"Discovering King Tut’s Tomb – The Experience" will open on August 30 on the second floor of Luxor next to the Titanic exhibit. Details are sketchy, but it sounds to us like an immersive experience similar to Leonardo Da Vinci (at the standalone Perception Museum), Vincent Van Gogh (in exhibition spaces at the Shops at Crystals and Area15), and Space — A Journey to the Moon and Beyond (at the Illuminarium next to Area15). These large-scale high-tech productions surround you with swirling images — artwork, photographs, computer creations — and high-intensity audio. According to the promo materials, "This is an immersive experience into the world of King Tut, where guests follow the footsteps of archaeologist Howard Carter ... to the beautiful art and artifacts found in the tomb and learn about ancient Egyptian history, culture, and people." We'll check it out and review it in an upcoming issue of the Las Vegas Advisor.
According to Jetcost, a European flight and hotel search engine similar to Expedia and Orbitz for U.S. travelers, Las Vegas ranks high in searches on Jestcost.com for Europeans. Searches for flights in August reveal that Las Vegas is the fifth most searched U.S destination for British travelers, seventh for German and French, eighth for Italian, and ninth for Spanish. Meanwhile, Vegas appears surprisingly low for searches by American travelers, number six on that list, behind number-one New York, followed by Madrid, Miami, Orlando, and Cancun. But it's no surprise that flight searches on Jetcost have increased by 250% year over year and that searches are spending 50% more time looking for flights and hotels. Pent-up Demand Syndrome (PUDS) appears to be mutating from an acute to a chronic condition.
Talk about lucky. A Henderson slot player inserted $7 into a Wheel of Fortune machine at Sunset Station on Friday evening and on the third spin hit the progressive for $1,262,132. Last month, a local player scored a WoF jackpot for $689,000 at Sunset Station.
Amanda Nunes is a -250 favorite over Julianna Pena in today’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Brandon Moreno is -215 over Kai Kara-France.
An upscale Mexican steakhouse is coming to Aria, scheduled to open on August 9. Toca Madera (Knock on Wood) will be located in the courtyard between Aria and the Shops at Crystals. The venue is reportedly spending $10 million on the 10,000-square-foot 220-seat restaurant and (of course) speakeasy. Much of that is going into custom woodwork and a pond surrounded by live trees. This will be Toca Madera's third location, with one in L.A. and another in Scottsdale, Arizona, and there will be live music. The Scottsdale menu lists $16 for guacamole, $30 Kobe tacos, a raw bar with $26 ceviche, a 40-ounce Wagyu tomahawk for $195, and $10 for a side of rice.
News3 Las Vegas reports that the Las Vegas Grand Prix next year will not take place over Thanksgiving weekend, as originally announced by Formula 1. We were surprised when we saw it; why would the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority approve one of the largest events in the world for one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year? But "according to a new report by Adam Stern with Sports Business Journal," the race is now scheduled for November 16-18, 2023, the Thursday-Saturday before Thanksgiving. New3 reports, "The new dates were presented in a 17-page Letter of Intent and confirmed as authentic with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau, according to Stern, who described the document as mostly non-binding." Binding or not, this makes much more sense.
Last night's MegaMillions drawing produced a winner of the $1.28 billion jackpot, the third largest in history. (The first was a $1.586 Powerball jackpot in 2016, split by three people in different states. The second was a $1.537 jackpot hit by a single ticket holder in South Carolina. The fourth was a single MegaMillions jackpot of $1.05 billion split by four Michigan residents last year.) Last night's winning ticket was sold by a Speedway gas station in Des Plaines, a suburb of Chicago. The lump sum payout will be in the neighborhood of $780 million and around $550 million after federal and state taxes are withheld. Luckily for the winner, in Illinois, anyone who hits a lottery jackpot of more than $250,000 can remain anonymous.
A young visitor from Mexico hit a royal in clubs on the first five cards to take down the progressive jackpot of $878,682 yesterday morning at the Cromwell. According to Caesars, it was only the third hand he'd played. He was dealt the 10 and queen and the flop came ace, king, and jack. The college student was on vacation with parents; he said he'll use the winnings to pay tuition.
Frontier Airlines announced yesterday evening that it's putting a million seats on sale, with prices as low as $19 one way. Round-trip fares aren't required. You must book your tickets by 11:59 p.m. on Monday night (August 1) for domestic-only non-stop flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays through Oct. 5 (with some blackout dates around Labor Day). Las Vegas is included in the special fares, but travel to and from is on selected days of the week (never on Saturday). The $19 fares are good for milk runs, such as Oakland, Phoenix, Reno, San Diego, and Albuquerque, but longer flights, such as Denver and San Francisco, are only $26. Tickets are non-refundable. For an excellent rundown of how to fly cheap on the ultra-low-cost carriers, of which Frontier is one, read our four-part series by bargain traveler extraordinaire, Conrad Stanley (scroll down on the page to find the four).
A major thunderstorm took its toll on Las Vegas last night, with winds of up to 70 miles an hour and an inch of rain falling in two hours in a number of locations around the valley. Starting around 9 p.m., two storm cells converged, one from the east, the other from the south, and created havoc. Nearly two dozen major intersections were shut down due to flooding and downed trees and people had to be rescued from their underwater cars. Up to 10,000 houses lost power and all the lights on the Fremont Street Experience were out. Downtown was especially hard hit; you can see a dramatic video of water streaming from under a screen at the Circa sports book. The Strip also saw flash flooding, especially around Caesars and the LINQ (scroll down from the Circa video to see the usual flood in the LINQ parking garage). At the airport, which received about a third of an inch, flight delays averaged an hour. It was the second night in a row of monsoon storms. Things are slowly getting back to normal this morning, though more storms are lining up and could hit through the weekend.
In a new report released by ClimateCentral.org, a nonprofit news organization that analyzes and reports on climate science, the nation's two cities with the highest increases in summer temperatures over the past 52 years are in the Silver State. Las Vegas has recorded an increase of 5.8 degrees in temperatures between June 1 and August 31 (meteorological summer) since 1970, while Reno has experienced an increase of 10.9 degrees. Boise was third at 5.6°. A total of 235 (96%) out of 246 U.S. locations registered an increase in average summer temperatures, with more than 50% up by two degrees or more.
