Vegas casinos can reopen, sorta; Hard Rock returns

Want to go back to a Las Vegas casino? Now you can. In a well-meant directive that seems to be sowing a certain amount of confusion, the Nevada Gaming Control Board stated that during the current Phase I, casinos could reopen their restaurants—provided they leap several hurdles. One of the most difficult will be to provide access to the eateries without customers setting foot on the (closed) gaming floor. This holds true for restrooms as well. After all, it is a shibboleth amongst the industry that you must frog-march your patrons across the casino floor to get to anything. We foresee a lot of stanchions and caution tape going up. It’s nice of Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) to try and throw some F&B revenue the casinos’ way but, judging from one online discussion, there’s a lot of head-scratching as to how this is going to be implemented.

* Unfortunate Rampart Casino employees received the following robocall from General Manager Michelle Bacigalupi: “We’ve made the very difficult decision to terminate your employment. We’ve tried to retain our entire team. However, with the continued uncertainties, we are no longer able to do so.” That’s cold. “As we look to the immediate future, and the reopening of the company operations, we expect business demand to be significantly decreased for the foreseeable future,” Bacigalupi continues. The mass sacking is effective today and we have to say this is the most cowardly way we’ve seen any casino’s employees treated since the pandemic began. Shameful. Don’t ask us for a job reference, Ms. Bacigalupi.

* The Hard Rock Hotel is dead, long live the Hard Rock. This week Hard Rock International (not to be confused with the former owners of the HRH, Juniper Capital) has bought “exclusive full rights to memorabilia, signage, and merchandise, along with intellectual property rights for affiliated restaurant and entertainment trademarks and website domain names” in Las Vegas. This doesn’t mean that Virgin Hotel is on the way out, simply that HRI can develop a Hard Rock-branded casino anywhere in Clark County. The timing is propitious, too, as it’s entering a buyer’s market. Caesars Entertainment has long since signaled it wants to sell at least one Strip property—and Planet Hollywood would be right in Hard Rock’s wheelhouse—and the Tropicana Las Vegas is in play, as is The Cosmopolitan. Heck, even MGM Growth Properties might decide to lower its exposure to the Las Vegas Strip. Then again there’s the on-again/off-again Drew and perpetually troubled Sahara. And yes, HRI gets the giant neon guitar as part of the deal.

* Online-ticket sales have been the salvation of the Georgia Lottery in the time of Coronavirus and other states may follow suit. For instance, Oregon has seen retail lottery sales plunge 70%. Similar concerns could prompt the Massachusetts lottery to go online. Maryland Lottery Director Gordon Medenica is prophesying a “sea change for the lottery industry.” As Oregon State Lottery Director Barry Pack recently testified, “The recovery from this pandemic is going to force a digital transformation in our industry a whole lot more quickly than we might normally have seen it come. When the legislature reconvenes next week, they’re facing a billion-dollar shortfall. Their opinions about mobile gaming will change. I think there will be less resistance.” Let’s hope so.

Jottings: Vegas institution The Peppermill is reopening May 22. The Las Vegas Strip just isn’t the same without it … Other restaurants will be permitted to put tables on the sidewalks during Phases I and II … Gig workers in Nevada will finally be able to apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, starting Saturday. It’s about time … Everett, home of Encore Boston Harbor is also the bailiwick of Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D), who yesterday sent out an e-mail about impoverished “folx.” Seriously? “Folx”? Value-neutral language is getting downright silly … The recent death of Roy Horn is not slowing the production of a Siegfried & Roy biopic. Director/writer Michael Bully Herbig is finishing the script, which has been in development for two years.