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Las Vegas’ second Randy’s Donuts has opened at Resorts World. It operates 24/7 out of a window in the restaurant Suns Out Buns Out. The first location of the iconic southern California donut shop opened in August at 2170 S. Rainbow Boulevard a block north of West Sahara. These are the first two of what will be an eventual seven in the valley.
A nocturnal slot player sitting at a $1 Dragon Link machine at Caesars Palace at 4 a.m. Monday morning lined up the 15 gongs needed to win the progressive jackpot of $1,040,252. The player bet $25, enabling all 25 lines on the machine.
In December, the Strip broke its record for gaming revenue, taking in $814.1 million, a 2.6% increase over the previous record of $792.6 million, set in July 2021. It was also a major 25.1% increase over December 2021’s $650.6 million, when Las Vegas was starting to experience the effects of omicron on visitor volume. For calendar-year 2022, the Strip earned $8.2 billion, a 17.1% increase over the $7 billion in 2021. Downtown, revenue dropped 6.91% from December 2021's $73.8 million to $68.7 million. The record set on the Strip helped cushion the statewide record for revenue, which was broken in November 2022. Nevada casinos reported $14.8 billion in gaming revenue, topping the $13.4 billion in 2021, a 10.5% increase. Statewide, nearly 68% of the revenue was from slot machines.
FINN.com, an online company that leases electric and hybrid vehicles, analyzed the number of Instagram posts and TikTok views to rank the most picturesque stretches of road in the U.S. The Strip placed second, with a score of 3.2 million Instagram posts; Manhattan's Broadway, home to the country's theater district, came in first with 6.5 million posts. The entirety of Route 66 placed third, with two million. In TikTok views, Broadway also ranked first with nearly seven billion views, followed by Bourbon Street in New Orleans (175 million), Route 66 (172 million), and the Strip (47 million).
Interstate 15, closed since Friday between Russell and Flamingo roads, reopened this morning at 5 a.m. Tropicana Avenue between the Strip and Dean Martin Drive is now the center of traffic congestion, having been reduced to only two lanes in each direction; it will remain that way until fall. The ramps from the freeway to Tropicana from both northbound and southbound directions remain closed. But take heart: The entire project is scheduled to be completed in only two years!
The Philadelphia Eagles are -2.5 favorites over the Kansas City Chiefs. The first line we saw was pick 'em and Circa opened Chiefs -2.5, but the line was immediately bet up across the board. The total is 50.
In today's AFC Championship, the Kansas City Chiefs are -2 favorites over the Cincinnati Bengals. The total is 48.
In today's NFC Championship the Philadelphia Eagles are -2.5 favorites over the San Francisco 49ers. The total is 45.
We were hoping the Las Vegas Review-Journal photographers would be out snapping pix of the freeway, completely devoid of vehicles, this weekend and they didn't disappoint. You can see a couple of dozen frames of the closed interstate, major construction, traffic on the detours, and even a pedestrian strolling across the freeway here. Click on the thumbnails below the top banner to see them all.
The new Wildfire Casino at 2700 Fremont Street near the intersection with Charleston Boulevard will open at 12 noon on Friday February 10. The 21,000-square-foot slots-only locals casino, located on the site of the old Showboat/Castaways, will also have several electronic table games, plus a few dining options, including IHOP and Tacos El Pastor.
Novak Djokovic is a -625 favorite over Stefanos Tsitsipas in tomorrow's Australian Open men's tennis final. Djokovic is going for his 10th Australian Open championship and a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title, while Tsitsipas is seeking his first Grand Slam. The match starts early, at 3:30 am EST.
In this week's episode, you'll see a video clip of Anthony placing the first bet at Caesars new sports book at the Downtown Grand, plus a pro tip for handling sports-betting tickets. Find out why the Downtown Grand is a favorite of LVA's. Another favorite is Emerald Island in downtown Henderson, which Anthony visited for the $4.99 breakfast special (holding the line at under $5 despite egg prices rocketing sky high). Take Anthony's word for it; Emerald Island is a must-stop on any bargain Las Vegas itinerary. Anthony and Andrew also discuss further developments in the sports betting world here and the Jackpot of the Week is a slight departure; find out how a $5 parlay prop bet hit for nearly $73,000. The casinos' profits are through the roof, Mattress Mack is back at it, and a cool new book full of gambling stories is available -- all with a click on the red arrow.
The first Caesars Sportsbook location in downtown has opened at Downtown Grand. The small but comfortable space has a lounge atmosphere, with three betting windows, several self-service kiosks, an LED TV viewing wall, and multiple LED odds boards. Anthony Curtis (on behalf of Mattress Mack) was asked to place the first ceremonial bet; you can see a video clip of that at the beginning of LVA's weekly YouTube update.
UK-based sports-book company Betfred was approved yesterday by the Nevada Gaming Commission for a license to operate sports books in the state. The company opened its U.S. headquarters in Las Vegas in 2019 and applied for licensing to run the sports book at the Virgin (formerly Hard Rock), but the process was bogged down by the pandemic. The 1,300-square-foot book at Virgin will open in time for the Super Bowl, complete with seating for 100, a dozen 80-inch HDTVs, four ticket windows, and two self-serve kiosks, but no mobile wagering or race book yet. Mobile is expected to be ready in time for the 2023-2024 NFL season. Nevada is the 10th state where Betfred is licensed; launches are pending in seven other states.
Aryna Sabalenka is a -130 favorite over Elena Rybakina in tomorrow's Australian Open women's tennis final. Rybakina is seeking her second Grand Slam title and Sabalenka her first. The match starts early, at 3:30 am EST.
The annual James Beard Award semi-finalist nominations are out and Las Vegas has five in the Best Chef Southwest category (Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma). Two, Oscar Amador and Francesco Di Caudo, are from one restaurant, Anima by EDO (a Spanish-Italian place on W. Russell Road near 215); the others are Kaoru Azeuchi from Kaiseki Yuzu (Japanese, Chinatown), Yip Cheung from Red Plate (fine Chinese, Cosmopolitan), and Jimmy Li from ShangHai Taste (xiao long bao, sheng jian, and other Shanghainese foods, Chinatown). Finalists will be announced on March 29.
Following a significant restoration, the Neon Museum will re-light the Lido de Paris sign that stood for a long time at the Stardust. The 56-foot-long historic sign will be illuminated for the first time in 25 years on Thursday Feb. 2. During its tenure, the Lido de Paris dance revue and variety show logged 22,000 performances (1958-1991) and was seen by nearly 20 million people. It also helped launch Siegfried and Roy, who premiered their act in the Lido showroom in 1968. The Lido sign will be the 23rd restored and illuminated by the Neon Museum and will be on permanent display in the Boneyard near the iconic Stardust sign.
