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The Minnesota Vikings are -4 favorites over the Dallas Cowboys in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 49.
The Houston Astros are -120 favorites over the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the MLB World Series. The total is 8.5. The Braves lead the series 3-1.
The Kiss mini-residency scheduled to run December 29 through February 5 at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood has been canceled. Refunds are being issued by ticket providers. No reason has been given as yet, but two band members, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, tested positive for COVID and postponed several tour dates early last month amid allegations that COVID safety protocols were not only non-existent on the tour, but symptomatic band and crew were still working and a long-time guitar tech died after quarantining in a Detroit hotel room. The band and tour managers deny the assertions. Simmons also recently put his Henderson home up for sale.
Larry Ellison, co-founder, executive chairman, and chief technology officer of B2B giant Oracle Corporation, among the world's top 10 wealthiest people, has acquired the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe. According to the Tahoe Daily Tribune, a subsidiary of Ellison's personal investment firm, Lawrence Investments, picked up the resort-casino-spa situation on the north shore of Tahoe in Incline Village for $345 million. The sale, though it closed on September 3, wasn't announced by buyer or seller; the Daily Tribune sniffed it out at the Washoe County Recorders Office. Ellison has long been interested in Tahoe; he owns a reported $100 million worth of properties around north Tahoe, including the shuttered Cal Neva, the historic lodge-casino that straddles the California and Nevada borders in Crystal Bay.
Fremont Street Experience is putting on an '80s- and '90's-themed dance party on New Year's Eve, featuring live performances by icons of the era: Bobby Brown, Vanilla Ice, Village People, Tone Loc, and more. All partygoers are encouraged to wear their best '80s and '90s outfits (long curly black rocker wig? pink platform shoes? nylon shirts and neoprene jackets? neon phatties?) to make a splash when they enter the party and their images are projected onto the Viva Vision screen. The party opens at 6 p.m. and pre-sale tickets are on sale now for $35.
The Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros are pick ’em in Game 4 of the MLB World Series. The total is 9. The Braves lead the series 2-1.
Chicago, the third largest city in the U.S. with nearly 10 million residents, has been trying to attract a major casino company for years. In the latest round of proposals to build an integrated resort in the Windy City, four companies responded, none from Las Vegas. Rhode Island-based Bally's Corporation is the closest it came; The Rhode Island-based company, which is not affiliated with Bally's Las Vegas, owns Bally's Lake Tahoe (formerly Montbleu) and is buying the Tropicana in a deal expected to close early next year. The other three bidders are HR Chicago, affiliated with the Hard Rock and Seminole Tribe of Florida; and Rivers Chicago and Rivers 78, both affiliated with Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming.
Resorts World Las Vegas has added a Boeing 787 262-seat jet to its inventory of luxury amenities. With a range of 8,000 nautical miles, Resorts World can now ferry junkets, corporate and leisure groups, and whales to Las Vegas from Latin America and as far as Europe and Asia in an 18-seat business class and 244 economy seats. Resorts World opened with a 12-seat Bombardier Express and claims that the 787 is the only one of its size owned by a Las Vegas resort. It was an easy transaction; Resorts World bought the 2017-model jet for a low low $25 million from a Genting affiliate, Crystal Luxury Aircraft Holdings, a subsidiary of Genting Hong Kong.
VentureBeat.com has a piece on a report by an app-marketing platform and a mobile-gaming analytics platform that indicates players on mobile devices spent $990 million on social casino apps at the height of the pandemic (from the third quarter of 2020 through the second quarter of 2021). Even more astounding, profits were roughly 25% for the period: around $260 million. The report drew data from ad impressions and clicks across 12 million installs and 239 apps. VentureBeat writes that mobile casino apps, both social (where no money is at stake) and real-money are among the oldest demographic in gaming, with more than half being over 45. The userbase is also fairly evenly divided between men and women.
The Atlanta Braves are -130 favorites over the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the MLB World Series. The total is 8.5. The series is tied 1-1.
An article in USA Today ranks the "Most Fun Places To Live in the U.S.," based on "access to parks and outdoor activities, cultural attractions, restaurants, professional sports teams, shopping venues, nightlife, concerts, and the popularity of each location as a destination for flights." Taking the top spot is San Diego for its restaurants, parks, weather, and zoo. San Francisco placed number two, with Portland, OR, Seattle, Nashville, Charleston, SC, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Portland, ME, and Santa Rosa, CA, rounding out the top ten. Las Vegas ranked number 23, also beat out by Indianapolis (21), Denver (17), and Fort Myers, FL (15). We can take some comfort in knowing that Las Vegas is more fun than New York City (25), Fresno, CA (26), and Washington, D.C. (30).
In an effort to support local businesses as they recover from the pandemic, the city of Las Vegas is conducting a trial program that offers free parking on metered streets and in 12 downtown parking garages, including the Park on Fremont, El Cortez, and Downtown Project, Monday-Friday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Look for the "Lunch Spot Parking" signs to claim the free sports now through the last day of the year.
The World Series of Poker has released attendance figures that show participation in this year's tournaments is down by about a third from the last live series in 2019. The biggest drop was in the $1,500 Monster Stack event, down 42%, from 6,035 in 2019 to 3,520 this year; the $1,500 Millionaire Maker was down 40% percent (from 8,809 to 5,326). The no-limit hold 'em tournaments are down an average of 35%. The non-NLHE tournaments are better attended, down 25%-28%. The reasons are the vaccine mandate, the fall rather than the traditional spring schedule, and international travel restrictions limiting the fields to domestic players. However, those restrictions are being lifted on November 8 and the WSOP has added two more flights to the Main Event that will accommodate players arriving on the 8th and 9th.
The Arizona Cardinals are -6.5 favorites over the Green Bay Packers in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 51.
JetBlue is having a "Monster" sale based on the Halloween holiday, with 31 routes starting at just $31 one way, including Las Vegas to and from Los Angeles. Other fares are heavily discounted, such as the $198 round-trips between McCarran and New York airports. The sale is good through the end of tomorrow for travel between Monday Nov. 1 and Thursday Dec. 16 (excluding Fridays and Sundays and the week of Nov. 20-29); it's available only via JetBlue's website.
Nevada revenue from gambling in September hit $1.5 billion, surpassing the billion-dollar milestone for the seventh straight month. The Silver State is closing in on its longest streak of $1 billion months at eight (November 2006 to May 2007). In addition, the state set another record for gambling revenue in a quarter, reaching $3.7 billion in the July-September period. And sports books set a record for handle at $786.5 million, beating the previous record of $659.6 million set in October 2020; they also registered their third highest win in history at $54.2 million. Clark County reported $1 billion in revenue from gambling for the fifth of the last six months. The county's only other $1 billion month prior to the current streak was October 2007.
The Culinary Union will stage a rally that's expected to draw thousands of members and supporters tonight starting at 5 p.m., shutting down three lanes of the Strip between Paris and Harmon Avenue (between Cosmo and Crystals Mall). If at all possible, steer clear of the area until around 8 p.m., especially in a vehicle, but also as a pedestrian. Both wheeled and foot traffic will be jammed.
