I grew up with gambling around me and when I turned 21 that turned into a passion for casinos. During my first visit to Resorts in Atlantic City, the Big 6 Wheel paid me handsomely when a Wild landed after a few minutes. I was hooked on legal gambling even though I didn’t play the wheel much after I learned more about the game.

Fast forward and I live in Las Vegas. Even though I live 20 minutes away from the Vegas Strip there are plenty of casinos nearby. Casinos are more than just a place to gamble today. I can play slot machines and video poker across the street at the bar, gas station down the street or the supermarket around the corner. Enter the week in Las Vegas news…

Nevada Gaming Commission Approves Sale Of Stratosphere

Golden Entertainment should become the owner of the Stratosphere and three other casinos very soon. Golden Entertainment owns a variety of taverns all over the state. Sometimes residents want the full casino experience and other times they just want to grab a couple of drinks and play video poker or keno.

There are potentially a lot of cross-promotional opportunities that could appeal to locals and tourists alike. I’m looking forward to seeing how Golden Entertainment their integrates taverns, Las Vegas casinos, and a Laughlin casino.

SLS Players Club Earning Period Soon

I got a new players club card the other day at SLS Las Vegas. I was meeting a friend to watch football and have lunch at Umami Burger. The new version of the Club 52 card has an expiration date of 11/30. The players club rules say that there are two earnings periods for tier credits from June 1 through November 30 and December 1 through May 1.

This reminded me that the sale of SLS Las Vegas should be closing sometime in the fourth quarter. Coincidence? Maybe. Whatever the specific timeframe for new ownership is I’d just like to see a casino operator on the Vegas Strip offers fun, value and good gambling. It seems as if that’s becoming more difficult to come by every day.

Quick Hits:

These are useful news bites to know about Las Vegas from the past week. I don’t have much more to offer beyond the articles.

• Bollards are finally being installed on the sidewalk on the Vegas Strip. Read more here.
• Las Vegas loves an Elvis! Wynn is bringing Elvis Costello for his first “residency” in February and March 2018. Read more here.
• Giada at The Cromwell will no longer serve breakfast or lunch. Twitter seemed taken aback by this news. Read more here.
• Ice skating will return to the Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan beginning on November 20. Read more here.
• The Prince tribute show, Purple Reign, is moving to the Tropicana. Shows begin in November. Read more here.
• The Caesars blog is “Celebrating 80 Years of Harrah’s.” Read some interesting information about the man and the company here.

Sports News

Celtics And Rockets Off The Board At Caesars and Golden Nugget

Sports teams are taken off the betting board when a casino operator or major executive is also involved with a team. Gary Loveman is still with Caesars Entertainment and is still a partial owner of the Boston Celtics. You can’t wager on Celtics games at any Caesars sports book in Nevada. This includes Las Vegas, Laughlin, Reno, and the new sports wagering app.

You may remember that Golden Nugget owner, Tilman Fertitta, purchased the Houston Rockets earlier this year. You can no longer wager on the Rockets at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, Laughlin or via their sports wagering app.

WNBA Team Purchased By MGM Resorts

This escalated quickly. Just a few days after a rumor that the San Antonio Stars might be moving to Las Vegas a deal was confirmed. The Las Vegas Review-Journal revealed that the buyer was MGM Resorts International. The team will be moving to Las Vegas and begin to play in the 2018 season. The team (Las Vegas Stars?) will play at Mandalay Bay, the smallest of the MGM Resorts International arenas.

You can wager on WNBA games in Las Vegas. It should be safe assume that you won’t be able to wager on this team or whoever they’re playing at MGM Resorts properties (see previous note). The league is considered a soft market with few bettors. The attention of a team in Las Vegas should have sports book operators paying closer attention to the games next year. Perhaps this will no longer be a soft market.

Related: Mandalay Bay won’t rent the suite on the 32nd floor where the shooter recently stayed. Read more here.

Pizza Rock Celebrates Four Years

Earlier this week I saw a post on Vital Vegas that Pizza Rock in downtown Las Vegas celebrated its fourth anniversary. This is one of my favorite restaurants in the area and usually the gateway to a day and night in downtown Las Vegas.

Pizza Rock Happy Hour(s) sometimes serves as the entry and exit point for a few hours in downtown Las Vegas if I’m at home or staying on the Vegas Strip. I’m not going to tell you how to plan a vacation but this has been enjoyed by many friends who prefer staying on the Vegas Strip but are open to a little time in “Old Vegas.”

File Under: I’ll Believe It When I See Something

• The Oakland Raiders plan on breaking ground on their Las Vegas stadium near Mandalay Bay on November 13. All Net Arena broke ground in 2014. Resorts World Las Vegas broke ground in May of 2015. Forgive me if I don’t show too much excitement for a groundbreaking ceremony. Read more here.
• Speaking of Resorts World, I can swear I saw a new pile of dirt the other day. Anyway, they announced that they hired a company to do something. Maybe we’ll see construction begin someday. Read more here.
• Construction at All Net Arena has been non-existent for years. They were just approved for newly expanded plans. Nothing from nothing means nothing. Maybe construction will actually begin. Read more here.

Station Casinos Expanding Cardless Connect For Boarding Pass Players Club

Earlier this year Station Casinos started testing IGT’s Cardless Connect at Barley’s. The test must have been successful because they’re expanding to two more casinos by the end of the year. The two casinos for 2017 haven’t been revealed yet but should be soon. Additional Station Casinos properties will begin using Cardless Connect in 2018.

Station Casinos will be the first casino operator in Las Vegas to roll out mobile access to players club cards. This is a sweet benefit for video poker and slot machine players who won’t have to worry finding a players club card. However, table game players will still need to use their physical cards.

• Station Casinos has a blog post about how to use Cardless Connect.
• Here’s the IGT product page for Cardless Connect.
• You can read the full press release about Station Casinos and Cardless Connect for more information.

The technology is great and I expect that we’ll see this and similar wireless players card technology roll out at other casinos over the next few years. Consider MGM Resorts International if you’re looking for the next casino operator to use the technology. They’ve been testing Cardless Connect at MGM Grand in Detroit.

Introducing ZorkFest – December 2017 in Atlantic City

Read more about the vision behind this passion project. Also, special thanks to 360Vegas (Listen episode 245 – 28 minute mark), Faces and Aces Las Vegas (Listen HERE), and Cousin Vito (Listen episode 57) for mentions on their podcasts. Be sure to also check out the kind words by Pizza in Motion about ZorkFest.

We expect there to be lots of good surprises at ZorkFest, including the latest news that Marc Meltzer will be a special guest at ZorkFest. Register Today!

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