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With the NHL season starting on October 11, the league has announced that the Vegas Golden Knights have won "The Stanley" award for Best Game Presentation. (The Stanleys are the NHL's business awards that recognize "great achievements, creativity, and results" by teams.) We wouldn't expect anything less from a pro-sports team representing the Entertainment Capital of the World, but there's really no disputing that the show the VGK put on at "The Fortress" (its game-day remake of T-Mobile Arena) is top-notch. As proof, the VGK also won the Game Presentation Stanley in 2020, the only other year it was awarded.
A new breakfast spot near Downtown Summerlin, Bagel Nook, claims that it has created "the most craziest bagels this world has ever seen." Ignoring the very bad grammar, the bagels come in such flavors as oreo, captain crunch, fruity pebbles, coco puff, cinnamon toast crunch, tie dye, dorito, and flaming hot cheeto (along with the usual plain, sesame, salt, egg, poppy, everything, etc.). A number of the cream-cheese spreads are also most craziest: birthday cake, cool ranch, vanilla milkshake, cannoli, fudge brownie, cookie dough, salted caramel chocolate chip, you get the idea. It's all a gimmick; the Nook, a new franchise with two locations in New Jersey, also serves regular breakfasts, burgers, sandwiches, and salads. But we've always considered bagels with blueberries, chocolate chips, and cinnamon-raisin to be sacrilegious. What's next? Frosted-flake pizza?
This was an unusual week for Anthony and Las Vegas: Nothing much newsworthy happened, so there wasn't much to talk about on the video; Anthony was also on Las Vegas Advisor deadline, which is always time-consuming and a bit stressful, then he has to go to the annual Blackjack Ball on Saturday. So the video had to be truncated, with a bit of discussion about the Ball, which is always interesting, and the Jackpot of the Week was hit by none other than Andrew -- for 40,000! Pennies. Yes, on a penny Ultimate X video poker machine, Andrew and his girlfriend hit a royal for $400. Congrats! The rest of the video is a rerun, one of the earliest in the series, when the boys were at Crown and Anchor and Anthony was teaching Andrew the abbreviated basic strategy for bartop blackjack. It's a fun one and apropos to the Ball tomorrow night. Click and have a ball!
The second-annual Remember Music Festival will take place at 1 p.m. today in the outdoor amphitheater at the Clark County government building downtown. The festival is headlined by the Texas C&W band Midland, along with Dylan Schneider, Drew Green, Meghan Patrick, Walker Montgomery, Seth Ennis, and more. Tickets are $85 and all proceeds from the festival will benefit the permanent memorial to commemorate the victims of the October 1, 2017, mass shooting.
The Cincinnati Bengals are -4 favorites over the Miami Dolphins in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 48.5.
Online-casino gambling is still limited to six states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Delaware, and Connecticut. But given that igaming has won more than $8 billion for online casinos since January 2020 and New Jersey has generated $4.7 billion in online-casino revenue in the nine years it's been legal there, more states are expected to enter the fray in the near future. Speakers at the recent East Coast Gaming Congress in Atlantic City cited Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and New York as the likeliest possibilities in the next 12 to 18 months. Though a bill to legalize igaming in Indiana earlier this year was quickly voted down, a 103-page report issued by the Indiana Gaming Commission this week, exploring online-gambling issues such as licensing fees, new-game certification, anti-money laundering measures, customer identification, and taxes, concluded that rolling out Internet gambling in the state would be "relatively smooth" and could "earn between $341 million and $943 million in taxes" over the first three years, depending on the tax rate. The conclusions of the major report and the sizable tax incentive might change legislators minds when a new bill is considered next year.
Formula 1 will hold an all-day event to officially launch the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Sunday November 5. Events will start at 11 a.m. at F1's Koval Lane property with a Pit Stop Challenge, esports simulators, car and trophy photo ops, and more. At 6 p.m. will be a live car run on the Strip with cars and drivers from Mercedes and the Red Bull racing team. At 6:30 a drone show above Caesars Palace will warm up spectators for introductions of the teams and drivers on the main stage. The official after-party begins at 11 p.m. at Omnia Nightclub at Caesars featuring Swedish DJ Alesso.
Jimmy Buffett has postponed his upcoming Vegas concerts due to "health issues and a brief hospitalization." The 75-year-old rocker was scheduled to perform on October 8 and 15; the new dates are March 4 and 11.
The hotly anticipated Bacon Nation restaurant announced in August for the second floor of the D downtown is now accepting reservations for November 1. The menu is posted on the website (baconnationlv.com), so you can see what a 24-hour bacon-themed restaurant will be serving ("One Nation Under Hog"). Thirteen types of Daily's Premium Meats honey-cured thick-cut bacon will be available, from candied to buffalo, everything bagel to chocolate. Two-egg and bacon breakfasts will go for $19, with a choice of bacon or breakfast meat, cheese, potatoes/pancakes/French toast, and a veggie side. Four Benedicts are $18-$21, pancakes $9-$12, sandwiches $12-$22, salads $9-$15, and entrees (pasta, chicken parm, ribs, pork chop, shrimp scampi, steak) $16-$34. Adult milkshakes ($19), Bacon Bloody Mary ($13), and desserts ($10) round out the offerings.
When the El Cortez opened in 1941, it boasted 47 rooms and was considered a "resort-casino" a year before the first bona fide resort, the El Rancho Vegas, opened on the incipient Strip. A $3 million remodel of those "original 47" was completed yesterday, capping the two-year $28 million upgrade of the property to celebrate its 80th anniversary. The refurbished 47 rooms now sport a tropical theme, with sea-green walls and furniture, plastic potted palms and floral curtains, and brass bed frames, paying homage to the casino-gambling heyday of Havana. In conjunction with the completion of the property-wide investment, EC also announced a partnership with the Mob Museum for a Vegas History Hallway, which will display photos and plaques commemorating the joint history of El Cortez and Las Vegas.
