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The Cincinnati Bengals are -3.5 favorites over the Chicago Bears in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 44.5.
Get ready for the rise of metaverse gambling—legal or not. A casino in the metaverse (generally defined as an immersive world in which people live, work, shop, and interact with others via virtual and augmented reality), called Slotie, was recently hit with cease-and-desist orders from Texas, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Alabama for violating state gambling laws, despite the contention that the metaverse exists outside of those states in an alternate universe. OK, but the players gambling there don’t.
OYO has opened the Wheel of Fortune Slots Zone. The Zone features several WoF game variants, including 4D Collector’s Edition, Cash Link 2, and the WoF Megatower.
All table games have been removed at Casino Royale and it's now machines only. We’re told the casinos few table games weren’t brought back after the shutdown.
The Buffalo Bills are -10.5 favorites over the Green Bay Packers tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 47.
Adele's rescheduled residency at the Colosseum at Caesars starts up on Friday November 18 and the coverage is building a head of steam. According to various reports, the production, which caused the abrupt cancelation only 24 hours prior to the originally scheduled shows, has been "stripped back" from 40 musicians to 20 and 60 choir members to 30, so the shows are more "intimate" with only 50 people backing her up instead of 100 (hmm). Also, the resale prices of tickets have hit Pluto, with seats in the last rows going for $700 (the most expensive price when the tickets first went on sale) and one ticket, center stage in front, asking $200,000. Other reports are a bit more down to Earth: only $50,000. Whether the asking prices are $50,000 or $200,000, though there's no doubt that Adele's residency is the highest-priced in Las Vegas history, by a long shot.
An article on GolfDigest.com identifies the best 16 golf courses in Nevada, with 11 in southern Nevada, three in Mesquite, and two in northern Nevada (both at Lake Tahoe). The cool thing about the list is that it contains thumbnail descriptions on the main page, then links to full pages on each course, with overviews, reviews, photos, ratings, and practicalities. It's an excellent planning tool for anyone considering a golf vacation, especially if they're unfamiliar with the various courses. (And thanks to Canada Roy for sending the link.)
The FamilyVacationGuide.com has issued a study comparing the average prices of three-star hotel rooms in 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2022. The Guide found that average Las Vegas room rates have increased by 144%, from $110 in 2019 to $268 today, ranking it ninth on the list of 30. Honolulu sustained the highest increase, from $186 to a whopping $654 (252%). New York placed second ($228/$743, 226%), followed by Chicago ($107/$321, 200%), Miami ($138/$409, 196%), and Boston ($169/$488, 189%). At the other end of the list, Vancouver, Washington, registered no increase, while Birmingham, Alabama, dropped 3% ($197/$192) and Sacramento was down 31% ($298/$207). We're not surprised that Las Vegas made the dubious top ten; last month's room rates were the highest in history, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The citywide average in September was $187.18 a night, with a tad under $200 on the Strip and $118 downtown. On average, they were 20% higher than September 2021 and 37% higher than September 2019.
Calvin Kattar and Arnold Allen are pick ’em in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Max Griffin is -180 over Tim Means.
The Houston Astros are -140 favorites over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 2 of the MLB World Series. The total is 7.
The carnage continues in the Circa Survivor contest, as NFL favorites continue to lose at a high rate. After seven weeks, the starting field of 6,133 has been cut to 125. At least one player has all six entries remaining, which isn’t as amazing as it sounds given that he played the same teams on all cards. If the past is prologue, week eight's games starting tomorrow will winnow the field even more; with more than half the season still to go, will anyone "survive"?
Fox 5 News is reporting that Las Vegas-based Trypto Business Solutions LLC, a consulting company that, according to its (minimal) website, "builds technology solutions to help increase operational efficiency, simplify marketing, increase customer loyalty and retention, and increase profit margins," is not only directly involved with the funding of the $4.9 billion All Net Arena as announced earlier this week, but will also "provide funding for the redevelopment of the Moulin Rouge in the Historic Westside." This makes sense, at least to us, given that only the Moulin Rouge has had more funding false starts, flip-flops, about faces, and switcheroos than All Net, and if Trypto LLC can get either job done, to say nothing of both, more power to them.
More information has been released about tickets for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, taking place in November 2023. "American Express Card members" qualify for the pre-pre-sale starting Tuesday at 10 a.m. and running through Thursday at 9:59 a.m. Then, fans who signed up for the "priority interest list" will receive "early access to a dedicated ticket allotment beginning on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 10 a.m. PT,” according to the news release. Whatever tickets remain go on sale to the public Saturday, Nov. 5 at 10 p.m. Ticket prices will start at $500, with price variations according to vantage points (in order of cheapest to most expensive): general admission ($500), West Zone, MSG Sphere Zone, East Harmon Zone, and MSG Sphere zones, Shared Hospitality, Suites, Skyboxes, Wynn Grid Club, and Paddock Club. No prices have been revealed beyond general admission.
The Houston Astros are -165 favorites over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the MLB World Series. The total is 6.5.
Katy Perry, best known for her hit singles “Teenage Dream” and "Firework" ("Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?") has announced 14 new dates for the "Katy Perry: PLAY" residency at Resorts World. The dates are: February 15, 17, 18, 22, 24, and 25; March 3 and 4; and April 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, and 15. Tickets go on sale next Friday at 10 a.m. PT.
To commemorate Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights (which started on October 22), casino website BonusInsider.com identified the 10 highest-ranking Indian restaurants in the 200 largest cities by population in the U.S. Sorting thousands of locations that they ranked by user rating and number of reviews, BonusInsider came up with the top 10. Based on nearly 1,600 Google reviews (second highest number of reviews out of the 10) with an average 4.9 stars, Marigold Fine Indian Cuisine, located at 4850 W. Flamingo Road (at S. Decatur), placed fifth on the list. Marigold's menu consists of the usual (but apparently excellent) Indian dishes: samosa and momo appetizers ($4.99-$9.99), tandoori breads ($2.99-$4.99) and chicken ($13.99-$19.99), vegetable and vegan ($12.99), lamb and goat ($16.99), and seafood ($17.99).
The Professional Bull Riders Association' Las Vegas Team Series Finals event kicks off rodeo season in Las Vegas November 4-6 at T-Mobile Arena; tickets are on sale now for $37-$461. For a less formal event with free admission, the Plaza will host the annual Las Vegas Days Rodeo November 11-12. The Plaza's outdoor equestrian center will feature team and tie-down roping, bull riding, barrel racing, steer wrestling, and saddle bronc, breakaway, and bareback riding; a "mutton-busting" sheep-riding event will be for children 4-10 who weigh less than 60 pounds. Hirsute spectators can vie for prizes in a whisker-growing contest (register on the Plaza website through Friday). Gates open at 5 p.m. and the action starts at 6. The National Finals Rodeo this year takes place December 1-10 at Thomas and Mack Center.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are -1.5 favorites over the Baltimore Ravens in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 46.5.
Last month, Nevada sports books won $70.6 million. That was an increase of slightly more than 30% compared to September 2021, attributable to a hold percentage of 9.3%, versus 6.9% last year. The handle was $760.8 million, down 3.3% year over year. The total win amount for September was the second highest in Nevada history, only $1.4 million (2%) less than the all-time record of $72 million set in November 2021. And with all the upsets (favorites either losing outright or not covering the pointspread) in October, it will be very interesting to see if the win record is broken this month.