With the jackpot for the interstate lottery MegaMillions breaking the ten-figure mark for the fourth time in history, Nevadans want in on the action. The closest outlet to Las Vegas to buy lottery tickets is at the aptly named Lotto Store, mere feet across the state line from Primm, Nevada, technically in Nipton, California. The lines there are always long when the jackpots get high, but hopeful Las Vegans waited up to an hour yesterday for their shot at the $1.02 billion windfall, with a lump-sum payout of $602 million. California, predictably, with the highest population of all the states, has the highest number of MegaMillions jackpot winners in the past six years: six out of 40. New York (fourth in population) has had five, New Jersey (11th) has had four, and Illinois (sixth) three. Notably, Texas (second) has had two and Florida (third) has had one.
The Wall Street Journal posted a story yesterday about the new gouge: lounge chairs by the pool. The WSJ reports that megaresorts are now charging to reserve poolside lounge chairs, same as they do daybeds and cabanas. Bellagio, for example, is charging $200 for a chair on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, which comes with a side table and umbrella. Bargain-minded Excalibur is asking only $125 for two chairs, "slightly less than the nightly room price," the WSJ notes. But for the price, you get "shade, a bucket of ice, and water." It's not just Vegas; the Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix used to charge $25 for a lounge reservation, but the price has risen to $75. The hotels, along with the big online-booking-software companies like UrVenue and RealTime Reservations, insist that the reservation systems allow guests the convenience of showing up at the pool anytime during the day, rather than having to arrive early to commandeer a chair. At the same time, hotels continue to "monetize as much of the travel experience as possible." And enough travelers are paying the price to make it "very profitable," according to a hospitality analyst quoted by the Journal. Ya think? (Thanks to Ken M. for sending the link to the WSJ story.)
Now in its third year, the Las Vegas Concours d'Elegance will bring more than 100 collector cars to its new location at the Wynn Golf Club on October 28-30. Widely considered the crème de la crème of automobile shows, these exceptional vehicles date from both the pre- and post-WW II eras and will be artistically located on the rolling greens of the Wynn golf course. Following the opening black-tie gala and automobile show at Wynn, the Las Vegas Concours will culminate with La Tour d'Elegance, a parade on the Strip. Tickets for the show go on sale soon.
Harry Reid International registered an all-time record for airline passenger traffic in June, handling 4.68 million passengers during the month. It beat the previous record, set in October 2019, by 80,000 passengers and was 23% higher than the 3.81 million people who passed through the airport in June 2021. It was also 2.4% more than the 4.57 million counted in May 2022, which is now the third most in Las Vegas history. Part of the surge was due to the 244,033 international passengers in June, up from 53,402 in June 2021.
Though millions of people in 45 states bought a boatload of tickets for the interstate lottery MegaMillions, which was worth $830 million yesterday, no one matched the six numbers selected in last night's drawing. Thus, the top jackpot for Friday's drawing is now worth approximately $1.02 billion. It's the fourth largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history; the lump-sum payout would be just over $600 million pre-tax. The last MegaMillions reset happened on April 15, 29 drawings ago.
The prices of tickets for Adele’s rescheduled Las Vegas shows on ticket-reselling sites are starting at $600 and going up fast, to between $4,000 and $20,000. According to Bloomberg.com, yesterday, two side-by-side front-row seats in the 4,300-seat Colosseum at Caesars are going for $41,280. Each. The process for trying to buy tickets on Ticketmaster, when they go on sale on a staggered basis, is complicated. If you don't have them already, get in line behind existing ticketholders, ticketholders who took the refund when the original shows were canceled, fans who registered for the first pre-sale, and a waitlist that stretches from here to Liverpool. We might pay $40,000 to see Adele perform -- in our living room. But probably not.
MGM Resorts has announced the Garden Table, "an epicurean adventure" at a table set up inside Bellagio's Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The experience involves prix-fixe menus created by the teams at Sadelle's Cafe, which is adjacent to the Conservatory, and Michael Mina, Bellagio's seafood restaurant. Sadelle's brunch is available daily from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., costs $75 per person (not including tax or tip), and offers a choice of a danish, grapefruit cocktail, fresh fruit, or avocado toast; a bagel and smoked salmon plate; and a choice of a mimosa, juice, or coffee/tea. What a deal. Mina's dinner is available Wednesday-Sunday 5-10 p.m., costs $250 per person, and offers five courses, featuring prawns and tuna tartare, a mid-course of lobster, clams, abalone, and oysters, a whole broiled fish, and dessert (no beverage). The menu will rotate seasonally. The Garden Table seats up to six and your time is limited to two hours. Reservations are required.
Now in its 12th year, the annual two-day iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena will take place September 23 and 24. The headliners include Avril Lavigne, Black Eyed Peas, The Black Keys, Halsey, Lionel Richie, LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Luke Combs, Megan Thee Stallion, DJ Z-Trip, and many many more. Hosted again by "Live with Kelly and Ryan's" Ryan Seacrest, single-day passes start at $146 for Friday and $141 for Sunday, both in the upper level. Lower-level seats start at $429 both days; all are on sale now.
Using anonymized GPS data and the 2021 Global Traffic Scorecard, along with U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' median hourly wage, route-optimization company Routific made a list that ranks the 25 worst cities for time lost per driver due to traffic congestion and delays and the commensurate annual added cost per driver. Phoenix was the best of the worst at number 25, with 21 hours per year of time lost and $460 in added cost. San Antonio was #24 (23 hours/$572) and Sacramento #23 (25 hours/$584). Then came Las Vegas at #22, with 28 lost hours and a $505 annual cost. The worst city wasn't New York, as you might imagine, but Chicago (a whopping 104 hours and $2,365), though New York wasn't far behind at number two (102 hours/$2,737), followed by Philadelphia, Boston, and Miami.
The XFL, the pro football league that plays in the spring, will start its regular season on February 18, one week after the Super Bowl, with eight teams playing 43 regular-season games. Three of the teams, in Las Vegas, Orlando, and San Antonio, are new to the XFL, replacing teams in L.A., New York, and Tampa, which had the lowest turnouts in 2020, the XFL's last season, suspended due to the pandemic. The Vegas team's details -- name, colors, even venue -- have yet to be announced, but Ron Woodson, an NFL Hall of Famer, Las Vegas resident, and former Oakland Raider, will be the head coach.
A very lucky Three Card Poker player at the Venetian was dealt a royal in spades and made the $5 side bet that qualified him for the "mega tier" of the Millionaire Progressive. He's the second winner this year of the million-dollar side bet (winning $1,040,235) and the 10th since the bet launched in 2018. The progressive resets at $1 million and the player must be dealt the queen, king, and ace of spades to win it.
