Before diving into the various Vegas News items over the past couple of weeks, I’m curious if anyone in the TravelZork fam took advantage of the big 5-Day Sale by the LVCVA. The deals weren’t great to me, and I’m curious if anything stood out to anyone.
On a related note, the casino earnings season starts in a few weeks. I’m usually following these calls for news about what the companies are doing in Las Vegas. This time I’m as interested in how the accounting magic and financial side of the tourism slip.
I wrote about the growing divide between the luxury travel and value seekers based on the results from the past few quarters. That hasn’t been published yet, but I think we’ll see more of the same.
Let’s get to the latest Vegas News!
Bally’s shared a rendering for the integrated casino resort that would replace Tropicana and anchor the Las Vegas A’s baseball stadium. The Indy has info in the tweet above, and you can read the press release here.
Unrelated to Vegas, Bally’s did some financing this week. Read the mambo jumbo here.
Last Bally’s note, the company made the final four for a New York City casino license. I think a casino near my high school is unlikely, but that’s not my beat. Read more here.
While on the topic of this complex, the A’s applied for building permits. Get the details here.
You can see seven days of construction progress if you’re not clued to the ballpark construction cam. Nothing has changed since I grabbed this the other day.
Morimoto at the MGM Grand is closed for the month.
Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen + Bar at the Linq has a similar $20 brunch that seemed to be popular at his Horseshoe restaurant. See the menu and more here.
Dolly Parton pushed her Caesars Palace residency to next year. Get the new dates and details here.
Nikki Glaser and David Spade are moving their residency from The V to Caesars Palace next year. See dates and ticket info here.
While I’m on comedy, John Mulaney is performing at Park MGM on Oct. 11. The venue holds about 6,400 people. The tour will be playing venues as large as Wrigley Field next year. This is why so many shows in Las Vegas are special. Smaller venues are much more fun – especially for comedy.
The free weekend festival Neon City is back during the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend in November. The lineup is much better than last year. See below and read more here.
Who said casinos with themes are gone?! Excalibur, AKA the Dirty Castle, is getting a tiki bar later this month. Going from medieval times to tiki sounds like…See the tweet here.
Concours is returning to Wynn on Oct. 30. This event looks rad, even though I’m not a car person. Get the details here.
Boyd Gaming had a security breach. Read about it here and see why people are suing here.
Rio has $3 craps now. Read more here.
The Mandalay Bay Poker room moved back to its space by the sportsbook. See the tweet here.
Green Valley Ranch is reopening its poker room. Get the details here.
I’m not necessarily a fan of ETGs, but I love the marketing behind Golden Gate’s casino change. See below.
Speaking of craps and ETGs, I recently learned that the individual Interblock game at Golden Gate and many more casinos “features dice that bounce higher depending on how firmly players hit the bash button.” I’m told this isn’t new and that some casinos have turned off this feature.
Unrelated to the game, Diplo is performing for free downtown later this month. Get the details here.
The Linq is adding a high-limit room. See the tweet here.
I’m not sure this has any impact on anyone or anything, but the Caesars Palace Villas are now AAA Five Diamond. Read about it here.
Did you know there are Forbes and AAA-rated casinos off the Strip? I did a roundup about how well these properties are doing a few weeks ago. Going back to the earnings info at the top, I expect to hear good things from the local casino operators again. Read about it here.
This has been a long time coming, but Bluberi Gaming can finally release games in Nevada. Learn more about the company here.
Most of their games are cartoony, but The Bettor Life has video of one of the most interesting slots I’ve seen in a while
Look for Hello Kitty if you’re in town for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Read about it here.
Resorts World now has a Drag Brunch. Get the details on this and other dining news for the casino here.
You can ride in a Fireball limo for free later this month. Would you do it? See below and get the dates and details here.
Another week, another restaurant nobody cared about is closing. This time it’s Emmitt Smith’s steakhouse at the Fashion Show Mall. Read more here.
Not sure why, but I think Palms partnering with a rodeo team ahead of the championships is fun. Read more here.
G2E is next week, and I haven’t seen too many interesting concepts or new technology. I also noticed that there are almost no branded slot machines. Since I’ve been under the weather, I may have missed a lot of news, but that seems unlikely. I’ve been sharing old games on the socials, and people definitely miss them. I’ll see if anyone is willing to share details beyond “they cost too much.”
IGT shared details of what to expect at the expo. Read more here.
My longtime contact at IGT knows I’m a VP guy and told me there would be some new games on display. Not sure I’m into this concept, but I’ll check it out.
Marc grew up on the mean streets of the South Bronx. He's the rare combination of Yankees and Jets fan which explains his often contrarian point of view. He learned about gambling at a young age working down the street from a bookie who took action on anything from the mainstream sports to the last three digits of the purse for certain horse races. Yeah, that's a thing. Today Marc is a freelance writer and social media consultant which allows him to work anywhere there's a wifi signal. This allows him to work from the sportsbook at Red Rock Resort or the food court at The Venetian where you’ll find fast and free wifi. Writing about steak, booze, gambling and Las Vegas is a tough job but somebody has to do it.