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We couldn't resist reading the full article in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal in which three jurors, including the foreman, talked to a reporter about their deliberations in the trial of Robert Telles, convicted of murdering R-J investigative reporter Jeff German. The upshot was that Telles did himself irreparable damage by testifying; "there were just so many holes and contradictions in it," according to one juror. The jury was also convinced by one crucial piece of evidence (Telles' DNA found under German's fingernails), as well as how Telles walked (at one point, the jury requested a second laptop, so that they could compare the gait of the suspect and the defendant, which turned out to be exactly the same). But the detail that gave us a little deeper insight into the deliberations was the fact that they could actually see the sign atop the Review-Journal building downtown from the jury room in the Regional Justice Center, which was "haunting." One juror summed it up perfectly. "If you kill a reporter in America, in Sin City, all you're doing is recruiting an army of investigative journalists to prove you did it."
While hundreds of Culinary Union members picketed Virgin yesterday, 23 protestors sat down in front of the casino entrance to bring attention to the impasse between the hotel-casino and union. Virgin and Metro police were ready for the sit-in; all 23 were handcuffed, escorted one by one onto a police bus, and taken away; they were cited for trespassing and released. Working without a contract since June 1, 2023, the union, which claims Virgin hasn't budged from a $0 raise for the first three years of a new five-year contract, is obviously ramping up its campaign.
A Golden Knights-themed restaurant, Vegas Born Bar & Grill, has opened at Harry Reid International in the D Gates in Terminal 1. As the name indicates, it's a sports bar with a variety of beers on tap. Its debut has been quiet so far, but an official ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place on Wednesday September 4.
This week's YouTube has an interesting special guest, Brady Kannon, a member of the renowned Sans Souci team that won the Westgate's SuperContest in 2011 and is hosting a new podcast, Las Vegas Football Contest Show. Brady talks all about the incredible growth of football contests in Las Vegas and discusses the show, in which he, along with a fellow SuperContest winner and former NFL player Mike Pritchard, delve as deeply as possible into the football contest scene. They also give their picks on the upcoming week's games for the big contests through the season. If you're into football, especially the contests, this is one not to miss.
The Superbook at Westgate is offering NFL sides at -108 and college football sides at -109 instead of the standard -110. Other specials include -105 on UNLV game days, along with Thursday NFL games and other selected dates, such as on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Note that the promotion runs for the whole season, but only on full-game sides against the spread. Also, the reduced juice starts around noon on Monday, so for the first 24 hours of the lines being posted, the bets will be at the standard -110.
The Vegas Kickoff Classic, in which the USC and LSU college football teams will face off for the first time in 40 years, is expected to host 63,000 fans, which would break the attendance record at Allegiant Stadium. That, on top of the usual Labor Day weekend crowds, will inundate the city; the LVCVA expects 335,000 visitors, topping last year's crowd by 15,000 people. The Kickoff Classic kicks off at 4:30 PT on Sunday.
It’s Labor Day weekend so there’s a long line up of entertainment to see.
We were at the food hall at Caesars Palace recently and couldn't believe how many dead counters there were. What used to be a thriving fast-food center with seven or eight different outlets was a shell of its former self; just three were open, Bobby’s (Flay) Burgers, Chicken Guy (Fieri), and a coffee bar-bakery. Now, word comes that celebrity chef Esther Choi will open a mŏkbar eatery at the food hall soon. Choi is known for five Korean restaurants in New York City, including two mŏkbars, as well as her many appearances on the Food Network. mŏkbar serves open buns (a Korean-style sub), dumplings, noodle dishes, and bowls, all in the $8-$18 range, according to the menu for the Brooklyn location. mŏkbar will join Rick Bayliss' Tortazo Mexican counter and Buddy V’s Pizzeria, also opening later this year, to fill out the food hall again.
We didn't cover this story or the trial; it was just too gruesome and depressing. But closing arguments were presented on Monday morning and the jurors deliberated four hours Monday afternoon, then six hours on Tuesday, and yesterday around noon returned with the verdict. Robert Telles, the former county Public Administrator, was convicted of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon in the stabbing death of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German in September 2022. German had been covering Telles for running a toxic workplace, having an extra-marital affair with an underling, and allegedly being involved in a scam involving the assets of people who died without a will or family contacts, which his office oversaw. The jury determined that the murder was "willful, deliberate, and premeditated" and will decide on a sentence. The prosecution didn't pursue the death penalty, so the jury, after an hour of deliberation, sentenced Telles to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years. The 47-year-old convict is going away for a long long time -- and good riddance to him.
Circa is opening 106 rooms and suites, which will increase the resort's total room count from 512 to 618. The rooms occupy four floors in the middle of the tower. The four suites and 102 king rooms will be rolled out floor by floor every two weeks starting in late October and finishing up by Christmas. Travel Weekly interviewed Derek Stevens and it's worth a quick read for the view from the top as to why these rooms were left over and why they're coming to the market now.
Two slot players at the Wynn each hit $1 million jackpots on Dragon Link machines within hours of each other last weekend. Late on Saturday, a player hit for $1,191,881. Then early Sunday morning shortly after the reset, a second winner took down $1,005,405. Both players, according to the Wynn, are regulars, so perhaps the jackpots got them even. It's the second time the Wynn has paid out two jackpots of more than $1 million within 24 hours.
Casino.org is reporting that MGM Resorts is now charging $15 for booking with a live room-reservation agent, rather than through the online system. Oh, and that's $15 a night. Oh, and tax is added to the fee. The story cites a guest who posted her bill on X; for her three-night stay, booking on the phone cost an extra $51.03, $45 for the three nights and $6.03 in tax. The receipt, shown on Casino.org, lists the charge as an “ICE Contact Center Fee.” However, it should be noted that someone commented, "That doesn't look like any MGM folio I've ever received. It looks like an input screen for a reservations agent. Maybe MGM, maybe not. I guarantee there's context missing here." Perhaps the guest called a third-party booking agent, or MGM is outsourcing its live reservations system, or MGM has a different folio for live bookings. We don't know. But we'll definitely keep an eye on this one.