The Houston Astros are -120 favorites over the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the MLB World Series. The total is 8.5. The Braves lead the series 1-0.
Be sure to check out our Halloween event round up on VegasWithAnEdge.com
Steve Wynn has put his 1.4-acre 15,000-square-foot Summerlin mansion on the market again. Wynn bought the golf-course property for $13 million in 2018 before his ouster from Wynn Resorts; afterwards, he moved to Florida. The house went on the market in June of last year for $25 million after an announced $16 million renovation. The price was reduced to $19.5 million six months later; in March of this year, it went off the market. It's back on now for $24.5 million. Wynn has also been trying to sell a 27,150-square-foot estate in Beverly Hills since January at an asking price of $115 million.
Clark County has achieved the first of two requirements that will allow the mask mandate to be rescinded, recording a positivity rate of 8% or less two weeks in a row. The positivity rate fell below 8% on October 5 and has remained under ever since. The second requirement, back-to-back weeks with less than 50 new COVID cases, remains on the horizon, with a new-case rate that's still more than 100. State health officials announced yesterday that 16 of Nevada's 17 counties will remain under the mandate for at least another two weeks (tiny Esmeralda County, between Las Vegas and Reno with less than 1,000 residents, hasn't had a positive test in nearly a month).
Out of upwards of 400,000 attendees at EDC over the weekend, police arrested a total of 40 (.001%). Thirty-four arrests were for (unspecified) felonies and six for driving under the influence. Another 43 citations for misdemeanors were issued. No other details were provided and we suspect other lawbreakers got away scot free with their malfeasances, but those numbers are still mighty impressive for a that size of a crowd of partiers.
The Houston Astros are -120 favorites over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the MLB World Series. The total is 8.5.
We’ve just been informed that the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas is dealing a 5-cent line for World Series games. The narrow spread between the prices for both teams lowers the house edge to about 1% (it moves depending on the size of the favorite). Baseball lines used to be 5 cents, but now typically range from 10 cents to 20 cents.
The annual Nevada Humanities book-signing-and-reading event to celebrate the publication of the Las Vegas Writes anthology that we produce every year will take place tomorrow evening at the main Clark County Library, 1401 East Flamingo Road (corner of Escondido), from 7 to 8 p.m. Anthony Curtis will be there representing Huntington Press and Bob Dancer will read from his story, "Queen of the Machines," in this year's book, Love in the Dunes: Las Vegas Writers on Passion and Heartache. The 12th volume of the anthology, it's the first time that a gambling writer has ever been included.
The Drone Racing League will hold its championship race on January 5 to coincide with opening night of CES 2022. Twelve pilots will race high-speed, custom, FPV drones at 90 miles per hour around a custom-designed aerial race track at T-Mobile Arena. (An FPV, or first-person view, drone is one that's piloted from the drone's point of view, as if the pilot is riding the drone, rather than controlling the aircraft from the pilot's perspective on the ground.) The press release says the event "will unveil groundbreaking technology, cutting-edge sports competition and visually stunning entertainment." The race is open to the public, but not ticket information has been revealed.
The Royal Commission into Crown Resorts, conducted by the Australian state of Victoria, has found Crown Resorts "unsuitable" to run its flagship resort-casino, the 1,600-room Crown Melbourne, largest casino complex in the Southern Hemisphere. Language in the final report included phrases like an "alarming catalogue of wrongdoing," "disgraceful behavior," and "conduct that was variously illegal, dishonest, unethical, and exploitative." The report determined that Crown facilitated money laundering, exposed staff to the risk of detention in a foreign jurisdiction, pursued commercial relationships with individuals connected to Triads and organized crime groups, contravened local laws and the casino's contract with the state, and evaded up to $200 million in taxes. All that said, the commission recommended a two-year grace period for Crown Melbourne under the control of a "special manager," allowing the company to "return to suitability." The default position, however, is on Crown losing its gambling license at the end of the grace period, unless it passes "this tough test to satisfy." Last February, Crown was also found unsuitable to run the AUS$2 billion Crown Sydney Hotel Resort its building in New South Wales.
The New Orleans Saints are -6 favorites over the Seattle Seahawks in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 41.5.
Wildfire Lake Mead, a Station Casino a few blocks from Boulder Highway on E. Lake Mead Parkway in Henderson, is closing temporarily next Monday, November 1, for renovations and an expansion. Wildfire Lake Mead will get an all-new STN sports book, new slots and electronic table games, and a makeover and new menu at the Wild Grill. The casino is expected to reopen by the end of the year, with the Wild Grill following in February.
Former heavyweight champion of the world and long-time Las Vegas resident Mike Tyson has been honored with a 10-foot statue unveiled over the weekend outside the Mulberry Street Pizzeria at Resorts World. Tyson and Richie Palmer, owner of Mulberry Street Pizza, have known each other since they were teenagers in New York and Palmer, also an avid boxing fan, wanted to recognize Tyson's contributions to Las Vegas; Resorts World agreed and worked with Palmer to make it happen. The response has been ambivalent; many observers can't see a resemblance between the statue and the man himself. Some have gone so far as to say that the statue actually looks more like Evander Holyfield, Tyson's boxing rival. Palmer praised his long-time friend. "People don't know what a great, great, great human being he is. Generous to a fault. Kind. He will never say no to anyone for a picture. People don't get that. All they see is the ferociousness, the craziness, the bad moments." The boxing world has honored Tyson with induction into both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
Luckily for fans of either band, they're not playing together. Rather, they appear on back-to-back nights at the end of February. Heavy-metal rockers Metallica appears on Friday February 25, with the hard-rock and blues band Greta Van Fleet opening. Billy Joel plays the following night, February 26, all by his lonesome. Tickets for both shows go on sale to the general public this Friday at 10 a.m. PT.
The San Francisco 49ers are -3 favorites over the Indianapolis Colts in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 41.5.
The Houston Astros are -140 favorites over the Atlanta Braves to win the MLB World Series. Game 1 is Tuesday.
A lucky Mississippi Stud player hit a progressive jackpot at Paris late last week for $834,091 after playing for just five minutes. The winner told employees that she was in town for a wedding and was a Mississippi Stud aficionado. She was dealt a king and jack of hearts with the three community cards the ace, queen, and 10 of hearts. This progressive jackpot is linked across Caesars’ Nevada properties, making it the largest linked table-game network in the nation.