We've been warning about highly disruptive closures around the interchange at Tropicana and I-15 and they're here. Starting 10 p.m. tomorrow and running through 5 a.m. on Monday, both north- and southbound lanes of the Interstate 15 will close between Russell and Flamingo roads. That means all lanes in both directions. And forget about the detours, which will be jammed. Avoid this area at all costs if you can.
A Seattle law firm has filed a class-action antitrust lawsuit that alleges MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, Treasure Island, and Wynn "artificially inflate the prices of hotel rooms above competitive levels." The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, accuses the four hotel-casino operators of colluding through a revenue-management platform called Rainmaker to share room-rate information in such a way that “unlawfully maximizes profits." The complaint, which also includes Florida-based Cendyn Group, of which Rainmaker is a subsidiary, charges the defendants of pricing rooms "independently of demand," which allows them to sidestep market forces of competition and supply and demand. Could this be one of the reasons that room rates are setting records for all-time high prices at the same time that occupancy rates are well below what they were pre-pandemic?
Traffic will be unusually heavy downtown around the World Market Center starting Saturday. The Las Vegas Market winter show convenes at the 5.4-million-square-foot Center starting Sunday and running through Thursday Feb. 2 and potentially tens of thousands of attendees will be driving to and from the out-of-the-way venue every day between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., inlcuding Saturday for the move-in, plus 4-10 p.m. on Thursday for the move-out. If you can, avoid Charleston Blvd. off I-15, plus Grand Central Parkway and Symphony Park Avenue, during those times.
Thanks to the series of storms that dumped heavy snowfall across the Colorado Basin recently, the crucial snowpack is nearly 150% of average for this time of year. In addition, cooler-than-typical temperatures are slowing the melt, which bodes well for water in the summer. As such, projections for the runoff are currently at 117% of the Colorado River's 30-year average, nearly 40% higher than the 79% projected only last month. And water running into Lake Mead is now predicted to leave the surface level at 1,027 feet, seven feet higher than originally projected through 2023. Still, that's 19 feet lower than its current level and there's still a long way to go till the end of the snowpack season.
Details are emerging about the previously announced expansion of Area15. Occupying a total of 20 acres adjacent to the existing mall property, the expansion will comprise nearly 500,000 square feet of income-generating space, with the recently unveiled Universal horror attraction as the anchor tenant, taking up 110,000 of them in a standalone building. Leasable pieces will range from 1,000 to 60,000 square feet. Upwards of 90,000 square feet will be available for pop-ups and outdoor experiences, not including the Boeing 747 recently acquired by Area15. The jumbo jet, when reconstructed on the site, will be 150 feet long and 60 feet wide and attached to a building reminiscent of an airplane hangar. An onsite hotel has also been mentioned. Ground is expected to be broken by the middle of this summer, with construction taking about a year.
To celebrate National Blueberry Pancake Day on January 28, Hash House a Go Go will donate $1 from every twisted blueberry buttermilk flapjack sold this Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 28-29) to support Grant A Gift Autism Foundation – Ackerman Center, which provides comprehensive clinical services, resources, education, research, and advocacy for southern Nevada families striving to navigate an autism diagnosis. Hash House a Go Go is among the most popular breakfast restaurants in Las Vegas, with five locations, including one at the LINQ and another at the Plaza. Best of all, we have two LVA subscriber coupons for Hash House A Go Go: 25% off your bill at the three non-casino locations (6800 W. Sahara Ave., 10810 W. Charleston Blvd., and 555 N. Stephanie St.) in the Member Rewards Book and 15% off in our Member Rewards Online program.
Solo artist and long-time member of Fleetwood Mac will launch a 23-date U.S. tour on March 10 at SoFi Stadium, stopping in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena on March 18. The 74-year-old Nicks will co-headline with Billy Joel for eight of the concerts, but not in Vegas. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time at Live Nation.
F1's CEO spoke yesterday at Preview Las Vegas, an annual event hosted by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce at the Convention Center. He indicated that the race, scheduled for November 16-17, will have no less than a $1.2 billion economic impact on the city. Nearly a billion of the total represents spending by race attendees, with the rest going toward salaries for 7,700 race-support staff. And that's for this year only; F1 intends to make Las Vegas its U.S. headquarters for a number of races around the country, including one every year here. For the first time, the race crowd was estimated: 100,000. That should grow in future years. The $1.2 billion is exactly double the economic impact predicted for Super Bowl 2024, which follows F1 by three months.
Singer-songwriter James Taylor and His All-Star Band will perform five shows at the Cosmopolitan on June 3, 4, 7, 9, and 10. The 74-year-old Taylor has sold more than 100 million albums, won six Grammy awards, was inducted into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame in 2000, and is the only artist with a Billboard Top 10 album in each of the past six decades. Tickets go on sale Saturday at Ticketmaster.
US 95 south of Las Vegas closed today at 7 a.m. and won't reopen until 7 a.m. on Friday. The closure is, according to the Nevada Department of Transportation, so "crews in California can begin railroad construction near the state border." The closure affects traffic from NV 163, the road from US 95 to Laughlin, to Interstate 40 about 25 miles south. Through traffic should take NV 163 to Laughlin, then pick up Alt. 95 south of Laughlin, which connects to I-40 at Needles.
In a study by GetJerry.com, a site that specializes in saving time and money on car expenses, Nevada ranked second per capita of all the states in road-rage deaths, with one every 300,000 residents. Only New Mexico sustained more road-rage deaths per capita than Nevada at one per 120,000. GetJerry's annual “State of the American Driver” report determined that road-rage shootings doubled between 2018 and 2021, with more than 522 nationwide, resulting in at least 131 deaths. In addition, a third of drivers say driving has become more dangerous since the onset of the pandemic, due to the number of collisions and road-rage incidents, with behavior becoming more "volatile and aggressive." GetJerry warns, "The next time a person is angrily tailgating you, consider whether they have a loaded gun at hand." We concur; it's always best just to take it easy out there and try to steer clear of potential trouble.
Resorts World has gotten in on the Las Vegas Grand Prix ticket-room spectacle with its “888 Experience”; just add three zeroes to the number in the name for the price. For your near-million, you get three nights in a Crockford's Palace Suite, Entourage Suite, and four rooms (sleeping 16 comfortably) with butler service, six tickets to the Paddock Club, four to the exclusive Rose Rooftop Experience, and 10 for the grandstand, plus airfare reimbursement, $20,000 in free play or promo chips, another $20,000 in resort credit, and some extras. If that's too rich for your blood, three other Experiences are going for $35,000, $80,000, and $200,000, but the details are too pedestrian to bother with. To see those amenities and to book your Experience, go to the website.