We don't often cover local real estate sales, but this one is dear to our hearts. Chinatown Plaza, the original seven-acre two-story pan-Asian-themed shopping center on Spring Mountain Road around the corner from our office, has been sold by the developer. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that an Asian-American investor from southern California paid $38 million for the shopping center, anchored by 99 Ranch supermarket and home to Pho Vietnam, our go-to lunch place since the Plaza opened 27 years ago. No one, including us, could have imagined in 1995 how far Las Vegas' "Chinatown," which encompasses restaurants and retail from throughout Asia, would extend along Spring Mountain Road and side streets from the core commercial center with pagoda roofs and Tang Dynasty architecture and art. It is, without a doubt, the most exotic and vibrant district in the city and we're happy for both the seller, who's retiring, and the buyer, who has purchased a Las Vegas landmark.
The long and agonizing wait appears over, at least if a leak from Ticketmaster to the UK Tabloid The Sun is to be believed. The U.S. version of The-Sun.com reports that Adele's canceled residency earlier this year has been rescheduled and will run from November 18 until February 24 at the Colosseum at Caesars. The Las Vegas Review-Journal's John Katsilometes confirms the dates and adds that Adele will appear for more than the 24 shows originally scheduled, though the British superstar will take a break between Christmas and Jan. 20. Kats writes that the official announcement will be made tomorrow morning.
Quad 6s beat quad 4s at Santa Fe Station on Thursday to trigger Station Casinos' Jumbo Bad Beat progressive jackpot for $293,132. The the player who lost the hand with the 4s took in a cool $43,966 (15%), the winner of the hand won an extra $29,311 (10%), the players at the jackpot table split $14,656 (5%), and the 84 eligible players in Station's poker rooms at the time found themselves with an extra $1,307 each (70%).
Tom Aspinall is a -150 favorite over Curtis Blaydes in today’s early UFC main event. In the other featured match, Jack Hermansson and Chris Curtis are pick ’em.
Construction has been completed on the new restaurant by Martha Stewart at Paris, staff is busily setting the tables, and Martha herself will be hosting a Good Things dinner party August 11-13, so by all appearances, the Bedford, Ms. Stewart's first bona fide restaurant, should be open to the public no later than a couple of weeks from now. The only menu details we've seen specify seasonal and holiday dinners and weekend brunches, but it won't be long before all is revealed.
Though MSG Sphere management and the band have so far declined to confirm the news, "multiple sources" have informed Billboard magazine that Irish superstars U2 will christen the Sphere when it opens sometime next year with a multi-date residency. The residency, by the world's second-highest-grossing band in history (with 28.3 million tickets sold, second only to the Rolling Stones), will "be spread out over several months," so it's conceivable that everyone who wants tickets will have a chance to see U2 in the most technologically advanced arena on Earth.
The big news this week is that the Jackpot of the Week was hit by none other than ... drum roll, please! ... our very own Andrew and his girlfriend Kristina. They were playing a Crazy Money Deluxe slot in the high-limit room at Harrah's, firing up $6 a hand, and they landed a $2,000 jackpot. A taxable event, it raised questions about the best way to handle the IRS paperwork, which Anthony, with an able assist from Jean Scott, co-author of our book Tax Help for Gamblers, answered. They also discuss the closing of Texas Station and the Fiestas, with some remembrances, the WSOP final table (and why there were 10 players, instead of the normal nine), the new higher MGM parking fees, even Ben and Jen's wedding at the Little White Chapel. Click the arrow and have at it.
Construction has begun on a second car-free promenade in downtown Las Vegas on 3rd Street between Fremont and Ogden (which runs parallel to the Fremont Street Experience for one block to the northeast between the Fremont and the Downtown Grand parking garage). The $4.5 million project will consist of repaving, planting trees and running irrigation lines, adding lights, relocating underground utilities, and installing bollards. The mall is expected to be completed in time for this New Year's Eve.
A new set of photographs, taken from space and published by NASA, dramatically illustrates the 160 feet the lake level has dropped in just the past two decades, from just under 1,200 feet in 2000 to 1,041 today. The satellite images clearly show the shrinkage that continues in this, the 22nd year of the current drought. Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Review-Journal republished a number of photos this morning from early July 1983 of a full-to-capacity Lake Mead, necessitating the opening of the Hoover Dam spillways and "creating a show."
The price of gasoline in southern Nevada has dropped dramatically over the past month. The average price for unleaded as of yesterday is $5.13, down 8% from the $5.57 four weeks ago. Nationally, the average price is $4.46, down 50 cents (10%) from last month. Analysts cite increased supply, as oil producers crank up their wells, reduced demand, as consumers cut back on non-essential driving, and wholesale prices falling to where they were a year ago for the drop. They also foresee prices continuing to decline for at least the next couple of weeks.
The Palms took to Twitter yesterday to announce that Ghostbar, its ultralounge that has perhaps the best nightlife view of Las Vegas, will reopen at 7 p.m. on Wednesday August 3. The Palms will start accepting reservations on August 10 for tables as of August 17. The tweet noted that the indoor-outdoor Ghostbar, way up on the 55th floor, will be the city's "newest, elevated, and most intimate ultralounge experience." The hours will be 7 p.m.-2 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Soul singer Skye Dee Mills, along with a four-piece band and dancers, will provide live entertainment from 9 p.m. till closing Fridays and Saturdays.
Apologies to anyone who experienced any difficulties this week when trying to contact us on the phone. Everything has now been fixed and we're back up and running.
Perhaps in anticipation of unloading the 100-plus acres underlying Texas Station and the two Fiestas, as announced just a few days ago, Station Casinos has picked up another 126-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Cactus Avenue a few blocks north of M Resort. The purchase price was reportedly $172.4 million. In a statement, Station said, "The larger acreage allows the company to take maximum advantage of the future development," adding that more plans will be shared in the future. Curiously, this lot is directly across Cactus Avenue from a 57-acre site the company also owns and tried to sell a few years ago.
Vice.com, a news website from that focuses on tech, TV and music, and food, posted a long story a couple of days ago, titled, "I Spent 72 Depraved Hours Searching for the Gnarliest Dive Bar in Las Vegas." The writer's epic quest involved "17 bars, six games of pool, and an unknowable number of Miller Lites," before he finally stumbled into what he was seeking, but admitted, "I could never have prepared myself for what I found along the way." If you're at all interested in locals bars here or just want to "see a side of the city you won’t find in a travel brochure," this is a wild tale with photos to match about the Double Down, Rusty Spur, Island Bar and Grill, Hard Hat, and several others. The gnarliest of them all might surprise you, so we'll give you a hint: It's actually on Las Vegas Boulevard. And many thanks to Canada Roy for digging out this treasure.
