This week Anthony and Andrew talk about the Tropicana implosion, reduced taxes on football betting, powerful (free) gambling articles, and more.
LAS VEGAS ADVISOR WEEKLY UPDATE – EP 149
Boyd to the rescue; A.C.’s dog days
That credibility-challenged, glacially paced casino project in Norfolk suddenly has 100% more viability. This morning it was announced that Boyd Gaming was stepping in to save the Pamunkey Tribe‘s bacon. After five years of rearranging the deck chairs, the Pamunkey are no closer to breaking ground on their Virginia pleasure palace—until today. True, the city council could still queer the pitch, but what are the chances it would balk at a deal that finally gets the casino built after so much tribal hemming and hawing. As Mayor Kenny Alexander said, “Bringing in Boyd—someone with the ability and the wherewithal and experience and more importantly the financial strength to build a world-class casino resort hotel—is exactly what we need.” True that.
Continue reading Boyd to the rescue; A.C.’s dog daysEnd of an Era
Bonnie and I regularly fly to Reno to play at Eldorado — which, along with Silver Legacy and Circus Circus, are called the ROW. While the casinos physically remain separate, they are connected on the second level by walkways passing over the streets that run between the casinos. All three ROW casinos run the same promotions, use the same slot tickets, are considered “one place,” and are part of the Caesars Rewards system.
The game we’ve been playing at Eldorado has been $10 Triple Bonus Poker Plus (TBPP). Although this game has cleaned my clock in 2024, I hit three royals in 45 days in 2023, and overall, my score has been reasonably close to expectations. The game has a variance very similar to Double Double Bonus, and as players of that game know, that game leads to heaven or hell results. Within the past year, they also removed $1 and $5 Super Aces Bonus (SAB) poker, which has a slightly higher return and a much higher variance than TBPP.
Without going into great detail about their promotions, suffice it to say that Bonnie and I regularly got on an airplane from Las Vegas to go play there.
Although the next loosest game is NSU Deuces Wild, I don’t believe the casino removed SAB and TBPP in order to have a tighter floor. They removed the games because those particular games were only found on decades-old IGT machines. The casino decided, correctly, I believe, that they needed to upgrade their floor with newer machines. For whatever reason, IGT has decided not to have those particular pay schedules on their newer machines.
Under the video poker management at IGT, many high paying video poker games have been removed from their inventory. And when new games are created, IGT has, at times, refused to release them with pay schedules looser than 99%. At more than one Global Gaming Expo trade show, the manager of IGT video poker told me he believes that very few, if any, slot directors mind that the games are tighter now. I’ve responded to him, fruitlessly, that some casinos choose to offer loose games some of the time. IGT’s refusal to supply those games is a slap in the face to players. I’m sure he at least listened to me, but then decided not to do as I requested.
So the loosest high limit Eldorado machines are a bit tighter than they used to be. This doesn’t affect many people, but it does affect Bonnie and me. However, we’ll still go and play there. While not as good as it used to be, that casino still offers a good enough “game plus promotions” combination for us to get on an airplane to go play it.
Comparing a game to what used to be and isn’t coming back is a fool’s game. You need to compare a game to games currently found elsewhere. And by that criterion, Reno here we come!
LAS VEGAS ADVISOR INTERVIEW – BRADY KANNON
This week Anthony and Andrew talk with Brady Kannon about football contests, using a proxy service, golf, and more.
Strip catches July chill, locals hot
Catastrophic baccarat results (-66.5%) put Las Vegas Strip gambling revenues on ice last month. Although $727.5 million was wagered on the volatile game, casinos won only $64 million. That’s a measly 9% hold and a big comedown from the $190 million won in July 2023. Baccarat is the house’s Achilles heel and July 2024 was an example of how big swings at the tables can help ruin a quarter. Overall, Strip casinos took home $709 million last month, a 15% plunge year/year. Other table games were actually decent, up a point at $226.5 million despite 14% less wagering. Slot machines were a wash at $419 million, but coin-in was down 4%.
Continue reading Strip catches July chill, locals hotBuffet Update – September 2024
Bellagio – The Buffet at Bellagio: After this weekend Bellagio is removing their dinner buffet until further notice.
Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: This week’s buffet schedule is: Weekend Brunch is Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. for $24.95. Weekend Dinner is Friday-Sunday, 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m. for $27.
