Sh*t You May Have Missed While Putting Your Skill-Based Gaming to the Test

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It’s Sh*t You May Have Missed for the week ending: March 31, 2017

Hey, all BigAZMarty here with this weeks edition of the news around Las Vegas…

1. A Bellagio’s Rolex (Tesorini) jewelry shop was robbed Hollywood style with robbers in Pig’s and Other Assorted Animal Masks and Sledgehammers. Patron’s of Bellagio in the area were sent scurrying for safety. LVSun has an interesting write up here. So if this were earlier than the Hughes era of Las Vegas, you’d probably never hear of this, and the desert would have the appropriate number of new holes filled six feet deep to be never found again. Conversely, there were no shots fired in the robbery opposed to what was reported early on. Sad thing was their getaway plan had several hiccups (car didn’t start, carjacking failed and such) and they still disappeared. Everyone that is but the lookout who was taken into custody. He’s already been in court read LVRJ here.

2. Totally unrelated and very odd timing, a 50-year-old man from Las Vegas went completely delusional (hearing voices) and started shooting on an RTC bus outside Cosmopolitan hours after #1 happened. This resulted in Cosmo being locked down and all patrons told to return to their rooms and lock the doors. Several hours later the suspect surrendered. Condolences to the family of the fatal victim and a heartfelt get well to the recovering victim who was shot in the stomach. To all others involved sorry you had to suffer through this traumatic event. Read LVSun for details here.

3. Interesting article in Vegas Inc. that was run just a day before #1 and #2 but good read here. All I can say is after #1 and #2 a lot of people will be feeling #3 is just a feel good (Keep Calm and Carry On type) of an article..however, these are the professionals that keep you safe. So I’m sure they are all meeting on a one-two punch of bad events and how to keep this from happening again and what they need to do to fix it.

4. Phil Ruffin really wants to build that casino near Trump Tower, read Forbes here. My thoughts here are Phil runs Treasure Island, used to own the Frontier….buy that Frontier land back from the Alon group and buy out the Elardi family’s section and do it big, not the little 4 acres you have been talking about. Put another Trump/Ruffin Tower that faces up the North Strip since it bends near there, so you have north-side center strip views as well. You know, Vegas go big or go home. Would be interesting to have a billionaire’s owned section, Wynn / Encore, Venetian / Palazzo, Treasure Island and then Trump out to the Strip with Fashion Center between Trump and TI.

5. Monte Carlo (soon to be Park MGM/NoMad Hotel) is going to be closing up the Poker Room per Vegas, Inc. here. So poker rooms either closing or shrinking might be why there was so much space at Mandalay Bay last time we were there…they’d opened up the casino floor and had a lot more space between the machines…I never noticed if they shrunk the poker area or not. If they did, they probably had to move in something else in its place.

6. In other odd news, a body was found in Caesars Palace landscaping read LVRJ here. Seems like non-criminal so far but sad if you think about it.

7. MGM and Dubai are improving relations after the suits for City Center ended, Dubai is allowing MGM bids to build out resort hotels (non-gaming) for it’s Jumeirah Beach area, read LVRJ here. It seems like a City Center but with Bellagio (casino less of course) instead of Aria.

8. Now that Chuck Barris has passed, Will Arnett is working up a 10 episode order for the revamped Gong Show for ABC. What does this have to do with Las Vegas, you ask? Check Saxe Theater in Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood on Saturday afternoons as they might be there doing the act auditions…view or audition…your choice. Read Robin at LVRJ here.

9. Raider Nation will have a new home in 2020. Las Vegas was approved for the move by all but the Dolphins owner which clears the way for the move. Read Architectural Digest here for details on the stadium that will probably be built across the I-15 and Russell Road from Mandalay Bay for them and the UNLV Football team. Remember you are paying a new room tax to fund the public portion of this stadium.

10. Mandalay Bay’s Beach concerts and dates have been announced starting with this weekend’s ACM related lineup and future 2017 concerts. Read Las Vegas Weekly here. The 311 show is an annual event (the dates change year to year) in Las Vegas. When we were checking out SLS last year the slot club girl was even getting ready to off shift, don her suit, and drive down to the Mandalay Bay pool for that show…so you know it’s a local favorite as well.

11. Las Vegas Weekly has a nice photo gallery of the Encore Beach Club’s Ultimate Fittest Bodies….see for yourself here. Planet Fitness this isn’t.

12. Speaking of ACM Las Vegas Weekly has a write up on activities around town for ACM this upcoming weekend. Read here. I will be arriving in town on Sunday for several mid to late week non-ACM shows and some exploring (depending on my wife’s schedule…she’s doing some virtual work during the day..boooo).

13. MGM Grand Garden Arena had the Game of Thrones Live Concert and here is the review from Las Vegas Weekly.

14. Dennis Hof of Moonlight Bunny Ranch fame will be opening a new Brothel in Crystal, NV. Although not Vegas related the gist of the new name is very Vegas, “Pirate’s Booty” and the Raiders will get a 50% discount if they visit….now that’s a marketing tie-in if I’ve ever heard one, read LVSun here.

15. Las Vegas Weekly is showing events and dates that are LBGT friendly or outright LBGT events here. I’d say that with the current political environment it’s all coming back to Las Vegas for fun.

16. Betty Willis’ Blue Angel (she also designed the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign) is getting refurbished and moved to a new perch at Charleston and Fremont, according to Las Vegas Weekly here. Very cool that it’s going to still be in public view and not moved to the Neon Museum. The gallery is pretty amazing if you like to see stuff taken down and readied for a move to be renewed. Oh and check Vital Vegas as well….Scott does a Cleopatra’s Barge on the Blue Angel as well. Hope it brings you luck Scott.