A report on Fox 5 Vegas news shows a clip of President Joe Biden stating, "Each year, these junk fees cost Americans tens of billions of dollars. So my administration is taking action to eliminate these fees." They include "hidden" fees for airline tickets and cable bills, bank-account overdrafts, and hotel rooms. The Fox reporter interviewed a spokesperson for Travelers United, a consumer-advocacy group, who said that his group has been working with the Biden Administration for "several months" on the hidden-fees issue. The Nevada Resort Association "declined to comment for the story." We're admittedly wait and see about the administration's commitment to and follow through on resort fees (the hotly contested midterm elections are in less than two weeks, after all), but at the very least, it will be ... entertaining to watch it unfold. And you can see the Fox 5 report here.
American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, dancer, and music video director Bruno Mars loves performing in Las Vegas. He'll appear at his venue of choice, Dolby Live at Park MGM, on New Year's and New Year's Day and has just announced 10 additional shows: January 25, 27, and 28 and February 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 14, and 18. They'll mark his seventh year in a row of doing mini-residencies at Park MGM. Tickets start at $99.50 and go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.
The same day that the Clark County Commissioners approved plans for a new megaresort on billionaire Tilman Fertitta's six-acre property at the southeast corner of the Strip and Harmon Avenue (last Wednesday), permits were issued to the contractor to demolish the existing buildings: the Tex Mex restaurant and tequila bar, a Travelodge motel, and a string of souvenir shops. Fertitta, obviously, is wasting no time getting his unnamed 43-story 2,420-room hotel-casino under way. He bought the property for $270 million in June, closed all the businesses in July, and is launching construction work in October.
PokerNews.com has a story posted in which Daniel Negreanu, the Canadian poker pro with six WSOP bracelets to his name and the first-place finish in the recent $300,000-buy-in Super High Roller Bowl, earning a cool $3.3 million, reveals his favorite poker rooms in Las Vegas, with a bonus of a surprise least favorite. Negreanu likes to play most at the PokerGo studio at Aria (number one if you can afford the buy-ins), but Aria's regular poker room nearby placed fourth on his list. The Wynn's poker room came in second, the WSOP experience in the ballroom at Paris third, the Venetian's big room fifth, and Resorts World sixth. Negreanu dissed Bellagio's once-top poker room, saying, "At the very bottom by a wide margin now is Bellagio. The room is cramped, loud, and smoky."
Formula 1 has just announced that Phase 1 tickets for the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix will go on sale a week from Saturday, November 5, at 10 p.m. Pacific Time (1 a.m. Sunday Eastern Time). All tickets will be sold as three-day passes only (no single-day passes) and it looks like they're all-inclusive for food and non-alcoholic beverages. There's also a limit of eight tickets per customer, but good luck getting that many or even one or two; the announcement email makes no bones about availability being "extremely limited" and due to high demand, tickets "may not be available at time of purchase." Also, no prices were revealed, but they promise to be dear. Still, to try to buy grandstand and general-admission tickets, go to F1LasVegasGP.com/tickets at or before the appointed time. The Las Vegas Grand Prix Foundation's Priority Interest List tickets go on sale November 3 at 10 a.m. PT. The Las Vegas Grand Prix will take place November 18, 2023.
Powerball mania is back, now that the jackpot hasn't been hit for nearly three months, creating the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot and eighth-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history. Last night's drawing was the 36th without a winner. The lump-sum option stands at $335.7 million. If the jackpot surpasses $731 million, it will be the fourth largest in Powerball history.
The food buzz this morning is all about Dominique Ansel Las Vegas, a new bakery at Caesars Palace. Ansel is a French pastry chef who emigrated to the U.S. and created the confections at Restaurant Daniel, chef Daniel Boulud's renowned French restaurant in midtown Manhattan, then opened Dominique Ansel Bakery in the Lower Manhattan Soho neighborhood. There, he invented the "cronut," a cross between a croissant and donut, which so impressed the food elite that Time magazine ranked it as one of the best inventions of 2013 and helped earn him Best Pastry Chef honors from James Beard in 2014. The location at Caesars is Ansel's fourth (two in NYC and one in Hong Kong) and the line at the grand opening looked more like people waiting to eat at a free buffet than to buy $9 frozen s'mores, $10 eclairs, $12 donuts, $14 slices of quiche, and $16 grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches (Croque Monsieurs). On the other hand, the pastries are nothing if not imaginative and you can see them on the online menu.
The Houston Astros are -190 favorites over the Philadelphia Phillies to win the MLB World Series. Game 1 is Friday.
As of tonight at 10 p.m., the high-occupancy-vehicle lanes on I-15 will be open to single-occupant cars; the free lanes resume their restriction to two or more occupants at 5 a.m. This new schedule is in force seven nights per week for at least 18 months as the state Department of Transportation studies the results of the "experiment." The HOV lanes are in effect from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Smokey Robinson, who requires no bio details, but we'll provide a few anyway, will perform two shows at the Venetian Theater on April 14 and 15. The 82-year-old Robinson had his first hit, "You Better Shop Around," in 1960 (a mere 62 years ago) with the Miracles for Motown; the group had been with the famed Detroit record company since it was called Tamla Records. Over the next 10 years, Robinson wrote, produced, and sang lead on 26 Top 40 records, including "You've Really Got a Hold on Me," "Mickey's Monkey," "I Second That Emotion," "Ooo Baby Baby," "Going to a Go-Go," and the group's number-one hit, "The Tears of a Clown" (though our favorite, "Vitamin U," was never a hit, but appeared on Smokey's 1977 solo album Deep in My Soul). In the mid-'60s, Robinson retired from the Miracles to focus on his duties as vice president of Motown and to write songs for the growing roster of the label's groups, such as The Supremes, Temptations, Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. He appears regularly at Jazz Fest in New Orleans and performs fairly frequently; this round starts on November 4 in California and wraps up in Indiana in late April after eight shows. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. PT.
The New England Patriot are -9 favorites over the Chicago Bears in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 40.
Pickleball is sweeping the nation! Further evidence is arriving in the form of Chicken N Pickle when it opens near the intersection of St. Rose and Maryland parkways in Henderson. The Henderson location of the fast-growing brand, which has six locations in the Midwest and six more planned, will be a three-acre multi-level indoor-outdoor complex with 11 pickleball courts (6 indoor with air-conditioning and 5 outdoor), other yard games such as shuffleboard and bocce ball, outdoor lawn games like Corn Hole, a game room, a dog park, and a sports bar-restaurant specializing in -- you guessed it -- chicken (house, jerk, Southwest, 7-chili, chipotle, etc.) in BBQ platters, sandwiches, salads, wings, and strips. The Henderson location, according to the announcement, will open in "late 2023."
In August, sports books in Illinois took in $565 million in gross sports betting revenue, beating New Jersey by about $8 million for the first time. The Land of Lincoln is still 35% behind New York's $877 million, but the fact that sports betting has been legal in Illinois for two and a half years, while New Jersey has been booking legal sports bets for four and a half, is pretty impressive. And we'll soon see what happened in September (Illinois reports monthly numbers much later than all other states) and the start of the NFL season.
