The lucky dragon

Story about the new casino on N end of the strip.

How Worried Should Wynn and Las Vegas Sands Be About This New Casino?
It will be catering to the 99% of the crowd the established players ignore.

"...The odds are stacked against them

But a new casino opening its doors next month in Vegas thinks Wynn, Sands, and even MGM have it all wrong. While the major operators are focusing on VIPs, this new operator will be concentrating on middle-class Chinese gamblers.

The Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino will be opening on the north end of the Strip on Dec. 3 and it's a casino unlike any other in Vegas. More modest than the typical garish resort, the Lucky Dragon will feature a 27,500-square-foot casino and a hotel with 204 total rooms on nine floors (but you won't find a fourth floor or a four in the room numbers as it is considered unlucky). There will also be an octagonal main bar (for good luck), a feng shui-blessed kitchen, and a dragon motif on the front.

More importantly, the casino will cater to middle-class Chinese gamblers who it expects will flood Vegas. "Let them fight over the 1%," the Lucky Dragon COO David Jacoby told the Los Angeles Times, referring to the casino heavyweights going after the high rollers, "and let us fight over the remaining 99%..."

https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/27/how-worried-should-wynn-and-las-vegas-sands-be-abo.aspx?source=yahoo-2-news&utm_campaign=article&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=yahoo-2-news&yptr=yahoo&ref=yfp

I think MSS and California have more to lose than the strip casinos given the crowd they cater to. They we're hanging the sign for Lucky Dragon on the outside when I drove by a few weeks ago. It's not a very large place ...something between Ellis Island and Tuscany maybe.

It will be nice to have something walkable from the Stratosphere.

Do they have a Chinese restaurant?

I don't think it will affect any of those casinos to any major degree. As you said, Wynn and MGM are going after a different market in VIPs, so it shouldn't affect them. Boyd DT locations market the Hawaiian Asian and have for years, but since the Lucky Dragon is targeting the SoCal Asian market mainly, it probably won't affect them greatly either.

Good Luck!
Ric at Joes

I question their marketing, but if it doesn't work, they can adjust it. I think their decision to hire almost exclusively Asian employees may cause problems in some segments.
They currently are offering 9-5 Jacks or better for quarters, which is pretty good for the Strip.
No craps tables, as of now. Looked for Sic Bo but didn't see it, although several employees assured me they have it. Let's see how their bounce back offers are.
Overall, it's a lot smaller than I'd have thought it to be. Almost a boutique hotel as opposed to a resort.

I read that their eateries will have only REAL Chinese food, not the stuff we (I) like. We are friends with the owners and staff of our favorite Chinese restaurant at home, so they've invited us to weddings/receptions and occasions, where they serve the REAL food of their culture. I couldn't choke down any of what they served other than raw veggies and Ranch Dressing. Cow stomach, chicken feet, etc. Ick! Nothing like what they serve us Americans in their restaurant. No traditional style egg rolls, fried rice, Kung Pao Chicken, Lo Mein, etc.

So, beware if you try one of their restaurants.

So very American of you Candy, Andrew Zimmerman would ashamed of you J/K

Actually I consider myself an adventurous eater but some things just sound pretty gross and if it's already bad ion your mind, it usually doesn't get much better. Tripe? chicken feet? hmmm, i'll pass. If I had been drinking a good bit might get me to try it.
I remember a couple we used to go out with occasionally and they (actuallyshediscovered it) found a "real" Mexican restaurant. They had some really bizzare tasting stuff, none of us enjoyed it AT ALL, well except for my buddy's g/f. She thought it was the cat's meow. Actually I wouldn't be surprised if maybe there was some cat in there somewhere. I'm certain the g/f was way more in love with the "authenticity" rather than the taste. Another case of taste buds that have been Americanized I suppose.

Chicken sphincter is a treat, served in almost the most authentic NY establishments.

Too easy...

I ate there at their "street market" styled place last week, before their grand opening. Their food was authentic (I just moved back earlier this year from Macau, China where I lived for 2 years). I had the crispy duck, which was fattier than I've seen before, but the dim sum was excellent. No prices or descriptions on the food, but it was relatively reasonable. And yes, they had chicken feet available (which the Chinese call "Phoenix Claws"). I've had them before, really had no desire to see if they tasted authentic.

Yes, the casino is small, but i think they have a real shot at being quite profitable...the only real difference that I noticed from Macau casinos was that music could be heard on the main floor at Lucky Dragon. However,the smaller rooms on the second floor were quite like junket rooms in Macau, with no "distractions".

For anyone who hasn't seen Asian casinos before, they are quite different from US casinos. Here in the US, casinos are considered "entertainment", whereas the Chinese look at gambling as their personal "business", so casinos are generally pretty somber. They want no distractions...that includes cocktails, cocktail waitresses, music, chatty dealers, etc. Very different. Even the Australian casino I've been to follows the same style, as do the casinos in the Philippines. The exception in Manila is Solaire, which advertises "US style casino", but what I saw was that they had music and one or two cocktail waitresses for the entire casino, as Asians generally don't drink while gambling.