In the second of tonight's simultaneously played Monday Night Football double-header, the Detroit Lions are -4.5 favorites over the Seattle Seahawks. The total is 47.
In the first of tonight's simultaneously played Monday Night Football double-header, the Miami Dolphins are -4.5 favorites over the Tennessee Titans. The total is 37.
Yesterday in Week 4 of the NFL season, for the first time, the most-picked team in Circa Survivor survived; the San Francisco 49ers, drawing 277 or 43.1% of the selections, cruised through its game, beating the New England Patriots 30-13. However, 25% of the field was eliminated, highlighted by the New York Jets loss to the Denver Broncos. Going into yesterday's games, only 642 entries, out of the initial 14,226, remained, but Denver eliminated 110 entries or 17.1% of the field. Other teams that lost included Arizona (36 entries), Pittsburgh (8), Cleveland (7) and Buffalo (1 entry). At the end of the day, 162 were eliminated, representing 25.2% of the field at the beginning of the week. This brought the total remaining down to 480 competing for the prize pool of $14,226,000.
A new-concept non-casino hotel is under construction a few blocks from Allegiant Stadium. The all-suite 303-unit property, dubbed Otonomus Hotel, combines apartments and hotel rooms and will offer guests the option of one to six rooms, each of which comes with a full kitchen and living room. A one-bedroom unit will start at $300 per night; different-sized units can be rented longer-term as apartments. Otonomus will also feature four restaurants (Lebanese, sushi, Mexican, and Mediterranean), retail, pool, and business and fitness centers. The AI application will run the show, enabling guests to make reservations, communicate with the front desk and housekeeping, order room service, and shop at the hotel stores; the app will remember each guest’s preferences for a "personalized" experience. Otonomus is slated to open early next year at the intersection of Russell Road and Durango Boulevard.
Trailer casino? Well, not really. We use the term to describe a space that offers temporary gambling to preserve a company’s license, as that space is usually a portable trailer or even a tent. A trailer won’t come into play today and tomorrow, but live gaming will be offered inside downtown’s Gold Spike. After the two-day run, the Gold Spike will return to its status as a hotel without a casino, albeit with its gambling license intact.
The Baltimore Ravens are -2.5 favorites over the Buffalo Bills in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 46.5.
Reid International planners have announced a major new plan to reconfigure the terminal and traffic situation at the airport. The plan calls for a substantial expansion of Terminal 1, from 39 to 65 gates, with a redesign of the existing A and B gates and an addition to occupy part of the space of the former Terminal 2. Then, Terminal 3 would be renamed Terminal 2. In addition, airport roadways would be revamped in an effort to improve the flow between the two terminals and provide more convenient access to ride-share vehicles. Two graphics use a dynamic slider to show the before and after of the terminal and traffic configurations on an 8NewsNow page that are worth a 30-second look; use the circled arrows in the center of the graphics to change the graphic on the right (existing configuation) to the graphic on the left (proposed).
Celebrities have been taken to task recently for bad-mouthing things held dear. In the first, rapper Macklemore was summarily dropped as the headliner at Las Vegas’ Neon City Festival after voicing strong anti-American sentiments during a recent concert. A week later, following reports that the rock band Green Day had besmirched Las Vegas over the relocation of the Oakland A’s at a concert in Oakland, Las Vegas radio stations KOMP 92.3 and KXTE 107.5 announced that they would no longer air the band’s music.
For long-time LVA members and devotees of this website, Richard Munchkin needs no introduction. But we'll introduce him anyway. He's one of the world's top advantage players in every aspect of the career, author of our book Gambling Wizards -- Conversations with the World's Greatest Gamblers, co-host of the long-running Gambling with an Edge podcast, host of the new Life Is a Gamble podcast, and in a lot of ways a modern-day Renaissance man. Anthony keeps this 53-minute interview moving right along as Richard discusses his background as a theater major, gambling obsessive, backgammon player, blackjack dealer, card counter, Hollywood actor, director, and producer, sports bettor, and all-around AP. The guys discuss the late great Peter Griffin and Alan Woods, how Gambling Wizards came to be, the movies Richard has been involved in, whether "dealer signature" at roulette and dice control at craps are real, playing with a players card, and much much more. This is an enlightening and entertaining interview that's well worth around an hour of your time if you're at all interested in a compelling look behind the scenes at a world-class casino profiteer.
A study by SupremeGolf.com that analyzed 5.4 million rounds of golf since 2023 pegs Nevada as the most expensive state to book a tee time and it’s not even close. With the majority of averages in the $30-$50 range, Nevada topped the list at a whopping $143. Second highest was Hawaii, still a ways back at $108, then Colorado at $80. Lowest in the U.S. was Alaska at $14.
Here's a fine example of the topic of a Question of the Day we answered recently on "walking the marker." A Massachusetts man who obviously had a major credit line at an unnamed casino, plus a serious debt problem, signed two markers at the casino, one for $1 million, the other for $500,000, then walked with the money. When it came time to redeem (pay back) the markers, he wrote a check to the casino that bounced. He was arrested on Nantucket Island on Friday, was unable to post a $10,000 bond, and is being held in Massachusetts, awaiting transport to Las Vegas to appear in Justice Court this week. The man also had an arrest warrant out in Colorado for defaulting on $75 million in loans. But the long arm of the Las Vegas law nabbed him first, clear across the country, and to debtors prison he'll almost certainly go.
The Federal Railroad Administration yesterday signed its agreement with Brightline West for $3 billion in funding to build the high-speed train between southern California and Las Vegas. The grant will, in Brightline CEO's words, "jumpstart the high-speed rail industry in America." Brightline began construction on the 218-mile rail line in April and says it's on track, so to speak, to begin operations in 2028 in time for the summer Olympic games in Los Angeles.
Unseasonably high temperatures are in store for this weekend in Las Vegas and the National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning until Sunday at 8 p.m. High temperatures expected to top out at 106 on Sunday, more normal for June or August than late September. Las Vegas broke its record for the most days of 100-degree-or-higher days in a year on Wednesday at 101 days and the number climbs; today will be 103 days, Sunday will definitely hit 105, and the first double-digit day is forecast to be on Thursday at 99 degrees.
