Starting tomorrow, Coloradans will be able to legally bet on sports, both at brick-and-mortar casinos and via apps. Of course, none of Colorado's 35 casinos is open and there are very few sporting events to bet on, so the long-awaited launch will be somewhat anti-climactic. Eventually, Colorado sports bettors will have more than a dozen online sports books to choose from, though only four — FanDuel, DraftKings, BetRivers, and MGM-GVC joint venture ROAR Digital — plan to launch tomorrow. Most of the tax revenue generated from sports betting will go to the state's underfunded Colorado River Plan, which is meant to ensure that residents have safe drinking water and bodies of water for recreation.
Governor Steve Sisolak has extended Nevada's stay-at-home directive for two weeks; it was scheduled to expire tonight, but will continue to May 15. Some restrictions have been eased in the meantime: All retail businesses can offer curbside pickups; places of worship can hold services in their parking lots, as long as people stay in their cars; and pickleball is now allowed (along with tennis and golf).
If, after the shutdown, you're looking for the certified cleanest hotel in downtown Las Vegas, look no further than the Downtown Grand, which has earned the 2020 AAA Inspector's Best of Housekeeping Award. The only downtown hotel-casino to be honored with the designation, it's given to properties that receive AAA's highest cleanliness score two years in a row; this is the sixth year in a row that the Downtown Grand has received it. Only one out of four properties do. When it reopens, the Grand will be implementing a #GoodCleanFun initiative: social distancing and stringent policies and procedures in the casino, at hotel check-in, in the common areas, entertainment venues, and rooms, and from food and drink service.
“Unfortunately, we’re going to have to extend the stay-at-home order a little bit," Gov. Steve Sisolak told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on today's show. He didn't indicate how long the directive, which was originally scheduled to expire Friday, will continue, but yesterday, the governor tweeted that he would announce his “Roadmap to Recovery” plan tomorrow. A few hints: Elective medical and dental procedures will resume; retail stores will be allowed curbside pickup; and some outdoor recreational activities will reopen. Stay tuned.
After opening its restaurants yesterday, a major tribal casino in northern Idaho will reopen completely on May 1 when the statewide stay-at-home directive expires there. The detailed list of protocols issued by Coeur d'Alene Tribal Council's reopening task force could be an indicator of what the casino industry will look like when it comes back from the shutdown. To wit: All guests and employees will be required to wear masks. Enhanced cleaning procedures will include disinfecting restrooms, gaming machines, and all high-touch and high-traffic areas multiple times a day; three dozen hand-sanitizing stations will be available around the property. The casino will be closed 3-7 a.m. daily for deep cleaning. Six-foot distancing will be enforced at typical gathering places and the restaurants, lounge and bar, and bingo will have limited capacities. Room service, the pool, and the spa will reopen with strict protocols, while meetings and conventions will be postponed until early July and the buffet, fitness center, and off-track betting will remain closed until further notice. There have been no confirmed COVID-19 cases to date on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation or in the surrounding county.
Renowned sports bettor Billy Walters will reportedly be released from prison this week. Walters was serving a five-year sentence for an insider-trading conviction and was scheduled for release in February 2022. News accounts indicate that the early release was due in part to the coronavirus risk for inmates. Walters' amazing story is told in one of eight profiles in Richard Munchkin's book Gambling Wizards -- Conversations with the World's Greatest Gamblers.
... it'll be the first time in record-keeping history that the thermometer has risen to triple digits in Las Vegas in April. In the past 10 years, the earliest we saw 100 degrees was May 5 (2018); the latest was June 14 (2011). The earliest ever was May 1, 1947. And that's not all; today's high-temperature prediction is for 101. Right now, it's 78, so the temperature will be soaring 23 degrees in the next eight hours (the high is expected at 4 p.m.) and an excessive heat warning is in place through tomorrow at midnight.
The Venetian/Palazzo, which will remain closed at least through May 31, has unveiled an 800-point plan for keeping guests and employees safe when the doors reopen in June. The protocols start with thermal cameras at every entrance that will check body temperatures of guests and staff; anyone with a temperature higher than 100.4 degrees will undergo a secondary screening and be directed to appropriate medical care if necessary. That medical care includes a team of 25 emergency medical technicians, with eight on duty at all times. The suite of any guest who tests positive for COVID-19 will be removed from service and undergo cleaning by a third-party expert. All the suites will come with hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes, plus latex gloves and a personal face mask that guests are welcome to wear on property, though masks that hide the entire face won't be allowed. Electrostatic sprayers will apply hospital-grade disinfectant on high-touch surfaces during off-peak hours and UV lights will decontaminate shipments arriving and leaving the resort’s receiving docks, mailroom, and warehouse and will be used on hotel equipment like baggage carts. Employees will undergo COVID-19 safety, sanitation, and response training and will wear protective equipment according to their responsibilities. Finally, only four passengers will be allowed in elevators and on gondolas.
Poker Queens is a new movie now streaming on Amazon Prime and Vimeo on Demand that celebrates the female professionals who live and breathe poker, such as Jennifer Tilly, Jennifer Harman, Linda Johnson, Kathy Liebert, Kelly Minken, Muskan Sethi, Esther Taylor, Gillian Epp, Jan Fisher, Angelica Hael, Kristen Bicknell, Liv Boeree, Loni Harwood, and more. Some notable men are also featured, including Daniel Negreanu, Joey Ingram, Jeff Boski, and Ryan Depaulo, all of whom support more women at the poker table. The documentary was directed by Sandra Mohr, herself a skilled poker player. Just released, Poker Queens has received a couple dozen reviews on Amazon Prime (4.5 stars). It can be rented for $2.99. We'll definitely check it out sooner than later.
On May 4, road crews will begin restriping the HOV lanes that extend from US 95 down I-15 in order to open up carpool entry and exit points. The Nevada Department of Transportation is responding to an outcry from commuters about having to drive miles beyond where they want to go once they access the HOV lanes. New access points are being added just north and south of Sahara Avenue on I-15 northbound and just south of Sahara and south of the 215 Beltway southbound. On US 95 northbound, access points will be added between the Spaghetti Bowl interchange and Martin Luther King Boulevard and at Craig Road; Craig Road will get an access point southbound as well. The work will be done overnight for the next couple of weeks.
