Sh*t You May Have Missed: Paisanos, Pools, Pubs, Putt-Putt, Pigalle Poofs and more


It’s Sh*t you may have missed for the week ending June 3rd, 2016

Hi, all! BigAZMarty with this week in Vegas news, just in time for the weekend after Memorial Day….

1. Nope, this really isn’t a Vegas story, but it opens up a whole lotta HMMMMMM. Atlantic City’s best-rated casino Borgata has broken the partnership between Boyd and MGM with MGM buying out the Boyd half for $900 M. Some items of interest here. Boyd is giving up a huge cash cow to MGM. MGM is going to REIT it and lease it back…and shortly should be added as an MLife property to add to National Harbor and the Mass properties on the East Coast. Item of conjecture….is Boyd going to really pay down debt or is it for something else? Perhaps Icahn’s Blue Elephant or that piece of land between Planet Hollywood and Showcase Mall? Boyd has probably missed having the Strip casinos since giving away Barbary Coast (The hotel that basically was the cash cow that financed Michael Gaughan’s Coast Empire before selling to Boyd) and imploding Stardust to eventually sell a large dirt lot with some sort of built out buildings to Resorts World.

2. Hard Rock keeps the new stuff coming..this just missed the cut off from last week, so it did not get to us in time for Memorial Day weekend. A new Pool Lounge!!!! Breathe Pool Ultra Lounge. Also, a new Goose Island Pub on tap for summer!!! Come to think of it…Goose Island is partially owned by Anheuser-Busch/InBev…and they have the Beer Garden at Paris as well.

3. The Mob Museum is adding new programming and later hours…perhaps this will help out Downtown Grand with some more foot traffic.

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4. World Series of Poker at Rio started this week…good info on it here.

5. Rumor Mill full steam ahead for the yet un-named Theater at Monte Carlo….Justin Timberlake to possibly headline a residency at the new theater and Vince Neil also discussed as a possible option. I see the first one….I tend to think Vince would be more comfortable down at House of Blues at MB. However, it’s Vegas, so anything is possible. If it’s Justin Timberlake, he has to bring up Andy Samberg aa well to have either boxes or talk about each other’s motherlovers.

6. Wow, that was fast….less than a week after Moulin Rouge was announced…..tensions between the last group to revive it and current new owners that have a plan. Let’s hope this doesn’t end up like all the other attempts to rebuild it. Anything immediately north of the Spaghetti Bowl is challenging enough, and LV should look to target that area for a “Downtown” revival.

7. Caesars Entertainment / CEOC facing Congress scrutiny over REIT plan and suggesting Treasury step in and reject that portion of the Bankruptcy plan for CEOC subsidiary. The soap opera continues….if they keep this up someone somewhere will go involuntary and get a judge to Chapter 7 it all in one big auction and turn it over auction proceeds to the Bondholders and Creditors…then they might go after private equity and company executives.

8. Interesting….Adelson’s paper covering the settlement with the ex-CEO of Macao properties.

9. Next week is Las Vegas Restaurant Week…see here for details.

10. Things to do in June in Las Vegas includes the big EDC and “Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood” events.

11. I saw this last week and somehow forgot it with all the additional Memorial Day news. Bally’s to get another TV Game Show filmed onsite!!! No details on if this is going to be in the old Jubilee theater or not. An unrecorded version of the Price is Right used to be in there at one time. So “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” will be something new…..I can’t wait to see the “Audience Answers” once it is there…could be interesting.

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12. Caesars Palace is coming up on it’s 50th Anniversary; Robin Leach has some great information on it here as well as some interesting insights. As much as the parent company is having issues, they have not neglected this property at all. Links to 50 years of photos here. By the way….with the new Julius Tower has online a ton of remodeled room/suite options, the new surprise is that the Palace Tower is not the new Classic Room building…instead, it is the Forum Tower. Odd since I think the Forum rooms were redone after the Palace Tower remodel. I’ve seen a pattern of Caesars properties using the “Classic Room” description as the bottom most outdated rooms in a hotel/casino. Not so in this case….but Palace Tower standard rooms are large, so it may make sense to them to keep those off the list as “Classic Rooms”.