For many years, the Cosmopolitan has transformed its fourth-floor Boulevard pool into an ice-skating rink from mid-November to early January (and it's a blast; we reviewed it in the 12/21 LVA). Now, the Venetian has announced its own kink on the rink: roller skating. Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace, which ran a celebrity-studded rink in L.A. in the early '80s, then took over the ice-skating duties at Rockefeller Center in New York for a few years, will run the show at the Venetian. The "experience" will occupy the Tao Dayclub and the rink will cover the two pools for 3,250 square feet of skating (the Cosmo's ice-skating rink is 4,200 square feet). The rink opens on November 17 and skate sessions will be noon to 8 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays; it's expected to run through early November. Flipper's will charge $20 an hour or $75 for the day and skaters of all ages are welcome to bring their own or rent them.
The Dallas Cowboys are -5 favorites over the New York Giants in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 45.
At the SBC Summit gaming conference in Lisbon this week, a panel, "Betting on Politics: the U.S. Presidential Election," speculated that this election could be "the biggest event in the history of gambling." A representative from the London-based betting company Betfair told the audience, "Overseas betting operators are seeing a spike in wagers that’s different from any other betting market." Betfair, for example, has taken £1.7 billion ($2 billion) on the election so far and that's just one book. By comparison, bets made at legal outlets for Super Bowl 2024 totaled $1.5 billion. (True, more than $20 billion was bet on this year's Super Bowl, but this is an apples-to-apples comparison.) Betfair booked £1 million (over $1.3 million) in bets on the presidential debate alone. Based on that and other factors, the consensus of the panel was, "For now, the market is still small compared to what it can be."
Another full closure of I-15 will occur this weekend, for the first time since the same thing happened in July. Starting tomorrow night at 9 p.m., I-15 northbound will be closed from the 215 Beltway to Hacienda Avenue; the freeway won't reopen until Monday at 5 a.m. The southbound lanes will be closed the following weekend, from Friday Oct. 4 at 9 p.m. to Monday Oct. 7 at 5 a.m. This is work that continues to rebuild the Tropicana Avenue interchange at I-15 that's been going on for nearly two years now.
In what's being billed as "the largest freeroll ever offered," the World Poker Tour will sponsor a freeroll tournament just before the WPT World Championship takes place in December at the Wynn. The tournament, scheduled for Dec. 13-15, will award $5 million in payouts, with a guaranteed grand prize of $1 million. To qualify, players must earn a "Golden Passport" on ClubWPT Gold. According to PokerNews, "ClubWPT Gold is a new online poker product that uses a sweepstakes-based model, similar to the longstanding ClubWPT platform. The new ClubWPT Gold is available in the United States and will allow American poker players to compete for prizes via Gold Coins (GC) that have no monetary value, and Sweeps Coins (SC), which can be obtained through various promotional methods, including a free mode of entry, and may be redeemed for cash and prizes." ClubWPTGold.com will award 2,000 seats into the Invitational Freeroll between Sept. 24 and Dec. 13 through various member promotions, contests, and giveaways. ClubWPT Gold will launch its poker games in early 2025.
The Las Vegas Aces swept the three-game first round of the WNBA playoffs last night at home, beating the Seattle Storm 83-76. League MVP A'ja Wilson scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while fellow Olympian Kelsey Plum notched 29 points and six rebounds. From here, the Aces will make their sixth consecutive appearance in the best-of-five semifinals, going up against the team they beat to take their second-in-a-row championship last year, the New York Liberty. The Aces won last year's Final 3-1, but the Liberty dominated this year's regular-season series, beating the Aces in all three of their games; they also had the league's best regular-season record (32-8) and just swept the Atlanta Dream 2-0. The first game of the series is Sunday in Brooklyn.
Currently, Las Vegas sits tied with 1947 for the record number of over-triple-digit days in a year: 100 days of 100 degrees or higher. And though summer ended officially on Sunday, today we're almost certain to set a new record, with a high temperature of 101-103 expected. Tomorrow's high is forecast to be the same as today's and by Saturday, it could go as high as 105. The extended forecast shows triple digits all the way to Thursday of next week. See ya' around, 1947.
Weird Al Yankovic will kick off a three-month 60-show tour throughout the U.S. and Canada with five shows at the Venetian Theater next June. The full-production multimedia comedy-rock "Bigger and Weirder" shows will, according to the press release, cover "all the big crowd-pleasing parodies, as well as some deep cuts for the hardcore fans — but with twice as many players on stage, everything is going to sound twice as good!” The dates are June 13, 14, 18, 20, and 21. We'll let you know when tickets go on sale.
VitalVegas is reporting this morning that La Popular, the pan-Mexican restaurant at the Palms that opened around 16 months ago, has shuttered. We reviewed the happy hour there in LVA 9/23, loved it, and went back for more. We also publicized the restaurant's attempts to drum up business by extending its HH to late night and then all day. Apparently, nothing worked and we're sorry it didn't survive. No word on what might replace it.
The Scorpions, among the oldest and most iconic hard-rock bands of all time, will play a five-show residency at PH Live at Planet Hollywood next year to celebrate -- are you sitting down? -- the band's 60th anniversary. The Scorpions were founded in Hanover, West Germany, in 1965 and released their first album, Lonesome Crow, in 1972, becoming a big part of the first wave of heavy-metal rock. Since then, they've sold more than 100 million records, with hits such as "Wind of Change," "Still Loving You," "Rock You Like a Hurricane," "Send Me an Angel," and many more. The new appearance follows the band's two previous sold-out residencies at the venue — "Scorpions Love at First Sting Las Vegas" in 2024 and "Sin City Nights" in 2022. The dates are February 27 and March 1, 6, 8, and 11; tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. PT. Metal rockers Metallica will go on tour next year, with the kickoff performance in Las Vegas on April 12 at the Las Las Vegas Festival Grounds for the third-annual Sick New World music festival. Metallica performed at Allegiant Stadium in February 2022; the sold-out show was the biggest-ever metal show in Las Vegas. Before that, the band sold out T-Mobile in November 2018, setting an attendance record at the time. We'll let you know when tickets become available for the festival.
In the second of tonight's simultaneously played Monday Night Football double-header, the Cincinnati Bengals are -7 favorites over the Washington Commanders. The total is 46.
In the first of tonight's simultaneously played Monday Night Football double-header, the Buffalo Bills are -4.5 favorites over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The total is 46.5.
