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The Ghostbar is coming back at the Palms. The roof-top nightclub that opened in 2001 is considered one of the first ultralounges. It became Apex Social Club in 2018 for a short time before the resort closed, but will reclaim its famous name when the Palms reopens this spring.
The Las Vegas gentleman's club, Crazy Horse III, is accepting cryptocurrency as payment for lap dances and tips. Crazy Horse III started accepting Bitcoin for bottle service in July 2020 and it was so popular (no paper trail) that it was expanded to dances. All you need is a cryptocurrency account, a crypto wallet, and QR code scanner; you scan a code and the payment for "dance dollars" is instantaneous via the e-wallet. "This provides tech-savvy customers with an added layer of privacy and flexibility," said the club in a statement. It's one of the first, if not the first, strip clubs in the country to offer this service.
Lady Gaga returns to Dolby Live at Park MGM for a nine-date engagement in April and May with her intimate "Jazz & Piano" show. The dates are April 14, 16, 17, 21, 23, 24, 28, and 30 and May 1. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.
The Los Angeles Rams are -4 favorites over the Cincinnati Bengals. The total is 50.
In today's NFC Championship the Los Angeles Rams are -3.5 favorites over the San Francisco 49ers. The total is 46.
In today's AFC Championship, the Kansas City Chiefs are -7 favorites over the Cincinnati Bengals. The total is 54.5.
An article in this morning's Las Vegas Sun reports that Caesars has already posted lines for all the match-ups for the Super Bowl, which will be settled after today's conference championship games. William Hill (Caesars' sports book) has the Kansas City Chiefs as a 2.5-point favorite over the Los Angeles Rams in the "most likely" category. The Chiefs are a 3-point favorite against the San Francisco 49ers, while the Cincinnati Bengals are +3.5 against the Rams and +2.5 against the 49ers. The books are vulnerable to a "significant loss" if the Niners win the Super Bowl; after their 2-4 record in the early part of the season, some futures lines went as high as 200-1. This is expected to be the ninth Super Bowl in a row in which Nevada has taken more than $100 million in sports bets. Statewide, the books have won money on 29 of the last 31 Super Bowls.
It took less than two and a half weeks for New York state to register its first billion-dollar month of sports betting. New York is the third state to surpass a 10-figure monthly handle; only New Jersey and Nevada have also reached that mark. And as for taxes, fuhgeddabowdit. Collecting 51% of the sports books' $88.9 hold for $45.3 million, New York has already more than doubled the previous record: $21.6 million set in November in Pennsylvania (with its 34% tax).
Daniil Medvedev is a -200 favorite in tomorrow's Australian Open men's tennis final. Nadal is going for his second Australian Open championship and a record-setting 21st Grand Slam title, while Medvedev is seeking his second Grand Slam. The match starts early, at 3:30 am EST.
Bally's Corporation made a deal last April with Penn National to buy the operations of the Tropicana for $150 million. It also entered into an agreement with Gaming and Leisure Properties, the Trop's landlord, to lease the land for 50 years, with rent starting at $10.5 million a year. The purchase is expected to close sometime this year. Now, Soo Kim, chairman of Bally's Corp., indicates that all options are on the table for the Tropicana when Bally's takes possession. In an interview this week with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Kim said no decision has been made about the Trop, but Bally's will "consider anything from renovating the resort to knocking it down and building something entirely new." Last month, it was announced that the Oakland A's MLB team had made an offer on the Tropicana acreage to build its new baseball stadium there. The whole thing is up in the air, but it's likely that the ultimate fate of the 65-year-old hotel-casino, second oldest on the Strip, will be settled in 2022.
Airbnb has released information about how many potential Las Vegas party rentals its software blocked in 2021: upwards of 3,600. The short-term rental company's algorithms, instituted in 2020, prevent guests who are under 25 and don't have a certain number of positive reviews from renting properties on its platform. The parties tend to accelerate around holidays, so Airbnb also shored up its rules about one-night bookings during high-traffic times of the year. For the Fourth of July, the company rejected 1,850 rentals 1,550 for New Year’s Eve, and 750 for Halloween.
Ashleigh Barty is a -450 favorite over Danielle Collins in tomorrow's Australian Open women's tennis final. Barty is seeking her third Grand Slam title and Collins her first. The match starts early, at 3:30 am EST.
Nevada's statewide casino win for calendar year 2021 set a new record at $13.4 billion, beating the old one of $12.9 billion set in 2007, just prior to the Great Recession. Clark County casinos also set a new record at $11.5 billion, surpassing the previous $10.9 billion, also registered in 2007. Except for two (North Las Vegas and Laughlin), increases in gambling win over 2019 were generated by every geographical category in the state, led by Clark County at 27%, followed by Mesquite (25%) and downtown Las Vegas (23%). Even the somewhat struggling Strip increased 7.4%. The sports books also set records for handle and win; they booked $8.1 billion in bets and won $445 million (for a 5.4% hold). Both easily beat the previous records set in 2018 at $5.3 billion and $329 million.
The NFL's 2022 Pro Bowl all-star game is taking place at Allegiant Stadium, starting at 12 noon on Sunday February 6. Las Vegas is starting gear up and the first visible evidence is at, ironically, the Las Vegas (base)Ball Park out in Summerlin, which has been transformed into a football field. Both teams (NFC and AFC) will practice there for a few days before the game. The Ballpark will also be the site of the Pro Bowl Skills Showdown on Thursday February 3. The NFL also brings with it a number of community-oriented programs, including a wetlands restoration project, painting over graffitied picnic tables in a park, contributing to a public mural, "care bags" for shelter residents, and providing laptops and a digital literacy curriculum to more than 200 families in need.
