Bonafide rescue may be in sight for the acreage upon which the Moulin Rouge once stood. Dotty’s may use some of its considerable cash flow to buy up the land and the Las Vegas City Council is sufficiently eager to see something done 
that it may waive almost $2 million in fines appended to the site. A $4 million judgment against the city for not approving a Dotty’s license may also be settled amicably in the interest of making a deal happen. This is not the first time that Dotty’s parent, Nevada Restaurant Services, has kicked the tires on the Moulin Rouge site—and let’s hope that Station Casinos CEO Frank Fertitta III doesn’t try to gum up the works, as he always seems to do when Dotty’s is involved with something.
It only took 24 hours for a quartet of arrests to be made at Encore Boston Harbor. One trespasser pushed his luck and was clapped in irons when he returned to the property, another engaged in disorderly conduct (in a casino? Heaven forfend!), while two others are charged with cheating at roulette. Keeping minors off the casino floor was also a problem. On the brighter side, five thousand people queued up to have a look at the new place and foot traffic was described as ‘steady.’
* Hard Rock International is coming off a banner year, having branded 11 hotels and casinos in the U.S. and overseas. And get used to the guitar-shaped 
hotel tower at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood: The tribally owned company plans to make it a significant feature of projects going forward. So far Hard Rock has been aced out of the Las Vegas market, but with Caesars Entertainment expected to downsize dramatically that could easily change. Where else better to showcase Hard Rock’s newest hotel brand, Reverb? Hard Rock has 60 of them in the pipeline, starting in Atlanta and Sonoma. That’s not to downplay Hard Rock itself, arguably the most potent brand name in gaming.
* We’ve heard a lot of vague talk about video-reality installations at Las Vegas casinos but Variety gets into specifics. It seems you’re no longer a resort worth your salt if you don’t offer VR to your guests. Admittedly, VR has a lot to compete with for the tourists’ Sin City dollar. As Variety asks, “do you really need VR when the reality around you is already as over-the-top as Vegas?” Nomadic CEO Doug Griffin replies, “There’s a lot of opportunity for fun in Vegas, but much of it is aimed at adults.” Las Vegas: It’s not just for grownups anymore.
Speaking of catering to the young, Tony Hsieh may have dialed back plans to turn the old Western casino into an e-sports venue but Big Gaming is not 
being so bashful. Luxor is now home to the HyperX Esports Arena, which not only hosts tournaments but offers gaming stations where you can quietly play your favorite PC-based gaming for an hourly rental. MGM Resorts International even has a dedicated e-sports department, headed by Lovell Walker, who says he “would love to see Vegas be somewhat of a Disneyland for e-sports.” The flow-through from the Luxor arena to the casino floor is estimated at 700 souls daily on average and 1,500 on a good day. If MGM is the first Strip mover in this space, its rivals might want to think about playing catch-up.
* A Missouri prosecutor is seeking to crackdown on gray-market video poker machines. Their defenders say it’s not really gambling because the outcome of the games are predetermined. (In other words, they’re rigged. Not much of a defense.) The Missouri Lottery is a not-disinterested observer, as it would like to supplant the dodgy machines with its own VLTs and let the good times roll. Others in the Missouri Lege would simply like to see the gray market stamped out once and for all. The courts get to decide the issue in December.
* Worse things could have happened to Big Papi than being shot in a Dominican Republic bar. He could have been a guest at Hard Rock Punta Cana.
I think the Hard Rock brand would play well on the strip; most notably if they scooped up Planet Hollywood.