The Mirage Secret Garden and Habitat has been shuttered, due to another dolphin dying there. The 11-year-old bottlenose, K2 was born at the Secret Garden; he died on Saturday from an undisclosed cause, though the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that he'd been treated for a respiratory illness. K2 was the third dolphin at the marine habitat to die since April; Maverick, a 19-year-old bottlenose, succumbed on September 2 from a lung infection and 13-year-old Bella died in April after undergoing treatment for gastroenteritis. Bottlenose dolphins typically live for 28-29 years, but not, apparently, in captivity. In 2019, the last four bottlenose at Dolphinaris Arizona near Phoenix were relocated to the Caribbean after the fourth death since the aquatic facility opened in 2016.
Veteran hair-metal band Tesla will appear for a five-show mini-residency at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in March: 17, 18, 22, 24, and 25. Tickets go on sale to the public on Saturday. And pop-rock band Maroon 5, fronted by Adam Levine, will do a 16-show "M5LV The Residency" at Dolby Live at Park MGM starting in March. The dates are March 24, 25, 29, and 31; April 1, 5, 7, and 8; July 28 and 29; and August 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, and 12. Tickets go on sale next Monday.
The massive Electric Daisy Carnival that attracts upwards of a half-million festival-goers to Las Vegas Motor Speedway every May will begin selling tickets for next year's event on Thursday at 10 a.m. PT. The three-day event, the biggest dance-music festival in the world, will take place May 19, 20, and 21. General admission (GA) tix start at $389, with GA+ from $579 and VIP at $850; layaway is also available for all tickets with $10 down. Buy tickets at edclasvegas.frontgatetickets.com and on most other ticket-sales sites.
The average price of a gallon of gas in southern Nevada has risen nearly 5%, or 24 cents, in the past week and is now $5.09, the first time it's crested the $5 mark for nearly three months. Analysts say that the price could go as high as $5.75 here, beating the previous record of $5.61 set in mid-June. Disruptions at major oil refineries, along with lowered production due to planned maintenance, are being blamed for rising prices in western and midwestern states. The national average stands at $3.72, up 5 cents since last week.
The New York Giants are -1 favorites over the Dallas Cowboys in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 39.
Progressive-rock band Styx, with such hits as "Lady," Come Sail Away," and "Too Much Time on My Hands," will do a five-show mini-residency at the Venetian Theatre on January 27 and 28 and February 1, 3, and 4. Tickets start at a very reasonable $45 and go on sale to the general public this Friday 10 am PT via Ticketmaster. And Bat out of Hell -- The Musical debuts tomorrow night at the Paris Theater; it brings to the stage Meat Loaf’s best-selling 1977 eponymous album.
“Artfully Autumn" has opened at the Conservatory and Botanical Garden at Bellagio. The designer says it was inspired by "world-renowned art and architecture that reimagines seasonal designs in unexpected and imaginative ways." It pays homage to modern architects, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, and artists like Christo and Jeanne-Claude and Louis Comfort Tiffany. Various structures are reminiscent of Wright's style and are adorned with the kind of large-scale environmental art that Christo, along with his wife Jean-Claude, is known for: giant horns of plenty, pumpkins, and gourds; larger-than-life butterflies; ponds and waterfalls; all within a palette of rich golds and reds. A festive “cornucopia” scent fills the air with the aroma of cranberry, orange, and cinnamon. "Artfully Autumn" runs through November 12.
The San Francisco 49ers are -1.5 favorites over the Denver Broncos in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 44.5.
Sir Van Morrison, 77 years old and still going strong, will play the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on October 7, 8, and 9; these are the rescheduled shows that were canceled last fall due to the pandemic. Tickets start at $99. Jimmy Buffett will bring his Parrothead road show to the MGM Grand Garden Arena on October 8; tickets start at $110. Kool and the Gang will also perform that night, at the Westgate; tickets are $210-$256. Three-time Grammy Award winner (and official member of the Grand Ole Opry) Darius Rucker will appear at the Sand Bar (the outdoor stage in the pool area) at Red Rock on Sunday October 2; tickets are $80. And two-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Peabo Bryson will play Santa Fe Station on Friday October 21; tickets are $47. Add fees to all ticket prices.
A lawsuit has been filed in a federal district court in southern Mississippi that charges MGM Resorts International of intentionally shortchanging patrons by not paying out the exact amount of TITO tickets at redemption kiosks. The complainant is suing over MGM's practice of rounding down to the nearest dollar, then dispensing another ticket for the change that has to be redeemed at the casino cashier, a practice that began during the brief national coin shortage in the early days of the pandemic, but was never discontinued. The crux of the lawsuit is MGM's lack of notice at the kiosk that it holds back the change; the complaint cites the Wynn as adequately informing players of their need to go to the cage to collect the remaining nickels, dimes, etc. The suit alleges breach of contract, conversion (a legal term that basically boils down to stealing), unjust enrichment, and quantum meruit (restitution for unjust enrichment). This is the first salvo at an attempt to turn the complaint into a class-action lawsuit. For more details on this practice, including how much cash is left behind and what happens to it, see our recent Question of the Day on the subject.
The 17th annual "J.D. Power 2022 North America Airport Satisfaction Study" has ranked Reid International in fifth place out of the nation's 20 "mega-airports," meaning those that handle 33 million or more passengers a year. J.D. Power, the consumer-data analytics company, queried nearly 27,000 passengers between August 2021 and July 2022 who'd flown in the last 30 days on their satisfaction with terminal facilities, arrival and departure efficiencies, baggage claim, security check, check-in, baggage check, and food, beverage, and retail. Reid moved up one place from sixth last year; the survey noted that the airport had "done a great job of maintaining its food, beverage, and retail sales compared to most other airports during the COVID recovery.” Minneapolis International, San Francisco International, Detroit Metropolitan, and New York John F. Kennedy International placed first through fourth in customer satisfaction.
