In a USA Today story about big-ticket political donors, Sands Corps’ Sheldon Adelson was at the top of the list. Adelson reportedly donated $30 million this year to super-PACs supporting Republican candidates.
Following the recent closing of Inferno at Bally’s, two more Strip magic shows are on the way out. Masters of Illusion will conclude its run at Bally’s September 3, while Imaginarium at the Tropicana will close September 30.
The shuttered Motel 8 and Mr. Deli convenience store located across the Strip from Mandalay Bay have been sold for $7.4 million to an Israeli developer who says he has plans for a small casino on the 1-acre parcel. No other details were provided, but proximity to the Raiders stadium was cited, which may be a sign of similar deals to come in that area.
Next year's Women's National Basketball Association All-Star game will be played in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, home of the new WNBA Las Vegas Aces team. The game will be played on Saturday July 27. The 2018 All-Star game was played last Saturday in Minneapolis; the Western Conference beat the Eastern Conference 119-112.
A $1.2 million jackpot was hit on a Wheel of Fortune slot at Harrah’s last week. They don’t often send out photos of these events, but if you want to see what one of those looks like, check it out here.
As of August 1, paid parking will be in place at Harrah’s and Harvey’s in Lake Tahoe. Rates will vary from $10 most times to $20 during special events. Both are Caesars Entertainment properties.
T-Mobile Arena is offering one-hour tours of the complex on Mondays and Thursdays for $25. Combined with the parking fee at NY-NY or Park MGM, it’ll only set you back about thirty-five bones to see an empty arena. Nice!
MGM Resorts International has announced that it will stop automatically putting straws in beverages to cut down on plastic waste in its 400 restaurants and bars at 17 U.S. casinos. MRI says it uses 250,000 straws per day. We’d normally make a snarky comment here that zero straws costs less than 250,000 straws, but this plastic-straw-reduction initiative is something that several companies – including Starbucks, American Airlines, Marriott, and the Atlantis in Reno – are enacting. At MRI, straws will continue to be supplied upon request.
Southwest Airlines is jettisoning peanuts. As of August 1, Southwest will no longer offer free packs of peanuts on flights and will replace them with pretzels. The company says it’s to “ensure the best onboard experience for customers, especially for customers with peanut-related allergies.” Our original response to this was “we’re guessing pretzels cost less than peanuts.” However, after reading this enlightening report from MarketWatch, we're a lot less suspect.
After being discontinued just two weeks ago, the play-$500-get-$50 video poker bonus at G.O.A.T. bar (3805 W. Sahara) has been reinstated on a Sundays-only schedule. Also returning after a brief hiatus is the good G.O.A.T. Sunday brunch, making for a cool video poker-and-brunch parlay if you go from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (the bonus is offered all day).
Dustin Poirier is a -200 favorite over Eddie Alvarez in tonight's UFC main event. In the other featured match, Jeremy Stephens is -125 over Jose Aldo.
Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah is no longer open to the public. After operating as a museum and tour destination since 2015, the estate will revert to a private residence.
Inferno closed without notice at Paris last week. It follows Circus 1903 and Jersey Boys as good shows that couldn’t make it in the apparently challenging Paris showroom. Next up is I Love the ’90s, which is scheduled to debut in October.
While details about the new downtown casino that will be built on the site of the former Las Vegas Club continue to be kept quiet, it’s been disclosed that the Sassy Sally cowgirl marquee will be incorporated into the outside design. Not to be confused with Vegas Vic’s pal Vickie, Sassy Sally formerly sat atop the changing roster of casinos on the north side of Fremont Street.
Here’s some additional information about the $250 rebate-on-loss deal for new club members at SLS Las Vegas. One odd wrinkle is that play is restricted to slots only. No problem, it’s still a smokin’ deal. However, the offer is for out-of-state customers only. No locals. The restriction is a head-scratcher, especially since a 30-day time lag in disbursement of 50% of the rebate also excludes most out-of-staters. We’ll dig into this in more detail in the August Las Vegas Advisor.
Despite being cleared to offer sports betting last weekend, a wager has yet to be taken in any of Mississippi’s casinos. Currently 13 of 28 casinos in the state have applied for permission to operate a sports book, but none are live as of yet. It's expected that the first facilities will be open within two weeks, and several are expected to be in action by the start of the football season.