Announced in November 2021, Ole Red country music club at the Grand Bazaar Shops at the Horseshoe broke ground last week. Ole Red is the brand of Blake Shelton, the country singer, TV personality (he's been a judge on "The Voice" for all 21 seasons), and husband of singer Gwen Stefani. The $30 million four-story 27,000-square-foot hotspot will boast nearly 700 seats, with a rooftop stage overlooking the Strip and a "full-blown honky-tonk" dance floor, and host up-and-coming country acts "right in the middle of everything," according to Shelton. The name "Ole Red" honors a song from Shelton's 2001 debut album; the brand also has locations in Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Florida. The Las Vegas venue is planned to open sometime late this year and will occupy an entire corner of the Grand Bazaar Shops in the Horseshoe's front yard.
In today's NFC playoff game, the San Francisco 49ers are -3.5 favorites over the Dallas Cowboys. The total is 46.5.
In today's AFC playoff game, the Buffalo Bills are -6 favorites over the Cincinnati Bengals. The total is 48.5.
Senor Frog's at Treasure Island is Las Vegas' number-one Mexican restaurant, at least according to the TripAdvisor rankings (which compile the average rating and number of reviews) as reported by Fox5 News. Senor Frog's has a 4.5 rating from nearly 5,000 reviews. Juan’s Flaming Fajitas & Cantina (9640 W. Tropicana) placed second, with 930 reviews and a 4.5 rating. The Wynn Buffet, interestingly, came in 19th, followed by our own favorite, Border Grill, at 20. You can see the whole top 30 here.
Jamahal Hill is a -150 favorite over Glover Teixeira in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Brandon Moreno is -125 over Deiveson Figueiredo.
In today's NFC playoff game, the Philadelphia Eagles are -8 favorites over the New York Giants. The total is 48.
In today's AFC playoff game, the Kansas City Chiefs are -9.5 favorites over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The total is 53.
Anthony and Andrew are having a fine time in this week's LVA YouTube update. And why not? They have all kinds of fun things to talk about: Universal Studios announcing a new year-round horror attraction; Spiegelworld, producer of the edgiest shows in Vegas, buying an entire town an hour away from Vegas; details about the Circa Survivor chopped pot and speculation as to how it was done based on how it's often done; Andrew's girlfriend and her many many Jackpots of the Week; where to find an up-to-date list of all the video poker schedules at all the Vegas casinos (hint: It's on this website); and much much more. Definitely don't miss this one.
Instacart, the grocery-delivery platform, studied the price of eggs in all 50 states and found that Nevada consumers pay an average of $6.05 for a dozen, the fourth highest price in the nation. Hawaii placed first at $9.73 per, followed by Florida ($6.37) and Alabama ($6.12). Eggs west of the Rockies and south of the Mason-Dixon are consistently highest, while the Midwest is lowest; Missouri enjoys the lowest-price eggs at $4.24. We'll see if the prices of breakfast specials inch up in response, but so far, those at La Salsa Cantina (Miracle Mile Shops), Arizona Charlie's, and Ellis Island are holding the line.
Anthony Curtis will be a guest on "Pushing the Limits with Brian Shapiro" today at noon. Tune in on 1400 AM.
Due to demand, Madonna will appear at T-Mobile Arena two nights instead of the originally announced one. The second night will be August 8, following her show on August 7. Second shows have also been added in Seattle, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, plus a third show in New York. Tickets for the added dates are on sale now at Madonna's website.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board yesterday issued its revenue abstract for Nevada's fiscal-year 2022, which ran from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022. There were hundreds of numbers, mainly about casino handle and win, but here are the ones that stood out for us. Revenue from gambling activities accounted for 30.2% of total revenue from the 296 hotel-casinos that generated more than $1 million. It's much less than last year’s 41.1%, though it's a tough comparison to the height of the pandemic, when people gambled more and less non-gaming amenities were available. But it was also the 24th fiscal year in a row that gaming revenues made up less than 50% of total revenue (starting in 1998). The average daily room rate was $196, up from $150.07 (31%) in fiscal year 2021; it was the highest ADR in state history, easily surpassing the previous record of $185.03 set in FY 2020. The 56 casinos statewide owned by publicly traded companies accounted for 68% of total gambling revenue. Finally, though the average number of employees increased from 111,416 in 2021 to 133,412 in 2022 (20%), that number was a decline of 18% from the pre-pandemic 162,066 employees in 2019.
Last night, Jennifer Lopez told Jimmy Kimmel on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that, due to the catastrophe of her first attempt to marry Ben Affleck in 2004, she was experiencing a bit of PTSD while planning the second wedding after getting back together in 2021. So Ben stepped up and suggested eloping that same night in July and getting married in Vegas. As widely reported at the time, the superstar couple waited in line with other people for their marriage license, then tied the knot at A Little White Wedding Chapel at midnight. "It was the best night of our lives," Jen told Kimmel. The couple had a bigger ceremony a month later, but the pressure was off. They were already married and very very happy.
The owners of the famed and beloved Lotus of Siam Thai restaurants, who recently opened a third Lotus at Red Rock Resort, are expanding their repertoire with a Greek restaurant and oyster bar, also at Red Rock. Both Naxos Taverna and Kallisto Oyster Bar will specialize in seafood and are scheduled to open on Saturday February 18. Naxos will be open daily for dinner, while Kallisto will serve lunch as well. You can see the menus (without prices) and make reservations at naxosredrock.com.
Last year, the Lovers & Friends music festival was on again, then off again, then finally on again and this year's is on again as announced by Usher himself. It's a one-day affair at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds that will take place on May 6, assuming all goes according to plan. The festival is a "star-studded smörgåsbord of nostalgia for Y2K natives and newcomers alike," according to Billboard; in other words, an early 2000s' music "starter pack" for people obsessed with things like "over-the-ear headphones, low-rise jeans, rhinestones, and paper-thin brows." A total of 45 acts will perform, with such headliners as Usher, Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, Nelly, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, and En Vogue. Others include Shaggy, Beenie Man, Ginuwine, Flo Rida, Master P and No Limit Soldiers, Sean Paul, JoJo, Next, Wayne Wonder, and Lumidee. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, from $250 for general admission to $565 for VIP.