For the second time in 19 years, the Academy of Country Music annual awards show will not be held in Las Vegas. The gala arrived in 2003 and missed only one year; in 2015, the 50th ACM Awards show moved to Arlington, Texas. Next year, it will move back to Texas, this time to Ford Center at the Star, a 12,000-seat indoor stadium in Frisco, Texas, that serves as the practice facility for the Dallas Cowboys. The 58th awards show will be held on Thursday May 11, 2023, and will be livestreamed by Amazon's Prime video for the second year in a row. Last year's show from Allegiant Stadium was the first time a major awards show was livestreamed exclusively and not broadcast.
No one hit all six MegaMillions numbers again in the drawing last night, so the jackpot blasted from $555 million to $630 million. At $555 million, it would have been the 14th largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history; at $630 million, it's the fifth largest. If it's hit, the lump-sum payout would be $360 million, though after taxes, that would shrink to around $250 million, depending on the state takeout. The last MegaMillions jackpot was hit on April 12 for $110 million.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports this morning that the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement (a.k.a. the Mob Museum) has acquired a 30,000-square-foot vacant lot next door to the existing building for an undisclosed price. Plans for the expansion are in the earliest stages, so nothing specific has been revealed, but the R-J lists "administration, exhibitions, archives, educational and entertainment programs, and food and beverage facilities" as in the offing. The Mob Museum has been extremely successful in its 10+ years of operation, now attracting more than 1,000 visitors per day, of whom up to 90% are out of towners.
The office phone system at Huntington Press is completely down -- we can't call out and incoming calls ring without going to voice mail. Please email us at [email protected] if you need to contact. Leave your phone number and we'll contact you via cell phone until we get the problem fixed. Watch this space for notification that the phones are working again.
The reconstituted ZZ Top, which replaced bassist Dusty Hill, who died last year due to complications from a hip injury at age 72, will play five dates at the Venetian Theatre to coincide with the National Finals Rodeo. Lead guitarist and vocalist Billy Gibbons, a Las Vegas resident, and drummer Frank Beard will be joined by Elwood Francis, one of the guitar world's most respected techs and a guitarist in his own right. The dates are December 3, 4, 7, 9, and 10 and go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. for $55-$300, exclusive of fees and taxes.
DraftKings has posted the odds for four potential candidates to become the POTUS in the next presidential election. Donald Trump is the favorite at +250, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is second at +400. Joe Biden is listed at +550 and Kamala Harris at 12-1. Americans can't bet on elections; the odds were posted in Canada. Some UK sports books have DeSantis and Trump in a tie at +400.
Tomorrow, Raising Cane’s will open its 13th Las Vegas location and the first on the Strip (one is on Las Vegas Blvd., but south of the Strip proper). This one will be at the Showcase Mall and like Olive Garden nearby, it will be the only two-story location of the brand's nearly 500 locations, complete with a glass elevator. It will also be a good late-night play, open till 3:30 a.m. For the grand opening, Raising Cane’s is running a contest for free meals for a year for a "Lucky 21" winners (13 and older). To enter, stop by the new venue between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. tomorrow. Winners will be contacted on Wednesday and you don't have to be present to win.
Jennifer Lopez (the former J Lo) and Ben Affleck tied the knot at a tiny 12:30 a.m. ceremony on Saturday night at the Little White Chapel on Las Vegas Blvd. a few blocks south of Fremont Street. Apparently, they were running a little late for the midnight reservation after picking up their license at 11:30, but the chapel stayed open to accommodate the love-struck superstars, who were previously engaged, but then broke up in 2004. According to the breathless reports, Jennifer wore two white dresses, one sleeveless to the chapel, the other sleeved that she donned while Ben was changing into his white tuxedo in the men's room. The witnesses were Ben and Jen's five children from previous marriages; it's the fourth marriage for Jen, 52, and the second for Ben, 49. The marriage license reportedly shows that Jennifer is changing her last name to Affleck. Congratulations to the happy couple from the Las Vegas Advisor.
Espen Jorstad, who lives in London but comes from Norway, became the first Norwegian to win the Main Event of the 2022 World Series of Poker this morning. He outlasted Adrian Attenborough, an Australian who makes his home in Las Vegas, playing only 19 hands heads-up over 90 minutes to win the top prize of $10 million; Attenborough didn't do too badly for himself, taking down $6 million. One hand lasted 28 minutes and the chip lead went back and forth a few times before the final hand. Jorstad called Attenborough's big blind with queen-2; Attenborough checked with jack-4. The flop of 2, 4, 2 gave Jorstad a set of 2s and Attenborough two pair. An 8 on the turn did neither any good, but a queen on the river gave Jorstad a full house for the $10 mil. Michael Duek, who lives in Fort Lauderdale and comes from Argentina, took third place and $4 million.
Formula One has wasted no time making Las Vegas its own. Mere weeks after the late March announcement of the race itself, scheduled for Saturday night, November 25, 2023 (two days after Thanksgiving), the parent company picked up a 39-acre parcel at the northeast corner of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane for $240 million to establish a permanent presence here. Only a couple of months later, Formula 1 has already revealed its plan for an "Experience" attraction on the property for Formula 1 fans. Though "about eight weeks away from finalizing everything" and detailing the plans publicly, according to a spokesperson, the speculation on the Experience revolves around race simulators and a go-kart track, possibly a museum, definitely merchandising, almost certainly a bar and snack bar if not a full-scale restaurant, and whatever else the F1 creative team has up its sleeve. Stay tuned!
Going into the final round of golf's Open Championship (British Open) Rory McIlroy is the -145 favorite. He’s followed by Viktor Hovland at +190 and Cameron Smith at +1350. The round begins early tomorrow morning.
Brian Ortega is a -185 favorite over Yair Rodriguez in today’s early UFC main event. In the other featured match, Amanda Lemos is -310 over Michelle Waterson.
Parking fees at eight MGM Resorts properties just got more expensive. As of last week, the first hour is still free for everyone, but from one to four hours, the fee has gone from $12 to $15; from four to 24 hours, it was $15 and it's now $18; for each 24-hour period, it's $18 (from $15). This fee structure was already in place at Aria and Bellagio; it's gone into effect at the others: Delano, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Mirage, New York-New York, and Park MGM. We'd normally make a comment about the gougewagon, but the extra $3 per charge will be donated to the Helping Hand for Destitute Casino Executives charity, so it's for a good cause.