Las Vegas Aces star forward A'ja Wilson received 67 out of the possible 67 first-place votes for the Women's National Basketball Association's Most Valuable Player Award for the 2024 season. Wilson is only the second player in league history to receive the unanimous approbation; the first was Cynthia Cooper of the Houston Comets in the first season of the WNBA, 1997. She's also the fourth player to win the MVP designation three times; she also won it in 2020 and 2022. In last night's first playoff game, the Aces bested the Seattle Storm 78-67.
The 250-foot-long walkway that connects the Versailles Tower (at the Horseshoe) to the Paris front desk has been completed and opened on Friday. The "Paris Skybridge" passes over the service road between Bally's and the Horseshoe. Caesars Entertainment spent $100 million transforming the Horseshoe's Jubilee Tower into Paris' Versailles Tower and now the conversion is complete.
The Kansas City Chiefs are -3 favorites over the Atlanta Falcons in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 46.5.
CNBC reports that OYO, the India-based global hotel company with a hotel-casino on W. Tropicana, is acquiring the Motel 6 chain for $525 million in cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year. OYO was founded less than 10 years ago and already operates 320 hotels in 35 U.S. states; Motel 6 has 1,450 locations, including the one right next door to OYO in Las Vegas, which is the largest of them all with 306 rooms. It'll be interesting to see if anything changes between the two properties in the future.
We got eyes on Ocean One at Miracle Mile Shops yesterday late afternoon and, happily, it was open. So whatever caused the closure we reported on yesterday was momentary and it looks like it'll be business as usual at one of our favorite Top Ten venues. Hooray.
A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces center with six years in the WNBA, has set all kinds of records this season. Her 1,021 points make her the first player in league history to score more than 1,000 in a season. She also averaged the most points per game of any WNBA player ever at 27 and pulled down the most rebounds of any player ever with a total of 451. And as is easily imaginable, A'ja is the first player in WNBA history to lead the league in points, rebounds, and blocks (98) in a season. The playoffs start tomorrow and, as always, they're going to be tough, but this is where our team shines. Three-peat!
For fans of the Bobby Vegas blog, we'd just like to let you know that Bobby is in the middle of a medical situation and is unable to post. We can tell you that he has several great blogs in the works, so they'll be worth waiting for. We wish BV a speedy recovery and a triumphant return to LVA.com.
Ocean One Bar & Grille, the long-time Top Ten Value for its breakfast and lunch meal deals, closed on Friday at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. Though it's disappointing, it's not really a surprise. Last January, Ocean One shuttered all six of its locations in south Florida and the Las Vegas location, the flagship of the fleet at 15 years old, was the last one in existence. No longer. Or is it? We've been getting conflicting reports about whether it's a temporary hiccup or permanent, though calls to the restaurant go immediately to voicemail. For now, it's closed. Whether or not Ocean One will reopen is in abeyance, but if it does, we'll report.
The WNBA two-in-a-row champion Las Vegas Aces won an important game last night. The last game of the regular season, with a playoff spot clinched, was played by five reserves as the starters were all rested in preparation for the playoffs. They not only beat the Dallas Wings 98-84, but they sunk 15 three-pointers, tying the season record, and scored 60 points in the first half, the most for the season. After a somewhat rocky middle period, the Aces went 10-2 in their last 12 games and are now coming off a five-game winning streak to start the playoffs at home on Sunday evening against rivals Seattle Storm in a best of three.
New Kids on the Block, the boy band whose members are now nearing Social Security age, will play 16 shows at Dolby Live at Park MGM next year. NKOTB formed in 1984 in Massachusetts when four of the five were in high school and the fifth was 12. They disbanded 10 years later, then reunited in 2007 and have been releasing albums and touring ever since. The band has sold 80 million albums and have won numerous awards. All five original members, including founder Donnie Wahlberg, Las Vegan Mark Wahlberg's older brother, will perform "The Right Stuff," the band's first Las Vegas residency, on these dates: June 20, 21, 25, 27, and 28; July 2, 3, and 5, and November 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, and 15. Tickets go on sale to the public next Friday 10 a.m. PT.
On the heels of a $130 million fine to the feds for money laundering, the Wynn has agreed to a $70 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit over company executives denying, ignoring, and covering up allegations of sexual misconduct by Steve Wynn while they were well aware of them, which reduced the value of the company's shares. The Wynn announced the settlement last month, but not the amount; now we know. Of course, the lawyers will take their share, so it's unclear how much of the settlement will go to individual shareholders. What is clear is that the Wynn's insurance company will shoulder the bulk of the settlement, while the Wynn is on the hook for $9.4 million.
Anthony and Andrew celebrate the weekend a day early this time, when they go live today with Beer Thursday at 4 p.m. Special guest is Michael Trager, who will talk about the monster advantage play seminar coming up, that will cover strategies for casino play, credit cards, and air miles. You never know what will happen, especially later in the show, when Tanya is bringing the guys their fourth or fifth beers. It's a fun time -- especially for them! Tune in here.
MansionGlobal.com has a story on the most expensive condos on the Las Vegas market currently. The two penthouses, on the top 24th floor of a new $1.3 billion high-rise development in the exclusive MacDonald Highlands subdivision in Henderson (just south of Green Valley Ranch), are going for $22.5 million and $28.9 million. The latter condo is 8,403 square feet with five bedrooms, six and a half baths, and 3,400 square feet of exterior space, featuring a full-size pool and hot tub and outdoor kitchen. You'll also enjoy a great room and fireplace, a game room with an indoor/outdoor bar that opens to the balcony, a 12-seat home theater, wine room, private elevator, and three-car garage. But if you're in a hurry to close and move in, you're out of luck. The building won't be completed for another couple of years. You could've bought the most expensive home for sale in the whole state, a 1.4-acre property on Lakeshore Drive in Incline Village on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, with a 12,000-square-foot four-bedroom house and plenty of amenities. But that sold recently for $47.5 million.
"Wiseguys Comedy Club" will open a third location on Friday night at the Westgate. The other two are in the Arts District at 1511 S. Main Street and Town Square on the south Strip. It also has four locations in Utah. The cover charge is reasonable ($25-$35), the comedians are top-notch, open-mic nights are on Tuesday and Wednesday, and our very own Andrew Hunt has performed there. Upcoming acts at the Westgate venue include Greg Hahn, Dwayne Perkins, Seth Tippets, Brad Upton, and our favorite, Patrick Warburton (Puddy on "Seinfeld" and Jeff on the long-running sitcom with David Spade, "Rules of Engagement").