Auditions to be on the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” will be held Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Caesars Entertainment Studios (4165 Koval Ln.). Applicants must be 18 or older, a legal resident, and not been previously on the show. For more information and to request tickets for tapings that run through August 16, go to millionairetv.dadt.com.
Despite a slow start in some of the early events, this year’s World Series of Poker drew a record 123,865 players, making it six consecutive years of increases. The total prize pool also set a record at $266 million. While it was thought that new competing tournaments were siphoning players from the WSOP, which they may have, the improved economy and an infusion of online qualifiers, especially from New Jersey, were enough to overcome the drain.
Downtown’s Le Thai is closing for a remodel, but not before a blowout tonight, during which everything will be discounted till it’s gone. The one-night happy hour begins at 9 p.m. There's been no announcement of when the restaurant will reopen. In the meantime, Le Thai has a take-out restaurant at Charleston and Rancho.
The big Mega Millions lottery jackpot was hit Tuesday by a single winner for $522 million. The winning ticket for the 11th-largest U.S. lottery prize in history was purchased in San Jose, California, with the numbers 1, 2, 4, 19, 29, and Mega Ball 20. If the lump-sum payment option is chosen, the winner will receive $303 million.
Two more casinos have come to terms with the Culinary and Bartenders unions. Labor agreements have been reached with Binion’s and the Four Queens. Only seven casinos remain without contracts -- Margaritaville, SLS Las Vegas, Treasure Island, Downtown Grand, El Cortez, the D, and Golden Gate.
John “Johnny World” Hennigan and Mori Eskandani have been voted the 55th and 56th members of the Poker Hall of Fame. Hennigan is a 5-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, and has racked up more than $8 million in tournament winnings. Eskandani was honored primarily for his work in poker-TV production, having been a key creative force behind “Poker After Dark,” “High Stakes Poker,” and ESPN’s airing of the World Series of Poker.
The three restaurants at Venetian and Palazzo that are partially owned by Mario Batali have closed. Carnevino, B&B Ristorante, and Otto Enoteca e Pizzeria all closed last weekend, almost a week earlier than planned, after sexual misconduct allegations against Batali prompted Sands Corp. to part ways with owners B&B Hospitality. A new Italian restaurant out of L.A. called The Factory Kitchen is expected to take one of the spaces, while Carnevino, at least, will seek another location.
An excessive heat warning has been issued for this week, with temperatures expected reach as high as 114 degrees on Thursday. The normal high for this time of year is 105, which temperatures are expected to return to by the weekend.
SLS Las Vegas has reportedly initiated a new-member sign-up promotion offering up to a $250 rebate on losses. These programs always have specific wrinkles to consider, but we’re told the rebate comes in two phases – half the day after playing and half in 30 days. We’ll have a full report in the August Las Vegas Advisor.
A new Tiki bar has opened in an unlikely place. Tiki di Amore is located in a space behind the Casa di Amore restaurant at 2850 E. Tropicana. Billed as Las Vegas’ only outdoor Tiki, it’s open daily, except Tuesdays, from 5 to 11 p.m. The décor is highlighted by a giant octopus known as the “Tikipus.”
After falling just short of winning his second World Series of Poker Main Event with a fifth-place finish, Joe Cada turned right around and won “The Closer,” a $1.5K-buy-in No-Limit Hold ’Em tournament that drew another huge field of 3,120 players. The $613K first prize topped off an amazing World Series for Cada, in which he won two bracelets, giving him four total, and cashed seven times. Cada and Shaun Deeb were this year’s only two-time winners.
South Point says that in 2017 it sold 215,142 hot dogs from its sports book cart. That’s 589 per day, or more than one per minute considering the hours the cart is in operation. Yet there’s rarely an unmanageable line at times other than Saturday or Sunday football days. The Vienna dogs are $1.25 and come with kraut, onions, and relish at no extra charge. It's the best doggone hot dog deal in Vegas.
Caesars Entertainment’s Fortune Pai Gow Poker Progressive was hit for $1.4 million at the Rio. The pai gow poker side bet links 37 tables at nine casinos and pays for a 7-card straight flush.
Former national sports broadcaster Brent Musburger will become the voice of the Oakland Raiders beginning this season. Musburger signed a three-year deal to be the play-by-play announcer for the Raiders, which means he’ll be at the mic when the team moves to Las Vegas in 2020. Musburger will continue hosting the sports betting show “My Guys in the Desert,” which airs on SiriusXM 204 and streams at VSiN.com.