Only three players remain in the World Series of Poker’s Main Event. Espen Jorstad is well out in front with 298 million, Adrian Attenborough has 150 million, and Michael Duek has 72 million. The winner will be determined today.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Station Casinos is planning to raze its three casinos that have been closed since March 2020, then sell the acreage. Texas Station, Fiesta Rancho, and Fiesta Henderson shut down at the beginning of the pandemic and never reopened; the proceeds from the sale of nearly 110 total acres will be reinvested in new casinos, one large and several small, in North Las Vegas, along with a major new casino at Inspirada in southwestern Henderson and upgrades for Sunset Station and Green Valley Ranch. The 31,000-square-foot 1,400-seat Pepsi Ice Arena adjacent to Fiesta Rancho will not be torn down and will continue to operate, at least until that property is sold. Employees of the three Station properties were notified of the plan via email Friday morning. According to the R-J, of those nearly 1,750 employees, 600 were placed in positions at other Station properties, hundreds of others were assisted in finding jobs at Station-sponsored job fairs, and the rest either found other employment or moved away.
This week's YouTube update will inform you about the WSOP, which, since it was taped on Thursday, is a bit behind the times, but if you haven't heard about the size of the final-event field and prize pool, you can here. However, you'll also hear Anthony's description of his one and only (inglorious, but legendary) appearance in the Main Event. You'll also learn about a big new arcade at Bally's, a classic advantage move at the Bellagio Buffet, which has also just slashed prices, and of course a neat little Jackpot of the Week. Worth watching! So easy too!
We're keeping an eye on this one and you should too. The Beverly Theater is under construction right in the heart of the Arts District, next door to the Writer's Block indie bookstore at the Lucy, the 12-unit condo complex "designed to join modern urban living with spaces to congregate, create, and communicate. The two-story Beverly has just revealed its core concepts: Get Lit (book, poetry, and script readings, author workshops, "conspired creativity," and the like); Doin’ it Live ("intentional" live performances that will fulfill the Beverly's concert vision); and Film for All (first-run independents, themed revivals and festivals, shorts, documentaries, celebrities, filmmaker roundtables, and more). The Beverly will be centered around a 150-seat multipurpose theater, with a terrace, courtyard, kitchen, and classrooms. The 14,300-square-foot arthouse theater is expected to open sometime this winter.
The official rain gauge at Harry Reid International yesterday recorded 0.01 of an inch yesterday, the first measurable rain in Las Vegas since March 28 (108 days) and the third since January 1. Various amounts fell around southern Nevada, with Boulder City getting the most at nearly an inch. A slim possibility of more rain is in today's forecast, but by the looks of it at the moment, that seems unlikely. Temperatures will remain seasonably hot, with highs up to 110 through the weekend.
Wine Spectator magazine's annual list of restaurants with extraordinary wine programs was released earlier this week. Five of the 97 Grand Award winners (three wine glasses) worldwide are in Las Vegas. Wine Spectator lists them in alphabetical order: Aureole (Mandalay Bay), Delmonico Steakhouse (Venetian), Joel Robuchon (MGM Grand), Picasso (Bellagio), and Restaurant Guy Savoy (Caesars). All five have earned three glasses for years; Robuchon is the youngest member (2009), Aureole the oldest (2000). In all, Las Vegas boasts 55 restaurants within Wine Spectator's three award categories. New this year to the Best of Award of Excellence (two wine glasses) are Brezza and Wally's (Resorts World), Edge Steakhouse (Westgate), Bavette's (Park MGM), Todd English Olives (Virgin), and Lotus of Siam. Caviar Bar (Resorts World) and Libertine Social (Mandalay Bay) earned one wine glass for the Award of Excellence.
The 10-player final table for the World Series of Poker’s Main Event has been determined. Originally planned for only nine players, the decision was made last night to make it 10 after play lasted for more than 16 hours. In what we imagine must be a first, two players – Matthew Su and Espen Jorstad – are tied at the top with 83.2 million. The other final-table occupants are Matija Dobric (68.7 million), Aaron Duczak (56.0 million), John Eames (55.0 million), Adrian Attenborough (50.8 million), Michael Duek (49.8 million), Jeffrey Farnes (35.4 million), Asher Conniff (24.4 million), and Philippe Souki (13.5 million). Four players are from the U.S., two from the U.K., and one each from Canada, Norway, Croatia, and Australia. Final-table play begins on Friday.
The average price of a gallon of gas in Clark County dropped to $5.29 on Tuesday, a decline of 6% from the record high price of $5.64 set last month. Better yet, at some of the discount gas stations, the price dipped below $5 to $4.95. Statewide, the average is $5.38; nationally, it's $4.66, down 7.2% from the high of $5.02. Reduced demand, both nationally and worldwide, is credited for the falling prices.
Originally not on the schedule for Elton John's “last-ever” North American tour, one night at Allegiant Stadium has been added. The "Farewell Yellow Brick Road -- Final Tour " will stop in Las Vegas on November 1. It's fitting that Elton includes Vegas on the tour; this is his most-played city in the world, with nearly 500 shows, including two multi-year residences, over the course of his 50-plus-year career. Tickets go on sale next Monday, July 18, at 10 a.m.
Rory McIlroy is the +1000 favorite to win golf's Open Championship (British Open). He's followed by Xander Schauffele at +1550 and Jordan Spieth at +1750. Tiger Woods is +7050.
Going into Day 7 of the World Series of Poker’s Main Event, 35 players remain from the massive starting field of 8,663. The leader is Jeffrey Farnes with a chip count of 37.8 million, followed by Brian Kim with 33.9 million and Philippe Souki with 32.5 million. The 2020 champion, Damian Salas, is still playing, but short-stacked at 5.8 million. The Last Woman Standing is Efthymia Litsou with 15.6 million. Today’s play will continue until the final table is determined.
Silverton is turning 25 this year and will undergo a $45 million "reimagining." The hotel rooms will be remodeled with three different “rustic-luxe” themes: Rustic Modern, Cowboy Kitsch, and Livin' Lodge. The pool will also be redone. Both will close next month and are scheduled to reopen early next year. The rest of the resort, including the casino, all the restaurants, and Bass Pro Shops, will remain open during the $45 million reconstruction.
Going into Day 6 of the World Series of Poker’s Main Event, 123 players remain. The leader is James Hobbs with a chip count of 12.5 million, followed by Efthymia Litsou with 11.7 million. Last year’s seventh-place finisher, Alejandro Lococo, is fourth with 10 million. Shelby Wells with 1.9 million and Litsou are the only two women in the remaining field.
If you're an Amazon Prime member (and with 150 million in the U.S. alone, odds are you are), you can find all of our products at our Amazon store. Here's the link.
