Question of the Day - 12 May 2021

The giant bingo balls in various places on the Strip are a promotion by PlayStudios, the Las Vegas-based tech company that's behind the popular free-to-play social-platforms games myVEGAS.

In 2012, in partnership with MGM Resorts, PlayStudios launched myVEGAS on Facebook, at which players earned points redeemable for comps at MGM properties. Over the ensuing years, PlayStudios has grown into a major social-gaming provider that went public in February to the tune of $1.1 billion. It now has more than 80 partners and 275 entertainment, retail, travel, leisure, and gaming brands that issue real-word rewards for game points. The PlayStudios community has used its loyalty points to purchase more than 10 million rewards with a retail value of $500 million.

PlayStudios was co-founded by Andrew Pascal, a name that might be familiar to serious Vegasphiles. His aunt is none other than Elaine Wynn. He started his career managing slots at the Golden Nugget in the 1980s, then became CEO of Silicon Gaming and WagerWorks. He returned to his roots by working as an executive at the Wynn from 2003 to 2010, before returning to the Bay Area to launch PlayStudios in 2011. 

Back to the question, in March, PlayStudios launched myVEGAS Bingo on social platforms and mobile apps. To celebrate and publicize the bingo launch, PlayStudios partnered with five local artists, each of whom has fashioned one of the giant bingo balls in a campaign called "Lucky Numbers."  

The larger-than-life 200-pound balls have been placed at highly trafficked locations: next to the M Life players club booth at Mandalay Bay; in front of the volcano at the Mirage; on the Brooklyn Bridge at New York-New York; and in the lobbies of Exaclibur and MGM Grand.