Today marks the last day of racing at Boston’s Suffolk Downs, which has operated since 1935. It was New England’s last thoroughbred track; harness racing still runs at Plainridge Park.
The parcel of land, of which the Hawaiian Marketplace and Cable Center Shops that sold on Friday for $172 million are a piece, was assembled in the early 2000s by billionaire Robert Sillerman with the idea of building a $3.1 billion Elvis Presley-themed megaresort with 2,900 rooms and 14 restaurants. Sillerman's grand plan became another victim of the recession when he had to forfeit the land to lenders in 2008; it was later bought by Spectrum Group Management for $220 million, a fraction of what it cost. In a story for CDC Gaming Reports about the sale of the 9.5-acre stretch, with 700 feet of Strip frontage, by Spectrum to Gindi Capital, writer Buck Wargo reports that investors no longer believe that the best use of available land on the Las Vegas Strip is for a new hotel-casino, but rather value-oriented retail. “I see the Vegas Strip as Time Square West, with an incredible amount of foot traffic at a fraction of the rent,” said Eli Gindi, principal of Gindi Capital. Gindi described the Strip as "one of the best retail streets in the nation."
Have you seen our big new blog The Travel Game? The posts are penned by two travel-loving experts in the world of travel loyalty programs, award travel, and experiential travel. They start with the basics of travel points and award travel, then move on to specific deals and free travel via points and miles. The Travel Scoop has articles on avoiding checked-bag fees, guides to airport lounges and airline alliances, "skiplagging," even free rooms at the Wynn via the Wynn's slot app. What the Advisor is for Las Vegas, The Travel Game is for the rest of the world. Check it out and join the discussions in the travel forum.
Francis Ngannou is a -230 favorite over Junior Dos Santos in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Joseph Benavidez is -130 over Jussier Formiga.
Phil Hui won the prestigious Poker Players Championship at the World Series of Poker, outlasting Josh Arieh in heads-up play to take the $1.1 million first prize. Phil Ivey, who led much of the tournament late, finished 8th. Participation was down for the $50,000-buy-in event, with 74 players compared to 87 last year.
The popular country act, Eli Young Band, will perform on the 3rd Street stage on Fremont Street on Thursday July 4th. The band, which has earned multiple nominations from Grammy, CMA, CMT, ACA and Teen Choice Awards since it debuted in 2002 and has had four Billboard #1 hits, will take the stage at 9 p.m. and play till 10:30.
If all goes according to plan, Las Vegas will boast a second drive-in later this summer. Burger51, a combo drive-in-movie theater and drive-thru burger joint, is in the early stages of construction at 101 N. Decatur Blvd. a block north of the Decatur-US 95 interchange. It's the brainchild of the proprietor of the Heart Attack Grill downtown and according to VegasEater.com, it's "designed with a sci-fi futuristic dystopian theme and 1950s' retro style, where customers will place their orders at the drive-thru, then park to watch vintage horror and science-fiction films on the outdoor movie screen." Eater says that Burger51 hopes for a grand opening before the end of summer. Burger51 will join the the West Wind Drive-in Movie Theater located at 4150 W Carey Ave. near N. Rancho Drive just south of the North Las Vegas Airport, which opened in 1964.
A New York-based investment firm, Gindi Capital, has bought 9.5 acres of Strip land for $172 million, or $18.1 million an acre. The stretch of real estate includes the defunct Hawaiian Marketplace and the Cable Center Shops next door. According to the press release, the plans include razing the existing buildings and opening "a new flagship retail, entertainment, and dining experience.” The parcel is a little more than half of a long and relatively shallow 18-acre strip of land between MGM Grand and Planet Hollywood controlled by Spectrum Group Management, which bought the property out of bankruptcy in 2010. Spectrum pieced off a $30 million section to Walgreens and the demolished Smith & Wollensky building to the Showcase Mall for $59.5 million. It still owns six acres on the corner of the Strip and Harmon. No other details were released about the new "experience" planned by Gindi.
The Las Vegas (and southwestern U.S.) monsoon season begins at this time of year and continues through the end of September. During the hot and mostly dry summer months, residents and visitors can also see massive thunder and lightning storms, ferocious winds, and heavy flooding from weather systems that blow in from the south off the Gulf of California, the southeast from the Gulf of Mexico, or some combination of the two. Predicting the severity of monsoon season is tricky and historically, there can be no monsoon (1944) up to a combined total of nearly a month of rain and winds (22 days of storms in 1955). Motorists can be overwhelmed by fast-rising water from flash floods, especially if they think they can make it through, but can't. If you're caught in a monsoon storm or flood, just remember the National Weather Service slogan: Turn Around, Don't Drown.
Though visitor volume was up in all categories in May, including convention attendance, occupancy rates, and a new record for passenger traffic through McCarran Airport (4.59 million passengers, surpassing the previous record of 4.44 million set in October 2018), gambling revenue was down pretty much across the board. For Nevada overall, May recorded the largest decrease of the year, 6% less than May 2018, while the Strip was down nearly double that at 11.1%. It was the sixth straight month of lower gambling numbers on the Strip. The big decline was in baccarat (54.8%), but a decline in the sports betting handle was also substantial, down 45.1%. Year to date, the Strip win is down 4.9%.
According to a release from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers in the Las Vegas-Henderson Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average hourly wage of $21.92 last year, about 12% below the nationwide average of $24.98. (Reno's was $22.78, Carson City's $24.44.) Management occupations were highest paid at $55.52 per hour, followed by legal occupations at $51.30. In terms of occupations, food prep and serving, including fast food, comprised the most common job, with a little more than 60,000 employees, followed by retail sales (35,890), cashiers (25,640), janitors and cleaners (22,970), laborers and material handlers (22,110), housekeepers (21,980), office clerks (21,760), customer service reps (21,480), security guards (19,230), and casino dealers (18,670).
It’s official. SLS Las Vegas is changing its name back to Sahara Las Vegas. A precise timetable for the change wasn't disclosed, but branding to support the new old name is in progress.
In only the 12th full month of legal sports betting in New Jersey, the Garden State's sports book recorded a higher handle than Nevada's.
In May 2019, New Jersey casinos booked $318.9 million in sports bets, beating Nevada books' $317.4 million during the same month. New Jersey casinos began accepting sports bets on May 14, 2018.