A new survey by the travel website TravelLens.com finds that Valley of Fire, Nevada's oldest state park (1935), is the state park with the second-most posted Instagram photos in the U.S.: 285,304. Not surprisingly, Niagara Falls is number one with 3.5 million photos; Hocking Hills in Ohio placed third with roughly 250,000. In a search of Yelp and TripAdvisor reviews for words such as beautiful, stunning, and breathtaking, Valley of Fire, less than an hour northeast of Las Vegas, came in at number 13, just below Blackwater Falls (WV) and Devil's Den (AR). Porcupine Mountains Wilderness (MI) place first.
The Irish Sun reported yesterday that U2 is "at an advanced stage for agreeing to an Elvis-style residency in a Las Vegas hotel." The rumor is that U2 will open the MSG Sphere later this year. The Sun writes that frontman Bono told the SmartLess podcast, "We haven’t signed off on it, but if we do and can pull off what we’re talking about, it’s not like anything we’ve ever done before. It’s nothing like Las Vegas has ever seen before." The band is known for its spectacular stage shows and effects and the Sphere is shaping up to be the most spectacular entertainment venue on Earth. If both happen according to plan, the combination will no doubt be as extravagant as it's possible to be.
At a Reno Town Hall Zoom meeting last night, the developers of the proposed Firecreek Crossing Resort and Casino discussed issues with local residents, as reported by ThisIsReno.com. Representatives from San Diego-based Elevation Entertainment addressed traffic, a skybridge to the Reno Convention Center, and the proximity of the casino to a nearby neighborhood. The Reno and Truckee Meadows Regional Planning commissions will consider the Firecreek proposal in upcoming meetings over the next several months and ThisIsReno.com writes, "If the plans are accepted, the project would take about two years to break ground and another two years to finish construction. Since the proposed area of the site is already zoned as a gaming overlay district, the project doesn’t need direct approval by the Reno City Council to proceed." If it ultimately happens, it would be Reno's first hotel-casino to be built from scratch since 1995. Read more about Firecreek in our recent Question of the Day.
Madonna has announced a four-month 35-city greatest-hits "Celebration" tour of the world that will begin in Vancouver on July 15 and end in Amsterdam on December 1. The 64-year-old superstar singer's last show in the U.S. will take place at T-Mobile Arena on October 7. In an interview last summer, Madonna said, "I’m a creature of the stage. That's my happy place.” Tickets go on sale Friday; a presale begins today at 2 p.m. for Citi credit-card holders.
Elevation Hotels & Resorts has released details about its pot-welcoming hotel in Las Vegas, based on the successful Clarendon Hotel model it introduced several years ago in Phoenix. Elevation purchased the 64-room Artisan non-casino hotel early last year from the Siegel Group for $11.9 million, with plans to invest another $3 million in renovations and preparations for the new clientele. A news release issued yesterday cites a multi-million-dollar renovation of all the rooms and suites; weed consumption will be permitted throughout the fourth floor, which will be ventilated by a state-of-the-art filtration system. The new restaurant will be a "Cajun-inspired steakhouse" and parties will be hosted around the pool. Renamed the Lexi, the hotel will be completed in the spring.
In today’s NFL Wild Card Playoff game, the Dallas Cowboys are -2.5 favorites over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The total is 45.
Local rock band UROCK plays the Downtown Sand Dollar tonight from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. The show includes hits from Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Eagles, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, and more (according to UROCK bassist and noted sports handicapper Alf Musketa, “the best stuff comes in the last set"). No cover. It’s a good opportunity to check out the new bar at the Plaza. UROCK will also play January 27 at The Backyard on Water Street in Henderson.
Martin Luther King Day isn't a big promotions day in the casinos, but South Point is awarding 5X points on slots and 2X on video poker today. The video poker bonus takes many of its machines over the 100%-return level.
The Bureau of Land Management has closed Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area for the rest of today, as heavy rainfall in the west valley has "caused unsafe conditions." Tough luck for visitors; entrance to the loop road was free today in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
With two major conventions in town this week, the long-scheduled upgrade of the Tropicana-Interstate 15 interchange also gets under way. Starting tomorrow, all the freeway offramps onto Tropicana will close for several months and starting Sunday, Tropicana itself will close in both directions through Monday January 30 from Dean Martin Drive to New York-New York. From 10 p.m. Friday the 27th through 5 a.m. Monday the 30th, the entire freeway will close between the Russell and Flamingo roads exits. It's gonna be a nightmare; avoid the entire area if you can.
January is a month for crowds in Las Vegas. New Year's Eve, of course, accounts for hundreds of thousands of visitors and locals, all in the same place at the same on the same night. That's followed by the four-day CES, which this year hosted 115,000 attendees. This week, the World of Concrete trade show arrives (tomorrow through Thursday) and upwards of 60,000 concrete and masonry professionals are expected at the Las Vegas Convention Center, compared to 37,000 last year during the height of the omicron surge. Among them will be 1,100 exhibitors. Concurrently, the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) show will take place at the Venetian Expo, with 50,000 or so professionals from the sport shooting, hunting, and outdoor industry expected (it's not open to the public). The International Builders Show starts this year on January 31 and runs through February 2, expected to attract another 50,000 people to the Convention Center.
In today’s third NFL Wild Card Playoff game, the Cincinnati Bengals are -7.5 favorites over the Baltimore Ravens. The total is 40.
In today’s second NFL Wild Card Playoff game, the Minnesota Vikings are -3 favorites over the New York Giants. The total is 48.
If you've been watching the LVA YouTube weekly updates since the beginning of the NFL season, you've followed the odyssey of the huge Circa Survivor football contest, which Anthony discussed every week. Out of a field of 6,133 $1,000 entries, only two pf them nailed 20 out of 20 games to split the $6.13 million winners-take-all grand prize. The Las Vegas Review-Journal was at the award presentation event at the D yesterday and interviewed the winners. One is a 31-year-old Henderson resident whose single entry survived and made him a triple millionaire. He said, "I definitely got very lucky." The other, a group of four friends (three locals and one New Yorker), ponied up for the limit of 24 entries, six each, but failed to submit seven of them one week and were down to a single entry by week 6, which survived. One of them told the R-J, "It’s a wild ride. The money’s great, but the experience is really worthwhile.” Eight of their 20 selections were losing or tied in the fourth quarter, including in three of the four final games. When it got down to the last three survivors, they got in touch and agreed to a partial chop of the pot, so the third-place winner, who suffered a bad beat for the ages, shared in the winnings.
In the first of three NFL Wild Card Playoff games today, the Buffalo Bills are -13.5 favorites over the Miami Dolphins. The total is 44.