The news release cited "a frisson of energy in the room" that drove enthusiastic bidding on all 11 masterworks by Pablo Picasso, earning a nice $109 million payday for MGM Resorts. A "frisson," for those (like us) learning a new word this fine Sunday morning, is a sudden intense emotional response, the kind you get when you're struck by a random case of chills from a particular musical passage, or looking at a roller coaster you're about to ride, or falling in love at first sight, or as in this case attending the special white-gloved auction at Bellagio where everyone in the packed house shared the excitement of owning an original Picasso. The artist's Femme au béret rouge-orange, a 1938 portrait of Pablo's most famous muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, sold for $40.5 million. The works were from the MGM Resorts Fine Art Collection and were previously on view at Bellagio’s Picasso restaurant. The auction marked the largest and most significant fine-art sale ever to take place in Las Vegas. A special "luxury auction" takes place today at Aria, dedicated to the finest watches, jewelry, handbags, automobiles, and more, including Michael Jordan’s earliest known regular-season game-worn Nike Air Ships from the fifth game of Jordan's rookie season in 1984; at an estimated sell price of up to $1.5 million, the Air Ships could become the most valuable sneakers ever sold at auction.
Princess Cruises has become the first cruise-ship company to offer onboard sports betting on the ocean. The first real-time sports bet was booked last week on the Majestic Princess in the company's Ocean Sports-branded sports book. All of-age passengers in Princess' Medallion Class (passengers who wear a free bracelet that gives them a digital identity and communicates with thousands of sensors onboard and in port) are eligible to make sports bets on professional and college football, basketball, baseball, hockey, tennis, and others, though passengers can't bet on the NBA's Miami Heat; the team’s owner is also the chairman of Carnival Corporation. Sports betting is available when Majestic Princess and other ships are in international waters or docked in countries that allow gambling.
A lottery player in France last week matched seven numbers to hit the jackpot of €220 million (US$256 million) in the EuroMillions multi-national lottery. The winner has 60 days to claim the largest prize in the game's history. The previous EuroMillions record jackpot was €210 million (US$244.7 million) drawn on Feb. 26. The EuroMillions jackpot is capped at €220 million; it doesn't increase over the next four drawings. If no one wins in the fifth drawing, the pool is shared among ticketholders at the next prize tier of winners.
Less than five months after he bought the place, Kiss front man and bass player Gene Simmons is selling his 11,000-square-foot mansion in the hills of Henderson. He paid $10.8 million in May for the house and a vacant lot next door, where he planted more than 100 trees at a cost of $1 million; he's asking $14.95 million for the combined properties. Simmons told the Review-Journal that he bought the house for tax purposes, but his family refused to move to southern Nevada due to the summer heat. He lived there himself for a few months, but then went on tour, so the place sat empty and now he'll probably make a nice little return on his investment.
Uber released a statement yesterday advising attendees of EDC, of whom more than 400,000 are expected, to "explore alternative transportation options." People going to and from EDC "should expect longer wait times, dynamic pricing, and product unavailability due to very high demand.” And it's not just at the festival where riders will have issues. The Vegas Golden Knights and the Las Vegas Raiders both have home games tomorrow; Rod Stewart (Caesars), Gwen Stefani (Planet Hollywood), and Billy Idol (Cosmo) are performing; the National Hardware Show is at the Las Vegas Convention Center; a national pool player championship (Westgate) is under way; and the QAnon convention is being held (Ahern). Without your own transportation, the odds of getting stranded are astronomical.
It might be a good time to play the Plaza. Today and tomorrow are 10X points days and there’s a contest running with $50,000 in prize money for which entries are earned for play. It concludes on November 20, when there will be a drawing to pick 50 winners with a first prize of $20,000. This has been a year-long contest, so there are likely players well ahead in number of entries, but the contest hasn’t been heavily promoted and might not be out of reach. Regardless, it’s added value and the Plaza has good video poker schedules, including 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe (99.64% return) and 9/6 Jacks or Better (99.54%). Make sure you’re playing a schedule that awards club points; there are some schedules with even higher returns (some over 100%) that don’t.
The current edition of Sports Illustrated is completely devoted to sports betting. "The Gambling Issue" explores the radically changed attitudes about betting on sporting events since the early 1960s and how extensive the activity is now. In-depth coverage includes pieces on the sponsorships and partnerships between every professional sports league and gaming operators, increased scrutiny and blame on athletes for lost bets, the worst bad beats in sports history, gambling scandals in sports, an anonymous opinion by an illegal bookie, and more. You can get a look at the stories here.
This is the weekend that Electric Daisy Carnival takes over the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and, for the first time, a number of venues all over the city. The 10th edition of Vegas EDC returns after a nearly two-and-a-half-year layoff; the last time it ran was in May 2019. With 400,000 attendees expected, plus two Vegas Golden Knight home games, a Raiders home game, and the American Poolplayers Association’s World Pool Championships all also here this weekend, many hotels are completely sold out and those that still have rooms are charging three or four times the normal rates, from $400 at Circus Circus to $800 at the Venetian. You can have the master-bedroom walk-in closet at our house for $250.
Le Cirque, the Bellagio branch of the New York City landmark that's a perennial AAA Five Diamond and Forbes 5 Star winner, will reopen on Thursday October 28. The restaurant, designed by Adam Tihany that overlooks Lake Bellagio with an opulent circus theme, has been closed since the shutdown. The new chef is a veteran of Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Beverly Hills, Gordon Ramsay in West Hollywood, and Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak; recently, he earned a Michelin star as executive chef at Angler Restaurant in the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. Le Cirque will be open Thursday – Saturday only, 5-10 p.m.
By a unanimous 7-0 vote, the Clark County Commission yesterday approved a special-use permit for the Vegas Loop to be extended by 15 miles. The permit opens the door for the Boring Company to submit plans to drill under the Strip, with as many as 50 stations along the way between downtown and Allegiant Stadium, then (eventually) connect to the airport. It's estimated that the entire system will cost upwards of $1 billion in today's dollars, but that will be 100% privately funded. The 50-year franchise granted by the Commission allows Boring to operate the subterranean "motorway," collect fares, and sell advertising and sponsorships. The franchise fees, paid quarterly to the county, will be based on revenues. A tunnel connecting the Convention Center system with Resorts World across the Strip is currently under way. Boring will need to apply for building permits for the rest of the line.
With only 64 more shopping days till Christmas, announcements about New Years Eve entertainment in Las Vegas are starting to arrive. First, Lizzo, the singer-rapper-actress-flutist, will launch Virgin's first NYE with a one-off show in the Theater at Virgin Hotels starting at 10 p.m. Lizzo was named "2019 Entertainer of the Year" by Time magazine; she's also won three Grammys, a Billboard Music Award, a BET Award, and two Soul Train Music Awards. Tickets start at $99.50 and go on Friday. Bruno Mars, an 11-time Grammy winner and Vegas regular, will perform on December 30 and NYE (for the fifth time) at the newly renamed Dolby Live at Park MGM. He'll also perform there on December 17 and 18. Mars tickets also start at $99.50 and go on sale on Friday.
Circus Circus has opened the food court it's been working on since the spring. It's right next to the buffet, occupying a portion of the original buffet space (the buffet, however, is still as busy as ever, in half the space, with half the food). The food court has a Pick Up Stix, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Einstein Bros. Bagels, and Dairy Queen.