If you're holding onto any chips or tokens from Station Casinos' shuttered and quickly disappearing Texas Station, Fiesta Rancho, and Fiesta Henderson, you need to cash them in by 11:59 p.m. on December 16, 2022. After that date, Stations Casinos reserves the right to deny redemption of them.
The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday granted final approval for Bally's Corp. to acquire the Tropicana from Penn National for $308 million. The deal is expected to be finalized first thing Monday morning, as evidenced by the closing of the Tropicana casino starting at 11:59 p.m. Sunday night. It's only for a short while, however; the casino is expected to reopen sometime Tuesday. The closing appears to be to allow Bally's to change out the signage and transform the players club from Penn's mychoice to Bally's Rewards. Though the name of the property is expected to change from Tropicana to Bally's eventually, it won't immediately; we suspect Bally's Corp. is waiting for Caesars Entertainment to complete the rebranding of current Bally's to the Horseshoe in the next couple of months to avoid confusion. And good work by VegasChanges.com for spotting the closing announcement on the Trop's website.
San Gennaro Feast is making its return after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. This year's Feats, which opened on Wednesday and runs through Sunday, marks the 42nd year of the popular event. Held at the M Resort, the festival will be open today 4 p.m.-midnight, 1 p.m.-midnight on Saturday, and 1 p.m.-11 p.m. on Sunday with a fireworks show at 9:30 p.m. Admission is $15, which the feast notes hasn't changed in more than a decade, and parking is free. In addition, the Las Vegas Greek Food Festival will be held at the St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church at 5300 El Camino Road and will be open 3-11 p.m. today, noon-11 p.m. tomorrow, and noon-10 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is only $9 and parking is free. (Fun fact: St. John the Baptist church held the first Las Vegas Greek Food Festival on March 23, 1973, at the Stardust Hotel.)
Donny Osmond has extended his solo residency in the Harrah’s Showroom through May. The performances include Osmond's "Auto-rap-ography," a rap song accompanied by photos and videos from his six-decade career, a full Broadway production of his Disney hit from Mulan, "I'll Make A Man Out Of You," and an interactive segment where the audience can request any song he's ever recorded. The new dates are: January 24-28, and 31; February 1-4, 14-18, 21-25, and 28; March 1-4, 7-11, 21-25, 28-31; April 1, 4-8; and May 2-6, 9-13, 16-20, 23-27. Tickets go on sale to the public starting Friday at 10 a.m. PT.
Border Grill's previous location at the Forum Shops (near the spiral escalator on Level 1 in the newest wing) will be taken over by Sol Mexican Cocina in the next couple of months, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Sol serves Baja-inspired coastal Mexican cuisine, heavy on the mariscos, such as wild-caught seafood, pulpo (grilled octopus), and fish tacos. It will also "showcase specialty cocktails built from scores of tequilas and mezcals," along with a weekday happy hour and weekend brunch. Sol has five other locations, three in southern California, one in Denver, and one in Scottsdale.
The Cleveland Browns are -4.5 favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 38.
In this week's episode of the LVA Weeky YouTube update, Anthony and Andrew cover a lot of territory: the Formula 1 announcement of the official dates of the Las Vegas Grand Prix; the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces bringing home the city's first pro-sports championship; Anthony's heartbreaking (and unimaginably preposterous) loss that ended his Circa Survivor season in Week 2; the best Monday Night Football party at a strip club; Andrew's visit to Ghostbar; and a truly cool and amazingly lucky Jackpot of the Week for $6,000. Click and be entertained and enlightened at the same time.
Another hurdle on the miles-long obstacle course to Las Vegas' cannabis-lounge finish line has been jumped: The Las Vegas City Council voted 5-1 yesterday to quash a motion that would stop businesses from applying for lounge licenses from the state. Las Vegas now joins the very short list of jurisdictions that will allow lounges; the other is unincorporated Clark County. North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, and Mesquite have opted out. The state application process will take place between October 14 and 27 and the Council vote will allow interested business within the city limits to apply for a license, while the city moves (like a snail) to finalize its own regulations.
In the first of any number of entertainment announcements leading up to New Year's Eve, Bruno Mars will headline two shows at Dolby Live at Park MGM on Saturday Dec. 30 and Sunday the 31st. Park MGM is Mars' preferred venue; he's performed regularly in the theater since 2019. No word on when tickets will be available, but when they are, we'll let you know.
Not quite two months after they hitting the third largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, two partners in the ticket showed up to claim the money yesterday. The pair, who had a handshake agreement to split the winnings if they won and wished to remain anonymous, bought the ticket at a Speedway minimart in Des Plaines, Illinois, a suburb northwest of Chicago. They said they'd "spent the past few weeks working with professional legal and financial advisers," then accepted the lump-sum payout of $780.5 million. After federal (24%) and state (4.95%) withholding taxes, each winner will wind up roughly $277 million richer.
MGM Resorts is transforming the shuttered buffet on the second level of Aria into a food hall. "Proper Eats" will open with 12 outlets in the 24,000-square-foot space. The Las Vegas Review-Journal describes four of the counters: Soul Bird for Korean fried chicken, its first location outside London; Wexler’s (Jewish) Deli, its first location outside of southern California; Egghead from Tao Group for breakfasts; and Temaki for sustainably caught seafood and made-to-order sushi. It also lists the other foods: "breakfast doughnuts, salads and other healthy foods, pizza, burgers, ramen, and Mediterranean." Food halls are the new buffets; when Proper Eats opens in December, it will be the fourth on the Strip, along with Block 16 at the Cosmo, Eataly at Park MGM, and Famous Food Street Eats at Resorts World.
