{"id":18156,"date":"2016-04-22T10:57:47","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T18:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18156"},"modified":"2016-04-22T11:11:41","modified_gmt":"2016-04-22T19:11:41","slug":"straubs-better-mousetrap-sparks-nugget-in-the-clear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/straubs-better-mousetrap-sparks-nugget-in-the-clear\/","title":{"rendered":"Straub’s better mousetrap; Sparks Nugget in the clear"},"content":{"rendered":"

By now it is something of an understatement to say that Revel<\/strong> owner Glenn Straub<\/strong> thinks outside the box. Or, as the Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em> put it, his “plans for the massive property have veered erratically from mud slides to academic think tanks or refugee \"Revel_0966\"camps.” However, he’s found one idea that he’s not only sticking to but has already begun putting into motion: the installation of a ropes course in the former valet-parking area. Later, sand will be trucked in to create a Nikki Beach<\/strong>-like lounging space. The vehicular entrance to Revel will become subterranean. What Straub may not be able to pull off, at least not yet, is reopening the megaresort’s restaurants. He needs to have an operational casino to get a liquor license, so he’s caught between a rock and a hard place<\/a>. Do you reopen the casino now and hope the eateries will follow or do you start with the restaurants on the presumption that they can hang in there until the casino returns?<\/p>\n

Although Straub has threatened to evict the old Revel restaurant and nightclub tenants, they appear to be bent on staying put and have left much of their equipment on site. Really, if Straub intends to Revel semi-operational by summer, it makes more sense to reach peace with the current leaseholders rather than go shopping around for new ones. Also needed is a casino-management company and it’s not clear if Straub has made any progress on that front. Elsewhere on the Boardwalk, the site of the old Sands<\/strong>, once a failed Pinnacle Entertainment<\/strong> project, is looking like the future sight of the Polarcoaster<\/strong> amusement ride and a wave pool, developer Joshua Wallack<\/strong> having coaxed a five-year partial tax abatement from Atlantic City<\/strong>. If Straub and Wallack can make their plans happen, more power to them.<\/p>\n

* In an effort to gin up support for legalized sports betting, the American Gaming Association<\/strong> held a symposium on Capitol Hill<\/strong> yesterday. If offered titillation, in the form of the acknowledgment that President Barack Obama<\/strong> “knowingly places illegal \"obama_\"wagers on these events [the Super Bowl<\/strong> and March Madness<\/strong>].” (Is that an impeachable offense.) In addition to flash, the event had some hard facts as numbers, such as the $14 billion that is currently wagered by Americans on illegal markets. Noting that, in the United Kingdom<\/strong> and Europe<\/strong>, bookies work with law enforcement to keep an eye out for fixed sporting matches, the presenters also cited poll numbers that showed two-thirds of Super Bowl viewers to be in support of letting their state decide whether or not to be allowed to host sports betting. Considering the amount of money that could be collected and put toward the public good, we feel compelled to say it’s time Congress put aside the Bradley Act and reopened legalized sports betting as a state option.<\/p>\n

* Wells Fargo<\/strong> Senior Vice President Debbie Fuetsch<\/strong> is the newest member<\/a> of the Nevada Gaming Commission<\/strong>, replacing the disgraced Michonne Ascuaga<\/strong>. A specialist in banking compliance, Fuetsch should bolsters the NGC’s expertise in anti-\"JNmoney-laundering areas, particularly of the sort that brought Ascuaga down. In related news, the NGC finalized the transfer of the Sparks Nugget<\/strong> to Marnell Gaming<\/strong>, which promised to invest $25 million in the property, both for room renovations and updating the slot inventory. There was some turbulence regarding Marnell shareholder Anthony Magliarditi<\/strong>, who ignored NGC enquiries and hasn’t spoken to CEO Anthony Marnell III<\/strong> in five years. His portion of the casino’s profits will be held in escrow<\/a> until he’s in the mood to cooperate.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s an insult to the staff, an insult to the commission and an insult to the public at large, but I\u2019m willing to wall off this concern,\u201d fumed NGC member Randolph Townsend<\/strong>. Magliarditi-related issues having been contained, Marnell got the nod.<\/p>\n

* Although a bad year in Macao<\/strong> is far better than a good year anywhere else, only Sands China<\/strong> has opened its wallet for its workforce, giving employees a $750\/year raise<\/a>. Meanwhile, two employee\u00a0groups are pushing for a complete smoking ban in the Chinese enclave’s casinos, not content to restrict smoking to VIP rooms and self-contained lounges on the casino floors.\u00a0\u201cThe companies are not always actively enforcing the smoking ban on mass floors, and we don\u2019t expect the government to conduct\u00a0effective inspections on gaming floors at all times. So we\u2019re not confident that allowing smoking lounges can really protect the health of workers,\u201d\u00a0Macau Gaming Enterprises Staff<\/strong>\u2019s Association Director General Choi Kam Fu<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By now it is something of an understatement to say that Revel owner Glenn Straub thinks outside the box. Or, as the Philadelphia Inquirer put it, his “plans for the massive property have veered erratically from mud slides to academic … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,18,14,4,117,174,185,22,189,62,209,30,25,79,157,12,74,31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18156"}],"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=18156"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18161,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18156\/revisions\/18161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}