Grubhub, the nation's leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery platform, representing more than 115,000 takeout restaurants in 2,200 U.S. cities, has released its semi-annual "State of the Plate" report. Grubhub analyzed data from more than a half-million daily orders through the first half of the year and found that vegan and vegetarian options are on the rise, increasing 25% year over year. In terms of cities where residents order the most vegan food for delivery, Las Vegas placed fourth, behind Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and Portland, OR; Rochester, NY, Philadelphia, Detroit, and San Diego rounded out the top eight.
Ground was broken yesterday for a 284-room hotel at the corner of Flamingo and Valley View. The Delta Hotel by Marriott will have a rooftop pool, rooftop bar and restaurants, 10,000 square feet of meeting space, ground-floor retail, a six-story parking garage, and check-in on the seventh floor. The hotel's half-acre is part of the 8.5-acre mixed-use property just west of the Palms, at which a luxury apartment complex is also being developed, along with retail and restaurants including Chick-Fil-A, Wahoo’s Fish Taco, and Denny’s. The hotel is slated for completion toward the end of 2021.
In its 15th annual "America's Best Drivers Report," Allstate Insurance ranked Las Vegas drivers 129th safest out of the 200 cities it studied, based on collision frequency using its claims data. Allstate determined that the average Vegas driver is involved in a collision once every 8.35 years, compared to the national average of once every 10.6 years. Brownsville, TX, is this year's number-one safest city for drivers, followed by Boise, ID; Huntsville, Al; Kansas City, KS; and Laredo, TX. Baltimore, MD, is the least safe, with a collision every 4.2 years; Washington, D.C. is second worst and Boston third.
Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines has announced nine new non-stop routes to commence this fall, seven of which will fly to and from McCarran International. Daily flights between Phoenix and Las Vegas start Sept. 6, to and from L.A. and Miami Sept. 10, and Orange County Nov. 14; flights on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday will start Nov. 14 to and from Reno, Portland, OR, and Seattle. Intro base fares are reportedly as low as $29 one way.
The highly successful Canadian franchise, Opa! of Greece, has opened on the third floor of the Fashion Show Mall, next to Crazy Crepes. It's the brand's first expansion into the U.S. Opa! of Greece has opened nearly 100 locations across Canada since 1998, from quick-service counters to full-service restaurants. Opa (a Greek word for expressing happiness; it's also often shouted when someone breaks a dish or when people are having a good time dancing) serves grilled and marinated souvlaki, slow-roasted gyro, Caesars and Greek salads, calamari, spanakopita, hummus, tzatziki, falafel, baklava, and special Opa! fries tossed in herbs and lemon juice.
In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun, Phil Ruffin, owner of Treasure Island and Casino Miami, along with co-owning Trump International in Vegas, says he'd be interested in buying another property on Las Vegas Boulevard if the new management of Caesars Entertainment follows through on its stated intention to sell off some of its Strip holdings (after that mega-deal closes next year). Pointedly, Ruffin said he wasn't interested in the Rio, which Caesars has been trying to sell for a number of years.
The Professional Bowlers Association’s World Series of Bowling XI will return to the 60-lane South Point Bowling Plaza in 2020 for its multi-event championship series, capped by the PBA World Championship. The World Series of Bowling will start on March 6 and include the PBA's Cheetah, Chameleon, and Scorpion championships, as well as the World Championship and the U.S. vs. The World team event. Fox Sports will cover all the championships, starting on March 15, with the PBA World Championship on March 18 and the concluding World Team match on March 19.
The promoters of the huge Coachella Music and Arts Festival have announced the inaugural "Day N Vegas" hip-hop gathering at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. The three-day confab will be held November 1-3, with headliners J. Cole (Friday), Travis Scott (Saturday), and Kendrick Lamar (Sunday). Other featured artists include Lil Uzi Vert, Juice WRLD, 6lack, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Mosey, Comethazine, MadeinTYO, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Rico Nasty, Young Nudy, Ski Mask the Slump God, Flatbush Zombies, Hippie Sabotage, and a host of others whose names aren't quite so colorful. Three-day general-admission tickets start at $299, VIP and Super VIP are $549/$899.
Local "Jeopardy!" phenom James Holzhauer played in the World Series of Poker yesterday. In the 1,867-player $1,500-buy-in Super Turbo Bounty no-limit hold ’em event, he'd built his stack from $25,000 to $86,000 when he lost an all-in hand of pocket sevens to pocket fives that flopped a set. On the very next hand, he held a king-jack against a king-10 and another 10 eliminated him in 454th place (the top 281 places cashed). Holzhauer had pledged half his winnings to Project 150, a North Las Vegas charity that helps homeless high-school students.
John Hennigan earned his sixth WSOP bracelet after beating Daniel Negreanu in the $10,000-buy-in seven-card stud tournament at the Rio. The 49-year-old Philadelphia native went heads-up against Las Vegan Negeanu for four hours and overcame a 2-1 chip deficit before winning the $245,451 first-place prize. Hennigan joins eight other players with six bracelets, including Negreanu; another eight players have 7-15 bracelets.
Scott Roeben of the VitalVegas.com blog writes in his latest post, "It’s clear sovereign tribal nations have their eye on Las Vegas in a big way" and "The first big move by a tribe in the Las Vegas market looks to be a partnership between Virgin Hotel Las Vegas and Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment." Roeben, the interactive marketing manager for the Fremont Street Experience, has the inside track on these matters and though he loves to swirl rumors, they almost always come to fruition. He's been told "reliably" that the Mohegan tribe, which owns and operates the Sun Casino-Resort in Connecticut, will manage the new Virgin casino. And could the Mohegans or another tribe be potential buyers of a Caesars Entertainment Strip property or two when the new company is ready to sell?
We don't often run Vegas News items about one-off entertainment announcements, but we couldn't control our excitement about two of our favorite all-time acts appearing together. On August 1, Deborah Harry and Blondie will open for Elvis Costello and the Imposters at the Pearl Theater at the Palms. Tickets start at $85 and go up to $400; they go on sale on Friday. Elvis Costello and the Imposters released its last album Look Now in 2018; Blondie's most recent release was Pollinator in 2017.
Reno-based Eldorado Resorts is acquiring Caesars Entertainment in a deal worth $17.3 billion in cash, stock, and debt. The deal will create the largest U.S. gaming operator, with a possible 60 owned, operated, and managed casino–resorts across 16 states. After the merger, Eldorado shareholders will own 51% of the combined outstanding stock and Eldorado’s management team will be in charge of the new company, which will be headquartered in Reno, operate under the Caesars name, and trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Eldorado will probably need to sell some of the new company's assets to attenuate federal anti-trust issues before the deal takes effect, with an anticipated closing date in the first half of 2020; Eldorado's CEO hinted that the new company could offload some Strip properties, which could be good for consumers. The deal requires approval by gaming regulators in a number of states, the Federal Trade Commission, and shareholders. Eldorado Resorts dates back to the opening of the Eldorado Casino on S. Virginia Street in Reno in 1973 and has expanded swiftly in recent years. The founding Carano family is still its largest shareholder.
