Sh*t You May Have Missed While Feasting At “The Peppermill”

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It’s Sh*t You May Have Missed for the week ending September 23rd, 2016

Hey all, BigAzMarty here with this week’s news,

1. Wynn is getting sued by EEOC for not accommodating a disabled veteran. Read the LV Sun article here. Of course, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson-owned LVRJ has a slightly different view of the lawsuit…read that here.

2. This is fun, an article suggesting to Red Rock Resorts (i.e. Stations Casinos) what to do with The Palms. Read here. I think all of our readers should pick a casino (or dirt lot where a casino used to be) and play casino executive for suggestions on what to do with the property to make it better. Think of it as helping out with “marketing” to the proper demographic.

3. NFL Stadium plan is getting pushed through; it should go up to the Governor of Nevada next. Read LV Sun article here.

4. Steve Siegel, the owner of Siegel Suites, is looking to sell off some Las Vegas (and nearby) properties. They include the Rumor Boutique Hotel for $18 mil and The Resort on Mount Charleston for $3.65Mil. Interesting Q&A reveals instead of selling the Atrium Suites as originally planned they will rehab the property themselves. Read LVRJ here.

5. Remember that odd law allowing using a company to do sports betting from a fund like a mutual fund? Well, evidently it’s too costly and too hard to get compliance for the sports book, according to the LVRJ article here. Only CG Technologies Sports Books are allowing it currently, and it’s slow to start.

6. Derek Stevens had fun at the 5th Anniversary of The D in Downtown, according to LVRJ here. Still no announcement for the Vegas Club-side of the street (although the fact he owns the “Grandissimo” trademark is stated).

7. Robin Leach has an article on what may be replacing Jersey Boys in the Paris Theater soon read here. For some reason in my head, all I hear is “Two Turntables and a Microphone” playing over and over again when I read this. UPDATE: here is the rumored EDM DJ to be “Life Storied,” also from Robin here.

8. MGM has officially commented that Tournament of Kings is NOT closing…read here. Notice they haven’t discussed the other items in the rumors (that shopping traffic is down 30% due to parking fees).

9. Vital Vegas‘s Twitter feed has a couple of photos of Strip land for sale. One plot is interesting; the other plot is well….not.  Interesting because one is right next to  Peppermill (in their parking lot), the other is not because two giant cement toothpicks (the failed SkyVue footings) and an airport nearby could limit how big you can build. Suggestion to Peppermill people, buy the parking lot land and build another Peppermill Resort like the one in Reno. We could use a casino with a chrome ceiling and tons of neon again in town!!!!

10. Something fun and new besides Lucky Dragon? New slot machines on the way!!! Read here. I so want to play on Sharknado!!!

11. Eldorado Resorts has announced it is purchasing Isle of Capri Casinos for $1.7 billion, including debt. Read the details here.  Remember that Isle of Capri owns the “Lady Luck” brand, so perhaps you may see a Lady Luck again in Vegas.  Eldorado Resorts is the same company that recently bought out MGM‘s share of Reno’s Silver Legacy and all of Reno’s Circus Circus in 2015 (as well as a merger with MTR Gaming Group back in 2014). This greatly increases the amount of “locals casinos” it owns.

12. Vital Vegas has some pretty good drone shots of the under-construction Wynn Plaza site here. Guesses as to the mystery cement boxes…one looks to be a stairwell, and I am guessing the other was probably a large freight elevator at one time…maybe for Ferraris? According to EATER Vegas, Parasol Up and the Drugstore Café (we broke the news on that one August 12th) are also getting remodeled, read here.

13. And also thanks to Vital Vegas here we now know where the 3WallBall Championships will be held Sept 21 – 25 (hope remnants of Hurricane Paine doesn’t rain that out). Or medical equipment in backpacks, see #23.

14. NFL Commissioner Robert Goodell says, “Whoa Nelly” to the Las Vegas Raiders Stadium, read CBS Sports article here.  It sounds like the NFL still hasn’t gotten over the time that Oakland moved to LA and back again.

15. Freedom Beat is now open at Downtown Grand 24 hours a day…and has Fried Twinkies as dessert (for you who miss Mermaids). Eater Vegas article here. Additionally, Vital Vegas just posted as well with a pretty good array of photos here.

16. Believe It Or Not: Is Adele a future residency in Las Vegas? After announcing no new tours for ten years to raise her son, this might be a possibility. Read Parade.com article here and then Terry Fator‘s Q&A on his residency.

17. Interesting…now that Adele seems to be in play, Mariah Carey announces her Coliseum residency is coming to an end at Caesars Palace per Billboard article here. Or could it be that she’s going to future headline at Alon (cough, cough…empty dirt lot) for boyfriend James Packer? Even Alon‘s own Facebook page pokes fun at the endless delays. 

18. Another Caesars Palace famous has passed away; Albert Faccinto Sr. was at Caesars Palace from 1966 to 1985. Read about him in the LV Sun article here. He gave a lot of people their first casino jobs.

