports and sports culture. And the Las Vegas Raiders are still a year away.
Iowa has passed a bill legalizing sports betting and daily fantasy sports. Sports betting can be conducted at casinos and online and is expected to begin as early as this summer. Today is the 1-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling that allowed the expansion of legalized sports betting.
Eataly, the oversized Italian food court and market at Park MGM, is offering a 10% discount for anyone with a Nevada ID good for the rest of the year. Thing is, the discount applies only to retail non-menu items purchased in the market. And given that Park MGM is surrounded on all sides by MGM Resorts properties that charge $10 for parking, unless you run in and out of Eataly in less than an hour or spend more than $100 there, the parking fee will eataly up the discount.
According to a story by CDC Gaming Reports, two members of the U.S. House of Representatives have requested that the Treasury Department raise the tax-reporting threshold on machine jackpots from $1,200 to $5,000. Representing the Las Vegas Strip and central Illinois, the two representatives, one Democrat, the other Republican, wrote in their letter to the Assistant Treasury Secretary that inflation since the $1,200 threshold was established 42 years ago has greatly "devalued" it and causes “excessive burden to the gaming industry." The Treasury Department didn't respond to a similar letter written by a Nevada senator last year; it also attempted to lower the threshold to $600 less than three years ago. If Treasury fails to use its statutory authority to raise the W-2G threshold, the representatives will consider introducing legislation to force the change.
Six-year-old Andrea's, a pan-Asian restaurant at Encore named for Steve Wynn's wife, will close later this year to make way for an unnamed posh Mexican concept from restaurateurs famous in New York. The three owners are the team behind Cosme, in the Flatiron District in Manhattan, and Atla, located north of Houston, both contemporary and popular Mexican restaurants. Should be interesting when the Encore location opens in early 2020.
Earn 300 points ($300 coin-in) Mon.-Thurs. from 3 am to 11 p.m. at South Point and swipe your card at a kiosk to win free-play, comps, and gifts. You can play on any slot or video poker machine and the promo runs through the end of May
Add Tennessee and Indiana to the list of states in which sports betting is now legal. Tennessee wagering will be online only. Indiana’s will be casino-based only. Betting is not yet active in either state.
The cost of building two extensions to the Las Vegas Monorail has ballooned $62 million over the original estimate to $172 million, $140 million to run the line from its southern terminus at MGM Grand to Mandalay Bay and $32 million to add a station at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. The Monorail company has asked the Clark County Commissioners to guarantee $135 million of the cost of the extensions as part of an existing agreement to provide $4.5 million per year in room taxes "in case of an emergency"; the hitch is that the agreement would have to be amended to continue for 30 years. Hesitation from the commissioners might doom the feasibility of the extensions.
Terry Bradshaw, the Pittsburgh Steelers' superstar quarterback (1970-1983), football analyst on Fox NFL Sunday, and natural-born entertainer, will perform four shows at Luxor August 1-4. Bradshaw has acted in numerous television shows and movies, including a starring role in the 2006 film Failure To Launch. The Luxor show will be a "musical storytelling adaptation of Bradshaw's life and career," with the four-time Super Bowl champ covering country and rock songs and generally being himself. It's the second time Bradshaw has headlined a Vegas stage; he starred in “Terry Bradshaw: America’s Favorite Dumb Blonde … A Life in Four Quarters” at the Mirage in 2013. Look for the Luxor show to be extended if it's a hit. Tickets start at $65.99.
A feature story today on NYtimes.com covers Las Vegas from an unexpected angle: as a literary hub. It focuses on the Believer Festival, a roving three-day celebration of writing, music, and visual arts that takes place in late April around the valley. The festival is sponsored by The Believer, a bimonthly literature, arts, and culture magazine based at Black Mountain Institute (BMI), a department at UNLV, the evolution of which the article traces. It also discusses the Lucy, a recently opened mixed-use complex that serves as a home for the BMI crowd, including The Writer’s Block bookstore on the ground floor and upstairs apartments for BMI fellows and out-of-town Believer editors. You can find the story at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/12/books/believer-black-mountain-institute-literary-las-vegas.html.
After starting the season as non-topless-optional, Bare Pool Lounge at the Mirage has reverted to toptional. Bare was one of the first pools in Las Vegas to allow topless sunbathing, so the decision to disallow it was curious and apparently met with enough opposition to cause the reversal. That’s OK by us! Bare is now one of 10 toptional pools in Las Vegas.
