BlackJet, a company developed by the same owners of the luxury taxi service Uber, has rolled out an iPhone application that allows travelers to book a private jet in 10 clicks.
What will casinos look like in 2033, and will they still be fabulous?
Thursday, July 11, 2013
It’s 8 p.m. July 11, 2033. Hot and getting hotter. There’s a high of 117 outside McCarran International Airport, and you’re fighting the odd desire to crack an egg over the asphalt, Tweetagram it. You can see the Strip through the glass window at arrivals. It looks roughly the same as you remember—the iconic shapes of the Luxor, Paris and Wynn still cutting through the sky—but you’ve heard a lot has changed since your last visit. “You want in?” your girlfriend asks, sitting in a semicircle of friends. She’s put together a Texas hold ’em table on her tablet, connected to a pack of players in a hotel room at Caesars Palace.
Barry Becker looked forward to the weekends, when he’d drive up to Prospect Springs Ranch and unwind. As owner of the 40-acre mountainside pad, the 68-year-old businessman visited the ranch every Saturday to make sure the place looked nice.
Little action is taking place at the construction site for SkyVue, a 500-foot observation wheel and shopping-dining plaza being built across the street from Mandalay Bay. Construction workers rarely, if ever, are there. No changes have been made to the structure in months. The most noticeable movement at the site are dust clouds blowing between two towering columns that stand untouched.
Affinity Gaming officials activated the new Silver Sevens neon sign, marking the completion of a $5 million, 18-month renovation and official name change for the former Terrible’s Hotel and Casino.
A lot has changed since Cirque du Soleil emerged on the international entertainment scene in 1984 from a small Canadian village. The company has spent the past three decades bringing high-flying acrobatics to cities across the world, building a net worth of more than $2 billion and massive legion of fans.
Serving as a general counsel attorney for a major gaming company might be one of the most demanding jobs in the world. From lawsuits to labor strikes and a lagging economy, the job demands thick skin and endless endurance. Tim Donovan and Brian Larson are two of the best.
An outraged poker icon wants his fellow players to stand up against casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s crusade against Internet gambling. Longtime poker insider Nolan Dalla has called for a five-day boycott of all poker playing at the Venetian.
Caesars Entertainment Corp. has severed its business relationship with Paula Deen, the embattled celebrity chef who admitted making racial slurs in the past. The resort giant plans to rebrand Deen’s restaurants later this year.
Marybel Batjer, Caesars Entertainment Corp. vice president of public policy and corporate social responsibility, is leaving her job to work for Gov. Edmund Brown Jr. in California.
The Saucier Business Trust, owned by the wife of Galaxy Gaming Inc. CEO Robert Saucier, has filed bankruptcy to protect itself from a foreclosure brought on by Bank of America. The May 2 filing claims the trust had less than $50,000 in assets against nearly $2 million in debts.
Bally’s Las Vegas plans to renovate 756 rooms in its South Tower and rename it the Jubilee Tower, named after the longest-running burlesque act in Las Vegas and slated to welcome its first guests in late summer.
It was a whopper weekend workout. Led by a cast of celebrity fitness trainers, thousands of gym rats took part this morning in a live workout on the back lot of the MGM Grand.
Andy Choy, CEO of the Riviera, has been fired, and Noah Acres, senior vice president of gaming, has resigned, a source with knowledge of the company’s reorganization said.
Clark County commissioners have green-lighted plans for a new 26-story hotel-casino on Flamingo Road. Currently home of the Fortune Hotel & Suites just west of Paradise Road, the plot of land between the Tuscany and the recently fire-damaged Key Largo could be transformed into The Dynasty Hotel & Casino as soon as 2015. While the property has never offered gaming in the past, the county’s approval entered Las Vegas Lucky Investments LLC into to the state-approved Gaming Enterprise District, allowing it to apply for a gaming license and open a 100,000-square-foot casino.
Clark County commissioners unanimously approved a plan from the Genting Group to build two preview exhibits on the site of the forthcoming Resorts World Las Vegas.
In a 24-hour town where nonstop action on the Strip dictates the pace of business, most resort operators don’t spend much time trying to draw vacationers to unopened properties.
Wet ‘n’ Wild Las Vegas has extended its operating hours. Beginning this Friday and Saturday, and every Friday and Saturday thereafter, the park will open at 10 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. The park previously closed at 8 p.m. on those nights.
