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The Vegas Golden Knights' veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury won his first Vezina Trophy last night; the Vezina is awarded to the Goalie of the Year. Fleury edged out Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and Colorado’s Philipp Grubauer to win it. The 36-year-old Fleury finished third in overall stats in the league: 26 wins, a 1.98 goals-against percentage, a .928 save percentage, and six shutouts in 36 games. He also finished out the regular season with a nine-game winning streak and moved into third place in the NHL with 492 career wins. He and fellow goalie Robin Lehner had already won the William M. Jennings Trophy for combining to allow an NHL-low 124 goals this season.
Last night, a lucky (anonymous) gambler at the Venetian hit a jackpot of a little more than $1.5 million on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine.
According to the totals released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board this morning, the state’s casinos won $1.23 billion in May, 25% higher than May 2019 and $50 million more than the previous record high, achieved in October 2007, of $1.17 billion. Every gaming market in the state increased in May. Last month also marked the third straight in which Nevada has posted more than $1 billion in gaming revenue. Clark County also set a record for slot win at $358.3 million.
As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, the Plaza is opening Studio 71, a space that offers "disco-inspired" neon- and LED-lit backdrops for selfies and group shots. The 71 in the name stands for 1971, the early days of the disco craze and the year the Plaza opened, while the Studio pays homage to the "ubiquitous style" of Studio 54, the famous disco nightclub in midtown Manhattan. The space includes showgirls, dice, roller skates, mirrored balls, and historical photos of the Plaza. It's free, located near the dome entrance next to the casino, and open from noon to midnight on Saturdays and Sundays and 4 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday starting tomorrow, July 1, and continuing through the end of the year.
The Buffet at Bellagio is reopening on Friday July 16 for brunch seven days a week. It will be open 7 a.m.–3 p.m. and prices will be Monday-Thursday $39.99 and Friday-Saturday: $45.99, children 5 and under free, 6-11 half-price. Reservations are available for groups of 12 or more. With the MGM Grand Buffet's reopening on May 26, the Excalibur Buffet returning on Thursday, and Bellagio's in a few weeks, we'd like to say that MGM Resorts is making a statement. But it remains to be seen which of the company's other buffets will show back up. We figure Aria's and the Mirage's are safe bets and Luxor's is pick 'em; Mandalay Bay's has always seemed like an afterthought to us.
Ex-Van Halen frontman, solo artist, Cabo Wabo founder, and party animal Sammy Hagar will headline at least four shows in the 600-seat Strat Theater this fall. It's billed as Sammy Hagar and Friends and the friends are monster performers in their own right: former Van Halen bass player Michael Anthony, drummer Jason Bonham (son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham), and long-time Hagar guitarist Vic Johnson. The first two shows will take place over Halloween weekend, October 29 and 30, with two more the following weekend, November 5 and 6., all beginning at 9 p.m. Tickets start at $100 and go on sale to the general public tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Our newest release, Radical Blackjack by Arnold Snyder, is back from the printer and shipping as we type. Thanks to everyone who ordered for your patience as we navigated the new world of production and printing post-pandemic. You should have your copies of Snyder's most revealing book ever in a week or two. Autographed copies are available.
Typically, July temperatures don't fluctuate too widely, with normal highs between 103 and 105 and lows between 79 and 82. Record high temperatures, however, have risen all the way to 117 twice (in 1942 and 2005), with 116 ten times and 115 another ten. Record lows have dropped to 56 degrees twice (1937 and 1940) and 58 twice (1938 and 1940). For the past two years, July saw zero precipitation, though normally, nearly half an inch falls during the month (fifth-highest amount by month of the year). Unseasonably high temperatures (over the weekend 107 and a forecast high today of 108) often signal the start of the monsoon season and this year it might come true; tomorrow through Thursday there's a 50% chance of thunderstorms, with cooling temperatures barely reaching 100.
Cirque du Soleil's first Las Vegas show will reopen tonight, as Mystère goes live at Treasure Island at 7 p.m. It's fitting that Mystère is the first to return; it was Cirque's first show in Las Vegas, debuting with Treasure Island in 1993. O reopens at Bellagio on Thursday, followed by Michael Jackson One at Mandalay Bay on August 19 and Love at the Mirage a week later. All of Cirque's shows will reportedly return "by the fall." Tickets for Mystère start at $75 for shows nightly at 7 p.m. and Friday and Saturday at 9:30 p.m. as well.
Today, MGM Resorts International actuates a 100-megawatt solar array that will power as much as 90% of the electrical needs for the company's 13 Las Vegas hotel-resorts. The Mega Solar Array, located on 640 acres northeast of Las Vegas near the I-15/US 93 interchange, consists of 323,000 solar panels and generates enough electricity to sustain 27,000 houses. It was developed and will be managed by an energy company called Invenergy as part of a 20-year purchase contract.
We've been wondering whether Robert Irvine's Public House at the Tropicana was another permanent casualty of the pandemic. It closed in the shutdown in March 2020 and not only didn't it reopen, a new outlet, Trop & Go, replaced it. We hadn't heard anything either way about it, and since the Tropicana is in the midst of changing hands again and the new outlet was in its place, we've been afraid it wasn't coming back. But now, we finally have an indication that it will reopen "soon." The Vegas news site, VegasChanges.com, has a photo posted to that effect and writes, "It should reopen the first week of July." That's definitely a plus for the Tropicana food scene.
In what's been described as a "David and Goliath" battle between landlord Downtown Grand Hotel-Casino and tenant Hogs & Heifers saloon that's dragged through the courts for a couple of years, a Las Vegas judge has sided, essentially, with the 13-year-old bar. In 2019, Hogs & Heifers sued the Downtown Grand for illegally attempting to evict the bar with more than 15 years left on its lease. The Downtown Grand countersued, claiming the bar had violated the lease. The judge ruled that 1) Hogs & Heifers should not be evicted; 2) it could use the street for future events; and 3) Downtown Grand was not entitled to damages for defamation. All in all, it's a major victory for Hogs & Heifers, though perhaps a bit Pyrrhic, given the time and money invested in the lawsuit and the dysfunctional relationship with its landlord.