Hollywood writer and director Taylor Sheridan, best known as the creator of the series "Yellowstone," has opened a pop-up steakhouse at the Wynn. The name comes from the Four Sixes Ranch, which covers 266,000 acres over three counties in west Texas; it was purchased from the family that founded it and owned it for 120 years by Sheridan and investors in 2020 for upwards of $350 million. The pop-up is in Tableau, the Wynn's breakfast/brunch restaurant, which now serves dinner at the steakhouse 5:30-10 p.m. The only online menu we could find was on the Wynn's website and par for the course, it doesn't list prices, though it does give it $$$$. The beef is mostly the 6666 Angus brand: strip, skirt, and filets of nine to 16 ounces, along with an 18-ounce ribeye, 26-ounce Cowboy, 40-ounce porterhouse, and 48-ounce Tomahawk.
Bellagio’s Conservatory & Botanical Gardens has unveiled its fall display, “The Garden of Time.” This iteration "transports visitors through a portal into a fairytale-like realm of colorful fall flora and fauna, woodland creatures and fanciful sensory elements that together create a scene of pure magic." It features a fairy treehouse with a clock on the trunk surrounded by two waterfalls cascading into a pond; a wooden bridge leading to a rustic cottage; a stag intricately sculpted from driftwood and a four-foot-tall woodland owl; four-story-high trees and an 18-foot-tall arbor; dragonflies, white pumpkins, and fairies; and a number of "mystical" timepieces. This "artistic celebration of the beauty of nature in the fall and the inevitable passage of time” will be on display through November 9.
On Tuesday October 8, the Foundation Room on the 63rd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel tower will host "Tropicana Hotel Implosion Party: A Spectacular Farewell," what the press release describes as "a thrilling once-in-a-lifetime celebration that combines nostalgia, excitement, and a touch of demolition magic." And for such a once-in-a-lifetime event, the $50 seems quite reasonable to us, though the release doesn't mention what the cover charge gets you, other than admission. It does say that a "dress code will be strictly enforced." The doors open at 10:30 p.m. and tickets can be purchased, though they're not yet available, at https://sevn.ly/xiv7vbQe.
Here's a surprise. One of USA Today’s Ten Best Readers Choice categories this year is Ten Best Casino Hotels. The top 10 are selected by an "expert panel," then voted on by readers. The criteria were "top-notch gaming and excellent amenities." How many do you think Las Vegas garnered? All ten? Eight? Six? As low as four? Think again. Our town wound up with two, with one squeaking in at number 10, while Atlantic City had three. Here's the list. In first place is Mohegan Sun/Connecticut; 2. Yaamava’ at San Manuel/California; 3. Caesars Palace/Nevada; 4. Ocean Casino/Atlantic City; 5. Beau Rivage/Mississippi; 6. Borgata/Atlantic City; 7. Mount Airy/Pennsylvania; 8. Resorts/Atlantic City; 9. Graton/California; and 10. Aria/Las Vegas. Not Wynn? Not Bellagio? Not Fountainebleau? Well, we just report the news.
The Philadelphia Eagles are -5.5 favorites over the Atlanta Falcons in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 46.5.
The summer monsoon season ended officially yesterday, but locals and meteorologists are wondering if the monsoon even showed up this year. Las Vegas received eight one-hundredths of an inch of precipitation since the season began in June compared to a normal inch or so. But it was a hair more than 2020, when there was zero monsoonal rain. According to a professor at UNLV, the record-hot summer was partly to blame: “Warmer ground temperatures cause more of the monsoon rainfall to evaporate back up into the atmosphere.”
Country-music superstar Garth Brooks, in the middle of a long residency at the Colosseum at Caesars that began in May 2023, has announced a new set of nine dates that will close out his latest string of performances in Vegas. The dates are Feb. 21, 22, 23, and 28; and March 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9. Tickets are still available for Brooks' upcoming shows from September 26 through December 22 and tickets for the new shows are on sale now.
The Houston Texans are -6 favorites over the Chicago Bears in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 45.5.
Today, the third Sunday in September, marks the day of the annual Silver State Classic Challenge, the fastest road race in the world -- that anyone with a fast car, some cash, and a lot of nerve can enter. It takes place on NV 318, which runs between Preston, a bit south of Ely in east-central Nevada, down to Crystal Springs, roughly two hours north of Las Vegas, a total of 90 miles one way. The two-lane highway, of course, is closed and the course traverses long fast straights, sweeping corners, blind dips, even a twisty canyon. The current record for the Classic stands at 219.6 miles per hour and that's the average speed; these street-legal cars can go a lot faster on the straightaways. The Classic is in its third decade and is open to anyone 18 or older with a valid driver’s license and a roadworthy vehicle, providing the driver, navigator, car, and safety gear all pass a safety technical inspection -- and a few other preliminaries for rookie drivers. It's a timed event; cars aren't racing against one another, but against the clock, so they depart a minute apart. Highway 318 closed at 6 a.m. this morning and will reopen at about 4 p.m., just in case you're heading that way today!
Merab Dvalishvili is a -120 favorite over Sean O’Malley in tonight’s UFC main event. In the other featured match, Alexa Grasso is -125 over Valentina Shevchenko.
At a virtual meeting with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission last week, representatives from the seven largest sports books in the U.S. defended their practice of limiting or restricting the action from sharp sports bettors. This is nothing new, though the bookies are extremely averse to discussing it in public. In fact, they refused to appear at the first meeting called by the MGC last May, backing out at the last minute. What's somewhat new is the term, "stake factoring," the industry uses to grade how successful sports bettors are, i.e., how often they win their bets. As explained by NewBettingSites, "When you first open an account with a betting company, you're given a stake factor. You can place bets up to 100% of the normal maximum stake. The stake factor gets adjusted up or down depending on whether your wager is a winner or loser. If you’re a winning bettor, your stake factor is reduced by as much as 50% initially, dropping further to 25%, 10%, and eventually 1%. If you tend to lose your bets, your stake factor is increased. This means that you can place bets above the normal maximum. If the betting company thinks that you’re likely to lose most of your wagers, they’re more than happy to ensure that you spend more money with them." According to the article on ESPN covering the meeting, the books attempted to justify the practice to Massachusetts regulators, claiming that the limits aren't based on winnings, but the "approach" of some bettors, including shopping for advantageous odds, jumping on lines that the books make mistakes on, abusing bonus offers, or "simply having a better model or more information." In other words, dumb money is fine, but smart money is anything but welcome. One bettors advocate told ESPN, "The large corporations aren't bookmakers; they're accountants who find risk unacceptable."
