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In this week's YouTube vlog update, Anthony and Andrew get right down to it, starting off with the Blackjack Ball that's happening tonight; find out who holds the record for coming in second in the advantage-play competition. Then they're onto the MGM cyberattack, which is mostly, but not entirely, behind us and you'll hear what isn't quite back to normal. The Sphere opened last night, which they discuss at length, as they do the Circa Million and Survivor football contests; you'll learn why this year's Survivor contest has been, in Anthony's words, "a bloodbath." The Question of the Week also concerns the Circa contests. Finally, the Jackpot of the Week goes to Andrew himself, who won the Downtown Grand's video poker tournament and you can hear and see him kvelling over his first-ever gambling-competition victory. All with the click on the arrow.
We heard that the Silver Nugget, located in North Las Vegas on Las Vegas Blvd. N. just north of W. Lake Mead Blvd., was closed, so we checked it out. The website has the following notice: "Due to electrical issues, the Silver Nugget Casino will be closed until further notice. All points, free slot play, and all other offers will still be valid at Ojos Locos Sports Cantina y Casino." Ojos Locos is about a mile and a half up Civic Center Drive at E. Cheyenne Avenue.
Comedians and actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will bring their "Restless Leg" nationwide tour to Las Vegas for two nights at Resorts World. Fey was a cast member and head writer for "Saturday Night Live" from 1997 to 2006 and creator and star of the NBC sitcom "30 Rock" for nine seasons; she's also appeared in numerous feature films. Poehler also starred on "SNL" for eight seasons, then produced and starred in the sitcom "Parks and Recreation." She's also a director and executive producer. The pair have appeared together many times, particularly the films Mean Girls, Baby Mama, and Wine Country and as co-hosts of four Golden Globe Awards shows. Tickets are on sale now starting at $81 plus fees and taxes.
Ellis Island is selling "Turn 4 Beer Garden" tickets for the F1 race with viewing spots on the observation deck in the Front Yard. Food and drinks, including Ellis Island microbrews, are included in the price, as is race-viewing on the Yard's 18-foot screen. Single-day tickets start at $250 ($287 with taxes and fees) for Thursday and go up to $500/$570 for Friday and $750/$850 for race day. A three-day pass is $1,250/$1,420. Grandstand tickets are for all three days and include food and drink for $1,500/$1,700. To stay at EI will cost you $3,000 for the minimum three nights.
A survey in the Las Vegas Review-Journal pegs parking prices for Sphere events as high as $125. There are six on-site self-parking lots and one valet lot, all east and south of the arena, but only one self lot and the valet lot are open; the rest are impacted by F1 construction. Lot S, next to valet, is charging $47.50 ($55.50 including fees) for the movie Postcard from Earth and $100 (plus fees) for U2 concerts. Valet parking in the adjacent lot is going for $72.50/$125. You can make reservations for both through Ticketmaster, though from our audit, it looks like most of those are sold out. There are also four lots/garages across Manhattan Street at the Howard Hughes Center with 2,000 spaces, which will be open for Sphere events: $30/$70. Those are first-come first-served. So far, the Venetian and Wynn have yet to announce parking prices for Sphere events, but self-parking at the Wynn is $20 for the day and at Venetian $15 for four hours. If you're walking from the Strip, four of the five entrances to the arena are along Sands Avenue; the fifth, the Plaza entrance, is east of the building on Manhattan Street opposite Lot A. You can see the map of the Sphere and parking lots here.
Today at 10 a.m., general-admission-plus and VIP tickets to the 28th annual Electric Daisy Carnival will go on sale to the general public. EDC will take place May 17-19 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and 550,000 admissions are expected for the three-day electronic-dance-music and circus festival. All of the least expensive general-admission tickets sold out during the Future Owl presale earlier this year; GA+ are going for $599 and VIP for $969 (plus taxes and fees). You can reserve them for $10 down, then pay on a layaway plan. Reserve or buy your tickets here.
The Detroit Lions are -2.5 favorites over the Green Bay Packers in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 45. Note, this line was posted with the game in progress.
The Las Vegas Weekly has a cool piece on how tourist attractions have evolved in Las Vegas. It starts with Last Frontier Village, which opened in 1950 next to the Last Frontier on the Strip, and touches on the Welcome sign, Circus Circus, the Mirage, family Vegas, and more, arriving finally at Area 15 and Sphere, which should hold evolutionary sway for some time. Our own Anthony Curtis is interviewed extensively and, as always, has insightful things to say. Read the story here.
The largest private-capital investment in Reno's 160-plus-year history has been announced by the Meruelo Group, owner of the Grand Sierra Resort (formerly Bally's and the Reno Hilton) and the Sahara in Las Vegas. The $1 billion plan includes a new 800-room hotel tower, 300 residential units, a Las Vegas-inspired water show, and a 10,000-seat arena for sports, concerts, and special events. The Grand Sierra is Reno's largest hotel-casino, currently boasting 2,000 rooms; the additional 800 would approach Las Vegas megaresort size. The arena could, if all goes according to plan, become the new home of the UNR Wolf Pack men's basketball team. No timeline was announced for GSR's expansion, but at the press conference, 2026 was floated as the first season the Wolf Pack could play at the arena.
U2 will launch both its residency and the entire Sphere arena tomorrow at 8 p.m. Though tickets are sold out on the main seller site Ticketmaster, at least one reseller site, Gametime.co, shows that prices for available tickets have dropped up to 25% or so. The lowest-priced tickets are available for $281, down from $369 (24%) a week ago, including all taxes and fees. The top-priced seats are available for $1,980, down from $2,232 (11%) last week. We wonder if prices for the Sphere movie, Postcard from Earth, will do a similar shuffle. Currently, they start at $66 and go up to $1,249.
OnlineCasino.ca is sponsoring a contest whose prize is a week in Las Vegas for an "official Margarita Tester" and companion, with $4,000 for expenses. Seriously. The trip must take place between Nov. 1 and Feb. 29 and the tester must complete the ratings tasks within five business days after the end of the trip. His or her name, photo, and town of residence will also be posted and the only other requirement is the testing of one margarita per day and rated based on flavor, presentation, quality of ingredients, setting, and overall experience. If this sounds like something you'd like to apply for, you can do so here. Applications must be submitted by Sunday.