Houston-based ultra-low-cost-carrier Avelo Airlines, whose home airport is Hollywood Burbank, has added its fourth destination out of McCarran International since it launched service earlier this year. Starting on January 6, Avelo will make two round-trips weekly (Sunday and Thursday) to and from Redding, California. Avelo now flies to Santa Rosa and Eureka, both also in northern California. Avelo starts service between Las Vegas and Fort Collins, in northern Colorado, in December. Avelo started flying in 1989 as Casino Express Airlines, operating junkets from many U.S. cities to the Red Lion Hotel-Casino in Elko, Nevada. It quickly expanded to scheduled service between Elko and Portland, OR, and Seattle, then LAX and San Jose to and from South Lake Tahoe. A growing charter-service business prompted the airline to change its name to Xtra Airways in 2005. By 2018, Xtra was mostly out of business, but sold its one remaining 737 to a former Allegiant Air executive, who launched Avelo in April 2021. The airline now services 12 mostly small airports in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, and Colorado, plus Nevada, with plans to expand into Connecticut, Florida, and Arizona.
The changing schedule of Anthony Curtis' appearance on "CBS Mornings," which filmed him at the South Point Garden Buffet talking about the current AYCE scene in Vegas, has come right back around again. Originally scheduled for the "8 a.m. hour" today, it was moved till next week, then back again to 8:40 or so this morning. Don't miss it!
Can Rated Red, the new dance revue at The Portal, Area15's 360-degree projection-mapped showroom, live up to the breathless hype of the press release? Check it out: "Rated Red's sultry stimulating performances evoke passion, power, desire, danger, seduction, and love. The fierce cast of diverse body-positive dancers tease out every fetish with each arousing act, while surrounded by erotic digital art. From intense edgy dance numbers and wildly powerful pole performances to ultra-kinky excitement, Rated Red leaves no desires unexpressed." The show features 16 dancers doing 15 burlesque, acrobatic, pole-dance, and showgirl numbers backed by a four-piece band and recorded music. Tickets for the two shows every Friday night at 9 and 11 p.m. start at $75.
Céline Dion, who had been rehearsing her new show at Resorts World all year, has had to cancel her upcoming performances due to medical complications. The residency, scheduled to open on November 5 and run through the 20th, then resume in January-February, has been scrapped for now. "Severe and persistent muscle spasms are preventing her from performing," according to the news release. Tickets purchased with a credit card will be refunded automatically within 30 days. Meanwhile, Rod Stewart will return to the Colosseum at Caesars Palace for 10 more shows of his residency "Rod Stewart: The Hits": May: 13, 14, 18, 20, and 21; September: 23, 24, 28, and 30; and October: 1. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Saturday at 10 a.m. PT at Ticketmaster.
New Jersey’s sports books made national gambling history last month by taking in more than a billion dollars ($1.011 billion to be exact) in bets in a single month. The win was $82 million for the nine casinos and three racetracks in the state that book sports bets. Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, just outside New York City, accounted for half the total win. Year to date, New Jersey has handled more than $7 billion in sports bets. It's all the more remarkable, considering that New Jersey booked its first $300 million month only three year ago (November 2018). Pundits are predicting that, if past-year trends continue this year, New Jersey could surpass $1 billion for the next four months, with a pause in February at the end of football season, then a fifth in March with the NCAA college basketball tournament.
Mick Akers, the Las Vegas Review-Journal's top-notch transportation reporter, writes that the $4.2 million in donations needed to finish the first phase of the renaming of McCarran International Airport to Harry Reid International has been collected by the county. Phase one includes changing "primary signage" leading to the airport. An additional $2.8 million needs to be raised for the second (internal signage) and third (stationery, letterhead, business cards, etc.) phased to be financed. No timeline has been announced for the start of the changeover, but now that the first phase can be launched, meetings will be held with the Federal Aviation Administration, state Department of Transportation, and Clark County wrap up the planning, then a contractor can be hired.
The Buffalo Bills are -6 favorites over the Tennessee Titans in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 53.5.
Phil Hellmuth won his 16th World Series of Poker gold bracelet yesterday by taking first place in the $1,500-buy-in No-limit 2-7 Lowball Draw tournament. With a field of 272, Hellmuth cashed just under $85,000, a minimal prize compared to his $25 million in lifetime winnings, but he said he'd been wanting to win this tournament for more than 40 years, because it's the "coolest" bracelet. The six-foot-seven Hellmuth, who won the WSOP Main Event in 1989 at the age of 24, has now earned six bracelets more than Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Ivey, who all have 10. It was Hellmuth's fourth final table since the WSOP started last month.
The Ice Rink at Boulevard Pool will be open at the Cosmopolitan starting Tuesday November 16 and continuing through Sunday January 2 for the 10th year. The 4,200-square-foot rooftop skating rink made of real ice will host public skates and a number of special events, including holiday-classic films on the marquee, Benny the ice-skating dog, a communal firepit, and fireworks on New Year's Eve.
Originally scheduled for this Wednesday, Anthony Curtis' appearance on "CBS Mornings" in a segment on Las Vegas buffets was moved up to this morning at 8 a.m. Now, it's been moved back to next Wednesday, October 27. These things are highly fluid, so we'll keep you posted when, probably not if, we hear of further reschedulings.
The Marijuana Business Convention, a.k.a. MJBizCon, convenes at the Las Vegas Convention Center this Tuesday through Friday. It's the cannabis industry's largest event of the year and this one marks MJBizCon's 10th anniversary. The trade show will feature 140 speakers, 70 hours of educational content, and 1,100 exhibitors, marketing everything from advertising and payment processing to cultivation and dispensary products, packaging, security, technology, and testing. Masks are required for all attendees, though not proof of vaccination.
A story we've been following for a while is the casino-industry's worst nightmare. After months of disturbing testimony from at least 200 witnesses, closing arguments in the Cullen Commission's examination into the "inaction or corruption" that allowed massive money laundering to occur over a period of at least eight years in casinos in British Columbia, Canada, wraps up on Tuesday. Commissioners have heard that beginning in 2009 and possibly earlier, a "massive escalation of bulk cash" flooded into BC Lottery Corporation casinos that “undoubtedly had its origins in the drug trade.” The allegations also involve Mexican and Colombian cartels, the Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Italian underworlds, and outlaw biker gangs, which reportedly "took over B.C.’s illicit economy and caused unprecedented gang violence, human and gun trafficking, and opioid overdose deaths on Canada's west coast.” Bags of $20 bills were used to purchase chips by "scores of high-limit baccarat bettors, the vast majority from Mainland China,” to launder drug and loan-shark money through the casinos. At the same time, investigators from British Columbia's Gaming Policy and Enforcement, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and other agencies warned of the crimes, which continued "unfettered" before the Mounties began a crackdown in 2015. That same year, the provincial government ordered the Lottery Corporation to abide by Know Your Customer regulations, but it didn't start to do so until 2018. For its part, the Lottery claims that though the cash transactions were suspicious, the gamblers themselves weren't, and the corporation and government had to be careful not to racially profile the casino customers. In addition, the provincial and federal governments have argued that their anti-money-laundering policies have been tightened since the B.C. investigation began. After closing arguments, the Commission's findings of fact and recommendations are expected to take months to complete.