A story on GamblingInsider.com reports that a few weeks after the end of the cricket season of the popular Premier League in India, four imaginative Indians established a cricket "league" to bilk gamblers. The players were mostly unemployed workers, teenagers, and farmers who followed instructions from "umpires" at the behest of the bookies. The matches were streamed on YouTube, but with a narrow camera angle that allowed the bookies to pipe in the noise of a large crowd. Bets were accepted through the Telegram app from three cities in Russia, including Moscow. Nine games were staged before police, tipped off to the scam, arrested the four organizers, seized cricket kits, cameras, and speakers, and shut down the operation.
Going into Day 5 of the World Series of Poker’s Main Event, only 380 players remain. The leader is Taylor von Kriegenbergh with a chip count of 5.3 million. He’s followed by Dan Colpays with 4.8 million and Johan Schumacher with 4.6 million. The only former champions still playing are the two most recent winners -- defending champion Koray Aldemir and 2020 champion Damian Salas. Other notables include multiple-bracelet winners John Juanda and Brian Rast, along with Gaelle Baumann and Shelby Wells representing the ladies.
The World Series of Poker’s Main Event drew 8,663 entrants, a 30% increase over last year’s 6,650. It’s the second-largest ME field of all time, behind the 8,773 in 2006. The prize pool is more than $80 million, with $10 million going to first place. All nine final-table players will get $1 million or more and the top 1,300 finishers will be in the money for at least a $15,000 prize.
The first six months of sports betting in New York have generated more tax revenue than any other state has in several years. Between January 8, when mobile sports betting launched in the Empire State, and July 8, $302 million in taxes have been raised. By comparison, between November 2018 and May 2022, Pennsylvania collected $2656 million in taxes, while New Jersey generated $237 million from June 2018 to May. It is, however, apples to oranges, considering that New York imposes a hefty 51% tax on profits, while Pennsylvania collects 36% and New Jersey a mere 3%. (In Nevada, it's 6.75%.) New York will earn even more, now that the ninth and last operator, Bally Bet, started booking wagers last Thursday. As if that's not all, New York has also recorded $225 million from operator license fees ($25 million per).
A "dust devil" (a well-formed and short-lived whirlwind with a strong upward draft, formed when temperatures at ground level become hotter than the layer of air above) hit the pool at Luxor on Saturday. Lounge chairs, loose items, and debris swirled high in the air, sending pool-goers scrambling for cover. At least one person was slightly injured from a projectile. Here's the best video of the chaos.
Due to an increase in the number of recent assaults, including shootings and a murder, and armed robberies, the Fremont Street Experience has beefed up security on the pedestrian mall downtown. From 10 p.m. on Thursday through 5 a.m. on Monday, Las Vegas Metropolitan police are instituting an "increased-incident plan" that includes metal detectors, bag checks, age and curfew enforcement, and heightened presence of officers on the mall, plus more patrols on the surrounding streets (Eighth to Main streets and US95 to Bridger Avenue). Details are a bit sketchy initially, but you can expect heightened scrutiny on any weekend visit to downtown Las Vegas.
A new restaurant from the celebrity chef Chris Santos is opening at Caesars. Stanton Social Prime sounds like (details are sketchy) it will reprise Stanton Social, which operated on Stanton Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan from 2005 to 2018 and served tapas-style shareable small plates. Santos owns and operates Beauty & Essex, also in Lower Manhattan, with an outpost at the Cosmopolitan; it has a raw bara and also serves shareables, along with prime meats and a less expensive casual menu. Stanton Social Prime is expected to open sometime this winter.
Novak Djokovic is a -400 favorite over Nick Kyrgios in today’s Wimbledon men's tennis final. Djokovic is seeking his 7th Wimbledon title and 21st Grand Slam championship. Kyrgios is in his first Grand Slam final.
Rafael Fiziev is a -230 favorite over Rafael Dos Anjos in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Caio Borralho is -250 over Armen Petrosyan.
In a rare move, Bellagio has actually dropped the price of its weekday brunch buffet from $49.99 to $41.99 and the weekend brunch from $59.99 to $49.99. We wonder if the word is out that this spread, once the best in town, has gone way downhill. We can say that the last time we tried the brunch, on a busy Saturday in March, we walked right in; there was no line at all. In contrast, for its insanely popular Wednesday lobster dinner buffet, the Palms is now taking phone numbers upon arrival, then texting when you get near the top of the waiting list. It eliminates the need to stand in line, but the wait time is still the same four hours or so.
A poll conducted by the Washington Post and University of Maryland concluded that 66% of Americans support the legality of betting on professional sports. A similar survey conducted in 1993 found that only 41% were in favor of sports betting, while one from 2017, shortly before the Supreme Court overturned PASPA, put the number of supporters at 55%. As far as college sports are concerned, only 49% approved of betting on them. A total of 71% of respondents were either somewhat or very concerned about the danger of gambling addiction; 4% of the random 1,503 people surveyed admitted to a gambling problem. Nearly three out of four worried about games being fixed, while fully 85% of those who'd placed a bet in the past five years agreed that the game was "more interesting" to watch.
On February 5, 2020, Macau became a harbinger of the COVID pandemic to come when it shut down all the casinos in the world's largest gambling center for two weeks. At the time, it stunned the world, especially Las Vegas, where the consensus was, it can never happen here. A month after the Macau casinos reopened on February 20, all the casinos in Nevada and the vast majority of them around the country closed; here, they didn't reopen for 78 days. Yesterday, the government of the Special Autonomous Region of Macau ordered the closure of all but essential-services businesses for one week; that includes the casinos. The total of new COVID cases in Macau over the past three weeks hit nearly 1,400 yesterday and 20,000 people are quarantining currently, with a sixth round of citywide testing for all residents under way. The Grand Lisboa Hotel-Casino, Grand Hyatt, Sheraton, and Londoner are being used to quarantine non-infected but exposed residents. Macau has a single public hospital for its 600,000-plus residents, which was stretched thin even before the current outbreak, the first time the city has been impacted by the still-spreading omicron variant of COVID. Residents who fail to stay home or don't wear an HN95 mask if they must go outside can receive up to two years in prison and a fine of US$150,000.
Ons Jabeur is a -160 favorite over Elena Rybakina in tomorrow's Wimbledon women's tennis final. Both are in their first Grand Slam final.