Though the dates for next year's Las Vegas Grand Prix have been unofficially known for several months, Liberty Media, corporate parent of Formula 1, confirmed yesterday that the race will take place over the weekend before Thanksgiving, November 16-19. Qualifying segments will occur on Nov. 16 and 17, with the race taking place the night of Saturday Nov. 18. Interestingly, the start time will be 10 p.m. locally, meaning 1 a.m. on Sunday Nov. 19 Eastern time. Though it's late for east coast fans, the race will be convenient for F1's hardcore fanbase in Europe (7 a.m. Sunday morning in Paris) and Asia (1 p.m. in Manila). F1 also mentioned in the announcement that tickets for a general-admission area will be "accessible," meaning more affordable than the $100,000 package mentioned by MGM Resorts' CEO Bill Hornbuckle last month. “We need to keep that premium-ness to it, because at the end of the day it is the pinnacle of motorsports, but we need to make it more accessible” for the new U.S. fans who'd like to see the race in person, according to F1's managing director.
We have a report that the hot dog cart in the sports book at the Gold Coast is open on Fridays and Mondays, along with the weekend days. Thought to possibly be gone for good, it returned from the shutdown early last year. The dogs are $2 and come with onions, kraut, relish, mayo, or mustard. Tacos are three for $4 with mild or hot taco sauce. You can also get a chili dog ($3), nachos ($4, extra cheese or chili $1, jalapenos 50 cents), popcorn ($2), chips ($1), and soda ($2).
A19-story 340-room hotel has been announced for a site three blocks south of Allegiant Stadium (on Polaris at Quail, just south of Russell Road). Nuance Las Vegas Hotel & Spa at Allegiant Stadium is apparently the name of the place and covers all the marketing bases; according to the description on the website, "The location and property are intended to exploit the lack of any existing non-gaming, non-smoking, full-service, boutique-sized properties and is proposed as an attractive option for stadium-event attendees, press members, performers, families, and their staffs, as well as corporate-conference attendees for the many corporate events proposed scheduled at the stadium." News 3 Las Vegas, reports that plans submitted to the county list a restaurant, day spa, ballroom, and convention hall, with a rooftop bar and kitchen and outdoor terrace and a 521-space parking garage on the four bottom floors of the building.
The Rainbow Club in Henderson turned 55 over the weekend. It opened in 1967 in a former grocery store in the heart of downtown on Water Street and has survived through thick and thin, with the colorful neon awning over the front entrance, ever since. The movie-theater ticket window on the second floor is a vestige of the one-screen theater that was part of the property when it opened. It's also always been a place of food deals, with daily $7.99-$8.99 specials in Triple B—Brooks Brothers Burgers. It was acquired by the Brooks brothers themselves, Tim and Mike, in 2020; they also own the nearby Emerald Island, itself known for fantastic inexpensive food, one of Anthony Curtis' favorite bargain eateries. Both the Triple B and Emerald Island Grille have 2-for-1/50% off coupons in our Member Rewards coupon book, doubling the value of their excellent food deals.
In tonight's second Monday Night Football game, the Philadelphia Eagles are -3 favorites over the Minnesota Vikings. The total is 49.5.
In the first of tonight's Monday Night Football double-header, the Buffalo Bills are -10 favorites over the Tennessee Titans. The total is 47.
A slot play named Marc made a $4 bet on a Buffalo Diamond machine at Circa yesterday, then lined up the jackpot symbols to win the progressive for $1,250,033. It was the second million-plus jackpot hit at Circa since it opened; the first was $1,075,234 on a Wheel of Fortune progressive won by a California woman in mid-November 2021.
The Las Vegas Raiders dominated yesterday's opening home game against the Arizona Cardinals, but managed to lose in overtime 29-23. The Raiders were leading by 20 at the end of the first half, but the Cards scored 22 unanswered points in the second. With the score tied 23-23 at the end of regulation, the Raiders were driving when a fumble recovered by the Cards was run back for the winning touchdown. After high hopes coming into the season with major trades and glorious predictions, the Raiders are 0-2. That said, they're definitely in the lead when it comes to pricing. According to Bookies.com, Allegiant charges the fourth highest price for beer in the NFL at $12 for 16 ounces. The highest is Philadelphia at $14.67, followed by a tie between the L.A. Rams and Chargers at $13.75. The least expensive are Detroit, New York (Jets), and Atlanta at $6.25. Bookies.com also determined the relative cost of attending an NFL game, including prices for tickets, parking, beer, and hot dogs for a family of four. Again, Allegiant placed fourth at a total of $802.40, compared to the average of $536.77. San Francisco was highest at $1,028.34, with Tampa Bay second ($947.69) and Kansas City third ($819.20). Arizona placed last ($228.05). Allegiant is the most expensive in the league to park in a stadium lot at $100, the only one in triple digits. (And many thanks to Canada Roy for sending both Bookies.com surveys.)
In last night's Game 4 of the best-of-five WNBA Finals in Connecticut, the Las Vegas Aces became the first professional sports team in Sin City history to win a championship. They also won the first WNBA title in the franchise's 25-year, four-name, and three-city history. It was the third WNBA team in four seasons to win their championship and the first time a rookie head coach won a title in his/her first season. It was a seesaw battle up until the last three minutes, with the score tied at 67-67 with 2:44 to go. But the Aces went on an 8-0 run with clutch shooting and defense to seal the victory. The celebration parade will take place tomorrow, starting at 5:30 p.m. at Caesars Palace and ending at a stage in front of Bellagio. The southbound Strip between Flamingo Road and the entrance to Bellagio will shut down at 6 p.m. and reopen at 11.
The Green Bay Packers are -10 favorites over the Chicago Bears in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 41.5.
The current poll will close on Tuesday, so here's your reminder to vote if you haven't already. We're surveying readers on the restaurants that first-time visitors shouldn't miss for a quintessential Vegas experience. You can vote here and the results will be posted on Thursday.
We have a report that the old Binion's million-dollar photo op has been reinstated at the new Horseshoe (the former Bally's). Here's the description from a blog post: "There is a new horseshoe design, with the cash in the middle of the horseshoe, located near the entrance to Jack Binion's Steak. It appears to be free to photograph and open continuously, as it's sealed behind perspex." We haven't seen it ourselves, so this is unconfirmed. But it sounds entirely plausible and we'll check it out soon.