Caesars Entertainment has launched an employee assistance program funded by donations from the company’s executives and board of directors. Employees facing "unusual hardships" caused by the shutdown can apply for extra help. Caesars is paying all its employees, including paid time off and company-paid medical benefits, until June 30 or when they return to work, whichever comes first.
MGM Resorts International has canceled all hotel reservations at its properties around the country during the month of May, with a full refund issued for any bookings. It's now taking reservations with an arrival date beginning Monday June 1 for Las Vegas hotel-casinos (and MGM Springfield in Massachusetts). Wynn/Encore, however, has started accepting reservations for the Memorial Day weekend. Caesars, Boyd, and Station properties, along with Treasure Island, are accepting reservations starting May 15. Venetian/Palazzo aren't accepting reservations yet. Though the governor hasn't announced any dates for reopening, a spokesperson for Caesars said that accepting reservations for a particular date doesn't mean the hotels will be open then. Wynn says, "We can have all of our protective guest and employee measures in place" by Memorial Day.
For the past few weeks, coordinated room lighting in Strip-facing hotel towers have illuminated messages of unity and sanguinity. Now the impulse seems to be spreading. A local attorney and his 18-year-old son placed 40 white and 20 red solar lights on the Henderson side of Black Mountain in the far southeast valley; the white lights outline Nevada and the reds form a heart in the middle. Next, a local entrepreneur worked with Red Rock Resort for a unique marriage proposal: Synchronized room lights spelled out Marry Me? (The bride to be, Fox 5 TV journalist Jillian Lopez, said yes.) Finally, the exterior lights at the Raiders' stadium were turned on for the first time Friday night; white border strips surround the "allegiant stadium" (yes, lower-case) with the distinctive Allegiant sunburst over the "gia."
Tickets for "The House of Dancing Water," a Cirque du Soleil-style show in Macau, the gambling capital of the world (yes, Las Vegas is second), went on sale this weekend. The show at Macau's City of Dreams hotel-casino has issued audience requirements that could serve as a crystal ball for the Strip: body-temperature screening, protective masks inside the theater, a modified seating arrangement, mandatory hand sanitization every two hours, and this being China, showing a “personal health declaration” before entering the show (a document issued by a local coronavirus-response agency). In addition, the theater will be “thoroughly disinfected" and have "an advanced theater ventilation and air-purifying system." If the show reopening is any indication of what's in store for Las Vegas, we might expect theaters to resume operations eight to ten weeks after the shutdown ends; Macau casinos were closed down on February 5 and reopened on the 20th.
The Clark County Marriage License Bureau will reopen tomorrow, after being closed since May 17 when the state was shut down. Anyone wanting a marriage license should: complete the application online prior to arrival; wear a mask or other face covering when entering the office; and be prepared to wait outside to limit the number of applicants inside. The hours will be 8 a.m. to midnight. No cash payments, only credit and debit cards accepted.
Amid the controversies swirling around the country concerning the end of the shutdown, LVCVA CEO Steve Hill has offered his take on how that might look in Las Vegas when it happens. "To do it right," Hill says, the key selling point is that people feel safe. “The visibility of safety and health issues will be important to our visitors. They'll want to see that, as well as just to know that it's in the background." Restaurants and retail, he suggests, will be at 50% of capacity and conventions, which are now being scheduled to start up again in August, will be smaller and attendees will enter in shifts to maintain social-distancing guidelines. "Over the next nine to twelve months," says Hill, "it's going to be a gradual recovery."
The West Wind Drive-in movie theater in North Las Vegas across from Fiesta Rancho reopened on Thursday night, with formal approval granted by the city. Movie-goers had to park at least 10 feet away one another, remain in their cars unless going to the restrooms, and wear a face covering outside their cars. The concession stand remained closed. Cars lined up for two hours before the showings on Thursday -- which turned out to be the last. The city had deemed the drive-in an “outdoor activity” that would provide a safe diversion for families self-isolating while maintaining social distancing. The state, however, seems to have a problem with even that; West Wind announced that it "was asked to cease operations Friday, one day after it reopened, until it received further direction from the governor’s office." We anxiously await Governor Sisolak's determination on drive-in movies.
South Point's legendary bookmaker Jimmy Vaccaro says that Joe Biden announcing that his running mate will be a woman "just spurs us old-timers." In a story in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal, Vaccaro elaborated. “If I’m having lunch with [William Hill sports book director] Nicky Bogdanovich or [longtime Las Vegas oddsmaker] Richie Baccellieri, we’ll say, ‘What would you make that?’” Vaccaro also has another veteran sports book operator, Chris Andrews, to bounce these things off of. Chris, who works with Jimmy at South Point, is the author of our recent title, Then One Day ... Forty Years of Bookmaking in Nevada, which offers a unique look at how a sports book director talks, thinks, and makes book — today and back in the “good-old-days” (now on sale for $14.96). Of course, U.S. sports books aren't allowed to accept bets on non-sporting events, so the odds are just for entertainment purposes, both for bettors and oddsmakers. Vaccaro says, “If me and Chris make a huge mistake, it don't matter. We can’t lose nothin'. On the other side, if it’s a real good number, we can’t win nothin'. Good little story. What? Oh. You want the odds? Okay. For president, it's pick 'em -- even money on Trump and Biden. For vice president, Kamala Harris is the +140 favorite, followed by Amy Klobuchar (3-1), Gretchen Whitmer (8-1), Stacey Abrams (15-1), Elizabeth Warren (16-1), Catherine Cortez Masto (20-1), and Michelle Obama (25-1). The field is 10-1.
The Small Business Administration yesterday released revised regulatory guidelines that allow size-eligible gambling businesses to participate in the Paycheck Protection Program. When the CARES Act was enacted to provide economic relief to blunt the impact of the pandemic, the SBA's "antiquated policy" precluded gambling companies from qualifying for PPP loans. Heavy lobbying by the American Gaming Association and tribal casinos convinced the authorities that commercial and tribal casino-industry employees deserve the same support available to other small businesses. Strip clubs are still excluded.
The NFL draft currently taking place virtually was supposed to be the biggest event in Las Vegas history. It still will be, given last night's announcement by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, but it'll have to wait a couple of years. All the plans in place for this year's aborted Draft will remain when it shows back up in Las Vegas in 2022, with the addition of new elements, to be revealed in time.