Going into tomorrow's final round of golf's Open Championship (British Open) with three tied for the lead, Jordan Spieth is the +200 favorite. He’s followed by Xander Schauffele at +375 and Kevin Kisner at +550. Tiger Woods, in contention on the final day for the first time in several years, is +1400. The round begins early tomorrow morning.
We’ve received an update on the renovation that displaced the second-floor slots at the California. The mezzanine is being redesigned to double convention space from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet and a new set of escalators is being installed. Upon completion, there will also be a “small designated gaming area,” preserving the Cal’s status as one of Las Vegas’ few two-level casinos.
Be prepared for another road-construction mess at the Spaghetti Bowl this weekend. Work on Project Neon will close both directions of U.S. 95 near downtown through Monday while the northbound I-15 bridge is demolished. It’s the third of six long-term closures planned for this year.
After years of discussion, Japan’s parliament has passed a law that allows up to three casinos in the country. It hasn’t been determined where the casinos will be located or which companies will get the concessions, but this will get the sweepstakes started, with 2020 considered to be the earliest a resort could open.
Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is opening a restaurant called Big Chicken across from the Hard Rock Casino in the location that used to be Origin India. He says he’ll also produce a reality show surrounding the opening of the restaurant. The opening date is slated for October.
Phones and email are now operational. If you tried to contact us earlier today, please try again. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Our office phones and email are down this morning and might be for the day, due to a nearby utility poll being knocked down by a vehicle. The outage also prevents leaving phone messages, but emails will be retrieved when we're back online.
The play-$500-get-$50 video poker bonus at G.O.A.T. bar has been discontinued. No plans for an amended promotion have been announced.
News that MGM Resort International has filed a federal lawsuit against the victims of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting drew immediate scorn on social media and in the court of public opinion. In reality, the move is a legal maneuver that probably makes sense for MGM considering the trade-off of reduced liability for bad PR, but that won’t be known till the saga plays out. For more information and ongoing coverage of this story, read our Stiffs & Georges business blog.
Justin Rose is the +1250 favorite to win the Open Championship golf tournament (British Open), which begins tomorrow. He’s followed by Dustin Johnson at +1330, Jon Rahm at +2050, and Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka, both at +2500.
FanDuel, one of the top two players in daily fantasy sports (along with DraftKings), opened a traditional sports book at New Jersey’s Meadowlands Racetrack on Saturday. It’s a big deal, given the location less than 10 miles from New York City, but early reports on FD’s wagering menu don’t look promising. Get the full details in our new blog, Captain Jack on Sports Wagering.
Relocated from the second floor to the east end of the main floor, Palace Station’s new Feast Buffet looks a lot like the excellent A.Y.C.E Buffet at the Palms. That’s a good thing, as we currently rate A.Y.C.E. as the best buffet value in town. And "introductory prices" at Palace Station are even better, as low as $6.99 for breakfast, $8.99 for lunch, and $12.99 for dinner and brunch when you show a second level (Gold) or better players card. Simply sign-up and show an entry-level (Preferred) card to pay $8.99/$10.99/$12.99, still $2-$3 off than price without a card.
Justin Bonomo won the $1 million-buy-in Big One for One Drop tournament, the final event at this year’s World Series of Poker. The $10 million first prize makes him the leading all-time tournament money winner with $42,979,593. This year’s event drew only 27 players; entry numbers have dropped each year since the inaugural tournament drew 48 players in 2014.
The American League is a -145 favorite over the National League in tonight's Major League Baseball All-Star game. The run line is 7.
Former NBA player Charles Oakley was arrested last week at the Cosmopolitan after allegedly removing a $100 chip from the betting circle on a losing hand of blackjack. It’s not uncommon for novices to handle bets improperly; however, accounts of the incident indicate that surveillance tapes were reviewed before the arrest and the action was deemed to be intentional. The matter is pending a court hearing in August. Oakley was in town to coach in the Big3 basketball tournament.
Golden Gaming has purchased the Edgewater and Colorado Belle in Laughlin from Marnell Gaming for a price that will fall between $168 million and $190 million, depending on a future earnings report. Golden Gaming, owners of the vast PT’s tavern group, already owned the Aquarius and is now the dominant casino operator in Laughlin.