Jessica Andrade is a -145 favorite over Rose Namajunas in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Jarred Cannonier and Anderson Silva are pick ’em.
Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters is offering 12-minute one-way flights from Papillon’s terminal at McCarran Airport to next weekend’s Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) music festival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The seven-seat choppers depart at 6, 6:30, 7, and 7:30 p.m. all three nights of the festival, then fly over the Strip. The price, $499 per person, includes limousine pick-up from passengers' hotels.
Tattoo’d America, the first interactive experience at the LINQ's Pop Vegas attraction, is open. Pop Vegas is a new breed of pop-up museum that hosts a rotating lineup of changing exhibitions themed around pop-culture topics and trends and designed to be photographed and shared on social media. Tattoo'd America is an exhibition of body art, encompassing 12 interactive installations, including more than 500 artworks from 100 tattoo artists from around the world, live 3-D full-body projection mapping, a tattoo-themed ball pit for grown-ups, and more. General admission is $29, Nevada residents $18.
According to a story in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal, hotel room rates for the April 2020 weekend when the National Football League player-selection draft are rising fast. They start at $79 per night at Circus Circus, inflated 103% over typical weekend prices, and soar all the way up to $999 at Hooters, a 1,165% increase. Rates at Luxor, Rio, Harrah's, Flamingo, Bally's, and Excalibur are all higher by more than 400%; the Wynn is charging $699, 100% higher than normal. This year's draft in Nashville attracted upwards of 600,000 visitors. The Las Vegas draft takes place April 23-25 next year.
A nice little story by gambling writer Michael Kaplan quotes our very own Anthony Curtis as the single source to identify the "most sinful Las Vegas buffets." Anthony cites the A.Y.C.E. Buffet at the Palms ($21.99 for dinner) as Las Vegas' best buffet in terms of quality and price. A.C. also pinpoints the Cosmopolitan, Caesars Palace, and Wynn buffets as "solidly deluxe with similar price points." Of course, he likes the Wynn best -- the only one that doesn't charge for parking. You can check out the story here.
In another article at foodandwine.com, Kaplan describes "The Feast," a seven-boned tomahawk steak that feeds 12 for $1,200 at the Hard Rock's MB Steak. This one's worth checking out for the photos alone.
A California woman lined up three jackpot symbols on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine at the South Point on Wednesday to win $954,263.11.
Plans submitted by a local developed for an $850 million, 45-story, 720-room non-casino luxury hotel at 305 Convention Center Drive have been approved by the Clark County Commissioners. Approval for the proposed hotel-resort comes four years after the old 12-story Debbie Reynolds-Greek Isles-Clarion building was imploded to clear the six-acre property for the Majestic Las Vegas Hotel; it required a full year for the developer to receive the go-ahead from the Federal Aviation Administration to build the 620-foot-tall tower. Ground is expected to be broken next year around this time; the Majestic is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2023.
The nearly half-inch of rain that fell on Las Vegas yesterday was three times more than the previous record of .15 inches for the date, set in 1977. It also propelled Las Vegas past its 4.2-inch annual average of rainfall at 4.5 inches. And the storm accounted for nearly four times the typical amount of rain, .12 inches, in the whole month of May, traditionally the driest month of the year in southern Nevada. Las Vegas' wettest year on record was 1941, with 10.72 inches of rain.
And if you're still looking for something to do to celebrate mom, check out our Mother's Day events round up.
Las Vegas' number-one photo op, the iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign on the south Strip, celebrated its 60th birthday last Sunday: It was on May 5, 1959, that the Clark County Board of Commissioners approved the pencil-and-paper design of Nevada-born graphic artist Betty Willis. Over the years, we've answered numerous questions about one of Las Vegas' most enduring landmarks, including its full history, who owns the sign, why the year 1922 is used on the coins in the "Welcome" letters, and how many times the sign has been moved. The parking lot at the sign is often full with cars and tour buses, with lines of photo seekers waiting their turn in front of the 25-foot-tall visitor magnet; we also have a webcam of the sign on this site and its fun to watch people pose in real time.
This Saturday and May 18, the Chateau Nightclub & Rooftop, located right under the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas, will hold Stars-N-Stilettos brunches featuring Las Vegas’ top celebrity female impersonators, including Cher, Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Tina Turner, and Whitney Houston. Brunch packages begin at $39.99; for all-you-can-drink mimosas, add $25, open-bar packages start at $35, and meet-and-greets with the entertainers are available following the brunch for $25.
At Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, aspiring rock stars are placed in a band of like-minded and equally skilled musicians, then mentored by a bona fide rock-star counselor in dedicated recording studios. Celebrating its 25th year, RRFC will be in Las Vegas June 27-30 at the Hard Rock, where Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Vince Neil (Mötley Crüe), and Lou Gramm (Foreigner) will be the guest headliners. The three-day culminates in a live performance with Gramm at the Hard Rock's Vinyl on Sat. June 29. Beginner and junior rocker programs and ultimate fan packages are also available. The early-bird-discount period expires tomorrow. Sign up at rockcamp.com.
The Las Vegas Days rodeo (formerly known as Helldorado Days), an annual cowboy-themed tribute to Las Vegas' (somewhat) Wild West origins, kicks off at 5 p.m. on Friday with the first day of a two-day rodeo in the Core Arena by the Plaza. The rodeo features seven events: bull riding, barrel racing, team roping, tie-down roping, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, and bareback riding. Admission is free. The annual Helldorado Parade takes place on Saturday; first held in 1934, it starts at 10 a.m. on Fourth Street from Gass to Ogden avenues, featuring floats, equestrian teams, marching bands, hot-rods, and more.
Level, the bargain-fare long-haul division of International Airlines Group, sixth largest airline in the world (formed in 2011 after a merger between British Airways and Iberia), will begin flying non-stop between McCarran International and Orly Airport on October 30. The two weekly flights will provide 293 economy and 21 premium seats on Airbus 330-200 aircraft. Like all low-cost carriers, passengers in the premium cabin receive complimentary seat selection, checked luggage, meals, and entertainment, while economy passengers can pay for extras from a menu of amenities. Initial base fares are starting at $99 one way.
The New Jersey Attorney General has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the federal Justice Department for its failure to address questions about the background of the DOJ's opinion, released last January, that revises its own interpretation of the scope of the Wire Act. The Justice Department hasn't responded to New Jersey's Freedom of Information Act request, filed in February, seeking documents concerning the involvement in the DoJ's opinion of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. Adelson is well-known for his opposition to online gambling.
Every Monday evening from May 13 to Labor Day, the digital marquee sign above the Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan transforms into a colossal movie screen high above the Las Vegas Strip. This year's movie schedule is now listed at cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/dive-in-movies. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the movies start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7 (children under five and hotel guests free). Show a parking ticket and get a free popcorn and soda.
Chick-Fil-A, whose corporate culture reflects the piety of its late owner, a devout Southern Baptist, is opening its first location in a casino. A construction zone is framed by plywood in front of the Miracle Mile Shops' north entrance, right next to Pin-Up Pizza. Like all Chick-Fil-A of more than 2,200 other locations, it will be closed on Sundays. It's expected to open late this year.
The price of gasoline in Las Vegas has gone up nearly 44 cents per gallon in the past month. The national average price is 14.3 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. According to Gas Buddy, the average price of a gallon of gas in Las Vegas is $3.51, compared to $3.21 on this date last year, $2.66 in 2017, and $2.44 in 2016.
Montana’s governor has signed a bill legalizing sports betting through kiosks and mobile devices. Wagering is expected to begin in time for football season. Next up appears to be Tennessee, where the governor says he will allow an enabling bill to pass without his signature. Bills are also on the governors’ desks in Iowa and Indiana. Track the progress of sports betting legalization across the country here.
Beauty Bar in the Fremont East Entertainment District has closed after having its liquor license revoked after a series of legal infractions. The bar had operated since 2005, but ran into trouble after changing ownership last year.
Cinco de Mayo celebrations are taking place all over town today. You’ll probably run into them without trying, but you can also check out a big list of Cinco de Mayo happenings in our "Vegas With An Edge" blog.
We've confirmed that the weekend brunch (12-3 Sat. and Sun.) at the new Greene Street Kitchen at the Palms costs $250 per person. Also, there's a four-person minimum, so in order to get one of the four permanent booths or temporary brunch tables on the patio looking out on the KAOS pool area and club will set you back at least $1,000. According to the manager we spoke to about the brunch, you order off a menu and there's plenty of champagne, plus signature cocktails, fruit bowls, and "special pancakes" for you to get your money's worth. By comparison, general admission to the patio is $25 women, $35 men; all access (inside and outside) is $35 women, $45 men; a patio couch is $1,000; and a patio dance-floor daybed is $2,500 (all prices "approximate" and subject to an 18% entertainment tax). The Greene Street Kitchen patio is to the side of the stage and when we checked it out, the music was deafening; the manager promised that the weekend dayclub performers would be "even louder."