The immersive U2 concert film, V-U2, was announced last week and will launch its residency at Sphere on September 5. We didn't know how long it was at the time, but now we do: 72 minutes. Also, it will be presented once a day through October 31, though not every day and at different times: 11 a.m. and 2, 4, 7, and 9:30 p.m., depending on the day. Tickets range from $100 to $205 and can be purchased here.
The Tropicana will be imploded on Wednesday October 9 at 2:30 a.m. Fireworks by Grucci, the company that manages most of Las Vegas' aerial displays, will lead into the demo, along with a drone show. Both towers, the 22-story Tropicana and Paradise, will come down at the same time. The casino building and courtyard-room wing are being demolished mechanically, rather than explosively. The site will be cleared for the ostensible construction of the $1.5 billion stadium for the Las Vegas Athletics.
Newsweek.com ranked states by how dangerous they are for online daters, based on data from Privacy Journal. Romance scams, identity theft, encounters with registered sex offenders, the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and violent crime were applied to come up with the rankings. Nevada had the highest danger quotient for people who use online-dating sites of all 50 states, based mostly on identity theft, fraud, and romance scams. Alaska came in second (violent crime and STDs), Georgia third (cybercrime), Florida fourth (identity theft), and Arizona fifth (STDs and the highest rate of romance scams). Vermont was the least dangerous, with Maine, Kentucky, and Idaho the second, third, and fourth lowest, respectively.
“Talk About Las Vegas” is a podcast hosted by Ira Sternberg, long-time Vegas casino-marketing executive, who talks with the entertainers, writers, and personalities that make Las Vegas the most exciting city in the world. This week, Ira speaks with our very own Anthony Curtis, who recounts his journey: leaving UCLA to move to Las Vegas and begin his career as a gambling pro and publisher; trying to stay on top of the gaming wave; technology as a double-edged sword; deciding on a subscription-based Las Vegas Advisor; working with a small but great staff; his favorite compliments; why he's not beholden to the casinos; his induction into the Blackjack Hall of Fame; dealing with a new generation of marketing executives; the greatest high-end casino on the Strip; and the future of Las Vegas. You can catch the 28-minute interview here on YouTube.
On Thursday evening, a lucky slot player from San Francisco won $1,137,093 at the Grand Lodge Casino, located in Incline Village on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. The player was betting $10 per spin on a Five Times Pay Wheel of Fortune Gold Spin Deluxe. Grand Lodge Casino is the latest iteration of the small gambling floor at Incline's long-time Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe; it's managed by Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts and recently signed a 10-year lease extension that runs through 2034.
Station Casinos is introducing a new brand to the crowded Vegas tavern market. Seventy Six Taverns by Station Casinos will open its first bar in North Las Vegas by the end of September; it will offer 15 bartop machines, sports bar food, and lots of sports on video monitors. The second Seventy Six will open in January and the third in June. So far, Station has seven locations under contract for the branded bars. The name, Seventy Six, is derived from the date, July 1976, that Station's first casino (called the Casino, then Bingo Palace, and finally Palace Station in 1984) opened. With the move, Station is going head to head with Golden Entertainment, which owns the PT's, Sierra Gold, Lucky's, Sean Patrick, and Great American Pub brands. It's a kind of family affair: Golden's CEO, Blake Sartini, married Delise Fertitta, the sister of Station executives Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, and he worked for Station for 15 years before going out on his own.
Can Las Vegas support two major movie studios? That's the plan, anyway, as Anthony and Andrew discuss in this week's podcast. Find out what Anthony thinks is the answer. Prices are up for the AYCE buffet at the Palms, Boulder Station is promoting its 30th anniversary with a couple of throwback specials, and the Question of the Week prompts a long analysis of the best Italian restaurants in Vegas. The Jackpot of the Week is a shocker -- and it involves our own Andrew Hunt. Even after Anthony explains how rare an event it is, Andrew is nonchalant, like it happens to him on schedule every week. This video is worth watching just for that!
FieldofSchemes.com is an interesting website that's the companion to the book Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money into Private Profit by Joanna Cagan and Neil deMause. For the past 25 years, Cagan and deMause have been "casting a critical eye on the roughly $2 billion a year in public subsidies that go toward building new pro sports facilities." What they wrote on Friday about the latest Oakland A's news is worth reprinting in its entirety. "There were rumors that Oakland A’s management was going to force fans to also buy Sacramento River Cats season tickets if they wanted A’s season tickets in Sacramento next year, but it turns out that’s not true. What is true: A’s fans wanting season tickets will have to commit to buying them for the “duration” of the team’s stay in Sacramento and tickets will run between $185 and $250 per seat per game. At least A’s players won’t have to suddenly acclimate themselves to playing in front of crowds bigger than the intimate affairs they’ve grown used to since owner John Fisher alienated all his fans in the Bay Area." Let's see, at the bottom end, $185 per game for 81 home games for three years (2025-2027) comes to ... $44,955. Can it be?
It's been five years since the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces, the league's two-time defending champions, have lost 11 games in their first 30. In 2019, they went 19-10 and lost their 30th game. This season, they're 17-11, the worst start in five years. Last year, they lost six games the entire season and 10 in 2022. With 10 games left to play in 2024, they sit in third place, 3.5 games behind the Minnesota Lynx (21-8) and one behind the Seattle Storm (18-10). The Aces play the Chicago Sky (11-17) today on the road.
