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Lasvegasadvisor January 2021 • Vol

Lasvegasadvisor January 2021 • Vol

ANTHONY CURTIS’ LasVegasAdvisor January 2021 • Vol. 38 • Issue 1 $5

HAPPY NEW YEAR Finally! … pg. 1

2021 PROG- RESS REPORT Vegas gets its Mojo back … pgs. 1, 6, 7

MRB 2021 Going mobile … pgs. 2, 14

NOW ON YOUTUBE A whole new way to LVA … pg. 3

BUFFETS IN DANGER Will they come back at all? … pg. 8 Local (702) Toll Free

2021 MEMBER Aliante ++Spa...... 692-7777...... 877-477-7627 Aria...... 590-7111...... 866-359-7757 Arizona Charlie’s Boulder...... 951-5800...... 800-362-4040 REWARDS Arizona Charlie’s Decatur...... 258-5200...... 800-342-2695 Bally’s...... 739-4111...... 877-603-4390 ...... 693-7111...... 888-987-7111 DINING, INCLUDING Binion’s...... 382-1600...... 800-937-6537 “LOCAL CORNER”, DRINKS, ...... 432-7777...... 800-683-7777 ...... 731-7110...... 866-227-5938 ATTRACTIONS, AND California...... 385-1222...... 800-634-6505 Cannery...... 507-5700...... 866-999-4899 GAMBLING Casino Royale (Best Western Plus)...... 737-3500...... 800-854-7666 Circa...... 247-2258...... 833-247-2258 Circus Circus...... 734-0410...... 800-634-3450 Additional Member Rewards Online Cosmopolitan...... 698-7000...... 877-551-7778 ...... 719-5100...... 855-384-7263 offers at LasVegasAdvisor.com. ...... 507-5700...... 866-999-4899 ...... 385-5200...... 800-634-6703 Ellis Island (Super 8)...... 733-8901...... 800-800-8000 *The 2021 LVA Member Rewards book is avail- Encore...... 770-7100...... 877-321-9966 Excalibur...... 597-7777...... 800-937-7777 able ONLY with a paid one-year membership to ...... 558-7000...... 888-899-7770 the Advisor newsletter. No exceptions. ...... 631-7000...... 800-731-7333 Flamingo...... 733-3111...... 800-732-2111 ...... 385-4011...... 800-634-6045 Fremont...... 385-3232...... 800-634-6460 Gold Coast...... 367-7111...... 800-331-5334 Golden Gate...... 385-1906...... 800-426-1906 MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS: Golden Nugget...... 385-7111...... 844-468-4438 ...... 617-7777...... 866-782-9487 FULL MEMBERSHIP: Includes 12 monthly is- Harrah’s...... 369-5000...... 800-392-9002 sues of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter, mailed LINQ, The...... 731-3311...... 866-328-1888 Longhorn (Super 8)...... 435-9170...... 800-800-8000 first-class; the LVA Member Rewards book*; Luxor...... 262-4000...... 800-288-1000 plus 365 days of access to our website: ...... 797-1000...... 877-673-7678 Main Street Station...... 387-1896...... 800-713-8933 www.LasVegasAdvisor.com. ...... 632-7777...... 877-632-7800 MGM Grand...... 891-1111...... 800-929-1111 U.S. Membership $50: (Includes shipping of Mirage...... 791-7111...... 800-627-6667 New York-New York...... 740-6969...... 800-693-6763 newsletter. Member Rewards book is shipped NoMad...... 730-7000...... 888-706-6623 at an additional $3.50, or can be picked up at Orleans...... 365-7111...... 800-675-3267 our office any day after the first business day of OYO...... 739-9000...... 866-584-6687 ...... 367-2411...... 800-634-3101 the year.) Palazzo...... 607-7777...... 866-263-3001 Palms...... 942-7777...... 866-942-7770 Canadian Membership $60us / Overseas Paris...... 946-7000...... 888-266-5687 Membership $70us: (Includes shipping of Park MGM...... 730-7777...... 800-311-8999 Planet Hollywood...... 785-5555...... 866-919-7472 newsletter. Member Rewards book is shipped Plaza...... 386-2110...... 800-634-6575 at an additional $5us to Canada, $7us to Over- Rampart ...... 507-5900...... 877-869-8777 seas, or can be picked up at our office any day Red Rock Resort...... 797-7777...... 866-767-7773 Rio...... 252-7777...... 888-746-7482 after the first business day of the year.) ...... 761-7000...... 855-761-7757 Sam’s Town...... 456-7777...... 800-634-6371 ONLINE MEMBERSHIP $37us: Includes 365 ...... 658-4900...... 866-767-7771 ...... 733-7000...... 800-640-9777 days of access to www.LasVegasAdvisor.com, Silverton...... 263-7777...... 800-588-7711 and the LVA Member Rewards book.* (Member South Point...... 796-7111...... 866-791-7626 LVA Suncoast...... 636-7111...... 877-677-7111 Rewards books can be picked up at the of- Sunset Station...... 547-7777...... 888-786-7389 fice or shipped to your home via coupon service ...... 631-1000...... 800-654-8888 for $3.50 to a U.S. address; $5us to Canadian The Cromwell, The...... 777-3777...... 844-426-2766 the D...... 388-2400...... 800-274-5825 and $7us to Overseas addresses.) ...... 380-7777...... 800-998-6937 Treasure Island (TI)...... 894-7111...... 800-944-7444 SINGLE ISSUE: Call to order—$5us hard copy Tropicana...... 739-2222...... 800-634-4000 (First-class postage included. Current issue un- Tuscany...... 893-8933...... 877-887-2261 ...... 590-2767...... 866-745-7767 less otherwise specified. Member Rewards book Venetian...... 414-1000...... 877-883-6423 is not included.) Waldorf Astoria...... 590-8888...... 800-925-3673 LVA Westin ...... 567-6000 * The Member Rewards book is available ONLY ...... 836-5900...... 800-937-8461 with a paid one-year subscription to the Las Vegas Ad- ...... 732-5111...... 800-732-7117 visor newsletter. No exceptions. Restricted to one per Wild Wild West (Days Inn)...... 740-0000...... 800-777-1514 person and two per household, per year. Wildfire...... 648-3801 ...... 770-7000...... 866-770-7077 January 2021 $5 ANTHONY CURTIS’ LasVegasAdvisor