A new restaurant called Old Soul has opened in downtown’s World Market Center. The restaurant is furnished with items that proprietor Natalie Young (also the owner of Fremont East’s Eat) says were found almost exclusively in downtown’s antique stores. Kinda cool!
Bellagio's Conservatory and Botanical Garden's summer display opened yesterday. "La Dolce Vita" is inspired by the Italian island of Capri off the Gulf of Naples. It features a replica of the Palazzo Pubblico (the Sienese Town Hall), riders on horseback, large plates, cups, and an oversized bottle, foliage-covered arches, and of course thousands of flowers. The summer display will remain until September 7.
If you're driving along I-15 around Jean, NV, you'll see the newly painted “Seven Magic Mountains.” Installed by Swiss-born New York-based mixed-media artist Ugo Rondinone in May 2016, the large-scale public-art exhibition's original day-glo-bright yellows, purples, reds, and blues — “a creative expression of human presence in the desert — had worn off over the three years; the Nevada Museum of Art and the Art Production Fund funded the fresh coat. The seven 30- to 35-feet-tall totems of 33 car-sized boulders, each weighing about 20 tons and cut from a Nevada quarry, were originally scheduled to remain through May 2018, but the dismantling date was extended through 2021.
According to a story in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal, more than three million people visited Red Rock Canyon in 2018, breaking the previous record by more than 600,000 and tripling the total since 2012. The hordes have prompted park managers to close the entrance and loop road when the parking lots are at capacity and vehicles are backed up from the fee gates onto the highway, which happens nearly every weekend in good weather. The Bureau of Land Management is considering various measures to relieve the congestion: an express entrance-exit lane for vehicles dropping off hikers; a 2.5-mile shortcut back to the visitor center so cars don't have to travel the entire 13-mile one-way loop; and a seasonal shuttle system that reduces traffic. For now, it's best to avoid Red Rock Canyon on Saturdays and Sundays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. when traffic is heaviest.
The world's largest travel-review website, TripAdvisor, has released its annual Traveler's Choice Awards and the Red Electric Bike guided tour of Red Rock Canyon was voted the #5 top attraction in the world, sandwiched between snorkeling the Silfra Rift in Iceland and a guided ride through Paris on a vintage motorcycle sidecar. The Red Rock bike tour placed at #2 on the list of U.S. top-ten travel experiences, after a Chicago architecture river cruise and before a 4x4 off-roading tour from Moab, Utah.
Renato Moicano is a -200 favorite over Chan Sung Jung in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Bryan Barberena is -250 over Randy Brown.
Based on the 20 sold-out shows of her dual residencies at Park Theater, Lady Gaga has added two dates for her "Enigma" big-band show and one for the more intimate "Jazz & Piano" through the end of the year: Dec. 28 and 30 for "Enigma" and a special "Jazz & Piano" for New Year's Eve. Additional dates have been also announced that will extend both shows into the spring, with "Enigma" scheduled for April 30 and May 2, 9, 13, and 15, "Jazz & Piano" May 3, 7, 10, and 16. Tickets start around $250 and go on sale at 10 a.m. June 28 at Ticketmaster.com or vegas.ladygaga.com.
Work on the new pedestrian bridge being installed over the Las Vegas Strip between Park MGM and MGM Grand will close the boulevard to traffic overnight Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. From 11 p.m. Monday to 10 a.m. Tuesday, northbound traffic will be rerouted between Tropicana and Harmon avenues. From 11 p.m. Tuesday to 10 a.m. Wednesday and 11 p.m. Wednesday to 10 a.m. Thursday, southbound traffic will be rerouted. Pedestrians might face some delays, but will be able to walk between Tropicana and Harmon Avenue.
After a long and controversial gestation period in which Wynn Resorts was on the verge of losing its Massachusetts gambling license due to the Steve Wynn sexual-misconduct allegations, Encore Boston Harbor finally opens for business Sunday morning at 10 a.m. in Everett, MA, roughly five miles north of downtown Boston right on the shore of the Mystic River. Touted as "the first true Vegas casino in the Northeast," the $2.6 billion project is the second full-scale resort-casino in Massachusetts after the MGM resort in Springfield. The 33-acre three-million-square-foot property includes a 671-room hotel, 15 dining options from a marble-floored Dunkin' Donuts and buffet to a steakhouse and seafood room, a nightclub called Memoire, 50,000 square feet of meeting space, upscale retail, and a six-acre waterfront park. The 210,000-square-foot casino features 3,158 slot machines, 143 table games, and an 88-table poker room. The guest rooms range from 650 to 5,800 square feet and are thus far going for $1 per square foot; yes, the smallest room is $650 a night. Alcohol will be served to "active gamblers" until 4 a.m., same as is allowed in Springfield, two hours later than the statewide closing time of 2 a.m. and will start up again at 8 a.m. six days a week and 10 a.m. on Sundays. Jeff Koons' $28 million Popeye statue has been moved from Vegas to the new resort, which also features a 10-horse merry-go-round with 83,000 flowers and 11,000 jewels. The Encore Boston is expected to draw 23,000 visitors on an average day and around 50,000 a day during peak weekends.
The restaurant company that runs Morels French Steakhouse at the Grand Canal Shoppes will, in the next week or so, open the second location of its Trustworthy Brewing Co. at the Venetian's mall. The first location opened in Burbank, CA, in 2017; the Grand Canal Shoppes venue, in the former I Love Burgers space, will be the only operational craft brewery on the Las Vegas Strip. Along with more than a dozen beers brewed onsite (IPA, pilsener, lager, ale, stout, sour, nitro, cask, and barrel-aged among them), Trustworthy will have a full bar and a food menu with a selection of prime smoked meats and barbecue. The brewery will also feature a game room with skeeball and shuffleboard, private dining rooms (for 12 to 80 guests), and brewery tours.
Anthony Curtis will be a guest this morning on the gambling show "Follow the Money" from the Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). A.C. will be on during the 6:30 PST segment. Listen on SirusXM 204 or watch live at VSiN.com. The show replays at 9 a.m.