An article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal illuminates the "logjam" that the southern Nevada housing market has entered over the past few months. On the supply side, sellers are facing more competition as fewer houses selling and houses are sitting on the market longer, so sellers have been lowering their asking prices; 42% of sellers dropped their price in September, compared to 9% last February. A total of 8,121 houses remained for sale on September 30, an increase of 135% year over year. On the demand side, buyers are bucking the highest borrowing costs in a generation, as well as home prices that haven't come back down to Earth from the stratospheric heights they reached earlier this year (a high of $482,000 in May); still, the median price of a single-family house remained stable at $450,000 in September, the same as August, so they're not much more affordable than they've been. Another conundrum: As the housing market softens, mortgage interest rates continue to climb, up more than double at this time last year, which is exacerbating the impasse. Round and round it goes; where it stops, no one knows.
The Miami Dolphins are -7 favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 44.5.
Islam Makhachev is a -200 favorite over Charles Oliveira in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Aljamain Sterling is -180 over TJ Dillashaw.
Formula 1, operators of the Las Vegas Grand Prix scheduled for a year from now, have filed plans to build a four-story 300,000-square-foot headquarters in the center of the 39-acre parcel at the intersection of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane the company bought this year for $240 million. The building will be the focal point of all the activities associated with the race, including the pit work on the cars, and race-related events throughout the year. On the second and third floors will be spectator clubs, with a rooftop terrace above. A parking lot with 2,000 spaces will front the building. Formula 1's ongoing investment in Las Vegas certainly indicates that the Grand Prix is planned to be an annual event for the foreseeable future.
Chris Andrews, author of our books Then One Day -- Forty Years of Bookmaking in Nevada and Then One Year -- History's Craziest Year as Seen by a Las Vegas Bookmaker, has a new book out. It's a novel and as you might imagine, the story is centered on sports betting, and we're here to tell you that it's a page-turning gut-churning barn-burning saga.
We didn't publish it (fiction isn't our forte these days), but as Chris is our author and friend, we were lucky enough to read it in manuscript form and wow! Were we dazzled.
The plot revolves around a down-and-out Greek American gambler-scuffler, Hairdo Cotsandakis, who's on a Mob hit list for money owed. In a desperate attempt to raise the funds and save his miserable life, he corners Niko, a star college quarterback who also happens to be the son of Big George, Hairdo's father's old bookmaking partner. Hairdo "suggests" that Niko shave points off the last game of his college career. Though Niko refuses, just the fact that he was approached by a gambler sets in motion a series of events involving Niko, his older brother Stavros, and Big George that render the most intricate Greek tragedy pale by comparison.
The book is called Adelphόs Mou (My Brother) and if you liked Then One Day and/or Then One Year, you'll find that the novel showcases Chris' considerable writing talents and skills, to say nothing of his profound expertise in the elemental forces lurking under and behind the sports betting business. We can't recommend this book highly enough. It's now available on Amazon for $26.
Low-cost-carrier Breeze Airlines will fly twice weekly on Thursdays and Sundays between Las Vegas and San Bernardino starting on February 16. It's the 12th route for the startup airline out of Reid International. Fares start at $29 one-way for the 38-minute flight.
Ten years and counting into the plan, with funding coming and going, endless project extensions granted, and one breathless media event after another, it looks like the All-Net Arena's legs haven't completely atrophied. Former UNLV basketball player Jackie Robinson, the never-say-die force behind the long-delayed development on the old Wet 'n' Wet water park's 27 acres next to Fontainebleau, introduced a new investor yesterday for his $4.9 billion dream, which includes a sports arena with a retractable roof, two hotels, and a convention center. He also noted that some construction work has been ongoing for a few weeks, then announced that the All-Net non-casino resort will be completed by the end of 2025. We figure: We've held our breath for this long, what's another few years?
To no one's surprise, the Clark County Commissioners have approved plans from the owner of the Golden Nugget to build a "high-end" 43-story 2,420-room resort-casino at the southeast corner of the Strip and Harmon on six acres. A spokesperson for owner Tilman Fertitta said that the project will be developed "over the next two years."
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will headline six shows at Caesars, his long-time casino venue of choice; it will be the first time he'll appear at the Colosseum since 2019. The shows will take place on April 14 and 15, June 9 and 10, and July 28 and 29. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday at 10 a.m.
The Arizona Cardinals are -2.5 favorites over the New Orleans Saints in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 44.
The annual Nevada Humanities book-signing-and-reading event to celebrate the publication of the Las Vegas Writes anthology that we produce every year will take place tonight at the main Clark County Library, 1401 East Flamingo Road (corner of Escondido), from 7 to 9 p.m. This year’s theme is Las Vegas and music, as expressed through the stories in the 13th volume of the anthology, Neon Riffs and Lounge Acts. Anthony Curtis will be on hand representing Huntington Press and several of the writers will read and sign copies of the book, which will be discounted to just $10 for this event. This is the third book that HP has published that deals directly with the Las Vegas music and entertainment scene, along with Cult Vegas and Rock Vegas.
This week's LVA YouTube update starts off with the Global Gaming Expo in town last week with more than 26,000 attendees and presenting the state of the art of the gaming industry. Andrew was there and saw a plethora of stadium games, a.k.a. electronic gaming machines. Find out why Anthony no longer attends the convention, preferring to hit a few of the endless parties (it is Vegas, baby, after all) where, he says, "Business gets done." The guys also discuss the MGM Grand buffet closing until November 14 and Anthony lists the open buffets from lowest to highest price; big news about the HOV lanes on I-15 opening up (late at night); the whacky status of the Circa Survivor football contest; a Jean Scott party at the LVA office; and an $8,000 royal jackpot hit by one of the Las Vegas Advisor's oldest members (in both age and subscribership). This week: It's a party-arty-arty-arty-ahhh (with apologies to Busta Rhymes).
The 10-member classic-rock band Chicago will play the Venetian Theater again on February 24 and 25 and March 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, and 11. It's the sixth year in a row the band has performed a mini-residency at the Venetian. Tickets will start at $50 on go on sale next Monday.
In this morning's column, Las Vegas Review-Journal entertainment reporter John Katsilometes marked three milestones in Las Vegas show biz. Fantasy, the R-rated revue at Luxor, celebrated its 23rd anniversary last week with the release of its annual calendar. Kats writes that Fantasy has operated under a one-year "rollover" contract for the past 22 years and all the signs point to more. Over at Bellagio, O hit 24 years last Saturday, of which Cirque made little ado. Also on Saturday, Drai's After Hours, the basement nightclub at the Cromwell, partied on its big 25th anniversary. Kats noted, "Drai’s was the original nightclub set inside a casino, beneath the then-Barbary Coast," and called the late-night hang "an institution."