Fourteen-plus months after Louisiana voters approved remote sports betting, residents in the 55 (out of 64) parishes where sports betting is legal can now place their wagers on their phones and computers. Mobile betting launched at 8 a.m. this morning in the Bayou State after the Louisiana Gaming Control Board gave the final go-ahead on Wednesday. BetMGM, Caesars, FanDuel, and DraftKings pulled their triggers and notched another state in their mobile-betting belts.
The LVA YouTube Weekly Update is now live and available for viewing. Anthony and Andrew cover a lot of ground in this one, discussing the new Horseshoe, the old and new Bally's, the old and new MGM Grand, the brand new English Hotel and its just-announced opening date (2/2/22, also a big day for weddings), buffet prices going up, an apologetic jackpot winner, and perhaps more frequent YouTube videos coming in the future. Don't miss this one! Click the YouTube button in the video below and join the conversation.
Wanna watch the Super Bowl in your bathing suit in a heated pool or from a poolside cabana on a 143-foot screen? Circa has rolled out its "Big Game Bash" packages and is booking now. Standing-room tickets are going for $125 (field level) and $175 (club level), which include the game buffet and two drinks. Daybeds (accommodating up to six people), plus various food and drink options, are $3,500 and it goes up from there, through $4,000 for a booth, $10,000 for a cabana, and $30,000 for an owner's suite. Hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and you can book online now.
Reid International passed through 39.7 million travelers last year, 17.5 million more than 2020's total count of 22.2 million, a 44% increase. It was, however, still 11.8 million fewer than the 51.5 million in 2019, a 23% shortfall from the record set in the year before the pandemic.
The long-anticipated news that Bally's Las Vegas will become a Horseshoe hotel-casino by the end of the year was made official this morning. Caesars Entertainment will begin a "multi-million-dollar renovation" in the next few months, starting with the poker room, which will be expanded and rebranded, and continuing to the casino and other public areas, including the exterior of the property. The new brand will feature “a handcrafted feeling with tooled leather, dramatic colors, and the brand’s signature gold-horseshoe iconography.” The move rejoins the Horseshoe brand with the World Series of Poker, now that the WSOP is moving there this year from the Rio. The project is scheduled for completion in late 2022. This development allows Bally’s Corporation, formerly Twin Rivers Worldwide Holdings, to change the name of its Tropicana Las Vegas to Bally’s, ending some Monopoly confusion.
The newly named Liftoff (formerly the Lift), a new thrill-ride attraction at Area15, will begin operations on February 2. The experience will begin in the Liftoff Lounge at the base of the ride, where riders choose a beverage, alcoholic or otherwise, to take on the trip in which 16 riders are strapped into chairs, elevated 130 feet, and rotated 360 degrees for a full circular view of the valley. According to Area15, Liftoff is the first of its kind in the U.S. Tickets for the ride only are 18 adult, $12 children at least 42 inches tall; for the drink and ride, packages start at $26.
In conjunction with NASCAR Weekend, the Hauler Parade will take over again this year on March 3. A favorite with racing fans, around 40 tractor-trailers, hauling racers' cars and equipment and festooned with sponsor advertising, are escorted by police as they roll up the Strip, take Sahara to I-15, and continue to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The trucks will stage earlier in the day at South Point.
Last night, Wayne Newton, often called "Mr. Las Vegas," made his first appearance onstage in 23 months pause, performing in his eponymous theater at the Flamingo. The 79-year-old Newton first performed in Las Vegas at the Flamingo in 1963 and hasn't been back since. He said to the crowd last night, “It took me long enough to get back here, right? I’ve finally come full circle.” “Wayne: Up Close and Personal” runs through June.
The 2000s' emo-pop-band music festival, originally scheduled to take place on Saturday October 22 at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, sold out so quickly that a second day, Sunday October 23, was added. Those tickets sold out as well, so a third day, Saturday October 29, has been scheduled. Tickets for the second Sunday went on sale yesterday.
A Hawaii resident hit a Wheel of Fortune progressive jackpot for $1.1 million at the Fremont on Friday night. She was staying at the California and switched casinos to change her luck. She'd been playing the $5 machine for about 10 minutes when her luck definitely changed.
The Parliament of landlocked Armenia, sandwiched in the middle of Turkey, Syria, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, has voted overwhelmingly (56-8) to approve the first reading of a bill that would enforce strict requirements as to where gambling ads can be displayed to the public. In a speech, one Minister said that in the UK, one in six players becomes a gambler, while in Armenia, it is six times as high. Even though the UK statistic is erroneous, it would still mean that six out of six Armenians are gamblers.
A shop dedicated to Adele merchandise has opened at Caesars. Weekends with Adele Merchandise Store is selling the usual paraphernalia: T-shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops, totes, branded wine, and more. Original sheet music hangs from the ceiling and there's a display of awards in a plexiglas case. With a growing backlash from letdown fans, some periodicals are reporting "skepticism" about her reasons for canceling. Deadline.com opines, "The shadow over the singer’s career has left some wondering if her acknowledged massive stage fright has made it impossible for her to continue performing."
An article in The New York Times lays out the jostling for control of sports betting that is leading up to California's November elections. As many as four different initiatives could appear on this year's ballot, with an estimated $200 million spent by the competing interests. Only one is qualified for the election so far: The tribes want sports betting, but only in person and only at tribal casinos or horse racing tracks. Three others are now collecting signatures from people who support remote wagering anywhere in the state and some middle ground. "If one of the measures passes, nearly two-thirds of Americans will live in states that allow or regulate sports betting. And with California and New York on board, sports wagering would essentially be national in scope, fueling a market that Goldman Sachs recently estimated could grow to $40 billion in revenues in a decade from $900 million now."