The temporary museum of Aerosmith artifacts backstage at the Park Theater at Park MGM in conjunction with the band's current residency is now open to the general public. Previously, the museum space was limited to VIP ticket holders, but now you don't even need a ticket to the show to visit the display, just the $49 admission fee. It's the largest collection of Aerosmith memorabilia ever assembled and includes musical instruments, gold records, a Grammy, stage costumes, handwritten lyrics, neon signs, even the stage flooring used on tours. Hours are noon to 3 p.m. on show days and tickets can be purchased at aerosmith.com/vip.
Less than three weeks after the grand opening of Circa Sports at the Golden Gate, the D has unveiled its new sports book. The book is located on the second floor of the casino where the previous William Hill sports book stood. Described as a "satellite," it's changed very little, with the biggest upgrade being an expanded viewing wall. Same for the renovated Vue Bar, which, while not fully integrated into the sports book, also has more TVs above the bar than it did previously. The good quarter 8/5 Bonus Poker progressive games remain, making this one of the best bars in town to watch a game if you want to play high-return video poker while you watch.
Alex Meruelo, who owns SLS Las Vegas and the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, has been approved by the National Hockey League to buy the Arizona Coyotes hockey team. The deal is expected to close next month. Meruelo is known for picking up and turning around distressed companies, of which SLS, Grand Sierra, and the Coyotes are three. The team hasn't made the playoffs since 2011, it's been near the bottom in attendance for 15 years, and its arena is subpar. Meruelo's first task is a new arena.
A new culture festival, "billed as the first of its kind to truly mash up music, video games and esports," will take place Oct. 19-20 at the 40-acre Las Vegas Festival Grounds (across from SLS). The Metarama Gaming + Music Festival will be headlined by Snoop Dogg, Marshmello, rappers Lil Yachty and Logic, professional esports gamers including Ninja and NickMercs, DJs Alan Walker and Shaquille O'Neal as DJ Diesel, comedians Rhett & Link, streamers TimTheTatMan and Nick Eh 30, electronica violinist Lindsey Stirling, the rock band Grouplove, top game streamers such as DrLupo, Jacksepticeye, Pokimane and Sodapoppin, and Imagine Dragons participating in a pro-am tournament. Tickets for the all-ages festival are on sale at metaramafestival.com; two-day general admission tickets are $150 and go up to $860 for the Power Up VIP package.
If you're in town and are wondering about all the hoopla on a sound stage on the vacant lot across from Luxor, it's the fitness-competition TV show "American Ninja Warrior" taping the national finals of its latest season. Competitors must complete all 23 obstacles on four stages, each one escalating the levels of difficulty.
Villa Harrah, the fabled property in Glenbrook, NV, a few miles north of Stateline on the south shore of Lake Tahoe, is for sale. Built in the 1960s and the scene of lavish parties for the Rat Pack and a constant stream of celebrities appearing at Harrah's Reno and Tahoe, the 23,000-square-foot estate on a half-acre of lakefront property was gutted in 2014 and underwent a three-year renovation to bring it up to date; it's been a rentable party house at $15,000 per night since then. The house has eight bedrooms, nine full bathrooms and six half-bathrooms, a Great Room that can accommodate 100 guests, and a full spa with steam room, sauna, hot tub and cold plunge, even a therapeutic salt cave. All yours for a mere for $25,750,000.
Starting tomorrow, the 30-day enforcement grace period ends for the new carpool lanes on I-15 and US 95. Unlike most other cities' HOV lanes, which are in force only during weekday rush hours, the rules for the 22 miles of continuous HOV lanes in Las Vegas will be in effect 24/7, including weekends. Allowed in the new lanes are vehicles with two or more occupants, including electric cars, single-rider motorcycles, and emergency and law-enforcement vehicles with one occupant. Qualifying vehicles can enter/exit the HOV lanes only at one of the broken-line sections. Trucks with more than two axles, even with two or more occupants, are prohibited. Violations of the carpool regulations will result in a fine of $250.
The "Annabelle Comes Home Artifact Room Tour" will be at the Fremont Street Experience today from 3 to 11 p.m. The mini-exposition that’s being used to promote the new movie Annabelle Comes Home is staged in a truck and features props from the movie, including the evil Annabelle doll. Admission is free.
A new reality show, "Inside Vegas," is set to debut on Thursday. The show "promises a unique behind-the-scenes look at the hard issues the city grapples with." This first season deals with a massage parlor suspected of prostitution, a nonprofit that gets into trouble with the law, and enforcement around AirBnB party houses. The storylines are centered around how the City Council, staff, and concerned citizens "come together to make changes and reach resolutions." You can watch the entire season one this Thursday on the GoVegas app, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV and/or catch it as it airs episode by episode starting on July 1 on KCLV, Channel 2, the government-access station that features original programming focused on the city of Las Vegas.
An unidentified Ultimate Texas Hold 'em player at Palazzo was dealt a natural royal flush in diamonds and won the Millionaire Progressive jackpot for $1.08 million on the $5 side bet. The jackpot resets at $1 million.
Country superstar Shania Twain will return for her second Las Vegas residency, consisting of 23 performances, starting December 6 at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood. Twain's first residency, “Still the One,” encompassed 105 shows over two years, 2012 to 2014, at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The new show, "Let's Go," runs through June 2020 and tickets go on sale June 21 for the following dates: Dec. 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, and 18; March 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 25, 27, and 28; May 20, 22, 23, 27, 29, and 30; and June 3, 5, and 6. Tickets start at $159 and go up to $1,190.
Lord Stanley's famous Cup made a couple of appearances in town yesterday, accompanied, of course, by members of the Cup-winning St. Louis Blues. The team and Cup showed up at Omnia dayclub at Caesars Palace, then moved to Wet Republic at MGM Grand. As is traditional, players drank Champagne from it; it is a cup, after all.
The UNLV Library’s Special Collections and Archives Division has digitized and made available online nearly every issue of the Las Vegas Age, Las Vegas' earliest newspaper, published from 1905 to 1947, and the Las Vegas Times, the Age's main competition, though only for the two years it was in print: 1905-1906. The project took 18 months and some detective work to track down missing issues throughout the state. The archive, invaluable for historians doing primary research on Las Vegas, is found at http://d.library.unlv.edu/digital/collection/LasVegas02a.
Frites will open next week at the Castle Walk Food Court at Excalibur, with only one main food on the menu: french fries ($5-$6). All kinds of toppings will be available, of course, such as a fried egg, deviled eggs, sausage gravy, nacho-style, Thai chili, and more. The grand opening is slated for June 24.
