Omicron variant running rampant The Nevada Gaming Control Board issued a notice to its licensees emphasizing that they must comply with Governor Steve Sisolak’s Emergency Directive 045 regarding mask wearing. The Directive, originally issued in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold in the United States, essentially says that the state will… Read more »
The landscape – and skyline – of Las Vegas will soon change, as MGM Resorts International has agreed to sell the operations of The Mirage Hotel & Casino to Hard Rock International for $1.075 billion in cash. VICI Properties, Inc. owns the property and will lease it to Hard Rock; terms of that agreement were… Read more »
Diversification plans The landscape of the Las Vegas Strip will continue to change, as MGM Resorts International has said it is looking to sell The Mirage. During the company’s quarterly conference call on Wednesday, CEO Bill Hornbuckle said that the company feels it has enough exposure on The Strip. “As such, we are currently in… Read more »
After the debacle that was the 2020 “World Series of Poker” (first held online then having a “Main Event” in a half-assed live manner), EVERYONE has to be happy that the 2021 event is making its comeback. Earlier this year Caesars Entertainment, WSOP officials and the poker world breathed a sigh of relief that the… Read more »
Taking cue from public health department The Venetian, Palazzo, and Sands Expo & Convention Center are re-instituting face mask requirements for employees following new recommendations from the Southern Nevada Health District. All three properties are owned and operated by Las Vegas Sands Corp., though they will soon be under new ownership after VICI Properties and… Read more »
Breaking ten tables Though Las Vegas is close to getting “back to normal” after being a ghost town for much of last year, not everything is all sunshine and rainbows. To wit: the Planet Hollywood Resort poker room is set to close on July 11. Less than week for the room’s fans to get in… Read more »
Iconic casino gets its due The Plaza Hotel & Casino has been a focal point of downtown Las Vegas for 50 years. If you have ever been downtown, you can’t miss it, as it looms large at the end of Fremont Street, as if looking over all of its children. On Tuesday, the Nevada Preservation… Read more »
MGM got its employees vaccinated With millions of COVID-19 vaccines getting administered every day in the United States, the pandemic statistics are moving in the right direction. Because of this, casinos have gradually been upping their customer capacities. Things are really starting to accelerate in Nevada, as MGM received permission from the Nevada Gaming Control… Read more »
Palms was for the cool kids The wheeling and dealing in the casino industry continues as Red Rock Resorts announced that its subsidiary, Station Casinos LLC, has sold the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians for $650 million. The sale is an all-cash deal. If the deal… Read more »
Hotel had been closed mid-week Though COVID-19 vaccines are getting into arms at a rapid pace now, it is still going to be a while before things are back to normal in the United States. Things are definitely starting to feel a little more normal, though, as people are starting to return to some of… Read more »
Nine month wait All of Caesars Entertainment’s Las Vegas properties have now reopened, as the last holdout, the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino finally welcomed back guests on Tuesday, December 22 and 10:00am. The casino will be open around the clock, while the hotel will only be open Thursdays through Mondays. Unlike many casinos in… Read more »
Capacity cut in half again As daily new cases of COVID-19, as well as hospitalizations and deaths resulting from the virus, continue skyrocket around the country, Nevada casinos are facing a new round of restrictions. Beginning a minute after midnight on Tuesday, casinos are required to drop their capacity limits from 50 percent to 25… Read more »
Forever dark According to a report from CardsChat, three MGM properties on the Strip – the Mirage, Excalibur, and Mandalay Bay – are closing their poker rooms for good. All of the card rooms have been closed since mid-March, when casinos in Nevada were ordered to shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Casinos were… Read more »
Circa, the first casino built from the ground-up in downtown Las Vegas in forty years, officially opened just after midnight on Wednesday. From all first-hand reports at the invitation-only celebration, the new, glitzy gambling beacon is a glamorous venue that looks like it belongs on Strip. “I’m feeling great,” Circa owner Derek Stevens told the… Read more »
If you are planning on playing poker at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas starting next week, you will need to change course slightly and head next door to the Wynn. Wynn Las Vegas, the company that owns both casinos, announced on Tuesday that Encore is will only be a part-time property beginning Monday. Its poker… Read more »
The Fremont Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas is in hot water with state regulators for a November 2019 incident in which security held a woman in custody for something it turned out she didn’t do. The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) saw enough evidence of wrongdoing to file a four-count complaint against Fremont’s… Read more »
Two events out of the gate From the “I’m not so sure this is the best idea” files, the Venetian Poker Room has embarked upon Las Vegas’ first live poker tournament series during the COVID-19 pandemic. The DeepStack Showdown kicked off on Monday, September 7 and will run through Sunday, September 27. It features 32… Read more »
Closed businesses = fewer coins in circulation When I was in middle school, around seventh or eighth grade, my family and I took a road trip to South Dakota. I know, it sounds weird, but it was cool: Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, Wall Drug, the Badlands, and we were even there during the Sturgis… Read more »
Demand must be there first Station Casinos still has not opened some of its Nevada casinos. It may never. In a second quarter earnings call this week, Frank Fertitta III, the CEO of Station’s parent company, Red Rock Resorts, said that it is possible that Fiesta Henderson, the Palms, Fiesta Rancho, and Texas Station might… Read more »
Cubicle poker Station Casinos has reopened three of its Las Vegas-area poker rooms. All three – Red Rock Resort, Boulder Station, and Santa Fe Station – opened at 9:00am on Monday and will remain open around the clock. They are all decent-sized poker rooms, as well, which bodes well for those who want to get… Read more »
The Tropicana was the first place I ever stayed in Las Vegas. It was a decent place with a cozy casino floor, though my lasting memory of it was that somehow I hurt my leg when I was visiting, so the walk to the hotel tower after a long day of being a good tourist… Read more »
Fresh, recycled air? One of the nice things about poker is that smoking is not permitted in most live poker rooms. So if the time you spend in a casino is spent playing poker, you can breathe easy (relatively, considering you are still in a casino huddled with poker players). But the rest of the… Read more »
If there is one thing that we need in the current climate, it is a moment to laugh. At this time of the year, the World Series of Poker – heck, the Championship Event of the World Series of Poker – would be in full swing at this time, working its way to the final… Read more »
Mask use is mandatory at casinos With COVID-19 cases continuing to escalate in the United States, casino operators appear to be taking at least one safety measure very seriously. Caesars, Las Vegas Sands, and MGM Resorts International have all reportedly told their employees to wear protective face masks or find somewhere else to work. According… Read more »
Casinos allegedly skirting pandemic regulations As COVID-19 cases rise dramatically across the United States, taking proper care to be clean and safe is of the utmost importance. The Culinary Local 226 union in Las Vegas does not believe some casino properties are being responsible in the face of the health crisis and have sued several… Read more »