The 10-member classic-rock band Chicago will play the Venetian Theater again in February. It's the fifth fifth year in a row that the band will do a mini-residency at the Venetian. The six shows will take place on February 16, 18, 19, 23, 25, and 26, starting at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $50 and go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Three of the state's casinos expected to have their sports betting license applications approved at the monthly Sports Wagering Application Review Commission meeting yesterday, but the commission canceled the meeting without explanation and has yet to reschedule. Sports betting in Maryland was approved in May, but the cogs and gears that have been grinding along ever since seem to have come to a halt. Even the governor is getting impatient, asking residents in a tweet to put a little pressure on the Application Review Commission so as not to miss football season.
A story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal reveals some initial plans for the Palms from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the California tribe that has purchased the property. The tribe is currently undergoing the background investigation necessary for approval of a gambling license in the state, which it "hopes" will be issued before the end of the year. As soon as it is, the tribe will go to work preparing the hotel-casino to reopen sometime in "the first half of 2022." It will reopen as the Palms, though the name might change after that. The sports book will be upgraded and possibly shrunk in size, "most" of the food-court vendors will remain, the Kaos nightclub will stay closed while the tribe considers what to replace it with, and the "employee experience" will be completely repurposed; said the tribe's CEO, "It looks like it hasn't been touched since 2001 (when the Palms opened originally)." Paid parking is definitely not in the vision, which is focused on turning the property into a "locals Strip casino."
You've read his books, perused his Question of the Day answers, and read and heard about him for decades, and now you can actually hear what he sounds like. And that pleasure comes with an even bigger treat. In conjunction with the recent release of his latest book Radical Blackjack, Arnold Snyder is interviewed by John Reeder of "Risk of Ruin," a podcast about gambling (and life). But for the first time ever, Mrs. Snyder, Radar, Arnold's partner in blackjack and life, is interviewed with him, so you can hear the two of them discuss their backgrounds, card counting and their specialty, shuffle tracking, how they met at the Blackjack Ball (and how the Ball came to be), how long it took for them to fall in love and become one of the worlds' greatest professional blackjack "teams," and best of all, how, after being married for more than 20 years, they still feel about each other. This episode of "Risk of Ruin" is an uplifting, life-affirming, and affectionate podcast to go with your Saturday morning cuppa coffee.
The current Las Vegas Advisor YouTube video cites Anthony Curtis' appearance on "CBS Mornings," the network's morning show, as taking place next Wednesday October 20. We've just been informed that the show's segment on Las Vegas buffets, in which A.C. is interviewed at the South Point's Garden Buffet, has been moved up to Monday October 8 in the 8 a.m. hour. Tune in and catch Anthony rapping about the post-pandemic buffet scene and, presumably, feeding at the AYCE trough.
The latest LVA YouTube channel video is posted and just dying for you to watch. It covers so much ground -- the unseasonal but gorgeous weather, all the latest developments including Dream, Atomic Golf, Rao's, Anthony's number-one steakhouse in the nation, and Nevada's no-vax mandate -- that it runs almost 15 minutes, several longer than usual. Definitely tune in to find out when and where A.C is appearing on "CBS Mornings," the morning show that came to town recently to cover the emerging buffet scene.
Marriott International has bowed out of the deal it announced over the summer to take the reins of the failed Fontainebleau. We reported in mid-July that Marriott planned to finish the building and open it in the 4th quarter of 2023 with a name change to JW Marriott Las Vegas Boulevard. Apparently, however, that deal was with the New York-based Witkoff Group that bought the property from Carl Icahn for $600 million and changed the name to the Drew. Since then, Koch Real Estate Investments picked up the property for $350 million and partnered with Jeffrey Soffer's Fontainebleau Development, ironically the original developer of the long-stalled project. Neither Koch nor Soffer has revealed any plans to resurrect the wreck. So now, to practically no one's surprise, the Fontainebleau has come full circle, right back to square zero.
In tonight’s deciding Game 5 of the National League Division Series, the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers are pick ’em. The total is 7.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are -7 favorites over the Philadelphia Eagles in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 53.
The developer of the 720-room Majestic Hotel, planned for Convention Center Drive across the street from the Las Vegas Convention Center, plans to break ground on the $850 million non-casino non-smoking hotel sometime in the first three months of 2022. Work was originally scheduled to begin in 2020, but the pandemic put the kibosh on that; the second launch date was supposed to have happened by now, but supply-chain issues, along with the slow ramp up of conventions, have further deferred that date. However, the developer told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he still expects the Majestic to be completed in "late 2024."
Dolby Laboratories, the sound-technology company (started by Ray Dolby, whose son Thomas Dolby is the English musician and producer of "She Blinded Me with Science" renown) and developer of the Dolby Atmos surround-sound system, has teamed up with MGM Resorts to retrofit the Park Theater with Dolby Atmos. The name of the venue has been changed to Dolby Live to reflect the new immersive playback tech. The sound system will be used primarily for live concerts, but also e-sports and other events held at the theater.
United will begin daily nonstop service between Cleveland and Las Vegas beginning December 16. The westbound flight will depart at 6:45 p.m. in Ohio and land in Las Vegas at 8:40 p.m.; the return flight is a red-eye, leaving at 11 p.m. and arriving at 6 a.m. the next day. The daily flights are seasonal for the holidays and snowbirds and will end on March 26.
The Las Vegas hockey team, now in its fifth year, played its first game of the season last night at a standing-room-only T-Mobile Arena, beating the NHL's latest expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, by a score of 4-3. True to form, the winning goal was controversial, looking like it was kicked in, but it was ruled legal and won the game for the Vegas Golden Knights. Our VGK blogger Joe Pane will be covering all the games this season, the same as he's done since Day One of the Vegas franchise. You can read all his posts and see video highlights of all the games at VegasWithAnEdge.
A southern California real estate development company, EKN Group, has acquired the Tahoe Biltmore, the largest of three casinos in Crystal Bay at north Lake Tahoe, for $56.9 million. The press release indicates that EKN will operate the hotel-casino as it finalizes plans to redevelop the 15-acre site. EKN purchased the property from Boulder Bay LLC, which purchased the Biltmore for $28.3 million in 2007 and quickly announced plans to build a major housing development, spa, and fitness center. The plans were approved in 2011, but they never got off the ground; you can read the whole unfortunate tale in a Question of the Day we posted in March 2016. The Biltmore opened in 1946; it celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The hotel has 113 rooms, the casino 100 slots, a few table games, and a William Hill sports book. Details of the plans for the new development will be released "soon."