Upwards of 40,000 members of the Culinary and Bartenders unions, meeting in two sessions at the Thomas and Mack arena, voted to authorize a strike against the casinos, as negotiations have made little progress since they began in April and contracts expired at the end of May. Though the vote was almost unanimous at 95% in favor of a strike, it's mostly symbolic, authorizing union leaders to call for a walkout. It's the second strike vote in a row; the unions authorized one during the last contract negotiations in 2018, but resolved their issues with the casino companies before any labor action took place. The last strike against the casinos happened in 1984. Pundits and analysts are predicting that contracts will be signed before the F1 race, though union officials aren't quite so sanguine, saying that the two sides are "far apart." A citywide strike would affect around 50 casinos.
The Rio officially changes hands this Monday, October 2, when Caesars hands it back to Dreamscape. The leaseback arrangement between the two is ending and Dreamscape will both own and operate the property from Tuesday on. Dreamscape has posted an FAQ page on its new website, RioLasVegas.com, in case you want to see what changes are happening, how the players club will be affected, and/or how you'll be affected if you have room, restaurant, or show reservations. You can access the FAQs here. You can also see the same basic information from the other side of the ledger (Caesars') on the old Rio website here.
Mere days after MGM Resorts properties nationwide ostensibly returned to normal and Caesars Entertainment admitted to paying a ransom during a cyberattack last month, five class-action lawsuits were filed in Nevada District Court. The plaintiffs claim that MGM and Caesars "failed to protect the personal identifiable information of loyalty-program customers, whose data may have been compromised during the separate attacks." They also argue that the two casino companies "failed to comply with Federal Trade Commission guidelines and industry standards" and an entire class of casino patrons are, thus, more vulnerable to identity theft now. As for the return to normalcy, MGM claims of full functioning are being disputed by on-the-ground reports. The MGM Rewards system works at the kiosks, but not on the website or app. Bellagio still has long check in lines; the smart phone key system is still down and we assume it's the same at other MGM properties. In an interview with CDC Gaming Reports, the IT director at a large tribal casino in California said, "MGM will be dealing with this, whether it’s technologically, operationally, or reputationally, for a long time."
The ubiquitous cameras at VegasChanges.com have been busy on the Strip. You can get a good look at the grandstands going up next to Lake Bellagio and the support structures for race lighting in place outside Caesars and the Mirage as work continues in preparation for the Las Vegas Grand Prix taking place in seven-plus weeks at this link.
The performer who apparently will open all 25 shows for U2 at the Sphere was announced on Friday on U2 X-Radio. Pauli Lovejoy, a.k.a. The PSM (the initials of his real name, Paul Stanley McKenzie), is a British percussionist, recording artist, and music director (he was the drummer and musical director for Harry Styles' "Love on Tour" concerts between 2021 and this year). The 34-year-old performer specializes in pop, hip hop, R&B, alternative rock, and electronica, so he should be an appropriate warm-up at the high-tech arena for the Irish rock band.
In tonight's second Monday Night Football game, the Cincinnati Bengals are -3 favorites over the Los Angeles Rams. The total is 45.5.
In the second of tonight's Monday Night Football double-header, the Philadelphia Eagles are -5.5 favorites over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The total is 44.
News reports indicate that the volcano has been shut off in preparation for grandstand construction in front of the Mirage. In addition, we hear that a number of trees along the volcano and the Strip will, like at Bellagio, be cut down so that views of the race aren't obstructed. The volcano is slated to resume erupting on December 8.
All reports, and our own audit, confirm that MGM Resorts online reservations system is operating normally two weeks after the cyberattack shut it down. Though little information about the event has emerged, some aftershocks are starting to surface. The Nevada Gaming Commission is calling for "greater transparency" about the cyberattack, which means that MGM will have to begin addressing regulator concerns. The stock price has cratered, plunging nearly 20% since September 10, and some Wall Street analysts are calling for a selloff of MGM, citing continuing uncertainty about the fallout, lost revenue and reputation, and significantly increased behind-the-scenes costs. And security experts are starting to weigh in about the company's lack of preparedness. In an interview, the executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance told Casino.org, "A lot of evidence suggests that MGM’s network was not properly segmented. There should never be a situation where, for example, something bad happens in your payment-card system and some of your slot machines don’t work. It’s like breaking into one store in the mall gets a criminal into every store in the mall."
Usher, the 44-year-old eight-time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer will headline the Super Bowl halftime show on February 11. Usher appeared to do a cameo in the 2011 Super Bowl headlined by the Black Eyed Peas. He's been doing a residency here for the past three years and is currently a Las Vegas resident. So he won't have to travel far to take the stage that day at Allegiant Stadium.
The Las Vegas Raiders are -3 favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 43.5.
In a note to investors late last week after meeting with a broad range of Las Vegas casino executives, Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas wrote the following about Station Casinos' Durango Resort, slated to open in mid-November. “Management has worked diligently to ensure there is not a loss leader on the property and believes it should see profit out of the box on the way to being the highest-margin property in the portfolio.” In layman's terms: Everything at the Durango (other than comps) will cost you retail or more and the new hotel-casino is projected to be the most profitable of all Station casinos. Jonas also noted that the $780 million hotel-casino, opening a week after the Formula 1 race, could serve as the “anti-F1" for players who don’t want to deal with the hullabaloo on the Strip.” We note that even if the hullabaloo on the Strip doesn't make it out to the Durango, it sure sounds like the prices will.
A story on KTNV13 enumerates the number of permanent full-time job openings still needing to be filled at Sphere, Durango, and Fontainebleau, all debuting in the next three months. Sphere is looking for 3,000 employees, Durango 700, and Fontainebleau 6,500. One local economist called it "more of a workers’ market than I’ve ever seen in my 30 years in business." On the other hand, the 10,000 jobs represent a fraction of Las Vegas' total hospitality employment, so they're not expected to move the unemployment from its current 5.4% statewide. Formula 1 is also looking for 1,000-plus employees, but those are temporary jobs that will end before Thanksgiving.
Rafael Fiziev is a -145 favorite over Mateusz Gamrot in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Bryce Mitchell is -215 over Dan Ige.
Work has started on the grandstands going up in front of Lake Bellagio and the sidewalk is closed to pedestrian traffic. Reportedly, the initial barricades didn't prevent pedestrians from walking on the street, with traffic having to drive around them. So more barricades were installed and now it would require a lot of effort to risk getting run over by cars, buses, limos, and the like. Pedestrians are being detoured through Bellagio to get from one side of the property to the other. Maybe they'll just stay inside.
