{"id":1104,"date":"2009-10-30T10:19:30","date_gmt":"2009-10-30T18:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=1104"},"modified":"2020-11-05T07:02:17","modified_gmt":"2020-11-05T15:02:17","slug":"case-bets-colsux-wynn-agassi-lake-lv-vega","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/case-bets-colsux-wynn-agassi-lake-lv-vega\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Bets: ColSux, Wynn, Agassi, Lake LV, ‘Vega$’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proverbial “flu-like symptoms” have me feeling light-headed and rather woozy (a delayed reaction to Wayne Newton<\/strong>?), for which the doctor prescribes a dosage of Case Bets …<\/p>\n

\"Amelia<\/p>\n

Another ColSux sale<\/strong>: Struggling hotelier Columbia Sussex<\/strong> has, for the not-inconsiderable sum of $106.5 million, quietly unloaded its Amelia Belle<\/em> riverboat. The buyer, Dubuque<\/strong>-based Peninsula Gaming<\/strong>, already owns a Louisiana<\/strong> racino and two Iowa<\/strong>-berthed riverboats. However, the Tri-Parish Times<\/em> article raises more questions than it answers. No owner other than ColSux is mentioned. Wasn’t Amelia Belle<\/em> supposed to have gone over to Tropicana Entertainment<\/strong> creditors? A wire service report attributes the sale<\/a> to Tropicana Casinos & Resorts<\/strong>, which suggests that TropEnt CEO Scott Butera<\/strong> is the one peddling off assets (and not vigorously shoring up the TropEnt empire, as he has repeatedly promised). And whatever became of plans to switch Amelia Belle<\/em> with TropEnt’s Belle of Baton Rouge<\/em>?<\/p>\n

The good news is Peninsula’s first move will be a vigorous makeover of the Belle<\/em>, which sounds as if it’s been suffering from the let-it-slide ColSux modus operandi<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Life’s good …<\/strong> if you’re Matt Maddox<\/strong>, CFO at Wynn Resorts<\/strong>, who pulled in just under $18 million<\/a> last year. Big ups to Hunter Hillegas<\/strong>, who spotted this item. Also, local food critic John Curtas<\/strong> revisits Encore<\/strong>‘s one inarguable flop, Switch<\/strong>, and finds it much improved<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Andre Agassi used drugs?<\/strong> Why I’m shocked, totally shocked<\/a>! (Not.) And since we’ve had an ex-stoner (George W. Bush<\/strong>) and a former cokehead (Barack Obama<\/strong>) in the White House, I fail to see how this should crimp Mr. Agassi’s political ambitions, nebulous though they are. Agassi for mayor? I could live with that. Many would prefer Agassi to lovable grouch Oscar Goodman<\/strong>, who’s been chillin’ in London<\/a> of late.<\/p>\n

In one of the more improbable<\/strong> marketing synergies, three Strip nightclubs (Tao<\/strong>, Tao Beach<\/strong>* and Lavo<\/a>) are offering VIP admission to guests of the Ritz-Carlton<\/strong> at Lake Las Vegas<\/strong> (aka<\/em> The Kingdom of Make Believe). “Private sedan transfers” will whisk you to and from the Strip if you spring for this $279\/night package. The arrangement suggests two things: The nightclub scene is belatedly starting to feel recessionary pain and it’s finally sinking into some Lake LV noggins that the insta-resort is simply too damn far — 17 miles, to be precise — from where the action is. People don’t come to Las Vegas<\/strong> to get away from Las Vegas, a fallacy that has dogged the Kingdom of Make Believe since its inception.<\/p>\n

* — WTF? It’s not exactly beach weather in Vegas during November, y’know.<\/p>\n

Inspired by VEGA$<\/strong>. The show’s DVD debut prompted this reader comment: The show’s opening images featured the old flamboyant neon Golden Nugget Gambling Hall<\/strong> marquee. I loved that sign! I can understand Wynn’s wanting to “tone up” the place with the understated elegance of the current white & gold facade, but I still miss the old flashy one.<\/em><\/p>\n

Which reminds me<\/strong> that I’ll be out of town for the Nov. 23 unveiling of Tilman Fertitta<\/strong>‘s new Rush Tower<\/strong> at the Nugget d’Or. Hopefully other Vegas-oriented bloggers will be there to chronicle the fun. I’ll admit to being skeptical of the “Strip views” that Fertitta is promising. Then again, if you wanted to see the Strip from your room, why would you stay anywhere north of the Stratosphere<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Way to go R-J<\/em>!<\/strong> The best Web site of the 13th century accompanies a gaming-expansion story<\/a> with a graphic that opens in a separate window that’s still too fucking small to read<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wal-Mart now selling coffins<\/strong>. Between that and diapers, they’ve really got you covered on everything you need between the cradle and the grave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Proverbial “flu-like symptoms” have me feeling light-headed and rather woozy (a delayed reaction to Wayne Newton?), for which the doctor prescribes a dosage of Case Bets … Another ColSux sale: Struggling hotelier Columbia Sussex has, for the not-inconsiderable sum of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,28,18,51,105,86,131,84,50,33,12,32,9,129,21,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1104"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28744,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions\/28744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}