MGM Grand's 700-room West Wing is undergoing a complete remodel and has been renamed the Studio Tower. This wing was originally the Marina Hotel-Casino, dating back to 1975, which was incorporated into the larger MGM Grand property when it was built in the early '90s. (You can read that history in our QoD on the subject.) The rooms and lobby/elevator area have been redesigned in mid-century modern, a style that was popular for the 25-year period following World War Two (whose epicenter is Palm Springs, California). From the press release: "Guests will find rounded window seats, enlarged headboards, globe sconces, and carefully chosen artwork that accentuates the sculptural furnishings. Each bathroom will feature stylish, space-saving, barn doors, illuminated vanity, marble shower floors, and all-new chrome fixtures. All rooms will also incorporate modern conveniences such as a built-in recessed mini-bar, 55-inch flat-screen TV, open closet, readily available USB power outlets, and additional shelving." The designer calls it "a retro-chic vacation revival.” The first new Studio Tower rooms will be available late next month; the whole remodel will be completed by the end of the year.
Saul Alvarez is a -500 favorite over Gennady Golovkin in tonight's championship fight. The total is 10.5 rounds, with over the favorite at -200.
Cory Sandhagen is a -200 favorite over Yadong Song in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Chidi Njokuani is -140 over Gregory Rodrigues.
The Southern Nevada Casino Collectibles Club’s (SNCCC) inaugural casino souvenirs show will run next Friday and Saturday, Sept. 23-24, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Gold Coast (California Ballrooms L and K). Three dozen dealers, many of them local, will display their collections of casino souvenirs: casino chips and tokens, dice, playing cards, slot cards and slot glass, room keys, advertising items. Add to your collection or bring your own to the show for an on-site expert evaluation. Also on display will be the current Guinness World Record for the largest private collection of casino chips and gaming tokens from different casinos, 2,222 in all. Admission is $5 per day and includes a free goody bag.
Okto-BEER-Fest will be held in The Front Yard at Ellis Island next Saturday, the 24th, from 5 to 8 p.m. The $65 ticket includes an appetizer (bratwurst in puff pastry, an entree (mushroom stroganoff, pork schnitzel, or roast chicken), a giant pretzel (in beer sauce), and -- drum roll, please! -- unlimited Ellis Island beers for all three hours. You can also enter to win prizes in the annual steinholding competition, plus pretzel-eating and costume contests. Sounds like a lot of fun, especially if you like EI craft beer.
"Enchant," the world’s largest Christmas-light maze and holiday market, will be on display at Resorts World this holiday season. Enchant is usually held at sports stadiums; last year, for example, it took over Las Vegas Ballpark. This year, it will happen again at the Ballpark, but a second location will open at Resorts World, with a 10-acre maze consisting of more than four million twinkling lights amongst trees, tunnels, animal sculptures, and other displays all leading to the 100-foot-tall Christmas tree. There will also be an ice-skating rink, holiday shopping in Enchant Village, Santa and Mrs. Santa photo ops, wine tasting, and more. Enchant on the Strip opens on November 19 and runs through New Year's Day. Tickets are on sale now, starting at $44 for adults and $23 children 3-17, with senior and military discounts.
This week's LVA YouTube update is chock-a-block with cool info: two locals hotels demolished, further food developments at the Palms, an actual gambling promotion at the Silverton steakhouse, the overlay details for the Circa Million football contest and the blood bath during Week 1 for Circa Survivor, Anthony's annual football-parties report, and some seriously high-stakes video poker for this week's Jackpot of the Week (hint: $250 bets!). Click and enjoy.
Donate blood at a special event at Rampart Casino on Saturday-Sunday September 24-25 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and you'll receive a 50% discount at the Market Place Buffet. The event will take place in the Valencia Ballroom both days and you can make an appointment for Saturday here or Sunday here. For more information about donor-eligibility requirements, contact Vitalant, which is running the event, at
877-258-4825.
The Kansas City Chiefs are -4 favorites over the Los Angeles Chargers in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 53.
According to a Pew Research Center study, just under one in five (19%) American adults made some kind of sports bet over the past year. Fifteen percent of respondents said they bet informally with friends or family in a private pool, fantasy league, or peer to peer. Only 8% said they'd made bets at a casino sports book/kiosk or racetrack, while 6% said they made their wagers online (not differentiating between legal and unregulated sites). Certainly, the sports betting industry has enormous room for expansion, even as 31 states, plus Washington, D.C., allow sports betting and nearly 50 million Americans told American Gaming Association canvassers that they'll bet on NFL games this season. As for gender, 24% men and 15% women admitted to betting on sports over the past 12 months, with 22% under 50 and 17% over 50 having done so. The Pew Center polled 6,034 adults over a 12-day period following July 4th.
The first show from the creator of the smash hit musical Hamilton is coming to the Summit Showroom at the Venetian in November. The freestyle hip-hop musical Freestyle Love Supreme will debut on November 10 and run Wed. through Fri. at 8 p.m., 7 and 10 p.m. Saturdays, and 7 p.m. Sundays. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's John Katsilometes, the show opened in 2004 and "introduces comic improvisation to hip-hop numbers. It all happens on the fly. Audiences are not just encouraged to play along, it's a requirement. When you enter the Summit Showroom, be ready to shout terms to the artists in a seamlessly performed 90-minute sprint." Tickets are on sale now, starting at $57.45.
Plans have been approved for Silverton to build a five-story 290-unit apartment tower adjacent to its parking garage. The complex will include an indoor golf simulator and a courtyard with a bocce-ball court. The new tower is separate from the Silverton Village project that’s in development. A timetable for the new tower was not released.
If you're heading downtown now through Sunday, be prepared for a number of detours around the Life Is Beautiful Festival, which starts on Friday. The festival covers 18 city blocks and features 75 live music and comedy acts on seven stages, headlined by Lorde, Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, and Calvin Harris, plus 70 food outlets, dance parties, marketplace, Art District gallery participants, and more. Last year, 180,000 people attended. Check the map of street closures here.