With sports betting moving toward legalization in multiple states, we’re working on several features that will educate players on the intricacies of participation and strategies for success in this beatable game. The first, a new blog, Captain Jack on Sports Wagering, covers the state of the expansion around the country and the world.
Tentative labor agreements have been reached at three more casinos. New contracts are awaiting ratification at Westgate Las Vegas, Main Street Station, and the Fremont, leaving 10 casinos, mostly located downtown, still without agreements.
Phil Hellmuth won the $5K No-Limit Hold ’Em event to give him 15 World Series of Poker bracelets. Closest to Hellmuth’s total are Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, and Doyle Brunson, each with10. The win gives Hellmuth 134 WSOP cashes, also a record.
It’s being reported that permits filed with Clark County indicate that the name of SLS Las Vegas is being changed to Grand Sahara Resort. SLS says it’s only a “working name” for now, but given that SLS was previously the Sahara and the new owners have a casino in Reno called Grand Sierra Resort, the prospective new name makes sense.
John Cyn, a 33-year-old professional player from Illinois, is poker's new world champion after winning the World Series of Poker's Main Event early this morning and the $8,800,000 first prize. Cyn outlasted Tony Miles in a 10-hour 199-hand marathon heads-up session that had 11 lead changes and didn't end until almost 5 a.m. Sunday morning. Miles pocketed $5,000,000 as runner-up. On the final hand, Cyn had K-J suited to Miles’ Q-8 suited. The K-K-5 flop gave Cyn a set, which held up against Miles’ eventual two pair. Michael Dyer finished third for $3,500,000.
France is a -200 favorite over Croatia in today's World Cup championship match. The goal line is 2.
Novak Djokovic is a -575 favorite over Kevin Anderson in tomorrow’s Wimbledon men's tennis final. The match starts early, at 9 a.m. EST.
Junior Dos Santos is a -175 favorite over Blagoy Ivanov in tonight's UFC main event. In the other featured match, Sage Northcutt is -120 over Zak Ottow.
The storm that closed the Wild Wild West last week turned out to be a doozy. In five hours, rainfall totaled .66 inches, 165% of the average for July. Winds were 40-45 mph, with one gust recorded at 68 mph, the strongest in a decade. Trees were blown over, police responded to 46 car crashes, and 80 incoming flights were diverted from McCarran Airport. The period from now through mid-September is considered Las Vegas’ “monsoon season.”
With three players remaining, the World Series of Poker Main Event champion will be decided tonight. Tony Miles is way out in front with 239 million, John Cynn has 129 million, and Michael Dyer has 26 million. In yesterday's action, Aram Zobian finished 6th, Joe Cada 5th, and Nicolas Manion 4th. Television coverage begins at 6 p.m. PST on ESPN.
Serena Williams is a -200 favorite over Angelique Kerber in tomorrow's Wimbledon women's tennis final. The match starts early, at 9 a.m. EST.
Michael Dyer has a commanding lead in the World Series of Poker Main Event. After starting the final table with the second-biggest chip stack, Dyer goes into the second day of play with 157 million. Nicolas Manion is second with 72 million. Former champion Joe Cada is still in it with 28 million. He’s a long way off the lead, but Cada came from way back when he won his first ME championship. All six remaining players are from the U.S., as the three players eliminated yesterday were the table’s only non-Americans. Antoine Labat was the first to be eliminated, followed by Artem Metalidi and Alex Lynskey. Aram Zobian is the short stack with 17 million. They’ll play down to the final three today. TV coverage begins at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
Union picket lines are scheduled to go up for short durations today outside the Margaritaville casino at the Flamingo and the D. The schedule in the union’s press release is contradictory, but our best guess is that the demonstrations will be from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Margaritaville and 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the D.
The final table for the World Series of Poker Main Event is set, with nine left from the starting 7,874. Here are the players and their chip counts.
Nicolas Manion 112,775,000
Michael Dyer 109,175,000
Tony Miles 42,750,000
John Cynn 37,075,000
Alex Lynskey 25,925,000
Joe Cada 23,675,000
Aram Zobian 18,875,000
Artem Metalidi 15,475,000
Antoine Labat 8,050,000
Manion’s chip count is the highest ever for the start of a final table. Cada is going for his second ME championship after winning in 2009. Yueqi Zhu finished 10th in a crazy hand in which he held KK vs. Labat’s KK and Manion’s AA. Six of the nine finalists are from the U.S., Alex Lynskey is from Australia, Artem Metalidi is from Ukraine, and Antoine Labat is from France. For the second year in a row, there will be no delay, with final-table play beginning today and the champion crowned on Saturday. Television coverage begins today at 6 p.m. PST on ESPN.