In today's AFC playoff game, the Kansas City Chiefs are -2.5 favorites over the Buffalo Bills. The total is 54.5.
In today's NFC playoff game, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are -3 favorites over the Los Angeles Rams. The total is 48.5.
The four-day Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly music festival returns to the Orleans on April 14-17. This year is its 25th anniversary, making it Vegas' longest-running festival. It's also the largest rockabilly event anywhere, featuring 80 bands (the Blasters, Rhythm Shakers, and Big Sandy & the Flyrite Boys headline), 30 DJs, a burlesque showcase and competition hosted by filmmaker John Waters, burlesque bingo, vintage fashion show, dance lessons and competition, tiki pool parties, swimsuit and pinup contests, 120 vendors, all-night record hops, and a classic-car show with 1,000 cars on display. Tickets start at $40 for single events and go up to $230 for the full four-day admission; they're available now on the VLV website.
Bruno Mars and rapper Anderson .Paak, the two members of the R&B superduo Silk Sonic, have announced a residency at the Dolby Live Theater at Park MGM. The shows start on February 25 and continue on Feb. 26, March 2, 4, 5, 16, 18, 19, 23, 25, 26, and 31, and April 2. The original 13 shows were increased by 12 more due to popular demand, on May 4, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 25, 28, and 29. Silk Sonic released a debut album, An Evening with Silk Sonic, in 2021 and the single “Leave the Door Open” hit number one on Billboard; Mars and .Paak performed together at last year's Grammy Awards. Tickets start at $125, plus fees, and are on sale now.
The UK tabloids are refuting Adele's claim that COVID and supply-chain issues are to blame for the last-minute postponing of her 24-show residency at Caesars. The big question is, why were all the shows postponed? The Daily Mail is reporting that Adele, who's a "perfectionist" and wanted a "low-key production," has been in a dispute with managers, who tried to force a 60-member choir on her for the opening number of Skyfall, and Colosseum management, which had "spectacular effects" planned. The Mail also cites gossip columnist Roger Friedman, who writes Showbiz411, an entertainment-news blog, saying he was convinced "there was an issue by January 18 as hundreds of tickets were available on a resale website at around $750 a pop, with prices dropping." Adele has a history: She backed out of tours in 2008 and 2011, then canceled some sold-out 2017 shows in London that were never rescheduled.
In today's AFC playoff game, the Tennessee Titans are -4 favorites over the Cincinnati Bengals. The total is 48.5.
Ciryl Gane is a -150 favorite over Francis Ngannou in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Brandon Moreno is -200 over Deiveson Figueiredo.
In today's NFC playoff game, the Green Bay Packers are -6 favorites over the San Francisco 49ers. The total is 47.
Traffic will be unusually heavy downtown around the World Market Center all this week. The Las Vegas Market winter show convenes at the 5.4-million-square-foot Center starting tomorrow and running through Thursday and potentially tens of thousands of attendees will be driving to and from the out-of-the-way venue every day between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., plus 4-10 p.m. on Thursday for the move-out. If you can, avoid Charleston Blvd. off I-15, plus Grand Central Parkway and Symphony Park Avenue, during those times.
Based on "a glimmer of hope" from the provincial health minister that new COVID cases will peak in the next few weeks, Ontario casinos will be allowed to reopen at 50% capacity on Monday January 31 and sports venues on February 21. The government also announced its plan to remove all capacity limits by March 14. Proof of vaccination, along with masks, will be required in order to enter. Casino capacity was cut in half on December 18; they were closed completely on January 5.
Two billionaire businessmen have signed an "exclusive negotiating agreement" with Major League Soccer to bring MLS' 30th and final franchise to Las Vegas. Long rumored to be the league's choice for the team, Las Vegas is now official; pending a final accord, Las Vegas has beaten out Phoenix and San Diego, which were also competing for the team. The two billionaires trademarked the team name, Las Vegas Villains, last June. One, Wes Edens, is a co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and co-CEO of Brightline, the high-speed rail line working on a link between Vegas and L.A. The Villains aren't expected to play until 2023 at the earliest.
The Cosmopolitan is advertising a three-for-two room deal Sundays through Thursdays through March 3. Book a room at Cosmo for two nights and get the third free. No, it's not good on weekends and yes, you still have to pay the resort fee ($45 per night), but it's a good enough deal that we can't help wondering if this is an early crack in the discounting dam. Will others jump off the "we ain't discounting nothin' for no one" bandwagon or is this a one-off anomaly? Time will tell.
Citing "delivery delays" and COVID running rampant through her crew, Adele has postponed all of her shows scheduled to begin tomorrow night and run through April 16 at the Colosseum at Caesars. "I'm so sorry, my show ain't ready," she tweeted, adding, “We’ve been awake for 30 hours trying to figure it out and we’ve run out of time.” All shows will be rescheduled.
Frontier Airlines will begin daily service between Chicago (Midway) and Las Vegas on April 28. Introductory fares start at $39 one-way. The only other airline that flies between the two airports is Southwest. Frontier will also begin flights from Houston (Hobby) to Reid International on May 26 with four round-trip flights per week. Introductory fares start at $59.
Resorts World has launched a new integrated display on its LED displays. "GLOW" is broadcast on the West Tower's 100,000-square-foot LED screen, the East Tower's 50,000-square-foot screen, Zouk Nightclub's facade, and the giant globe on the edge of the District inside. The press release describes the content as "10 show capsules and five interstitial visuals featuring different narratives and themes, including a bioluminescent ocean, a synth-wave cityscape, a shimmering jungle, and a psychedelic trip into space." GLOW will run daily every hour on the hour, from noon to 1 a.m. We'll give it a look and report back.