The Las Vegas Aces won their second game in a row last night by a score of 85-71 against the Connecticut Sun. Vegas is now 2-0 in the WNBA Championship best-of-five series. One more win will bring the first championship to the franchise, which was swept in the 2008 Finals when the team was the San Antonio Silver Stars and swept again as the Las Vegas Aces in 2020 against the Seattle Storm. League MVP A'ja Wilson had 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Chelsea Gray added 21 points and Kelsey Plum rebounded from a terrible Game 1 by scoring 20 with seven assists in 35 minutes. Both wins were at Michelob Ultra Arena; the Aces travel to Connecticut to play Game 3 in the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville tomorrow night.
In comments during the licensing hearing of Bally’s Corp. in its purchase of the Tropicana, Bally’s execs indicated that a name change for the casino was not immediately planned. While the name Bally’s figures to be put in place eventually, the casino will remain the Tropicana for the foreseeable future.
We’ve been talking about a possible overlay (more money being paid out in prizes than was collected in entry fees) for the Circa Million IV football contest and that’s what happened. Circa Million needed 6,000 entrants and went off with 4,691, creating an excess of more than $1.3 million in the prize pool. Circa Survivor also needed 6,000 entries to it breakeven and got there with 6,133.
It didn't take long for Station Casinos to start deleting two of its four shuttered properties. Announced barely two months ago, Station is demolishing Texas Station and Fiesta Henderson , with a stated intention to sell off the land, once it's vacant, for non-casino developments. Fiesta Rancho, along with the recently closed Wild Wild West on Tropicana just west of the Strip, will also be razed, but when is so far unknown.
An interesting infographic on VisualCapitalist.com shows the 67,663 different airline routes that connect 10,000 different airports across the globe, with 8,755 commercial flights in the air at any given time. An accompanying chart lists the world's busiest airports as measured by 2021 passenger counts; eight are in the U.S. and the other two are in China. Las Vegas ranked 10th, though the difference between it (at 39,754,366 passengers for the year) and number six, Charlotte, North Carolina, was only 3.5 million passengers. So far, Reid International is on a pace to host 50 million passengers in 2022, which would put it in fifth place by 2021 numbers, displacing LAX, which handled 48,007,284 passengers last year, but would fall a bit short of the Las Vegas airport record of 51.54 million set in 2019. Atlanta is number one at 75,704,760, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth(62,465,756), Denver (58,828,552), and Chicago O'Hare (54,020,399). Interestingly, New York's JFK International didn't make the top ten, at only 15,200,286.
In other airport news, start-up low-cost carrier Breeze Airways has launched service, announced several months ago, to and from Hartford (CT), Jacksonville (FL), White Plains (NY), Huntsville (AL), and Norfolk (VA); service between Reid and Akron (OH) and Provo (UT) will begin on October 6 and Charleston (SC) on November 3.
The Denver Broncos are -6 favorites over the Seattle Seahawks in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 44.
GeoComply, the cyber-security company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that verifies mobile sports-bettor identities, reported a record in sports-betting geolocation checks for the opening weekend of the 2022-2023 season of the National Football League. A story on CDCGamingReports.com pegs the number of identity checks for remote sports bettors at 103.1 million, a jump of 71.5% over the 60 million checks for the same period last year. GeoComply said that the legalization of sports betting in New York, Arkansas, Connecticut, Kansas, and Louisiana since last year accounted for the significant increase. Indeed, New York placed first in transaction volume at 15.8 million; the Empire State was followed by Pennsylvania (15.3 million) and New Jersey (13.5 million).
“O’KEEFFE: One Hundred Flowers" is the latest immersive exhibition to open in Las Vegas; it's now appearing at the Portal at Area15. It replaces the Van Gogh show that had been in the "360-degree projection-mapped venue" for a couple of years. O’Keeffe, widely considered the "mother of American Modernism," joins Vincent Van Gogh (at a space in the Shops at Crystals) and Leonardo da Vinci (in a standalone building across from Fontainebleau), along with a space experience at the Illuminarium at Area15 and a King Tut exhibit at Luxor, as Las Vegas' premier immersive digital museums. O'Keeffe's gardens come to life, backed by a 12-song all-female soundtrack, including Nina Simone and Cyndi Lauper. The show is scheduled through February; tickets are $30, $23 tickets for children, seniors, Nevadans, and military.
Vetri Cucina will, in fact, reopen at the Palms on November 1 in the space on the 56th floor, formerly occupied by Alizé, that operated for just a couple of years before the shutdown. It appears that it took Palms' management extra time to make up its collective mind about the restaurant, which is a little more upscale and nouveau (Italian) than the image that the Palms is trying to project. Vetri Cucina is the second location for chef and cookbook author Marc Vetri; the original has been a favorite of Philadelphians since 1998. The press release notes that the menu will consist of "favorite dishes and wines and new items."
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are -2 favorites over the Dallas Cowboys in tonight's Sunday Night Football game. The total is 50.
Carlos Alcaraz is a -235 favorite over Caspar Ruud in today's U.S. Open tennis men's final. Both are seeking their first Grand Slam title.
Iga Swiatek is a -190 favorite over Ons Jabeur in today's U.S. Open tennis women's final. Swiatek is seeking her third Grand Slam title, Jabeur her first.
Entry deadlines for most of the major football contests end today, with a couple open until tomorrow. Check our football contest listings for times and get your entries in. We'll add weekly contests as we find them.
According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), 46.6 million Americans will bet on the NFL this season, up 3% from last year. That’s 18% of the U.S. adult population, which is impressive, but also suggests there’s a lot of room for growth. The AGA also reported that 13% of bettors will use an illegal bookie, a number that will continue to decline as new states legalize sports betting.