COUPONOMY by Anthony Curtis Preview 2021—Vegas Resets

While ushering 2020 out the door, I reflected on how this worst of years was at one time touted as the year that so many big things were supposed to happen. Remember that? Resorts World, The Drew, Virgin, the Sphere, Circa, the Convention Center expansion, and Allegiant Stadium, along with a host of smaller projects, were all originally projected to open last year. Amazingly, Circa, Allegiant, and the Convention Center did, but it was a far cry from what was expected. As we entered 2020, there was nary a clue about what was only a few months away. I’m sure some with privileged info were wary of the freight train that became known as COVID-19 head- ing our way, but the rest of us never saw it coming. I don’t have to recap it for you. We all know what happened. But now, what’s next? We titled this year’s Preview “Vegas Resets,” because that’s what’s next. Really, no other prognostications can be made: Las Vegas needs to bring it back in 2021 and that will require a massive reset, involving the return of restaurants, shows, bars, clubs, shopping, and everything else that defines this city. Vegas will get there, but it won’t be quick. Lots of people seem to believe that the switch will suddenly flip at 12:01 on January 1 (even we give it a nod on this issue’s cover). It won’t. It’ll take a few months to even approach some semblance of normalcy, and likely the entire year to reach it. Regardless of when that happens, however, we do have two big events to look forward to in the new year. First is the debut of Virgin Las Vegas. It pushed its opening back from December to an as-yet-undetermined date, but that date should be right around the corner. Bigger yet will be the opening of , the north Strip monster that’s single-handedly forced us to bring back the term “megaresort.” The exact opening date for RWLV is also currently unknown, but it’s expected to be sometime this summer. It’s not a lengthy slate of openings, but it’s a powerful one that should play a big role in the return of the Las Vegas we all remember. I can’t wait! See the complete Report Card and Progress Report on page 6. n continued on next page Couponomy continued … Member Rewards 2021

