{"id":29442,"date":"2021-03-26T15:57:18","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T23:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=29442"},"modified":"2021-04-05T09:35:16","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T17:35:16","slug":"strip-sux-but-locals-steadfast-virgin-lv-loses-its-virginity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/strip-sux-but-locals-steadfast-virgin-lv-loses-its-virginity\/","title":{"rendered":"Strip sux but locals steadfast; Virgin LV loses its virginity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Things simply have<\/em> to get better on the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong>. Not even a Feb. 15 capacity increase saved some casinos from perdition. Let’s hope February represented a bottoming-out of gaming revenues, as tourists starting flocking back this month. Strip gaming win was down a precipitous 41.5% to $348.5 million, led by slot winnings that were 34% down (to $189 million) on 27% less coin-in. Baccarat continues to be a black hole into which casinos plunged 58% on 58.5% less wagering. Players dropped 36% less on the green felt at non-baccarat table games but revenues suffered 43%, as punters bet less and won more. The Strip’s woes can be explained by a 54% falloff in visitation. 1.6 million arriving and departed airline passengers represented a 58% decline, including a measly 8,033 international travelers. Conversely, auto traffic was actually up at the California<\/strong> border by 1.5%. Hotel occupancy was a woeful 42%, depressing revenue per available room by 65% and room rates 26.5% (to $104\/night). With no measurable convention business, midweek occupancy was 32% compared to 63% on weekends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Las Vegas<\/strong> locals casinos were the bright spot, flat at $186 million, quite an accomplishment in a depleted Silver State economy. (Fortunately, employment numbers have been trending positively.) Tighter slots meant only 1% less win despite 6% lower coin-in. Perhaps the infusion of Circa<\/strong> eased Downtown<\/strong>‘s pain. It was only off 7% ($51.5 million), while North Las Vegas<\/strong> slipped 12% ($19 million), the Boulder Strip<\/strong> dipped 2% ($64 million) and Laughlin<\/strong> tumbled 31% ($33 million). Miscellaneous Clark County<\/strong> casinos were up 3.5% ($103 million) and Mesquite<\/strong> climbed 5% ($13 million). Upstate, Reno<\/strong> slid 14% to $50 million but Lake Tahoe<\/strong> leapt 16% to $20.5 million. Utahns shunned Wendover<\/strong>, down 9.5% to $17.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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415 days and $200 million later, the Hard Rock Hotel<\/strong> has successfully morphed into Virgin Las Vegas<\/strong>. Reported Susan Stapleton<\/strong>, “The revamped hotel goes with a lighter look, taking cues from the surrounding Mojave Desert<\/strong> with cactus and desert tones throughout, an open porte cochere with ride-sharing built in, and light and airy colors echoing the vibe of Las Vegas outside the Strip.” Troublesome Rehab<\/strong> is gone, replaced with a five-pool complex that’s tied into the resort’s outdoor-dining area. Back are 1,300 erstwhile HRH employees. The Mohegan Sun<\/strong>-operated casino is small by Vegas standards: 650 slots and 44 tables<\/a>. Austin Powers<\/strong> would still feel right at home in a property that now features something called The Shag Room<\/strong>. Most of the restaurants (some not yet open<\/a>) are new. Vital Vega<\/em>s has so far been mum on Virgin’s opening, although he’s got a good scoop<\/a> on Bally’s Las Vegas<\/strong> and a new\u2014well, long-rumored\u2014name change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jottings<\/em><\/strong>: Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> is suing its insurers for $2 billion in business losses incurred during the Great Shutdown. That’s one way to shore up the bottom line … No April Fool’s joke this: That Las Vegas Raiders<\/strong>-themed restaurant at M Resort<\/strong> opens April 1<\/a>. Patrons of Raiders Tavern & Grill<\/strong> “will be immersed in the Silver & Black experience through d\u00e9cor and memorabilia while enjoying great food, drinks and service.\u201d … Illinois<\/strong> regulators are being pressured<\/a> to accelerate construction permits for Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort<\/strong>, presently a big pit filled with rebar … Cashless gaming, still a rarity, will be coming soon to Pennsylvania<\/strong>. The charge is being led<\/a> by Boyd Gaming<\/strong> and Penn National Gaming<\/strong>. Boyd already has a digital wallet and Penn is working on one. Said the latter’s Eric Schippers<\/strong>, “The gaming industry is far behind other businesses, such as Starbucks<\/strong>, in this regard and the younger demographic has come to expect the ability to use their phone for their loyalty programs and to purchase goods and services” … Now there are two. BetMGM<\/strong> has unfurled Michigan<\/strong>‘s second i-poker platform<\/a>, joining PokerStars<\/strong>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Things simply have to get better on the Las Vegas Strip. Not even a Feb. 15 capacity increase saved some casinos from perdition. Let’s hope February represented a bottoming-out of gaming revenues, as tourists starting flocking back this month. Strip … 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":[65,88,60,244,34,18,226,14,4,58,37,76,255,49,126,245,259,78,69,95,178,25,79,8,9,263,247],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29442"}],"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=29442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29443,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29442\/revisions\/29443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}