A showcase property in the ultra-exclusive MacDonald Highlands subdivision in Henderson has sold for $25 million, crushing the previous record for the highest price paid for a house in southern Nevada by 30%. The house was built as a model for luxury home-builder Blue Heron and was bought by the founder and chairman of a California-based mortgage lender; reportedly, he'll lease it back to Blue Heron "for some time" before using it himself. The three-level 15,000-square-foot mansion sits on 1.26 acres and features three bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a garage that can fit up to 11 cars, an office casita, billiards and game room, elevator, 5,000 square feet of deck space, two outdoor kitchens, solar, and 25- to 31-foot ceilings. The previous record price paid here was $17.55 million for a house bought by David Copperfield in 2017. For the whole story and photos, click here.
Ciryl Gane is a -160 favorite over Alexander Volkov in today’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Tanner Boser is -200 over Ovince Saint Preux.
The Downtown Rocks series kicks off tonight with a free concert by Chevelle. The concert starts at 9 p.m. on the 3rd Street stage. It’s the first of several that will run this year on the Fremont Experience stages and the first since 2019 after the series was canceled last year because of the shutdown.
We spent a good part of yesterday at Resorts World. Overall, we can say that the $4.5 billion resort is still very much a work in progress. Construction workers are everywhere, half the retail and some of the restaurants aren't open yet, and at least one of the systems was spotty and one failed entirely. The point of sales for food and beverage went down at least twice that we know of (we were there for both) and according to a story in today's Review-Journal, the hotel accepted reservations for opening-night rooms at the highest-tier Crockfords, but none of the 236 rooms was ready. Guests with Crockfords reservations were downgraded, then charged more, and a lot of confusion surrounded the transition. On the other hand, the joint was jumping, with shoulder-to-shoulder people throughout and pent-up demand blowing the roof off the place. Also, a lot was working and we'll be covering some of the cool and different things we saw and experienced in upcoming blog posts and newsletters. Stay tuned.
The defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning are -260 favorites over the Montreal Canadiens to win the NHL's Stanley Cup. Game 1 is Monday in Tampa.
We checked out the situation at the Miracle Mile Shops parking garage (off Audrie just east of the Strip across from the Monorail tracks) and it looks imminent that the last good free-parking play near the center Strip is about to go away. Three paid-parking gates are completely installed at the top of the first ramp, just waiting to be lowered; then the ticket/payment machines there will be activated and sayonara another freebie. Our understanding is that the gates will be in operation on or around July 1, which would make sense with the long holiday weekend coming up. We'll let you know when it does happen.
The Federal Aviation Administration has done what it does to bring the name change of McCarran International Airport closer to fruition. Reuters reports that the FAA has "finished the necessary processing steps," which include publishing the name change in "various flight-charting and navigation databases," but Clark County must "update and submit additional regulatory documents." In addition, upwards of $7 million must now be raised from private sources to finance the infrastructure logistics necessary to change the name to Harry Reid International.
The off-ramp from I-515 (US 95) southbound at Casino Center downtown will close on Monday at 12:01 a.m. and won't reopen until Wednesday September 1 at 5 a.m. The closure is part of the state Department of Transportation's $38.8 million I-515 Viaduct Rehab Project to repair and overlay the entire 1.2 million square foot viaduct (elevated highway) deck surface between the Union Pacific Railroad and 21st Street. Workers will also reconstruct the Casino Center Blvd. off-ramp, add a southbound auxiliary lane to between I-15 and Eastern Avenue, and reconstruct the Eastern Avenue and Desert Inn Rd. bridges. All worthy causes, but the closure will definitely impact traffic through the middle of Las Vegas for 10 or so weeks.
Excalibur Buffet will return on Thursday July 1 at 8 a.m., though only five days a week for brunch. Still, it's an indication that MGM Resorts is getting back on the buffet bandwagon. The hours are Thursday through Monday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and prices are Saturday and Sunday $29.99, Thursday, Friday, and Monday $24.99. Children 5 and under eat free; 6-11 $14.99 weekdays, $15.99 weekends.
Resorts World opens to the public tonight at 11 p.m. after the requisite VIP party, along with some fireworks to mark the occasion. It's officially a yuge deal hereabouts, not only because it marks Las Vegas' recovery from the pandemic, but it also puts an exclamation point on the end of the slowdown from the Great Recession 13 years ago (as evidenced by the abandoned hulk of Fontainebleau right across the Strip). Additionally, Resorts World is being hailed as "the most technologically advanced resort ever built." The 3,500 hotel rooms are keyless; you unlock the door with your cell phoine via a Bluetooth connection. The casino is cashless; you buy in from an e-wallet. The whole south skin of the biggest tower is a video screen and there's a 90-foot-long LED wall in the convention area. You don’t have to wait for a first look, thanks to the reporting of some spying by a friend of LVA. He reports that it’s big and not appearing to be completely ready. As expected, the games don’t look very promising. It seems that 65 is the favored combination, with nothing but 6-5 blackjack and lots of 6/5 Bonus Poker on the casino floor. The best video poker spotted so far is 8/5 BP returning 99.17% in the High-Limit Room and some Airport Deuces (98.18%). For a peek at one of the rooms, watch this video.
Louisiana's governor has signed into law bills that legalize sports betting throughout the state. It took Louisiana only seven months between November 2020, when voters in 55 of 64 parishes affirmed sports betting, and the governor making it official. The Louisiana Gaming Control Board can now begin the process of launching sports betting in the state, where 41 licenses are up for grabs, rendering Louisiana one of the largest such markets in the country.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that Bay State casinos aren't breaking gaming laws by paying out 6-5 on natural blackjacks, rather than 3-2. The court noted that the 6-5 payouts were displayed prominently at the tables, so players "understood "he rules and the stakes." Interesting (to us) is that the high court took the state Gaming Commission to task over its written rules, starting out with calling them "an interpretative challenge" and “somewhat ambiguous,” then coming closer to the truth with "garbled" and "impossible to understand," and finally winding up with, "What we have here is a real mess." Our question: If the Gaming Commission can't describe the rules to blackjack coherently, how is a court supposed to decide if they've been broken? No consolation to the plaintiffs, who are, as is said, out of luck.
The owner and the president of the Oakland Athletics departed from their second exploratory trip to Las Vegas with a list of nearly two dozen possible sites where a Major League Baseball stadium could be built. A story in this morning's Review-Journal reports that several sites along the resort corridor include Circus Circus and the south Strip. The executives also took a look downtown, focusing on Cashman Field. Sites at UNLV, Summerlin, and Henderson are also on the list. The A's are planning a third trip before the big vote on July 20 in Oakland, when the City Council there will determine the fate of a new waterfront stadium for the Athletics.
Ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines is adding five new direct routes to and from McCarran: Bentonville, Arkansas; Bloomington, Illinois; Memphis, Tennessee; Madison, Wisconsin; and Tucson, Arizona. The flights, which start up August 12-13, give Frontier 48 daily nonstop flights to McCarran. Introductory fares start at $19 (though the prices we've seen are more like $39).
The media has been touring Resorts World for the past couple of days and the coverage is widespread and intense. The timing of this new megaresort is being compared to the Mirage, which was the first major hotel-casino to be built on the Strip for 15 years; Resorts World is the first since the Cosmopolitan, 10 and a half years ago. On the other hand, the developer and owner, Genting Berhad, the holding company for Malaysia-based Genting Group, is new to the U.S. and brings a distinct foreign flair, prompting one analyst to call Resorts World "the most international property that has ever opened in Las Vegas, a fusion of casino development from North America and Asia." On the other other hand, travel from abroad is still depressed, so it might take some time for Resorts World to rev up. With two days till its debut, we finally this morning saw the time on Thursday that Resorts World's will open to the public: "around 11 p.m," after the private party has concluded.
When the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace reopened a month ago today, it was closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Evidently, demand has been so strong mid-week that the buffet is now open seven nights a week. Same hours, 4-10 p.m., and same price, $64.99 per person.
MGM Resorts has announced that Rhumbar at the Mirage will close on July 25. It's one of the longer-running cigar bars in town. having opened in early 2009. Eater Las Vegas reports that a $2.3 million ultra-lounge will fill the space and open sometime this winter, while VitalVegas repeats its own speculation from a year ago that the new lounge will have a Bruno Mars connection.
A story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal today reports that the Boring Company's Las Vegas Loop subterranean transportation system at the Las Vegas Convention Center passed a capacity test prior to the World of Concrete convention, which hosted 10,000 attendees. "The test," business writer Richard Velotta reports, "involved more than 300 recruited volunteers — off-duty LVCVA staff members and their families and UNLV students — to ride the 0.8-mile twin tunnels linking three stations for more than an hour straight." During the test period, the Loop transported 4,431 passengers per hour, 31 riders more than the 4,400 per hour that the contract calls for. Velotta notes, however, that conditions during large conventions will be more difficult. In addition, the high-capacity vehicles Boring promised aren't yet on the horizon and there's some question about whether the larger vehicles can even fit in the narrow tunnels. Time will tell.
The Skyline’s best-in-town shrimp cocktail was put on ice during the pandemic, but it’s back and it’s one of the few deals that’ has returned better than it was. Served 24/7 at the bar and in the restaurant, the price has been dropped from $2.25 to $1.50. That’s a pretty big deal, but the cocktail is also better than it was. Previously patterned after the Golden Gate’s famous shrimp cocktail — a Fisherman’s Wharf-style with baby shrimp — the new version has medium-sized shrimp with the tails on. There were 10 in our serving, filling up the plastic tulip glass with almost no filler at the bottom. It’s served with cocktail sauce on the side and crackers (ask the bartender for a lemon). Grab a Bud for $3.50 or get it comped while playing some quarter 9/6 Jacks or Better at the bar.
Las Vegas’ streak of hitting 113 degrees or higher ended at five consecutive days, after the high temperature at McCarran stopped rising at 112 yesterday. It was the sixth time in 84 years that southern Nevada achieved the string of five. Today's forecast high is a comparatively mild 108, while tomorrow's is 104 and Wednesday's, believe it or not, returns to a normal-for-this-time-of-year 100.
Similar to other recent holidays since the Vegas casinos have re-emerged in stingy mode, the deals are sparse for Father’s Day. Dads get a free ride on the High Roller observation wheel today with the purchase of one regular ticket, and meals are being offered at several restaurants in and out of the casinos.
Going into today's final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament with a bunch near the top, including a three-way tie for the lead, Louis Oosthuizen is the +300 favorite to win. He’s followed by Bryson DeChambeau at +550, Rory McIlroy at +575, and Russell Henley at +625.
On Thursday, the official high temperature at Furnace Creek in Death Valley hit 128 degrees, a full 12 degrees hotter than the stifling temperatures in Las Vegas, six degrees hotter than the record for the day (June 17) set in 1917, and only six degrees "cooler" than the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth, also set in Death Valley, on July 10, 1913. Death Valley has hit 129 degrees only seven times since 1913 and 130 once, in 2020, but that temperature has yet to be certified (by a committee of extreme-climate experts); if it is, it will be the hottest temperature on Earth since 1913. Yesterday, the official thermometer reached 114 degrees, tying the record for the day set on June 19, 1940. Today, the high is also forecast to be 114, which will be the sixth consecutive day of 113 degrees or higher at McCarran International Airport; the record for that is eight days. Just think, tomorrow, summer starts.
On Friday, the Arizona Department of Gaming told a virtual stakeholder meeting with 90 participants that the rules process for sports betting should be complete by this time next month, and the group launch remains on track for Thursday September 9. If successful, Arizona would introduce sports betting only five months after the law was signed by the governor, widely considered an "aggressive" timeline. Only two other sports betting states, Indiana and Iowa, have been able to go from legal to live in less than five months. The launch is planned for retail betting venues and online platforms.
Monsoon season in Las Vegas started, officially, on June 15. Unofficially, it usually waits until early July to arrive with thunderstorms and short dumps of heavy rain. However, for the last three years, the season has been dubbed "nonsoon" for the lack of appreciable precipitation and last year, not a drop of moisture fell from the sky the whole season, which runs through September, with the wettest month of the year typically in July (with just under an inch of rain historically). In fact, the dryness stretched for two months before and three months after the season; Vegas set a 240-day record for not a drop of measurable precipitation, beating the old record by a spectacular 90 days. This year, forecasters are going way out on a limb; they've stated that the chances of above-average precipitation, below-average precipitation, and average precipitation are the same.
Dan Ige is a -150 favorite over Chan Sung Jung in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Serghei Spivac is -285 over Aleksei Oleinik.