Nope, I’m not claiming that this is the best Member Rewards Book ever. But guess what? I will say that it might wind up being that by the end of the year. I’ll explain below, but first, here’s an overview of where we stand now. Last year, we had 126 offers in the MRB. This year, we have 64. The book looks about the same, except the offers are two-up on a page as opposed to three-up as usual. At least they’re easier to read. Honestly, I’m not disappointed in the result. More than 60% of what we lost were dining offers, most of which were buffets. There’s not much we can do about that—as of now, there’s one operating buffet and restaurants are closed everywhere. Almost all the rest of the non-renewed offers were shows and attractions. There are still 25 dining offers, a few scattered drinks and attractions, and 33 gambling offers, which, as you’ll see in Gam- bling, are as powerful as they’ve ever been. Not bad, I think. And there’s a kicker. The pandemic had a seriously negative effect on most businesses attached to tourism and LVA is among them. Around the middle of last year, we began to contemplate how Member Rewards would be affected in 2021 and realized that we had to make some moves. We did a few things, but the key decision was to finally develop a functioning mobile-delivery system, one that supports paperless redemption via phone (but also allows offers to be redeemed by traditional methods). We now have that. I won’t explain it in detail here, because we still have a few kinks to work out. But I can tell you that this will open up a lot of new avenues. One of those is the ability to bring back previous offers when they return from the ongoing shutdown. I don’t know how that will pan out, but I can assure you that we’ll approach every buffet and restaurant that resurfaces to see if they want to come back into the program. Same for shows. This platform also gives us the ability to make deals with groups that can’t commit to a full year and to bring in new offers all year long. We already have several in the works. In fact, we could have had 71 MRB offers this year, but six of them will be released as part of Member Rewards Online (MRO). Another move we made was to add room deals to the mix. We’ve included a few room discounts in the past, but not in recent years. If Vegas needs anything right now, it’s gamblers in rooms, so there’s some big-time potential here. We’re negotiating six different room-rate discounts right

Publisher: Anthony Curtis Web Manager: Tanya Maynard Contributing Writers: Jeffrey Compton, Bob LAS Senior Editor: Deke Castleman Research Assistant: Brenda Stewart Dancer, Stewart Ethier, Bob Fuss, Scot Krause, VEGAS Accounting: John Leitner Customer Service: Paula Machado Bradley Peterson, Blair Rodman, Jean Scott ADVISOR Production Manager: Laurie Cabot Shipping/Receiving: Matt Wondolleck LAS VEGAS ADVISOR (ISSN 1064-167X USPS 008602) is published monthly and is available for $50 per year ($60 Canadian; $70 foreign purchasers) and $5 per single issue at 3665 Procyon St., Las Vegas, NV, 89103. Phone: (702) 252-0655 • Fax: (702) 252-0675 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Las Vegas Advisor, 3665 Procyon St., Las Vegas, NV 89103. e-mail: [email protected] • Internet: LasVegasAdvisor.com. All information is current at press time. Listed offerings are subject to change at any time. Huntington Press©2021

2 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • JANUARY 2021 now and you’re gonna like ’em. These deals will be revealed in the next few weeks, with instructions in your MRB about how to access them. So, yes, I’m both satisfied with what we have and optimistic about get- ting more. And soon. If you haven’t gotten a look at the entire list, you can view it on the inside front cover of this issue or in more detail on the Mem- ber Rewards page at LasVegasAdvisor.com. A reminder: Due to COVID delays with the printer, the MRB will not be available on the first business day in January. We’re hoping for Jan. 15 and will begin distributing as soon as they hit the warehouse. n

LVA Comes to YouTube

Something else we decided to do is take our talents to YouTube (apol- ogies to LeBron James). I’ve been asked hundreds of times why I don’t do “Travel Channel” shows anymore. The reason is I’m not asked. That chan- nel and others that I used to appear on frequently have long since gone in a different direction. TV-style Las Vegas information is now delivered by way of videos on YouTube. Lots of them. They come from all kinds of dif- ferent sources. Some are good. Most aren’t. In December, we launched our LVA YouTube channel with me providing two updates from our blog “Vegas and the Virus.” That was just a starting point. We have hundreds of segments planned, all of them based on LVA- style reporting—solid and current information only, with lessons for view- ers. One format, titled “In the Wild,” will take place on location in casinos and bars where we’re playing and restaurants that we’re reviewing. We’ll also bring in many of our authors to participate. Go to youtube.com/c/lasvegasadvisorshow to see the first videos. When you do, be sure to hit the Subscribe button to be alerted to future videos that will cover everything from hot new happy hours to the latest video poker news. n

NEWS

Shutdown—’s “pause” has been extended a month and will now run through January 15, at least. In this mode, the maximum capac- ity at casinos, restaurants, and bars continues to be 25% and the size of public gatherings of all types is restricted. The result has been an increased reduction in availability across the board. is now closed from noon on Mondays to noon on Thursdays; that includes hotel, casino, restaurants, and everything else on the property. MGM Resorts International says that the complete weekday closure shouldn’t extend continued on next page