The NCAA has rescinded its policy prohibiting championship events from being held in states that have legalized sports gambling. The move has been expected since the Supreme Court paved the way for states to legalize sports betting and with it spreading quickly, the ban became impractical for the college-sports regulating group. NCAA championships will open for bidding for the 2022-23 academic year, though the next available college football national championship game is in 2025 and the first Final Four game isn't available until 2027. An article in the L.A. Times quotes Pat Christenson, the author of our book Rock Vegas -- Live Music Explodes in the Neon Desert and president of Las Vegas Events, who says, "We’re looking at an NCAA basketball regional, NCAA wrestling championship, and the Frozen Four men's ice hockey championship. We'll bid on the Final Four and the football playoff when they're available."
"Surge pricing" is a term most associated with ride sharing: Uber adjusts the prices of its rides to match driver supply to rider demand and when there are more riders than drivers and customer wait times are long, Uber increases its normal fares on the fly. Surge pricing is also known as "yield management" in a number of industries, but it's the same principle of maximizing profits from fixed time-limited resources (such as airline seats or hotel rooms). A few years ago, the blog VitalVegas.com reported that surge pricing was in effect at unnamed Las Vegas restaurants, especially those that posted menus online without prices, so they could change what they charged for the same dish on a slow Tuesday or busy Saturday. A few days ago, VitalVegas ran another story about surge pricing at the Excalibur gift shop on items such as toothpaste, sunscreen, bottled water, and snacks, based on a tip from a guest at Excalibur. The blog VegasChanges.com is pretty confident in calling this "absolutely correct" and claiming that it "has been in place for years. This is not just at the Excalibur, but at many Las Vegas casino gift shops and sundries stores. This was confirmed by over a dozen gift shop cashiers today." VegasChanges writes that things like beer, chips, and candy don't have their prices marked, while other items do and that surge pricing "seems to take place at MGM Resorts International properties more frequently than the others. Caesars Entertainment properties said that they vary rarely have surge pricing, but they do during major events, such as the Super Bowl, New Years Eve, etc." We all know that prices at casino convenience stores are higher than at Walmart, but they might be even higher than they themselves normally charge.
Saul Alvarez is -600 over Daniel Jacobs in tonight's championship fight. The total is 10.5 rounds, with over the favorite at -300.
Al Iaquinta is a -125 favorite over Donald Cerrone in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Elias Theodorou and Derek Brunson are pick ’em.
The current odds for the Kentucky Derby make Improbable the favorite at 9-2, followed by Tacitus at 5-1 and Game Winner at 6-1. The long shot is Bodexpress at 85-1.
The Hat World Famous Pastrami, a 69-year-old restaurant with 11 locations in southern California, has announced plans to build a 4,000-square-foot branch in southwest Las Vegas. The Hat, which serves a pastrami dip and pastrami burger, roast beef, barbecue beef, and steak sandwiches ($10.49), eight other burgers ($4.79-$6.29), cold sandwiches, and three kinds of fries ($5.29-$7.19), will open on S Rainbow Blvd. between Russell and Sunset road. No opening date has been announced.
Part thrill ride, escape room, maze, haunted house, and interactive video game, the Fear the Walking Dead attraction downtown, based on the post-apocalyptic TV show of the same name on AMC, has closed permanently. It opened in August 2017 and the 20-minute horror experience cost $30.
It's Cinco de Mayo weekend, which Las Vegas does up big, with many casinos and bars celebrating the Mexican army's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Drink specials, mariachi bands and folklorico dancers, pinatas, parades, mobile margarita and cerveza carts, taco trucks, tequila limbo contests, even a corn roast contribute to the citywide festivities. Check out the wheres and whens at our Cinco de Mayo blog page.
Academy Award-winning actress and comedian Mo’Nique’s residency at SLS will continue into the summer to meet demand; Mo’Nique has been performing sold-out shows since opening in January. Added shows will be on May 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, and 25; and June 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 14, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, and 29. Shows are at 8 p.m., with additional 11 p.m. shows Fridays and Saturdays.