AEG and MGM Resorts International have ironed out the details of a deal to build a $350 million arena behind the Monte Carlo and New York-New York resorts. The 20,000-seat arena will stretch from Las Vegas Boulevard to Frank Sinatra Drive.
A Florida roller coaster company wants to build a towering roller coaster in Las Vegas, but the project has a long way to go before becoming a reality. US Thrill Rides LLC filed an application in April with the Federal Aviation Administration to build a 650-foot-tall observation deck and roller coaster called the Polercoaster. The FAA is reviewing the application, agency spokesman Ian Gregor said.
A sea of red-shirted picketers collectively looked up from Las Vegas Boulevard and shook their fingers at the Cosmopolitan. "Shame on you!" they yelled. "Shame on you!"
Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race will soon have a new name: the Boyd Gaming 300. Previously named the Sam’s Town 300 — a tribute to a Boyd Gaming property — the race has been sponsored by the gaming powerhouse since 1997 and will carry the new name beginning in 2014, the Speedway announced this week.
After months of preparation and several setbacks, Krave Massive finally has arrived. The club welcomes its first guests Saturday night. Owner Kelly Murphy couldn't be more relieved. Planning the grand opening of the world’s largest gay club in a new downtown location hasn’t allowed him much sleep over the past year.
Golden Nugget officials say there’s a valid reason behind their decision to add a $5 nightly fee to customers' bills. The casino-resort is calling the charge a "Fremont Street Experience fee." Vice President of Marketing Amy Chasey said it is necessary to offset growing operational costs. But others in the industry say calling the charge an entertainment fee is disingenuous.
The Golden Nugget, an anchor of downtown Las Vegas, plans to start July 1 charging hotel guests $5 a night for the Fremont Street Experience. “It’s not a resort fee,” said Tiffany Hauck, the Golden Nugget’s public relations manger.
A new, pool-friendly beer bottle has just landed in Las Vegas. Anheuser-Busch has released an 11.5-ounce reclosable aluminum bottle at nightclubs and pools throughout the city. Bud Light Platinum will be the first beer delivered in the new aluminum bottle.
Anyone who has parked in a casino garage has probably seen them: thousands of dirty shoe prints stamped onto garage ceilings and support beams. Almost all of the Strip properties display them. The prints come in all shapes and sizes and feature varying degrees of darkness. Some suggest the stamper used a bare foot. Almost all of the Strip properties display them.
For the second time since Caesars Entertainment rolled out a promotion that favors losing poker hands, a player at Planet Hollywood has triggered a six-figure jackpot.
Zombies are lurching toward Las Vegas — and they’re seeking slot players. Australian-based gaming manufacturer Aristocrat has inked a licensing agreement with cable channel AMC to develop a slot machine based on the hit show “The Walking Dead.” The company plans to release the title in early fall to coincide with the show’s highly-anticipated fourth season.
Walk past the Monte Carlo’s northern plaza entrance, and you’ll notice a big change: its face is missing. Surrounded by a vinyl-covered chain-link fence, construction crews have started dismantling the Monte Carlo’s European facade and famed fountain. The work is part of the first phase of MGM Resorts International’s $100 million plan to tidy up the crowded walkway between the Monte Carlo and New York-New York.
Every city has shoe stores, gas stations and supermarkets. But how about shops dedicated to showgirl feathers, gamblers' books and stripper poles? Those are more rare. Not here. Explore the city’s plazas and strip malls and you’ll find stores that cater uniquely to a Las Vegas crowd. Selling stripper stages and card decks, these are some of the most Las Vegas-centric shops around:
The Culinary Union is taking another crack at the Cosmopolitan. A major demonstration has been slated for June 14, when hundreds of members plan to picket outside the Strip resort.
Guy Fieri is setting up shop in Las Vegas. The UNLV grad turned restaurateur, chef and TV host will open his first Las Vegas restaurant in late 2013 at The Quad Resort & Casino.
Talk about surprises. After a recent "Sirens of TI" show, Ally and Tally Costa will have one to talk about for years. The little girls first watched the Sirens bring down a pirate ship with supernatural powers, surrounded by explosions of fire and water, bursts of song and dance. "Ladies and gentlemen," a siren announced at show's end, "TI is proud to introduce to you and welcome home Capt. John 'Arrow' Costa!"
Ashley Demille's toddler had yet to speak, but the 25-year-old mother had no doubt her daughter was excited to splash around Wet 'n' Wild. "She's just been pointing toward the slides and going "ooooooh," Demille said, standing in line to get into the new water park Monday morning.