According to real-estate-analysis site AttomData, Nevada has the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, with one in every 2,200 homes in some phase of the foreclosure process. In metropolitan areas with more than a million residents, Las Vegas is first in foreclosures with one in 1,800 homes. Local analysts have seen it coming since the pandemic, with the shutdown causing elevated numbers of unemployed. Mortgage-forgiveness periods have expired and the foreclosure process is now catching up with homeowners in arrears.
The annual J.D. Power North America Airport Satisfaction Study has been released and based on more than 27,000 traveler surveys collected between August 2022 and July 2023, Reid International ranked third in the mega-airport category. Reid received 787 points out of a possible 1,000 by way of six metrics: terminal facilities; airport arrival/departure; baggage claim; security check; check-in/baggage check; and food, beverage, and retail. Detroit Metropolitan placed first (800), followed by Minneapolis-Saint Paul International (796), which dropped out of its first-place position in last year's survey. Reid was followed by Dallas/Fort Worth International and Miami International (tied at 783), San Francisco International (781), and Denver International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, and Orlando International Airport (tied at 777). At the bottom of the mega category was Newark International (732).
Veteran standup comic Marc Maron will play four shows at the Wiseguys in the Arts District tonight and tomorrow night. With Pauly Shore, Maron is pretty much the biggest name to appear at Wiseguys that we've seen. He's also a popular podcaster (his 2010 interview with Louis C.K. has been named the most popular podcast of all time), TV writer and actor, and musician. Tomorrow's 7 p.m. show is sold out, but tickets remain for tonight's 7 and 9 p.m. shows and tomorrow's 9 p.m. show.; tickets are $46, which includes taxes and fees.
A week ago today, a slot player won $1,520,751 on a Wheel of Fortune Gold Spin Triple Gold machine at the Golden Nugget. And on Monday, a Texas visitor on her way home lined up the three jackpot symbols on a Wheel of Fortune Triple Double Emeralds machine at Harry Reid International Airport to take down the $643,434 progressive.
The San Francisco 49ers are -10.5 favorites over the New York Giants in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 44.
Or have your pick on which festival to enjoy this weekend!
A couple of days ago, Jimmy Kimmel announced he has COVID, so the “Strike Force Three” show scheduled for this weekend at Park MGM, with Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Fallon, is canceled. Kimmel tweeted, "Everyone will get full refunds and we will try to reschedule if possible." Meanwhile, in another tweet, Steve Martin announced that his shows with Martin Short at the Wynn tonight and tomorrow night are postponed due to "rampant COVID in our crew and one other essential guy" (Short?). He continued, "We're moving to mid-December, where your tickets will be honored, with an added 'date-moving tax' of nine thousand dollars." That Steve. What a card.
The Las Vegas Aces beat the Chicago Sky in both games of Round 1 of the WNBA playoffs, advancing to the semi-finals. Star forward A'ja Wilson scored a playoff career-high 38 points in the second game on the way to a 92-70 win. The number-one-seed Aces will face the number-four-seed Dallas Wings in another three-game series starting on Sunday at Mandalay Bay. The team is trying to repeat its WNBA championship and become the first team to do so since the Los Angeles Sparks won in 2001 and 2002.
In an announcement on X, MGM Resorts is indicating that "all casinos, hotels, dining, entertainment, and resort services are operating normally." That's the good news. The bad news are the exceptions. "Slot dollars and free play are available at all properties. MGM Rewards members’ accounts will be adjusted to reflect Tier Credits and MGM Rewards points at a later date. MGM Rewards points redemption and certain promotional offers may be unavailable." Also, apparently, computer systems at Excalibur remain compromised for now. The company is obviously still dealing with issues from the cyberattack, but at least it looks like the worst is in the rear-view mirror.
MGM has posted a web page that answers the questions people with reservations at one of the company's properties across the country can expect to encounter when they arrive for their stays. The FAQ include making (still by phone only) and canceling (via email through Sunday without charge) reservations, checking in and out, booking restaurants, events, and the spa, and what's going on in the casinos. Only free play is available; no points are being redeemed. As for the all-important question, "Was my data exposed?", MGM remains mum on Day 11 of the fallout from the cyberattack: "Our investigation is ongoing and we are working diligently to evaluate the scope and nature of the issue. At this time, we do not have additional information available to share."
The New York Post is running a story this morning that spotlights "Aura," the world’s most humanoid robot.” Aura, along with four clones, will apparently greet visitors to Sphere, as well as serve as a guide "who can answer questions about directions inside the arena and details of daily performances, along with "unique engineering and other aspects of the highly advanced technology." Get a preview of Aura and what he/she sounds like here.
Founded in 1950 in the heart of Brooklyn on Flatbush Avenue (and DeKalb), Junior's Cheesecake is opening its first location beyond the East Coast at Resorts World. The original location remains in place 73 years later; Junior's has three other locations, two in Times Square and the other at Foxwoods. This one will land across from Randy's Donuts in a 300-seat room. Junior's is renowned for the best cheesecake in the city and beyond. It's also a full-service deli and New York-style diner, with a huge menu of breakfast items and soups, salads, sandwiches, steaks, seafood, barbecue, and chef's specialties. We assume that the famous bakery will move west as well; Junior's could turn into the go-to dessert place for its cheesecakes, pastries, brownies, cookies, ice cream sodas, shakes and malts, and of course rugelach. According to the RW website, Junior's is slated to open in November.
With less than three months till opening day, Fontainebleau is swinging open the doors to the media to showcase the kind of place that will be unveiled on December 13. From where we sit, all the breathless coverage means one thing: expensive. Fontainebleau isn't exactly competing with the Sahara and Circus Circus; the price points look to be as high as, if not higher than, the Wynn, Resorts World, and Palazzo/Venetian, the next closest casinos. The photos emerging are all ultra-chic and sparkling and according to Travel & Leisure, the lobby lounge is reminiscent of the designer's work at the exclusive Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Doha, Qatar, and Harrods Department Store in London. The centerpiece chandelier is 80 feet wide and 60 feet tall, comprising 1,200 bowtie-shaped glass columns. The "30 luxury retailers dotting the perimeter on the first and second floors will also have prime views of the action." One interesting detail is that, unlike the typical low-ceiling casinos, Fontainebleau's will be 42 feet high. The fancy restaurants will include: Don's Prime steakhouse ("a throwback to the Rat Pack era"); La Fontaine (French); Mother Wolf (an Italian restaurant popular in L.A.); Chyna Club (high-end Chinese); Cantina Contramar (high-end Mexican); and Komodo (SE Asian) and Papi Steak, which we wrote about in a News item yesterday. Casual fare will be available at Vida (breakfast/lunch), Kyu (pan-Asian), the Tavern (sports bar), La Cote (Mediterranean), and Washing Potato (dim sum). Of course, there's a food hall, with seven outlets (burgers, bagels, tacos, pizza, omikase, salads, and coffee).