At the end of a process long and slow enough for even the most laid-back stoner, the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board finally approved the regulations for pot-smoking lounges. The deliberations involved 15 public meetings, private confabs between the CCB and the Cannabis Advisory Committee, endless subcommittee research and meetings, and an excursion into inclusion in the cannabis industry, over a nearly two-year period. The rules are fairly stringent. The main ones are: Consumption is restricted to a specific lounge area; only cannabis can be ingested (no alcohol, tobacco, etc.); lounges must take steps to "reduce worker exposure to secondhand smoke, cannabis-impaired driving, and other safety-related rules"; and lounges must provide free water. The state will issue 20 licenses, half of which must go to "social-equity applicants" (businesses affected by the state's marijuana restrictions before the state legalized it in 2017). A lottery will select the licensees if applications exceed 20. A 10-day application window will take place "in the autumn." Naturally, the Commission reserves the right to change the lounge regulations in the future. The first lounges could open by the end of the year.
According to a new poll, Las Vegas ranks number four in the world for a healthy vacation. Out of a top score of 10, Sin City garnered 7.7 points, placing third for the number of hotels with fitness centers (142), second for the number of hotels with swimming pools (151), and second for the number of hiking trails (25, compared to 0 in Athens and Lisbon). Not surprisingly, Vegas came in at 10th out of 10 for the number of healthy restaurants (50, compared to 683 in Paris) and its average price of a weeknight hotel room was fourth highest ($154, compared to $87 in Taipei). Overall for a healthy vacation, Barcelona came it first, followed by Paris and Miami; Athens was number five. The poll was conducted by a kind of sketchy UK website called FromMars.com, dedicated to solutions "from Mars" for every man on Earth, but we'll take fourth place regardless.
The Las Vegas Raiders have tapped former Nevada Gaming Control Board chairperson Sandra Douglass Morgan to be the team's new president. Though the National Football League has had three women and three African American team presidents, Morgan is the first woman of color to become one. She takes on the job at a precarious time; she'll be the third president in less than a year amid accusations from ex-employees and ex-executives of a hostile work environment in the Raiders organization. The previous president was fired in May; he alleged that his termination was retaliatory after he informed the NFL of complaints of misconduct by the team's owner. Morgan was the first person of color to become chair of the GCB, a position she held from 2019 to 2021. The Raiders have a history of breaking barriers in the NFL: Art Shell was the first Black head coach, Amy Trask was the first women CEO, and Tom Flores was the first Latino coach to win a Super Bowl in NHL history.
A longtime viewing area on Sunset Road that looks onto runways at Reid International has reopened. Observers can watch the planes take off and land from behind a fence that’s in close proximity to the runways. The area had been closed off since early 2020 as part of the pandemic shutdown. There’s no charge; just drive up and grab a spot.
The non-casino show venue Mosaic on the Strip has closed. The space located on the south end of the Strip near MGM Grand has been the site of several different showrooms and clubs over the years, operating as The Metz, Utopia, Empire Ballroom, Boulevard Theater, and Tommy Wind Theater, but it looks like its entertainment days are over: The owner says the building will be razed and a retail center is planned.
Soon-to-be-Horseshoe Bally's is replacing its sports book with a video venue called Arcade. The 7,000-square-foot "all-ages" fun center, according to the press release, will house “more than 80 games, from classic favorites to the latest releases.” Classic? We'll wait and see if Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man, DonkeyKong, Asteroids, the Simpsons, Space Invaders, Tetris, and the like are actually available. Arcade, which will be on the ground floor right next to the food court, so kids won't have to traipse through, or anywhere near, the casino, is expected to open "in the fall." It turns out that the "news" that the sports book would be replaced by a Dave & Busters was just a rumor; Arcade will be like a Dave & Busters -- without the food. However, the sports book bar will remain in place; Mom and Dad need a place to repair to while Buddy and Sis are otherwise engaged.
Frankie Moreno has been signed as the first resident headliner at the Palms. One of Las Vegas’ best under-the-radar live performers over the past decade, Moreno has had successful runs at Stratosphere (now The STRAT) and Golden Nugget and is a frequent performer at the Smith Center. At the Palms, Frankie Moreno: All the Hits will play in the Kaos space. He opens July 29 with tickets starting at $31.
For the first time in 27 months, the median price of existing single-family homes that changed hands in southern Nevada dropped from the previous month. It wasn't by much -- June's price was $2,000 less than May's, which set a record at $482,000 -- but prices had been rising every month, and setting new records month after month, since April 2020. The median price in June 2021 was $395,000, so it's still up nearly 22% year over year. But other metrics indicate that the real estate market here is going from red-hot to "stabilizing": Las Vegas Realtors reports that the 5,746 houses for sale at the end of last month marked a 135% increase over June 2021, while the number of houses sold during the month was down 25%.
Every dog has its day and so does every popular food item. It's unknown from whom or whence National Fried Chicken Day originated, but today's the day and you'll find a few special deals at KFC, Popeyes, Cracker Barrel, Jollibee, and Bonchon. If you're on the Las Vegas Strip, we recommend three fried chicken places: Dave's Hot Chicken (Bally's Grand Bazaar Shops), Crack Shack (Park MGM), and our favorite, Hattie B's (Cosmopolitan). We also like what they do at Honey Salt (Rampart Blvd.), BB.Q Chicken (Chinatown), Carson Kitchen (downtown, crispy chicken skins), and of course Big Chicken, the Shaq O'Neal-themed fast fooderie (across from the Virgin). We'll also be checking out the FC at the recently opened Nellie's Southern Kitchen (MGM Grand).
Dan “Jungleman” Cates won the prestigious $50K-buy-in Poker Players Championship for the second year in a row. Cates beat a field of 112 for the repeat and the $1,449,103 first prize. We didn’t witness it, but word is he took on a professional-wrestling persona throughout play to the amusement of players and spectators alike.
Hot N Juicy Crawfish will open its fifth location in the Las Vegas area (and 13th nationwide) in September at the Downtown Grand directly across from the Mob Museum. Hot N Juicy serves shellfish (crawdads, clams, mussels, shrimp, crab, oysters, calamari, and lobster) with Cajun, garlic-butter, lemon-pepper, and house seasonings at five spice levels by the pound and in baskets ($10-$16), along with catfish, etouffee, wings, po' boys, chicharron, fries, and fried brownies. Its hours will be 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun.-Thur., till midnight Fri. and Saturday.
At the annual July 4th Nathan's hot-dog-eating contest, Joey Chestnut downed 63 franks and buns in the 10-minute time allotment to win his 15th title; his closest competitor managed to scarf only 43. The over-under was 74.5 dogs, 1-1/2 less than Chestnut's record of 76 set last year, but due to an altercation (when Chestnut had to subdue an animal-rights protestor who stormed the stage), Draftkings refunded the totals bets. Miki Sudo won the women's contest with 40 dogs, 8-1/2 short of her 2020 record (she didn't compete last year due to being pregnant). The contest returned to Coney Island for the first time since 2020.