Several Father's Day specials are listed in our “Vegas With an Edge” blog. Also, Boyd casinos are awarding 11X points in video poker and dads get a free beer at any buffet. Home Plate bar if offering its usual Sunday $20 matchplay deal.
Going into today's final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament, Justin Rose is the +175 favorite to win. He’s followed by Gary Woodland at +200, Brooks Koepka at +525, and Rory McIlroy at +1050.
The 59-year-old Macayo Mexican restaurant at 8245 W. Sahara Ave. that closed in March will be reopening at a new location and with a new name, but the same menu. The Blue Macaw (macayo means macaw in Spanish) will occupy the former Famous Dave's Barbeque at the Grand Flamingo Center near Flamingo and 215 in the west valley, where a sign announces the new name above parentheses: "Formerly Macayo." The grand-opening date hasn't been announced, but is expected by late summer. The original Macayo at 1741 E. Charleston Blvd. on the eastside, fourth oldest restaurant in Las Vegas, is still slated to close as soon as the building is sold.
Willie Nelson will perform a mini-residency, "Vegas on My Mind," for six nights at the Venetian in in October: 18, 19, 22, 23, 25 and 26. Tickets start at $59.95 and go on sale to the public on Friday June 21.
Our current reader-demographics poll will greatly assist our efforts in negotiating with the casinos over coupons for our annual Member Rewards Book. It's hard to believe, but those negotiations will start in another few months for the 2020 book. We know that our readership consists of the patrons Las Vegas casinos, including the ones on the Strip, covet the most, but they don't. With the results of the demographics poll, we'll have a tidy list of vital statistics to place in front of them. If you haven't voted, click the link above, fill in a few blanks, and submit! Help us to help you!
Seven hockey players from the Vegas Golden Knights will take on NFL Hall of Famer Marcus Allen and a team of Raiders football players, plus some celebrities thrown in, in the first of what organizers hope will be an annual Battle for Vegas charity softball game at Las Vegas Ballpark to benefit the Tyler Robinson Foundation, which helps fight childhood cancer. The VGK team includes Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds and former MLB slugger Jose Canseco, while the Raiders team includes 1990 NCAA tournament MVP Anderson Hunt and former MLB player Shane Victorino. The game is sold out; we just thought you'd like to know about a cool thing that's happening here today.
The International Cat Association's (TICA) 40th annual All Breed Cat Show and awards ceremony will be held at the Rio on August 30 and September 1. As many as 500 cats across 70 breeds will compete for Best Cat, Best Kitten, Best Pet, and other awards. TICA, the world's largest genetic registry of cats and kittens, was the first and now the largest registry to allow household cats of unknown ancestry, and many non-pedigreed breeds will be on display at the show; 20 vendors of feline products will also be on hand. Tickets ($15 adults, $10 seniors, and free for children under 12; bring two cans of cat food and get $2 off) are available at jazzycats2019.com.
An interesting commentary by Howard Stutz of CDC Gaming Reports speculates that the U.S. Justice Department will appeal a New Hampshire district court judge's decision to reverse the Justice opinion, issued in January, that broadens the scope of the Wire Act to prohibit online casino gambling, online Powerball ticket sales, wide-area progressive slot networks, and mobile sports wagering. The article quotes a gaming analyst who indicates that the DOJ might have ulterior motives for appealing. "They may not like the precedent this sets for other issues, or the loss of face, or any number of other factors that don’t have to do with the issue of online gambling itself.” One of those factors is political pressure, especially from the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, which is bankrolled by Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson. But gaming attorney Tony Cabot predicts that it's "unlikely" an appeals court would overturn the district court judge's decision, which would essentially preclude the Supreme Court from wading into the issue.
Our new book, The Blackjack Insiders -- How Two Pit Bosses Beat the Casinos at Their Own Game, is back from the printer and ready to ship. This memoir relates the experiences of two casino floor supervisors who perfected their card-counting skills by watching blackjack games eight hours a day, then used their inside knowledge of casino protocols and procedures to launch a no-holds-barred attack on 21 tables throughout the country. No blackjack book has ever been written from such a deep-rooted behind-the-scenes perspective. For a limited time only, The Blackjack Insiders is selling for $12.95, 35% off the retail price, and includes free shipping to U.S. addresses.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's John Katsilometes, the History Channel's blockbuster show "Pawn Stars" has been renewed for 40 one-hour episodes over Season 17. Las Vegas-based "Pawn Stars" premiered on July 19, 2009, so it's about the celebrate its 10th anniversary; it's History’s highest rated show. Katsilometes reports that the cast will "travel around the world, looking for items of interest." Season 17 is expected to debut in April or May 2020.
With last winter's snowfall up to 138% of normal in the Colorado Basin, Lake Powell is rising fast from the melt. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation predicts that Powell will rise 50 feet this year from 12 million acre-feet of runoff, 112% of average and nearly three times as much as last year. The huge influx will allow federal water managers to release the full nine million acre-feet from Powell to flow into Lake Mead. It's a huge turnaround from last year, when Mead's surface level dropped so low that water managers were getting ready to institute emergency water-shortage measures. The specter of a shortage declaration, according to the Bureau, has been postponed for at least two years.
The Golden State Warriors are -2.5 favorites over the Toronto Raptors in Game 6 of the NBA Championship series. The total is 212.
"All these long shots in every sport, if they come back and win, we’re going to lose. That’s the boat we’re in,” Tony Miller, Golden Nugget sports book director, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal this morning about the St. Louis Blues beating the Boston Bruins in last night's Stanley Cup Game 7. A number of Vegas sports books took futures bets on the Blues at up to 300-1 in January, when they were in dead last place in the league -- and today they're paying off, big time.
It's been a year since the U.S. Supreme Court opened sports betting to states other than Nevada and the eight states that now allow it have booked more than $9 billion in legal sports wagers. Nevada remains in first place, with more than $5.2 billion from May 2018 to April 2019, followed by New Jersey with $2.94 billion (June 2018 through May 2019), Mississippi $269 million, Pennsylvania $162 million, Delaware $155 million, West Virginia $110 million, and Rhode Island $93 million. In New Mexico, sports bets are allowed, but the state doesn't report the numbers.
After diverting all southbound traffic last weekend for paving and striping work, road crews will close I-15 northbound between Sahara Avenue and West Washington Avenue, just north of the Spaghetti Bowl, from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday. All northbound traffic will be rerouted along Rancho-Bonanza-Martin Luther King or Industrial-Grand Central Parkway-Bonneville to Washington and back onto I-15.