The band U2 performed live on a flatbed trailer parked on Main Street in front of the Plaza on Saturday night, recording a new song, "Atomic City," about Las Vegas. It's assumed it will be among the centerpieces of the band's residency at Sphere, which starts next week. Of course, the performance was filmed for a music video and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., was playing drums, although he won't be doing so during the residency due to a health condition. Reportedly, this was not a spontaneous event; the band hired 250 extras and paid $150 each to be in the background. While the crew was finalizing the details, the band performed an acoustic version of one of their biggest hits, "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for." Watch the whole video to see both. And for a great blast from the past, watch the original music video of that song, taped in 1987 at the same location downtown. which you can see here.
How big is online casino gambling? GGR, the all-important gross gaming revenue, in the only six states that allow igaming is approaching a half-billion dollars. A month. One of them is Delaware, which grosses about $1 million. The biggies are Michigan and New Jersey, which flip-flop back and forth for most monthly GGR at $150 million, give or take 10%, and Pennsylvania is always a close third. Another indication of igaming popularity is the number of slot games available. According to PlayMichigan's count, Michigan's has 15 online casinos offer an astounding 8,958 of them. Three of the casinos -- BetMGM, BetRivers, and WynnBet -- feature more than 1,000 each, with more than 350 progressive jackpots. Too many people have too much time on their hands and, we sincerely hope, enough money.
In tonight's second Monday Night Football game, the Cleveland Browns are -2 favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The total is 39.
In the first of tonight's Monday Night Football double-header, the New Orleans Saints are -3 favorites over the Carolina Panthers. The total is 40.
Still dealing with the fallout from the cyberattack on its computer systems a week ago yesterday, MGM Resorts has extended its waiving of cancellation fees through next Sunday, Sept. 24. The waiver had been set to expire yesterday. Systems companywide remain compromised and customer service is slooooow from the front desk and restaurants to the slots. MGM claims it made its payroll on Friday, though some employees have complained publicly that they didn't receive their checks. A 5,000-attendee supermarket convention is scheduled to begin tomorrow, the details of which are somewhat up in the air. In addition, a Wall Street gambling analyst is estimating that MGM could be losing between $4.2 million and $8.4 million in daily revenue and around $1 million in cash flow every day that the cyberattack remains unresolved. Those figures represent 10% to 20% of the company's normal daily $42 million in revenue and $8 million in cash flow. Apparently, MGM is holding out against paying a ransom to the hackers, as Caesars did, for a reported $15 million in crypto, when its systems were attacked last month.
We've waited a long time, 16 years since it broke ground in real-estate's inauspicious year of 2007, for Fontainebleau (a.k.a. The Drew) to announce a grand-opening date, but here it finally is. The $3.7 billion 3,600-room resort-casino on the north Strip will open on Wednesday December 13. The press release states that reservations can be made online starting Monday, which we assume means today, though when we tried, we couldn't gain access to the website. Be that as it may, a few more details have been released. Two restaurants from the Miami Fontainebleau, Papi Steak and Komodo, will be recreated here; Komodo was the country's top-grossing independent restaurant in 2022: $41 million in sales and 285,000 meals served. The Hollywood Reporter describes Papi Steak as serving "massive slabs of meat in a signature 'Beef Case.' Inspired by the Marsellus Wallace briefcase in Pulp Fiction, the Beef Case is like bottle service for a steak. When someone orders a $1,000 55-ounce Wagyu Tomahawk, they get a 60-second show with sparklers, an entrance song, lasers, all to present the slab of meat in a gold-lined bedazzled briefcase." LIV, Fontainebleau Miami's nightclub, will also be the scene to make in Las Vegas, with an attached dayclub, LIV Beach. (You can see photos here.) We'll have more details when the website returns.
The New England Patriots are -3 favorites over the Miami Dolphins in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 46.5.
In case you're planning that far ahead, perennially popular George Strait will be playing Allegiant Stadium on December 7, 2024, during the National Finals Rodeo. It's part of a nine-date stadium tour starting in Indianapolis on May 4 and ending at Allegiant. You can register for early access to tickets at georgestraitconcerts.com. Strait, known as the "King of Country," has 60 number-one hits, more than any other artist in any genre of music; he was one of the first artists to perform at T-Mobile on April 23, 2016, two and a half weeks after it opened.
The smash hit musical Jersey Boys is returning to Las Vegas after a several-year absence. The show, its only performance in the U.S., will premiere at the Orleans on December 21 in the 850-seat Showroom. The room is outfitted with a state-of-the-art Audioteknik sound system, so the acoustics should be crystal clear, and in such a small venue, there's not a bad seat in the house. Preview shows will run Wed.-Sun. at 7:30 p.m. through January 17, at which time it will be dark on Tuesdays only, with a Saturday matinee at 3 p.m. Tickets are on sale now and start at $69.95.
Valentina Shevchenko is a -175 favorite over Alexa Grasso in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Jack Della Maddalena is -130 over Kevin Holland.
Following David Blaine's residency last September through July at the 4,700-seat Resorts World Theater, the illusionist, endurance artist, and extreme performer will move across the Boulevard to the Wynn for a new residency in the 1,480-seat Encore Theater. Blaine told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that thanks to the smaller room, his new show will be much more interactive and involve the entire audience. The 12 shows will take place Dec. 29, 30, and 31; Feb. 14, 17, and 18; March 27, 29, and 30; and May 8, 10, and 11. Tickets start at $69.95 plus taxes and fees and go on sale today at 10 a.m. PT.
In a survey by Forbes on the average salary for each U.S. state, Nevada slightly below the middle with the 30th highest average salary: $55,490 or $26.68 per hour. Massachusetts is highest at $76,600/$36.83 and Mississippi is last at $45.180/$21.72. Forbes notes, "Cost of living often aligns with local income levels, which may counter the drawbacks of a lower salary."
