{"id":190,"date":"2009-08-31T20:29:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-01T00:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blogs\/dmckee\/index.cfm\/2009\/8\/31\/No-more-free-play-Sahara-sleaze-Donny--Tina-Criss-F-Angel"},"modified":"2020-10-16T06:59:21","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T14:59:21","slug":"no-more-free-play-sahara-sleaze-donny-tina-criss-f-angel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/no-more-free-play-sahara-sleaze-donny-tina-criss-f-angel\/","title":{"rendered":"No more "free" play?; Sahara sleaze; Donny & Tina; Criss F. Angel"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a decision that could have wide-ranging implications, Foxwoods Casino Resort<\/strong> and Mohegan Sun<\/strong> have been ordered to count (and pay taxes on) “free play” coupons as though they were revenue. This isn’t a sock-it-to-the-players move like the one the Hawaii<\/strong> Legislature just pulled, taxing any money won at a casino (even if it’s lost right back and then some). However, the ramifications for consumers if free-play coupons are targeted for taxation are discouraging. Play ’em while you’ve got ’em.<\/p>\n

That stale “sleeping giant” analogy<\/strong> has been dusted off<\/a> (and I use that verb advisedly) for some pimpery of the Sahara<\/strong>. On the glass half-full side, classy and romantic dinner spot House of Lords<\/strong><\/a> has been revived. It used to be a perfect place to take your Special Someone and hopefully will remain so. It’s just off the main casino floor — the most Moorish-themed part of the Sahara and the best “retro” experience to be had in town. (Almost everything else of newer vintage is bland grind-joint crud that needs to go.)<\/p>\n

As for the empty half of the glass, that’d be the news that owner Sam Nazarian<\/strong> continues to go downmarket with a vengeance. Because nothing says “classic Vegas” like a tattoo parlor and a biker convention. Worse still, the tramp-stamp place will be in the otherwise elegant main lobby, with extended weekend tattoo-ing times … since you never know when you want to do something you’ll regret the rest of your life.<\/p>\n

This “desert jewel rich with history and nostalgia<\/em>” will continue that tradition with “a wet wife-beater contest, bikini tricycle races, a bourbon paired beef dinner with leatherwear fashion show, and an all-you-can-eat beer fest BBQ with one lucky rider winning a 2009 Harley Davidson Cross Bones bike<\/em>.” It’s probably just a matter of time before Nazarian converts the big rear parking lot to a trailer park, too. That’s Sam Nazarian for you: “class” with a capital “K.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“Tina Sparkle,” flanked by Donny Osmond (evidently still in his pajamas) and Marie, who’s looking damn fine from here<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It’s old news that Donny Osmond<\/strong> is going to be on the next season of Dancing with the Stars<\/em>, but I hadn’t known he was going to be paired with Aussie Kym Johnson<\/strong>. The latter is known to my Better Half and I as “Tina Sparkle<\/strong>” (it’s a Strictly Ballroom<\/em> thing<\/a>), which would make for great DWTS<\/strong> levity next season, except …<\/p>\n

… for the soul-crushing news that the gorgeous and talented Cheryl Burke<\/strong> has been twinned with the repulsive (and potentially prison-bound) Tom DeLay<\/strong>, one of “Casino Jack” Abramoff<\/strong>‘s band of Beltway scoundrels. (Was scum-tastic sleazemeister Rod Blagojevich<\/strong> not available?) Bad luck for Cheryl, good news for DeLay because Ms. Burke could be matched with a tree stump<\/a> and get aforesaid stump into the final three. If she could carry a woodpile like Cristian de la Fuente<\/strong> to the finale, DeLay should be easy lifting. It looks like he’s got the requisite arboreal quality.<\/p>\n

Does Criss Angel have<\/strong> compromising photos of high-ranking MGM Mirage<\/strong> executives? The company’s “branding” him now<\/a>, evidently having convinced itself that Believe<\/em><\/a> is beyond wonderful … and never mind that 11-year-old O<\/em><\/a> regularly outdistances Believe<\/em> in ticket sales by several country miles. Having sunk $85 million into this Cirque du Soleil<\/strong> turkey, MGM is evidently going to stick with it until the last dancing rabbit is hung.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a decision that could have wide-ranging implications, Foxwoods Casino Resort and Mohegan Sun have been ordered to count (and pay taxes on) “free play” coupons as though they were revenue. This isn’t a sock-it-to-the-players move like the one the … 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":[80,28,18,4,7,58,11,54,31,9,20,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190"}],"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=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28242,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/28242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}