In response to competition from Circa, the Westgate will no longer drag 8% from the SuperContest prize pool. Football handicapping contests traditionally paid back 100% of entry fees. However, in 2016, the SuperContest began keeping 8% of the money collected as an "administrative fee," turning its contest into a 92%-equity proposition. Why did they do it? Because they could. But that’s no longer the case. In just two years, Circa, which pays back 100% of collected entry fees, has replaced Westgate as the host of the premier football contest, prompting this reaction from Westgate. The SuperContest has also lowered the entry fee from $1,500 to $1,000 and has retooled the payout schedule to pay more places through a series of in-season mini-contests. Competition is powerful.
Reporters and camera crews toured the MSG Sphere job site Thursday morning in conjunction with the first of what will be two topping-off events. Construction crews just completed the steel framing of the dome from bottom to top and have begun erecting what's called the "exosphere," which will anchor 580,000 square feet of programmable LEDs; when those are installed, the second topping-off ceremony will be held. At the same time, crews are preparing the interior for attaching the 160,000-square-foot high-def LED screen, the largest and highest-definition LED screen in the world (the resolution is 100 times higher than the best HDTVs). The acoustics, of course, will be state-of-the-art, including an "infrasound haptic system" for sound vibrations that the audience can feel. The $1.8 billion project is on track to open sometime in 2023.
The late Joël Robuchon’s two namesake Las Vegas restaurants, both at MGM Grand, will reopen next month. Joël Robuchon, Las Vegas' only three-Michelin-starred restaurant, returns on July 1; the less-formal L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon opens July 15.
For the second day in a row, a record high temperature was recorded at McCarran. Yesterday, the thermometer hit 114, breaking by one degree the previous record, which was set in 1940. On Wednesday, the record was broken by two degrees, rising to 116. Yesterday was the third in a row that the high temp was at or above 113. That's expected to continue today and tomorrow, with forecast highs of 113 and 114, respectively; it will be the fifth time since 1937, when records began being kept, of five days in a row of 113 or over. That record is eight consecutive days, also set in 1940. Triple-digit temperatures are expected through next week.
In one of a series of press releases leading up to its long-awaited opening on Thursday, Resorts World is claiming that it will be the “the Strip's most technologically advanced property.” Its app will enable guests "to pay for casino, entertainment, and hotel amenities from their phone, check Genting Rewards account balances, and receive offers and awards." More significantly (to us), Resorts World will offer cashless wagering at the slots and tables. Players can load an e-wallet, dubbed GamingPlay, by depositing cash at casino kiosk or the player services desk, or by signing up for Play+, a payment platform from Sightline Payments, that connects to a player's bank and PayPal accounts and credit and debit cards. In addition, Resorts World's "smart tables" will read RFID-embedded chips, allowing them to provide "100 percent accuracy of guests’ gaming activities" and enabling players to use TITO vouchers at both the machines and table games.
The iHeart Radio Music Festival will be held at T-Mobile Arena on September 17 and 18. And with headliners like Coldplay, Maroon 5, Cheap Trick, Journey, and Florida Georgia Line, the joint'll be packed and rockin'. Also appearing on the main nighttime stage will be Dua Lipa, Billie Ellish, Khalid, Lil Baby, Nelly, Sam Hunt and Weezer. In addition, a daytime stage, on the grounds of Area15, will host Olivia Rodrigo, Russell Dickerson, Saweetie, and Gabby Barrett. Ryan Seacrest will emcee the festival and iHeartMedia stations will simulcast the headliners on both nights. Tickets go on sale next Friday, June 25, from now at 11 a.m. PT at AXS.com.
John Rahm is the +875 favorite to win golf's U.S. Open. He's followed by Xander Schauffele at +1075 and Brooks Koepka at +1650.
The high temperature in Las Vegas yesterday hit 116 degrees at the official weather station at McCarran Airport at 4:23 p.m. It broke the previous record for June 16 of 114, which was set in 1940. (That year also set the record for temperatures at or above 113 on consecutive days at eight.) Yesterday was only the 17th time Las Vegas has seen 116 degrees in 84 years, since records began being kept in 1937. The all-time high temperature in Las Vegas is only one degree higher; it's been hit four times since 1937, the last time on June 20, 2017. The normal high for this time of year is 100.
Rod Stewart will reprise the residency he launched 10 years ago at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, “Rod Stewart: The Hits,” with nine shows in October: 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 20, 22, and 23. Tickets start at $49 and go on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m. PT.
The Wynn's answer to Bellagio's Mayfair Supper Club, Delilah will finally open on July 14 after being announced more than two years ago. It's a pretty big deal: A number of A-list parties will precede the opening and Justin Bieber is performing a special show on July 9 at the 1,500-seat Encore Theater to coincide with it (those seats sold out within minutes). Here's how the Hollywood Reporter describes the extravagant and cinematic design of the sister supper club to the West Hollywood original: "When the straw-marquetry radial doors swing open and guests glide down the dramatic split Streamline Moderne staircases, showgirls hit the luminescent stage and the band strikes its first chord, the two-years-in-the-making Delilah at Wynn Las Vegas will finally debut." Along with "furnishings and fixtures commissioned as works of art and vintage pieces curated from all over the world," candle-lit fireplaces, and two gilded centerpiece solid-bronze palm trees, hundreds of archival photos from UNLV Special Collections adorn the walls. And of course, there’s the de rigueur secret dining room, the Chef's Table, with its own bar and private access via the kitchen, not to mention what's rumored to be a four-figure table minimum. Like Mayfair, dancers and a live band or DJs will perform on the central stage, so the whole thing is reminiscent of Hollywood's golden era with a New York "Gatsby-esque vibe." If it's true that, just as the original Roaring Twenties exploded from the two-year lockdown from the Spanish Flu pandemic (1918-1920), a new Roaring Twenties is arriving in kind, then Delilah might be the champagne bottle that christens it.
James Grosjean, widely considered to be the top advantage player in the world, has written a review of 21st Century Card Counter -- The Pro's Approach to Beating Today's Blackjack. James is not only a great AP, he's also a fine writer -- engaging and enlightening. You get the idea from the title of the review, "You Had Me at 'Zippered Pockets.'" Full disclosure: The review is posted on our gambling blog, "Gambling With An Edge" and we didn't ask him to write it. In fact, given all the misinformation and posturing from "experts" in online forums and books, he dreads such chores. He writes, "Expecting fingernails on a chalkboard, I can’t even bring myself to read most AP books or watch most AP movies without having a teammate taste-test them first. I always ask my teammates, 'Am I going to vomit?'" Which gives you an idea about how he approached this book. So it's worth the five minutes it takes to run through the review, be entertained, and find out what he thinks about our book and why.