According to a number of published reports, as of a few hours ago, systems were still down at MGM hotel-casinos around the country. Some slot machines and ATMs remained offline, all the MGM Rewards kiosks were down, guests with weekend reservations could get no live customer-service reps on the phone, and the company remained mute on details of the cyberattack and when all systems might be restored, except to issue a statement that it's "continuing to work diligently to resolve our cybersecurity issue.” Check-in lines are still staggeringly long and one report said that in some cases, employees with radios are accompanying guests on elevators, so that if their rooms keys don't work, they can communicate with the front desk. The news site Axios cited an unnamed recent MGM employee who said that "the company restructured roughly 75% of its corporate IT teams in April, resulting in layoffs, and outsourced another IT team in July." The hacker group claiming responsibility for the cyberattack issued a statement last night that might shed similar light on the subject. It was reprinted on CyberNews.com, which wrote, "The gang posted its heavily worded statement just before 8 p.m. ET Thursday, claiming it had successfully infiltrated MGM’s infrastructure the previous Friday, but waited until Sunday to launch its ransomware attacks, mainly due to the lack of response from MGM engineers, whom ALPHV claimed it had 'pinged' repeatedly with no response." Some progress is apparently being made; the individual hotel websites are back up. BetMGM, the company's sports betting app, hasn't been affected.
A story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal cites room rates at four center Strip hotels dropping an average of around 50% for the November weekend of the Formula 1 race. That's not to say they're affordable; Caesars' rates, for example, fell from $5,323 per night when they were first announced in November 2002 to $3,383 yesterday. Even the Linq, those old Imperial Palace rooms are still going for $1,395. The article suggests that, this being the first event of its kind in Las Vegas, predicting demand is tricky, but that the hotels' yield-management systems for determining demand were perhaps overly optimistic initially. Some grandstand tickets for the race are still for sale at $500 each, with the current projection at 105,000 visitors in attendance for the three-day event.
“Skydive the Strip: After Sunset” is advertising nighttime tandem jumps over the city. The company says it's the world's first and only skydiving experience authorized to market tandem skydiving after dark. According to the press release, "Traditionally, tandem jumps for first-time jumpers are completed only during the day and prohibited to be conducted after sunset, due to their elevated risk and complexity."
Check-in, preparation, and training take place in a private lounge at the Las Vegas Country Club. The trip includes 15-20 minutes in a helicopter over the Strip. Packages start at $30,000. But book fast. No more than 100 reservations are accepted per year.
The Philadelphia Eagles are -6 favorites over the Minnesota Vikings in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 48.5.
It appears that recent rumors have been confirmed. According to Bloomberg, which released their story yesterday, hackers broke into Caesars Entertainment computer systems "over recent weeks" and threatened to release sensitive data unless the company paid up. Caesars, by its own admission in a required filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, complied -- with "tens of millions of dollars, according to Bloomberg. VitalVegas' reports that the initial demand was $30 million, but Caesars bargained them down to $15 million. Reportedly, in this cyberattack, the hackers "breached an outside IT vendor before gaining access to the company’s network."
Four days later, MGM Resorts is still in the throes of the hacker attack on Sunday. The websites are still down, check-in lines have been miles long, other systems, including reservations and company email, have yet to recover, and the publicity is so onerous that MGM has actually admitted that the attack "represents a material risk to the company." In addition, credit-rating-agency Moody's issued a credit warning on MGM, indicating that the attack "highlighted key risks" at the company. Meanwhile, late Tuesday night, VX-Underground, a malware research firm, identified a ransomware group known alternatively as ALPHV and BlackCat as claiming responsibility for the attack, reporting that the group used social engineering to identify an MGM employee who worked in IT support from a LinkedIn account. With that information in hand, ALPHV apparently called the MGM help desk and 10 minutes later, amazingly enough, executed the attack. This information is unverified, but experts agree that VX-Underground is a highly reliable source and ALPHV is an effective hacker network responsible for at least 60 large cyberattacks. There remain many unknowns, but Yahoo is reporting that the hackers have embedded ransomware, but MGM is refusing, at least so far, to pay. And you can see a special YouTube report on the situation, with eyewitness accounts (and how the other casinos are capitalizing on the situation) in the seven-minute video.
As summer-grade gasoline, mandated by federal regulations, ends tomorrow, prices are rising and fast. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded is up to $4.64, 16 cents higher than a week ago and 34 cents higher than this time last month. Gas prices typically rise in the spring and at the end of summer, with increased demand and the summer grade of product, then decline as demand lessens into the fall and winter. At this time last year, the average price was $4.90, 26 cents higher, so comparatively speaking, it's not all bad news.
If you were planning on watching the late-night "Nightline" episode on Tupac Shakur that we announced yesterday was scheduled to air this evening on the 25th anniversary of his death, we hear it's been moved to Thursday, September 21. Whenever it airs, Cathy Scott, author of our book The Killing of Tupac Shakur, is featured on the program.
For a look at how huge the screen inside Sphere is, the director of "Postcard from Earth," Darren Aronofsky, is offering a preview of the movie he's producing for the venue. The perspective, watching the elephant in the room as compared to the seats and director's table, is astounding. You can see it on Instagram by clicking here. The movie premieres on what's being billed as the largest screen in the world at the Sphere on October 6. Tickets are available now, starting at $49 and going up to $160.
After Saturday afternoon’s entry deadline for the Circa Survivor football contest, there were 9,267 entrants. At $1,000 each and with the guarantee of all entry money going into the prize pool, the final amount for the contest is a record-breaking $9,267,000, all of which will go to the winner or winners. In Sunday's action, 1,985 of the 9,267 entrants were eliminated. Of the losses, 1,044 bet on Minnesota, 600 on Seattle, and 141 on Denver. Amazingly enough, after ponying up the $1,000 entry, 31 people didn't submit a pick by the Saturday afternoon deadline and were eliminated without even a single week of action.
The Las Vegas Aces host the Chicago Sky at Mandalay Bay this evening to start the first round of the WNBA playoffs. After beating Phoenix on Sunday (for the ninth time in a row), the Aces clinched the number-one seed, so they'll have home court advantage through the post-season; they're 19-1 at home. Las Vegas beat Chicago all three times the teams met this season. Round 1 requires two wins out of three games.