Rory McIlroy is the +875 favorite to win golf's U.S. Open. He's followed by Dustin Johnson at +900, Brooks Koepka at +1050, and Tiger Woods at +1200.
The Boston Bruins are -180 favorites over the St. Louis Blues in tonight's deciding Game 7 of the NHL's Stanley Cup finals. The goal line is 5.
A food truck hub opens this Friday at the Fergusons Downtown event and market space, 900 E. Fremont Street. A rotating schedule of 10 trucks will park and serve their specialties on Friday and Saturday nights from 7 to 11 p.m. In addition to all the food, the park will have benches, lighting, and games for kids. Friday's launch will include lobster, vegan, Kona ice, and others.
Yes, it's the original Golden Gate shrimp cocktail: The recipe is on loan to the 7th and Carson restaurant downtown from Derek Stevens, owner of the Golden Gate, till Circa opens. We reviewed it in the currrent issue of the Las Vegas Advisor: same tulip glass full of cold-water Bay shrimp (though the cocktail sauce is a lot hotter than we remember it), but it's going for $9.99, ten times the original price. For the rest of this month, however, it's available for 99 cents -- from 5 to 6 p.m. only and with the purchase of an entree. So it's not a standalone 99 cents, but it is a good side dish for a buck.
In its annual "State of the States" report, the American Gaming Association reports that U.S. casinos enjoyed a record year in 2018, with gaming revenue rising 3.5% over 2017 to $41.68 billion. It was the fourth consecutive year that revenues increased, but last year seven states -- New Jersey, Delaware, Mississippi, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia -- launched legal sports betting for the first time. The new jurisdictions boosted sports betting revenues 65% over 2017 to $430.2 million. Nationwide, taxes on gaming revenue reached just under $10 billion, an increase of 3.1% over 2017 and a new record, and that didn't include sales, room, entertainment, income, and other taxes paid by the casino industry.
Our new book, The Blackjack Insiders—How Two Pit Bosses Beat the Casinos at Their Own Game is back from the printer and ready to ship. Having moved from one side of the blackjack tables to the other, author Andrew Uyal lets you in on how the other side thinks and is able to contrast the conflicting positions, having played them both. The book is currently discounted from $19.95 to $12.95 and includes shipping to U.S. destinations. It's also available as an e-book on all major platforms, including Kindle, for $9.99.
The third Las Rageous rock and metal music festival will be held on Oct. 18 and 19 at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center. Rob Zombie, Bring Me the Horizon, Chevelle, and The Used will headline the festival. Other acts will include I Prevail, Dance Gavin Dance, Atreyu, Sleeping With Sirens, Beartooth, Fever 333, Whitechapel, While She Sleeps, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, He Is Legend, and The Hu.
Two-day passes cost $159 and will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday.
A Washington man hit a $1.8 million jackpot at the Strat on Friday. The winner, who chose not to reveal his identity, was playing a Buffalo Grand machine. Buffalo Grand is one of many with Aristocrat Technologies' long-running Buffalo theme; it was designed by Studio 54’s Ted Hase, one of the developers of the original Microsoft Xbox.
Our own Anthony Curtis was recently interviewed by Forbes and it's always interesting to hear his candid responses to the media about the state of the scene here. Excellent questions, inside answers -- definitely a worthwhile five-minute investment for Vegasphiles.
The Golden State Warriors are -1.5 favorites over the Toronto Raptors in Game 5 of the NBA Championship series. The total is 217.
One ticket sold at Sorrento Deli Mart near Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego had all six Mega Millions numbers on it from Friday night's drawing. The lucky lottery player won $530 million, the seventh-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history and the 15th largest in U.S. lottery history. The cash payout option is $345.2 million.
In honor of the Hard Rock Cafe's 48th annual "Founders Day" on June 14, the worldwide restaurant chain is introducing 20 new menu items, one of which is a 24-karat-gold-leaf burger. The half-pound burger is topped with Tillamook cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion -- and a leaf of 24-karat edible gold. From what we understand, gold leaf is flavorless, odorless, and biologically inert, meaning it passes through the digestive tract without being absorbed and is therefore harmless. The burger will be served at the Hard Rock Cafe in the Showcase Mall on the Strip; the only price we could find was $24.50 (at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa). All proceeds from the burger will be donated to Action Against Hunger, a global humanitarian organization.
Vegas Superkarts has opened at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It sounds to us like the best go-kart experience in Las Vegas: Sodikart SR5s are the latest, fastest, and safest model on the market with and safety roll cages and four-point harness seatbelt; the track is nearly a half-mile long, with 14 turns and two acceleration straightaways; and timing software provides precise lap-times and live-timing on TV screens. Eight-year-olds and older can drive the Junior karts ($30 per race); the adult karts are 14 and older ($35); discounts are offered for multi-race packages. Vegas Superkarts is next to Exotics Racing Driving Center at the Speedway and is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The St. Louis Blues are -125 favorites over the Boston Bruins in tonight's Game 6 of the NHL's Stanley Cup finals. The goal line is 5.
The 13th annual Las Vegas Restaurant Week starts a week from tomorrow, June 17, and runs through June 28. Nearly 200 restaurants, many on the Strip, but also a number of upscale local eateries, participate by offering fixed-price lunches or dinners in the $20-$80 range. Restaurant Week is sponsored by Three Square Food Bank and a portion of the proceeds from diners help Three Square in its quest to end hunger in southern Nevada. Since launching in 2007, Restaurant Week has paid for more than five million meals. The full list of participating restaurants, which is pretty impressive, can be found at helpoutdineoutlv.org.
With 50 million passengers expected to pass through McCarran International this year, plans for a new Las Vegas Airport continue to move along. Last September, Clark County commissioners approved an environmental impact study (EIS) for the 6,000 acres of federal land near Jean, roughly 30 miles south of Las Vegas on I-15; last week, the Clark County Department of Aviation, Federal Aviation Administration, and Bureau of Land Management all agreed to allow the EIS to go forward. McCarran officials will now return to the Commission to select consultants to help conduct the study, which is expected to take at least two years and cost $5 million to $7 million. The EIS officially starts a process that could conceivably result in opening the airport as early as 2035.