Just yesterday morning, Treasure Island announced they're accepting hotel reservations as of May 15, three weeks from today, though that's subject to change, as it has from the original opening date of May 1. Decision-makers at the Venetian apparently believe that's a couple weeks too early; they announced that they've canceled all reservations through May 31. The press release added that all employees are being paid "at least" through May 17, which indicates that that date could be extended. As it is, it's an extension of the Venetian's commitment to pay wages and benefits through April 30 in connection with the Nevada governor's original shutdown order.
The state Gaming Control Board has released an 18-point memo on procedures for reopening casinos. The policy statement, posted on the GCB's website, mandates that casinos submit a detailed reopening plan at least seven days before proposed restart dates for every one of the companies' properties that includes the phasing-in plans for opening the various venues in the casino-hotels. It also provides a mechanism to re-register laid-off employees. And, not surprisingly, the rest of the six-page report deals with cash requirements for reopening and new deadlines for tax payments. No dates are included in the memo; the start of the reopening process is in the hands of the governor.
Anthony Curtis conducted an email interview with a Forbes.com contributor, "What's It Like in Las Vegas Right Now"? Read it here.
Hoo wee! The governor, gaming regulators, local and union officials, late-night comedians, even Las Vegas workers are blowing up the media and social media over Mayor Carolyn Goodman's contentious 17-minute interview with Anderson Cooper yesterday televised on CNN. During the interview, Goodman took the position that everything needed to reopen immediately, to which Cooper took great umbrage. Goodman has been both criticized and praised in this polarizing argument for saying that keeping Sin City shut down is "total insanity" and is "killing Las Vegas." She's serving her third and last term as mayor of Las Vegas.
The cancellations continue and are getting further out in the year. The three-day Life Is Beautiful Art & Music Festival was scheduled to take place Sept. 18-20 throughout downtown, but it will take the year off and return in September 2021. We hope.
Expanding on our explanation of the message delivered yesterday by Gov. Steve Sisolak, the shutdown of most of the Silver State's businesses will continue until public health officials "have observed 14 days of consistent and sustainable downward trends in the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations." With 10 days left in the initial directive that's supposed to end on May 1, the number of new cases in Nevada "seems to be plateauing," but it will take at least several days to determine if the curve has turned downward. So at this point, it looks like a slowly phased reopening could start in mid-May. Sisolak did say, “We now want to move into a phase where saving lives and restarting our economy are not mutually exclusive.”
With almost all sports suspending their schedules, there’s not much to bet on in the books. As such, tomorrow’s NFL draft takes center stage as one of the most highly anticipated betting events in some time. If you’re in a jurisdiction that has sports book apps, there are lots of propositions to bet. But you have only till 5 p.m. PST today to make certain bets in Nevada per gaming regulations. Get details in Frank B’s blog post, NFL Draft Betting in Nevada.
EaterVegas reports that the 600-seat Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace has revised existing plans filed earlier this year to remodel a section of the food line. A budget of $2.4 million has been allocated to alter existing food counters, replace some service equipment, and renovate the ceilings and floors. It's not clear if the changes are a response to the shutdown, but the plans do suggest that this buffet, at least, will reopen when it's over.
Las Vegas Boulevard north of Sahara, plus some feeder streets, will undergo a three-year $125 million overhaul starting Monday April 27. Called the "largest roadway project in the history of the city of Las Vegas," crews will replace underground utilities, traffic signals, medians, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and trees in the medians, plus plant roughly 200 new trees and add more bus stops and neon signs in the medians. The sewers, especially, are in desperate need of replacing; the pipes are 80 years old, installed in 1942. The water lines are just a little younger, installed in 1955, and some traffic signals, according to the city, are from 1965. The work will occur Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. and be completed in 2023.
As states begin to relax quarantine measures, Nevada governor Steve Sisolak was noncommittal about when casinos will be allowed to open in an hour-long press conference today. Sisolak presented a “plan” that had no dates, but was reliant on reported infection results for reopening actions. He definitively stated that schools would not reconvene this year. As of now, the general closure order remains in effect until April 30.
Michael Gaughan, owner of the South Point, has informed his 2,200 employees that they're being furloughed as of May 3 for an "indefinite period." Gaughan told his employees that they should apply for unemployment immediately and "will be better off" than continuing to be paid by the casino. South Point will maintain health benefits through July 31, but all other benefit payroll deductions will end after May 3. "Unfortunately, it may take several months to get back to full employment due to the lack of business,” Gaughan wrote in the letter.
The Tropicana sale/leaseback by Penn National to Gaming and Leisure Properties, its real estate spinoff, was completed yesterday. Penn will continue to operate the Trop for two years or more, unless the property is resold by GLPI; Penn won't have to pay any rent, receiving a credit of $307.5 million. In addition, Penn will share in the net proceeds if the property is sold (75% over the $307.5 million in the first year and 50% in the second).
The Wall Street Journal reports that an anti-gambling group, Stop Predatory Gambling, is sending letters to the governors and attorneys general in the 45 states, and the District of Columbia, that have state lotteries, asking for them to be shut down for at least 30 days after all the stimulus payments are received by eligible recipients. The national organization argues that "spending money on the lottery right now defeats the purpose of stimulus: providing for families in need and encouraging consumer spending in the broader economy." Critics, of course, claim that the anti-gambling groups are simply using the pandemic to push their agendas. The same is true for Internet gambling; though it's legally available in only three states, it's much more popular in Europe, where anti-gambling crusaders have greatly geared up their campaigns against igaming.
The 51st World Series of Poker, which was set to begin Tuesday May 26, has just been officially postponed. The press release says, "It is now targeted for fall 2020, with exact dates and events to be determined." In the interim, official WSOP competitions are expected to be played online this summer, with an expanded series of tournaments on WSOP.com and via partnerships with international operators. The next live event on the WSOP calendar is the Global Casino Championship, still scheduled for August 11-13 at Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina (an invitation-only event, it's open to those who have qualified). WSOP Europe, at King’s Resort in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, remains on the calendar for the fall.
The Neon Museum has revealed visitor numbers for the six-month "Lost Vegas: Tim Burton @ The Neon Museum" show. The 191,000 visitors for the show, which ran between October 15 and April 12, nearly doubled the number from the same period the prior year. Visitation would no doubt have been much higher had the museum stayed open for the final month. Four of Burton’s works will remain on display when the museum does open its gates again.