After recovering from intestinal issues following a trip from Mexico and a positive COVID test, poker superstar Phil Hellmuth has roared back at the World Series of Poker. He finished eighth and ninth in two 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship events, then narrowly missed winning his unrivaled 17th gold bracelet by losing heads-up in the $3,000-buy-in Freezeout No-Limit Hold ’em tournament yesterday morning. For the player who beat Hellmuth, it was his first bracelet from a live event, plus just under $600,000; Phil had to settle for $370,000.
Featuring more than 20 of Latin music’s biggest artists, the first-ever Rumbazo Latin Musical Festival will take place Sept. 10-11 at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center in a two-day celebration of Latin music, art, food, and culture. Kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month, Rumbazo is a celebration and recognition of Latin culture, pride, and heritage. Part open-air gallery and part music festival, the event is expected to draw 15,000 attendees per day for an epic party and exhibition.
Joey Chestnut is the -3000 favorite to win today's Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. The over/under for dogs downed is 74.5. Chestnut is seeking his 15th title.
Gas prices and room rates be damned: The long-weekend crowd is here in force, on a quest for personal freedom. We're all enjoying the relatively mild temperatures (highs just above 100) and looking forward to some fireworks this evening. In addition to small displays at parks around the city, fireworks will be launched from Caesars Palace and six Station casinos (Palace, Boulder, Santa Fe, and Sunset
Stations, Red Rock, and Green Valley Ranch) at 9 p.m.; there will also be 9 p.m. displays at Lake Las Vegas and Boulder City. At 10 pm, the Plaza will host a fireworks show downtown. Silverton is awarding 4X points on slots. Rampart is offering a 2-for-1 buffet. Tomorrow: nightmare traffic on I-15 southbound.
The Birmingham Stallions are -4.5 favorites over the Philadelphia Stars in today’s USFL Championship game. The total is 45.5.
The World Series of Poker $10,000-buy-in championship tournament, best known as the Main Event, will begin today, with Flight A launching at 11 a.m. Flight B will start tomorrow, Flight C on Tuesday, and Flight D on Wednesday. Based on attendance at the many WSOP tournaments that began on May 31, this year's Main Event could break the record for number of entrants set in 2006: 8,773. WSOP officials say that registrations for all events have surpassed 100,000 so far this year, with $150 million in prize money. The Main Event final table will run July 15 and 16 at Bally’s Event Center.
Circus Circus, the only Strip casino remaining where you can play coin-operated slot machines, has added $5 machines to keep its $1 slots company. The press release identifies the payback at 97.4%, so your expectation is to lose 13 cents per $5 token.
Israel Adesanya is a -500 favorite over Jared Cannonier in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Alexander Volkanovski is -190 over Max Holloway.
Classic rocker Billy Idol will do a five-show appearance at the Cosmopolitan on Nov. 11, 12, 16, 18, and 19. This will be a sequel to Idol's sold-out mini-residency at Cosmo last year. Idol has sold upwards of 50 million albums and has had nine Top 40 singles, including “White Wedding,” “Rebel Yell,” “Dancing With Myself, “Flesh For Fantasy,” and (our favorite) “Eyes Without A Face.” Diana Ross will take over the Encore Theater at the Wynn with a six-show engagement on Sept. 21, 23, 24, 28, and 30, and Oct. 1. Ross, now 77, has had a legendary career in the entertainment industry, spanning more than 50 years and including successes in music, film, television, theater, and fashion; she also received the Grammy Awards' highest recognition, the Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2012.
Station Casinos has a second construction project under way, though it's a fraction of the size of Durango Station it's building in the suburbs, and this one is downtown. A five-acre parcel on Fremont Street near Charleston Boulevard will house a new Wildfire casino, one of Station's brands. It's being built on a portion of the acreage that the old Castaways (originally the Showboat) occupied. Station picked up the property in 2004 shortly after the Castaways closed, then tore it down. In 2018, Station sold most of the site to a developer, who opened a 350-apartment complex, mini-storage, and more. The developer is also building the casino. No end date has been announced, but it shouldn't take too long to complete the one-story 21,000-square-foot Wildfire.
The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission voted overwhelmingly (23-2) Thursday to reclassify 56 acres at the Port of Oakland, allowing the parcel to become a mixed-use district centered on the $1 billion baseball stadium that would serve as the home field of the Oakland Athletics. In total, the project would cost $12 billion and would, by all reports, be privately financed and include housing, hotels, retail, dining and entertainment, an amphitheater, and 18 acres of parks and open space. The stadium is a long way from being built; now Oakland politics are back with a vengeance and time is running out, as the A's lease expires in 2024. As such, it's not the end of the A's plan to move to Las Vegas, but it does keep the door slightly ajar for them to stay in Oakland.
The average daily rate for a Las Vegas hotel room, tracked by the Las Vegas Convention Center, hit $175.76, roughly 25% higher than May 2019. Over this long weekend, the Las Vegas Review-Journal conducted surveys on June 7 and 28, in which the average room rate was $201.92 and $198.98, respectively, the lowest at the STRAT at $107 and El Cortez $108, highest Palazzo/Venetian $425 and Bellagio $398, not including resort fees. Meanwhile, in the Las Vegas Advisor's annual July room-rate roundup, we found weekday rates as low as $59 (Binion's and Four Queens, which don't impose resort fees) and $63 at El Cortez and Golden Gate and $67 at STRAT, including the RF. If you do your due diligence, you can still beat the LVCVA's average by more than half.
The Las Vegas Loop connection between the Convention Center and Resorts World opened yesterday. For now, the ride is free (self-parking is also still free at Resorts World), so if you want to check out the system without having to start at the Convention Center, this is the way to do it. Hours vary according to the Convention Center calendar, but according to the Resorts World website, for now it's Thursday-Monday 5-10 p.m. Today and tomorrow, however, you can ride between 7:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. Follow the signs through the District to the station.
Typically, July temperatures don't fluctuate too widely, with normal highs between 103 and 105 and lows between 79 and 82. Record high temperatures, however, have risen all the way to 117 three times (in 1942, 2005, and 2012), hitting 116 ten times and 115 another ten. Record lows have dropped to 56 degrees twice (1937 and 1940) and 58 twice (1938 and 1940). Normally, nearly a half-inch of rain falls during the month (fifth-highest amount by month of the year), but it depends on the severity of the monsoon season.