According to published reports, MGM Resorts fully reopened its casino floors, credit-card payment processing, and entertainment and dining venues by last night, and guests, previously unable to enter their rooms via card keys, regained access. However, all the company's websites remain down as of this morning, along with the critical reservations systems for rooms and restaurants, 36 hours after they were taken down. The FBI is reportedly "looking into the issue," but has no comment so far. The cause of this event hasn't been revealed; all MGM said in its initial statement was that it had experienced a cybersecurity event and shut down certain systems to protect data. In 2019, MGM systems were hacked and upwards of 10 million customers' personal information was exposed.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the Boring Company is planning a $2.4 million tunnel and station at the STRAT, which will, if all goes according to plan, be "one of the next Loop lines to come onboard." But before that happens, second tunnels will connect the Convention Center with Resorts World, Encore, and Westgate in order to have a dedicated tunnel in each direction.
One of our most popular pages features links to the best Las Vegas webcams -- the Welcome sign, the Strip, downtown, traffic, and others. But the most popular link on the webcam page is the one we recently posted of the Sphere. Not much happens during daylight hours, though you can move the slider to see some prerecorded video of the display. Tune in at night and you'll get a view of some of the amazing high-res graphics this 1.2 million LED baby can put out. Link to it here or go to Visit > Webcams in the nav and you'll find the Sphere at the bottom of the page. Click Las Vegas Sphere to access the webcam.
The Buffalo Bills are -2.5 favorites over the New York Jets in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 44.5.
A week from Thursday, September 21, Barry Manilow will pass Elvis Presley for the most shows at the Westgate. Elvis performed 636 sold-out shows at the property when it was called the International (it was later known as the Las Vegas Hilton); the venue in which both Elvis performed between 1969 and 1976 and Manilow currently appears is called the International Theater). Manilow will play his 637th show next week, as well as celebrate 50 years as a recording artist (his first album was released in July 1973). Tickets are available for the September 21-23 shows and proceeds will go to a half-dozen charities, including the local Three Square Food Bank.
MGM Resorts has just released a statement concerning what looks like a cybersecurity failure that has impacted "some of the company's systems" in the company’s digital operations. This is breaking news, so details are scanty so far, but the MGM website is completely inoperable; all pages are redirected to a single page that instructs users to call the concierge for services. Fox 5 News is reporting that "all computer-based operations at Bellagio" are being handled manually; even the credit-card machines have been impacted, so all transactions must be made in cash. The scope of the problem is further evidenced by the company's entire email system being offline; the statement was issued via a Gmail account. Reports from MGM properties around the country are similar. Looks serious.
With less than three weeks until the grand opening of the Sphere (September 29), the New York Post reports that Sphere Entertainment is looking for upwards of $40 million for the naming rights for the venue. Toward that end, the company has created a partnership with its largest competitor, Oak View Group, to sell those rights, plus sponsorships and other corporate infusions for Sphere and Madison Square Garden facilities around the country. Oak View owns and/or operates more than 300 arenas and sports and entertainment venues and is building an arena of its own near Silverton. (For more on Oak View and its plans for Las Vegas, read our recent Question of the Day.) In related news, according to the website U2Songs, the U2 crew has been in Las Vegas for "several weeks" working in Sphere and band members are here now as well. "The set list is mostly worked out at this point and the upcoming weeks will be focused on making the whole production fit together with an emphasis on incorporating video components, stage choreography, and the music."
The Dallas Cowboys are -3 favorites over the New York Giants in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 44.5.
Novak Djokovic is a -230 favorite over Daniil Medvedev in today's U.S. Open tennis men's final. Djokovic is seeking his 4th U.S. Open title and record 24th Grand Slam championship. Medvedev is playing for his second Grand Slam win.
The Las Vegas Aces (33-6) play their final regular-season game today as they take on the Phoenix Mercury (9-30) for the second time in three days. The game will be played at Mandalay Bay starting at noon; the Aces beat the Mercury on Friday night in Phoenix 94-73. If the Aces win, they'll clinch the number-one seed to face eighth-seed Chicago in the opening round of the playoffs. We won't even consider the Aces losing; they've beaten the Mercury eight in a row. Meanwhile, in Denver, the Las Vegas Raiders open their season against the Broncos at 1:25 p.m. The two were among the lesser performing teams last year: Raiders 6-11, Broncos 5-12. But Las Vegas completely retooled the offense, with former San Francisco 49er Jimmy Garappolo at quarterback, while star running back Josh Jacobs, who held out in a contract dispute till just a few days ago, will also be starting. Denver is a slight favorite in the game. There's also a lot of hype about this season's Super Bowl in Las Vegas as the NFL season kicks off.
Touted as having no virtual or augmented reality and no arcade games, the completely analog Play Playground has been announced for the second floor of Luxor. Written up in a Las Vegas Review-Journal story, Play Playground will be a one-of-a-kind 14,000-square-foot attraction that's entered on a kid's slide; it also features "physical, memory, puzzle, and word games," a bounce house, Velcro wall, and several other main attractions. An element of competition is involved with a leaderboard keeping scores. Play Playground will be for families during the day and over 21 only at night. No admission price has been set; the playground will take 90 minutes to complete and is slated to open early next year
Israel Adesanya is a -685 favorite over Sean Strickland in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Alexander Volkov is -240 over Tai Tuivasa.
Today is deadline day, both for entering the big football contests and getting in your Week 1 picks. You have until 2 pm PST today to enter Circa’s Million and Survivor and until 3 pm to enter Westgate’s SuperContest and SuperContest Gold. If you’re already signed up, don’t forget to put your picks in by 4 pm today at Circa and 9 pm at Westgate.
Aryna Sabalenka is a -130 favorite over Coco Gauf in today's U.S. Open tennis women's final. Sabalenka is seeking her second Grand Slam title, Gauf her first.
Bally's Corp., which was chosen to build and operate the first casino within the Chicago city limits in May 2022, is launching its temporary casino this morning at Medinah Temple, an ornate Moorish-style auditorium that opened in 1912 with 4,200 seats on three levels for various events, such as the Shrine Circus and Chicago Symphony Orchestra concerts. Bally's temporary casino has 750 slot machines, 55 table games, two restaurants, and a cafe. It will be open 21 hours a day (closed 5-8 a.m.) to start and eventually 24 hours. It will be in operation for at least two years while the permanent casino, in the Chicago Tribune's old printing plant on W. Chicago Avenue, just outside of downtown, is built. The $1.7 billion permanent casino will boast a 500-room hotel, 3,400 slots and 173 table games, 11 restaurants, 3,000-seat theater, and exhibition hall.