Chief Executive Officer of Wynn Resorts, Matt Maddox, has proposed an incremental reopening of the Nevada economy starting in early May. In an op-ed piece published yesterday by the NevadaIndependent.com, a nonpartisan nonprofit news and opinion website, Maddox recommended that the state "follow the data provided by a team of modeling experts" tracking testing, hospitalization and deaths, and critical-care bed availability. "Assuming in mid- to late May we are still in line with the benchmarks, slowly begin to reopen the Las Vegas Strip with extensive safety measures in place: reduced occupancy for hotels, physical-distancing enforcement (for example, only four people in elevators), non-invasive temperature checks, no large gatherings, and masks for all. Health officials would monitor the data daily and "marginally pull back or move forward" as needed. Maddox argues, "Our economy is in a freefall. We now face a new rapidly decelerating curve we must flatten, so we can re-emerge in a safe sustainable way. The only way to cross this river is one stone at a time and we need to put our feet in the water before it is too late."
Robbie Williams, the number-one British singer-songwriter and best-selling non-Latino artist in Latin America, has announced the cancellation of his eight planned performances July 3-15 at Encore Theater. It's is the furthest-out cancellations we've seen due to the pandemic. Shows scheduled at Encore on July 18 and 24-25 are still on and Le Reve at the Wynn is selling tickets for shows starting June 1.
Need to scratch a video poker itch? PT’s Entertainment Group is running a free-to-play online tournament with $5,000 in weekly prizes. You have to download the PT’s app and have a True Rewards (or former Golden Rewards) card to play. Players get 10 or 20 entries per week, depending on tier level. It runs for three weeks and today is the last day to play in Week 1. See our “Vegas and the Virus” blog for more detail.
Las Vegas Review-Journal photographers roamed the Strip last week and snapped some more once-in-a-lifetime frames of the spectral scene. See the slideshow here. You'll see eight photos; if you access today's RJ, it has another seven.
The sign on Little Darlings, the alcohol-free fully nude gentleman's club on Western Avenue visible from the freeway a few blocks from the STRAT, reads, "Sorry, We're Clothed." The dancer on the sign, normally noticeably less than clothed, is tastefully attired in a little black dress. Little Darlings has garnered its share of publicity since the shutdown, giving away 30,000 cases of water to locals; it was also the latst strip club to remain open (until an executive order from the governor put it directly in the sights of law enforcement), offering "drive-thru" peep shows in a privacy tent and nude hand-sanitizer wrestling.
Long-time Las Vegas Review-Journal business reporter Rick Velotta quoted Carlo Santarelli, gaming analyst with Deutsche Bank, in a story in today's paper. Santarelli predicts that the Macau casinos, which closed for 15 days in February, but have been open since then, will be "the first gaming market to recover, followed by the domestic regional market, and lastly, the Las Vegas Strip.” Santarelli expects table-game minimums "to start at $25 in regional markets and perhaps $50 on the Strip, given that lower-minimum tables would be unprofitable once staffing is considered." Buffets, he said, "are almost sure to remain closed," along with spas, theaters, convention centers, nightclubs, and pools, which at best will be "sparsely opened.” He projects that entertainment schedules will be "nonexistent for the foreseeable future.”
A special Nevada COVID-19 task force, chaired by former MGM CEO Jim Murren, has established a unique partnership with G42, a leading technology company based in Abu Dhabi, second largest city in the United Arab Emirates (behind Dubai). Thanks to Murren's long association with the UAE (Dubai World owns 50% of City Center), the UAE has donated millions of dollars worth of personal protective equipment and the opportunity to "participate in an innovative genomic study of the COVID-19 coronavirus using technology created by G42,” according to the press release. Murren told KVVU-TV Las Vegas that the donation will allow the lab at Las Vegas' University Medical Center to become open source, "meaning it can use multiple test kits on the same platform to be able to test thousands of people a day."
Testing is critical, Murren said, "to provide a safe and sustainable economic recovery for all of Nevada in the long run."
Do you like and miss a certain non-casino gaming bar? If yes, its return when the shutdown ends isn’t a given. For unclear reasons, bars and taverns that make more than half of their revenue, or more than $1 million annually, from gambling are disqualified from getting federal aid. As a result, many gaming bars have not only been forced to close, but also can’t participate in a stimulus program. It’s a terrible inequity, in our view, that may lead to permanent closures of watering holes that have been virtual institutions for decades.
We've yet to see any passenger counts for McCarran Airport since the shutdown in mid-March, but according to the Transportation Security Administration, between last Monday and Wednesday, 280,502 passengers were screened at airport security checkpoints in all of the U.S., down 96% from the seven million passengers screened over the same period last year. McCarran has been so hard hit that two of the three concourses and one of the parking lots are closed, TSA has consolidated its checkpoints, airport hours have been reduced, and social distancing is limiting contact between TSA agents and passengers. The airport can't even anticipate flight arrivals and departures; airlines are canceling flights on the fly (so to speak).
For the first time in the two-year-old sports betting rollout in the U.S., a state has established a minimum hold for sports bets. Tennessee is capping payouts at 90%, which will certainly reduce, and possibly eliminate, sports book operators' leeway in providing competitive bet pricing and impel bettors to out-of-state markets. Initially, the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation, which will oversee sports betting, proposed a 15% minimum hold, but after the predictable outcry from everyone, dropped it to 8% (the historic hold in Nevada is 5.4%, while the "natural" -- or unencumbered -- aggregate national win since PASPA was overturned, according to LegalSportsReport.com, is 6.8%). The lottery corporation did say that it would revisit the rules in a year's time, so it might learn its lesson. On the other hand, LegalSportsReport comments, "Capping payouts is the standard in the world of lotteries. If Tennessee sports betting flounders, it could illustrate the potential disadvantage for states choosing the lottery to regulate sports wagering."
What will casinos and hotels look like after they reopen? We've seen some hints in the past couple of days: dealers wearing masks and gloves; players sitting at least one chair apart at table games and distanced at craps; every other or third slot machine in operation; poker rooms slow to reopen; non-invasive temperature testing of patrons coming through a single open entrance; testing facilities set up nearby for employees and guests exhibiting symptoms. A phased reopening of properties is envisioned, such as Luxor and New York-New York first, then Bellagio and the Mirage, etc., and even then, only some of the restaurants and attractions, with showrooms probably last on the list. The current policies at Artisan Hotel are perhaps a model, since the boutique hotel on West Sahara is currently open (mainly for locals who need to escape domestic situations): enforced distancing between employees and guests; a strictly limited number of employees at the front desk and elsewhere; common areas cleaned/sanitized every few hours; and housekeepers entering vacant rooms only. As to when Nevada might start the long process of resuming operations, it appears that Governor Steve Sisolak is in no hurry; despite serious pressure from Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (the shutdown is "total insanity," she said yesterday) and gaming operators, Sisolak said recently that Nevada has "a long way to go" before reopening.