19. Sub-Zero Custom Ice Cream is planning 10 locations in Las Vegas, read LVRJ article here. This should make up a little for Harrah’s closing Ice Pan. If you ever were there when the older gentleman (don’t say old…you are young in mind!!!) was running it, he was very entertaining. Now if they can at least get Baked Bear in LV….the one near Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach, San Diego is awesome. Favorite mind-blowing goodness is chocolate chip cookies with Bear Batter Ice Cream in sandwich form.

20. Johnny Katz covered the last Jersey Boys show at the Paris. Frankie Valli and Tommy DeVito were in attendance…read and see here.

21. Motley Fool disputes the millennials data..well because there just isn’t any data of previous generations to compare against. Read here and notice some interesting things…one that during the “great recession” the slot hold still went up, which makes gamblers play less at the properties.  I can tell you in my single 20’s the clubs were not in the casinos and we had just enough cash to go into town, 2-4 guys to a low-cost double queen room (in the old back of the low-level property wings at the Dunes) with additional roll-away beds to spread the costs. Mostly at the pools during the day and then perhaps some (very little) gaming, then the majority of the costs were the clubs (Shark Club, The Beach) because they stayed open until 5 AM. Sometimes we went with whoever we met at the pool. Matter of fact – we used to sneak into the Tropicana pools while staying at the Dunes just because it was a better pool with fewer kids and more attractive women. I didn’t actually meet the real Vegas until I met my wife…it just wasn’t something as a young man that I got properly exposed to.

22. CEOC bankruptcy Jr. Bondholders are getting a sweetened deal (additional $1.6 billion) but only have until Friday, September 23, 2016, at 11:59 pm (New York time) to accept. This is interesting because it may lower TPG and Apollo ownership to nothing for CZR (stocks held by Apollo and TPG to be included in the deal).  If this doesn’t work who knows where it’s going.  Read here. As well as LVRJ here.

23. Stratosphere had a beeping backpack full of medical supplies that caused an evacuation and several roads to be blocked off. Read the LV Sun summary here.

24. Reminder – this weekend is Downtown’s annual Life Is Beautiful music festival. See the lineup here. If you can’t be there and have Pandora, you can live stream it. Learn more by visiting here.

And that’s it for LV new around the web, now for Editor-in-chief Michael Movestro for our stuff.

Thanks, BigAzMarty! Well, folks, what a week as more “Vegas Musts” continued to roll in, and we still have more for next week. Plus articles from our regulars and Part 2 of “Baptism by Blackjack,” and who knows what else!

25. The week started off with Vegas Bright Podcast Episode 19: In Vegas We Must where I read excerpts from the articles our readers submitted.

26.  Vegas Bright Reader Dave shares his Vegas Musts.

27. James Dingsdale discusses a recent stay at Excalibur.

28. Blonde4ever shares 10 reasons why she loves Four Queens in Downtown Las Vegas.

29. Vegas Bright readers Vicki and Barry share their “Vegas Musts.”

30. Vegas Bright reader Rooster shares his “Vegas Musts”

31. Reader Hal Whitney shares Part 1 of his intriguing blackjack memoirs.

32. “Eric NYC” Goes Vegan (And Clean-Shaven) When Hitting Sin City in his Vegas Musts.

33. Kelly Lamrock delves into the future of Broadway…on the Strip.

34. Our own physique buff “Sammasseur” attends the biggest fitness event in history.

35. Guest author JerzChris works those glutes on the way to Bugsy’s Bar for “Vegas Musts.”

36. Guest author “Winnerz” shares a winning list of “Vegas Musts.”

37. Vegas Bright Reader Barry Z shares his Vegas Musts.

38. Checking in on “The Park Theater” Construction Progress.

Tidbits from our social media: 

In addition to sharing all of our articles via our Facebook and Twitter, we also share some interesting news/announcements and deals.

These are the pieces of info that were shared this week via our Facebook page by Sammasseur and Greg C.

• Broadway shows may be suffering on the Strip, but Smith Center’s Broadway Series is thriving. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is scheduled for the holiday season and tickets are now on sale.
• The PR team for Downtown’s Gold Spike wanted us to know that they’ve revamped their restaurant and reopened it as Fiddlestix. See our recent write-up of Gold Spike in the comments section below, and click this link to learn about the new offerings at Gold Spike’s “Fiddlestix”.
• Halloween may be six or so weeks away, but that doesn’t mean it’s too soon to save on the popular annual Circus Circus Fright Dome attraction. We found a Groupon for savings up to 31%, good September 30th through October 13th.

We’ll see you next week with more Vegassy things. Vegas Bright is proud to be your Vegas I.V. drip!

Photos: [Sammasseur, casino-review.com, Alon Resort Facebook page, Joe Calafirore, Greg C, Michael Movestro ]