For the second time in three years, the 2021 WNBA All-Star Game will be played in Las Vegas. It's scheduled for Wednesday July 14 at Michelob ULTRA Arena, where the Las Vegas Aces play (formerly Mandalay Bay Events Center). It's also the WNBA's 25th anniversary, which will be commemorated with a special pre-game ceremony to honor the gold-medal-winning 1996 U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball team. Players are selected to be All Stars via voting by fans (50%), current WNBA players (25%), and a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters (25%). Rosters will be announced on June 30.
The WSOP has released the full schedule of its 2021 tournament events that will take place at the Rio between September 30 and November 23. All told, 88 bracelet events are scheduled, some of them online only. The Main Event, as previously announced, will begin on Nov. 4 and end on Nov. 17, with four starting flights. Other events of interest will include the "Reunion," a $500-buy-in no-limit hold ’em tournament with a $5 million guaranteed prize pool (October 1); a $25,000-buy-in heads-up no-limit hold ’em championship limited to 64 players (Oct. 5); the $50,000-buy-in "Poker Players’ Championship" with nine different games (Oct. 31); and a "High Roller" series comprising $50,000-, $100,000-, and $250,000-buy-in no-limit hold ’em tournaments. For now, play will be nine-handed with no plexiglass dividers and masks recommended for unvaccinated players. CBS Sports Network will broadcast 15 hours of the Main Event and 18 other tournaments; the subscription video service PokerGO will produce the content.
The owner and president of the Oakland Athletics MLB team will return to Las Vegas only a few weeks after their first visit to explore the possibilities of moving the team here. On June 21-22, the team leaders will look at "various sites where a potential baseball stadium could be built." Though the A's have been rumored to be interested in other cities, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that "no other trips are planned, with the focus being on 'parallel paths' in Las Vegas and Oakland, meaning that if negotiations for a new stadium in Oakland don't pan out, Las Vegas could get an MLB team. Still, a Vegas stadium is projected to cost around $1 billion and the team is looking for a public-private partnership like the one that financed Allegiant Stadium, which could be a roadblock. For a deeper look at this issue, read our Question of the Day about it.
Give up? Good. You never would've figured it out anyway. The answer is, on YouTube banners. According to Business insider, YouTube, a division of Google, has revised its acceptability ranking for banner ads on its homepage. It has to do, apparently, with what Google believes leads to a worse experience for users. Ads for politicians and elections, casino games and sports betting, and alcohol and prescription-drug sales will no longer be allowed in the banner running across the top of the homepage, the most prominent Google placement available to advertisers.
The Wynn Buffet re-reopens on July 1. When it reopened in mid-June 2020 after the shutdown, it was the first to return, but it was a waiter-served format that didn't work for long; it closed 10 weeks later in early September. It will be open Thursday through Monday from 8-10 a.m. for breakfast ($38.99), 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for brunch ($45.99), and 3-9 p.m. for dinner ($64.99). Saturday and Sunday brunch will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. ($48.99). Children two and under are free, three to nine half-price. The entrance has been remodeled with eight live royal palms imported from south Florida. Several new serving stations will include eggs Benedict and made-to-order crepes. Reservations can be made, with the ability to pay directly at the table.
The city of Las Vegas and the Montreal Canadiens are roughly the same age; the former was founded in 1905, the latter 1909. Tonight, the Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL's youngest team, face the NHL's oldest team at T-Mobile in the first game of the semi-final round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The winner of the series will play for the Cup, widely considered the toughest trophy in sports to win. The teams have met six times in VGK history, with Montreal winning five, including all three at home. But the VGK, making their third appearance in the semi-finals in four years of existence, had the most wins in the NHL's COVID-truncated season, while the Canadiens had the fewest wins of the 16 teams that made the playoffs. On the other hand, the Canadiens are as hot as the local temperatures, in the midst of a seven-game winning streak that started when they were down three games to one in their first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, then went on to sweep the Winnipeg Jets. Montreal hasn't faced a goal deficit in nearly 438 minutes, the second-longest span in NHL playoff history, 51 minutes short of the record they themselves set in 1960. The VGK's 36-year-old Mark-Andre Fleury (who grew up near Montreal) and the Canadiens' 34-year-old Carey Price, two veteran goaltenders with 127 playoff wins between them, will no doubt put on a show.
The car search engine ISeeCars.com has just released a study of used-car prices across the country. In April 2020, the website analyzed more than 400,000 used-car sales between 2015 and 2019, then in April 2021, it looked at over 800,000 sales from 2016 to 2020. It found that the national average for the rise in used-car prices between April 2020 and April 2021 was 16.8%, or about $3,900 per car. Las Vegas ranked first in the price rise, 25%, or right around $5,200 more, followed by Jacksonville (23.5%), Atlanta (22.8%), and Sacramento (22.7%). Of the top 50 cities, Milwaukee was the best place to buy a used car, at 10.6% or $2,500. The price of a Chevrolet Corvette rose the highest (34%, $17,500), while the Tesla Model S actually dropped in price (-2%, -1,075). It's a great time to sell a used car.
Slots A Fun was closed completely last night. Security at the casino attributed it to “maintenance going on” that will last through Tuesday. Closing down a casino completely for maintenance isn’t normal and it’s generally thought that changes are coming to Slots a Fun as part of its sale with Circus Circus to TI. We’ll watch it and let you know when the doors are reopened.
It's still spring, but this week is shaping up to be quite a scorcher, even by summer standards. And it's not just in Las Vegas, but throughout the Southwest, from California to the Rockies. Here, high temperatures will rise from 102 yesterday to 109 today and 111 tomorrow. Then it gets hot: up to 116 from Tuesday to Saturday. The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning Monday through Friday, which includes "limited overnight relief"; the overnight lows will be in the mid-80s through Wednesday, but not fall below around 90 by the end of the week. That's the good news. The bad news -- for everyone but extreme heat lovers -- is that Death Valley will experience temperatures of up to 127 all week long.