A report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal emphasizes how hard Nevada has been economically by the pandemic, compared to the other 48 states. The story quotes Oxford Economics, a UK global-forecasting and quantitative-analysis firm, which ranks Nevada as the second-most economically vulnerable state. Nevada "gets more than four times as much of its gross domestic product from the tourism sector as the country as a whole" and falls short in comparisons of states' elderly populations, retail activity, and small businesses. Only Maine beat out Nevada for its economic vulnerability, while Alaska ranked least vulnerable. The story also cited Yardi Matrix, a real estate research group, which finds that 49% of workers in southern Nevada are in industries that are most at risk for job losses -- leisure and hospitality, retail and construction. Yardi ranks Las Vegas’ share of at-risk job losses as highest among the 50 metro areas it compared.
The XFL's parent company, Alpha Entertainment, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, after the startup pro-football league suspended operations and laid off almost all of its employees last Friday. The eight-team league completed five weeks of games before canceling its season in the face of the pandemic. The XFL was the first professional sports league to actively embrace legal sports betting; sports book operators helped in establishing gambler-friendly rules and betting details were discussed in game broadcasts and analyses. The league's president, Jeffrey Pollack, served as commissioner of the World Series of Poker from 2005 to 2009. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy means that it's a reorganization, not a liquidation, so the league could be sold or reinstituted.
Lakeside Inn and Casino, the smallest hotel-casino in Stateline, has closed permanently after a 35-year run at South Lake Tahoe. An e-newsletter and a post on Lakeside's website announced the closure, blaming the pandemic. The post advised anyone needing to cash in slot tickets or table-game chips to keep an eye on the website for upcoming instructions; no mention was made of sports bets.
The Las Vegas Convention Center could be turned into a "low-level alternative care site capable of holding 1,350 patients" if it's needed as an alternative to overcrowded hospitals. Though it's not needed currently, it could open within a four-day span if it is. Clark County currently counts 2,509 people who've been infected with coronavirus, up from 2,444 yesterday, with 106 fatalities and 1,141 recoveries. One of those who've recovered is a nurse from Mountain View Hospital who was in intensive care for nearly a month.
In a brief interview that ran in yesterday’s LV Review-Journal, the CEO of Virgin Las Vegas indicated that the conversion from the Hard Rock has been unaffected by the coronavirus crisis. Neither the scope nor the timetable of the project has been altered and plans still call for the resort to reopen at the end of the year.
The Westgate's SuperBook brand is expanding outside Las Vegas for the first time, thanks to a licensing deal with the Lodge Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado. The Lodge is owned and operated by Jacobs Entertainment, which also owns the Gilpin Casino in Black Hawk, three Gold Dust West casinos in Nevada, and 22 Cash Magic truck stop-casinos in Louisiana. Pending Colorado regulatory approval, the SuperBook will bring its massive pro-football handicapping contest to Colorado; its team is led by Jay Kornegay, a Colorado native.
This morning, Nevada reported the lowest increase in COVID-19 cases since March 20. The 22 new positive tests were only seven more than the 15 reported more than three weeks ago. The total number of cases in Nevada is somewhere between 2,993 (reported by the state) and 3,306 (added up from local health districts), but the death toll remained the same: 120. For a look at the recovery process, the start of which is still 17 days away at the very least, read an in-depth analysis by CDC Gaming Reports' senior analyst Ken Adams.
The huge annual arts festival in the Black Rock Desert 100 miles north of Reno will not take place this year. It's the first time since its founding in 1986 that Burning Man has been canceled (it moved from a San Francisco beach to the Black Rock in 1990). It's not a complete surprise: Ticket sales were scheduled to begin on April 8, but were suspended indefinitely on March 30. Upwards of 80,000 attendees were expected for this year's event, slated for Aug. 30 to Sept. 7, which typically injects $60 million into the northern Nevada economy every year.
It's been a long absence with a couple of false starts associated with his return, but James Grosjean is back. Considered by many to be the dean of Advantage Players, James is again conveying his unique, fascinating, and sometimes controversial brand of logic in our "Gambling With an Edge" blog. In his return post, James comments on the coronavirus situation, while providing some insight into what has kept him away. We're excited to have him back.
Coordinated lighting in Strip-facing rooms in the Wynn and Encore hotel towers has been displaying messages of hope and unity for a week now and new ones appearing yesterday are pretty cool. Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, we'll save the other 980 by giving you the link to the photo.
Construction of the Raiders' $2 billion stadium continues unabated, even though a second worker has now tested positive for the coronavirus. The roof is two weeks away from completion and many of the exterior signs have installed; most of the work is now focused on the interior. Still, in anticipation of the stadium not being completed by the July 31 deadline, a number of alternative scenarios are in the works. They could play home games at Sam Boyd Stadium or in Salt Lake City, Phoenix and San Diego, or the NFL could schedule their first few games on the road. The big question is, will the NFL begin its season on time? If not, the whole issue might be moot.
According to AAA, which tracks gasoline prices nationwide, the average price of a gallon of gas at a U.S. pump is $1.88, down 32% year over year; at this time in 2019, it was $2.76. The lowest price on the continent is found in Wisconsin ($1.36), while the highest, as usual, is in California ($2.90), though the highest in the U.S. is, as always, Hawaii at $3.30. In Nevada, the average price is $2.50, fifth highest in the nation, down 20% from last year's $3.13 (Nevada gets its gas from California). Here in Las Vegas, it's about 5 cents higher than the state average.
The Singapore Straits Times reports that a global condom shortage is looming. Restrictions on the operations of Malaysian contraceptive giant Karex, which produces one in every five condoms globally, has resulted in 200 million fewer condoms than usual manufactured by Karex between mid-March and mid-April. The surge in demand of condoms is not just due to half the world obeying sheltering-at-home orders. They're also being used as finger protection for touching public surfaces. A janitor in Jakarta was quoted as saying that he throws out dozens of condoms a day when he empties a trash can in his building’s elevators. “People don’t want to press the buttons with their fingers, so they put on rubbers."