Caio Borralho is a -265 favorite over Jared Cannonier in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Tabatha Ricci is -150 over Angela Hill.
Up until yesterday, Las Vegas had experienced 64 consecutive days with temperatures 100 degrees and above. Yesterday, the official high registered at the airport was 96, ending the triple-digit streak that started on June 19. The previous record of 66 days was set in 1944 and remains intact after 80 years. Better luck next year!
Las Vegas' Reid International is, actually, becoming more international as time goes by. Today, you can fly from Vegas, direct and nonstop, to Canada (four cities), Mexico (two cities), and one each to El Salvador, Panama City, Ireland, UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and South Korea. Ten in all, the most ever, with convenient connections to the rest of the planet.
Some information is surfacing as to the traffic-management plan for the runup to this year's Las Vegas Grand Prix and the teardown. Work will start in earnest right after Labor Day weekend. Most will take place overnight (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.) to minimize disruptions. It will start on the Strip north of Harmon Avenue, then progress around the circuit with the installation of lights, barriers, and bridges, both pedestrian and vehicular. In terms of the bridges, the respective intersections will be closed for long periods of time, but race officials are guaranteeing that access to all businesses will be open. Two lanes of the southbound Strip will be closed for weeks as well in front of Bellagio for putting up the grandstands. In another departure, no city or county road projects will be undertaken between Labor Day and Christmas (with luck, the existing cones will be taken down during that time). The race circuit will be completely dismantled by December 23 in time for the holiday crowds.
An interesting story by Las Vegas Review-Journal entertainment writer Christopher Lawrence describes "seven classic Las Vegas experiences that have faded away": 1) Golden Gate's 99-cent shrimp cocktail, 2) inexpensive buffets, 3) showgirls on stage, 4) 24-hour availability of marriage licenses, 5) big cats on stage, 6) free parking everywhere, and 7) "be a complete degenerate on Fremont Street" (at Mermaids and La Bayou). Lawrence includes some good history and the photos are excellent. You can read the whole story here.
An analysis of data by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows that Reid International has the sixth-longest wait time for passengers to get through Transportation Security Administration security lines among 31 major U.S. airports. Apparently, the TSA guideline for wait time is 30 minutes, and though Reid is "well within" the standard, its average 12 minutes were longer than 25 other airports serving 10 million or more passengers a year. Reid's busiest day for security lines is Friday, while Wednesday is the least busy; the lines at 5 a.m. average 18 minutes. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport ranked worst at 15 and a half minutes. It's the second time this month Reid appeared on a bad-news list; the other was the airport having the number-one most flight delays among the major U.S. airports.
The Las Vegas City Council has approved a new project in the vicinity of Area15. The "New Vegas Immersive District" is planned to occupy 36 acres and will feature a 200-room hotel and a 100,000-square-foot horror experience in collaboration with Universal Parks and Resort. Universal's year-round horror show was announced way back in early 2023; since then, the name of the attraction, "Universal Horror Unleashed," has been announced, the acreage has expanded from 20 acres to 36, the hotel has been added, and the timeline is now Halloween 2025 for opening. Longer-range plans for the district include 585 multi-family housing units and 320,000 square feet of office space.
The removal of the major elements of the Mirage is moving along at a rapid clip. A week after the 30-foot sign was trucked to the Neon Museum for restoration and preservation, crews are now deconstructing the iconic volcano. No word on what will happen to the scores of 35-year-old palm trees that grace the site.
Rolling Stone reports that a film featuring U2's Sphere residency, V-U2 -- An Immersive Concert Film at Sphere Las Vegas, will be shown at Sphere starting September 5. The movie was shot using the patented Big Sky camera technology, developed for Sphere's giant interior screen. Of course, the soundtrack will be broadcast via the arena's ultra-high-def audio system. The movie was directed by U2 guitarist the Edge and his wife, who also directed U2’s “Staring at the Sun” video. Tickets start at $100 and subscribers to U2.com and members of Sphere’s Inner Circle will have advance availability starting today. General public sales start tomorrow. No word on how long the movie is or how long its run at Sphere will be.
On Monday morning, an online slot player in New Jersey won the largest jackpot in the history of this nation's legalized online-casino industry. The player was making $200 bets on a Fruit Blaster five-reel slot with The Big One progressive at the BetMGM icasino when the symbols lined up for the record $6.4 million jackpot. The meter resets at $1 million. BetMGM casino platforms awarded nearly $140 million in progressive-jackpot payouts in 2023, a 32% increase over 2022's total.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Boulder Station is offering $1 margaritas and $1.99 shrimp cocktail through the end of August. The casino opened in 1994 as the first Station Casino after Palace Station and marked the start of the company’s huge expansion. We got wind of this a bit late, but there’s still time to get these “throwback” deals, we assume available at the bars.
Contrary to a rumor circulating around social media, the Bellagio Buffet isn't closing to become a food hall. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that MGM Resorts refuted the rumor yesterday in a statement. Though the quantity is as extensive as ever, we were underwhelmed with the quality when we reviewed it after the buffet reopened following the pandemic closure (LVA 5/22) and it was $5 less expensive; the brunch is now $54.99. Since then, Bellagio has added a weekend lunch-dinner buffet ($79.99). And it looks like it'll remain that way -- until the prices go up again. We recommend the Wicked Spoon Buffet at Cosmopolitan next door for brunch ($47 weekdays, $54 weekends).
Culinary Union Local 226 announced this morning that the union and Apollo Management have reached a tentative agreement to unionize more than 4,000 hospitality workers at the Venetian/Palazzo. It's the first-ever union contract at the property. A vote to ratify the agreement is the next step, which will reportedly happen soon.