Another wet storm yesterday dumped up to a half-inch of rain around Las Vegas and a couple of feet of snow in the mountains west of the valley. Today will be a brief respite from the rain; another front moves in early tomorrow morning with a better than average chance of more precipitation, both rain in the lowlands and snow in the highlands. So far this year, eight feet of snow have fallen at the Lee Canyon Ski Resort, 66% of the typical total of 155 inches for the season, which runs through March 31. The record for snowfall in the mountains is 255 inches in the winter of 2005. Rainfall is also above average for the year.
In today’s second NFL Wild Card Playoff game, the Los Angeles Chargers are -2 favorites over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The total is 47.
In the first of two NFL Wild Card Playoff games today, the San Francisco 49ers are -9.5 favorites over the Seattle Seahawks. The total is 42.
In this week's YouTube, Anthony and Andrew talk about the new Resorts World parking policy, which is as close to free as paid parking on the Strip gets. They also alert viewers that the new show at the Wynn, Awakening, is shutting down for two weeks starting tomorrow for a revamp based on the initial feedback from critics and showgoers. The Circa Survivor football contest is over with two winners splitting the $6.3 million grand prize; the third contender took another bad bad Leroy beat, losing his share of the prize on the last ridiculous play of his season-long win streak. And the Jackpot of the Week is a bit of a departure; a local poker pro took down a yuge progressive at Pai Gow Poker for which many of the Vegas advantage players were vying by hitting a seven-card straight flush. Wow! See it all here by clicking the white arrow in the red box.
On Thursday, Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis's only child, died suddenly in southern California at the age of 54 from cardiac arrest. Lisa Marie was a regular visitor to Las Vegas ever since Elvis headlined the International when she was a little girl; she also headlined her own show at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in 2003 and, as Elvis's only heir, worked hard to keep his legacy alive here. Yesterday, Robbie Knievel, son of Evel Knievel, died at age 60 in Reno of pancreatic cancer. Robbie, like his dad, was a stunt daredevil, making 350 jumps and setting 20 world records, including his 1989 successful jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace; the same attempt almost killed his father in 1967. You can see one of his stunts, jumping over a moving freight train, on this YouTube video; start watching from 32 minutes in. (And thanks to Canada Roy for the link.)
The WNBA announced yesterday that the league's 2023 All-Star Game will take place in Las Vegas at the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay on July 15. The game and all the attending events will be hosted by the hometown team, Las Vegas Aces, which won the WNBA Championship last season. It's the third time Las Vegas will host the WNBA’s midseason showcase, most recently in 2021. The three-point competition and skills challenge will take place on July 14, opening the two-day event. Tickets will go on sale to the public on Thursday January 19 at 10 a.m. PT on axs.com.
It's true: a double lobster tail with all the trimmings served at the El Cortez from 5 to 11 p.m. The catch: It was in February 1984, when Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Las Vegas Advisor was published. And it was only number 5 in the inaugural Top Ten; the $2 steak at the Horseshoe (#1), a 49-cent breakfast at Bingo Palace (later Palace Station, #2), a 50-cent Heineken at the Horseshoe (#3), and the 50-cent shrimp cocktail at Golden Gate (#4) were adjudged better deals. You can see the full Top Ten, read the entire 29-page issue from 39 years ago, and read the Advisor's 100th issue from April 1994 with a quick click of the mouse. We've posted both for your viewing pleasure and historical edification, for both Las Vegas and LVA. Enjoy!
In its annual survey of 1,000 cities around the world, Inrix, a company that analyzes traffic data from sensors and vehicles, found that the average Las Vegas resident/commuter sat in traffic for a total of 41 hours in 2022, placing the city at number 22 for the worst traffic congestion in the nation. It was, as well, the 127th worst in the world. The slowest speed during an average commute was 28 miles per hour, nine mph slower than in 2019, pre-pandemic. But by comparison, traffic here isn't too tough. Londoners have it hardest, with an average of 156 hours of fuming behind the wheel and a slowest speed of 10 mph. Chicago is right behind at 155 hours. Boston came in fourth worst in the world (134), New York eighth (117), and Philadelphia 10th (114). Just above Las Vegas in the global rankings was Providence, RI (124); just below was Nashville (131).
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, a division of the federal Department of Transportation, Reid International Airport ranked sixth worst in the country for delays in flights in 2022. Of the 286,000 flights in and out of Reid, an average of 24.3% of flights were delayed. A delay, for the purposes of the BTS report, means the plane arrived at or departed from the gate 15 minutes or more after the scheduled time as reported in the Computerized Reservation System. The information is based on data submitted by reporting carriers. Arrivals were late 23.8% of the time, while departures were delayed 24.8% of the time. Orlando was the worst with 28.2% of its flights delayed, followed by Newark (26.5%), Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood (26.1%), Tampa (25.5%), and Miami (24.4%).
A Mexican restaurant chain that dates back to 1984, with 10 locations in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and Virginia, has been announced for the Miracle Mile Shops with a scheduled opening for later this year. The Rosa Mexicano restaurant will be the largest in the chain, seating 430, and will boast a Strip-front patio. The online menu lists nachos ($12), Caesars salad ($10), three ceviches (shrimp, salmon, and tuna $15-$17), guacamole made tableside ($16), and enchiladas ($21-$26) for dinner, plus lunch, brunch, dessert, bar, and kids menus; daily specials include Taco Tuesdays (50% off).
What looks like a major new attraction has been announced by Universal for Las Vegas. According to Bloomberg, a "111,000-square-foot, year-round, horror-focused attraction" will be the anchor tenant in a 20-acre expansion of Area15. "Universal has long offered seasonal Halloween Horror Nights that attract young adults to its theme parks in the fall," Bloomberg writes. "The company’s movie studio was home to films based on classic characters like Frankenstein and Dracula. More recently, it has carved out a niche working with a new generation of horror-film producers and directors such as Jason Blum, Jordan Peele, and James Wan. Content from both historical and upcoming films will be featured in the Las Vegas property." Concept art with the press release features Jack the Clown, a Halloween Horror Nights icon, welcoming guests into a decrepit building with red light glowing from within. No timetable or capital investment was announced, but an Area15 spokesperson told the Review-Journal that they hope to break ground on the expansion in the next six months. So this attraction seems to be a ways from opening. We'll keep an eye out for forthcoming details.