Nobu, the 182-room boutique hotel-within-a-hotel at Caesars Palace is undergoing a "multimillion-dollar refresh" that will give it a more "residential and luxe" feel. The upgrades will include such room enhancements as custom sofas, quartzite coffee tables, other new furnishings, replacement rugs and flooring, and additional lighting. The hallways and lobby will also get new carpeting. Nobu bills itself as "one of the premier luxury lifestyle brands in the world" and is owned by Chef Nobu Matsuhisa, actor Robert De Niro and film producer Meir Teper. No timeline has been announced for the project.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has approved the sale of 10 acres along the north Strip, left over from the Convention Center's West Hall expansion on the old Riviera site. The property was bought for $120 million, or $12 million per acre, by Chilean entrepreneur, real estate developer, and casino operator Claudio Fischer, who owns Sun Monticello Hotel-Casino, roughly 30 miles south of Santiago, the largest resort-casino in South America. Fischer and his brother and partner own Sun Dreams, the largest casino-resort operator in Latin America with 19 properties in Chile, Argentina, Panama, Colombia, and Peru. The deal is scheduled to close by June 30, 2022, though it can be extended for four months for a second $3 million non-refundable deposit. In addition, Fischer must develop a resort-casino on the property, starting no later than January 1, 2031.
A storm front from the north moved in yesterday, climaxing after dark when winds reached more than 60 miles per hour, knocking out power all over the place, including on Las Vegas Boulevard between the Sahara and the STRAT, knocking down trees and power lines, and causing all the sand and dust from one side of town to blow over to the other. Temperatures dropped like a rock, flights in and out of McCarran were delayed again, rain fell horizontally, and the Spring Mountains accumulated up to a foot of snow above 8,000 feet. Oh, and Jon Gruden resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Two bellmen started working at the Westgate the same week in 1971 (when it was the International) and are still "pumping vinyl" to this day, with no plans to retire. Among their many friends and admirers is the president of the resort, who started as a front-desk clerk. This sweet Las Vegas Sun human-interest story will take four minutes to read and is sure to brighten your day.
The Baltimore Ravens are -7.5 favorites over the Indianapolis Colts in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 46.5.
The Neon Museum has started offering tours en español. Some tour guides have translated English tours for Spanish-speaking visitors on request over the years, but now, entire tours are offered in Spanish by native speakers. According to the 2020 Census, nearly one in three Clark County residents (and 29% statewide) are Hispanic or Latino; Spanish-exclusive tours can be specified when ordering tickets online.
Fans of the TV shows "Wisdom of the Crowd," "Ellen," and the British period drama "Mr. Selfridge" will be interested to know that Jeremy Pivens will be appearing at the Laugh Factory Comedy Club at the Tropicana December 2-5. Pivens is best known for his role as Ari Gold, a notoriously sleazy Hollywood agent, “in "Entourage," but has also appeared in numerous movies and has won three Emmys and a Golden Globe. Pivens has been doing stand-up on and off for years; he also toured with Second City right out of college.
Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale is at it again. That's no surprise, since his annual mattress promotion predicated on the perennially in-the-hunt Houston Astros continues too. If the Astros take the World Series, Mack is on the hook for $20 million in refunds (to people who spent more than $3,000 on mattresses). But! If they win, he'll also win upwards of $30 million on his futures bets on the team. Mack reportedly placed a $2 million bet with William Hill back in June that would pay out $22 million; if it does, it would be the the largest payout in U.S. sports betting history. He's also made other bets that would generate a combined return of more than $30 million. The Astros lead the Chicago White Sox 2-1 in their best-of five series; they can clinch it with a win tomorrow in Chicago.
The Kansas City Chiefs are -2.5 favorites over the Buffalo Bills in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 57.
The first legal sports and igaming bets from mobile devices in Connecticut will be accepted on Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, and state lottery platforms starting Tuesday at 3 p.m. The launch was postponed from last Thursday after technicalities in the process took longer than expected. The first seven days of online gambling in the Constitution State will be a soft launch with various limitations on games and the number of bettors; the online restrictions are scheduled to be lifted on Tuesday October 19. In-person sports betting in Connecticut began on September 30.
A midfielder for the Sporting Kansas City Major League Soccer team, Felipe Hernandez, has been suspended without pay following an investigation by the league. The league determined that Hernandez "had engaged in extensive and unlawful [in Missouri and Kansas] sports gambling" as a player, including on two MLS games, though neither was a Sporting Kansas City game and the investigation found that he didn't have any "confidential or otherwise non-public information concerning those two MLS matches." Hernandez actually turned himself in to the team in July, saying he was "concerned for his safety" due to his gambling debts. After the suspension, Hernandez tweeted that he has "undergone treatment for a gambling addiction" and is hoping to return to professional soccer.
A cold wet storm moved into Nevada Friday morning, drenching Las Vegas with rain, dusting the Spring Mountains with snow, leaving roads slick enough to cause numerous auto accidents around the valley, knocking out power to thousands of residences, and cancelling flights in and out of McCarran throughout the day. Snow also fell in northern Nevada, particularly around Lake Tahoe, with several inches accumulating in the upper elevations. Barely three weeks out of summer, it was one of the earliest snowfalls in both northern and southern Nevada in state history. Another storm, even colder and wetter, is blowing in later today from north to south. Las Vegas probably won't see precipitation, but temperatures will be unseasonably cool, with highs in the mid-60s and lows as low as 45 on Tuesday and Wednesday. Las Vegas' record low for October is 26 (Oct. 30, 1971).
In tonight’s big Heavyweight Championship boxing match, Tyson Fury is a -300 favorite over Deontay Wilder. The total is 7.5 rounds, with over the favorite at -140.
Restaurants all over Las Vegas continue to close, open, fail to reopen, and switch places. Julio’s Tacos & Grill has closed at Ellis Island; It will be replaced by Via Focaccia, an Italian sandwich shop. The critically acclaimed Rooster Boy Café, out in the Desert Shores suburb, has closed. The Summerlin location of the venerable Japanese eatery Osaka has closed after 23 years; the original Osaka on W. Sahara (the first japanese restaurant in Las Vegas dating from 1969) and a third in Henderson remain open. Eight-year-old Hecho en Vegas Mexican Grill at MGM Grand is closing in a few weeks; a replacement will be announced soon.
The Las Vegas Aces WNBA team lost yesterday to the Phoenix Mercury at home in the deciding fifth game of the playoff semi-finals by a score of 87-84. The Aces led 66-58 at the end of the third quarter, but couldn't stop two Mercury players from scoring 23 of their 29 fourth-quarter points; the Aces also suffered several miscues, including turnovers and a crucial missed layup. The Aces made it to the WNBA finals last year, but were swept 3-0 by the Seattle Storm. The Mercury now go on to face the Chicago Sky in this year's finals.
A new video on the LVA YouTube channel is posted. It starts out with Andrew's visit to G2E, the Global Gaming Expo that ended yesterday at the Venetian convention center. See some good images of the scene, particularly Interblock's stadium-style casino games. Then they segue into the World Series of Poker, currently under way, and Anthony tells a cool story about when the author of our book Kill Phil (and upcoming title All about Sports Betting), Blair Rodman, won a WSOP gold bracelet and $700,000. From there, they're off to Mulberry Street Pizza at Resorts World, describe a great freeroll for a three-night stay at Circa, including a comped dinner with superhost Steve Cyr, a brief discussion of the baseball playoffs, and a sweet story behind a $20,000 jackpot at Double Double Bonus Five Play. Twelve minutes never went by more quickly!