Emmitt’s Vegas
Emmitt’s is named for its founder and major partner Emmitt Smith, the National Football League’s all-time leading rusher and touchdown scorer. This restaurant was a long time coming to the Fashion Show Mall. But it finally arrived in March and ever-curious, we stopped off during “social hour” (4-6 p.m. daily) to see what it’s all about.
The main challenge is finding the place. It’s at, but not in, the Fashion Show and no signs direct you there. Located in the very front of the mall, it borders the Strip sidewalk and you have to go outside to access it. (Follow the signs to Abercrombie and Fitch; from there, follow signs to Plaza/Las Vegas Blvd., then go out the door and down the stairs. The Blue parking lot in the garage underneath is closest.)
The restaurant seats 105, with a private back room for 36 and 10 tables on the front patio. Everything revolves around the central 22-seat bar and the nearby wine fridge holds 1,000 bottles. The menu is described as “new American classics with traditional steakhouse offerings and sushi,” but it seemed to us that sushi dominates the actual menu, which is different than the virtual one online, indicating more of a steakhouse. Also, lunch was announced and offered for a while, but discontinued. Social hour is advertised as 3-6, but Emmitt’s doesn’t open till 4.
And though the reviews are uniformly laudatory, when we were there on a Wednesday evening from 5:30 to 6:30, the place was empty, except for us and three other people at the bar.
We weren’t there for dinner, which is as expensive as you’d expect from a restaurant right on the Strip, just the social hour, during which the choices are a burger and fries ($11), hanger steak and fries, and a tuna and California roll with edamame ($22); seven draft beers, including Heineken, are $4 each and wine by the glass is half-price.
We tried the burger and were allowed to substitute a Caesar salad for the fries. Gracious, especially for a happy hour. The big fat patty, cooked to perfection, comes with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and caramelized onion on a toasted brioche bun — an excellent advertisement for the food at Emmitt’s and a great deal on its own. That, the salad, and the Heineken came to all of $17.34 with tax and we walked away satisfied and impressed.
Though the scene at Emmitt’s is somewhat sparse (a number of online reviews comment on the lack of patrons) and the changing menu and hours are a bit mystifying, when this place settles down and grows into itself, it should do well —if it lasts that long. While it’s there, the social hour is definitely worth doing.
Don’t Count It Twice!
At least two casinos in the Caesars system (in Cherokee, NC and Danville, VA — possibly others) offer next day bounce back for your slot and video poker play. I have not been to Danville, but I can describe the promotion in Cherokee.
Video poker players receive 0.75% next day bounce back while slot players receive double that. At least some “unprofitable” players receive a smaller percentage. To make it work for the casino, mailers and other offers have been reduced. Still, some of the mailer offers (spa credit, for example) are useless to some players, while “extra” free play is welcomed by all. If you want to go to the spa and no longer get as much spa credit, use the money derived from the next day free play and use it at the spa.
You earn your free play from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m., and it’s put on your card at noon. It’s good for 90 days. There are a few other “fine points” to the promotion, so if you go to one of these casinos, make sure you read the rules.
There’s always the question of when do you count this extra free play? Do you count it when you earn it or when you redeem it? While either methodology is defensible, personally, I count it when I redeem.
What I mean is I do most of my play there on $5 deuces wild. At the outset of my trip, I take a marker and get a supply of $2,500 TITO tickets. My score generally goes up and down, mostly down, until I hit four deuces ($5,000) or a royal ($20,000) when I get paid in tickets.
As I play, I put in these tickets and keep track of how many. Sometime after noon, I download the free play I’ve earned, but I don’t record that as money inserted. At the end of the day, I record my net win or loss. If I had $500 in free play (meaning I played about $67,000 coin-in the previous day), that money will end up as increasing my win or reducing my loss for the day. And, legally, this free play is as taxable as the results from playing the game.
The machines I play on are $1, $2, and $5 denominations, where the return on the game is highest on the $5 games. While I was playing a $5 game one day, I was next to a player playing $1 7-5 Bonus Poker. I heard him recount his score to his wife.
He said, “I started with $1,000 of my own money, and had $50 in free play from yesterday’s play which I downloaded. I earned 1,000 Tier Credits ($10,000 coin-in), so I’ll get another $75 tomorrow. Since I cashed out for $950, I really made $25 today. Let’s celebrate at the bar!”
This player was counting his free play twice in his mind. He counted yesterday’s $50 in free play and today’s $75 in the same session. Tomorrow, he’ll count today’s $75 again. It’s a mind game. The thing is, he only gets the $75 once.