Last night's MegaMillions drawing was the 25th without a winning ticket and the jackpot rose to $1.35 billion, second largest in MegaMillions history. The jackpot needs to grow by $181 million to surpass the record $1.537 billion hit by a single winner in South Carolina in October 2018. The winning numbers in last night's drawing were all what are known as "birthday numbers": less than 31. But with millions of ticket buyers known to play birthday numbers, the jackpot still eluded them. It's the fourth-largest lottery jackpot in history; the lump sum payout will be $708 million if the jackpot is hit in Friday night's drawing. The last time MegaMillions was hit was on October 18.
In time for the Lunar New Year, the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens has unveiled its display celebrating the Year of the Rabbit (on the Chinese Zodiac), "in a space reflecting peace and tranquility, where Asian culture is honored in thoughtful fashion, layered with meaningful creations that convey messages of harmony, good luck, enlightenment, and prosperity, according to the press release. The display honors the Black Water Rabbit, which signifies deep wisdom and a connection to Earth, with a 32-foot-tall medallion. It also features a family of eight golden rabbits, cloisonné cherry blossoms, a pair of Fu guard dogs, twin bonsai trees, gilded water-lily fountains adorning a pond, the Temple of Six Banyan Trees with five topiary children, and a money tree consisting of 88 gold I-Ching coins. Hanging pomegranates and Chinese lanterns, a 17-foot-tall statue of Caishen, the Chinese god of wealth, round out the display; unusual for the Conservatory, LED screens show fireworks and falling I-Ching coins. The Bellagio horticultural staff has obviously outdone itself for the Year of the Rabbit. The Garden Table, a recent dining experience added to the Conservatory, is serving a dim sum lunch ($88 per person; 1 and 3 p.m. seatings) and dinner ($128; 6 and 8 p.m.) from Noodles, Bellagio’s Pan-Asian restaurant; it's a table for four with a 90-minute time limit. The Year of the Rabbit display runs through March 4.
A Las Vegas-based professional poker player hit a jackpot on a progressive side bet at Pai Gow Poker early Sunday morning and took down $6.4 million for the seven-card straight flush. The winning hand consisted of the 8, 9, 10, jack, and queen of spades for the five-card flush; the two-card hand had the ace and a joker serving as the king. It's likely to stand as the largest table-game jackpot for a while; it nearly doubled the last Pai Gow Poker progressive of $3.5 million hit in October at Harrah's. This progressive links more than 40 Pai Gow Poker tables at Caesars’ properties Vegas, Laughlin, Reno, and Tahoe.
Big Chicken, the fast-food franchiser fronted and partially owned by former NBA great Shaquille O’Neal, is opening a second location in Las Vegas. The first, across from Virgin on Paradise Road, debuted in 2018 and we actually liked it. In our LVA review, we wrote, "Seven-foot-tall ex-NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has long been a big presence in Las Vegas. He’s DJ’d and celebrated his birthdays at the nightclubs and now he’s the 'theme' for a chicken restaurant. It doesn’t take itself too seriously; the sign on the front door says, 'Service animals and seven-foot-tall chickens only,' while another inside exclaims, “We’re big on being big.' Shaq knows chicken (“no cages, no hormones, and no antibiotics”) and reportedly spent months devising the recipes and sauces. The six chicken sandwiches consist of a big deep-fried chicken breast, assorted toppings, and nicknames that the none-too-humble Shaq also fancies for himself — “Big Aristotle,” “Shaq Fu,” and “M.D.E” (Most Dominating Ever). It’s worth a stop for something a little different and a decent chicken sandwich." The new outlet is located at 9595 West Tropicana Avenue, a couple of blocks west of the 215 beltway, and opens on Thursday.
When Joe DeSimone purchased the Railroad Pass Hotel-Casino in 2015, he decided not to open the old safe he acquired with the property until a more "appropriate" time. That time arrived on December 29, when, after a few tries by three different employees, the safe was opened with the combination and it actually contained a few treasures. According to the Boulder City Review, DeSimone found "a bag of 50-100 silver dollars dating back to the 1870s (worth around $30 apiece), a bucket of change, dollar tokens from other area casinos, and some dice in an old cigar box," among a few other items. The safe hadn't been opened, reportedly, in 40 years. After all the contents were removed, a time capsule was locked in, to be opened in 2070 by DeSimone's descendants.
Fox5 News reports that Sapphire gentleman's club, which bills itself as the world's largest, has deployed the world's largest security guard. The “giant, human-controlled, all-terrain, robotic mech suit” was introduced last night at Sapphire in conjunction with CES. It weighs four and a half tons and is 15 feet, though we're not sure if that's tall or across. We can say that aggressive drunks don't stand a chance. See for yourself what it looks like here.
In the college-football National Championship, Georgia is a -13.5 favorite over TCU. The total is 62.5.
Resorts World has made another change in its parking policy. Parking is still free, but only for players club members. The change was made right after the New Year's weekend; the fee for non-members is a flat $10, with no free first hour. The casino said the change was because of “increased business and service demands.”
Three weeks into winter, the snowpack in the Colorado River watershed stands at 140% above average as compared to the median measured over the past three decades. Of course, the recent storm surges that account for the better-than-average conditions in the Rocky Mountains would need to continue throughout the winter and into spring to make a dent in the drought and there's still a long way to go. It wouldn't be unusual for the snowpack to taper off, which has happened a number of times in recent years; it starts out promising, then ends up disappointing. Also, the amount of runoff necessary to raise the levels of Lake Powell and Lake Mead significantly at this point are enormous. The last time that happened was in 2011. And to signal an end to the 20-plus year drought would require five to ten years of well-above-average snowpack, which hydrologists, water managers, and meteorologists don't expect. Still, with three full months of the season ahead, the snowpack is nearly 60% of the yearly total already and more storms are predicted over the next couple of weeks.
The Green Bay Packers are -4.5 favorites over the Detroit Lions in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 49.5.
For the first time since 2020, the Vegas Golden Knights will hold their annual Fan Fest today at the Fremont Street Experience on the Main Street Stage from 2 to 4 p.m. Players and coaches will be walking the red carpet, signing autographs, doing Q&As, and chatting with fans, who can take photos with team-mascot Chance, watch the drumbots, and qualify for giveaways. Entering the second half of the season, the VGK are first in the entire Western Conference.
ConsumerAffairs.com has ranked roads by state and Nevada's fared pretty well, coming in at number 9 out of the 50. The results were based on the frequency of maintenance, the size of infrastructure budgets, and the number of residents surveyed who had "good things to say about the roads they drive on each day." ConsumerAffairs found that Nevada spends more per capita annually on its highways than any other state in the Far West ($756 versus $599, with a national average of $616). Preceding Nevada for the country's best roads are New Hampshire, Minnesota, Vermont, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Florida, and Georgia. The worst are in Hawaii, Rhode Island, Louisiana, California, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Arkansas, Colorado, South Carolina, and Iowa.
