The soon-to-be-ex Hard Rock Hotel is taking an enormous gamble. Instead of trying to operate during the rebranding-and-renovation phase from which it will emerge as Virgin Las Vegas, it is going to close down completely. You read that right. The shutdown will begin in February of next year and will last 
until at least October 2020, possibly until the following January. That spares customers from having to stay in a construction site, as the hotel is rethemed in stages (the original plan) but it seems hella risky to have a prize asset sitting there as a passive pile of concrete, generating no cash flow for eight to 11 months. One can take consolation in the fact that when the resort reopens as the Virgin, it will indeed be unsullied and fresh to the market, with the cachet that comes with the debut of a megaresort.
* According to the grapevine, Wynn Resorts may be considering going private. In view of the stock price ($105.55 and climbing), Wynn would have to take on a tankerful of debt and this is hardly the time for that, what with everybody up to and including Donald Trump talking, writing and tweeting 
about the danger of inverted yield curves, the Wall Street fixation of the moment. Another scenario would have Genting Group buy Wynn, mainly for its Macao assets but also for Wynncore, which Genting aped so assiduously in the design process that it got sued. (Wynn and Genting settled.) Of course, if a recession blows up, Genting could get rolled on its beam ends. It would solve for Genting the problem of getting into Macao but could also be a monkey-see/monkey-do response to the Caesars Entertainment buyout.
* Rumor has it that Lori Lightfoot‘s Chicago casino may be dead. The problem is a tax rate set at 72% (not 66% as previously reported), leaving precious little room for profitability. Mayor Lightfoot’s decision to plunk the casino in one of five slums can’t be helping either. What if they gave a casino and no one came? Chicago may be about to answer that question.
* Watch out, MGM Resorts International: The $110K flair-bartending Makr Shakr is going to make your mechanical bartenders look obsolete. But not for a while yet. Only 70-80 Makr Shakrs can be manufactured per year and I’d imagine the demand will be high. However, once it gets up to speed it will be able to make coffee, too, as well as hamburgers and frittatas. Better put in your order now, Jim Murren.
* KTNV News reports that Nevada has the most expensive speeding tickets in the country. If so it’s not changing Las Vegas drivers’ habits for the better.