Get ready for construction, lane restrictions, and tree removals at center Strip. Starting Monday, crews will begin removing trees from in front of Bellagio to make way for the Fountain Club grandstands. This year, however, the trees are all in giant pots, so they won't be cut down, like some were last year. Also Monday, two lanes on the southbound side of the Strip will be closed and won't reopen until mid-December; the trees will be returned to their spots in time for New Year's Eve. The fountains will remain operational for the duration, though the sidewalk between Flamingo and the Bellagio entrance will be closed to pedestrians. Formula 1 takes place Nov. 21-23.
Lotto Max, the multi-province lottery in Canada, will pay out a record $80 million when someone wins the grand prize. The jackpot was just raised from a maximum $70 million by $10 million and no one won last night's drawing of $75 million, so Tuesday's drawing will be for the whole enchilada. The odds of winning the main jackpot are 1 in 33.3 million per $5 play (the $5 receives three tickets); players choose seven numbers from a pool of 50. The jackpot was raised to $70 million in May 2019 and since then, Lotto Max has paid out 19 winning tickets (one draw produced two winning tickets, so the $70 million was split).
Feedback on the new set kicks off this week's YouTube. Then Anthony and Andrew discuss a big project just announced for the north Strip, how the gambling market judged who won the Trump-Harris debate and some of the prop bets around it, the dizzying results from the first week of the football contests, and where the Las Vegas Strip ranks in terms of the most famous street names in the U.S. The Question of the Week concerns whether the casinos can change the return percentages of video poker machines like they can slots. And the Jackpot of the Week is a cautionary tale of two gamblers, one involving a 21-year-old and a royal flush, the other a 21-year-old card counter. Check it out right here.
Move over, Heart Attack Grill, Fat Sal's has come to town. Sal’s, a sandwich shop with six locations in southern California, opened this week at Neonopolis, which also hosts the Heart Attack Grill. The two are of a kind -- guilty pleasures calorie-wise. Fat Sal's offers Fat sandwiches, such as the Fat Breakfast, with two fried eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, mozzarella sticks, American cheese, and tater tots on a butter grilled hero ($19); Fat Texas, with pastrami, chicken fingers, bacon, mozzarella sticks, melted mozzarella and cheddar, grilled onions, and fries on a garlic hero ($20); Fat ($15-$16) and standard ($8-$15) burgers; heroes ($16-$17); Make It Fatter add-ons; And Fat shakes ($13). The Big Fat Fatty is a 30-inch garlic hero with cheesesteak, double-cheeseburger, pastrami, chicken fingers, bacon, mozzarella sticks, fried eggs, fries, onion rings, chili, and marinara, while the Big Fat Shake is served with 30 scoops of vanilla and chocolate ice cream each, cake, cookies, pretzels, syrup, and whipped cream; they're both $99.99, but finish the Fatty in 40 minutes or the shake in 10 and they're free. A second location for Fat Sal's has been announced for the Miracle Eats food hall at Miracle Mile Shops, opening in November.
Dead & Company's 30-date residency at Sphere earlier this summer was a huge success, both musically and financially. The band, with two members of the original Grateful Dead, sold 476,945 tickets and grossed $131.4 million, according to Live Nation. The average number of tickets per show was just under 16,000, out of a capacity of 18,600, and the average price per ticket was $275.61. Average revenue per show was $4.4 million. And that doesn't include all the merch sold at Sphere, which was certainly in the millions, given the rabid nature of the Dead -- and Dead & Company -- fans. By comparison, U2's 40-show residency grossed an estimated $256 million and sold 661,456 tickets; the first 25 shows were sold out at a 18,200 capacity.
The Miami Dolphins are -2.5 favorites over the Buffalo Bills in tonight's Thursday Night Football game. The total is 49.
With Mexican Independence Day starting this weekend there’s Latin performances at every corner, but here are the headliners:
According to the Mohave Daily News, the Riverside Hotel-Casino, the original Laughlin casino, reported "an external system breach" on September 5 that occurred on July 25. The hack was discovered the same day and immediately investigated by "forensic specialists in cybersecurity and data privacy." The investigation determined that "an unauthorized third party potentially accessed and acquired certain files during the incident." Upwards of 55,155 people in the Riverside's database "may have had their personal information compromised." Letters notifying Riverside patrons who were or might have been affected were mailed out last week and the casino is paying for a year of credit-monitoring services and fraud assistance on their behalf.
Actor, Wahlburger co-owner, and Las Vegas transplant Mark Wahlberg is launching a new restaurant this week. Flecha ("Arrow" or "Dart") Cantina is having a soft opening today and tomorrow and will start doing regular business on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Town Square near Sunset and Las Vegas Boulevard. It's the second location for Flecha; the first is in Huntington Beach, California. The menu for the Huntington Beach location looks expensive to us: nachos and guacamole $14 (each), three-appetizer sampler $42, ceviche $26, taco $9, chicken burrito $20, shrimp enchilada $28, and flan $12. We'll wait for the happy hour to give it a try.
Tuesday's high of 102 was the 100th day in 2024 that the thermometer hit triple digits. The last time that happened was 77 years ago (1947). Yesterday, the high didn't breach the 1090-degree mark, stopping at 97. So the record at 100 days stands. And that could do it for this year; the prediction is for a slight cooling trend, with temperatures in the mid-90s through next Monday, then dropping into the 80s as the fall begins.
The mega football contest, Circa Survivor, started the season with a record-setting 14,266 entries by the deadline last Saturday afternoon. As soon as Sunday night, 5,563 entries, nearly 40% of the field, were eliminated, largely due to the loss by the biggest favorite on the board, the Cincinnati Bengals, favored by 7.5 points over the New England Patriots. Cincinnati lost by a score of 16-10. That leaves 8,703 contestants to vie for the $14.266 million prize pool. Cincinnati was the most-picked team for Week 1, with 4,985 entries (34.3% of the field) backing them against New England. When the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Atlanta Falcons, that removed another 431 entries (3% of the field). Although Week 1 dumped four out of 10 of the entries, that pales in comparison to the carnage seen in Week 1 of 2022, when 3,427 of the 6,133 entries (56% of the field) were eliminated.