An article on Poker.org praises the Resorts World poker room, newest on the Strip. It's one of only three Las Vegas poker rooms that use the Poker Atlas remote-registration app, it's far enough off the casino floor to be quiet and smoke-free, the tables are spaced comfortably apart, and it even has pour-your own soda and espresso machines. For a deep dive into all the particulars, read the story here.
Another week, another worthwhile YouTube update from Anthony and Andrew. Among the topics discussed: A land deal in the works on the north Strip just fell through; a new Station casino has been announced for the upscale Inspirada subdivision in Henderson; two good local bars factor in, one with a good free-play promo, excellent under-$10 burger, and some local gambling lore, the other for the Jackpot of the Week; and of course the update on Circa Survivor, which is unchanged going into the last week of the season, but Anthony delves into the details on how such pots get chopped among the finalists. All with a click on the red arrow below.
Another show at a major Strip hotel has announced that it's closing: Freestyle Love Supreme's last night at the Venetian will be January 29. The show, brought to Las Vegas by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, opened in early November; it was scheduled to play through the end of April and possibly beyond. Freestyle Love Supreme joins Bat out of Hell at Paris, Legends in Concert at the Trop, and Extravaganza at the Horseshoe (which closes tonight) to go down in what Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist John Katsilometes is calling "the turbulent Las Vegas entertainment market."
According to the end-of-the-year report by the local trade group Las Vegas Realtors, the median price for an existing single-family house in December was $425,000, the same as it was in December 2021. It was down 12% from the record-high median price of $482,000 set in May 2022. The median for condos and townhouse was $246,950, an increase of 2% year over year. The realtor group called the falloff a "contraction" that had a little to do with the slowest time of year in the home-selling business, but also a "balanced market" with more houses for sale and prices leveling off. At the end of the year, more than 6,200 single-family homes were listed, nearly three times the number last year; the 1,390 condos and townhomes were 259% more than 2021. December sales of houses and condos were down 52% year over year.
Starting Sunday, the gambling enclave of Macau will open its borders to all visitors arriving from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan without having to produce any documentation of recent COVID tests. Travelers from most other countries can enter, but will still have to show a negative test taken within the previous 48 hours of boarding an inbound plane. Total border restrictions were put into place in March 2020; the most recent loosening was on September 1, when visitors from 41 countries were permitted to enter, based more on economic than pandemic factors. The end of restrictions will mostly impact migrant workers from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Nepal, who weren't among the 41 nationalities allowed to enter as of September 1; it will also boost the value of the Las Vegas companies (Sands, Wynn, and MGM Resorts) with major operations in the Special Administrative Region of China.
Claudio Fischer, who with his brother is the largest casino operator in South America, has exited a deal that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority had long sought. The $120 million purchase for 10 acres adjacent to the West Hall of the Convention Center that the LVCVA owns fell through after the Fischers, reportedly, got cold feet over rising interest rates in the U.S. and let last month's deadline for closing the deal pass. They forfeit a $7 million deposit and the LVCVA has put the parcel back on the market.
Las Vegas' new XFL team, the Vegas Vipers, will have a venue after all for the start of the 2023 season: Cashman Field. The aging 10,000-seat stadium just north of downtown will host the Vipers' first home game, their second game, on Saturday February 25 against the DC Defenders, then four more games of the 10-game season. The championship game will be played on May 13. Cashman Field also hosts minor-league soccer team the Las Vegas Lights. The Vipers are accepting deposits for season tickets; single-game seats will go on sale soon.
Announced on New Year's Eve, MGM Resorts International closed a deal to sell the site of the October 1, 2017, mass shooting. The 13- acre vacant lot directly across the Strip from Luxor, which doesn't include the two-acre corner that MGM donated to the county for a memorial to the massacre, was sold to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in central North Dakota for $92.8 million, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, or roughly $7.1 million per acre. The RJ reports that in July 2020, Three Affiliated Tribes picked up a nearly nine-acre lot directly east of the Harvest Festival site for $12 million through a bankruptcy auction; this purchase gives the tribe more than 20 acres of prime south Strip real estate for a total of $4.8 million an acre. A tribal spokesperson told the RJ that the tribe has no specific plans for the land, which is "an investment for us, plain and simple," though he also said that a plan will be developed within the year.
No one claimed the $785 million Mega Millions jackpot after Tuesday night's drawing, so it jumped to $940 million. It's the fourth largest in Mega Millions' history and the sixth largest in U.S. history and it comes only four months after a $1.34 billion jackpot was hit on July 30. It's the 22nd drawing without a jackpot winner; the last reset was on October 8 after two winning tickets in Florida and California split $502 million. The lump sum would be $483.5 million. To see how much you'd take home after federal and state taxes whether you choose the cash or the annuity, go to this interesting state-by-state calculator. In California, with no state tax on lottery jackpots, the after-tax payout would be just under $305 million. In Arizona, with its 2.5% tax, it would be $292.6 million.
The New York Gaming Facility Location Board yesterday officially opened up the application process for a full-scale casino in New York City. It announced what was long anticipated: a $500 million fee for each of the three licenses up for grabs. The application fee alone is $1 million. Applicants must also indicate how many jobs their casino will create, how much revenue it'll earn, and the extent of their commitment to minority and women-owned businesses; applicants will also undergo suitability reviews by community-advisory committees. Resorts World, Wynn Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, and MGM Resorts have all expressed interest in applying.
According to geolocation and fraud-detection company GeoComply, Ohioans placed more than 11 million sports bets on January 1 and 2. Sports betting became legal to residents of the Buckeye State on New Year's Day, with more than a dozen mobile sports book operators accepting wagers from the public. The 11.3 million bets made over the two-day period placed first in the nation; New York came in second with 9.3 million, followed by Pennsylvania with a smidge more than eight million. Though Cincinnati is the third largest city in the state, it came in first with sports bets at 1.9 million; Columbus, with nearly three times the population, placed second with one million sports bets.
U-Haul's ranking of growth states for 2022 has been released. Each year, U-Haul compiles its Growth Index by calculating "the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a state or city, versus departing from that state or city." These migration patterns are aggregated from more than two million one-way U-Haul moving-truck transactions. Not surprisingly, Texas took the top growth-state honor for the second year in a row; it's also the state's fifth first-place finish in the past seven years. Florida ranked second for the second consecutive year; it's been in the top three for the past seven years. Nevada climbed 16 places, from 29th in 2021 to lucky 13th in 2022. South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, and Idaho placed third through 10th, while New York (46), Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, and California (50) are the bottom five states for growth in 2022. California had the highest out-migration for the second year in a row, according to the survey.