We've been following the "It Really Happened!" gambling history blog for many years and have watched it grow in scope and significance. It's produced by a Reno writer/editor, Doressa Banning, who does a great job of uncovering and retelling engaging anecdotes and characters from the history of gambling, along with topics that include crime, mobsters, follies, legal cases, corruption and scandals, unusual events, and more. Doressa is also the author of a fine book on the checkered history of the Hyatt Regency hotel-casino in Incline Village on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, and recently a true crime book about a crime spree in the '40s. Today's post is about mobster-gambler Joseph "Doc" Stacher, one of the shrewdest, wealthiest, and most powerful Jewish gangsters of the Meyer Lansky era. While you're visiting It Really Happened, sign up for the email list; you'll be glad you did.
Though the only acts we've even heard of are Avril Lavigne and My Chemical Romance, what Billboard calls "every 2000s' emo-pop band" will perform at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, corner of Sahara and the Strip, on Saturday October 22. Other "nostalgic" performers include Bright Eyes, AFI, the Used, Bring Me The Horizon, Boys Like Girls, Avril Lavigne, Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional, We the Kings, Alkaline Trio, Manchester Orchestra, Dance Gavin Dance, the All-American Rejects, Anberlin, 3OH!3, Atreyu, the Ready Set, Jimmy Eat World, La Dispute, the Wonder Years, Hawthorne Heights, Car Seat Headrest, and Wolf Alice. Sign up for the presale ticket code now; the presale starts on Friday. Tickets go from $225 to $500. As Roy, LVA correspondent extraordinaire, puts it, "If nothing else, it's a good area for most of us to steer clear of on that day!"
For the first time in the award ceremony's history, the Grammys show will be broadcast live from Las Vegas. The Recording Academy, organizers of the Grammys, postponed it from its original January 31 date at the Crypto.com Arena due to omicron and announced yesterday that it will move from Los Angeles, where no venues were available for the new date, to the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday April 3 from 8 to 11:30 p.m. The 64th annual awards ceremony will be broadcast live on CBS and Trevor Noah will host for the second year. The Country Music Awards show, also scheduled for April 3 on CBS, will move to a later date in April to accommodate the Grammys. Though this will be the first Vegas Grammys, the Latin Grammys have been held here six times six out of the last eight years.
The 2022 Member Rewards Books are in. We're distributing them now at our office and loading envelopes for mailing.
Numerous reports out of the UK are revealing the extent of the perks package Adele will enjoy during her 24-show residency that starts this Friday night and continues through April 16. From ticket sales alone, with most prices between $1,300 and $17,000, Adele will earn upwards of $950,000 per show and that's before her cut of all merchandise sold at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace during her residency. In addition, Adele will stay in the Colosseum's suite, which comes with a butler, executive assistant, chauffeur, and an ample security detail. She and her guests will eat and drink for free at any Caesars' resort.
A "confidential" report prepared for Great Canadian Gaming, which currently enjoys the largest share of Ontario's casino market, and obtained by CBC News predicts that Ontario could lose $550 million in annual taxes or nearly $3 billion over the next five years after the province opens up online-casino gambling. According to the report, the expected March launch of igaming in Ontario will cannibalize terrestrial casino gambling, which pays a 55% tax on the province's gambling net profits, while online casino operators will pay less and perhaps much less (the tax rate for igaming hasn't been determined by regulators). It's estimated that currently, unregulated offshore casinos win $1 billion of Canadians dollars that are completely untaxed.
In today’s NFL Wild Card Playoff game, the Los Angeles Rams are -3 favorites over the Arizona Cardinals. The total is 49.
The Plaza has announced an expansion of Oscar's Steakhouse, which last month celebrated its 10th anniversary in the iconic dome on the second floor in front of the hotel. A new rooftop patio will be built next to Oscar's Lounge that will seat up to 60 people who can order off the food and beverage menus. Construction is expected to begin sometime this spring and be completed by October; the restaurant will remain open during construction. In other Oscar's news, a life-sized bronze statue of Goodman with Tony Spilotro has been installed at the entrance. The statue, titled Good Counsel, was donated by sculptor Brian Hanlon, who also created the statue of Jerry Tarkanian at the Thomas & Mack Center and former President Barack Obama at the Historic Westside Legacy Park.
An article in this morning's Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that surging COVID cases are creating delays in every aspect of the travel experience at Reid International. It starts, of course, with the airlines and the ongoing parade of canceled flights, but it extends to staff shortages at the ticket counters, passenger-service desks, and food-and-beverage outlets. The Transportation Safety Administration has also been hit hard by omicron, experiencing a 35% increase in new cases among agents in the past month. The winter storm on the east coast exacerbated the problem yesterday, with 35 canceled and 90 delayed flights. In addition, visitation continues to rise and the airport expects January's numbers to equal or surpass those seen before the pandemic. In short, lines are long, patience is thin, and tempers are flaring. Give yourself enough of a cushion, however, and you can proceed, even in slow motion, with aplomb.
In today’s third NFL Wild Card Playoff game, the Kansas City Chiefs are -12 favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The total is 47.
In today’s second NFL Wild Card Playoff game, the Dallas Cowboys are -3 favorites over the San Francisco 49ers. The total is 51.
