Sometimes there’s big news in Las Vegas. Then again, sometimes there’s little news in Las Vegas (remember last week?). This week is sort of in the middle. There’s a lot of interesting Vegas News but nothing is a big bombshell.

In order to get to everything, we’ll take a brief look at most of the news. There will be a lot of quick hits this week so you can read the original source. It’s no fun just copying and pasting all of the work done by others. 

Having said that, let’s start the Vegas News with our favorite Las Vegas based soap opera.

“As Caesars Turns” – Vegas News

This episode of “As Caesars Turns” looks at the merging of Eldorado Resorts and Caesars Entertainment. Earlier this week, Eldorado Resorts entered into an agreement to sell Isle of Capri Casino in Kansas City, Missouri and Lady Luck Casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi to Twin River Worldwide Holdings.

Eldorado should continue to sell properties in markets where they and Caesars both have casinos. You can see a map of all properties from both companies on page 6 of the merger presentation. This is a national story but all roads lead to Las Vegas…

When the news of the pending merger of Caesars and Eldorado broke we noted that Eldorado CEO Tom Reeg mentioned they would sell at least one Las Vegas casino. The Las Vegas Review-Journal spoke with a casino industry consultant about which property/properties might be sold.

He thinks Flamingo could be sold but I don’t see that happening. The Caesars Forum Conference Center is being built within walking distance of Flamingo. That will make rooms easy to sell at a higher rate. The Flamingo is also physically connected to The Linq. It would be strange for new Caesars to sell access to all that foot traffic to another company. 

There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of potential buyers of Caesars properties. We’ve previously mentioned that Tilman Fertitta (Golden Nugget) and Phil Ruffin (Treasure Island) are interested. Now a gaming industry analyst tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Penn National Gaming (Tropicana, M Resort), Boyd Gaming (Fremont, Suncoast, etc.), and some smaller casino operators could be interested in the properties. It would be interesting if there was a bidding war for any Caesars properties but that could happen if there are this many interested parties.

SYNERGIES – Eldorado and Caesars

One thing that I think Caesars customers will really notice when Eldorado takes over is the “synergies” between the companies. Eldorado originally planned to cut $500 million in expenses but that might an underestimate.

Eldorado is a small nimble company that does a lot with a little. On the other hand, Caesars does a little with a lot and there could be more expenses that could be cut than originally expected. It wouldn’t be surprising to me if there are a lot more “synergies” than they realize. You can read more thoughts about that here.

MGM Resorts Increasing Resort Fees At Three Hotels

Earlier this week TravelVegas received a note that MGM Resorts was raising resort fees by $6 at three hotels – Aria, Bellagio, and Vdara. Here’s a comparison between the old and new fees:

Aria 

• Old resort fee: $39 
• New resort fee: $45 
• Total new resort fee after taxes: $51.02 

Bellagio 

• Old resort fee: $39 
• New resort fee: $45 
• Total new resort fee after taxes: $51.02 

Vdara 

• Old resort fee: $39 
• New resort fee: $45 
• Total new resort fee after taxes: $51.02 

The other remaining hotels have the same resort fees. Here’s our handy guide to Vegas Strip resort and parking fees.

Related to resort fees: Marriott is being sued because of deceptive resort fees. You can read about it here.

Related to MGM Resorts: They will report earnings on July 25. You see specifics here if you’d like to listen to the earnings call. I’m not sure what to expect from the call but I’m hoping for information on the future of their sports betting venture called Roar Digital.

Here’s an unadvertised nugget since we’re talking about MGM Resorts and sports betting. The Moneyline sportsbook at Park MGM is closed for about two weeks. This is a slow time of the year for sports. This is a good time to close for cleaning and any renovations that might be necessary for football season.

If you don’t follow sports betting closely, there is more money is bet on football in Nevada than all other sports combined. 

Headline: Palms Opens The Spa and The Salon at Palms

This isn’t my scene so I don’t have anything to offer here. There’s one thing that stands out from the press release for the new spa at Palms Casino Resort. The subheading reads: “The Salon Offers Priscilla Valles’ Services in Las Vegas for the First Time Plus Treatments at The Spa focused on Zodiac Astrology, including Tarot Card Readings and Mercury in Retrograde”

I’ve never heard of this kind of spa treatment. This seems to be interesting and different enough to highlight for those that might be interested. 