JANUARY 2021 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 3 News continued … past February, but the policy will be reevaluated as that time approaches. The complete closure of the Mirage is significant, as it’s the first resort to do this since Encore (which continues to be completely closed weekdays). Others, including Park MGM, Mandalay Bay, Planet Hollywood, , and Rio, have closed their on weekdays, though their casinos con- tinue to operate. Casinos that remain completely closed are Palms, Texas Station, Fiesta Rancho, Fiesta Henderson, Main Street Station, Eastside Cannery, and Eldorado. None of them have announced opening dates. At the resorts that are open full time, many restaurants are closed or have reduced hours. And, of course, except for a few small productions, there are almost no shows running (see Entertainment). The situation is similar outside of the casinos, where many restaurants remain closed, or have reduced hours and menus. Bars with kitchens close early all over town and almost all have reduced menus (see Dining). The governor continues to resist ordering the complete casino closures that have been mandated in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Illinois. Circa—The 777-room hotel tower, including the rooftop-lounge Legacy Club, has opened, marking the completion of the resort. Virgin—Virgin Las Vegas is delaying its planned January 15 opening to an as-yet-undetermined date. The resort’s conversion from the Hard Rock is reportedly complete, but COVID uncertainties prompted the decision to delay. Indications are that the postponement won’t be lengthy. Plaza—The Plaza has announced plans to redevelop the building that currently houses the Greyhound bus station, adding new dining, entertain- ment, or retail components. The project will include a pedestrian pathway that leads to , where the Smith Center is located. Eldorado—Boyd Gaming has sold the Eldorado to DeSimone Gaming, which owns Railroad Pass. Located in Henderson, it opened in 1961 as the Wheel Casino, but changed its name a year later to Eldorado when the Boyds bought in, then purchased it outright in 1966. Japan—In April we reported that the target for opening casinos in Japan might be pushed back to 2026. Now that sounds optimistic. The new official timetable cited by the Japanese government is “the second half of the decade.” The second half of which decade wasn’t specified. Statistics—Nevada’s statewide gambling win was down 19.5% in October compared to the same month last year. The Strip win was down 30.2% and downtown fell 22.7%. The numbers sound bad, but they con- tinue to eek up from previous months’ reporting. The Strip continues to bear the brunt of the declines and is down 43.6% for the year. The win was up in all state markets outside of southern Nevada. Visitation was down 49.4%, but up 9% over September. Convention attendance registered 0 for the seventh consecutive month. The hotel

4 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • JANUARY 2021 TOP 10 VALUES 1. Steak Dinner • Ellis Island • 24 hours • $7.99 2. Buffet • South Point • Daily • $9.95-$18.95 The Ellis Island steak dinner 3. Beer • Stage Door • 24 hours • $1 leads off 2021 in its usual spot 4. Breakfast • Arizona Charlie’s • Daily • $5.99 at the top of the Top Ten. It’s 5. Hot Dog • South Point • Daily • $1.25 served 24/7 in the Café, get the 6. Shrimp Cocktail • Fremont • Daily • 99¢ $7.99 price by playing at least 7. Prime Rib • Ellis Island • Daily • $16.99/$26.99 $5 in any slot machine with your 8. Lunch • Planet Hollywood • Daily • $4.99 club card inserted, then down- 9. $1 Blackjack • OYO • Daily • $1.20 loading the required discount coupon from an EI kiosk. If you 10. Room Rates • Binion’s et al • $39 and up don’t want to play, you can get it for $9.99 ($3 off the listed price) just by downloading a coupon from the kiosk that’s available to everyone with a club card. The South Point buffet remains in the #2 spot despite having eliminated breakfast, which raises the lowest price to $14.95 (with a club card) for lunch. The compensating factor is the hard-to-believe reality that SP now has the only active buffet in town (see Dining). Budweiser and Michelob Light in the bottle are $1 at the Stage Door slot house on Flamingo, just east of the Strip (#3); a ¼-pound hot dog and a Bud is $3. The steak or ham & eggs at either Arizona Charlie’s (#4) is served in the Sourdough Cafés for $5.99 when you show your club card, available 24 hours at Decatur and 6 am-mid. weekdays and 24 hours weekends at Boulder. The hot dogs at South Point (#5) are sold from a cart in the sports book from 10 am until they close down the cart around 5 pm. The Fremont’s shrimp cocktail is the last of the easy-to-get 99-centers (#6); it’s served in the Lanai Express snack bar all hours except 7 to 11 am daily. Ellis Island’s potent prime rib tandem (#7) is available 24/7. You won’t get a better prime deal for the price anywhere in town and the humungous double cut stands up to anything you’ll find at twice the price. Everything on the lunch menu is $4.99 at Ocean One (#8) in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood; lunch hours are 11:30 am to 5 pm daily. After making the case last month that the Downtown Grand has the best $1-minimum blackjack game in town, we’ve switched back to OYO (#9), because of reduced table-game hours at DG (see Gambling). The $1.20 listed cost is your expected loss for one hour of play at these stakes. Low occupancy rates result in low room rates (#10), and occu- pancy is recovering slowly (see News); check around before you book. occupancy rate was 46.9%, with 64.2% weekends and 38.6% weekdays; those numbers are not increasing. Airline traffic was down 57%, a slight improvement over previous months. JetBlue and Frontier announced new routes to smaller U.S. cities and Mexico, both beginning in March. continued on page 7