Virgin Hotels Las Vegas opened last March with a lot of fanfare about not charging a resort fee. Ten months later, so much for that. As of Wednesday, Virgin is jumping on the RF bandwagon. It gets worse. We went to book a room for one night, January 25, a Tuesday. The low low advertised rate was $68. But "tax recovery charges and service fees" added $41.09. The total initial charge for the room was $109.09, payable at booking (online) and non-refundable. Then came the fine print with the resort fee of $45. Plus tax, the resort fee is $51.02, payable at check-in or check-out. So the bottom-line cost of the $68 room for one night at Virgin came to $160.11. Then we tried booking for two nights and the tax and services fees were doubled. Note that this was on Virgin Las Vegas' direct reservation page via Hilton's Curio Collection platform. So we're a bit confused by the tax-recovery charge, which is how the third-party reservations services generally describe the room tax. And what the additional service fee, collected every night, pays for is anyone's guess, since it's not specified. For a hotel-casino that by many accounts seems to be struggling to attract a clientele, this move is counter-intuitive at best and the implementation is downright foolish. Using the same logic, Virgin will no doubt start charging for parking next.
In the first of three NFL Wild Card Playoff games today, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are -7 favorites over the Philadelphia Eagles. The total is 47.
Another day, another new record for positive tests. On Thursday, Nevada reported a record 6,845 new COVID cases. Clark County accounted for 4,362 of them and it was the eighth day in a row the county's new-case number exceeded 3,000. Also, for the second consecutive week, the majority of the positives were tests from people in their 20s. Statewide, the number of hospitalizations is approaching the all-time record of 1,857 set on Dec. 15, 2020; as of yesterday, 1,711 people were hospitalized from this ongoing misery.
In today’s second NFL Wild Card Playoff game, the Buffalo Bills are -5 favorites over the New England Patriots. The total is 43.
Giga Chickadze is a -225 favorite over Calvin Kattar in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Katlyn Chookagian is -215 over Jennifer Maia.
In the first of two NFL Wild Card Playoff games today, the Cincinnati Bengals are -6 favorites over the Las Vegas Raiders. The total is 48.5.
The LVA YouTube for this week is up and running. In it Anthony and Andrew discuss changes in the works for 2022, which turn out to be mostly in the dining scene. Celebrity-name and popular restaurants are opening at Paris (three there), Harrah's, Bally's, MGM Grand, and Red Rock, plus one at Caesars. That one, Peter Luger Steakhouse, gets a big thumbs up from Anthony, who's eaten there several times and he describes his experiences. A & A talk about the sudden lack of Elvis shows, the final tally for the Circa Survivor football contest, and the imminent arrival of the Member Rewards Book. As always, it's well worth tuning in for 15 minutes of vicarious Vegas.
Last June, the giant World of Concrete convention and trade show broke ground, both in Las Vegas and nationwide, by becoming the first major convention to meet in person since the beginning of the pandemic, though the show had to be rescheduled from its usual dates in January due to the delta surge. This year, the convention is taking place as originally scheduled this week Tuesday through Thursday, with an education day on Monday, omicron notwithstanding. It's shaping up to be a big one, with more than 1,000 concrete-industry businesses exhibiting their wares. Organizers won't release attendee numbers until after the event, but they say there will be more than the June show and the total could wind up approaching pre-pandemic attendance.
After a $50 million makeover that has taken more than two years, Tao Beach Dayclub will reopen "this spring." The pool area was doubled in size and now occupies a 47,000-square-foot) rooftop that can host upwards of 3,000 partiers dancing to music spun by top-flight international DJs. There are 21 cabanas, each with a private plunge pool. A new menu will feature lite fare from the Tao restaurant, including sushi boats, seafood towers, and sashimi fighter jets (just kidding about the jets). No date has been announced, but the website has a page titled "Meditate Till March," so we expect to it to open in the early spring.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak announced yesterday that the statewide mask mandate while indoors will remain in place until the omicron outbreak subsides, but he isn't considering shutdowns, lockdowns, or any other mitigation measures. Sisolak indicated he's "hopeful" that in the next few weeks, this latest surge will "peak, plateau, then start on its way back down." He also said he's committed to making sure the economy keeps moving forward and schoolkids are receiving an in-person education.
A story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Allegiant Stadium hosted more than a half-million people in the first three months of its opening last July through September of last year. The breakdown: 157,101 at three Raiders' home games, 130,000 at three concerts, 55,000 for the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final soccer match; 50,000 for the BYU-Arizona college football game; 40,819 at two UNLV football games, 40,000 for WWE’s SummerSlam, 16,014 for the Leagues Cup showdown between the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer and Liga MX’s Club Leon, and 28,000 at 24 private events. The single event that drew the largest crowd was the Garth Brooks concert: 63,000. Altogether, Allegiant drew 510,566 attendees to 41 total events in third quarter 2021.
Ending a day earlier than scheduled and with 25% of the usual attendees, the Consumer Electronics Show had leftover box lunches and COVID tests and put them all to good use. According to a report on KTVN Las Vegas, the ABC affiliate, CES organizers donated 600 box lunches and several hundred bottled drinks to the Salvation Army, which promptly served most of them to people gathered for lunch. CES also donated a few hundred lunches to Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Henderson, which gave them away at Wednesday's food pantry. The unused COVID tests went to the Southern Nevada Health District.
A nail-salon owner from Olympia, Washington, hit a Mega Progressive Jackpot playing Face Up Pai Gow at the Flamingo on Tuesday, winning $968,167 on the game and an additional $5,000 for the Fortune Bonus. Meanwhile, on Sunday, a lucky Clearwater, Florida, resident hit a $1,045,153 jackpot while playing a Dragon Link progressive slot machine at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa. Amazingly, it was the player's second million-dollar jackpot at the Hard Rock Tampa on a Dragon Link progressive; she won $1,241,642 two and half weeks earlier.
The Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens has opened its annual Chinese/Lunar New Year display. "Eye of the Tiger" celebrates the Year of the Tiger on the Chinese 12-year Zodiac with a "deeper dive" into Asian culture. Four "stories" are displayed in the four sections of the Conservatory, centered around a tiger, children, the lotus, and a sage. The display features 370 I Ching coins on the money tree, 100 Bonsai trees; 40 Koi in the pond, and three tigers, one with a tail 30 feet tall. The display runs through March 5.
For a low low $5 million, you too can reserve the entire Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas and throw a wedding party for up to 300 of your closest friends and relatives. To celebrate Las Vegas' five-millionth marriage license, expected to be issued sometime in February, the Waldorf Astoria has rolled out an "ultra-lavish wedding three-night weekend" that includes a round-trip private jet to Las Vegas for the couple and their bridal party, presidential suites, a shopping spree, high-end wedding rings, meals at the properties upscale restaurants, a seven-night honeymoon to any other Waldorf Astoria in the world via first-class flights -- and rice for the guests to throw.
On Jan. 14, Circa CEO Derek Stevens will award $11 million total to the winners of the 2021-2022 professional football contests Circa Million III ($4 million) and Circa Survivor ($7 million). Circa Survivor had five winners; three will receive checks for $1,533,333 and two for $1,200,000. The Circa Million III prizes including a $1 million payout for first place, a six-figure payout for the winner of Q4 for Circa Million III, and a $100,000 booby prize for Circa Million III Full Season. Circa Survivor is the world’s largest legal survivor football contest.
For a sneak peak at some of the exhibits that will be on display at the Kiss museum when it opens at the Rio, click here. The museum, comprising "three tractor-trailer loads" of memorabilia collected by Kiss frontman Gene Simmons, is an expansion of the Rio's five-year-old glow-in-the-dark Kiss By Monster Mini Golf and and is scheduled to open in March. The Volkswagen in the image is near the entrance to the mini-golf attraction.
Rao's Italian Restaurant shut its doors at Caesars Palace in late November. 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 and with seating for 60 is one of the toughest restaurant reservations in the country. That's why it's appropriate that the long-rumored Peter Luger Steakhouse will be replacing Rao's. Luger originates from the predominantly German Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, opening in 1887 as Carl Luger’s Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley. It was named after owner Peter Luger's nephew Carl, who ran the kitchen. It was taken over by the second owners in 1920 and it's still run by that family, operating in the same space for 135 years. It was the top-rated steakhouse in New York City for decades (until a critical review in The New York Times a couple of years ago opened the floodgates of apparent local dissatisfaction) and earned a Michelin Star. The new venue at Caesars, expected to open later this year, is the first expansion outside New York since 1960, when a second location opened in Great Neck, a ritzy town on Long Island's north shore. When it does, bring cash or your debit card; Luger famously doesn't accept credit cards.
The number of new positive cases of COVID in Clark County slaughtered the previous record on Friday by hitting 6,110, nearly doubling the old record for one day at 3,508, which was set on Thursday. More than 8,000 cases were reported yesterday for the two days over the weekend, but that number is typically lower than it should be, given a lag in weekend case reporting. Hospitalizations are also rising concurrently, up by nearly 200 since Friday; that situation is exacerbated by staff shortages due to workers quarantining after catching the highly contagious omicron variant. The positivity rate rose to 26.3% yesterday, up from 23.5% on Friday, with 42,585 tests administered over the last three days. Due to the high demand for testing, mass sites have been opened at the closed Station Casinos Texas Station and Fiesta Henderson, to relieve pressure on the one at Sam Boyd Stadium.
On February 17 from 7 to 10 p.m., the Mob Museum will celebrate its 10th anniversary with an "Undercover of the Night Gala" at the Museum’s historic downtown location. The museum opened on Valentine's Day 2012. The gala will feature a buffet, live entertainment, roaming "undercover" agents, and guests in any costumes they like. The VIP tickets for the fundraising event are sold out at $500 per person, but $250 tickets are still available on the museum's website.
New York launched sports betting on Saturday morning, as BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, and FanDuel started accepting mobile wagers at 9 a.m. GeoComply, the Vancouver-based geolocation security company, tracked a mind-boggling 5.8 million mobile transactions in the state over the next 12 hours. The managing director of gaming at GeoComply called the number of wagers for the period "unprecedented." By comparison, New York's volume was 25% higher than the combined total of Pennsylvania at 2.3 million transactions and New Jersey at 2.1 million, which GeoComply said were the number-two and number-three states for sports betting over the same period.
In the college-football National Championship, Georgia is a -3 favorite over Alabama. The total is 52.5.
According to Equibase, North American racing's official database, the handle in 2021 for horse races in the U.S. broke through the $12 billion mark; the $12.2 billion in total wagers was the highest since 2009. It's also nearly 12% higher than 2020's handle of $10.9 billion and 11% higher than 2019's $11 billion. The number of race days dropped 8% compared to pre-pandemic 2019, but average wagering per race day rose 20%.
After a wild fourth quarter in which the Los Angeles Chargers tied the score on the last play of regulation, plus on overtime period on which the Las Vegas Raiders kicked a field goal on the last play of the game, the Raiders secured a wild-card spot in this year's National Football League playoffs. It was kicker Daniel Carlson's fifth game-winning field goal of the season (out of 10 wins total), the Raiders' first playoff berth since 2016, and the first time since 1961 that an NFL team that changed coaches in mid-season has made the playoffs. The Raiders face the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals next Saturday in Cincinnati at 1:30 p.m. The last time they played on November 21, the Bengals beat the Raiders 32-13.