The Miss Earth USA beauty pageant will be held at South Point June 27-30. The Miss Earth USA winner will compete against 100 other national representatives from six continents in the Philippines in early November in the 19th annual international environmental-themed beauty and talent pageant. Reigning Miss Earth Nguyen Phuong Khanh of Vietnam and Miss Earth USA Yashvi Aware of Maryland will attend the pageant in Las Vegas. Tickets are on sale at southpointcasino.com/entertainment/showroom.
Rafael Nadal is a -485 favorite over Dominic Thiem in tomorrow's French Open men's tennis final. Nadal is 11-0 in French finals. The match starts early, at 9 a.m. EST.
Marlon Moraes is a -160 favorite over Henry Cejudo in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Valentina Schevchenko is -1550 over Jessica Eye.
The current odds for the Belmont Stakes make Tacitus the favorite at 9-5, followed by War of Will at 2-1 and Master Fencer at 8-1. The long shot is Joevia at 30-1.
Femi Fashakin of Orlando, Florida, won the largest live poker tournament in history yesterday, outlasting 28,371 players in the Big 50 No-Limit Hold 'em inaugural event at this year's World Series of Poker. Fashakin is a software engineer and entrepreneur who was born in Lagos, Nigeria. His first WSOP bracelet earned him just under $1.5 million; his previous WSOP earnings were $12,000. Canadian Paul Cullen, who lives in Las Vegas, earned $709,183 for second place.
Ashleigh Barty is a -170 favorite over Marketa Vondrousova in today’s French Open women’s tennis final. It’s the first Grand Slam final for both players.
A lucky player at Paris hit a Pai Gow Poker linked-progressive jackpot yesterday, winning $1.64 million, holding a seven-card king-high straight flush (with the single joker serving as the 9). Caesars Entertainment's progressive Pai Gow Poker jackpot is linked to nearly 50 tables at 13 Caesars properties throughout Nevada.
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, “the house that Celine built,” will host the megasuperstar performer one last time tonight. The Las Vegas resident who lives out at Lake Las Vegas with her sons Rene-Charles, 18, and Nelson and Eddy, 8, and is roundly credited with reviving a moribund Las Vegas entertainment scene when she launched her "A New Day" residency in 2003, will have appeared 1,100 times since then, 700 for "A New Day" and 400 for her "Celine" residency that followed, starting in 2011. She's performed for more than four million fans at the Colosseum over the past 16 years, grossing more than $700 million in ticket sales. A parade of celebrities has made the pilgrimage to her show over the past few weeks to honor her. Celine will tour the U.S. and Canada for the next year or so.
The Golden State Warriors are -5 favorites over the Toronto Raptors in Game 5 of the NBA Championship series. The total is 215.
The Naked Magicians at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club at MGM Grand has closed after a four-month run. The two Aussies might have even broken up the show; according to VegasChanges.com, one of the magicians is back in Australia, while the other is staying in Las Vegas "to join an in-development variety show."
The Bureau of Land Management's southern Nevada jewel, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, will offer free admission tomorrow in recognition of National Get Outdoors Day. The fees are normally $15 for a car or truck, $10 for a motorcycle, and $5 for a pedestrian or bicyclist. The loop road is open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and the visitor center 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Major congestion at the entrance station is expected between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The Chinese government is warning its citizens about official harassment when traveling to and from the United States and has issued a safety alert about coming to this country. Considered fallout from the trade war, the alerts are having an effect on Las Vegas' bottom line. Bank of America analyst Andrew Didora says that the casinos are feeling the pinch. "Las Vegas has already noted weaker Asian gambling trends. Baccarat gross gaming revenues are often a barometer for the health of the Asian consumer and are down 26% year to date.”
The Boston Bruins are -160 favorites over the St. Louis Blues in tonight's Game 5 of the NHL's Stanley Cup finals. The goal line is 5.
Interstate 15 southbound between the Spaghetti Bowl and Sahara Avenue will be closed -- entirely, completely, fully -- all weekend for paving and striping work on the two-mile stretch. Traffic will be diverted onto Rancho Blvd. from Friday at 10 p.m. to Monday at 5 a.m.
More than 28,300 entrants, nearly 18,000 players including rebuys, ponied up the $500 buy-in for the "Big 50" tournament that kicked off the World Series of Poker's 50th year this week. The previous record of 22,374 entrants for a live poker tournament was set in 2015 at the WSOP’s "Colossus" event. The prize pool will total $13 million-plus when the winner is crowned sometime tomorrow.
The Las Vegas City Council has passed a resolution allowing a local developer to start negotiations with Major League Soccer to build a stadium at Cashman Center downtown. The resolution gives the developer and the city six months to firm up financing details and make a bid for the Las Vegas Lights soccer team, now playing its second season in the United Soccer League, one level just below MLS, to become an MLS expansion team. The plan would replace Cashman Field, where the Lights play, with a 22,000- to 25,000-seat stadium as part of a mixed-use development on 60 acres just north of downtown. Meanwhile, Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley has also tossed his hat into the MLS ring, announcing that he's "exploring the possibility" of bringing an MLS team to Las Vegas to play in the 65,000-seat Raiders' stadium, which is looking to fill up its events schedule. In MLS' first season in 1996, it had 10 teams. It has now expanded to 24 teams and will have 29 by 2022. The 30th team is up for grabs; Las Vegas, Phoenix, Detroit, and Charlotte are on the short list for number 30.
The Golden State Warriors are -3.5 favorites over the Toronto Raptors in Game 3 of the NBA Championship series. The total is 213.
According to Scott Roeben of VitalVegas.com, a "well-placed source" has confirmed that the SLS will be rerebranded by returning to the original name of the property, Sahara Hotel and Casino, and the new-old name "will be announced in the next few weeks." The Sahara opened in 1952 and survived three ownership groups through 2007, when it was sold to L.A. real estate and entertainment mogul Sam Nazarian. Nazarian closed it in May 2011. After a $415 million upgrade, the property reopened in August 2014 as SLS, which stands for "Style, Luxury, and Service," but none of the three worked out for Nazarian, who sold the hotel-casino to Stockbridge Real Estate Group, little more than a year later. Stockbridge lasted two and a half years before selling to Alex Meruelo, who also owns the Grand Sierra in Reno and is rumored to be buying a second Vegas casino.
Las Vegas is forecast to hit its first 100-degree day tomorrow by 5 p.m. If it does, it'll be a more than a week later than usual: The average date for the first 100-degree day is May 26. The record for the latest 100-degree day was set in 1965, when it didn’t reach 100 until June 30. The hottest days in May reached 93 degrees, which was only the third year on record that May temperatures didn't hit at least 94.