Friday night's Mega Millions jackpot of $502 million will be split by a San Jose, California, lottery player and one in Hurricane Ian-ravaged Fort Myers, Florida. This Mega Millions jackpot is unusual for a number of reasons. It's the 11th largest in Mega Millions history; it's the first time since 2017 that more than one winner in different states will share the jackpot; it's the sixth Mega Millions jackpot the year; the San Jose 7-Eleven that sold the California ticket will receive a $1 million bonus; and if the Florida winner suffered any degree of the devastation wrought by the recent hurricane, it's an astounding twist of fate. The lump-sum option is $252 million, so each winner will walk away with $126 million before taxes.
In an interview with PlanetF1.com, Formula 1's chief commercial officer said that the cost of tickets to see the Las Vegas Grand Prix, scheduled for November 2023, will be fixed; they won't rise no matter what the demand. Formula 1 is addressing a ticket issue that arose earlier this year with the British Grand Prix: The company had to suspend ticket sales after an uproar over dynamic pricing, when fans attempting to purchase tickets online had to wait for hours, during which time ticket prices doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled in price. What happens to the ticket prices beyond the initial sales -- on resale sites and as part of hotel packages -- is beyond F1's control, but the face value of Vegas race tickets will remain the same throughout the selling process, which will be announced at the official launch party for the race on November 5 in Las Vegas.
After yesterday’s rain-out, the line for today’s deciding Game 5 of the American League Divisional Playoffs is New York Yankees -175 over the Cleveland Guardians. The total is 6.5.
Jean Scott, dubbed the “Queen of Comps” and author of several books in the Frugal Gambler series, will host a meet-and-greet today from 2 to 4 p.m. at Huntington Press, 3665 Procyon Street, Las Vegas. You can also meet Jean's granddaughter Kaitlynn, who just finished hiking the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. She and Jean are in town celebrating Kaitlynn's epic journey on the longest hikers-only trail in the world. Come by and hang for a while.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority president and CEO told the Las Vegas Review-Journal yesterday, “I think it’s still a possibility. We're working to try and make that happen,” referring to the Boring Company's plan to have the Las Vegas Loop "operational" by February 11, 2024, when the Super Bowl is played at Allegiant Stadium. Upon completion, the Loop will cover upwards of 35 miles with 55 stations, from downtown to a number of Strip properties, Allegiant Stadium, the airport, and UNLV. Boring intends to start work on the main Loop sometime next year, with 5-10 stations opening within six months and 15-20 stations added each year until the Loop is done. With a $500 million impact predicted from the Big Game, “No event has the spotlight on it like the Super Bowl," Hill said. "No event will bring more attention to Las Vegas. It's our biggest opportunity to show what we can do."
Stand-up comedian and movie star Kevin Hart will follow up two appearances on November 18 and 19 at Resorts World Theater by headlining shows there on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The November shows of "Reality Check" will be taped for a new comedy special and will be "a phone-free experience." Tickets are on sale now for those shows, starting at $89; tickets for the "Reality Check: New Year's Eve Experience" go on sale on Friday.
The Los Angeles Chargers are -4.5 favorites over the Denver Broncos in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 45.
In today’s deciding Game 5 of the American League Divisional Playoffs, the New York Yankees are -150 favorites over the Cleveland Guardians. The total is 7.5.
High temperatures throughout the week will be upwards of 10 degrees higher than normal. Historically, the high temperatures in southern Nevada are around 80 degrees at this time of the month, dropping to 74 next week. But the thermometer is expected to hit 89 tomorrow and Wednesday, going down gradually to 86 on Saturday. A big drop on Sunday will see temps return to normal in the mid-70s for the rest of the month. The record high for October was 103 set in 1978, but that was on the first of the month1; it hit 100 in 1980 and 1947, on the second and fourth, respectively.
The East-West Shrine Bowl, the nation’s oldest college football all-star game, will be played for the second year in a row at Allegiant Stadium, on Sunday February 2. The game, an invitational that features the best senior collegiate-football all-stars in the country, is considered a fast track to the NFL; more than 100 players from last year’s game signed with professional teams this spring and more than 70 made final NFL rosters last season. On average, 300-plus East-West Shrine Bowl alumni play in the NFL rosters each year. The game began in 1925 to benefit Shriner's Hospitals for Children and will be played for the 98th time in 2023. Tickets for the Shriner's Bowl will go on sale to the public Thursday at 10 a.m.
The Philadelphia Eagles are -7 favorites over the Dallas Cowboys in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 43.
A multinational brewery and pub chain founded in 2007 and based in Ellon, Scotland, that claims to be the number-one craft brewer in Europe has announced plans to open what it also claims will be the largest brewpub on the Las Vegas Strip. BrewDog will open on Friday December 2 on the third and fourth floors of the Showcase Mall on the south Strip. A 30,000-square-foot rooftop bar will have 360-degree views of the Strip, according to the press release (though presumably, 180 of them will be of the back side). BrewDog Pub will have 96 beers on tap; the 10-barrel brewhouse on the premises will produce "exclusive small-batch" beer. Food offerings will include lobster, steaks, Wagyu beer burgers, and Scottish "favorites," such as haggis and the "infamous" deep-fried Mars bars.There will also be a "retro game zone" in what BrewDog is calling "one of our most epic creations." The company has 113 locations worldwide with a few in the U.S.
The Las Vegas Pizza Festival is back for the first time since 2019. It will take place on Saturday November 12 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Industrial Event Space on Industrial Road a few blocks north of West Sahara Avenue. The festival "gathers some of Las Vegas’ finest pizza innovators, establishing the city as a destination for pizza lovers through creative applications of America’s favorite food." A couple of dozen pizza makers will be serving their slices, including the biggies: Good Pie, Pizza Rock, Metro, Esther's Kitchen, Evel Pie, Pizza Cake, Settebello, and Superfrico. Tickets start at $75, which includes AYCE pizza (beverages extra); VIP tix at $125 include early access at noon and complimentary beer, wine, and other culinary samples. Buy them at vegaspizzafest.com.
ARCADE has opened at Bally's next to the food court in the space on the lower level previously occupied by the race and sports book. The 7,000-square-foot room has 80 games, including such classics as Skee-Ball, air hockey, and a claw machine that grabs prizes. You don't need quarters; all the machines are cashless, fed by an e-card, which is also used to redeem points for prizes at the redemption center. In more news about the transformation of Bally's into the Horseshoe, work continues to remove Bally's signs outside the property. The rebranding is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The ever-alert VitalVegas caught yesterday evening's Instagram announcement that Criss Angel's show at Paris, Amystika, will close tomorrow night. Tickets purchased for shows after that will be refunded by the point of purchase. This was a strange one from the start for a lot of reasons about which we won't elaborate, but suffice it to say Criss Angel wasn't in the show; he performs next door at Planet Hollywood in Mindfreak. Believing it wouldn't last too long, we decided against reviewing it, so we didn't see it, though the announcement indicates that the show will "tour internationally." Buena suerte.
The Cosmopolitan’s rooftop ice rink will open on Tuesday Nov. 15 and close on Monday Jan. 2. It's the 11th season for the popular ice-skating attraction, with 4,200 square feet of ice over the pool, firepits for roasting s'mores, bar bites, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Best of all, it's free to enter and you don't have to skate, so you can hang out on the Boulevard Pool's fourth-floor level, check out the skaters, and drink and watch whatever games are on the TVs at the bar, all in the great outtadoors. The hours will be 4-11 p.m. weekdays and noon-11 p.m weekends until Dec. 18, then noon-11 till the end.