17. Wynn loses a suit claiming slander against a noted short trader, read Business Insider here. See opinions are NOT slander.

18. Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas? I know just the place for Richard Branson. Icahn’s FontaineBleu!!! Read Robin’s article here on the founders sad farewell to Virgin Airlines (now Alaska Airlines) and mentions wanting to open a hotel in Las Vegas. And enjoy the time he almost got split in two going down the Palms. C’mon Richard use that cash from the Airline sale and purchase and finish off that almost 10-year-old Hulk into something new and exciting up on the north end of the strip.

19. Britney looking to lip sync for another two years at Axis (Planet Hollywood)? Evidently so according to Robin here. Figuring the acts they’ve pulled in since Britney started at Axis, it’s good for all involved.

20. In a related story by Robin…Mariah and Britney are in a new feud, read for yourself here. With all the shows closing up last year there should be a glut of available dancing talent in Las Vegas, so not sure this is a wise choice by Britney’s dancers to not perform with their boss and instead head over to the Mariah’s August show at the Coliseum at CP.

21. SBE is discussing merging with Hakkasan Group; this is an odd turn of events since SBE’s Sam couldn’t clear the Gaming Board approval and built and ran the SLS (after buying out Sahara). This gets Sam a huge Vegas Club/Restaurant footprint. Read Eater Vegas here.

22. Pretty cool, VegaSeven here has a 24-hour stay at the W Hotel at SLS. While the opening was in December, I guess this opening is for the redone rooms in the former Lux Tower. It looks really nice. Although those bed accent pillows may disappear over time…nothing says interesting collectible as a Vegas themed pillow.

23. Vital Vegas is covering in more detail the Neon Museum expansion with drone footage and photos read and see here.

24. Bowling and a Club in Neonopolis? You betcha, Vital Vegas covers The Nerd Nightclub opening in Neonopolis. Read and see here. If it’s true Schoolgirl Nerd outfits, the servers will be Anime CosPlay Schoolgirls and should have died hair wigs. Just sayin’.

25. No big surprise here, Feb numbers are in for Nevada, and due to one less day than last year and Chinese New Year starting in January the numbers are down YoY by 4.5%. Read 8NewsNow here. A full year is supposedly up across the board due to the great January.

26. Scott Roeben appeared on the news discussing the controversy of a receipt for drinks at Indigo Lounge at Bally’s that went viral. An Indigo Lounge patron was charged twice for “Rocks” at $3 a pop…but I think the really odd thing the receipt has is an odd statement at the top of the receipt that pricing can change to “peak pricing.” Read \ view on the rocks charges on 13ActionNews here. The bartenders say for rocks they have additional alcohol (2oz. vs. 1.5oz) to pour, but usually, it is “enclosed” in the drink price. Suggestion to Scott…the curtains around Indigo don’t stop the music, sit at the Video Poker bar nearby and play for Comp drinks, yeah I know it might not really be Capt…but have you tried the following as alternatives for the Capt? Cruzan 9, Calypso, Kilo Kai, VooDoo, Montecristo Spiced, Lamb’s Spiced Rum? You can hear the music fairly well from there also.

27. Vital Vegas via twitter here showing progress on the Golden Gate expansion into the old La Bayou site. Hurray!!! No more transformer Treehouse of Doom. That will improve the sight lines from the old side of the hotel…nothing like an array of transformers outside your window to keep you humming at night. Here is a good TripAdvisor traveler shot of what it looked like before.

28. Planet Hollywood has two new skills based games testing onsite according to LVSun here. My wife is a huge blackjack player, so I will have to have a go at CannonBeard’s Treasure next week and see what she thinks.

29. Claire Sinclair’s BNB is getting some Las Vegas Weekly love here..and bubbles!!! Interesting read and hey, eye’s up here….facts on how she’s funding the renovation. I could see her doing an HGTV show in the future.

30. Finally for all those people that lament the lack of cheap Las Vegas eats here is a really good list of current cheap eats in Las Vegas by EATER Vegas. #15 I had no idea about since it’s not really advertised well and I’ll be there with my wife so probably #15 for my wife early like at 4 PM and then a Xavier Mortimer show at 7 PM to start our stay at PH right.

And that’s it for this week’s news around town, and now for last week’s (SYMHM) reporter (good job Michael!!!) and Editor – In – Chief, Michael Movestro with our news and other items!

Thanks, BigAZMarty, I appreciate the kind words, and I try to be almost as good as you! Hey, peeps! Well, this one sort of just happened after Marty finished the news, so it’s kinda a limbo piece…

31. Caesars Entertainment has already started charging to park at LINQ. Other resorts starting on Monday. The Las Vegas Review-Journal has the specifics here, including prices. One thing that caught my attention is this quote “Unlike MGM Resorts properties where guests are able to pay a flat rate to park at any property, Caesars guests will have to pay extra if they move their cars to a different Caesars property.” Ouch. I’m sure Marc at EdgeVegas will explain it in an upcoming article.

And now for the stories/articles we brought you last week.

32. On The Vegas Bright Podcast Episode 31: We did Vegas news and Vinnie did “Vegas Gone By” The Dunes Hotel and Casino.

33. Bonde4ever shares her list of “Vegas Don’ts”

34. Michael James Eats at EAT in Downtown Las Vegas.

35.  Sammasseur gets the skinny from Jeff Timmons on a new residency/nightclub concept for “Strip”.

36. Kelly Lamrock revisits Vegas Counter Service Goodness.

37. New Hotel, Possible New (small) Casino for Golden Palm Site.

And that’s it for this week’s articles and news, we’ll see you next week!

[Cover photo: Michael James]