On the one hand, I applaud The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for setting itself apart from the pack by centering much of its appeal upon leading-edge musical acts (like Adele and Florence + The Machine [twice!]). However, it makes Deutsche Bank‘s decision to cut corners by not building the once-planned showroom (above) look downright imbecilic — or at least self-defeating. “Chelsea Ballroom” may sound like some swanky club on paper but when you get there …
… you’re confronted with a long, standard-issue, shoebox-format convention space. A quasi-stage sits at one end and some tremor-prone bleachers — which put one uncomfortably close to the chandeliers — are at the other, with a long “moshing pit” (as anti-gambling nimrod Gary Bauer would call it) bridging the gap. Bottle-service areas have been busked into place along the flanks. Compared to both The Pearl and The Joint, the effect is very “wrong end of the telescope,” even with the obligatory video screens. Nor is it an acoustically treated space, so the sound is very hard (though not quite so bad as Continue reading
“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” — Mark Twain, greatest newspaperman in Nevada history, bar none. But he needn’t fear the 112th Congress, which has massively underachieved the notorious (
Every so often, when the economy fails to do their bidding, Wall Street analysts speak wistfully of “pent-up demand” among players. This unicorn-like phenomenon mostly romps in their collective imagination, although occasionally a gaming CEO or two falls into the trap of parroting such nonsense. So, do you wonder why — with all that demand just pent up and seemingly with no good reason for not manifesting itself — why Nevada‘s economic recovery has lagged expectations or why casinos in the Upper Midwest are in the doldrums? At Raving Consulting‘s recent Casino Marketing Conference, three resarchers — Glenn Goulet, Sue Johnson and Michael Meczka — each from a different firm, laid their collected wisdom on the audience. In a larger sense, it reflects the challenges facing America itself. But let’s stick to what Wall Street and the casino industry don’t want to hear. Since the magic year 2007, that apex of fiscal self-hypnosis, the metrics compiled by Johnson, Meczka and Goulet are as follows …
OK, let’s take a deep breath and remind ourselves that 
“You force me to talk about it. This should be a secret strategy to protect the nation.” — Cambodian despot, er, Prime Minister Hun Sen, huffily responding to opposition members of parliament who dared to question him (what sauce!) during a five-hour harangue on his defense policy. Which is … to secure Cambodia‘s border from Vietnamese incursion by building a barrier of casinos. Reasons Hun Sen, “One can remove border markers, but one can’t remove five-story hotels.” Damn! Why didn’t we think of this instead of erecting border fences to ward off invasion from Mexico and longtime archenemy Canada? Think of all the private-sector jobs it would create! Can you say, “Shovel ready”? (I thought you could.)
I always hate doing Nevada gaming numbers because A) it’s redundant with the coverage in the local dailies and B) almost every month you have to trot out the caveat that — as was the case in June — the month went out on a weekend, meaning that there’s unreported slot drop that won’t show up for another 30 days. So it’s a rare month when you’re not having to deal with some form of skewed revenue reportage. Ergo, when you hear that June manifested a 6% drop, partly due to low slot hold, how much credence can you put in that statistic? Carlo Santarelli of Deutsche Bank 
were flat, however, despite 8% less money dropped. Even a lower slot hold (93%) couldn’t stave off slight declines in handle (-2%) and winnings (-8%). Where accounting quirks may really be creating mischief is in the seesawing, schizoid numbers coming from the locals and drive-in (more like “drive-by”) markets, although Mesquite 
“A swift letter from [Sheldon] Adelson‘s lawyers produced an apology, and the removal of the offending [Democratic Congressional Committee] blogs. That made Adelson happy, according to a spokesman, who added, ‘More broadly, this should serve notice to those who would attempt to smear Mr. Adelson by repeating the false and inflammatory statements of a fired employee – that is a very slippery slope.’
You’ll have to pardon me today if I enjoy a victory lap, having beaten the dailies to the announcement of Surf The Musical‘s demise by a good 97 minutes.* (Suck that, Thomas F. Mitchell!) However, if you set store by the fable of the tortoise and the hare, pay heed to John Katsilometes‘ autopsy of the $10 million dud. Kats says the show is closing Aug. 15 but Planet Hollywood is sticking with Aug. 19. (Ticketmaster hasn’t gotten the memo, still selling Surf tickets through Nov. 4) He also writes that the concert-in-drag received “reviews that ranged from tepid [that’d be the R-J‘s Carol Cling] to poisonous.” (
It’s all over for 
Since Garth Brooks has been a money-spinner for Wynncore, rival Venelazzo is seeing Steve Wynn one Tim McGraw and raising him one Faith Hill. So there! Sheldon Adelson was (understandably) absent from today’s big announcement, which was the worst-kept secret in town. (Sheldon’s current prominence in national headlines would have upstaged the event.) Let’s face it, Hill is the draw and McGraw is mostly along from the ride, despite the face-saving “Tim McGraw & Faith Hill” billing. “
… as in the Las Vegas Advisor weekly poll. Tomorrow’s promises to be a real doozy. The question is, What was the worst show in recent Strip and Downtown history? The dog kennel hasn’t been completely filled but I can share with you some of the nicknames our hard-working research department has coined for some of the great stinkers of Sin City: Pammy and the Klok … Steve Wyrick, Master of the Anticlimax … Melinda “Oh shit, what’s the car still doing here?” Saxe (aka Melinda, Worst Lady of Magic) … Triumph: It Ran out of Steam … Wayne Newton: 
CEO Andy Choy‘s makeover of the Riviera may be slowed by skepticism in the bond market but it keeps moving ahead. My Desert Companion profile of the Strip dowager 
Our favorite welfare queen, Xpress West (née Desert Xpress) isn’t letting its plans be constrained by anything so mundane as reality. 
“There is no human problem which could not be solved if people simply do as I advise.” — Gore Vidal (1925-2012), novelist, historian, polemicist and provocateur par excellence.
No, not in some phony-baloney Chamber of Commerce way. I mean, there could be some good wagering to be had on behalf of Nevada were its sports books were to petition for the right (which is theirs, in principle, according to Anthony Curtis) to take wagers on the presidential election. S&G reader Greg Askins, who regularly challenges my preconceptions — a healthy exercise, which I recommend — was passing along some recent polling data.