Novak Djokovic is a -250 favorite over Stefanos Tsitsipas in today’s French Open men's tennis final. Djokovic is playing in his 29th Grand Slam final and seeking his 19th major championship. Tsitsipas is playing in his first Grand Slam final.
Isreal Adesanya is a -225 favorite over Marvin Vettori in tonight's UFC main event. In the other featured match, Deiveson Figueiredo is -200 over Brandon Moreno.
With the prices of everything else going up up up, this seems as good a time as any to raise resort fees, right? Right. The recent RF hikes aren't excessive, just more nickel-and-diming that will, sooner or later, catch up to the following hotels: STRAT, +$1 ($37), Paris +$2
($39), Planet Hollywood +$2 ($39), Sahara +$2 ($39.95), Plaza +$3 ($28), the D +$4.95 ($29.95), South Point +$7 ($21), Cromwell +$8 ($45), and Tuscany +$10 ($39).
Wisconsin-based Dystopian Films, which is headed by longtime Las Vegas Advisor subscriber Ken Bressers, has released its newest feature film, Stealing Chaplin. The movie, featuring Wayne Newton and his wife Kat and daughter Lauren, is a "quirky gangster-type comedy" that was inspired by real events. The story centers around two Las Vegas-based con men who dig up and steal the corpse of comedian Charlie Chaplin in order to ransom it. (Chaplin's corpse was dug up in a ransom attempt in 1978, but not by Las Vegans.) With the theft gaining the world's attention and the reward rising daily, soon every local low life, criminal, and dirty cop wants a piece of the action. Stealing Chaplin was filmed entirely in Las Vegas in November 2019 and premiered at the Suncoast theaters in November 2020. Many cast members are Las Vegas residents and notable locations include Fremont Street, the Palomino Club, Champagnes Cafe on Maryland Pkwy., the '50s Diner on East Desert Inn Rd., and Palm Eastern Cemetery. Stealing Chaplin can be seen on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Google Play, and other streaming platforms.
Barbora Krejcikova is a -130 favorite over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in today’s French Open women’s tennis final. Both are playing in their first Grand Slam final. Note, this line was posted with the match in progress.
The new video on Las Vegas history, decade by decade, was released last month by the Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial. The City of Las Vegas: The Thirties is the third in the series. Part 1, which focused on Vegas' founding and first 20 years, came out in May 2019, while Part 2, which encompassed the '20s, was released in 2020. The Thirties covers a major era of local history: Hoover Dam, gambling, divorces, weddings, and a lot more events that helped shape the city of today. All episodes are produced by Boyd Gaming's production company. It's a meaty 75 minutes. See it here.
Justin Bieber will play one show at the Encore Theater on Friday July 9. The 27-year-old Canadian superstar released his latest album, Justice, in March; it was his eighth album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Tickets for the show go on sale right now, 10 a.m. PT, and start at $150.
The Golden Knights turned the Avalanche into a snowflake at a rocking T-Mobile last night, beating Colorado 6-3 to complete a four-game run after losing the first two games in the series. As Joe Pane writes in his Knights on Ice post, the heavily favored and hyped Avalanche couldn't seem to find an answer to the VGK game plan, as production from Vegas' entire lineup shone throughout the series. Vegas will now have home-ice advantage when it faces the Montreal Canadiens, starting Monday night at 6 p.m. at T-Mobile and continuing every other evening through June 26 if necessary.
The Downtown Rocks concert series has released its schedule for the summer and it’s a good one. It kicks off on Saturday June 26 with the American alternative-rock band Chevelle and the grand finale will be on Saturday November 6 with veteran classic rocker George Thorogood. The rest of the acts/dates are as follows: Sunday July 4: Craig Morgan & Clay Walker; Saturday July 17: Plain White T’s; Saturday July 24: Dokken and Lynch Reunion Tour; Saturday July 31: Tonic and Sister Hazel; Saturday Aug. 21: Steven Adler of Guns N’ Roses; Sunday Sept. 5: 3 Doors Down and Seether; and Saturday Sept. 25: Generation Radio (featuring Jay Demarus of Rascal Flats, Deen Castronovo of Journey, and Jason Scheff of Chicago).
For some corny 53-year-old Vegas humor, click this link that takes you to a Red Skelton appearance on the "Ed Sullivan Show" on Sunday September 29, 1968. It's a seven-minute bit in total, but the Vegas material takes around the first two and a half. (Thanks, as always, to LVA Correspondent extraordinaire XY for turning us on to it.)
According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the surface of Lake Mead will drop today to its lowest level since it was filled to 1,225.44 feet in the 1930s. The Bureau's projections put Mead at 1,071.61 feet, tying the record low set on July 1, 2016. But it will shatter that record in the coming weeks, as water in the lake is expected to keep declining for the next four-five months. And it will have to climb by a number of feet if its first federally declared water shortage is to be avoided; the shortage will be declared if the lake level is projected in August to be below 1075 feet come January.
The sign says it's just temporary, but the original Lotus of Siam location in the Commercial Center on E. Sahara has closed due to "staffing issues." The second location at 620 E. Flamingo remains open. Does it seem as anomalous to you as it does to us that one of the most popular restaurants in the city with the nation's second-highest unemployment (9% in April, behind L.A.'s 9.9%) can't find enough workers to keep its doors open?
“America’s Got Talent” will launch a Las Vegas residency in Luxor Theater on November 4. The stage show will run Wednesdays through Sundays at 7 and 9 p.m. and tickets are already on sale starting at $49. If the event is anything like the hype -- "an immersive spectacle featuring many of the most revered thrill acts, magicians, vocalists, and acrobats from the TV juggernaut with show-stopping moments and over-the-top numbers that never let up" -- it should be something to see. Guns N' Roses will be the first rockers to play Allegiant Stadium for one show on August 27. It will be the third concert at Allegiant; electronic dance music star Illenium will play on July 3 and Garth Brooks will appear (finally, after two postponements) on July 10. The Raiders first regular-season home game is Monday September 13 against the Baltimore Ravens; tickets in the nosebleed seats are starting at $720.
Governor Steve Sisolak has signed a bill that authorizes the Cannabis Compliance Board to license and regulate cannabis consumption lounges throughout the state. Two types of lounges were approved: attached or directly adjacent to an existing dispensary; and separate and independent. Twenty licenses will be issued after the new law goes into effect on October 1; it could take another month or two after that for the first lounges to open.