You'd think that a $1 billion investment in a Las Vegas megaresort would make more of a splash, but this is a story that we've seen only on TravelAndLeisure.com as of this morning. In an "exclusive" interview, the new CEO of the Venetian, owned now by Apollo Funds, told Travel and Leisure that the "north of $1 billion" the company intends to invest in the Venetian/Palazzo will "touch every area of the guest experience." The plan includes renovating and remodeling all the the suites; introducing a number of new dining and nightlife concepts; redesigning the casino floor; renovating the Palazzo pool; and ramping up the entertainment offerings from the old owners' 100 shows per year to upwards of 1,000. But Apollo has no plans to change the Italian theme.
A special all-Elvis Legends in Concert will launch at the Tropicana on November 4 and run through the end of the year. The Las Vegas Review-Journal's John Katsilometes reports this morning that it's the first time in Legends' nearly 40-year history that one of its shows has ever focused on Elvis alone, or a single artist for that matter. The show, which replaces “Legendary Divas” closing on October 31 after a nine-month run, could be extended if it's popular; it will definitely play the various Legends venues around the country and possibly internationally, as will "Legendary Divas." “Back in the Building” will go on at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays at the Trop's Legends In Concert Theater; tickets start at $59.99.
A new poll published earlier this week shows that for the first time in the contentious sports betting referendum in California, one of the propositions has a chance of passing. Proposition 26, backed by most (though not all) tribes in the state, would allow only in-person sports betting at casino and racetrack sports books (plus expand tribal-casino table games), while Proposition 27, sponsored by the big casino and online sports-betting companies, would allow remote betting anywhere in the state. The new survey found that 43% of respondents support Prop 26, with 37% in favor of Prop 27. That result contrasts with a poll from late last month in which only 31% supported 26 and 27% supported 27. Still, 41% of respondents believe sports betting is bad for the state, compared to 37% who say it's good. Either way, this is the most expensive referendum ever contested in California; backers of the opposing bills have spent nearly a half-billion dollars in the run-up to the election next month.
The King Tut immersive exhibit opened at Luxor yesterday. The hotel-casino pyramid is obviously the only place in Las Vegas appropriate for an Egyptian digital museum. But LVA correspondent extraordinaire Canada Roy sent a link to a story about how, in the context of modern themed Las Vegas, which was built almost exclusively on the "experience economy" -- according to one definition: escapism, fantasy, aspiration, and a sense of discovery -- Luxor Hotel-Casino is the most instructive example of "the failure of strategic thinking and poor decision-making." It's worth the five-minute read to be reminded of the early days of Luxor, which the writer calls "the most ambitious experiential property in the world"; it takes a deep dive into how "the Luxor gamble did not pay off\," at least initially. "But with a wider lens, in terms of popularity and non-gaming visitation, it was transformative."
KGO, which has broadcast news and talk shows from AM 810 on the Bay Area radio dial since 1962, abruptly changed formats last week. In the middle of a popular talk show, the host was told to give a "final station identification" and leave the studio. That was followed by three days of songs and promotional announcements about gambling, winning, and money, such as Pink Floyd’s “Money” and Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” then the new sports and sports betting format launched Monday morning: "810 The Spread, with the slogan “The Bay’s Best Bet on Sports.” There's no local programming, which is supplied primarily by the BetQL and CBS Sports Radio networks. Given that KGO was rated the number-one radio station in the Bay Area by Arbitron from 1978 to 2009, a string unmatched by any other station in the United States, the radical shift in programming is proving distinctly unpopular, at least so far.
The Washington Commanders are -1 favorites over the Chicago Bears in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 38.
Just a heads up that the MGM Grand Buffet is currently closed while it undergoes renovations. According to their website it will reopen November 14th.
South Point is kicking off its South Point 400 race weekend with a visit by the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales. The event is free and will start at 6 p.m. tonight. Fans will be able to take photos with the Clydesdales and those 21+ can enjoy free beer on draft provided by Budweiser. The South Point 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
MGM Resorts has announced a $100 million redesign of the Mandalay Bay’s Convention Center. The existing tropical theme will be retained, but the infrastructure, technology, and digital signage will all be upgraded. Eleven "digital walls," each 24 feet wide and 13 feet high, will advertise exhibitors, highlight sponsors, promote events, and deliver targeted messaging, while 20 double-sided mobile displays will increase the convention center's signage capacity. For security purposes, all the meeting rooms will feature RFID locks and upwards of 225 surveillance cameras will be deployed throughout the 2.1 million-square-foot Convention Center, sixth largest in the U.S. Lighting will be enhanced, several "seating nooks" will be installed, the entire center will be repainted, and new works from minority artists will be displayed. The remodel is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
A big story today's Wall Street Journal follows the reporter as she checked out the pay-to-view seats in Las Vegas' major sports books for last Sunday's football games. The most expensive seat she found was at Circa, where a reserved poolside box required a minimum of $1,000 spent on food and drink. A seat in the VIP area at Caesars with unlimited drinks was $550 and a "tiny high-top table for four" at the Cosmopolitan cost $400 for college football on Saturday and $600 for the NFL on Sunday.
One of the most intense rivalries in North American sports will take place when the United States and Canadian national women's hockey teams meet at the Dollar Loan Center arena in Henderson on December 15. The game is part of the two teams' Rivalry Series, the fourth stop on the 2022-2023 tour. One of the two teams has won every gold medal in the history of the International Ice Hockey Federation Championship and the Olympics; they've played each other in 21 of 22 IIHF Championship games and six of seven Olympic gold games. This is the fifth season of the Rivalry Series. Tickets are on sale now, starting at $31 and topping out at $81.
The Hill.com reports that Las Vegas is unlucky number seven on the list of U.S. cities experiencing the biggest drop in the median price of a single-family home in the third quarter (July-September) 2022; the median price here is down 7.9% since the end of June. Austin (Texas) ranked first, the only one in double-digits (-10.3%), followed by Phoenix (-9.9), Palm Bay (FL, -8.9%), Charleston (SC, -8.6), Odgen (UT, -8.6), and Denver (-8.0). Of course, these numbers are tempered by the significant rise in the median price over the last couple of years; in Vegas, it increased more than 30%. On the other hand, with interest rates rising fast, prices are expected to fall much further before the housing market stabilizes, especially in southern Nevada. The pendulum swings.
The LA Dodgers in the NL and the Houston Astros in the AL are the favorites to win baseball’s World Series with eight teams remaining. The Dodgers are +275, followed by the Astros +350, Atlanta Braves +450, and NY Yankees +500.
The annual Global Gaming Expo, the largest gambling-industry tradeshow in the U.S., is now taking place at the Venetian Expo Center. The show was canceled in 2020, then returned at about half-strength in 2021, with roughly 13,000 attendees and none from abroad. It's estimated so far that this year's show will more than double last year's attendance, approaching 30,000, with a large contingent of international attendees. IGT boasts the largest booth on the floor, while more than 350 other gaming suppliers and service companies have a presence in the exhibit hall. And more than 100 educational sessions, discussion panels, and keynote speakers are featured. To get a flavor of the show, you can go to CDCGaming.com; in the upper-right-hand corner of the home page are the "From the Floor" articles posted by five CDC business writers in attendance.