To no one's surprise, the Wynn/Encore is bringing back paid parking on September 27 starting at 7 a.m. The good news, at least to start, is that the first four hours are free. Then the daily rate is $20, with valet parking $40; parking for hotel guests, poker players, and Chairman, Platinum, and Black players club tiers remains free. Kudos to the Wynn for the four free hours, unlike the Venetian/Palazzo, with its no free hours or even minutes. Of course, this could and is likely to change for big events, like the F1 race, but for now, it's better news than it might've been -- and on the Strip -- for a change.
Anthony and Andrew launch right into this week's LVA YouTube Update with a review of the latest developments of the Las Vegas Grand Prix: temporary vehicle bridges crossing the circuit for employee and guest access and the trees that have been cut down in front of Bellagio (and get a load of Anthony's comment about the typical "stupid spin" that MGM Resorts put on the tree slaughter). The popular and pivotal Center Bar from the Hard Rock might return to the Virgin, which replaced it. Football season has arrived (with last night's Lions-Chiefs stunner) and the guys talk about the Circa contests. The new video poker tournament at the Downtown Grand also debuted last night and the format has been set; catch the video of the "world's fastest video poker player." The Question of the Week is about betting the Circa contests from the app and the Jackpot of the Week is a Super Times Pay jackpot with the maximum eight-times multiplier. Wow. Check it out!
On Labor Day, a slot player was laboring away on a Buffalo Diamond Extreme machine at the Venetian. The press releases says it was a $7 bet in the bonus round that led to the jackpot of $2,158,526.
The Kansas City Chiefs are -4.5 favorites over the Detroit Lions in tonight's Thursday Night Football game that opens the 2023 NFL season. The total is 53.5.
The Culinary and Bartender union locals have scheduled a member vote to authorize a strike later this month if contract negotiations with the major resorts aren't completed. Upwards of 53,000 hospitality workers will meet at Thomas and Mack in two sessions on September 26 for the vote. If a majority approves the strike, that will authorize the unions to call one. However, the Culinary hasn't set a contract deadline and made it a point to mention that negotiations over a new five-year contract for its members proceed "in good faith will all companies."
The tree stumps lining Lake Bellagio and the Strip are evidence of the latest victims of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The leafy 25-year-old trees were cut to make room for the grandstands that will be installed in their place for the race. According to the new reports, an MGM Resorts representative stated, "This work is part of preparations for the Las Vegas Grand Prix and our efforts to provide the best possible experience through improved visibility, mobility, and pedestrian access and safety.” The trees closest to the lake "are slated to be removed and temporarily stored ahead of the race, before being replanted sometime before New Year’s Eve.” The only problem is that according to eyewitnesses, those trees were sheared off at the base like the ones along the Strip, which will be chipped. Tough to 1) replant a tree that's been severed from its root system and 2) dig up 25-year-old trees on the Strip by the roots to save them, even at a horticulturally advanced property like Bellagio. The reports also warn that these are the "first of several tree cuttings and removals ahead of Formula One."
A survey on the crowd-sourced review platform Yelp has found that the Las Vegas Strip hosts four of the top 25 most photographed restaurants in the U.S. Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen at Caesars ranked at number one, followed by the Bacchanal Buffet, also at Caesars, at number two, then Vanderpump à Paris at number 11 and Catch at Aria at 18. Vegas had the most restaurants on the list; New York City had three (including Katz's Deli and Harry Potter New York) and Los Angeles had two, though California had the most of any state at five, the limit imposed by the survey.
The American Gaming Association is predicting that 73.5 million adults, nearly 30% of 21-and-older Americans, will bet on NFL games this season. In its annual survey, the AGA found that 27 million more adults will place bets than last year, an increase of just under 35% over last year's 46.6 million. Nearly 50 million of them will bet online. This is the fifth football season since the Supreme Court opened the floodgates of sports betting throughout the nation. According to the AGA, more than $250 billion has been handled by sports books since then.
The median price of condos and townhomes in southern Nevada set a record in August. The $287,000 median price beat the previous record of $285,000 set in May. It was due, according to realtors, to the tight supply and especially high demand for lower-cost housing in the valley. Single-family homes, meanwhile, are holding steady, with a median price of $447,435 in August, down a half-point year over year. Condos were up 8% over August 2022.
An article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal updates the situation with the All Net Arena, the project in the works for the past decade on the 26-acre former site of Wet 'n Wild water park on the north Strip (between Fontainebleau and the Sahara). The final deadline imposed by the county for the land-use permit expires today. The CEO of the project, former basketball player Jackie Robinson, told the R-J that not only is work proceeding, but "the finances are 100 percent in place, so we’re all ready to go" on the nearly $5 billion property, featuring two hotel towers, a 22,000-seat retractable-roof arena, convention center, movie theater, and grocery store, but no casino. Robinson says that the work is happening underground in preparation for the parking garage and that his company has submitted a 1,000-page plan to the county. The latest schedule is for the All Net Resort and Arena to open in 2026 -- if the county buys the latest projections and extends the permit again.
An interesting new seafood restaurant and bar have opened at Treasure Island. The Yacht Club continues the nautical-piratical theme at the casino, being "fit for hardy fishermen, yacht cruisers, and those pillaging the Las Vegas Strip for delicious fresh seafood." Catching our attention on the menu are the pan roasts with scallops, shrimp, mussels, and half-lobster ($53) and a similar "clam bake" with sausage and a whole lobster ($93 for two) in a cream, tomato cream, or cioppino base. Also littleneck clams, ceviche, and crab cake appetizers ($23-$26), fish & chips ($27), rainbow trout ($31), and snow/king crab and whole lobster (market price).
As always, we've been fielding questions about the impact of the huge monsoon storm over the weekend on the water level in Lake Mead. And as always, the answer is that the precipitation added a few drops in the proverbial bucket. That said, Lake Mead continues to rise due to continuing runoff and releases from Lake Powell upstream. The water level has risen 22 feet since this time last year and several feet over the past month or so. The Bureau of Reclamation says that the rising reservoir will level off in the fall and then we'll start to see what this winter -- an El Nino year, which means wetter than normal in the Southwest and South -- has in store.
British singer-songwriter Adele will wrap up her second residency at the Colosseum at Caesars in November and is, new reports reveal, in talks for a third round next year. According to GulfNews.com, Caesars Entertainment is "desperate to sign her for another spate of gigs in the new year and are coming up with a deal she’ll find very difficult to refuse, closer to $1.2 million a night." Apparently, Adele likes the stability that these residencies give her, much less grueling than a tour, and she can "spend all week with her son 10-year-old son Angelo."