The Air Force’s Thunderbirds Demonstration Squadron conducted an impressive flyover of the Las Vegas valley yesterday. See the report in the “Vegas and the Virus” blog, along with a link to some impressive video.
We've been tracking the pushback against online gambling during the pandemic out of Europe and Asia. Typical of the coverage is a series of stories out of the, where the Advertising Standards Authority has called on the British public to report gambling ads that refer to the pandemic crisis, "pledging swift action against those that breach advertising rules" and that the "conduct of the online gambling industry, including the nature and frequency of its advertising, is under particular scrutiny during the pandemic. But an article in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald is the first we've seen with hard numbers. "According to a database that tracks the consumption patterns of hundreds of thousands of Australians, online wagering increased by 67% during the past week compared to average weekly spending, while expenditure on alcohol and tobacco increased by 33%. The data, collated by analytics consultancy AlphaBeta and credit firm Illion, has sparked concerns that the pandemic has created a perfect storm for harmful and addictive behaviours."
Happy Easter and Passover to everyone out there in LVAland. No special dinners, no gambling specials, no crowds, no anything as usual for this holiday. You can read our holiday message on the Question of the Day page.
Station Casinos has announced that it's extending pay and benefits for another two weeks; it had previously committed to paying through April 30 and its workforce will now receive paychecks and health insurance until May 15. On the other side of the ledger, Boyd Gaming furloughed most of its hourly employees nationwide yesterday, though it will continue to pay furloughed employees' health insurance premiums through June 30 or when they return to work (whichever comes first). The Cosmopolitan is also laying off most of its workers after April 16 and will pick up health insurance payments through June 30.
Anyone driving between Reno and Las Vegas knows Indian Springs well. Forty miles up US 95, it's the farthest little outpost in Las Vegas' urban orbit, the place to pull off and regroup if you've run out of the city in a hurry (to beat the rush-hour traffic, for example) or want to take a rest stop before zooming into the rat race. It's also just outside the main gates of Creech Air Force Base, a center of unmanned remote-controlled aircraft and the aerial training home of the Air Force's Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron. A small casino, coffee shop, and minimart/gas station opened there in 1984, but was closed in 2014 when the Air Force acquired the land for $11.5 million. The seller, however, retained the gaming license and the Gaming Control Board has approved its transfer to Herbst Holdings. Herbst claims it intends to reopen the casino, which will probably carry the Terrible's brand, with 75 slots, an eight-pump gas station and electric-vehicle charging station, convenience store, and Bob’s Big Boy restaurant, by Memorial Day.
Las Vegas Review-Journal entertainment columnist John "Kats" Katsilometes writes today that MGM Resorts has postponed the reopening of its entertainment venues from May 10 to June 1. This is the first day that headliners and shows can expect to take the stage, though it's "not a binding directive, nor does the new scheduling factor in plans to open the hotels themselves or other amenities across the company." We'll see.
According to the financial website WalletHub, Nevada had the 19th largest increase out of the 50 states and District of Columbia of initial unemployment claims for the week of March 30, as compared to the week of April 1 last year -- from 2,008 for the week in 2019 to 79,865 this year, an unimaginable 3877% increase. But rises in unemployment claims in Georgia, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Dakota, and Michigan all topped 5,0000%. Oregon, Connecticut, Wyoming, Alaska, Wisconsin, and West Virginia had the lowest number or initial claims, though they were all between a 1,000% and 2,000% increase.
The Air Demonstration Squadron Thunderbirds, which is assigned to the 57th Wing of the U.S. Air Force and based at Nellis, will do a 25-minute flyover of Las Vegas tomorrow starting at 2:30 p.m. The flight path will take the eight F-16 Fighting Falcons from the base over Centennial Hills, Summerlin, Spring Valley, along the Las Vegas Strip, and down to Henderson. The show is meant to salute from the air the valley's 16 hospitals that are caring for the more than 500 people here who are being treated for COVID-19 (110 in intensive care and 68 on ventilators).
On March 10, nearly a week before the state government-ordered shutdown, MGM Resorts and the Wynn shuttered their buffets; for obvious reasons, the Las Vegas AYCE tradition was one of the first casualties of the coronavirus outbreak. Some remained optimistically open, though at one at least (the Gold Coast), the servers ran the food to diners; Anthony Curtis experienced it and wrote about it in the current issue of the Las Vegas Advisor. Will buffets be one of the last pandemic casualties to recover? Will they reopen at all? They've been disappearing over the years and they're not planned for Resorts World, Virgin, or Circa. Now we hear that the buffets at Treasure Island and the Golden Nugget are gone permanently and we wouldn't be surprised to learn of others following suit. And the ones that do return? Some, even many, will no doubt start up again, but they'll probably go to the approach pioneered by the Cosmopolitan's Wicked Spoon: the same large variety of selections, but in individual portions; also, more servers will stand behind the stations dishing out food. We predict that it will be one of many new realities to which we'll all have to adjust.
Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak initially allowed the dozens of golf courses in southern Nevada to remain open, exempted from the shutdown. At a press conference last week, he explained that the golfing was a good outdoor-exercise opportunity and players could maintain a safe distance from one another. Yesterday, he changed his mind. "We tried it," he said. "It didn't work." He said he saw too many photographs of players close together on greens and riding two or three to a cart. So he ordered all courses to shut down immediately. The order also extends to basketball, tennis, volleyball, and other public game courts; skate parks; churches; and in-home beauty services, including haircuts by an outside stylist.
So the West Virginia Lottery Commission apparently approved gambling on the presidential election late Tuesday afternoon, which would have allowed FanDuel to book action on Trump versus Biden for president, as well as who would be the Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates, which political party would win, and which party would win each state. Really? Not so fast. Two hours later, in what the Associated Press called "a bizarre sequence that appeared to baffle top government officials," the commission changed its mind and disallowed the plays. Even the governor wasn't aware of the deal until after it was announced. And the West Virginia Secretary of State said, “Gambling on elections has been illegal in West Virginia since 1868. Gambling on the outcome of an election has no place in our democracy. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. This is a terrible idea. Let’s shut this down right now and be very clear about it.” And, it looks like, he did.