The holidays are over, at last, and we're returning to some semblance of normality (aside from the invasion of geeks and pornstars, of course). Here are some of this weekend's top entertainment offerings:
It's a curious development to be sure, but worthy of the production company behind Absinthe, OPM, and Atomic Saloon, all of which we reviewed highly favorably, plus Superfrico, the "psychedelic-Italian" restaurant at the Cosmo, which we loved. According to the Wall Street Journal as reported by Casino.org, Spiegelworld "secretly" purchased the California town of Nipton several months ago for $2.5 million, $500,000 less than the asking price.
Nipton is a tiny town of 25 souls located a few minutes from I-15 about an hour southwest of Las Vegas in California. Originally a service center for area mines, it never quite turned into a ghost town, but almost; in 1984, it was bought by a California geologist for $200,000. In 2016, the owner sold it for $5 million to American Green, which planned to turn it into “the country’s first energy-independent cannabis-friendly hospitality destination.” Those plans dissolved when San Bernardino County banned cannabis activity there and Nipton went up for sale again.
Spiegelworld intends to "make Nipton the company’s global headquarters, a 'circus village' where artists and performers can live, rehearse, and work. Though the details aren’t ironed out yet, this would tentatively include a large office space, an art park, and several performance spaces, including a large theater."
Since buying it, Spiegelworld "has dedicated itself to the decidedly non-creative task of governing it. This has included hearing complaints from longtime residents, cleaning up 250 tons of debris, and dealing with septic-tank problems. Most of the work is being performed by two of its prop masters, who now live there full-time with their five chickens." Spiegelworld founder Ross Mollison told the Wall Street Journal, “Imagine it’s 'Schitt’s Creek,' but owned by a circus.”
An article on CDCGamingReports.com lists the biggest gambling stories of last year, according to 15 industry executives and analysts interviewed by CDC lead writer Rege Behe. Among them: the record revenues; the failed California sports betting initiative; the post-pandemic resurgence of G2E; Ontario, Canada, opening up for sports betting; the non-smoking campaign gaining steam; and of course the record-high room rates (that one from a Wall Street analyst). Read the whole story here.
Sports betting became legal and available to Ohioans at 12:01 a.m. on New Year’s Day and the casinos were ready with Vegas-like sports books, complete with bars and food service, a variety of seating, including theater-style, and walls of giant video screens. They'd had plenty of time to prepare; Ohio's governor signed the law a year ago. Pete Rose, banned for life from the MLB for gambling, was honored by placing the first legal sports bet (on his old team, the Cincinnati Reds, winning the 2023 World Series).
We're tracking the traffic returning to southern California after the biggest holiday weekends, now that Nevada and California are trying to address the issue, caused by the squeezing of three lanes to two at the state line leading up to the California agricultural inspection station. You can read the whole story in our recent Question of the Day about it, but the short version is, Nevada has done its part, while California is still trying to figure out theirs. Traffic flowed a little more smoothly after Thanksgiving, with a 12-mile jam on that Sunday, compared to 22 miles the year before. But with an estimated 400,000 people crowding Las Vegas for New Year's, the backup was back up to almost the epic lengths before the third lane opened on the Nevada side. With any luck, the Golden State will get its act together by next year's holiday season.
The Buffalo Bills are -2.5 favorites over the Cincinnati Bengals in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 51.
In today’s Rose Bowl, Penn State is a -1 favorite over Utah. The total is 55.
In today’s Citrus Bowl, LSU is a -15 favorite over Purdue. The total is 54.5.
In today's Cotton Bowl, Tulane is a -1 favorite over USC. The total is 66.5.
The New Year's hordes departing Las Vegas will be passed by the crowds arriving to attend CES, formerly the Consumer Electronics Show. It will be the largest gathering in three years; 100,000-plus are expected by organizers, more than double the "shadow of itself" last year, with omicron in ascendance, after being digital only in 2021. But it will still be less than the 120,000 who attended in 2019. The show launches on Thursday, but exhibitors will start arriving in force this evening. Early reports indicate that the use of artificial intelligence in everything from robots and cars to kitchen appliances will be on full display, along with drones, virtual worlds, web3, crypto and blockchain, NFTs, and remote work and health care.
The rainfall total for 2022 at the official monitoring station at Reid International was a disappointing 2.13 inches, with .13 falling on Saturday, the last day of the year. The normal total is 4.18. It's the third year in a row that less than three inches were recorded at the airport. But 2023 has started off promising; another .2 to .4 inches fell since early New Year's Day and there's a pick 'em possibility of more falling through early Thursday. Temperatures remain mild, with highs in the mid-50s and lows in the low 40s for the next several days, then rising to 60 and mid-40s for the weekend and beyond.
The Baltimore Ravens are -1 favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 35.5.
Georgia opened as a -13.5 favorite over TCU for the College Football National Championship. The total is 62.5.
The YouTube update was posted on Friday and it's a fine roundup of what happened, developments-wise, in 2022 (not much) and what's on the docket for 2023 (lots -- tune in to find out). Anthony and Andrew also discuss the new trend of turning buffet spaces into food halls, with two new ones arriving in the past few weeks, one fancy (on the Strip) and one utilitarian (downtown). But the big news is what happened last week in the Circa Survivor football contest, which Anthony is calling "the worst bad beat in sports-betting history." And that's saying something. We'll give you a hint: $6 million-plus riding on a single late-game play. Don't miss this one!
The normal range of high and low temperatures over the first month of the year is narrow, with average highs starting out at 56 degrees and rising to 60 and lows at 38, then going up to 41. But the record highs and lows tell a different tale. The record high for the month is 77 (1/26/1975), while the record low is 8 (1/13/1963 and 1/25/1937). Average January precipitation is a bit more than a half-inch.
"America's Party 2023," in the end, went off without a hitch. The winds, too high for the fireworks during the day, had died down by midnight and just a light drizzle fell on the partiers. Right after the show, upwards of 1,000 police began moving people off the Strip, so 10 tons of trash could be collected by 20 street sweepers and 60 sanitation workers in order to reopen the Boulevard to cars by around six this morning. Today, traffic will be congested around Allegiant Stadium, where the Raiders take on the San Francisco 49ers at 1 p.m. Otherwise, everything is open and cooking with gas at the casinos, so plan on long waits if you don't have reservations for dining.