The “Last Woman Standing” in this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event was Kelly Minkin, who went out in 50th place. It was the second time that Minken has been the last woman out, having done it previously in 2015 when she was 29th. Minkin joins Annie Duke, Maria Ho, and Gaelle Baumann, who were also last to be eliminated twice. For those who wonder why women don’t make it farther, it’s mostly a numbers thing – of this year’s 7,874 players, only 301 (3.8%) were women.
England is a -175 favorite over Croatia to advance in today's World Cup semi-final soccer match. The goal line is 2.
It’s being reported that the Tropicana has agreed to a labor contract. It’s been a slow one-by-one process, but agreements have come steadily enough to avoid any major unrest thus far.
The World Series of Poker Main Event is down to 26 players. The chip leader is Aram Zobian with 41.6 million, followed by Artem Metalidi with 30.8 million and Antoine Labat with 28.4 million. The field has some top players, including former bracelet winners Yueqi Zhu, Eric Froehlich, Ivan Luca, and Barry Hutter, but the big name is 2009 ME champion Joe Cada, who has 8.9 million. Television coverage begins at 9 p.m. PST on ESPN2 and will run till the nine final-table players have been determined.
The Wild Wild West is up and running after being closed last night and through late this afternoon. It’s thought that lightning was behind a power outage. Things look normal inside, but the Gaming Today magazines at the sports book are curled from dampness, the sports book ticket system is offline, and no one’s answering the phones.
A brief but powerful storm last night knocked out power in several locations around the city, including the Wild Wild West casino, which also experienced some flooding and was forced to close. The casino remains closed this morning. Employees outside are telling arriving patrons that they hope to reopen by noon today.
France is a -120 favorite over Belgium to advance in today's World Cup semi-final soccer match. The goal line is 2.5.
With 109 players remaining, Michael Dyer is the chip leader with 12.2 million. He's followed by Brian Yoon with 8.4 million and Jeff Trudeau with 8.3 million. Still in the hunt are Shaun Deeb, Benjamin Pollak, former champ Joe Cada, and the lone female remaining, Kelly Minkin. They'll play down to 27 today, with action starting at 11 a.m. Television coverage will begin at 5 p.m. PST on ESPN.
The Main Event got "into the money" on Day 3, with the cutoff at 1,082 players. All players from that point forward get a minimum of $15,000. This year's official bubble boy -- the player finishing 1,083rd -- was Matthew Hopkins, who was awarded the traditional $10K entry into next year's Main Event.
Restaurateurs and celebrity chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken of L.A. and Vegas Border Grill fame have opened a new grab-n-go counter across from Border Grill and adjacent to Mandalay Bay Convention Center. BBQ Mexicana features house-smoked meats and non-meat options prepared as burritos, bowls, and salads (all in the $13-$16 range), along with margaritas ($11), aguas frescas ($6), and beers ($7-8), all to go. The menu includes slow-smoked brisket, mesquite-smoked pulled pork and chicken, chipotle and cilantro slaws, cilantro-lime rice, charred corn relish, crispy quinoa, and crispy jalapeños.
With just 310 players remaining in the World Series of Poker Main Event, Barry Hutter is the new chip leader, with 5.6 million. He’s followed by Alexander Haro (5 million), Brian Altman (4.9 million), and Andres Jeckeln (4.5 million). Along with yesterday's leader, Frankie Flowers, big-name eliminations included Barry Greenstein, Patrik Antonius, Chris Klodnicki, Allen Cunningham, Men Nguyen, Todd Brunson, Phil Ivey, and former ME champs Tom McEvoy, Jonathan Duhamel, and Johnny Chan. Joe Cada is the last remaining former champion. Day 5 play begins today at 11 a.m. Television coverage begins at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
Modern-day daredevil Travis Pastrana will replicate three famous Evel Knievel motorcycle jumps today for a special on the History Channel called “Evel Live.” Pastrana, an X Games champion, plans to first jump 52 crushed and stacked cars (Knievel jumped 50). He’ll then jump 16 busses parked side-by-side (Knievel jumped 14). The Grand Finale will be the famous Caesars Palace fountain jump that Knieval never accomplished. The events are open to the public to view, with the first two taking place behind Paris beginning at 3:30 p.m. and the fountain jump at Caesars at 6 p.m. Or you can watch it on the History Channel at 5 p.m. PST. That is, if the weather cooperates; wouldn’t you know it, there’s a threat of rain today. The event is also serving as an introduction to Pastrana's Nitro Circus show, which is slated to come to Bally's in 2019.
