{"id":2570,"date":"2010-03-16T12:51:30","date_gmt":"2010-03-16T20:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=2570"},"modified":"2020-10-06T05:24:58","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T13:24:58","slug":"case-bets-lake-las-vegas-todd-english-the-citycenter-smear-harrahs-chester-etc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/case-bets-lake-las-vegas-todd-english-the-citycenter-smear-harrahs-chester-etc\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Bets: Lake Las Vegas, Todd English, the CityCenter smear, Harrah’s Chester, etc."},"content":{"rendered":"

Far on the outskirts of Sin City, the Kingdom of Make-Believe (aka<\/em> Lake Las Vegas<\/strong>) is the newest and — in terms of acreage — biggest metaphor yet<\/a> for the unrealistic expectations and sometimes insane assumptions which have laid our metropolis low. Heck, I can vividly remember the anxiety and gloom (mostly the latter) that hung over LVA<\/em> HQ when it looked like Dubai World<\/strong> was going to walk out on CityCenter<\/strong>. That would have been such a crippling and painful blow — think battlefield double-amputation, followed by gangrene — to our economy and to civic morale that it might have taken 10 or 20 years to recover … especially coming on the heels of so many other failsinos (™ Chuck Monster<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

\"prnphotos090649\"That’s no “pub.”<\/strong> Nosiree, Bob. When tours were being given of Crystals<\/strong>, we were vaguely assured that Todd English<\/strong> was bringing “a new concept in pub food” and that’s as specific as it got. It could have been cannibalism for all one knew. Instead, it’s something worse. You see, Mr. English is not opening a mere, humble pub — as in your friendly, local “publican.” Bloody hell, he’s unveiling a “P.U.B.” Not being sufficiently with-it, I had to read an explanation that it is a “Public Urban Bar.” Hence the acronym. Because, crikey, don’t we all get tired of saying, “Let’s have a pint at the public urban bar, mates”?<\/p>\n

Judging by its description, Todd English P.U.B.<\/strong> sounds pretentious as all get-out. Since I’m obliged to show the flag at a media event there tonight, I’ll soon know whether it’s as airy-fairy as PR Newswire<\/strong> makes it seem. (A “deconstructed sandwich,” I ask you?) Then again, what about CityCenter isn’t<\/em> pretentious? Its prevailing sterility would make it the perfect setting for some dystopian science fiction, though. Too bad Will Smith<\/strong> already went and remade The Omega Man<\/em>. However, as an S&G<\/em> reader discerningly points out, “At least [CityCenter] residents will be spared the inconvenience of having to go to O’Sheas<\/strong> to play Beer Pong.” Touch\u00e9<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"4319717-0-4\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

“At night while you’re asleep\/Into your tent I’ll [K]reep …”<\/em><\/p>\n

MGM strikes back<\/strong>. The company isn’t taking recent attack ads — ostensibly aimed at Sen. Harry Reid<\/strong> (D-NV) but more of slash-and-burn raid on MGM itself — lying down. The TV spots make some Dubai<\/strong>-ous (sorry folks, I couldn’t resist) and downright inaccurate claims<\/a> with regard to the MGM\/Dubai World relationship.<\/p>\n

Me, I’m waiting for other shoe to drop and for Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> to be revealed as the aptly named Gary Kreep<\/strong>‘s puppetmaster. (It’s just a hunch, mind you.) Now that Adelson has thrown in his lot with another candidate, pro-Reid affiliates could certainly follow Kreep’s discreditable lead and drag Las Vegas Sands<\/strong> into the latrine, by dint of Adelson’s regulatory problems, his courtroom embarrassments and his sycophantic relationship toward the ChiComms, totalitarians who make Dubai’s dictator look like a squishy liberal.<\/p>\n

A strange omission<\/strong>. The business practices of Archon Corp<\/strong>. Treasurer Sue Lowden<\/strong> (Adelson’s favored candidate) have been political fodder<\/a> for a while now. So what’s missing from this Las Vegas Sun<\/em> story? How about the name of her casino firm? Unless “archon” is an ancient Greek obscenity, I can’t account for the Sun<\/em>‘s dainty tiptoeing around that moniker. This campaign has to be a boon to the Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall<\/strong>. I swear Archon hasn’t gotten so much free ink in the last five years combined.
\nHow bad is it out there?<\/strong> Here’s a heartbreaking story about people who are so bereft of job opportunities they’re lining up for $4.30\/hour dealer gigs — many of them part-time — at Harrah’s Chester<\/strong>. Chalk it up as one more reason to be a “george” tipper and not a “stiff.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Far on the outskirts of Sin City, the Kingdom of Make-Believe (aka Lake Las Vegas) is the newest and — in terms of acreage — biggest metaphor yet for the unrealistic expectations and sometimes insane assumptions which have laid our … 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":[46,56,28,18,134,14,26,7,52,131,49,62,53,11,95,12,9,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570"}],"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=2570"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28094,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570\/revisions\/28094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}