The deadline to enter the Circa Survivor and Circa Million IV football-handicapping contests is 2 p.m. Saturday. Both contests are below the 6,000 entries needed to reach breakeven, with Survivor at 5,464 and Million at 4,067. If they stay under 6,000 it’s known as an equity overlay, which means the money paid out in prizes exceeds the amount taken in, a good situation for players. The entry fee is $1,000 for each contest.
The Las Vegas Aces are -280 favorites over the Connecticut Sun to win the WNBA Championship. The five-game series begins Sunday in Las Vegas.
The Buffalo Bills are -2.5 favorites over the Los Angeles Rams in tonight's Thursday Night Football game that opens the 2022 NFL season. The total is 52.
Anthony Curtis will be the guest on "Pushing The Limits with Brian Shapiro" radio show today. The show airs at 1 p.m. on 1400 AM.
A story on LegalSportsReport.com notes that since mobile sports betting launched in New York on January 8 of this year, bettors have wagered more than $10 billion. With nearly $200 million wagered the last week of August, the year-to-date handle reached $10.1 billion. Of that, the sports books won $766 million for a 7.6% hold, with a little more than $390 million collected by the state in taxes, thanks to the 51% rate. The New York mobile handle broke $1 billion for six consecutive months, then dipped below in July and August, but look out above: With the NFL season starting next week, the handle and gross revenue should start setting new records, especially with the Buffalo Bills favored to win the Super Bowl.
Just in time for Labor Day weekend, Circus Circus opened three new rides at its indoor Adventuredome amusement park. All three are for the little ones: Twistin Tea Cups, Kiddie Swings, and mini Go Karts. All-inclusive ride-all-day tickets are $60 for those four feet and taller, $30 for shorter than 48 inches.
In a surprisingly docile final bow, the Wild Wild West casino closed last night. A few people showed up for a last go-round, but it was a far cry from the usual closing-night scene (you can see footage in our new YouTube video). The buildings will reportedly be razed to make way for a new resort, timeline undisclosed.
The World Travel Awards for 2022 have been announced. This list was established in 1993 to acknowledge and celebrate excellence across key sectors of the travel, tourism, and hospitality industries worldwide. The annual awards are considered "the most prestigious and comprehensive in the global industry." The voting process is conducted online; a vote from a verified travel professional is weighted as two, while a standard vote from a travel consumer is weighted as one. A record 2.3 million votes were cast for this year's awards. In the North American category for 2022, the Leading Casino-Resort is Caesars Palace; the Leading Conference Hotel is MGM Grand; the Leading Meetings and Conference Center is the Las Vegas Convention Center; the Leading New Hotel is the Conrad at Resorts World and the Leading New Resort is Resorts World. In the U.S. category, Caesars is the Leading Casino Resort and the Leading Hotel is the Waldorf Astoria.
It's official: The National Weather Service has confirmed that August 5, 2022, was the rainiest day ever experienced in Death Valley National Park, at least since records started being kept in 1961. The amount of precipitation was originally reported at 1.46 inches, but that was later upgraded to 1.70, fully 77.2% of the park's entire annual average. Nearly a month later, a number of roads are still closed in the park from the massive flooding.
The Golden Tiki, the popular tiki bar in Chinatown, broke the world's record for the Largest Mai Tai on Tuesday August 30. The event was the culmination of a week-long celebration commemorating Golden Tiki’s seventh anniversary. More than 300 bottles of alcohol were used to make the 100-gallon "cocktail" in front of a packed house. The final product weighed more than 900 pounds and nearly doubled the previous record of 55 gallons. The feat was witnessed and certified by the president of the Las Vegas chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild. Afterwards, two fountains were filled with the record-breaking cocktail for the partiers to enjoy.
According to an interesting map on VisualCapitalist.com, Miriam Adelson, the widow of the late Sheldon Adelson, is the richest person in Nevada, with a fortune of $28.5 billion. She's among the 735 billionaires in the United States, the most of any country, with an estimated net worth of $4.7 trillion. The billionaires in five states are worth more than $100 billion each; Elon Musk, Texas, tops the list at $272 billion, followed by Jeff Bezos, Washington, at $167.6 billion; Larry Ellison, Hawaii, $109.5 billion; Warren Buffet, Nebraska, $105.2 billion; and Larry Page, California, $103.8 billion. Seven states -- Alaska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Alabama, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Vermont -- don't have any billionaires. The breakdown by gender: 36 men, 7 women. You'll find the map here and thanks to Canada Roy for sending the link.
Similar to other recent holidays, the casinos aren’t doing much in the way of promotions for Labor Day. Why should they? The usual 300,000+ come to town regardless. The lone promo we’ve seen is a 2-for-1 or 50%-off single buffet at Rampart. Good all day; must have a rewards card. Expect traffic tie-ups on I-15 tonight.
Flyover Las Vegas, the motion-simulator attraction on the south Strip (near the Showcase Mall), is celebrating its first anniversary in Las Vegas with the launch of a new flight ride, "Windborne: Call of the Canadian Rockies," on Monday September 26. Featuring footage from the most remote areas of the mighty mountain range, the ride showcases Canada’s snowcapped peaks, turquoise lakes, picturesque valleys, and views of Banff, Jasper, and Yoho National Parks. "Windborne: Call of the Canadian Rockies" joins the two existing rides, "The Real Wild West" and "Legendary Iceland." Flyover is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; tickets start at $36 for adults (locals get 30% off).
The World Series of Poker Online runs for U.S. players from Sept. 10 to Oct. 18; the non-U.S. tournament is in progress through September 27. The online tournament was created in 2020 when the shutdown prevented holding the live WSOP and has now become an annual event of its own.
In June, Harry Reid International Airport set a record for the number of passengers at 4.69 million. It's just been announced that in July, the airport broke that record: 4.86 million passengers, an increase of 3.5% month over month and 17.2% year over year. Southwest, as always, led the pack with 1.72 million passengers, 35% of the total, while Spirit was second with 683,600 and Frontier third with 442,300 passengers. International arrivals/departures continued to climb at 256,081, a nearly 300% increase over July 2021. Year to date, it's even more impressive: The 1.3 million international passengers January to July totaled 1.3 million, a 426.2% jump over the same period last year.