We hear that the last good free-parking play close to center Strip will convert to paid parking soon. Rumor has it that the garage behind the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood is in the midst of installing gates and an LVA correspondent tells us that this information was posted on his Elara timeshare owners group on Facebook. He also writes that an Elara front desk clerk said that starting July 1, it will be $15 for guests to park overnight in the garage, which serves the 52-story timeshare Elara tower next to it. No official word on any of this, but it sure sounds real to us. We'll check the gate situation and report back with our findings.
The $52.5 million Las Vegas Loop under the Las Vegas Convention Center opens to the public today as the World of Concrete convention kicks off what's being hailed as the "first in-person convention gathering in the nation since the COVID-19 pandemic started." The Loop was completed two months ago, but with no attendance at the Convention Center, it's had a long run-up to beginning operations. Construction took only 18 months, considered fast for a project of its size. Contractually, the Boring Company is "fined" up to $300,000 every time it doesn't transport 3,960 passengers per hour for 13 hours when major conventions are at the Convention Center.
Gaming analyst Ken Adams, in his monthly Adams Revenue Revue, reports that Pennsylvania has overtaken Nevada in terms of the monthly handle in sports betting. Ranked by handle, Adams reports that the top five states were New Jersey with $747.9 million, Pennsylvania $479.4 million, Nevada $454.4 million, Virginia $304 million, and Michigan $274.2 million. By win, the rankings were New Jersey with $54.8 million, Pennsylvania $36, Nevada $27.2 million, Virginia $26.5 million, and Michigan $21.9 million. Sports betting from 17 states in April produced a handle of $2.98 billion and a win of $247.1 million.
Yesterday, Southwest Airlines launched its non-stop service between Las Vegas and Honolulu and Kahului (Maui) with two flights daily to and from both airports. Southwest started flying to Hawaii from Las Vegas in January 2019, but all flights were routed through airports in Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento, or San Diego. Outbound flights take six hours and 20 minutes and inbound five hours and 45 minutes. For Honolulu, flights depart at 8:20 a.m. and 6:15 p.m.; return flights are at 7:10 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. Before the end of this year and for the first time, Southwest will add three flights a week to the Big Island and four to Kauai. Southwest also flies from island to island.
The World of Concrete trade show convenes tomorrow and runs through Thursday. It's the first large-scale convention to return to Las Vegas since the shutdown nearly 15 months ago. Organizers haven't revealed expected attendance numbers (at least that we've seen), but it could be as many as 50,000. The Concrete convention kicks off a run of a dozen trade shows in June, including the large Nightclub and Bar Show and Waste Expo at the end of the month.
A story on YahooSports.com reveals that table tennis is a "weird phenomenon" with sports bettors in Colorado. In March, $8.8 million was bet on ping pong matches around the glove, more than double what was bet on mixed martial arts. January's $11.8 million was more than the handles for college football bowl games and the NHL. Ping pong was the fourth-most bet sport in the state in January and April. Given that matches start every 15 minutes or so, they're plentiful (especially in Russia, whence most of the betting opportunities originate), lines change fast, especially in-game betting, no one knows much about the players/teams and what the odds should be, and the integrity of the sport is highly questionable, it's essentially a crapshoot for action junkies. But it turns out that betting the underdogs leads to more cashes in table tennis than most other sports.
You can’t bet on today’s hyped pay-per-view Floyd Mayweather/Logan Paul boxing match. It’s termed an exhibition and there will be no scorecards, so the Las Vegas books are prohibited from taking action on the fight. We've seen “entertainment” lines as high as Mayweather -2500 (25-1), but it’s being booked offshore now with Mayweather a -800 favorite, with a knock-out required or it’s no action. We’ve also heard of props that can be verified being posted, e.g., will Paul be knocked down (Yes -350). It’s -310 that the fight doesn’t go the distance. In a similar spectacle bout, Logan's brother Jake Paul is a -140 favorite over former UFC champ Tyron Woodley. The Paul brothers are both YouTube personalities with impressive athletic backgrounds and boxing credentials.
The Las Vegas Ballpark, where the Las Vegas Aviators Minor League Baseball team plays its home games, has been voted the number-one Triple-A park in the country by respondents in a survey taken by BallparkDigest.com. The Ballpark garnered 62% of the vote, beating out Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio, in the final after five rounds of elimination voting. It was the second time in the three years that the stadium has been open that it took top honors in the poll.
This year, to celebrate independence from COVID protocols, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority will sponsor the Fourth of July fireworks show on the Strip. At 11 p.m. on Sunday July 4, the coordinated fireworks spectacular will simultaneously launch from the rooftops of Aria, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, the Venetian, Resorts World, and the STRAT. Should be quite a show. Other July 4th fireworks displays will be launched from the Plaza downtown (the culmination of three nights of fireworks to celebrate its 50th anniversary), Red Rock, Green Valley Ranch, and Lake Las Vegas.
The Concerts on the Beach series returns to Mandalay Bay on Sunday July 4 with a performance by Sublime With Rome and support acts Mystic Roots and Hirie. The summer music series continues with four additional shows by country artists Lee Brice and Cole Swindell, as well as Latin bands Caifanes and Bronco.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik is a -120 favorite over Augusto Sakai in tonight's UFC main event. In the other featured match, Marcin Tybura is -200 over Walt Harris.
The current odds for todays Belmont Stakes make Essential Quality the favorite at 2-1, followed by Hot Rod Charlie at 4-1 and Rombauer at 5-1. The long shot is France Go de Ina at 24-1. After adjusting the race’s distance to 1-1/8 miles last year during the pandemic, it’s back to the traditional 1-1/2 miles.
The official thermometer at McCarran International registered a high temperature yesterday of 109 degrees, tying the record set in 1999, according to the National Weather Service. A high-temp record was set on Thursday at 108 and on Wednesday, the 107 high tied the record set in 2003. Today's high is forecast to be 108, which would fall a degree short of the record of 109 set in 2016. Temperatures will go down by a few degrees tomorrow, then drop into the mid-90s on Tuesday and Wednesday.
VitalVegas.com is reporting that the Wynn Buffet will reopen July 1. We don't doubt it, as Scott Roeben's sources are excellent, but we haven't seen it announced anywhere else. The Wynn Buffet was the first to reopen after the shutdown in mid-June 2020, but it was a waiter-served format that didn't work for long; it closed 10 weeks later in early September. When it reopens, according to Roeben, it will be self-serve the way nature intended.
