It was back to business today at Mandalay Bay after a ruptured water main inundated the convention center. At first, a leak in Shark Reef Aquarium was feared before the actual breach, 
between the first and second floors, was isolated. Damage was mostly confined to the first-floor ceiling — and to Mandalay Bay’s reputation, which has taken a PR beating in the past year. Members of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, meeting at Mandalay Bay, may have gotten their feet wet but their convention is proceeding as scheduled.
“There were no injuries or disruption to overall operations. The Convention Center is proceeding with its normal events and operations schedule Wednesday,” MGM spokesman Brian Ahern told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Speedy damage containment will presumably mollify any conventioneers — the lifeblood of MGM Resorts International — who might have been tempted to rethink any plans to meet at an MGM property. Kudos to the lion for getting things to speedily under control.
* Five gay bashers are back on the streets after being arrested over an attack on a Hard Rock Hotel patron. Worse yet, the quintet were not the only ones involved in the assault, which at least resulted in no grievous bodily injuries. The assailants surrounded a gay man 
and his family, slurred them, then escalated to physical violence. I’m going to refrain from speculating on what emboldened them to behave with caveman savagery and merely note that it’s another black eye for the Hard Rock’s Rehab parties. In an unrelated incident, police got the jitters over a parked car near Suncoast, butting the casino on lockdown and evacuating Tivoli Village restaurants. It proved to be much ado about nothing but security concerns are undoubtedly heightened because Donald Trump will be addressing the Nevada Republican Party at Suncoast this weekend.
* In a more-playful spirit the WNBA Las Vegas Aces, coached by Bill Laimbeer, “signed free agent center Lady Liberty to an
honorary contract.” The iconic Statue of Liberty replica at New York-New York was fitted out in an oversized Aces jersey. Said some inspired MGM wag, “Liberty, 18, is certainly a wild card on the hardwood, as scouts have noted her statuesque presence and determined athleticism. As the tallest player in the WNBA at 150 feet, Liberty’s immense wing span presents a major opportunity for the Aces to be a formidable force for decades to come.” We look forward to seeing her on the court.
* What the Phu Quoc? Casinos sure make strange bedfellows. Superhawk Sheldon Adelson is sniffing out prospects in Vietnam (as is Hard Rock International). “We’re not 
necessarily in love with the conditions or the three-year test period,” Adelson told Wall Street, since he would be required to invest $2 billion and might have as few as three years to recoup it — a tall order — as the Vietnamese government experiments with locals play. Adelson practically has a divining rod for finding money, so when he hesitates at Vietnam it has to be taken seriously.
* Ashley Oswald was honoring her late father’s annual Father’s Day practice of patronizing Gila River Hotels & Casinos – Vee Quiva, near Phoenix. Dad must have been putting some mojo on the slots from the Great Beyond: Oswald won $1,090,948.51 on a Wheel of Fortune machine (with which casinos have a love/hate relationship). CEO Kenneth Manuel took the loss with good grace, saying of the North Dakotan, “We couldn’t be happier for Ashley. This is most definitely the trip of a lifetime.”