The Day 4 chip leader is Sun Geoum with 1,696,000. Barbara Enright is in 10th with 1,260,000 and Phil Ivey fell back to 71st, but with almost twice the stack of a day earlier at 827,000. Notable eliminations included Jason Mercier, David Bach, Erick Lindgren, Josh Arieh, Frank Kassela, Andy Frankenberger, Andy Bloch, Michael Mizrachi, Phil Laak, Chris Klodnicki, Gavin Griffin, and former ME champions Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, and Phil Hellmuth. The 1,000 remaining players reconvene for Day 4 today. Television coverage began early today at 11:30 a.m. and runs to 4 p.m. PST. on ESPN.
The payout schedule for the World Series of Poker Main Event is set. The winner will get $8.8 million and all nine final-table players will get at least $1 million. A record 1,182 players will be in the money, with a minimum payout of $15,000.
Stipe Miocic is a -235 favorite over Daniel Cormier in tonight's UFC main event. In the other featured match, Francis Ngannou is -325 over Derrick Lewis.
Ignacio Sanchez was the Day 2C chip leader with 627,200, putting him in the overall lead for the tournament. The first marquee name to show up in the standings is Phil Ivey in 26th with 434,200. Notable eliminations included Tony Ma, David Williams, Humberto Brenes, and Mark Newhouse. In today’s Day 3, the remaining field of 2,786 will all play together for the first time. Television coverage begins at 3 p.m. PST on ESPN2.
The free-play promotion at Jackpot Bar & Grill (4360 S. Decatur) has been adjusted again. Formerly a play-$500-get-$50 offer on designated days, it's now play-$20-get-$20. You can play it once daily from 1-4 a.m., 1-4 p.m., and 7-10 p.m. This is not an automated promotion; you have to have to play with a Jackpot players card inserted and have your coin-in verified by the bartender, who will then manually load the free-play bonus onto your machine.
The new leader after Day 2A/B, which combined the survivors from Day 1A and 1B, is Shawn Daniels with 533,500. Recognizable names are nowhere to be found near the top, with Chris Klodnicki the first to show up in 115th (266,900). Big names to be eliminated include Justin Bonomo, Jeff Madsen, Erik Seidel, Tony Dunst, Mike Sexton, Max Pescatori, Antoine Saout, Maria Ho, Phil Galfond, last year’s final-table darling, John Hesp, and former Main Event champions Dan Harrington, Joe Hachem, and Joe McKeehen. The tournament continues today with Day 2C play beginning at 11 a.m. Television coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
So much for smooth negotiations. Apparently dissatisfied with a lack of progress in labor talks at 13 unsigned properties, the Culinary and Bartenders Unions will stage “informational pickets” at two casinos today. The pickets are scheduled for the D from 9:30 a.m. to noon and Westgate Las Vegas from 4:30 to 6 p.m. No further actions by the unions have been announced.
The third and final Day 1 session drew a huge field as expected, with 4,571 players turning out to top last year's 4,262. Total entries in this year’s Main Event are 7,874, a 9% increase over last year's 7,221 and the second largest in history behind the 8,773 entrants in 2006. The Day 1C chip leader was Samuel Touil with 352,800, which also gives him the overall tournament lead with 5,940 players remaining. Notable Day 1C eliminations included John Racener, Marcel Luske, Dutch Boyd, Daniel Colman, Vanessa Selbst, and Daniel Negreanu. Two of three Day 2 sessions are being combined and played today. Television coverage begins at 5 p.m. PST on ESPN.