Groundbreaking for an indoor 103,000-square-foot waterpark will take place on Wednesday next to the Showboat on the beach block of New Jersey Avenue in Atlantic City. Touted as the largest indoor waterpark in the world, the Island Waterpark will boast a lazy river, a number of pools, waterslides, lounge areas, party rooms, and retail outlets, and a family entertainment center. The $100 million waterpark will also feature a retractable roof. No completion date has been announced. The Island's Philadelphia-based developer also owns the Showboat, now a non-casino hotel with an arcade and sports bar.
The Los Angeles Chargers are -3 favorites over the Las Vegas Raiders in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 49.5.
Howard Hughes Corp. has sold 216 acres extending from Tropicana Avenue and Town Center Drive to Pulte Homes and Toll Brothers for $135 million, or $625,000 per acre. The developers will build an entirely new gated neighborhood with 561 houses, a rec center, and plenty of green space. Summerlin continues to expand; a number of large parcels can still be developed to build out the 22,500 acres with a total of 65,000 houses. Currently, the western suburb boasts more than 100,000 residents. Home builders sold 1,600 houses in Summerlin last year, the third most in master-planned developments in the country.
Resorts World has opened exclusive pop-up dining on its Rose Rooftop, an outdoor terrace situated over the resort’s southeast wing with panoramic views of the Strip. The unnamed experience takes place in private plastic domes and the food is a selection of sushi, "lite bites" (such as tacos), and s'mores by the fire, accompanied by Champagne and cocktails. The f&b minimum is $350. This "seasonal experience" is open Fridays and Saturdays from 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. through February 27.
The new LVA YouTube video is posted and for everyone (a lotta yiz!) who's been asking about the Member Rewards Book for 2022, you can get (almost) all the details in this week's edition. Only the approximate date it's returning from the printer is known at this point (and Anthony reveals that in the video), but all the coupons have been finalized and Anthony and Andrew run through most of them. You can also hear a little background on and actually see LVA's first-ever coupon that dates all the way back to 1988 -- and you probably won't be surprised to learn what it was. Check it out here!
The Consumer Electronics Show wrapped up yesterday evening. Originally scheduled to run through today, it was cut short due to exhibitor cancellations and diminished attendance. Organizers released attendee numbers this morning: A total of 40,000 people showed up in person for what's normally the largest annual trade show in Las Vegas, attracting 175,000. Of those, roughly 12,000 came from abroad and 1,800 were credentialed media. As usual, COVID was to blame. Las Vegas and environs set a record for the number of new COVID cases for one day since the beginning of the pandemic on Thursday at 3,508, while the state tallied 4,743 new positives, also an all-time record.
According to health officials, the 14-day average of positive COVID tests in Clark County is now 26%, the highest of the entire pandemic. The previous record was set almost exactly a year ago at 21.5%. How contagious is omicron? The positivity rate was 5.8% two months ago and 9.7% on December 15, while the new record is a nearly 90% jump from last week's rate.
On this week's GamblingWithAnEdge podcast, our own Anthony Curtis talks about what's new in 2022, including the coupons in this year's Member Rewards, upcoming books, an update on Mattress Mack, and much more. Tune in here!
Mobile and online sports betting launches in New York tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., just in time for the last week of the NFL regular season. The New York Gaming Commission gave the green light to Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Rush Street Interactive to start accepting wagers placed remotely. New York estimates a $10 billion annual handle, with nearly $1 billion in profits split between the state and operators. We'll see. But for now, New Yorkers will no longer have to cross over into New Jersey and Connecticut to place bets on the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl.
The funeral service for Harry Reid will be held at The Smith Center downtown tomorrow at 11 a.m. Barack Obama will deliver the eulogy and President Joe Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will be present. Road closures will impact traffic tonight between 6 and 9 p.m. near Harry Reid Airport and tomorrow morning, I-15 and 215 will experience closures as the
bigwigs come and go.
After the jackpot had rolled over for three months and risen to $632.6 million, the seventh largest in the multi-state lottery's history, two players, one in Wisconsin and another in California, matched the six numbers to split the pot, which has a lump-sum payout of $450 million.
The number of existing houses resold in Las Vegas topped 50,000 for the first time ever in 2021. That's noteworthy, considering that we're in the middle of a pandemic, the number of properties for sale has never been lower, it's a sellers market on steroids, unemployment remains high here, and new records for prices were set in seven of the year's 12 months, including December. The median price of an existing home hit $425,000 last month, an increase of 20% from a year ago, when it was $340,000. The previous record for home sales was set in 2011 at 48,000. The median price of condos and townhomes also set a record last month at $242,000, up a whopping 30% year over year.
A few months ago, we learned that Martha Stewart was opening a restaurant at Paris. And that was the extent of the info. Now, Caesars Entertainment has released a (scant) few more details. The restaurant, described as Martha's "first ever" (which regards the Martha Stewart Cafe in Manhattan's West Chelsea neighborhood that ran for four years as less than a restaurant), will be called The Bedford, a "fully immersive concept designed to bring Martha's famed country farmhouse in Bedford, New York, to life." The 194-seat eatery, with an opening date in "the spring," will serve "delicious seasonal dinner, weekend brunch, and holiday menus that feature exceptional quality and creativity sourced from local purveyors and Martha's personal favorites." So we know the name, the size, the season of opening, and the buzzwords; now we'll wait for the opening date, menu, and prices to tell you more.