Normally, professional gamblers don't qualify for unemployment insurance, but this crisis is anything but normal. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act allows independent contractors and/or self-employed workers to apply for benefits, and that includes gambling pros. We'll see if any actually receive checks, but for now, they can file. Nevada fielded just under 120,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in all of 2019; since March 16, 170,596 initial claims have been filed in the state.
A new “Deal of the Day” program at ExclusivelyVegas.com starts today. The DoD features restaurant specials that run for one day only—mostly BOGO and 50%-off deals. Today’s is “2-for-1 dining” at Fogo de Chao. That’s a good start. You can read more about it in our "Vegas and the Virus" blog.
Many of MGM Resorts' resident entertainers have donated to the company’s Employee Emergency Grant Fund. They include David Copperfield, Jay Leno, Bill Maher, Kathleen Madigan, David Spade, Boyz II Men, Brad Garrett, Carrot Top, Terry Fator, Ray Romano, Jabbawockeez, Shin Lim, Thunder from Down Under, Hans Klok, Australian Bee Gees, and others. The fund has now raised more than $11 million, including the first donation from a headliner, $1 million from Bruno Mars. Conspicuous by its absence from the list is Cirque du Soleil, five of whose six shows on the Strip are at MRI properties; Cirque is on financial life-support due to the pandemic crisis and we'll be running a Question of the Day on the subject soon.
A cartoon in today's Las Vegas Sun by Las Vegas-based syndicated cartoonist Mike Smith is titled "Vegas after the Pandemic." Amidst hotel-casino towers along the Strip are four marquee-type signs: Sanitized Slots, Drive-Thru Buffet, Mask Nightclub, and Purell Pool Lounge. Cute.
“Unlike any Strip experience ever. I didn’t hear traffic or loud music or obnoxious people. Actually, the predominant sounds were of birds chirping on a nice spring afternoon.” Check out the latest update of our blog "Vegas and the Virus" for coverage of Strip road construction, casino construction workers catching COVID-19, Las Vegans ratting on one another, and a photo of the picnic.
Believe it or not, southern Nevada set a new record for the median price of existing single-family homes sold in March, according to a report by Las Vegas Realtors. The median price was $319,000, up from $300,000 in March 2019 and $316,000 in February, which also set a record. The $319,000 is up nearly 200% from the rock-bottom low price of $118,000 in January 2012; the old record of $315,000 was set in June 2006. The median price of condos and townhomes sold in March was $185,000. Escrows on 2,542 sales were cancelled last month, about double the normal number; April should tell a more complete tale about the full month of the pandemic shutdown.
Three weeks into spring, a huge storm covered the Lake Tahoe basin with a foot of snow and up to three feet atop the southern Sierra Nevada. The storm is moving this way, with rain expected today and tomorrow and "heavy snow predicted for north and west of the city. A foot of snow is predicted in the upper elevations of Red Rock Canyon and above 6,500 feet in the Spring Mountains and up to two feet on the ridge tops. The storm will move through by Wednesday night; a "winter" storm warning is in effect through 5 p.m. Wednesday at the higher elevations.
Former Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman will no longer serve as an official city ambassador. The Convention and Visitors Authority canceled Goodman’s $72,000 annual contract “… due to impact of COVID-19 and its closure of the destination.” You can still find him hanging around his namesake restaurant at the Plaza. Goodman is the subject of our book, Of Rats and Men, currently on sale for just $5.
Late last week, Colorado's Division of Gaming approved 32 more more sports-gambling licenses, out of the 64 applications submitted as of April 1. All of the state's 33 commercial casinos, 12 sports book operators, and 19 online sports books applied for licenses. Sports betting in Colorado is set to launch on May 1, though it's unlikely that any sports books will open, given that there's nothing to bet on. Still, Colorado will become the 18th state to have some form of legal sports betting.
More photos of "Ghost City" have been posted by cnbc.com: a single car on the center Strip; a single Southwest jet at Terminal 1; Venetian, Bellagio, and Paris, dark; a boarded-up California casino and Donut Bar; positive messages on marquees; the headless statue sitting in an empty fountain at Caesars; and more. All are worth seeing. (You can also read a QoD that we posted way back in 2005 on the "Winged Victory of Samothrace.")
What will the casinos do when the shutdown ends and Las Vegas reopens? Will they reduce or eliminate resort fees, do away with paid parking, slash room rates, and offer dining/entertainment discounts via mailers and on-property coupons? Or will they count on customers being so desperate for their Vegas fix that they'll suck them dry like vampires? Or might they simply reopen in the same condition in which they closed, prepared for a slow return to normal without any extraordinary deals or discounts? What do you think? We're running a poll on the subject, where you can vote on what you predict might happen and add your comments to the more than two dozen that have been posted since the poll launched on Wednesday. Please vote!
Las Vegas buses have implemented new rules for boarding and disembarking. In order to limit contact and increase personal space, riders will now enter and exit the buses through the rear doors. Only disabled passengers who use mobility devices or need assistance boarding can now use the front door. Passengers should pay their bus fares via the Regional Transportation Commission's app or at a vending machine along the route. All buses (except express routes, which aren't in operation) are running on Sunday schedules.
It's a good week to stay home in Las Vegas as far as the weather is concerned. Though temperatures today will rise into the 70s, winds of up to 35 miles per hour will usher in a cold and wet front. Rain is expected to begin tomorrow and continue through Thursday, with the thermometer barely reaching into the 60s. The National Weather Service has also issued a winter storm advisory from 5 p.m. tomorrow through 5 p.m. Wednesday for the Spring Mountains and Sheep Range, due to "significant snow" predicted for 6,500 feet and higher. Good Friday will be a good Friday, clear, sunny, and a high of 72 -- and no doubt very fresh air from the cleansing.
The Paycheck Protection Program of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act disallows loans to companies that generate more than one-third of their revenues from gaming. This includes casinos, bars with machines, and gambling-equipment manufacturers. Another stipulation of the PPP is that all businesses "of a prurient sexual nature" are ineligible. One headline reads, "Feds Go Full Puritan."