The Black Eyed Peas will do 15 shows at PH Live at Planet Hollywood next year. The pop-rap trio was formed in L.A. 30 years ago and their biggest hit remains "Where Is the Love?" from their third album, Elephunk. Since then, they've sold 80 million units and have won six Grammys, plus countless Billboard, MTV, BET, and American and Latin music awards. The residency dates are February 15, 16, 19, 21, and 22; March 21, 22, 26, 28, and 29; and May 24, 25, 28, 30, and 31. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. PT.
Three large wildfires in southern California, along with the Davis Fire currently raging in south Reno, is responsible for some very smoky and ashy air in Las Vegas. The county Division of Air Quality issued a smoke alert this morning, urging seniors, children, and those with respiratory or heart diseases to avoid going outside as much as possible until conditions improve.
Do you want some betting action on tonight’s presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris? Debate wagers aren’t allowed in U.S. sports books, but there’s no shortage of them offshore. You could make a friendly wager or just have some fun tracking the propositions. Harris is the -220 favorite to win the debate (as determined by a post-event CBS poll). Here’s a list of props. Candidates will shake hands, No -300. Color of Trump’s suit, Blue -200. Predominant color of Harris’ top, White -125. State mentioned first, Pennsylvania -120. Will Trump say “radical,” Yes -333. Will Harris call Trump a felon, Yes -180. Will either candidate say “fake news,” Yes -185. Number of times the word “inflation” is said, U/10.5 -200. Will the debate be interrupted by protestors, Yes +700 (there isn’t a No price on this one). Trump is currently the favorite to win the election at -115 to -130, depending on the book.
Sphere's first sporting event is set to take over the arena on Saturday night, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship puts on a card headlined by UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili. The "Noche" part is to celebrate Mexican culture and history over Mexican Independence Day weekend. The promoters are calling it "the biggest gate of all time and the greatest sporting event of all time." Maybe. But ticket prices that started out ranging from $3,000 to $12,000 have come down considerably and some are still available. (It'll also be streamed pay-per-view on ESPN.) Some details about the spectacle have been revealed. The production will occupy two "stages": the octagon where the fights take place and the giant screen, which will show six 90-second films, "immersive animated environments dubbed 'worlds,'" according to CBS News. However, the fights themselves won't occupy the full dome; 80-foot-tall fighters would be subject to all kinds of distortion and strangeness. Rather, visual "cutouts" on the screen will effect a more traditional presentation. Production costs are estimated at $20 million, while the gate is expected to reach $21 million. The narrow margin prompted UFC to take on Riyadh Season, Saudi Arabia's annual state-funded entertainment and sports festival, as its first-ever title sponsor. The content supervisor for UFC told CBS News, "The ethos of this company is being first, going big, and taking big swings at opportunities that can reshape the way sports and entertainment are presented to viewers going forward." We'll start to see how successful that is come Sunday morning.
Last Thursday night, a visitor from Omaha had been playing pai gow poker for 90 minutes at Planet Hollywood when he lined up a seven-card straight flush. It was the ace through 7 of clubs, with a joker serving as the deuce. Having made the progressive bet, he scooped a nice jackpot of $1,620,470. He told the casino that his first thought on hitting the jackpot was "to call his wife." Now there's a devoted husband.
The San Francisco 49ers are -3.5 favorites over the New York Jets in tonight's Monday Night Football game. The total is 43.
"Las Vegas is for everyone, whatever your jam" is the slogan for a new campaign from R&R Partners, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's ad agency. Emphasis is on the "whatever," as you can see via all the characters and costumes in the 60-second spot here. The catchy soundtrack is from a song called "Too Old To Dream" by former punk rocker and current country crooner Nick Shoulders. The campaign was launched last week in the U.S., Mexico, and U.K., with a prime spot during the Vegas Classic Kickoff. It will continue airing in select markets over the next two months during NFL games, the WNBA playoffs, and the men's World Cup qualifier. And thanks to Canada Roy for the link.
Changes to the multistate lottery platform Mega Millions format have been in the works for over a year, but now we have more details. According to PlayiLottery, which obtained documents from the Texas Lottery, the ticket price for Mega Millions will jump from $2 to $5; that will impel the jackpots to grow much larger much faster. Though it was earlier thought that the number of white balls would be reduced, they'll remain the same at 1 through 70. However, the number of gold Mega Balls will be dropped by one, from 25 to 24. That will increase the odds of hitting the jackpot (very slightly). The last drawing at the current format will take place on April 4; the April 8 drawing will be at the new ticket price and odds. The Mega Millions jackpot stands currently at $800 million, seventh largest in its history.
The Detroit Lions are -5 favorites over the Los Angeles Rams in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game. The total is 53.5.
Rap superstar Tupac Shakur was gunned down on E. Flamingo near Koval 28 years ago yesterday, September 7, 1996. In Las Vegas with his record producer Suge Knight and finacee Kidada Jones, Quincy Jones' daughter, to take in a Mike Tyson fight, Tupac got into a fight of his own in the lobby of the MGM Grand and was later shot by an L.A. gang member, Orlando Anderson, involved in the altercation. He died six days later at a Las Vegas hospital. Anderson was shot and killed two years later in Compton, California. But his uncle, Duane "Keefe D" Davis, was arrested last year and charged with murder in connection to Tupac's killing; he had talked freely about his involvement over the years. The 61-year-old Davis is being held without bail, awaiting the start of his trial in mid-March next year. You can read the whole sad story in our bestselling book The Killing of Tupac Shakur.
Jannik Sinner is a -420 favorite over Taylor Fritz in today's U.S. Open tennis men's final. Sinner is seeking his second Grand Slam title, Fritz his first. Fritz is the first U.S. man to be in a major final since 2009.
On the heels of last week's Nevada Gaming Control Board’s 12-count complaint against Resorts World for welcoming certain individuals to wager at its casino over a period of numerous months, while executives knew, or should have known, that they were likely illegal bookmakers, had criminal convictions related to illegal gambling operations, or had ties to organized crime,” the Wynn has paid a $130 million fine to the U.S. Department of Justice for “facilitating the unlicensed transfer of money to and from China.” The investigation by the IRS, Homeland Security, and the Drug Enforcement Administration found that the Wynn used unregulated money-transfer entities to "flout anti-money laundering regulations." Last January, the MGM and Cosmopolitan also settled a money-laundering investigation by the Justice Department and paid a $7.45 million fine. We're already receiving questions about the Wynn situation, which we'll cover in an upcoming Question of the Day.