The new retail outlet for the long-time family-owned donut producer Carl's Donuts closed suddenly yesterday. It opened in February downtown, a block off Las Vegas Blvd. near Carson Ave., and prompted a Question of the Day submission, in which we told the whole story of Carl's, which has been producing donuts in Las Vegas for more than 50 years. You can read it here. Carl's other location on Sunset Rd. in Henderson remains in business.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has announced that it will lease a movie studio in the southwest valley if it's built and spend upwards of $8.5 billion in film-production costs if state legislators pass tax incentives in the 2025 session. Warner said it will partner with UNLV and the studio developer for a "long-term commitment" to "Hollywood 2.0," a plan spearheaded by Vegas transplant Mark Wahlberg. The filmmaking center would be the focal point of UNLV's Harry Reid Research & Technology Park at W. Sunset and S. Durango, which is also planned to house the UNLV film department. The tax-incentive bill, with $190 million in credits, was introduced in the 2023 legislature, but never made it to a vote; it will be reintroduced next year. A proposal for a second movie studio in Summerlin, a partnership between Howard Hughes Corp. and Sony Pictures, is also contingent on the legislative action. Sony has committed $1 billion in production spend.
"Battle Bots," the American TV series in which custom remote-controlled robots of all shapes, sizes, and weaponry try to rip each other to pieces, opened a live show, dubbed “Destruct-A-Thon,” in the Caesars Entertainment Studios next to the Horseshoe in March 2023 (we reviewed the show in LVA May 2023). When we went, it was packed, but it had to close for five weeks last year during the F1 disruptions and, reportedly, the crowds haven't returned. The show closed earlier this month and according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is retooling for a new production, but we'll see; on the F1 straightaway on Koval, the show will have to shut down again for several weeks in November. Meanwhile, add "Battle Bots" to the list of businesses reviewing their options for suing the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Thinking of relocating to Las Vegas and renting for a year to get your bearings? There's some good news on the rental front. According to Zumper.com, the huge national-rental website, the apartment-condo-townhome vacancy rate here is nearly 7%, almost a point higher than the national average. And more rentals are opening; 6,000 new units will be added to the inventory by the end of the year. That's driving rents down. The average rent has dropped two months in a row and in some areas of the city, it's even longer. We also see more signs at apartment complexes than usual, advertising signing bonuses, waived fees, a free month of rent, and the like. Home prices are nearing their all-time highs, but rentals are, perhaps surprisingly in this economy, getting more affordable.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, in fiscal-year 2023, Reid International had the most flight delays (15 minutes or more) of any major U.S. airport. Reid's nearly 30,000 delays in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2023, were nearly 10,000 more than the second-highest airport, LaGuardia International in New York. The record shows that the total was more than double the number of flight delays at Reid in FY 2022. Denver International, the fourth worst, had 9,570 delays, while Salt Lake City had the least at 231. A Reid spokesperson gave a number of reasons, including a major runway renovation, and cautioned that one year's results don't indicate a trend.
The $1.5 billion "refresh" of the Venetian/Palazzo is being touted as "the most extensive and expensive hotel renovation in history." All of the Venetian's original 4,000 suites are being redesigned, several new restaurants are replacing old ones, new high-limit and poker rooms and the sports book have been introduced, the 1,000-seat Voltaire Theater has opened, Shin Lim will debut his show at the Palazzo Theater in October, and the convention center is receiving $200 million in upgrades. One change that has our attention is the importing of Gjelina, a southern California restaurant known for its farm-to-table cuisine; Gjelina's sustainable-driven menu and sourcing practices are eliciting support from local farmers. We'll have more to say about Gjelina as its debut in late 2024 gets closer.
Israel Adesanya and Drikus Du Plessis are pick ’em in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Steve Erceg is -240 over Kai Kara France.
The 30-foot-long illuminated The Mirage sign that welcomed visitors to the property for 35 years was moved intact on Wednesday from the property to the Neon Museum. The sign will undergo some "conservation work" in order to prepare it for display at the museum, for which there's no timeline yet. YESCO sign company handled the move. You can see some cool photos here.
The Paradise Town Advisory Board, which has initial jurisdiction over the Strip, voted Tuesday to allow Sphere to exceed Clark County noise limitations. The Board is allowing the arena to "emit loud noise until midnight" on 18 dates throughout the year, and beyond midnight on New Year's Eve. Residents in the nearby Park Towers apartment complex strenuously objected to the variance, to no avail. Now the issue goes in front of the Clark County Planning Commission, which will have the last say, on Sept. 4. The "noise" is expected to enhance shows on the exosphere.
Tune into today's YouTube Beer Fridays with Anthony and Andrew at 4 p.m. Pacific Time. In honor of the football contests now underway and football season starting in a few weeks, today's guest is Matty Simo from the sports betting proxy service we recommend, footballcontest.com. To get to our YouTube Live channel, click this link; today's vlog will be the one on the upper left.
CNN reports that a data analysis by the International Institute for Environment and Development has found that Las Vegas has had the highest rise in the number of days in which the thermometer rose above 95 degrees this summer. Vegas' 83 days at 95 or higher so far were just under 18 more than average over the last 10 years. In July, every day was above 105, with the new record set at 120. San Antonio was second, with 54 days above 95, 16 above average, then Nashville and Jacksonville. Of the 50 most populated cities in the U.S., all but three have experienced "extremely hot days" of 95 and above. As the cities get larger, the heat gets more intense, due to the urban-heat-island effect, in which buildings, roads, and sidewalks radiate heat that can add up to 20 degrees more than rural areas.