A visitor from Hawaii who usually stays and plays at the California downtown switched to the Fremont this trip, where she fired up a $5 Buffalo Inferno machine last Friday with a $15 bet and lined up the three Inferno 3X symbols to take down the progressive jackpot of $717,738. It's a little below our usual seven-figure reporting threshold, but hitting the jackpot on her first spin got our attention and makes the News. Also, it seems she had an intuition about switching from the Cal to the Fremont; she goes home to Hawaii about $550,000 richer (after withholding taxes). And a slot player at the Venetian, also playing a $5 machine, this one a Dancing Drums Explosion, got really lucky and hit the progressive for $2,835,768, when he/she matched three explosion symbols on the Fu Babies bonus bet.
The Nevada Department of Transportation announced yesterday that it's ending the 24-hour enforcement of the minimum number of occupants (two) in vehicles using the high-occupancy-vehicle lanes on I-15 through central Las Vegas as of Monday October 24. The celebration, however, is a bit muted, since the hours open to single-occupant vehicles are only between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. daily. The NDOT's determination was based on a study that found traffic volumes ballooning around 5 a.m. every day and remaining inflated until 8-10 p.m. The NDOT will study the new hours for 18 months, then decide whether to maintain the hours, return to 24/7, or open up the lanes for more time.
The Kansas City Chiefs are -7 favorites over the Las Vegas Raiders in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 51.5.
The classic-rock band Foreigner will return to Las Vegas for the first time since the pandemic started in March and April. Foreigner was one of the most successful bands in the late '70s and '80s, with 16 Top 30 hits, including “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “Urgent,” “Long Long Way From Home,” and our favorite, the number-one hit, “I Want To Know What Love Is.” These days, no members from the original band remain, but the current lineup is sure to cover all the top tunes when they appear at the Venetian Theater on March 24, 25, 29, and 31 and April 1, 5, 7, and 8. Tickets start at $45 go on sale to the general public this Friday at 10 a.m. PT.
In 1997, Tiger Woods won his second PGA Tour event before turning 21 and yesterday, 20-year-old South Korean Joohyung "Tom" Kim matched that mark by winning Shriner's Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. Kim shot par or under (not a single bogey) throughout the tournament and finished 24-under to win the second of his four PGA events; he also placed first at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, in August to earn a full-time tour card. Kim turned 20 last June; his first win in Greensboro made him the second-youngest winner on the PGA Tour since 1931; Jordan Spieth won the 2013 John Deere Classic at age 19.
Penn Entertainment, owner of M Resort in Henderson, has announced the addition of a second hotel tower that will bring another 384 rooms to the current 390, for a total of 774 when completed. The $206 million expansion will also include new meeting space and amenities and "additional local partnerships that will be announced at a later date," according to the news release. (The M is the "official team headquarters hotel" of the Las Vegas Raiders and Vegas Knight Hawks, of the Indoor Football League. It's also a partner with the Henderson Silver Knights, the minor league affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights.) The announcement didn't cite a timeline for the expansion.
The Baltimore Ravens are -3 favorites over the Cincinnati Bengals tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 48.
The Sahara is celebrating its 70th anniversary this weekend; it opened on October 7, 1952, having taken over the location of the five-year-old Club Bingo and debuting with 240 rooms at a cost of $5.5 million. It was the fifth casino on the nascent Strip, joining the El Rancho Vegas, directly across Highway 91, which was slowly coming to be known as the Las Vegas Strip, the Last Frontier, Desert Inn, and Sands. The theme, like that of the DI and Sands, was emblematic of the southern Nevada ecology, but it evoked the North African desert instead, with its name, big plaster camels fronting the building, and inside, statues of characters straight out of Arabian Nights, the Caravan coffee shop, and the Casbar Theater. Its sign was 100 feet tall and the swimming pool was Olympic-size. Of course, the Sahara has been through numerous owners and changes in its 70 years, but that's a much longer story better suited for Question of the Day. For News purposes, we'd just like to wish the joint a Happy Birthday, with many more to come.
The St. Regis Bermuda Resort, at the far northeastern tip of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda in the North Atlantic (roughly 900 miles north of the Bahamas in the Caribbean and 600 miles east of the coast of North Carolina), has been granted the island's first casino license. But the regulatory cogs and gears have to crank and grind for a while longer before residents and visitors can push spin buttons and double down on 11. Originally anticipated to launch in 2021, then in June 2022, the St. Regis' license allows it "to address necessary steps to comply with all the legislative requirements to open the casino." That's the second step in the process; once it passes regulatory muster, the hotel can then begin to recruit and train employees and install gaming equipment and systems. The Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, roughly at the other end of the country, has also applied for a gaming license.
The doors will open at noon on Sunday February 12 for the Plaza's Super Bowl party. Early-bird tickets are now being sold on the Plaza's website for $125, which includes a buffet (from 2:30 to the end of halftime) and buckets of beer (2:30 to the end of the third quarter). The early-bird price is good until 11/29, when it looks like admission will go up to $200.
The LVA Weekly Update YouTube is up and running, with lots of details about the First Friday Arts Festival, which celebrated its 20th anniversary yesterday, the major new development just announced for the south Strip, the abrupt closure of Light Nightclub at Mandalay Bay (is the Vegas nightclub scene sputtering?), and the Blackjack Ball, including the induction of the first woman in the Blackjack Ball (unfortunately, posthumously). Also, you'll see what happens when four aces are dealt on Ultimate X. That alone is worth the entire 15-minute price of admission. Click and groove to the smooth moves of Anthony and Andrew.
The tenth and final World Poker Tour main tour event of the season will take place at the Wynn beginning at 11 a.m. on Dec. 12 and continuing through the 14th, with the champion decided at the final table on Dec. 20. The 2022 WPT World Championship will require a $10,400 buy-in and pay out a $15 million guaranteed prize pool, which the WPT claims is the largest in live-tournament poker history. There will be three starting flights. And the final table for the World Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas will be televised. This year, the WPT has held seven main events contested by 8,500 players vying for $30 million prizes.
As part of the plan of the Uncommons retail, dining, and lifestyle center on S. Durango just south of the 215 Beltway to open Las Vegas's first non-Strip food hall next year, Salt & Straw will debut its first ice cream shop in Nevada. The brand, known to Disneyland and Disney World visitors, along with ice cream lovers in southern and northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Miami, features the traditional mint chocolate chip, sea salt and caramel, chocolate brownie, and double-fold vanilla, along with such unusual flavors as cinnamon snickerdoodle, marionberry coconut, and strawberry honey balsamic and seasonal specialties like this Halloween's Ice Scream series, with flavors such as Black Cat Licorice, Double Bubble Toil and Trouble, and Don Bugito's Creepy Crawly. The shop will open in "early 2023."