The 6,000-square-foot LED billboard at Project63, the four story 230,000-square-foot mall slated to open next to the Shops at Crystals in October, has started running advertising. According to the developer, Project63's first phase is 70% leased, while Phase 2, which opens in February, is already 100% accounted for. Announced two weeks ago, Ocean Prime, a seafood-steak chain with 17 locations in major U.S. cities, will invest $20 million to open its 18th restaurant on the fourth floor of the mall; Ocean Prime is Project 63's first tenant to be revealed. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Project 63's developer also owns the three-story Harmon Corner retail center across the Strip, with its massive 18,000-square-foot digital billboard.
A cool 78-year-old dude named Benny Figgins was hired by Caesars Palace on April 17, 1967, four months before it opened. He spent the next five years as a porter, then a dishwasher at the original Bacchanal restaurant, then a busboy in the Circus Maximus showroom, before becoming a blackjack dealer. Fifty years later, Benny is finally retiring from dealing as the last remaining original employee at Caesars. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that over the course of his career, he met or dealt to Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, Harry Belafonte, Joe Louis, and many other celebrities of their day; he says Belafonte was his favorite. He also met his wife of 38 years at Caesars in the early '70s; she was working as a PBX operator, then also became a table-game dealer. After his final shift last Wednesday, he was presented with a plaque, then he walked a red carpet with his wife, cheered on by fellow employees, and given a limo ride home.
Ciryl Gane is a -600 favorite over Tai Tuivasa in today’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Robert Whittaker is -200 over Marvin Vettori.
This week's video from Anthony and Andrew was a day late, but was worth waiting for. Tune in to see an image of the cover of the very first Las Vegas Advisor newsletter and hear about the 50-foot showgirls that now grace the entry to downtown, news about unredeemed TITO slot vouchers, the Circa Million overlay update, live sports betting opening up in Kansas, a 46-year-old bar that just brought back free jazz nights, and how many years Anthony went before hitting a royal. Click and get your weekly kick.
In a memo posted yesterday on Twitter, Station Casinos notified employees of Wild Wild West that their 260-room motel-casino will close on Tuesday at midnight. It didn't come as a real surprise; the company has long had plans to redevelop the 20-acre property. In addition, last year, Station and the state Department of Transportation agreed to a plan to reconfigure the Tropicana and I-15 ramps in such a way that wouldn't interfere with the company's intention to build a megaresort. Still, the alacrity of the closing certainly comes as a shock to the estimated 250 employees, some of whom have worked there since it was the King 8 Hotel and Casino before Station took it over in 1998. Station claims that it "anticipates" all Wild Wild West employees will be offered jobs at other of its properties.
Residents of Kansas can now place sports bets at state-owned casinos and via mobile apps. Yesterday's soft launch met a requirement set by state officials to open sports betting on or before September 1, ahead of the NFL season, which starts on the 8th. The official launch of sports betting in the Sunflower State is scheduled for that day. As of yesterday, in-person betting is available at Hollywood Casino (Barstool) in Kansas City and Kansas Star Casino (FanDuel) in Mulvane. Mobile sports betting is being offered by DraftKings (Boot Hill Casino, Dodge City), while BetMGM, Caesars, and PointsBet are affiliated with Kansas Crossing Casino in Pittsburg (the law allows casinos to offer mobile sports betting on up to three apps). Tribal casinos are negotiating with officials on contracts to allow sports betting. Kansas is the 31st state to legalize sports betting; Washington, D.C. makes 32 locales in the U.S. where it's legal.
August's totals are in and they're unusual. The official precipitation count was 0.61 inches, nearly double the 30-year average for the month of 0.32; over the last three Augusts, no rain fell in August. The record for August rainfall was set in 1957 at 2.59 inches. The National Weather Service issued 30 flash flood warnings and three were ferocious. Still, we're more than an inch below normal in precipitation for the year: 1.45 inches, compared to the normal 2.77 inches for the first eight months. August was also the 13th coolest August on record, tied with 2005 and 2013 and the average high was three degrees cooler than last year's 104.1 degrees and 6.2 degrees below 2020's 107.3.
The showgirls that have graced the City of Las Vegas signage on Las Vegas Boulevard just north of the STRAT had a growth spurt. The bikini-clad girls in forearm-length gloves, full-length cloaks, and massive headdresses were 25 feet tall when the sign was installed in 2018; they've since doubled in height and were lit up for the first time on Wednesday night at the intersection of the Boulevard and Main Street. They were pretty spectacular at half the size; now they're just short of epic (retro though they might be).
Following the shutdown of Mosaic on the Strip in July, two more non-casino show venues have dropped out. After being among the few entertainment options during the pandemic, the Vegas Room and Nevada Room in the Commercial Center have both closed, apparently unable to compete in the now-humming Las Vegas entertainment scene.
In a first in our Las Vegas experience, Formula 1 has opened its process for pre-registering for tickets to the Grand Prix race to be held here in November 2023, but you have to pay to get on it. The mandatory $7.77 "donation" will go to the Las Vegas Grand Prix Foundation and will benefit local food charities, such as Three Square and Just One Project, but it doesn't guarantee you access to tickets for the event, which has been unofficially announced for Nov. 16-18. To secure your spot on the priority list, register and pay at register.f1lasvegasgp.com.
Typically, September temperatures drop from hot to pretty hot, descending from average highs around 99 in the beginning of the month to 88 at the end. The average lows make the nights comfortable enough to eschew air-conditioning for all but the hottest-blooded; they start out at 76 and go down to 65. Still, summer remains for three of the four weeks, so the record high is a sweltering 113 (September 1, 1950), with four more days above 110 and nine at 108 and 109. But it can also cool way down, with the record low at 43 degrees (September 27, 1948) and 12 other dates in the 40s. Normally, nearly a third of an inch of rain falls, the eighth driest month of the year.