Bellagio's acclaimed New French restaurant, Picasso, closed last night after 26 years as one of the preeminent dining experiences in the world. Its proprietor, Madrid-born Julian Serrano, is retiring. That wouldn't necessarily be a cause to close for most celebrity-chef eateries, but Serrano, 74, is in the kitchen at least six nights a week and has been since Picasso opened, when Bellagio did, in 1998. Upwards of 70% of his team had been there since the beginning and many are expected to retire with him. Serrano's two other Las Vegas restaurants, Lago at Bellagio and Tapas at Aria, will remain open. What replaces Picasso will be announced in the future.
Henderson's Paseo Verde Little League All-Stars team (ages 11-13) won the Mountain region championship last week and today, they play in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, against Staten Island in the first round of the Little League World Series. It's the third time Nevada has had a team in the peewee World Series, the second year in a row that a Henderson team made it, and the first for Paseo Verde. After losing their first game of regionals, Paseo Verde swept their next four opponents and shut out two, including a no-hitter. The World Series runs through August 25.
The team at online sports betting site Action Network analyzed social-media data (Instagram, Tik Tok, and Flickr) and Google searches from the past 12 months to determine the most popular streets in the United States. New York's Broadway placed first, with an average of 165,000 monthly Google searches, 7.2 million Instagram posts, and 600,000 Flickr images; NY's Wall Street and Fifth Avenue also ranked in the top five. The Las Vegas Strip placed ninth (90,000 Google searches, 1 million Instagram posts, and 233,000 Flickers), while Fremont Street came in in 18th place (18,100 Google, 419,678 IG, and 68,224 Flickr).
As a putative antidote to the Las Vegas Grand Prix hoopla at center Strip, downtown is debuting the Neon City music and food festival that will run Friday Nov. 22 through Sunday Nov. 24 (the race is Saturday the 23rd). And unlike F1 (to say the least), the Neon City Festival (NCF) will be free for guests of all ages and will present headliners, local food and beverage outlets, art shows, fireworks, and more. The festival will be spread from Fremont Street through the Arts District and all the way down to the Strat; the founding partners include representatives from all the major downtown properties with support from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which readily admits that F1 is a high-end event that leaves the mid- to lower-tier properties on the Strip and downtown in the dust. Headlining talent will be announced in the coming weeks.
Spiegelworld's Discoshow, in the works for nearly six years, debuts tonight at 7 p.m. in a brand new two-story venue at the Linq. The show itself is a party from 1979 with a classic-disco soundtrack, including “Le Freak,” “Good Times,” “We Are Family,” “Disco Inferno,” and “Everybody Dance.” The showroom bar, 99 Prince, is named after a legendary New York address in the disco scene. Upstairs are Diner Ross, putting a new spin on diner classics, and Glitterloft, the aftershow disco. Tickets for the show start at $69.
Two pedestrian bridges over Tropicana Avenue have been closed, as reported by the always-on-the-prowl VegasChanges.com, complete with a photo. Both bridges lead to the site of the shuttered Tropicana, one from MGM Grand, the other from Excalibur. Since no one's going there anyway, it doesn't create much of a hardship, except for people walking to and from OYO. The bridges will remain closed until after the Trop's implosion and cleanup in October.
The headliners for the full-name 2024 Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix have been announced and it's an all-star lineup for sure. On Thursday, OneRepublic kicks off the weekend's entertainment; they're best known for the single "I Ain't Worried," one of two singles from the soundtrack to the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick. Friday's performance is by Alesso, the Swedish EDM DJ and producer. And on Saturday, it's the award-winning rapper and actor Ludacris. The performances are exclusive to people buying tickets for the T-Mobile Zone (three-day grandstand seating starting at $1,800 or standing-room-only $1,050).
Another major Cone City project broke ground yesterday. The $330 million job will impact a long stretch of Maryland Parkway, all the way from the airport to downtown. The improvements will include reducing the number of lanes in each direction from three to two; yeah, we wonder too, but officials cite the dedicated turn lanes that will improve efficiency. New bus stops will be put in place and pedestrian crossings in the busiest sections, for example in the heart of UNLV, will be enhanced. Crews will be working all day and night to finish the job by the fall of 2026.
X Rocks, one of a series of X shows (X Country at Harrah's and X Burlesque at the Flamingo) will return to the Horseshoe (it played there when it was Bally's, pre-COVID) starting September 4. It will appear in the Imagine Theater (formerly the Windows Showroom) on the second floor, a small venue where every seat will put you close to the stage for the "sexy never sounded so good" show. Performances will take place Wed.-Sun. at 9:30 p.m. and tickets are on sale starting at $49, but you can't buy them online yet; you have to call 702-777-2782. The long-running X Burlesque (since 2002) has just inked a five-year contract extension and now goes on twice per night at 7 and 10 p.m.
November 8 marks the beginning of "par-tee" time in Las Vegas, when Swingers adults-only crazy golf club and high-end entertainment venue will open its flagship location at Mandalay Bay. It will be the latest in a line -- Atomic Golf at Strat that we review in this issue of the Advisor and Pop Stroke extreme mini-golf at Town Square that we've been to and will review in the next month or two -- of golf attractions arriving here. The 40,000-square-foot Swingers will include four "crazy golf" courses, several bars and a street-food eatery, arcade, and a two-story English country house attraction (Swingers was founded in London and claims to have pioneered the "competitive socializing" golf experience). The miniature golf courses will feature the "Clocktower and Hot Air Balloon courses located in the heart of the venue and the Carousel and Meteorite courses on the upper levels, including such challenging obstacles as moving installations (windmills, waterwheels, and carousels), jumps, and loops to challenge crazy golfers of all abilities." Swingers debuted in 2014 and currently operates four locations: two in London, one in Washington, D.C., and one in New York City, with forthcoming locations in Dubai (opening fall 2024) and Boston (2025).