This "art"-icle on ArtNet.com begins, in Las Vegas, "... art is commodified and reduced to spectacle, but also ubiquitous, accessible, and often top quality. With no major institution in town, you tend to find works in unexpected places." It goes on to identify a number of noteworthy works of art at the Palms, Bellagio, Aria, and the Shops at Crystals. It's worth a quick look at a good piece that looks at Vegas from an atypical angle. (And thanks to Canada Roy for finding it.)
If you're here and looking for a major deal today, La Popular, a favorite restaurant in one of Mexico City's hippest neighborhoods that opened a few weeks ago at the Palms, is extending its weekday happy hour all day today, starting at opening at 11 a.m. We reviewed this happy hour in the September issue of the Advisor and were impressed with the whole setup. Drinks are $5 (beer), $8 (margarita), and $10 (beer and tequila) and they come with a big bowl of chips and four different salsas, "ranging from benign to blowtorch." The food starts at $5 for grilled avocado or chipotle bean dip and goes to $9 for two tacos and chips. Our bill for a bowl of guacamole, carnitas tacos, and a margarita came to a reasonable $25 and turned out to serve not only as dinner, but lunch the next day as well. We recommend checking out La Popular and an all-day happy hour is as good an opportunity as any.
After a dismal showing in the XFL's first season at Cashman Field, both on the field (2-8) and in the stands (lowest attendance in the league), the Las Vegas Vipers are moving, according to a report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Cashman was a last-minute emergency venue for the Vipers and the five home games attracted an average of 6,000 spectators, compared to the St. Louis Battlehawks (35,000); the Vipers lost three of the five home games. It's unknown if the Vipers will seek a venue in Las Vegas or vicinity, but the R-J cites Nashville and Phoenix as potential new homes for the team's second season, which begins in February.
All the news this morning concerns the monsoon madness that hit southern Nevada with a vengeance yesterday and Friday, wreaking havoc. A big part of the problem was ground saturation from Hurricane Hilary last week, turning the desert into a lake. The greatest impacts were felt at Reid International, where nearly 400 flights were delayed and 40 cancelled, and the closing of I-15 near Primm, which received upwards of three inches of rain in two hours yesterday, flooding the interstate, closing the westbound lanes entirely, and narrowing heavy Labor Day traffic into Vegas down to one lane for seven hours. In the city, streets flooded everywhere, stranding cars, trucks, and buses. (Here's a graphic view of a bad decision that prompted the National Weather Service to remind drivers, "Turn around. Don't drown.") Surprisingly, the UNLV football game at Allegiant was almost rained out. Yes, it's a closed stadium, but the rain was too much for the translucent roof to handle. And of course, water roared out of the Linq parking garage, as it always does, flooding the corner of the Strip and Flamingo. Today, the forecast calls for mostly sunny conditions, with a few scattered thunderstorms possible.
Sphere Entertainment has announced that a renowned "new-media artist," Refik Anadol, will become a resident artist at the Sphere for four months. The 38-year-old L.A.-based Turkish-American Anadol, whose art employs data-driven AI algorithms that create abstract environments, will turn the Sphere's exterior high-res LED display into an experience he calls "Machine Hallucinations." The way we understand it, the artwork will source millions of images of flora and fauna and space (from satellites and telescopes) that whiz by at lightning speeds to reflect the pace of social media, machine learning, and digital progress. We haven't seen any information on when the shows will play or for how long; watch this space for more details as they emerge.
This week's vlog starts out with a discussion about a couple of bloopers, one at the end of last week's livestream, the other a slip of Anthony's tongue about the location of Bob Taylor's Ranch House. Moving right along, the guys touch on the long-awaited opening date of Peter Luger's steakhouse at Caesars, new parking fees at Venetian and Cosmopolitan, $1 oysters, the current overlay of the Circa football contests, and the new video poker tournament at Downtown Grand. The Question of the Week is about Billy Walters and the Jackpot of the Week is another Megabucks bonanza, the second in two months and the third this year. Click, watch, like, subscribe, and tune in again next week.
A 1.8-acre vacant lot at the major intersection closest to Allegiant Stadium (Polaris Avenue and Russell Road) sold to an Arizona developer for $10.8 million, $6 million an acre, in January 2021. Scottsdale-based Diversified Partners bought the land and built an In N Out Burger on the site, designed to recreate the original In N Out drive-thru in Baldwin Park, California, which opened in 1948. Diversified completed the project and opened the new venue on Thursday; it's now the landlord, since all In N Out locations are corporate owned. The 2,243-square-foot building offers no indoor seating, with 88 seats in the outdoor patio. It also has a double drive-thru that can accommodate 53 vehicles at a time. The hours are 10:30 to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, 1:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
The first Yahoo-branded sports book has opened at the Venetian. The book has been remodeled to reflect the change, though it continues to be operated by William Hill.
Upwards of 330,000 visitors are expected here starting today for the long weekend, but the weather doesn't look like it'll cooperate, at least through Saturday. A flash flood watch is in effect from this morning through Saturday night, with an unpredictable monsoon storm hitting various places in the valley with up to an inch of rain in a short period. The threat of thunderstorms trails off on Saturday evening, though isolated pockets of showers are possible through Sunday.
Burning Man began in June 1986 on Baker Beach in San Francisco as a bonfire where a few friends gathered to celebrate the summer solstice in an act of "radical self-expression." This year, it has attracted an estimated 80,000 people to the Black Rock desert roughly 100 miles north of Reno and will culminate Sunday night when the 40-foot-tall Man is Burned. And the self-expression has to be seen to be believed. You can get a great glimpse of the vehicle art via this photo essay in the San Francisco Standard.
Typically, September temperatures drop from hot to pretty hot, descending from average highs around 99 in the beginning of the month to 88 at the end. The average lows make the nights comfortable enough to eschew air-conditioning for all but the hottest-blooded; they start out at 76 and go down to 65. Still, summer remains for three of the four weeks, so the record high is a sweltering 114 (September 6, 2020), with four more days above 110 and nine at 108 and 109. But it can also cool way down, with the record low at 43 degrees (September 27, 1948) and 12 other dates in the 40s. Normally, nearly a third of an inch of rain falls, the eighth driest month of the year.