To help celebrate the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Studios, Disney Animation: Immersive Experience the exhibit will allow show-goers to be immersed in the art and music of scores of Disney films. The show will present scenes and sound from the earliest groundbreaking features to today's hit movies. Disney has teamed up with Lighthouse Immersive, the creative team behind Immersive Van Gogh (reviewed in this issue of the Las Vegas Advisor) to produce Disney Animation, which will debut in December in Toronto, then travel to the U.S. where it will be shown in nine cities, starting in Cleveland, then traveling to Las Vegas, where it will be shown in the space currently occupied by Immersive Van Gogh on the third floor of the Shops at Crystals. We'll keep you posted about when it will make it here.
Circa is accepting reservations for spaces at Circa Swim during Super Bowl 2023. Standing room on the deck is going for $150 and on the Club Level is $200 per person. Outer daybeds require a $2,500 minimum food and beverage spend (up to six guests); prices rise from there for Outer Executive Booths ($4,000 minimum/8 guests) and Inner Executive Booths ($5,500/8), Outer Lower ($8,000/12) and Inner ($12,000/12) cabanas. Deposits of $1,000-$2,000 are required as well. Reservations can be made on the Circa website.
A set of lottery numbers drawn earlier this week in the Philippines has prompted calls for a probe. When the numbers 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, and 54, all multiples of 9 drawn in a row, came up in the government-owned Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Grand Lotto drawing, the US$4 million jackpot was split by 433 winners, the most ever to win the Grand Lotto. Each won roughly $9,000. The Lottery defended the result, insisting that Filipinos tend to bet on number sequences and that the drawing was no less legitimate than every other. But politicians and pundits suggested seeking the opinions of statisticians and mathematicians regarding the results of this and other PCSO draws, if only to rule out the possibility that it was manipulated in some way.
The Denver Broncos are -3 favorites over the Indianapolis Colts in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 42.
Light Nightclub at Mandalay Bay informed its employees yesterday that the venue was closing its doors, then the doors were immediately locked. Light had been open only since February, remaining shuttered for nearly two years after the pandemic shutdown. Clique Hospitality, operator of the venue that opened in 2013 and replaced Rum Jungle, says it will "reassign employees at the company's 10 other Las Vegas destinations," which include Clique Lounge and the Barbershop at Cosmopolitan, Gatsby’s Cocktail Lounge at Resorts World, and the Still at the Mirage, as well as MBay's Daylight Beach Club, which will close for the season a week from Sunday and, according to Clique, reopen in the spring.
A new commentary by long-time casino-marketing executive (and friend of LVA) Dennis Conrad enumerates and elucidates the "Top 10 Things Casino Customers Hate." Yes, it's written by a casino guy for casino guys, but we consumers will recognize all 10 of them and they're worth perusing to get the perspective of someone who catered to casino customers for decades, often swimming against the tide in getting his bosses and companies to appreciate, in tangible ways, the people who kept them in business. Here's the link.
Tilman Fertitta, who owns the Golden Nugget and a slew of restaurants, hotels, and the Houston Rockets, has submitted a proposal to Clark County to develop six acres he purchased at the southeast corner of the Strip and Harmon Avenue earlier this year for $270 million ($43 per acre). The plans include a 43-story 2,420-room hotel-casino, with the usual suites and villas, restaurants, showroom, convention space, spa, and wedding chapel, but also an auto showroom. The 60-year-old Travelodge on the property was closed almost immediately following Fertitta's acquisition of the property; the Tex-Mex restaurant and retail, including several souvenir shops, remain open for the time being. No schedule or budget was revealed; the Clark County Commission will discuss the plans at its next meeting mid-month.
The big news hereabouts today is the announcement of the premiere of the new show at the Wynn, Awakening, on November 7. The Wynn's theater has been redesigned for the show to the tune of $75 million; the 360-degree theater in the round with an 80-foot ceiling now has 1,600 seats, none more than 75 feet from the round 60-foot-diameter nautilus-shaped stage that's made of prismatic glass and LED screens with eight individual sections that can be raised, lowered, and rotated. Also, it's now called the Awakening Theater. As for the show, it is, according to the producers, "the most technologically advanced on the planet," though it's also "hard to explain," consisting of a scripted love story in which the heroine works to reunite two lost lovers via music, dance, illusions, even large puppets, and features 300 costumes, all on the moving stage and an immersive environment. The voice of Anthony Hopkins, the narrator, is projected through the theater's custom 3D sound system. The reportedly $120 million Awakening is what comes after Le Reve (The Dream), which ran at the Wynn for 15 years, but didn't reopen after the shutdown. The 75-minute show will play at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and tickets start at $125.
Eater Vegas reports that a first-of-its-kind-beyond-the-Strip 12-eatery food hall will open early next year. The hall, dubbed the "Sundry," will be located at the UnCommons shopping, dining, and lifestyle center on S. Durango just south of the 215 Beltway. The eateries will include a vegan-taco restaurant with an extensive list of tequilas and mezcal, a temaki bar specializing in open-style sushi hand rolls, and places serving California-style Italian, Indian, fried chicken, oysters, Greek, Filipino, sandwiches, ice cream, coffee, and donuts. Of particular note is the second location of SoulBelly, the most popular and some say best barbecue restaurant in Las Vegas. Eater adds, "The Sundry joins a growing lineup of restaurants at the UnCommons, including Nicole Brisson’s Italian restaurant Amari, a new location of the Wynn’s Urth Caffe, the Mexican steakhouse J. Blanco, and the San Francisco-based Kaiyo," a Peruvian-Japanese restaurant just announced to open next year around this time.
The developer of the boutique English Hotel, which opened earlier this year in the downtown Arts District, has announced another project. The six-story building will be located at the corner of Main Street and Hoover Avenue, a half-block north of the English, and will consist of 108 residences, 72 residence-hotel units, a restaurant, gym, and laundry. Unlike the super-upscale English, this new (unnamed) lodging will incorporate a high-end hostel style, with private (one-bed) and shared (two-bed) rooms, all with small kitchenettes. The residences, though undescribed, will also be affordable, which probably means downsized living spaces. The city approved the project a few weeks ago and ground is expected to be broken in the first quarter of 2023.