The five-acre $500 million 20-story 500-plus-room Dream Las Vegas Hotel-Casino, announced in February 2020, was approved yesterday by the Clark County Commission in a typical 6-1 vote. The lone holdout objected to Dream's location: on the east side of the south Strip right next to the airport and an area “used for high-level individuals, special operations, and military aircraft parking.” The project has raised all kinds of attention from agencies as diverse as the TSA, FBI, FAA, Homeland Security, Secret Service, Air Force, McCarran Airport, and the airlines themselves, all concerned about safety and security. But after the developers revealed a number of mitigation plans, commissioners gave the nod; ground could broken by next summer, with a completion date in the summer of 2024. Commissioners also approved the new 200-room Station project, Durango – A Stations Casino Resort, slated for the southwest valley near the 215 Beltway and S. Durango Drive; it's expected to open in 2023.
The cult Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies will perform a free concert starting at 9 p.m. tomorrow night on the 3rd Street stage downtown. The band has been entertaining audiences for nearly 35 years and is known for its eclectic musicianship, including creating the theme song for "The Big Bang Theory" TV show, and back-and-forth banter and rapping between songs. Should be a good one. And it's free.
The Los Angeles Rams are -2.5 favorites over the Seattle Seahawks in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 53.5.
The revolving door of restaurants at Caesars Entertainment continues with the announcement yesterday that Rao's Italian restaurant at Caesars Palace will close on Sunday November 28. Rao’s opened in Las Vegas in 2006, but it's an absolute institution in New York City, where it's been operating since 1896 at the same corner in East Harlem. It started out as a saloon and is still in its original one room; with only four tables and six booths (seating for 60), it's one of the toughest restaurant reservations in the country. There's also a Rao's in Hollywood. By our count, that makes a lot of comings and goings of CZR restaurants, particularly at Bally's, Paris, and Caesars.
Another detail that caught our eye in the reports coming out of G2E is the new Dune slot machine from Aristocrat. Dune, the movie (remake), based on the classic sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert, is being released on Friday October 22 to great anticipation. At the same time, Dune, the slot machine, is also being rolled out in conjunction with the premiere. Aristocrat is touting the simultaneous debut of an intellectual property and a themed machine for the first time in slot-machine history. The game features clips from the film, giant sandworms jumping up from the bottom of the screen and triggering a bonus spin, and bets as low as a penny (careful, though: Loading the machine will run you $8). Aristocrat, the Australia-based slot manufacturer, says it has several patents pending for certain features of the game. Look for it at a casino near you.
The median price for a Las Vegas house went up again in September to $406,500. Though it was a giant leap of 20.5% from the $337,250 in September 2020, it was a small step over August 2021's price: a mere $1,500 (.4%). The median price of condos and townhomes in September was $230,000, also a record and an increase of nearly 18% year over year. Home prices are expected to cool down with the temperatures; real estate sales and prices in Las Vegas normally peak in the summer, then drop off till spring. In addition, supply is starting to catch up with demand. Still, we're not holding our breath for complete stabilization. This place is booming.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are -235 favorites over the St. Louis Cardinals in tonight’s 1-game MLB National League Wild Card playoff. The total is 7.
The Neon Museum has acquired the Planet Hollywood Restaurant sign that originally rotated atop a column pedestal in front of the casino-hotel. "Similar to the Hard Rock Café guitar, the Planet Hollywood sign is iconic, given the popularity of its venue and sheer size,” said the museum's executive director. The sign was originally installed in 1994, weighs six tons, and is 25 feet in diameter. To be moved to the museum, the globe was carefully separated into four pieces, each weighing 1,300 pounds, then delivered by in oversized trucks requiring multiple travel lanes during overnight hours. The sign is undergoing assessment for conservation and display plans.
The Global Gaming Expo (G2E) is taking place this week at the Venetian Expo Center; it's the first time the commercial gaming industry has met in person in two years. Among a slew of subjects we're tracking from the convention and trade show, including new slot cabinets and table games, cashless-payment systems, the smoke-free movement, cyber attacks on Native casinos, custom chairs for casino hospitality venues, political goings-on in D.C., igaming technology, industry diversity, responsible gambling, the customer experience, the casino floor of the future, emerging leaders, cryptocurrencies, regulatory concerns, funding for innovation, even ethics challenges for casino attorneys, is an interesting perspective on marketing to younger players. During a panel discussion on getting Millennials and GenZers to play casino games, MGM Resorts vice president of table-game strategies revealed that the game played most by 20-somethings who gravitated to casinos to gamble for the first time during the pandemic, for the lack of much else to do in Las Vegas in the months after the reopenings, was roulette. "There are tons of skills in other games," he noted, "but roulette takes no skill whatsoever." That was why "the table game that skewed the youngest was roulette," he said, to the extent that MGM pivoted to a "much higher percentage of the floor" at its properties to roulette wheels. Now that they've gotten their feet wet in the casino, perhaps they'll buckle down and educate themselves about the other games. Hope springs eternal.
Vegas Eater reports that the first-ever full-sit-down restaurant by Martha Stewart will open sometime next year at Paris. Though a Martha Stewart eatery has been on the grapevine for a while, at one point linked in strange-bedfellows gossip to Snoop Dog, Eater says that a construction-permit filing under that name confirms the rumor (sans Snoop). Martha Stewart had a counter-service cafe in New York, but it closed a couple of years ago.
The New York Yankees are -135 favorites over the Boston Red Sox in tonight’s 1-game MLB American League Wild Card playoff. The total is 8.
A Powerball ticket sold at an Albertsons in Morro Bay, a small coastal town roughly halfway between L.A. and Monterrey, matched the six numbers for a jackpot of $699.8 million. The lump-sum payout will be $496 million before taxes. It was the 41st drawing since the last Powerball jackpot was hit on June 5 and the first hit on a Monday night (Powerball introduced the third drawing in late August); the drawing also beat the previous record of 36 in a row without a winning ticket that ended last January. It was the seventh largest Powerball jackpot in the game's history.
A major indoor "golf entertainment destination" has been announced for a seven-acre parcel next to the STRAT. Dallas-based Flite Golf & Entertainment, which creates "immersive tech-fueled entertainment experiences by pairing leading-edge technology with innovative games, shot tracking, and facility-management software, will build Atomic Range on land owned by Golden Entertainment, which also owns the STRAT; it's expected to cost in the $70 million range. The 92,000-square-foot building will be four stories tall, contain more than 100 hitting bays, and include four bars, meeting spaces, and a 12,000-square-foot "Astrocade" (that we deduce is a video-game emporium), and is expected to open sometime in 2023.