Aryna Sabalenka is a -335 favorite over Jessica Pegula in today's U.S. Open tennis women's final. Sabalenka is seeking her third Grand Slam title, Pegula her first.
The Last Showgirl, a movie starring Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis and directed by Gia Coppola (37-year-old granddaughter of Francis Ford), premiered yesterday at the Toronto Film Festival and is already making a splash, good and bad. The film is set in Las Vegas and Anderson plays a dancer in the same showgirl show for 30 years who's just learned the show is closing. "She hasn't just lost a job she adored, at an age when she is unlikely to get another like it; she has lost her very identity," writes the BBC. Jamie Lee plays her friend, a former showgirl now making ends meet as a cocktail waitress. "Coppola depicts their lives with sympathy, but also with clear-eyed honesty about the dreams they never achieved and the youth that's impossible to reclaim," concludes the review. Variety wrote, "Pamela Anderson's The Last Showgirl wows the Toronto Film Festival." The Guardian, however, had a dissenting opinion: "The Last Showgirl, an empty-headed attempt to give Pamela Anderson her version of The Wrestler [a similar vehicle for Mickey Rourke], is a regrettable misfire."
The Stage Door Casino and Battista's Hole in the Wall have filed a joint lawsuit against the Las Vegas Grand Prix for reimbursement for losses from the F1 race last year. "Wrongful interference with business rights" cost the two properties $5 million from F1's limiting access to them by the bridge on Flamingo over Koval Lane. "We're not trying to make any extra money on this. We just want the money we lost," the owner of Battista's and manager at Stage Door told Channel 13 News. According to a statement, the businesses "had no choice but to litigate. They brought the substantial damages caused by F1 to the attention of Clark County and F1. For months, they sought a fair and just solution to this devastating issue, to no avail. Repeated assurances of a resolution never materialized." The lawsuit is asking for a jury trial to determine liability and compensation. Ellis Island's separate lawsuit against the Grand Prix over losses due to lack of access was dismissed by a judge on Thursday, claiming it "failed to state a clear complaint." The judge suggested that Ellis Island change its arguments and move forward with the case.
First, Anthony and Andrew are in a new studio at the office: a better look and better equipment and they're sitting at a real blackjack table (with a 3-2 payout on naturals, of course). All the shows, including Beer Fridays and special guests, will happen at that table. Then, they jump right into the Tropicana implosion, new rooms just opened at Circa, the Circa football-contests update, reduced juice on season-long football bets at Westgate, and good gambling articles on LasVegasAdvisor.com. The Question of the Week concerns handing over your banking information to the casinos in order to open a credit account (should or shouldn't you?). And the Jackpot of the Week is a different one: a new-member spin at Arizona Charlie's won the giant jackpot of 500,000 points, good for $1,000 in free play -- and how to maximize the free play for the best return. Click the white arrow and check it all out. Today!
In one of the biggest high school football games in years, Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman, the #2-ranked high school football team in the country, will play #1-ranked Mater Dei (CA) tonight. Bishop Gorman was named national champion last year for the fourth time in school history and Mater Dei has been named to that title six times. The game will be played in Santa Ana, CA, starting at 7 p.m. PST, though the only television feed we’ve found is Bally Sports SoCal. Nope, you can’t bet (legally) on this one.
Suncoast’s conversion of a showroom into the new sports book is complete. The sports book was officially unveiled last weekend, just in time for football season. It boasts a nearly 16-foot-tall curved video wall (the curve is de rigueur nowadays) with 1,700 square feet of total high-definition screens. The former sports book is currently being converted into a new bingo room, which will be completed next year; in the meantime, bingo is played on the second floor. Further refinements to Boyd's northwest-valley resort include renovations to the casino, bowling center, and food hall and a 70-seat center bar.
The Kansas City Chiefs are -2.5 favorites over the Baltimore Ravens in tonight's Thursday Night Football game that opens the 2024 NFL season. The total is 46.5. If you want to hang with the locals, Lucky Joe’s Saloon in Henderson and Jackpot Bar and Grill on Jones are Chiefs bars, Crab Corner on Rainbow is a Ravens bar and has a happy hour from 2 to 6 pm with $1 oysters.
Native American casinos set a new record for revenue last year, raking in $41.9 billion, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission. It was the fourth consecutive year of record-breaking gaming revenue for the tribes. Profit margins, however, are contracting a bit; this was the second decrease in a row (from 36% in 2021 to 30% in 2022 and 26% in 2023). The "2024 Indian Gaming Cost of Doing Business Report" based on data collected from 132 tribal casinos in 18 states was analyzed by Wipfli consulting and accounting firm. Among Wifpli's insights: Slots are the main revenue drivers for tribal casinos; sports betting is a growing income stream, but isn't yet "a significant revenue source"; and labor, marketing, and casino promotions are the highest expenses. Wipfli concluded: "Tribal casinos are spending more to promote themselves, thus decreasing their profit margins, because they have to." Competition from commercial casinos, new tribal casinos in numerous states, igaming, and other entertainment options are all contributing factors.
The Clark County Zoning Commission yesterday approved the mixed-use hotel, retail, and entertainment development proposed for the 10-acre parcel south of Fontainebleau being sold by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to local developers for $125 million. The development is planned to host two 600-foot towers with 750 hotel rooms 425 condos and no casino, along with a 3,300-seat domed theater and a 440-foot "amusement ride." No details about the ride were revealed, but in the rendering, which you can see here, it looks to us like a bigger version of Liftoff, the open-air balloon-type attraction at Area15, which we reviewed in LVA 5/22. Neither timeline nor budget was discussed at the planning meeting, but parking will be somewhat tight; the town board earlier approved a reduction of the mandated 3,000 parking spaces by 52%.