JANUARY 2021 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 5 2020 REPORT CARD Opened Expanded/Renovated Changed Closed Circa Resort1 Downtown Grand12 Park MGM17 Hard Rock29 Allegiant Stadium2 The D13 Cromwell18 Wee Kirk o’ the Heather30 LV Convention Center3 Expo at World Market Center14 Almost Everything19 Brightline31 Wynn Convention Center4 Caesars Palace15 Rainbow Club20 Edge32 Ahern Hotel5 Adventuredome16 Tropicana21 Caesars Forum6 Silver City Plaza22 ESPN Studio7 MGM Grand/Mandalay Bay23 Area 158 Caesars Entertainment24 Harmon Flyover9 Las Vegas Monorail25 Terrible’s Indian Springs10 William Hill26 Downtown Gateway Arches11 Moulin Rouge27 Eldorado Casino 8 2021 PROGRESS REPORT Opening Resorts World33 Hotel Cloé36 McCarran Terminal 138 Virgin Las Vegas34 Plaza37 Pinball Hall of Fame39 Las Vegas Loop35 2021 and BEYOND In Progress On the Drawing Board MSG Sphere40 Atari Hotel-Casino44 Majestic48 Strip Bridges52 The Drew41 Dream Las Vegas45 Atrium49 BleauTech Park53 City Roadwork42 Hard Rock46 Astral50 Ivanpah54 Henderson Event Center43 Hawaiian Marketplace47 Summerlin Hotel51 1. Strip-like megaresort, and first new hotel-casino built downtown since 1980, opened October 28th with world’s largest sports book 2. $1 billion 65,000-seat stadium for the new Las Vegas Raiders completed in July; Raiders home games played there with all seats empty 3. $1 billion expansion that opens onto completed in mid-December 4. $300 million 430,000-square-foot convention center opened in February 5. Defunct Lucky Dragon bought for $36 million by Las Vegas-based Ahern Rentals; opened in February as Ahern Hotel 6. $375 million 550,000-square-foot convention center next to High Roller observation wheel opened on same day as shutdown 7. 6,000-square-foot TV studio producing ESPN sports-betting programming opened in August 8. New-age events center opened in mid-September next to I-15 9. $165 million interchange that extends Harmon west and Valley View north by flying over the railroad tracks 10. Herbst Gaming renovates and opens shuttered casino-minimart in Indian Springs, 40 miles north of downtown; Big Boy eatery replaces diner 11. $6.5 million pair of arches crossing Las Vegas Blvd. at The STRAT with 13,000 LEDs and a big City of Las Vegas sign lit for the first time in mid-November 12. Brand new modern-art-themed 495-room tower almost doubles the Grand’s room total (1,124) 13. Converted showroom into new sports book 14. New 315,000-square-foot trade-show building opened in mid-August 15. $5 million renovation of Bacchanal Buffet, which hasn’t reopened yet 16. Adds NebulaZ, first new thrill ride in seven years 17. Reopened after shutdown as the only non-smoking casino on the Strip 18. Reopened after shutdown as the only adults-only casino on the Strip 19. As of March 17 when the casinos closed for 78 days to stem the pandemic; not much has been the same since 20. Small Henderson casino bought by owners of nearby Emerald Island