Aria's 442 penthouse Sky Suites are among the most luxurious and accessible casino accommodations in Las Vegas, but after only 12 years since opening with the resort, the hotel-within-a-hotel has been "reimagined," PRspeak for a multi-year renovation. The one-bedroom is 1,050 square feet and the two-bedroom is nearly double that size; the one-bedroom typically rents for $1,100 mid-week and $2,000 on weekends. Aria's super-VIP Sky Villas you can't rent at any price; they're by invitation only. You can see how the other half lives in a Travel & Leisure spread here. (And thanks to LVA correspondent extraordinaire for sending the link.)
According to the latest data from the National Weather Service, Las Vegas registered its sixth hottest year on record in 2021. The average temperature was 71.5 degrees, 1.4 degrees warmer than normal. The hottest year was 2017, when the average temperature hit 72.3. Vegas registered 100 degrees or higher on 87 days last year; on eight of those, the thermometer didn't drop below 90. The precipitation total was only 1.86 inches, 44% of the normal 4.18 inches. Four of the past five years have seen below-average rainfall.
Sports betting launched in Arizona on September 9 and in its first two months, Arizonans placed $780 million in wagers. The win, however, was just $68 million or 8.7%, better than the expected 4%-5%, while the state collected $1.3 million in taxes. Fantasy sports, also legalized in September, accounted for a mere $24,000 in taxes during the same period. Officials insist that the surprisingly low taxes are temporary, given that the books gave away $57 million in free wagers and promotions to introduce sports betting to the state.
In today’s Texas Bowl, Kansas State is a -8.5 favorite over LSU. The total is 47.
Only eight celebrants were arrested between the Strip and Fremont Street on New Year's Eve this time around and 25 people were arrested valley wide for DUIs. According to Las Vegas Metro police, three people were taken into custody on warrants, three for misdemeanors, one for a gross misdemeanor, and only one for a felony. One person was arrested for possession of a controlled substance. The numbers are noticeably lower than years past, another indication that crowds were (slightly) smaller this year.
David Lee Roth, who canceled his New Year's Eve and New Year's Day shows at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, has now bowed out of the entire residency. The remaining seven shows, scheduled for this month, have been scrubbed and refunds are being issued from the point of sale.
As a result of new COVID-19 restrictions being implemented in Ontario, Canada, Caesars Windsor and all other casinos in the province will temporarily close tonight at 12:01 a.m. and remain shut down until Wednesday January 26 at the earliest. These are complete closures; all hotel and restaurant bookings, events, and concerts are canceled. All hotel guests must check out by noon today. Yesterday, Ontario announced a province-wide near shutdown, including no indoor dining at bars and restaurants, limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings, and capacity limits for retail, which all start tonight at midnight. The province of Quebec imposed even stricter protocols on December 20.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns are pick ’em in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 43.
Legendary rockers Cheap Trick have announced a four-show mini-residency at the 900-seat Strat Theater for February 25 and 26 and March 4 and 5. Cheap Trick started out in Illinois in 1973 and two of the original members are still performing nearly 50 years -- and 4,000 -- performances later. The band's big hit was "I Want You To Want Me," but they also had a number-one song, "The Flame." Tickets start at $75 and go on sale at 10 a.m. today. All attendees must prove that they're fully vaccinated or show a negative test with 72 hours.
The Green Bay Packers are -12.5 favorites over the Minnesota Vikings in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 42.
Nationwide, more than 12,000 flights have been canceled since Christmas Eve, with more than 2,500 scrubbed yesterday. Three dozen flights were canceled going out of Las Vegas yesterday and more are sure to follow. Staffing shortages due to COVID were responsible for some, but winter weather in Chicago (1,100 cancelations), Detroit, Denver, and Newark (100 or more each) also contributed.
At the Bruno Mars New Year's Eve concert at Dolby Live at Park MGM, rap superstar Usher made a surprise appearance on stage. Las Vegas Review-Journal entertainment columnist John Katsilometes writes that Mars, "who likes to tease from the stage (and this announcement was probably not authorized by MGM Resorts International)," announced that Usher will play Vegas in 2022. Kats "confidently reports" that Usher will do a residency at Dolby Live, with a show likely to open in July.
In today’s Sugar Bowl, Mississippi is a -1 favorite over Baylor. The total is 59.
In today’s Rose Bowl, Ohio State is a -4.5 favorite over Utah. The total is 65.
In today’s Citrus Bowl, Kentucky is a -3 favorite over Iowa. The total is 43.5.
In today’s Fiesta Bowl, Oklahoma State is a -1,5 favorite over Notre Dame. The total is 45.5.
Alabama opened as a -2.5 favorite over Georgia for the College Football National Championship. The total is 52.5.
In today’s Outback Bowl, Arkansas is a -3.5 favorite over Penn State. The total is 51.
Though all the headlines focus on the big tech companies canceling their in-person presence at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, organizers say that only 7% of the exhibit floor has bowed out due to COVID concerns. Meanwhile, the show has added 60 new exhibitors that had been on a waiting list and registrations "are continuing to show strong momentum, with thousands more in the last few days.” All that said, CES will end a day early, running from Wednesday through Friday instead of Saturday. Why isn't exactly clear; CES put out the following statement: “The step was taken as an additional safety measure to the current health protocols that have been put in place." Attendees must show proof of vaccination and a negative antigen test taken in the past 24 hours.
Las Vegas Review-Journal photographers were out in force last night, capturing the crowds downtown, the fireworks, and the scene on the Strip. Click the links, then click on the thumbnails below the big photo under the headlines to get a glimpse of the festivities.
The normal range of high and low temperatures over the first month of the year is narrow, with average highs starting out at 56 degrees and rising to 60 and lows at 38, then going up to 41. But the record highs and lows tell a different tale. The record high for the month is 77 (1/26/1975), while the record low is 8 (1/13/1963 and 1/25/1937). Average January precipitation is a bit more than a half-inch.