That's the question that the lead story of the May issue of the Las Vegas Advisor answers. Also in this month's issue: Pool season is revving up; you can play blackjack, catch a concert, or just take in the scenery at a “toptional” pool, assuming, that is, that you know where to go for each. Plus, get the scoop on AYCE sushi in a casino, the "Jeopardy!" guy, the best prime rib deal in town (it’s not in a casino), a new independent sports book, a Detroit Coney Island for 5¢, $1 and $2 beers 24/7, Ipswich fried clams on the Strip, sports betting insights from a bookie, even a premium-booze happy hour in a Strip club — all in the May LVA.
American dancer, choreographer, singer, actress, and television personality Paula Abdul has announced that she'll perform a 20-shows "Paula Abdul: Forever Your Girl" residency at the Flamingo, plugging the hole in the Flamingo's entertainment schedule opened up by the departure of Donny and Marie Osmond. Dates are Aug. 13, 15 , 16, and 17; Oct. 22, 24, 25, and 26; Nov. 26, 28, 29, and 30; Dec. 23, 24, 27, 28, and 31; and Jan. 1, 3, and 4. Tickets go on sale tomorrow and start at $69.
The Pinball Hall of Fame has filed plans with Clark County to build a new arcade on the south Strip on land it purchased last year for $4.5 million. The plans call for a single-story 27,000-square-foot building on a vacant lot at 4915 Las Vegas Blvd. S., south of Russell Road, a bit north of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, and across from the Bali Hai Golf Club. The facility will be three times the size of the current one on E. Tropicana, with enough space for 600-700 pinball machines, more than double the current capacity. Parking and admission will be free. Clark County commissioners are scheduled to vote on the project May 8 and the building could be completed and opened in 18 months.
In yesterday's show, James Holzhauer answered 42 questions in 42 attempts to set an all-time "Jeopardy!" record of 181 correct answers in a row, eclipsing the previous record of 179. His 723 correct answers in 746 attempts (96.9%) overall places him at number two in the number of correct questions answered by a single player in the show's history, while his 20 wins tie him for the second-longest winning streak (during the regular season). Finally, his $101,682 haul from yesterday's appearance gives Holzhauer "Jeopardy!'s" top-10 highest daily totals. We'd say the Las Vegas resident and professional sports bettor has, so far, pretty much beaten the game.
In a 4-1 vote, yesterday the Las Vegas City Council approved lounges for the consumption of cannabis. For the first year, dispensaries licensed by the city, of which there are 12, will be the only businesses permitted to open lounges; they'll have to be approved individually by the Council, then pay a $5,000 annual fee. The lounges will have to meet odor standards and have plans for security, fire safety, and air quality and must be at least 1,000 feet from schools and casinos. Patrons must be 21 or older and bring their own product, though the lounges can sell paraphernalia. Las Vegas is the first city in Nevada to approve pot lounges and one of only a few in the country that allows them, including San Francisco; Las Vegas city officials toured the San Francisco lounges in their research of the issue.
The betting handle on the name, weight, even the chosen godparents of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s baby is expected to reach $1.3 million at U.K. sports books. Someone must know something about the sex, since the name favorites are reportedly Diana, Alice, and Elizabeth.
Denver-based ultra-low-cost Frontier Airlines is now flying nonstop routes between Las Vegas and Philadelphia (daily), San Diego and Detroit (daily except Wed. and Sat.), Dallas-Ft. Worth (Mon., Wed., Fri., and Sat.), and Houston (Tues., Thurs., and Sun.).
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will collect a $35 million fine from Wynn Resorts for its failure to disclose allegations of sexual misconduct by former CEO Steve Wynn. Wynn will retain its Massachusetts gambling license, which will allow its $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor to open in Everett next month as scheduled. Regulators also imposed a $500,000 fine on current Wynn CEO Matthew Maddox personally for overlooking at least one misconduct complaint of which he was aware. (Every other Wynn executive who ignored or covered up the allegations against Wynn has been fired.) Finally, Wynn Resorts will be subject to review by an independent auditor.
In the American Lung Association's annual air-quality report, Las Vegas placed 13th worst for ozone and particle pollution in its ambient air from 2015 to 2017. The trend for "ozone exceedance days," when ozone levels are higher than the federal maximum, however, is down over the past 15 years, from a higher of 62 days in 2003 to a low of seven days in 2014. Anchorage, AK, Cheyenne, WY, Bangor, ME, and Lahaina, HI, ranked at the top of the cleanest-cities list, while California had seven out of eight of cities with the most air pollution.