No sooner was the S&G software restored to working order than Yr. Humble Blogger was laid low by either A) too much indulgence in Harrah’s Entertainment‘s “Buffet of Buffets” or B) my worst fibromyalgia attack in years. Given Vegas’ recent bouts of Jekyll-and-Hyde weather — balmy one day, blustery the next — I suspect it was “B.” I did manage to crawl out of bed long enough to try and help a family member extract something resembling customer service from the Lost & Found department of Paris-Las Vegas, to no avail. (We’ve received better treatment from Hilton Hotels and Best Western, fer crissakes.)
Anyway, I see that a hefty pile of unread articles awaits me — to say nothing of news that transpired while S&G was still on the fritz. This includes the disclosure that Steve Wynn is still Continue reading
“What, perhaps you ask, is ‘Gossiness’? Well, nobody exactly knows, except that it is very likely in coming years to be an Urban Dictionary entry synonymous with an act that thinks it can burst on the Vegas scene and expect everyone to revere its awesomeness before it’s actually even bothered to prove its awesomeness.” — Steve Friess, on the attempt to turn a British pop also-ran into an instant Vegas icon (unless you define “Rat Pack” as Justin, Lance and Joey [Fatone, that is]).
If we (you, me, everybody) had a dollar for ever time we heard a rumor that Harrah’s Entertainment was putting The Rio on the block, we could pool enough moolah to amortize CEO Gary Loveman‘s recent $100,000 pay cut. Our collection plate just got a buck richer today.
“Guuuuuuuuuuuuyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!?!?!?!?” — friend’s shocked reaction to being vouchsafed the information that elfin Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté was a former lover of forever-in-the-news (
All of cyberspace has been agog with Archon Corp. Treasurer Sue Lowden‘s 
“It’s retribution, and it’s an incredibly bad business decision because there is so much brand equity wrapped up in that Mirage name. Kirk Kerkorian would not have bought those resorts were it not for all the value and mystique that Steve Wynn created.”– Yr. Humble Blogger, ripping the proposed re-flagging of MGM Mirage as “MGM Resorts International.” Please forgive the self-quotation: This decision by MGM is 
This haunting visage belongs to Chuck, a Russian Blue who was reader Detroit1051‘s faithful friend for over 14 years. He’s been gone from this earth a couple of years now but lives on in Detroit’s heart and as his Twitter icon. For those of you who were wondering about the cute cat accompanying Detroit’s tweets or who wanted a closer look, here he is. (S&G is not biased against dogs, however; video footage of readers’ canine companions has been posted here in the past. One of our upcoming “Face(s) of the Week is LVA‘s guard iguana, Mojo, a true character.)
“This is new CEO Anthony Sanfilippo’s first major (at least public) decision and one that, in our opinion, shows strong and rational capital allocation decision-making.” — J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, lauding Pinnacle Entertainment‘s decision to scuttle its Sugarcane Bay project in Lake Charles, Louisiana and surrender the casino license thereto.
When executives of Harrah’s Entertainment credit “hard-nosed” negotiating tactics for their success is reducing the company’s preposterous debt level, one suspects that threats of default and bankruptcy serve as the rhetorical equivalents of the rubber hose and brass knuckles. It’s certainly worked like a charm. Commercial-mortgage holders are taking 25-30 cents on the dollar and liking it. (“You can get a quarter or you can take your chances in Chapter 11” would constitute a pretty compelling argument, I imagine.) Well, they may not be liking it but they’re taking it.
It was the best of times … almost. Pinnacle Entertainment‘s opening of River City not only propelled a 9% increase in casino revenue in the St. Louis market, it gave the area “
Long-suffering Atlantic City is going to stuck with one of the heaviest albatrosses around its neck — Donald J. Trump — for the foreseeable future. Das Donald’s $225 million cash offer for what’s left of Trump Entertainment Resorts 
Through Sunday, Luxor is celebrating — if that’s the word — the 98th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. For instance, tonight you can swap your exhibit ticket for a free drink or appetizer at (
Analysts at J.P. Morgan are downright bullish on Las Vegas Sands, raising their stock price target by over 25% (to $29/share). Their ebullience is motivated in large part by expectations for Marina Bay Sands, which they estimate will garner 55% of the Singapore casino market, along with cash flow of $904 million (up from $751 million) and $1.9 billion in revenue by 2012. They also predict the $6 billion megaresort will generate “solid out of the box returns and quickly de-lever.”