{"id":7119,"date":"2011-07-14T10:05:55","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T18:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=7119"},"modified":"2011-07-14T10:09:03","modified_gmt":"2011-07-14T18:09:03","slug":"if-you-liked-citycenter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/if-you-liked-citycenter\/","title":{"rendered":"If you liked CityCenter …"},"content":{"rendered":"

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… you’ll lurve the “ghost cities” of China<\/strong>. Actually, they look more like something Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> would design — if Adelson were doing mile-long lines of cocaine, that is. He and others like him who own casinos in Macao<\/strong> better make all the money they can (and the pickings have never been riper<\/a>) because the basic laws of economics and physics are remarkably similar, and you can’t have a bubble without a burst. (See also, Dubai<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

Remember Legionnaire’s Disease?<\/strong> I know what you’re thinking: It’s so<\/em> 1976. Well, it’s baaaaaaack<\/a> and was staying for a fortnight<\/a> at Aria<\/strong>. (I guess it can afford the vertiginous room rates there.) Six cases that may be Aria-related have been reported since the mega-hotel opened. Although I’m beginning to wonder if CityCenter<\/strong> CEO Bobby Baldwin<\/strong> disturbed an Anasazi burial ground or something, kudos to MGM Resorts International<\/strong> for responding proactively and not hiding under the cone of silence.<\/p>\n

\"\"Stupakular<\/strong>. The Las Vegas Sun<\/em> takes a stroll down memory lane with this portfolio of failsinos<\/a>, like Bob Stupak<\/strong>‘s Titanic<\/em> casino — in a really skeevy part of Las Vegas Boulevard<\/strong> — and other busted projects. Some of them (like ITT<\/strong>‘s “Desert Kingdom”) sound even loopier than the ditzy concepts spawned by the mid-decade real estate bubble. The subway-cum<\/em>-floodwater-conduit notion probably wins the palm for sheer insanity. As for the Steve Wynn<\/strong>\/John Jerde<\/strong> “Las Venice” concept, Golden Gate<\/strong> co-owner Mark Brandenburg<\/strong> once shared with me Jack Binion’<\/strong>s reaction: “Steve, you’ve got a bunch of guys here who couldn’t come up with 20 bucks for the Second Coming of Christ<\/strong>. I’m just saying … slow down a little.”<\/p>\n

[Sigh<\/em>] I miss Jack Binion.<\/p>\n

$25,000<\/strong>. That’s the price of a human life<\/a> on the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong>. It’s also comforting to know that, in Florida<\/strong>, you can kill somebody at O’Shea’s<\/strong> and go right back to work. Granted, it sounds like the “victim” deserved a (non-lethal) punch in the face but isn’t everyone taking this a bit casually?<\/p>\n

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\nIn other news<\/strong>, popinjay casino owner Randy Black<\/strong> is officially demoted to COO of three Mesquite<\/strong> casinos now under the control of South Point owner Michael Gaughan<\/strong> and longtime associate Anthony Toti<\/strong>. Except for allowing Black to continue appearing in TV commercials<\/a>, feeding his Godzilla<\/strong>-sized ego, the new arrangement looks all to the good. (Mr. Black, I was here 10 years ago and, no, you were not<\/em> “considered a genius.”)<\/p>\n

Nevada Gaming Control Board<\/strong> member A.G. Burnett<\/strong> sounds a bit naive in conveniently attributing all of what is now Mequite Gaming<\/strong>‘s problems to the recession. Oligopolistic control of the marketplace and a seedy product had something to do with it, too. (See also: Primm<\/strong>.) Nearby<\/a> Eureka Casino Hotel<\/strong> has experienced none of the problems that have made Randy Black synonymous with “disaster area.”<\/p>\n

\"\"Can this nightclub be saved?<\/strong> It took less than a day for stakeholders in Eve<\/strong>\/Beso<\/strong> to throw a monkey wrench<\/a> into the reorganization of Eva Longoria<\/strong>‘s CityCenter venture. The balking investors are query a 28% post-bankruptcy drop in Eve\/Beso’s grosses, among other things. (Maybe patrons don’t like the club and word’s gotten around.) They also doubt whether Beso solamente<\/em> will be able to generate enough revenue to both stay afloat and pay down a whopping amount of arrears. For better or worse, Longoria’s and Crystals<\/strong>‘ plan of action is to throw another $2 million down a $3 million rabbit hole. At that rate, the break-even point on Eve\/Beso must be off somewhere in the 22nd century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… you’ll lurve the “ghost cities” of China. Actually, they look more like something Sheldon Adelson would design — if Adelson were doing mile-long lines of cocaine, that is. He and others like him who own casinos in Macao better … 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":[65,28,51,134,14,117,7,22,121,62,53,126,11,122,25,12,32,9,19,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7119"}],"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=7119"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7126,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7119\/revisions\/7126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}