Today is National Taco Day and whatever you think about national food and beverage days (keeping in mind that upcoming days include National Gumbo Day on October 12, National Chocolate Cupcake Day on October 18, National Nachos Day on November 6, and National Cappuccino Day on November 8), the online review sites tend to take them seriously. Yelp, for example, has listed the U.S.' 100 best taco spots based on the ratings and recommendations on the site and Las Vegas has one in the top ten: Bajamar Seafood & Tacos at number eight. The other Vegas taco joints are Chicali Tacos at number 23, SoyMexican Vegan Eatery at 34, and Tacotarian 52, with Sabrina's West Street Kitchen in Reno at 58. Meanwhile, Trip Advisor's "Best of the Best Restaurants for 2022" ranked Tacos El Gordo, perhaps the most popular taco stand in Vegas, at number 12 on the "Quick Bite" list.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is a non-profit charity founded in 1951 to reduce suffering inflicted on animals by humans and is one of the oldest animal-welfare organizations in the U.S. Granted, Dr. Naomi Rose, the marine mammal scientist for the AWI, has a strong bias, but her arguments about the dolphin deaths at the Mirage ring the common-sense bell for us. She writes, "For the second time in less than five years, a U.S. marine park in the desert is facing a string of dolphin deaths. First, it was Dolphinaris Arizona, which shuttered in 2019 after half of its eight dolphins died. Now, Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Hotel & Casino is grappling with its third dolphin death in less than six months — K2, who was only 11 years old. Bottlenose dolphins typically live 20 to 30 years; some can even live to 65. The Mirage has displayed dolphins for just over 30 years; frankly, most of its dolphins should still be alive. Yet 16 of the Mirage’s total 23 dolphins (70%) have died, many well before achieving 20 years of age." She goes on to explain, "The desert environment -- UV radiation, the dry desert air, and the blazing sun -- is as foreign to these marine mammals as the surface of the moon." Dr. Rose concludes, "The Dolphin Habitat’s seven surviving individuals deserve a better future than turning more flips in inhospitable conditions. The Mirage's new owner, Hard Rock International, could be the hero of the hour by realistically and constructively considering humane options for the remaining Duchess, Huf-n-Puf, Osborne, Sofi, Coco, Karli, and Lady Aces, while it plans a major refurbishment of the hotel and its grounds. The company is removing the Mirage’s iconic volcano display, which has been entertaining Vegas Strip visitors for decades; it should make a similar decision for the Secret Garden."
Today is National Golf Lovers Day (and no, it's not a bank holiday). LawnStarter.com compared the biggest U.S. cities for golf-friendliness, comparing 22 key indicators, such as weather, number of golf courses (public and private), quality of courses, and access to lessons and equipment. Las Vegas ranked number four overall, with a total score of 37.8, behind Scottsdale (59.7), Orlando (45), and Cincinnati (42.8).
Las Vegas placed 10th for course quality, 15th for both public and private course access, 40th for climate, and 58th for access to lessons. At the bottom of the list were Pasadena (TX) at an overall score of 5.7, Bridgeport (CT) 7.1, and Warren (MI) 7.2.
Ken Adams, long-time casino manager and industry observer, writes in his current commentary, "College and pro football is as close to a sacred cow as we have in this country. The Super Bowl is watched by more than one-third of American households. And now an entirely new industry, sports betting, and its co-pilot sports media, are making football more than the national pastime. It has become closer to the national religion." Adams notes that the NFL turning the annual Pro Bowl into a game of non-contact flag football is an attempt to protect players, especially from brain injuries. But he argues that it's a feeble start, especially compared to the comprehensive efforts of the Australian National Rugby League to inculcate players from a young age about the dangers of the sport. Adams concludes that the explosion of sports betting, particularly on football, will "make addressing the risks inherent in the game very difficult." You can read the full commentary here.
The San Francisco 49ers are -1.5 favorites over the Los Angeles Rams in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 42.
Canada's six-month-old ultra-low-cost-carrier Lynx Air has announced its first U.S. routes: Calgary to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix (and Toronto to Orlando). The flights to and from Reid International will begin on February 24 and operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, departing Calgary at 8 a.m. and arriving 10:10; in the other direction are departures at 11:20 a.m. and arrivals 3:17 p.m. One-way fares, for now, are US$95 (CDN$129).
We have reports that all the slot machines at the Four Queens downtown have been offline for at least 24 hours. This happened two and a half years ago, in March 2020, when the slots, along with the players club, credit-card processing, hotel reservations, ATMs, and websites at the Four Queens and Binion's, both owned by TLC Enterprises, were out of action for nearly a week. TLC never explained the interruption, nor did Gaming Control reveal the cause or causes, but they were widely believed to be a result of a cyberattack. According to experts speaking at TribalNet, the annual conference for tribal technology and cyber security that took place in Reno a few weeks ago, hackers penetrate casino systems and steal valuable data, which they sell on the dark web; this can take place undetected for months (and perhaps in this case, years). Then the cyber thieves "cover their tracks and extort casinos by shutting down the victim's computer system and demanding a ransom to provide the security key." A number of tribal casinos have faced such attacks in recent years and we might never know if the Four Queens (and Binion's) were also affected by them. But both the event in 2020 and this latest one have all the hallmarks of one.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are -2 favorites over the Kansas City Chiefs in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 47.
In Caesar Entertainment's second-quarter earnings call on August 2, CEO Tom Reeg commented that according to the "timeline laid out in the VICI documents that govern this [referring to a sale of one of CZR's Strip properties, widely assumed to be the Flamingo]," the deadline is by the end of the summer." Because VICI Properties has right of first refusal on buying the Flamingo, summer has been over for a couple of weeks, the $1 billion price tag for the 76-year-old hotel-casino, which has been neglected of late, was questioned as too high, and the financing for real estate continues to tighten up, it could be that Caesars has taken its property off the market. In the same earnings call, Reeg noted that the company no longer needed to sell an asset. It did when its intention to sell a Strip resort was announced shortly after Eldorado merged with Caesars and took on nearly $16 billion in debt with a raging pandemic decimating the casino business. But the recovery has been so strong that Caesars has been paying down its debt from cash flow, so selling the Flamingo is not so crucial. We'll perhaps know more after the next earnings call, which should happen by early next month.
Las Vegas welcomed slightly less than 3.2 million visitors in August, down from 3.5 million in July. For the first eight months of the year, more than 25 million people have shown up here, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. On the current pace, which most analysts and observers believe will continue through the end of the year, Las Vegas will surpass the total of 32 million visitors (by about 5.5 million) who came last year. But it will still fall short (by roughly 11%) of the record 42.2 million in 2019.
Gas prices are heading up and it looks like the sky's the limit, at least temporarily. The average price of a gallon of regular statewide hit $5.34 yesterday, 50 cents higher than a month ago. Nevada reclaims the dubious distinction of having the second highest average price nationwide, behind -- you guessed it -- California, where the average is $6.20 per gallon. The average price nationwide is $3.83 and the lowest price is in Mississippi at $3.08. Supplies are down due to Hurricane Ian, a number of oil refineries from California to Washington shutting down for maintenance that's scheduled every three to five years, and OPEC cutting production, while demand is still up from the summer. Prices in the western U.S. are highest and expected to continue to rise for another month, then slowly return to Earth.
The 71-year-old John Mellencamp has announced an ambitious tour in which he'll perform 76 times in 139 nights between Feb. 5 and June 24. Right in the middle of it, on March 24 and 25, the classic rocker will appear at at Encore Theater for his "Live and In Person" show. It ticket prices have been revealed, we couldn't find them; the presale starts on Monday at 10 a.m. PT, while general-public sales start next Friday at 10.
The month of October presents a nearly perfect weather picture after the summer snapshot that drips with sweat. Normal high temperatures range between 87 on the first of the month and 74 on the last, normal lows between 65 and 53. The record highs for the month have come in the first few days over the years: 103 on Oct. 1 in 1978 and 100 on Oct. 2 and 4 in 1980 and 1947, respectively. It can get pretty cold at night (perfect sleeping weather with the windows open and the air-conditioner finally shut off); the record lows range from 44 (Oct. 3, 1950) down to 26 (Oct. 30, 1971). In general, Vegas sees no precipitation in October, with clear sunny skies all the livelong month.