When I read that two patrons at Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen had been injured, I assumed that the profane restaurateur had gone 
postal on a couple of his customers. Not so. However, if you’ve not partaken of the Rum Donkey, you’re out of luck. It’s off the menu. The beverage is described as “a flaming tiki-style cocktail … with ingredients such as Cruzan Single Barrel Rum, falernum, brown sugar, ginger beer and torched passion fruit.” Except in this case it was the diners who got torched. We wonder what our alter-ego, Eeyore, would have to say about this. Nothing good, that’s for sure.
* Add the Downtown Grand to the roster of casinos that have come to terms with Culinary Union. As usual, terms are undisclosed, with the Culinary merely saying it was “the 
strongest economic package ever negotiated with the highest wage increases and healthcare and pension benefits for workers.” Meanwhile, the Culinary continues to have issues with Derek Stevens, scheduling “informational picketing” for The D and Golden Gate last weekend. (Margaritaville is also hanging tough.)
* Hard Rock Atlantic City and Ocean Resort continue to be the rising tide that lifts all boats. Each is staging a boxing match this month (MGM Resorts International must be green with envy). The Hard Rock has Sergei Kovalev (32-2-1, 28 KOs) vs. Eleider Alvarez (23-0, 11 KOs) in the Battle of the, uh, Mostly Unbeaten Light Heavyweights. Ocean Resort follows with 
heavyweights Bryant Jennings (23-2, 13 KOs) duking it out with Alexander Dimitrenko (41-3, 26 KOs). The two casinos are understandably happy to be the ones bringing high-profile cards back to the Boardwalk. Said New Jersey Athletic Control Board Commissioner Larry Hazzard, “A big fight brings a level of excitement you don’t get from other sports. It attracts people who may not even go to the fight but will go to the weigh-in, eat in the restaurants, stay in the hotel, gamble in the casino. Boxing has that drawing power, and now they have people who know that.”
* Despite the decimation of the number of poker rooms in Nevada, the game shows no sign of faltering. In June it raked in a near-record $17.5 million, just shy of June 2007’s $17.7 million. Mind you, some of this year’s revenue is online poker, so it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.
* Global Gaming Business has a good rundown on the status of the ongoing marriage between e-sports and casinos. It looks like the only unhappy campers are going to be Aria poker players, who will have to share space with pimply faced kids.