Online sports betting launched in New York in January 2022. Thanks to the state's massive population, fourth highest in the country with nearly 20 million, along with its many professional and college teams and nine online sportsbooks, New York has become the number-one state for sports betting handle and revenue in the country. And the numbers prove it. July's handle of $1.26 billion was the 12th month in a row of over $1 billion (last July it was $962 million), which set a record; the hold percentage was a healthy 11.%. Also, the Empire State will almost certainly surpass $50 billion in total handle in September, a mere 33 months after launching. By comparison, it took New Jersey twice as long, 65 months (from August 2018 until May 2024), to hit the $50 billion mark. Now consider California. With a population of 39 million, double New York's, and 21 major professional sports franchises compared to New York's 10 (with two NFL teams technically in New Jersey), it's hard to conceive how big sports betting will be when it finally arrives in the Golden State.
Today, the prices at the Palms' AYCE buffets are substantially higher than yesterday. Brunch is now $42.99, up from $32.99. Dinner Sat.-Tues. is $46.99, an increase of $10. Snow crab and prime rib on Fridays is now $52.99, up $10 and the all-you-can-eat lobster dinner on Wed. and Thurs. is $79.99, way up from $64.99. The good news is, the LVA MRO coupon is that much more valuable too. We reviewed the brunch buffet in this issue of the Advisor.
Two hacker conventions in town last week got the unroyal treatment from Resorts World, according to a story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Def Con 32, the country's longest-running and largest hacking conference, ends today at the Convention Center, while Black Hat, a convention for "elite international cybersecurity researchers and trainers" took place at Mandalay Bay over the week. Resorts World, apparently, was threatened by some attendees staying in their rooms and security conducted "scheduled, brief, visual, and non-intrusive” inspections of conventioneer guests daily, including while they were gone. Some were philosophical about it, telling the R-J that they understood the reasons behind it, while most believed it was an invasion of privacy, especially since security "had no idea what they were looking for," in the words of one. "They say they’re looking for some sort of hacking tools. But what do those look like? It could be my computer. A thumb drive. And even if they did see something, I don’t think they'd know it.” One hacker said that if the casino is that concerned about cyber incidents, it might want to hire Def Con attendees, instead of profiling them.
Usually, we don't report jackpots of less than seven figures; so many are reported that it would take all of our time. But this one is almost there, it's a reminder of the affinity Hawaiians have for Boyd casinos downtown, and it's the second Hawaiian hitting a big jackpot at the casino this summer. A visitor from Oahu hit a Wheel of Fortune jackpot at the California for $891,775; the $1.75 bet triggered a bonus round and the winning combination arrived. In June, another Hawaiian was visiting Las Vegas with his son, who just turned 21, when he hit a WoF jackpot for $1.5 million.
The United States is a -16.5 favorite over France in tonight’s Olympic men’s basketball final. The total is 174.
in this week's LVA YouTube edition, Anthony discusses the Blackjack Ball, taking place tonight, and its connection to the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Then he and Andrew talk about a new casino from Boyd Gaming announced for 2026, the roadwork plans for this year's Formula 1 race, the World Series of Poker brand sold by Caesars and what that means going forward, and the best pizza in Las Vegas. The Question of the Week concerns the breakage -- how much money is left behind -- from uncashed TITOs and the Jackpot of the Week is everyone's dream: four to the royal at a Dream Card video poker machine. It's right here at your fingertips just by clicking the white arrow.
Plans have been submitted to the township of Winchester detailing a mixed-use hotel, residential, retail, dining, and entertainment center on the 10 acres of Strip property in front of the Convention Center's newish West Hall across from Resorts World. The 10 acres, part of the old Riviera site, are owned by a long-time Las Vegas developer and a New York-based luxury real estate developer and develop they will; the plans include two 60-story towers, one with 425 residential units, the other with short- and long-term hotel rentals, all convenient to the Convention Center. In addition, the project will comprise a shopping center, swimming pool, and performance venue. No timeline, budget, or name were revealed.
Along with MGM indicating in its recent second-quarter earnings call that its room reservations -- and rates -- are currently 50% less than they were at this time last year for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the CEO of F1 in her best imitation of Alfred E. Newman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, what, me worry? She said, "What we’re seeing this year is what we’d expect to see for years two, three, four, which is that later in the calendar, races will ramp up once you get past the summer break.” What the summer "break" has to do with a race in November is for people more intelligent than we are to determine, but another sign that all might not be well in Formulaville is that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is discussing picking up $1.7 million in tickets to give away compared to the $7 million it spent last year. Might potential recipients be $5.3 million less interested in year two?
Eater Vegas is running a buffet series these days, after the editor there ate at all 13 Las Vegas buffets in one week (her first Las Vegas buffets since 1997). In one, she runs the numbers for the Palms' AYCE dinner buffets. The story claims they go through 900 whole lobsters per buffet or 13,330 pounds and 1,750 lobster tails or 7,000 pounds, though those numbers are definitely a bit off; that would mean 13- pound lobsters (the average is 1.5 pounds) and four-pound tails (average three to four ounces). The other numbers seem reasonable: 20,000 pounds per month of snow crab legs; 5,000 pounds per month of shrimp; 5,240 pounds per month of sirloin and 2,500 pounds prime rib; 11,000 mini desserts per month; and 3,200 bottles of champagne per month. The post is also worth a look for the behind-the-scenes photos, which aren't often seen for buffets. Be sure to use your MRO coupon to get 50% off one entry or 2-for-1 on this buffet.