Yesterday, Las Vegas set a new record for the high temperature on June 3. The official thermometer at McCarran International hit 108 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. That beat the previous record of 107 set in 2016. The excessive heat continues and a new record could also be set today.
Mac King, whose afternoon comedy-magic show at Harrah's has run for 22 years and is the longest continuous residency on the Strip, is moving from the Caesars Entertainment venue to an MGM Resorts theater at Excalibur’s Thunderland Showroom. That was the previous location for Hans Klok's show, so it's designed for some of King's larger magic tricks. The move was prompted by the opening of the massive Caesars Forum Conference Center, for which Harrah's is positioning itself; convention attendees aren't free in the afternoon to attend performances. The new show opens on June 22 at 1 p.m.; King will also perform a 3 p.m. show, the same two times as he did at Harrah's. Tickets start at $44.95.
Anyone interested in the backstory of Arnold Snyder's first blackjack book in 15 years, Radical Blackjack, shouldn't miss the write-up on Snyder's personal website, Write-Aholic.com. It gives a good look at when and why he penned the two incarnations of the book, what and who are in it, and how the book was vetted by the blackjack pros whose secrets Snyder is finally discussing. And by the way, the book is expected to be back from the printer and shipping this month and is on sale till then at $29.96 (regularly $39.95).
The new floral display at the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Garden is up and running. "Eco: A Season of Earthly Awareness" features nearly 28,000 flowers and 1,500 plants, a 30-foot-tall treehouse, a 22-foot statue of Gaia, the Earth goddess, 20 trees, five tree frogs, a phoenix in full flight, a 12-foot-long leopard and a nine-foot-tall ibis, even a baby crocodile. The summer display will continue through August 28.
Ellis Island has made its tiki debut. Taking over the second floor of the Front Yard, the mid-century tiki theme will continue for a month, with a specialty menu featuring tiki-inspired food and cocktails (coconut shrimp, tiki quesadillas, and the like), along with 10 island-themed drinks, such as beer cocktails and tropical concoctions in punch bowls. A 15-foot swordfish, staff decked out in Hawaiian-themed attire, tiki decor, two blackjack tables, and a variety of slots add some Sin City flare to the experience.
The winner of this year's Kentucky Derby, Medina Spirit, was unofficially disqualified when the horse failed a post-race test for the drug betamethasone, a corticosteroid injected into joints to reduce pain and swelling, "at a prohibited level." A follow-up test, at a lab chosen by trainer Bob Baffert, confirmed that Medina Spirit was positive for the drug. The determination brings Medina Spirit one step closer to an official disqualification. You can read about the betting implications, and the history of the two other disqualified winners of the Kentucky Derby, in our Question of the Day on the subject.
An article in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal describes the $20 million "overhaul" of the iconic White Cross Drugs building at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Oakey Boulevard near the Strat. Construction is scheduled to start in September on the former location of Vickie's Diner and White Cross Market and take two years to complete. Upwards of 17,000 square feet of the 25,000-square-foot 1950s' structure will be retained, with another 33,000 square feet added; the new building will house "bars, restaurants, and possibly some office tenants." A rendering shows a two-story building with all-glass walls on two sides.
Insomniac Events, producer of the massive Electric Daisy Carnival, has announced a new extravaganza that will be held in downtown Las Vegas in September. The "Lost in Dreams" festival will take place at the Downtown Events Center on September 4-5, the Saturday and Sunday before Labor Day. The music, consisting of "future bass, melodic dubstep, and vocal-driven dance music" will be presented on three separate stages. Attendees must be 18 and older. Tickets go on sale on Friday at noon at lostindreamsfestival.com.
The National Weather Service has announced that on Monday, Memorial Day, Las Vegas' thermometer registered 100 degrees for the first time since last October 1. The average date for the first triple-digit day is May 26, so this year it came five days later than normal. The latest date for the first 100-degree day in Las Vegas weather history was June 30, 1965. Vegas typically experiences 74 days at 100 degrees or higher during the year (compared to 110 in Phoenix and two in Los Angeles). Temperatures (and precipitation) are measured at McCarran Airport.
A lucky player at Harrah's hit a Mega Progressive jackpot at a Three Card Poker table for $1.3 million yesterday afternoon. The player was dealt the ace, queen, and ten of hearts and the progressive community cards came up the jack and king in hearts.
Keith Urban had performed four shows of his residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in 2020 before exiting stage left after the shutdown. The country superstar's "Keith Urban Live – Las Vegas” will resume September 17. He'll also appear on Sept. 18, 22, 24, and 25. The announcement didn't include further dates, but they're expected. Tickets go on sale June 7, starting at $69.
The American Gaming Association's Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in-person trade show, which was canceled in 2020, will return to Las Vegas on Oct. 4-7 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. Up to 30,000 gambling-industry attendees and 400 exhibitors are expected to participate.
This just in from LVA correspondent videopkrplayer. "We ate at the Bacch last night [Sunday] and utilized the Open Table reservation system. Here's how it all works. The buffet opens at 4 p.m. and we had a reservation for 5:15. When we inquired about the process at 3:45 (and were told to check in 15 minutes before our reservation time), all the lines were very long. The hostess said that the lines back up before opening, but once four o'clock rolls around, they move quickly. We showed up again at 5. First, you check in up front and advise the hostess that you have a reservation. She asks for your last name, pulls you up, and directs you to the reservation line to the left, where you pay. We had 6-8 people in front of us in that line. After paying, there's a secondary 2-lane line where you wait to be seated. Three couples were ahead of us in the second line. Altogether, we waited about ten minutes to pay and five minutes to be seated. Meanwhile, the line for Diamond tier players was twice as long as the reservation line and the general admission line was twice as long as the Diamond. Of course, the food was awesome! Hopefully they bring back breakfast!
The DUI strike team, which consists of officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, Nevada Highway Patrol, and National Park Service, has been deployed again this year. It will operate into early September; historically, the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day in Las Vegas comprises the 100 deadliest days of the year in southern Nevada. So far year over year, Nevada's roadway fatalities are up 8%. Officials are hopeful that with the ban on surge pricing now lifted, it will reduce the number of drunk drivers on the roads.