This is Wynnteresting 

Wynn Resorts held its Investor Day this week. They confirmed some information about Wynn Las Vegas they’ve been teasing for awhile and revealed something entirely new.

Wynn Las Vegas will be opening three restaurants next year. The newest addition is a restaurant from chef Thomas Keller. This will replace Country Club when it opens in the fall of 2020. 

Wynn Golf Club will re-open on October 11. The press release says the new course will offer “significant elevation changes.” Wynn is taking reservations now but you have to call. Green fees should remain at $500 or higher. You can find more information on the website.

The most exciting news for Las Vegas from the Investor Day presentation is that they will be renovating the rooms at Wynn Las Vegas. Not everyone will enjoy golf or the new restaurants but everyone staying at Wynn Las Vegas will appreciate new rooms. I look forward to checking out a room sometime in the future. 

There’s a lot of Wynn information that’s outside of Las Vegas in the Investor Day presentation if you’re into that. I’m skipping all of it since there’s so much in Las Vegas to get to.

Quick Hits

Oh man, there’s so much more news and rumors in and around Las Vegas this week that I want to make sure you see it all. Here’s the rest of the good stuff in quick bites:

• Vital Vegas has some info about Avengers, Transformers and Jurassic World at Treasure Island. Read more here.
• AEG will manage The Joint at the Hard Rock/Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Read more here.
• A new food hall (similar to Block 16 at Cosmopolitan) could be coming to Las Vegas and I’m all about it. Read more here.
• SLS/Sahara is getting a new show called Blanc de Blanc. Read more here.
• SLS/Sahara will have a poker room. See another great rendering here.
• The Neon Museum now has an app for self-guided tours. Read more here. 
• The Neon Boneyard has fully restored the famous Ugly Duckling sign. See pics and more info here.
• This coulda been me if I played 3 Card Poker during my vacation on the Vegas Strip. Maybe. Oh well, some dude won almost $1.5 million at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. Read more here. 
• Hello Kitty Cafe is open at The Park. Read more here. 
• The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Las Vegas will re-open after renovations in September. Mr. Nicole Kidman will perform. Read more here.
• Las Vegas has some fun ideas for the NFL Draft next year. Nothing is confirmed but shutting down the Strip to make picks or making selections inside the Bellagio fountains could be fun. Read more here.
• BBQ and Beer at The Palazzo sound good to me. Read more here.
• Breaking news: drug stores on the Vegas Strip make a lot of money. Read more here.
• A new soccer tournament featuring teams from Liga MX and MLS is coming to Las Vegas this year. Read more here.

Bill Simmons Finally Hit The Breaking Point In Las Vegas

I’ve read Bill Simmons work for years and nothing touched me like his Las Vegas columns (this, this, and this for examples). They described everything my friends and I loved about Las Vegas in the early 2000s. They’re so long that it would take multiple lunch breaks to read each post.

We’re now both older and have different opinions on the Vegas experience. Simmons no longer writes but here’s a snippet from one of his recent podcasts after a trip to Las Vegas.

We’ve all been here. It seems as though Simmons reached the point with gambling on the Vegas Strip that I hit 3 or 4 years ago. It’s a bummer when this finally hits you. It took me a full year to get over this. I now mostly play Pai Gow Poker when I’m on the Vegas Strip. It was an easy change since I don’t love blackjack.

Many of us have hit this point that Simmons describes. It will be interesting to see where things go from here. It appears as though his website and podcast network has a deal with Caesars. It’s unlikely but maybe Caesars will offer more value options since someone with such large reach (millions) is speaking out about them in a less than flattering manner. 

Maybe Simmons will explore other parts of Las Vegas to find value. I know of a new casino opening in downtown Las Vegas next year that will deal 3:2 blackjack and will have multiple broadcast studios inside of a massive sports book. The casino company also has a fantastic steakhouse at a different property that Simmons and his crew would love.

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