Country superstar Blake Shelton has been focusing on Las Vegas lately. His big barn of a restaurant-entertainment venue, Ole Red, opened at the Horseshoe earlier this year. His wife, Gwen Stefani, had a long residency here a few years ago and has made one-off appearances ever since; both have performed at Ole Red a few times. And now Shelton has announced his own six-date mini-set of shows. “Blake Shelton: Live in Las Vegas” will play at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on February 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, and 15. Tickets go on sale to the public Friday Aug. 16 at 10 a.m., with the pre-sale starting tomorrow at 10 a.m.
The one-of-a-kind 15,000-foot Dracula-inspired castle built by former long-time Las Vegas illusionist Lance Burton is for sale again. The six-bedroom 6.5-bathroom house on 10.5 acres in Henderson was completed in 2006, toward the end of Burton's 13-year contract to perform in his eponymous theater at the Monte Carlo (now Park MGM); it has a watchtower, ramparts, secret passages, hidden doors, two-story library, indoor grotto with waterfall, guard tower, and more. Being in the desert, there's no moat, though with all that acreage, there could be. Burton retired in 2010, sold the house for $4 million, then moved back to Kentucky and a 100-acre farm. After being updated and enhanced with an even more "magical" theme, the house is for sale again, this time for $10 million. You can see a one-minute video of what the place looks like now here.
It's been rumored for several days and now it's confirmed: Janet Jackson will do a residency at Resorts World "in the coming months." The 58-year-old Jackson sibling will, reportedly, begin her shows "around holiday season" with one on New Year's Eve. Jackson recently finished up her 35-date "Together Again" tour and turned down another residency offer in London in favor of "the more lucrative deal" in Las Vegas.
Rock troubadour Rod Stewart's 13-year residency was supposed to end tonight with his 200th show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, but ... no. Turns out Vegas -- and adoring fans and big paydays -- are hard to leave behind. Stewart announced yesterday that a new residency, "The Encore Shows," will comprise 12 dates next year: March 12, 14, 15, 19, 21, and 22; May 29 and 31, and June 1, 5, 7, and 8. The pre-sale starts tomorrow and general-public tickets go on sale Monday, both at 10 a.m. PT.
According to a report in the New York Post, Sphere Entertainment is negotiating with Warner Bros. for the rights to produce an abbreviated version of the 1939 classic movie Wizard of Oz for showings at what the Las Vegas Review-Journal is calling "the bulbous wonder." Sphere's version, according to the Post, would be 80 minutes long, 20 shorter than the original, and cost $80 million to produce, converting it to the spherical 18K LED technology of the giant screen. It's estimated that it will cost $80 million, or a cool $1 mil per minute. Sounds fun -- if it happens.
The thermometer isn't the only thing breaking records in southern Nevada; housing prices are there or getting very close. The median price of a single-family home rose to $480,000 in July, an increase of nearly 7% over July 2023, when it was a mere $450,000. The all-time record was set in May 2022 at $482,000, so we're only $2,001 away from surpassing it, which is expected to occur this month. The median price for condos and townhomes was $296,000, up 8.2% year over year ($273,500); that did set the all-time record, breaking the previous one set last month by $1,000.
The annual Las Vegas Food and Wine Festival, scheduled for Oct. 2-6 at Resorts World, has been canceled. According to the event's organizers, Resorts World double-booked the space in which the event was taking place and had to cancel one; the festival drew the short straw. It's (another) bad look for Resorts World, which, again according to the organizers, have ignored them ever since. The festival donates all proceeds to a kids' cancer charity. All tickets have been refunded.
The final performance of Sir Rod Stewart's residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace will take place on Wednesday evening. It will be the rock crooner's 200th show since the residency launched in 2011, 13 years ago. It's well known that Stewart loves playing in Las Vegas; in 2022, he told an interviewer, "I do get paid rather nicely. The Colosseum is probably the best venue in the world to see your favorite rock star. Seats are gorgeous, best sound. It’s a privilege to play there and you only have to play for an hour and a half. Any longer, they grab you by the neck and drag you off.” To celebrate the end of the long run, the 79-year-old Stewart made a surprise appearance, with his family and band members, over the weekend at the Barbershop Cuts & Cocktails at Cosmo.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that country star Jason Aldean is opening another location of Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar at 63 Las Vegas, the four-story shopping center between Cosmopolitan and the Shops at Crystals. According to the building permits filed with the county, the restaurant will occupy 10,000 square feet at a cost of nearly $10 million to build out. It won't, however, be on the rooftop; Ocean Prime takes up the entire fourth floor at 63. Aldean has two Kitchen + Rooftop Bar locations in Tennessee (Nashville and Gatlinburg) and one in Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh).
On Thursday, the Venetian's relocated poker room reopened. The old location was right in the Venetian casino next to the sports book and near a Strip entrance; the new book is on the second floor of the Grand Canal Shoppes. At first blush, it sounds a lot less convenient, but it's close to the Palazzo's parking garage. Of course, during the opening ceremony, the poker-room manager told the crowd that the new room "enhances the player experience" and it is far away from the cigarette and cigar smoke of the casino. It's also big, 14,000 square feet, and features 49 tables, its own restrooms, and numerous TVs, plus USB and USB-C charging ports at every seat; the self-serve soda machine and coffee station was also relocated from the old room. Cash-game players earn $3 an hour in comps. The side room dedicated to streaming, which will allow players to coordinate vlogging sessions and stream cash games and tournament final tables, is slated to open by the end of the year.
Country-music superstar Shania Twain starts the "next leg of her third Las Vegas residency" on August 23 at Planet Hollywood. Called "Come On Over," it's a tribute to Twain's third album of the same name; released in 1997, it remains the best-selling album of all time by a female solo artist. If you're not familiar with Twain or her act, you can get a great eight-and-a-half minute look at her, including an interview in Las Vegas on "CBS Mornings" with CBS News culture correspondent Anthony Mason. (And thanks, as usual, to Twain's fellow Canadian, Roy, for the link.)