It was bound to happen sometime and it did. Emma Boettcher, a 27-year-old librarian at the University of Chicago who wrote her master's thesis in 2016 on "on predicting the difficulty of trivia questions using 'Jeopardy!' clues," defeated Las Vegas sports bettor James Holzhauer on yesterday's "Jeopardy!" show, which was taped in March. Boettcher took the lead during the Double Jeopardy round with an all-in bet on her Daily Double; she also consistently beat Holzhauer on the buzzer, then answered correctly. Holzhauer bet just enough on Final Jeopardy to win by $1 if Boettcher answered incorrectly, but it was a Shakespeare question and Boettcher wrote her undergraduate thesis at Princeton on Shakespeare's plays. Holzhauer went 25 for 25 on the show, while Boettcher went 22 for 22, but he buzzed in first on only 42% percent of clues, his worst performance since his second game on April 5. In his 33 games, Holzhauer won $2,464,216, $58,485 less than the record set by Ken Jennings in 2004. But he set every other record in the book: the three highest winning amounts, the 16 most prolific performances in the show's 35 seasons and 23 of the top 27 overall with an average of $77,000 in winnings, and answering correctly 97% of the time.
A federal judge has rejected a U.S. Justice Department opinion, issued last November, that the 1961 Wire Act pertains to all gambling and not just sports betting. The Obama administration's Justice Department ruled that the Wire Act pertained to sports betting only, which paved the way for online poker and other gambling across state lines. New Hampshire sued in federal court and the judge ruled that the state had the standing to challenge the opinion and that the Wire Act pertained only to gambling on sports.
The St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins are pick 'em in tonight's Game 4 of the NHL's Stanley Cup finals. The goal line is 5.5.
The Jeff Koons' statue of Popeye that has graced a couple different locations at the Wynn is moving to the new Encore Boston Harbor tomorrow in time for the grand opening of the $2.6 billion hotel-casino later this month. Steve Wynn paid $28 million for the statue at an art auction four years ago. You can read a Question of the Day about the statue here.
Last night after her "Jazz & Piano" show at the Park Theater, Lady Gaga and a few friends brought the party to the NoMad restaurant, where trumpeter and her "J&P" bandleader Brian Newman launched his own lounge gig, "After Dark," last Thursday. Gaga remained on stage for nearly an hour and a half, after her two-and-a-half hour show, to do six songs, including the standards “Call Me Irresponsible,” “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” and “Fly Me to the Moon.” The 100 surprised and delighted people in the audience were reportedly on their feet the whole time. “Brian Newman After Dark,” which "reimagines the classic Las Vegas lounge show," runs Thursday to Sunday until June 15.
The June Las Vegas Advisor introduces our new blog, The Travel Game, which delves into easily implemented advantage-play strategies in travel. This month's issue also reviews The Heartbreak Hotel Elvis jukebox musical, gives the scoop on this year’s World Series of Poker and six alternative poker tourneys, and covers the return of the Golden Gate shrimp cocktail, a $1 million NFL contest, a late-night sushi discount, a bar with “’burgh sandwiches,” the new HOV law, even a happy hour featuring beef heart, braised fennel, and stuffed yucca. A subscription is only $3 a month and comes with our Member Rewards Book with thousands in money-saving coupons.
The Toronto Raptors are -2 favorites over the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Championship series. The total is 213.
Las Vegas is home to the "largest robotaxi service in the world" and Lyft's autonomous-vehicle project in Las Vegas has logged 50,000 rides since starting the program here in May 2018. The fleet of 30 modified BMW 5-Series sedans, which display big "Aptiv" signs on the doors, are outfitted with an array of sensors, cameras, computers, and an enhanced electrical system and can be summoned by anyone using the Lyft app; they all have a safety driver at the wheel for emergencies and an Aptiv engineer riding shotgun and monitoring the systems for the 20 hours a day that the cars are in service. Passengers have been uniformly impressed by the driverless cars, giving them 4.97 out of five stars, with 92% saying they felt very safe during the rides.
The Raiders organization is adding $40 million to the price tag of building its stadium in Las Vegas in an effort to attract the Super Bowl to the city in 2025 or thereafter. The extra expense will be invested in building 20 new suites, a 26,000-square-foot field-level club area, upgraded information technology and operations systems, additional restrooms, and architectural improvements, all to get the NFL's attention when it decides where the 2025 Super Bowl, the first year it's available, will be played.
The Magic of Jen Kramer celebrated its first anniversary at the Westgate with the announcement that the show, starring the only only female-headlining magician in Las Vegas, will remain in the Westgate Cabaret for another two years. You can read our review of Jen and her mentalism, comedy, sleight-of-hand, and charisma at VegasWithAnEdge.
The St. Louis Blues are -120 favorites over the Boston Bruins in tonight's Game 3 of the NHL's Stanley Cup finals. The goal line is 5.
Catchers Fish House opens today at the Commercial Center on East Sahara about a mile from the Strip. Catchers bills itself as a foodie fish-and-chips place, with fresh red snapper and catfish flown in daily, then hand-breaded using an old family recipe. Catchers also serves popcorn shrimp and wings, sandwiches, tacos, salads, and sides. It's open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day.
According to a study by SmartAsset.com, a financial-tech website providing personal-finance advice, Las Vegas is the second-most affordable vacation destination for families and individuals. SmartAsset found that Las Vegas has the lowest average round-trip airfare on its list of the top 25 destinations at $231.05 per person, with an average hotel rate of $125 and an average restaurant meal at $25 per person. A three-day three-night vacation for a family of four costs $2,409, while for an individual will be a little less than $900. Orlando was the number-one most affordable destination, coming in at $2,373/$853, with Ft. Lauderdale, San Antonio, and Albuquerque rounding out the top five. Reno placed seventh and Memphis 25th.
The new Circa sports book at the Golden Gate opens today at 8 a.m. Bets on all games being played today (full-game, sides only) will be offered with no juice, meaning a baseball game might go off at something like -130/+130, with no spread for the bookie’s edge. Full limits will be dealt and it’s one bet per person per game. Get there early.
The Australian male-dancer show Thunder from Down Under has inked a new contract to remain at Excalibur for another 10 years. The showroom will undergo a $6 million renovation, increasing the number of seats from 375 to 425. New 11 p.m. shows will be added on Thursdays and Sundays during peak times and the size of the Thunder cast will expand from eight performers to 13; the theater project will be completed when the new show opens in July. The longest-running and highest-grossing male revue in the history of Las Vegas, Thunder from Down Under opened in July 2002.