Last year, F1 held a single race in Las Vegas, the Grand Prix. This year, two more "support" races have been announced: the Ferrari Challenge with races on Friday and Saturday nights. That's partially to create more excitement in the traditionally tamer second year, but also to put the circuit's track through a couple of test runs, in order to avoid last year's mishap over a manhole cover. In other F1 news, all 60,000 free tickets for the race's fan festival on the vacant lot across from the Wynn, 30,000 each Friday and Saturday nights, have been distributed. F1 also announced that it will install an ice rink on the roof of the Paddock building for the weekend. "You would never see us do that anywhere else," said a race spokesperson. But Vegas being the Vegas, the intent is to "create more of an entertainment proposition."
A story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal this morning lists rates for rooms at the hotel-casinos with views of the Tropicana on the night of October 8, when the Trop's two towers will be imploded in unison at 2:30 a.m., preceded by a fireworks show. Rooms at OYO next door that face the Trop are fetching $549-$567. That's a bargain compared to rooms at MGM Grand across the street, going for $1,550. New York-New York and Excalibur are sold out, with 6,000 rooms between them. And the price hikes aren't limited to rooms with a view; Bellagio's rates are as high as $700 for the night. It should be noted that October 8 is in the middle of the annual G2E gambling conference in Las Vegas, so that adds to the price pressure for premium rooms on the Strip.
Shania Twain has announced nine new shows that will end her “Come On Over” residency, which launched in May, at PH Live at Planet Hollywood. First, PH Live is the new name of the Bakkt Theater, formerly Zappos Theater, Axis Theater, Planet Hollywood Theatre for the Performing Arts, and Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts. Now then, Twain's new dates are Jan. 22, 24, 25, 29, and 31 and Feb. 1, 5, 7, and 8; the last show is the night before Super Bowl 2025. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. PT.
Now that Bally's Corp.'s only presence in Las Vegas is about to be imploded (the Bally's-owned Tropicana closed in April), the company has formed a partnership with the Palms that gives Bally Rewards members a Las Vegas destination for deals and perks. As such, members can now earn and redeem loyalty points at the Palms, in addition to the 16 Bally's-branded casinos in the country.
Yesterday morning, Circa Survivor broke the 10,000-entry threshold, hitting the guarantee and ensuring that Circa's mega football contest will have more than $10 million in prize payouts. Last year’s record-setting Survivor contest guaranteed $8 million; with 9,267 entries, the prize pool ended up being a then-record $9.27 million. The new record total prize will be known after the 2 p.m. deadline on Saturday. So far, Circa Million looks like an overlay. As of Monday morning, there were 4,210 entries, short of the 6,000 needed to reach the $6 million guarantee. It's not expected that Circa Million will attract the other nearly 1,800 entries by the deadline on Saturday.
In June, the country-music Giddy Up Festival was announced to take place at the Downtown Events Center Oct. 18-20. It was to be the first country-music festival since the Route 91 Harvest Festival on October 1, 2017, and headlined by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elle King, Josh Turner, Megan Moroney, Chase Rice, and Lauren Watkins. Over the weekend, it was abruptly canceled, with the organizers saying they "couldn't move forward with the event." No explanation was given. All tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase.
This year's Vegas Kickoff Classic college football game between USC and LSU, playing each other for the first time in 40 years, is being touted as having broken Allegiant Stadium's attendance record. It attracted a total of 63,969 attendees and they all got their money's worth with a nail-biter that wasn't decided until the closing seconds of the game (USC took the honors, 27-20). However, the capacity of the stadium is 65,000, expandable to 71,000 or so for major concerts (with standing room only on the floor in front of the state), and Garth Brooks' concert at Allegiant in August 2021, the first major musical event to appear there, was reported at 68,000 attendees, so as is often the case in these claims, there is some discrepancy. That said, the Kickoff Classic is one of the most attended annual events of them all. In 2021 for the inaugural game (the BYU Cougars defeating the Arizona Wildcats 24-16), the official attendance of 54,541 was the largest crowd ever to watch a college athletic event in Nevada history and, believe it or not, this year's 63,969 Kickoff fans were 1,400 more than attended the Super Bowl in February.
Workers are gearing up for the major road project of changing out the panels on 1,075 signs on the freeway between the Henderson Spaghetti Bowl (where US 95, the 215 Beltway, and Lake Mead Boulevard converge) and the Kyle Canyon Road interchange on US 95 north of the city. The Interstate 11 signs will be added along that stretch starting in the next few months and the $3 million effort will require seven to eight months to complete. That will extend the new I-11, which is already official and signed from the Arizona border at the Boulder City bypass that opened a few years ago, up to Kyle Canyon, a total of 30 and a half miles. Ultimately, I-11 is planned to start in Nogales, Arizona, and continue along the existing I-19, I-10, US 93, and US 95 routes all the way to Reno.
This comes as no surprise, but the three months that make up the meteorological summer, June through August, were the hottest on record in Las Vegas. The average daily temperature over the 92 days was 96.2 degrees, smashing the record set in 2018 of 93.7, according to the National Weather Service. In addition, the average high temperature over the three-month period was 107.6, beating the old record of 106.2 set in 1940; the average low temperature was 84.8, more than two degrees higher than the previous record of 82.3 set in 2018. The rest of the tally: The official weather station at Reid International recorded 36 days of 110 or hotter, 69 of 105-plus, and 86 of 100-plus. It was also unseasonably dry during the monsoon months, the airport registering .13 of an inch of rain, compared to nearly three inches last year and nearly two in 2022.
Fontainebleau's Oasis pool deck is an expansive six acres on Level 3 and hosts seven pools, four bars, and two restaurants; the LIV Beach dayclub itself is 35,000 square feet spread over two stories. Though open only to hotel guests, visitors have had access to the pool area on Sundays via the Oasis Movie Club, which ends this evening for the season. In addition, a 2,300 square-foot area poolside for gambling is open to the public, with four blackjack tables. Now comes word that a crap table has been added to the mix. This casino is open Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Typically, September temperatures drop from hot to pretty hot, descending from average highs around 99 in the beginning of the month to 88 at the end. The average lows make the nights comfortable enough to eschew air-conditioning for all but the hottest-blooded; they start out at 76 and go down to 65. Still, summer remains for three of the four weeks, so the record high is a sweltering 114 (September 6, 2020), with four more days above 110, nine at 108 and 109, and the record highs above 100 every day of the month. But it can also cool way down, with the record low at 43 degrees (September 27, 1948) and 12 other dates in the 40s. Normally, nearly a third of an inch of rain falls, the eighth driest month of the year.