Since it opened last December, Fountainebleau has received an enormous amount of media coverage, usually in the form of bought-and-paid-for advertorials in the luxury category. One case in point is a recent Forbes spread on "The Most Beautiful Places in Las Vegas." When we saw it, we weren't surprised by the selections: a bar and lounge at Bellagio, a Crockfords suite at Resorts World, a restaurant at the Wynn. What did surprise us was that Fbleau merited only one listing, the most beautiful view from ultra-exclusive Poodle Room on the 67th floor of the tower. But to see a spread that epitomizes the genre, take a gander at "A Weekend Refresh at Fontainebleau Las Vegas" posted on LagunaBeachLiving.com. From the second sentence on, you don't even need to read between the lines to know that this writer was comped from her toenails to her eyebrows. It's worth a look, though, for the photos; Fbleau is, without a doubt, a spectacular property and the photos are evidence of exactly that.
Umar Nurmagomedov is a -400 favorite over Cory Sandhagen in today's early UFC main event. In the other featured match, Shara Magomedov is -285 over Michal Oleksiejczuk.
To celebrate the 55th anniversary of Elvis' first show at the Las Vegas International Hotel (now Westgate), the Westgate is exhibiting a new collection of Elvis memorabilia. Elvis' July 31, 1969, appearance in the International Theater marked his first performance in nine years; he went on to do a record 636 sold-out shows that ended in December 1976, only eight months before his sudden death at age 42. The memorabilia are from the private collection of Westgate's CEO and include Elvis’ army watch, the shoes he wore during his last performance at the International, an original vinyl single of “That’s All Right” released in July 1954, and a lock of his hair, according to the press release. The exhibit is in the main lobby of the Westgate and free to the public.
Country-rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd will headline the inaugural Giddy Up Fest at the Downtown Events Center taking place October 18-20. According to the organizers, this will be the first country-music festival in Las Vegas since the Route 91 Harvest Festival in 2017. Other acts to appear include Megan Moroney, Turnpike Troubadours, Elle King, Charles Wesley Godwin, Josh Turner, Lauren Watkins, Lecade, Sam Barber, Tanner Ade, The Lil Smokies, Logan Crosby, Paul Cauthen, Them Dirty Roses, Evan Honer, Josh Meloy, Kameron Marlowe, Lance Roark, and more. Along with the country and Americana music will be food, art, activities, merch, "and good vibes." Single-day passes start at $50, multi-day $180, and VIP cabanas $3,650.
A San Diego resident waiting for his return flight at Reid International was playing a $1 Wheel of Fortune machine at the E gates when he hit a jackpot for $1,450,954.
This week's vlog features Blair Rodman and Frank B. Blair is the co-author of our book on poker-tournament strategy, Kill Phil, and a World Series of Poker gold-bracelet winner. Frank is a tournament expert and one of the greatest gambling minds in the world. Anthony and Andrew host the four-way discussion on the controversy that erupted after the final table of this year's WSOP concerning a possible rules infraction by the champion. His friends on the rail coaching him during play at the final table were using a poker "solver," software that analyzes play. The rules about this are ambiguous -- and Anthony, Andrew, Blair, and Frank examine the situation, giving their opinions on how it should be handled. It's a dynamic discussion of interest to anyone who likes to get a glimpse of the perspectives of gambling pros.
Six miles of I-15 will close completely this weekend for the marathon repaving project that started last weekend on the northbound side of the freeway. Tonight at 9 p.m., all lanes between Warm Springs and Flamingo will shut down; they won't reopen until Monday at 5 a.m. The detour is onerous: Flamingo to Decatur, Decatur south to the Beltway, Beltway east back to I-15.
Caesars is selling the intellectual-property rights to the World Series of Poker to NSUS Group for $500 million. NSUS is an igaming investment group that started the online poker room, GGPoker. The transaction consists of $250 million in cash and a $250 million note due five years after the deal closes; if it's not paid, the rights revert to Caesars. Caesars will host the live tournaments at Paris and the Horseshoe for 20 years; Caesars' brick-and-mortar poker rooms will continue to feature WSOP branding and Caesars destinations will receive preferential rights to host live WSOP Circuit events. NSUS will also issue Caesars Digital a license to continue operating its recently upgraded WSOP Online poker business in Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania for the foreseeable future, but will otherwise be restricted from operating online peer-to-peer real-money poker operations for a specified period of time and subject to certain exceptions. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year.
The earliest indication, room reservations, of the level of excitement for this year's Formula 1 race on November 22 was revealed in MGM's earnings call yesterday and so far, it's more blasé than bright. MGM's CEO revealed that pre-bookings are "soft" at the "Big Three" -- Aria, Cosmo, and Bellagio -- and room rates are roughly half of what they were at this time last year. Apparently, this isn't unexpected; according to another executive, there's a big dropoff in attendance and revenues in year two of the race. No word on a dropoff in years 3-10.
Typically, August temperatures start out hot and begin a slow transition to cooler. Normal highs for the first week are 104, then fall to double-digits (99 degrees) on the last day of the month. Normal lows start at 81 and drop to 77. Record high temperatures have risen all the way to 116 three times (twice in 1970 and once in 1940), with 115 three times and 114 another four. And this year is shaping up to be a repeat of those, given July's record setting for high temps. The record low hit 54 (1937) and has gone as high as 66 (1940). Nearly half an inch falls during a normal August, but that can rise quickly if a monsoon storm or two hits hard.
Nevada casinos collected $24.4 million in unredeemed TITO tickets in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2024, down slightly from last year’s $25.8 million. The casinos keep 25% of that; the balance goes to the state.