6 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • JANUARY 2021 21. Penn National sells the Tropicana to Gaming and Leisure Properties for $337.5 million in a leaseback deal 22. Two-acre north Strip retail center sold for just under $30 million per acre to New York investor who bought the Wal- greens next door in 2015 for $37 million 23. Both MRI megaresorts sold to a joint venture that includes private-equity and real estate giant Blackstone Group 24. Merger closed in July with Reno-based Eldorado Resorts in a massive $17.3 billion deal that creates the world’s largest gaming company 25. Acquired in a bankruptcy sale by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for $24.3 million; could start run- ning again by Memorial Day 26. Caesars Entertainment acquires British-based gambling group for 2.9 billion pounds ($3.7 billion) 27. After years of failed deals, 11.3 vacant acres that hosted Las Vegas’ short-lived 1950s’ integrated casino finally sold to Australian investment firm for $35.1 million 28. Still-shuttered slots-only Henderson casino sold by Boyd Gaming to DeSimone Gaming, which owns Railroad Pass 29. Closed to transform into Virgin Las Vegas 30. City’s first wedding chapel (in a house built in 1925) torn down suddenly by landlord 31. Failed bond sale renders mega-billion high-speed rail connection from S. California dead on (or long before) arrival 32. Extreme sports park and hotel on south Strip a no-go 33. Planned opening sometime in summer; month not yet announced 34. Renovation and rebranding of former Hard Rock complete, but reopening date not known 35. Transportation system under Convention Center launches in mid-January 36. Work continues on eight-story non-casino boutique hotel downtown 37. Taking over and redeveloping Greyhound station and installing four-block pathway to new bridge over railroad tracks 38. Perpetual upgrading now going on with $13 million makeover of C Concourse in Terminal 1 39. Single-story 27,000-square-foot arcade being built just north of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign 40. $6 billion 18,000-seat super-high-tech entertainment arena now scheduled for 2023 41. Starts and stops, but still considered in play 42. $125 million overhaul of tourist-corridor streets underway; largest roadway project in the history of the city to be completed in 2023 43. 6,000-seat indoor arena in late planning stages; owned by city, operated by Vegas Golden Knights, future home of Silver Knights farm team 44. Veteran video-game company plans to build Atari-branded hotels in eight U.S. cities, including Vegas 45. Dream Hotel Group plans to build a 450-room non-casino hotel across from Mandalay Bay; construction could start early this year 46. Hard Rock International now owns rights to the name Hard Rock Hotel Casino Las Vegas; plans to build new Hard Rock in Las Vegas 47. Bought by New York-based Gindi Capital for $172 million to build new retail, entertainment, and dining center 48. $850 million 45-story 720-room non-casino hotel announced for Convention Center Drive location of former Clarion 49. Long-shuttered hotel next to Hard Rock to be replaced by Siegel Suites 50. $350 million 32-story 620-room hotel announced for Strip site across from Mandalay Bay occupied by Motel 8 51. Unnamed 14-story 267-room hotel announced for 4.3-acre vacant lot next to Las Vegas Ballpark 52. Work on four new pedestrian bridges over Sahara and the Strip announced to begin in summer 2022 and finish in winter 2024 53. Grandiose plan for a $7.5 billion “smart city” on 210 acres on S. Las Vegas Blvd.; most likely dead long before arrival 54. Environmental impact statement proceeding for planned new airport on 6,000 acres of federal land near Jean

News continued … The National Indian Gaming Commission has released fiscal year 2019 gross gaming revenue numbers, which totaled a record $34.6 billion, a 2.5% increase over 2018. Revenues are based on reports from 245 feder- ally recognized tribes operating 522 casinos across 29 states. n continued on next page

JANUARY 2021 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 7 News continued … Sports Betting Scorecard

A flurry of sports betting activity is expected in 2021. Michigan and Vir- ginia are expected to launch live mobile wagering in January; New York is contemplating online wagering; discussions are picking up in Missouri and Georgia; and Canada has introduced a sports betting bill. Also of signifi- cance, California’s Indian tribes have collected enough signatures to put sports betting on the ballot, though not until 2022. Follow the progress of sports betting legalization across the country and track developments as they occur via our map at LasVegasAdvisor.com. n

DINING Buffets in Danger?