Relatively few of you will play at these particular casinos, but this same principle happens at other casinos as well. In August, South Point is offering free spins Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, where you will earn free play up to $100, for playing $500 in slots or $1,500 in video poker.
The day I’m writing this, playing on both Bonnie’s and my card, I earned a total of $140 in free play that’s redeemable until the end of the month. I could redeem it immediately, but there’s no need. I’ll be back in two days to play the promotion again and use the $140 as “ammunition” for my play next time. My results of that will then be recorded.
As of today, I don’t know the exact ending date for redeeming this promo. I’ll earn some free play on August 30, and am not planning on playing again until Tuesday, September 3, which is usually when my regular Tuesday-Thursday free play will be available (Sometimes there’s a different pickup schedule but I won’t know that until I receive the September mailer.) I’ll check the rules before then to see if the free play from the August spins will still be on my card when I pick up my first September free play. If the free play will still be there then, I’ll wait. If not, I’ll redeem it on August 30.
Another local casino in Vegas (Four Queens/Binion’s, which use the same card) gives you $160 for earning 1,200 points during the month. They regularly have variations of this promotion where you earn some amount of free play, comps, and/or gifts of some sort. I count the money when I redeem it.
Taxes aside, even if you’re playing recreationally, it’s good to know how you are doing. Fooling yourself into thinking you’re winning more (or losing less) by counting this kind of promotion twice gives you an erroneous picture of the profit or cost of your gambling.
At the same time, this is a clever way for a casino to run a promotion. Even when the rules of the promotion are perfectly clear, this makes it easy for players to think they’re getting more than they actually are.
Get lost, Genting
Better late than never, Nevada Gaming Control Board. The watchdog group is making up for lost time with regard to renegade casino Resorts World Las Vegas. Earlier this month is slammed Resorts World and parent Genting Group with a 31-page complaint for having “failed to fulfill its responsibilities as the holder of a privileged Nevada gaming license.” Genting, in turn, had been taking a see-no-evil stance towards its Las Vegas offspring, claiming that it acts entirely of its own volition. We’ll see now if that attitude washes.
Continue reading Get lost, GentingNathan Burton Comedy Magic
Nathan Burton Comedy Magic has been around the Vegas block a time or two. Burton’s show first opened at the Aladdin in 2006, then moved to the Flamingo in 2008 (we reviewed it in the July 2008 LVA) and the Saxe Theater at the Miracle Mile Shops in 2012. Last year, Burton landed at a new theater in the Flyover motion-simulator building on the south Strip across from Park MGM and we finally satisfied our curiosity about the new venue and old show.
The Nathan Burton Theater is literally two steps in from the south Strip sidewalk. Crowd control at the entrance to the theater is rough; stanchions define two short lines for 30 people, while 175 are waiting to get into this popular afternoon performance. The other interesting thing is that the ushers are all dolled-up in Vegas showgirl costumes; as soon as the performance starts, you realize they also are the showgirls!
The theater is 5,000 square feet and seats 189, with four TV size video screens in the audience and a 30- by 18-foot video wall at the back of the stage.
In our review 16 years ago, we wrote, “Burton’s show is mostly small-box magic, displaying a lot of the bits you’ve probably seen before. Consequently, our first impression was ‘nothing special.’
Well, it’s still mostly box illusions, maybe a dozen of those in all, plus some mind-reading, a levitation, and tricks involving a transparent straight jacket, audience cell phones, playing and bingo cards, confetti, a couple of fast switcheroos, and an audience member’s drink in a bag disappearing (beer bottle in our show).
The invisible-deck-of-cards segment is cute and the bingo bit is very funny — we’ve never saw an audience go so crazy and we were watching closely, having spotted this outcome from a mile away. The other cool routine involved mind-reading a six-year-old.
Overall, however, the comedy can’t compare to Mac King (now at Excalibur) or even Adam London (in his very small show at the Orleans), but the nonstop onslaught of tricks has a madcap feel to them and don’t blink or you’ll miss one or two. We can say that Nathan Burton works up a righteous sweat. This is definitely a family-friendly show (70 minutes) and there were lots of kids in the nearly sold-out crowd on a Tuesday afternoon.
We opted for the second least expensive section and sat in Row K, right in the middle of the room. Those seats were fine, though the base price of $28 quickly rose to $45.51 with a $7.56 service fee and $9.95 processing fee. The cheapest seats in the back might be a bit far away. Show your ticket at the Flyover box office and get a 30% discount to that attraction.