Chickie’s & Pete’s, voted ESPN’s number-one sports bar in North America, will open its first outlet in the west at the Sahara tomorrow, Oct. 6, in the space vacated by Umami Burger. Founded in 1977 by Pete and Chickie Ciarrocchi, the crab house and sports bar is renowned in its hometown of Philadelphia; the crab fries have become synonymous with game days in the chain's locations in New Jersey, Florida, Minnesota, and Missouri. The menu features the specialty Crabfeast, crab cake sandwich, hot shrimp, mussels in red and white sauce, lobster pizza, and of course Philly cheesesteaks five ways.
The Los Angeles Chargers are -3 favorites over the Las Vegas Raiders in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 52.
The 22nd annual Latin Grammy Awards ceremony is coming back to the MGM Grand Garden Arena on November 18. It was held in Miami last year without an audience due to the pandemic. It's the 12th of the last 14 years that the Latin Grammy's have been held in Las Vegas: six at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, one at T-Mobile, and six, including this year, at the Grand Garden. The show will be aired live on Univision and is expected to be watched by 10 million viewers.
Magical Forest at Opportunity Village, a 30-year fundraising tradition and one of the biggest winter events in Las Vegas, will reopen this year after missing last year due to the pandemic. The two-acre park features hundreds of trees decorated with more than a million holiday lights, gingerbread houses, nightly entertainment, and of course visits from Santa. The Forest Express passenger mini-train traverses the grounds; a carousel, mini golf, midway games, and Elf the Musical add to the attractions. Magical Forest will open on Friday November 26 and run through Sunday January 2. Tickets are on sale now for $22 at the door; every dollar goes toward programs and services for adults with disabilities at Opportunity Village, which has been serving the Las Vegas disabled community since 1954. Magical Forest is located at 6300 West Oakey Blvd., at the corner of S. Torrey Pines.
LVA correspondent Roy confirms that all the table games at Sam's Town have gone non-smoking. Players can still smoke at the machines, but anyone looking for smoke-free blackjack, roulette, and -- yes -- crap tables, among others at a locals casino will find them at the Boyd property on Boulder Highway.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are -6.5 favorites over the New England Patriots in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 49.5.
British Airways will resume non-stop service between Las Vegas and London on November 1, the first day that vaccinated international air travelers will be allowed into the United States. The airline will fly one daily round-trip, leaving Las Vegas at 9:50 p.m. and leaving London's Heathrow Airport at 4:10 p.m. In addition, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will start operating flights three times a week between Amsterdam and McCarran. KLM inaugurated its Netherlands-Nevada flights in June 2019, nine months before it was shut down by the pandemic.
Emmy Award-winning comedian and actor Brad Garrett is moving to a new home in MGM Grand. Scheduled to open Saturday Nov. 27 in The District at MGM Grand, the newly redesigned Brad Garrett Comedy Club will be a 210-seat comedy club and lounge featuring Garrett and many of his funny friends. Garrett, who joins the lineup of comedians for multiple performances throughout the year, will entertain opening weekend clubgoers along with Butch Bradley and Trixx.
Thiago Santos is a -155 favorite over Johnny Walker in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Kevin Holland is -175 over Kyle Daukaus.
Resorts World has introduced a self-guided tour for visitors to explore the property’s artworks. Of course, being Resorts World, it's high-tech. You need a mobile phone with a QR code reader; scan the code on the piece of art to get the details guests can scan the QR codes on a variety of art pieces throughout the resort’s public spaces to learn more about them, including details about the creation of the art pieces, their origins, and artist information. If you have a scanner and make it to the new megaresort, it's worth doing; Resorts World displays eclectic and intriguing works.
A law passed by the Nevada Legislature in the spring and signed by Gov. Steve Sisolak in early June legalizing cannabis consumption lounges throughout the state took effect yesterday. Nevada is now one of seven states that allow consumption lounges. Dispensaries and stand-alone lounge businesses can apply for 20 lounge licenses, which run from $10,000 to $100,000, but the first lounge isn't expected to open until the first part of next year.
The pop-culture website RadarOnline has an article speculating about a new Britney Spears Las Vegas residency. She hasn't performed for a number of years, insisting that she wouldn't until her conservatorship, overseen by her father, ended. But now that it has, Radar reports that "Vegas is begging Britney to return" and "she could literally have her pick of venue and name her price"; Radar hypothesizes that "after all this attention, Britney could be the best-selling artist in Vegas history." Radar's insider warned, however, that Britney should move quickly: "This won’t last long. At the moment the whole world is Team Britney. But pop culture moves so fast, in a few months folks will have moved onto the next drama.” Time will tell.
Las Vegas has always been a town where rents were reasonable. Single-family houses, condos and townhomes, and apartments were developed so rapidly to keep up with the ever-ascending population growth that for decades, supply outpaced demand. No longer. With the uncertain economy, supply-chain difficulties for construction materials, soaring prices knocking home buyers out of the ownership market, and the unrelenting in-migration, demand for rentals is far exceeding supply. According to Rent.com, the average cost for a one-bedroom apartment is now $1,700-$1,900 a month; for a two-bedroom, it's $2,000-$2,300. Rents have more than doubled in the past decade and are up 20%-30% since 2018.
In this week's YouTube update, Anthony and Andrew chow down at the Main Street Station Garden Court Buffet brunch, a perennial favorite that finally reopened recently. Impressed by the quality and variety, they draw comparisons (and contrasts) to South Point's great buffet, mention their surprise over their favorite dishes, and even run into Bobby Gee, who's doing an LVA-like video series on Laughlin. Then they talk about some developments at Resorts World, including the debut of the Zouk Nightclub (tune in for how to pronounce it), show a video of Brad's nearly $6,500 video poker hit at Red Rock, and of course review the latest on the mask mandate. It's a fine way to spend a dozen minutes getting your Vegas fix.
Four years ago today, Las Vegas suffered the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. Fifty-eight attendees of the Route 91 Harvest Festival lost their lives and hundreds more were injured; two later died from their wounds. A number of memorial ceremonies will be held, as they are every year. The main remembrance is taking place at the amphitheater at the Government Center downtown. A display in the Center’s rotunda shines a light on the victims and an “Art of Healing Mural,” produced by local artists for the first anniversary of the shooting. For your own remembrance, you can view of page of photos of all the victims here. No motive has ever been determined for what happened, four years ago today.
The month of October presents a nearly perfect weather picture after the summer snapshot that drips with sweat. Normal high temperatures range between 87 on the first of the month and 74 on the last, normal lows 65 to 53. The record highs for the month have come in the first few days over the years: 103 on Oct. 1 in 1978 and 100 on Oct. 2 and 4 in 1980 and 1947, respectively. It can get pretty cold at night (perfect sleeping weather with the windows open and the air-conditioner finally shut off); the record lows range from 44 (Oct. 3, 1950) down to 26 (Oct. 30, 1971). In general, Vegas sees no precipitation in October, with clear sunny skies all the livelong month.