Yesterday, S&P Global Ratings reduced Cirque du Soleil's credit ranking to a D, meaning that the entertainment behemoth probably failed to make principal and interest payments due on March 31 on one of its loans and an interest-only payment on another. Cirque was apparently hanging on by a financial thread before the shutdown closed all 44 of its shows internationally, including six in Las Vegas, abruptly laying off 4,700 employees, 95% of its workforce. Bloomberg reports that the Montreal-based Cirque needs to service $900 million in high-interest debt to stay solvent and is working with Canada's second-largest pension fund, a minority shareholder in Cirque, for rescue financing. Stay tuned.
The Las Vegas Sands Corporation will pay around 1,200 workers at 14 restaurants at the Venetian/Palazzo who aren't direct employees of the company. The casino company will cover the partner restaurants' payrolls during the shutdown for salaried employees and distribute a weekly stipend for hourly and part-time employees. The Sands is also paying its 10,000 employees throughout the shutdown, with no layoffs or furloughs. And for when the casinos reopen, keep in mind that neither the Venetian nor Palazzo charges for parking.
Though the Macau casinos have been reopened for a month after shutting down for 15 days, revenues are down just under 80% for March year over year. This follows February's decline of 87.8%, down to a mere $386.5 million in gaming revenue, though that was for just half the month. In normal times, monthly gaming revenues the world's largest gambling jurisdiction are around $3 billion. Visitors from mainland China account for more than 90% of Macau's visitors and some travel and health restrictions remain in place.
Caesars Entertainment United Kingdom has been fined 13 million pounds by the UK Gambling Commission for a “catalogue of social responsibility and money-laundering failures." The largest punitive assessment ever issued by the Commission, it was imposed for "inadequate interaction" with high rollers, one of whom lost £323,000 in a 12-month period and displayed signs of problem gambling, and "inadequate source-of-funds checks" on a customer who lost £1.6m in 90 days. Caesars, which operates 11 casinos in the UK, acknowledged that it "fell short of standards," but apparently the company hadn't learned its lesson from the Brian Moloney affair, in which Moloney, a 25-year-old Toronto bank manager, figured out a way to embezzle eight figures from the bank's loan accounts and lost it all to Caesars Atlantic City; regulators closed Caesars for 24 hours as punishment. Granted, that happened in the early 1980s and memories in the casino business are short. But it's a similar big fat pus-filled whitehead on the face of the company.
Las Vegas Review-Journal business writer Richard Velotta reports that the $17 billion merger between Reno-based Eldorado Reserts and Caesars Entertainment "will happen, but will take longer and cost more." The Federal Trade Commission still has to approve the deal, while Indiana, New Jersey, and Nevada regulators have yet to hold their public meetings to discuss the merger. Originally expected to close this month, analysts believe the deal remains on track to be completed by the end of June, though Eldorado is on the hook for an additional $2-plus million for every day past April 30 that the merger isn't consummated.
Wynn Resorts was the first to start shutting down; on March 14, it closed its poker room and sports book, then only a day later announced that its three U.S. casinos would close indefinitely. It was also the first to announce that it would pay its employees and retain their benefits for 30 days while the casinos were closed and that the salaries of company executives would be cut by 33% to 100% to help defray the cost of issuing paychecks to the rank and file. Yesterday, Wynn announced that it is extending pay and benefits for all its North
American employees through May 15, totaling 60 days of paid leave. For tip positions, their pay includes average tips since the beginning of the year. Also, as you probably recall, Wynn rescinded paid parking several months before the outbreak of the pandemic. Speaking for ourselves, we won't forget these gestures of generosity (and good business practices) when the casinos finally reopen.
In an obviously coordinated effort, select illuminated rooms in the front of a number of Strip hotel towers spelled out messages of unity and promise. Room lights at Encore were in the shape of a heart, while the Wynn's spelled out #Vegas Strong. Similar displays graced towers at MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Mandalay Bay and Delano, Park MGM, Aria, New York-New York, and Venetian and Palazzo.
One of tennis' four Grand Slam tournaments, the 134-year old Wimbledon has been canceled for this year. It was supposed to start on June 29 and run through July 12; the next one will be held June 28 to July 11, 2021. The only other times Wimbledon was canceled was during the two world wars.
It almost had to happen. One of the last big-event holdouts finally surrendered with the announcement that the Electric Daisy Carnival is moving from May to October; the exact dates haven't been announced. What will be the next domino to fall? The World Series of Poker is in the crosshairs.
A new directive from Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak calls for all the state's casinos to remain shuttered through April 30 (at least). Sisolak's original 30-day mandate, issued on March 17, would have expired on April 16, but at a news conference last night, the governor indicated that the new directive follows the up-to-date guidance from federal officials. Some hotels had been accepting reservations for April 15 and beyond; they'll now have to backtrack on those room bookings.
The parade of 300 carbound hospitality workers that was supposed to start at 5 p.m. today has just been canceled. "In consideration of Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak's most recent stay-at-home order," the organizers wrote in a press release, "we have canceled the Light Up Las Vegas drive scheduled for this afternoon. PLEASE STAY HOME."
Some Las Vegas entertainers are taking to the Internet to perform and stay in touch with their audiences. Mat Franco from Mat Franco—Magic Reimagined at the Flamingo is performing on his Facebook page with new shows going up every Wednesday. The shows run close to 30 minutes and feature Franco doing some impressive close-up card maneuvers. Watch it live today at 5 p.m. PST or replay the archived video later.
McCarran's largest carrier, Southwest Airlines, is further reducing its already-shrunken flight schedule and extending the cutback through early June. Due to "significantly lower passenger demand, operational disruptions, and the ongoing suspension of Southwest’s international service," another 2,000 daily flights will be suspended starting May 3 and continuing through June 5; that's on top of more than 1,000 already canceled (of the average 4,000 daily flights during a normal schedule).
April is a gorgeous month weather-wise hereabouts. It's dry (average rainfall just a tenth of an inch) and mostly sunny, with daily high temperatures rising from around 74 degrees on April 1 to around 82 on April 30 and lows ranging from 52 to 61. A record high of 99 degrees was set on the 24th in 2012, the 27th in 2000, the 29th in 2013, and the 30th in 1981. A record low of 31 degrees was set on the 2nd in 1975 and the 3rd and 4th in 1955. Today will be beautiful, sunny with a high reaching 80 -- a perfect day for a 300-car parade of hospitality workers, planned to leave from the Entertainment Benefits Group office parking lot at McCarran Sunset Business Park on E. Sunset Road at 5 p.m., then take an hour or so to cruise up the Boulevard to Fremont Street. The event is "not intended for spectators."