One of the two buffets open in Las Vegas will close on January 10. The Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan will shut down temporarily until “busi- ness levels improve,” at which point the decision will be reevaluated. That leaves South Point as Las Vegas’ only AYCE option, and hours have been cut back there, too (it opens at 11 am weekdays, so no breakfast for now). Will the South Point buffet last? Will buffets come back at all? We think yes on both counts, but we’re not as confident as we were before we talked with several operators while putting together this year’s Member Rewards. Frankly, we now feel that some operators will use this “opportu- nity” to discontinue buffets altogether. It’s surprising, as buffets are not (or are barely at worst) complete loss leaders and they have tremendous draw. But in this increasingly cutthroat corporate climate and especially in the wake of the recent revenue losses, the buffets aren’t looked upon favor- ably, as they just don’t gouge enough. The buffets won’t become extinct—another will always show up to pro- vide some marketing punch. That’s how Vegas works (think $1 blackjack). But we’re now confident in saying there’s a real possibility that some buffets you thought would never go away will—especially in the value sector. n

Pulling Back

Continuing on the same theme as buffets, don’t be surprised if, when you finally return to one of your favorite restaurants, the main thing you wanted to go back for is no longer there. Many restaurants have reduced their offerings, and we’re seeing it especially in the bars. For example, one

8 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • JANUARY 2021 of our favorite under-the-radar breakfast plays was Jackpot Bar & Grill, where it was always a tough choice between the huevos rancheros and the Jackpot Benedict. While breakfast is still served, neither of these selections is currently available. Another example is Michael T’s, which might have had the best roasted chicken in town, along with an excellent artichoke appetizer. Both are gone. The reason is twofold—the most obvious being the reduction in cus- tomers, but it’s also uncertainty. Restaurants are afraid to stock food, because of the possibility of getting shut down or having capacity allow- ances cut again. It’s a reality that applies all the way up to some of the city’s best restaurants and will persist until there’s some stability. n

Rising Prices

Here’s another COVID-19 reality: Prices aren’t going down. We say “aren’t going down” rather than “are going up,” because most have remained right where they were prior to the COVID restrictions, despite conjecture that deals would be plentiful. Similar to the yammering about room rates dropping drastically, now everyone thinks dining prices are plunging. They’re not. For example, the price of the salt & pepper chicken wings at Big Wong is up $1 to $7. The price of our favorite pho at Pho Viet- nam has gone up $2 to $12 and that’s following a $1 increase in June. We reported earlier about a $3 increase for the awesome chicken fingers at the Crown & Anchors, now $12.99, and a cup of C&A’s excellent clam chow- der is up 49¢ to $3.99. We’re seeing prices chip up everywhere as places try to recoup revenue lost due to the restrictions. n

Voodoo Steak at Rio

The Rio has not only defied everyone’s belief that it wouldn’t return, but its 51st-floor Voodoo Steak has reopened as well (Thurs.-Sun.). So we dusted off this review that was set to run just before the March shutdown. We got our shot at Voodoo Steak by the grace of a friend’s comp and we were grateful for that, as this isn’t what we’d call one of the city’s premier steakhouses, though it’s priced like it is. Most entrées are in the $50s and $60s and the appetizers and sides are no less dear. All appetizers are in the $20s, salads are $18, and mac-n-cheese, baked potatoes and wedges, asparagus, even creamed corn ringing in at $14. It came to about $75 per person for decent steaks and dry halibut, but then we realized that it’s really about the ambience here. It’d been a while since we took the glass elevator up to the top of the Masquerade Tower and we’d almost forgotten what a stunning view of the south Strip and west valley you get continued on next page

JANUARY 2021 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 9 Dining continued … from the patio. Voodoo is, after all these years, still a good spot for dinner and drinks, but more for the panorama and romance than the food. Got a comp? Go for it! Otherwise, you can do better. n