Thirty-two-year-old competitive eater Miki Sudo from Las Vegas took first place in the Nathan's hot-dog-eating contest held on the boardwalk at Coney Island every year on July 4th. This was the fifth year in a row that the fan favorite won the women's contest, by downing 37 franks and buns in 10 minutes. It was four short of her total last year, but nine higher than the second-place finisher. On the men's side, San Jose resident Joey "Jaws" Chestnut consumed a record 74 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes (one every eight seconds or so), two more than last year, to take home his 11th coveted Mustard Belt.
The Day 1B chip leader was Smain Mamouni with 311,000, who also leads the tournament. There were 2,378 entrants to bring the two-day total to 3,303 -- 344 more than the two-day total in 2017 -- with 1,794 surviving. Notable eliminations included Jason Somerville, Doug Polk, Martin Staszko, Jeff Lisandro, Paul Volpe, Robert Mizrachi, and former Main Event winners Jamie Gold and Greg Raymer. The final Day 1 flight begins at 11 a.m. today. Television coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. PST on ESPN2.
Even with the Fourth falling on a Wednesday this year, a projected 300,000 visitors will come to town to celebrate, many for an extended trip through the weekend. For a full listing of events and fireworks displays, see our complete round-up at VegasWithAnEdge.com. In addition to the events on that list, several casinos are running gambling promos today. Tuscany is awarding 12X points on reel slots and 6X on video poker. Station and Fiesta casinos have 3.3X points on slots and 2X on video poker. The D and Golden Gate have 5X points on slots. El Cortez has 10X on video reels, 5X on regular reels and keno, and 2X on video poker, along with White Castle hamburgers handed out to players from noon to midnight. South Point is giving away $32,000 today with $100 awards given to players chosen randomly until midnight.
According to John Katsilometes of the LV Review-Journal Britney Spears has signed on for a two-year residency at Park MGM. The starting date wasn't announced, but she will reportedly be paid a guarantee of $500,000 per show, the highest of any performer in Las Vegas.
The Plaza has reached an agreement with the Culinary Union. It’s the first downtown casino to settle. There are now 13 casinos still without contracts in place.
Attendance was up big for the first of three "Day 1" sessions in the World Series of Poker Main Event, with 925 entries compared to 795 on last year’s Day 1A; 659 remain. The chip leader is Timothy Lau with 338,700. Notable eliminations included Brian Rast, Jonathan Little, and former champions Jerry Yang, Qui Nguyen, and last-year’s winner, Scott Blumstein. Day 1B play begins today at 11 a.m. Television coverage starts at 4 p.m. PST on ESPN.
The NBA Summer League runs July 6-17, and for the first time, all 30 NBA teams will participate. Games will be played at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion; single-game tickets start at $35.
The presence of construction cranes in Las Vegas has always been a sign of prosperous times. Now, after several lean years, the cranes are becoming visible again. While there hasn't been a lot in the news about the state of the Raiders Stadium, there’s plenty of evidence of progress on the construction site. Several cranes can be easily viewed from I-15 and surrounding areas. Work is in full gear and the bottom parts of the stadium structure are visible. Meanwhile on the Strip, several cranes are also in action at the building site of Resorts World Las Vegas, across the street from Encore.
The $10K buy-in Main Event in the World Series of Poker begins today with the first of three "Day 1" sessions. The tournament is starting earlier than usual this year to accommodate increased television coverage; the entire tournament will be telecast live (there's a 30-minute delay) on ESPN, beginning today on ESPN2 at 5 p.m. PST. We'll provide updates in this space throughout the tournament.
Stanley Ho, who for 40 years was able to hold a casino monopoly in Macau, has stepped down from his position as Chairman of SJM Holdings. The 96-year-old Ho is credited for creating much of the infrastructure that allowed companies like Sands Corp., Wynn Resorts, and MGM Resorts International to flourish when the market was opened, resulting in Macau becoming the world’s leading gambling jurisdiction. He’s succeeded as chairman by his daughter, Daisy Ho.
Native American casinos in Oklahoma have been given the go-ahead to offer “ball-and-dice games,” which means roulette and craps. Versions of these games had previously been allowed by using cards to simulate play.
Frank Marino's long-running Divas Las Vegas all-male drag show has closed at the LINQ. Marino first began starring as Joan Rivers in An Evening at La Cage at the Riviera in 1985, where he performed for 25 years, logging his 25,000th Las Vegas performance in 2014. His 33 years of continuous appearances on the Las Vegas Strip are the longest for any performer in the history of the city. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the show will relocate in the fall, but the new venue hasn't been announced.