13. Kiss Mini-Golf is open at Rio in the old Seafood Buffet location as reported by Vital Vegas.

14. Downtown restaurant F. Pigalle closes abruptly…evidently you don’t want to have a restaurant that invokes “red light district” in the name.

15. Harrah’s last Improv show has occurred. At least they have the one in Harvey’s in Lake Tahoe still, I’ve been in both, and the Harvey’s was much better…not sure why Harrah’s couldn’t pull in talent in the end.

16. Four Queens downtown is also celebrating 50 years for almost the entire month of June (2nd – 30). Details here. Not nearly as celebrated as say Caesars Palace, but hey it’s downtown, and they have to save some money to remediate the old Mint/Binion’s tower rooms rumored to be in process since hotel portion closed in 2009. Electrical, plumbing repairs and maybe some asbestos removal needed. If you are going to go, reserve one of the Suites (Petite or Petite Deluxe)…probably about the price of a normal Strip room $49 weekly / $109 weekend or higher. No resort fee, maybe a Fremont Street experience fee. I’m not sure as I haven’t been downtown since 2011, but I really need to get there soon. Not sure if the pool at Binion’s is still open for use, but it’s tiny (size of maybe a normal home pool). The pool is at the top of the Mint/Binion’s tower, so there are scenic views. Sure a little bikini/cover-up walking but it’s water, downtown views, sun and it was accessible to Four Queen’s guests. Nothing on the new website except for meetings up on the pool deck so not 100% on that. If you like to gamble at Binion’s you will stay at Four Queens normally.

That’s their sh*t, now for our sh*t with Chief Editor Michael Movestro…Michael?

Thanks, BizAzMarty! What a week, am I right? So, not to toot our own horn or anything…because it’s always more enjoyable when someone else does:

The LVCVA confirmed June 14th at 2 AM for the implosion of Riviera’s Monaco Tower. Special thanks to Greg C for that scoop! The second and final implosion will be of Riviera’s Monte Carlo Tower. Sammasseur received word from a contact at Westgate that the second implosion will be August 14th.

That’s our big news and here’s some more of what we brought you this week!

17. MattyIce shares blackjack tips, his favorite places to play and why they’re his favorites.

18. Michael James gets in on the First Vegas Trip action by sharing his “first trip” story from 1989. The original pictures in this piece are priceless; my favorite is the one with Sands next to The Mirage.

I love this picture. Besides the handsome devil in the picture (what the hell happened?) this shows both The Sands and The Mirage.
I love this picture. Besides the handsome devil in the picture (what the hell happened?) this shows both The Sands and The Mirage.

19. Direct from China, Meizhou Dongpo aims to serve up authentic Szechuan cuisine. This isn’t your typical shrimp-fried-rice.

20. Greg Bennett parks his hog at The Hard Rock Café for music memorabilia and tasty food. Mmmm…food

21. The Second Riviera Implosion slated for August 14th. It seems curious as to why it would happen on a Sunday. I’m hoping that the LVCVA  will send it out in style.

The Riviera's Monte CarloTower
The Riviera’s Monte Carlo Tower

22. We checked in on the new restaurants and other happenings at The Orleans. Can’t forget about the Big O.

23. As a follow-up to her First Vegas Trip, Corgimom shares the trip that solidified her love for Vegas. Bally’s pre-Paris is an interesting Bally’s indeed.

On our Twitter and Facebook…

  • The Vegas Bright Podcast was featured in New & Noteworthy in iTunes.
  • Congrats to Greg Bennett! He won the weatherists contest for Favorite Las Vegas Weathercaster.
  • Sharknado 4 is set in our favorite city, here’s the trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo0pDjWZpQQ

 

[Images: Michael Movestro, Michael James, Caesars Entertainment, The Mob Museum]

3 thoughts on “Sh*t You May Have Missed: Paisanos, Pools, Pubs, Putt-Putt, Pigalle Poofs and more

  1. The pool at Binion’s is indeed open for Four Queens guests or anyone else who comes up the elevator.

    1. Thank you Terry!!! I had no idea the pool was open to general public. I would go up the elevator just to see the views…maybe an observation area similar to the Eiffel Tower deck is in order as part of the Binion’s/Mint history.

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