To Be Frank

Let’s talk hot dogs. A new place called To Be Frank specializes in dogs, but they’re not your everyday wieners. You see, the GM here is a classi- cally trained French chef (Le Cordon Bleu) who’s worked at the Venetian’s Bouchon, so these are what you might term “uppity dogs.” Example? The kimchi dog is made with soy glaze, creamy gochujang, white kim- chi-and-scallion relish, and goldenaise. Yeow! There’s a Thai dog, a Philly dog, a Greek dog, a Basque dog, and a Sonoran dog, among others. The toughest part of our review was deciding which ones to try (get descrip- tions at tobefranklv.com). Some of the exotics are made with the appro- priate sausages (e.g., fermented Isaan sausage for the Thai), but the hot dog selections are made with Nueske’s dogs from Wisconsin, a regional specialty similar to Dearborn Meats used for Detroit Coneys or Vienna Beef for Chicago-style. The buns are made fresh in Vegas. The selections are priced from $7 to $10, depending on how fancy you want to get, though depending on your taste, fancy might not be good. Hot dog purists might not like all the elaborate toppings, which tend to be on the sweet side (they were created by a French chef, duh!). If that’s you, go with the Classic for $7, described aptly as “frank on a bun.” Also, some interesting sides include a version of potato salad ($4) that we’ve never seen before. The potatoes are cut in cubes like home fries, and it’s served hot. Everyone raves, but it’s not the highlight. Whatever you do, you have to try the hot chocolate ($6). It’s the creamiest most decadent hot chocolate we’ve ever experienced, made from a northern Nevada recipe that includes hazelnut zest or some such (not really, the ingredients include pine, juniper, rose- Three “uppity dogs” at To Be Frank mary, and Earl Grey tea). It’s amazing! To Be Frank is located at 1430 E. Charleston. It’s just a modest storefront that operates as what’s known as a “ghost kitchen,” meaning it shares the space with another restaurant

10 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • JANUARY 2021 that operates during the day only (the acclaimed Every Grain) and takes over from 5 pm to midnight. It works: Nighttime is a good time for hot dogs and hot chocolate. n

Fried Balogna at Hardway 8

We write about fried bologna sandwiches whenever we find one. That’s a simple function of the newsletter’s publisher being of Polish descent. We haven’t found many over the years, but the latest is on the menu at the Hardway 8 bar in Henderson. The preparation is a bit non-traditional, served with tomato and cheese (and horror, you have to ask for yellow mustard). But the bologna is thinly sliced the way it should be and you can order it the traditional way (hold the tomato and cheese). The sandwich comes with fries and pickles for $10 ($8 during happy hour, see Entertain- ment). Some other interesting selections on the menu, include Hendertucky hot chicken sandwich ($12), chargrilled meatloaf ($13), and a charcuterie plate ($18). It’s a cool lit- tle sports bar with a video poker sign-up bonus that you can read about in Gam- Fried balogna at Hardway 8 bling. n

Dining Notes

Shrimp Paused—Add the Skyline shrimp cocktail to the list of COVID casualties. This mainstay down Henderson way is currently unavailable. Tents—Many non-casino restaurants have set up small tents out- side their buildings so they can serve more customers. The cabana-like structures that accommodate single groups are heated and have been described as “mobile greenhouses.” Kinda cool or, rather, warm. Food Court—The Forum Food Court at Caesars Palace has reopened. Veggie Bags—Another COVID casualty is the trays of marinated carrots and peppers at the many Roberto’s Taco Shops around town. Customers used to load up on the veggies with plastic bags provided by the restau- rants, but they’re gone, at least for now. n continued on next page

JANUARY 2021 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 11 Dining continued … Openings/Closings

A Big Boy fast-food restaurant has opened at the Terrible’s Casino in Indian Springs. The Big Boy chain has operated in several states under slightly different names, depending on geographical location. Whereas the original Nevada restaurants used the name Bob’s Big Boy, the “Bob’s” is not part of the Indian Springs name. We don’t recall seeing a Big Boy in Las Vegas, but Nevada was one of the first states to have them and news accounts indicate that they may have operated into the ’80s. There are plans for a second Big Boy to open in the Las Vegas area in 2021. The Lotus of Siam on E. Flamingo (across from Silver Sevens) has reopened. With the original location in the Commercial Center on E. Sahara having opened in July, it’s the first time that both locations of the vaunted Northern Thai restaurant have been operating in more than a year, albeit with the current 25%-occupancy restrictions. Galpao Gaucho Brazilian Steakhouse has opened at the Fashion Show Mall in the space formerly occupied by Kona Grill. Pok Pok Wing has closed in the Block 16 food hall at the Cosmopolitan. It will be replaced by Bang Bar from New York City, specializing in Korean cuisine. The Rhythm Kitchen on S. Decatur has closed and will be replaced by an Italian restaurant called Il Toro e la Capra from the owner of Las Vegas’ three Lindo Michoacan Mexican restaurants. n

ENTERTAINMENT Shows in Limbo

As expected, hardest hit by Nevada’s “pause” has been the enter- tainment sector, where most shows simply can’t operate with a 50-per- son maximum (the rule is 25% or 50 total, whichever is less). The head of Spiegelworld, the producers of Absinthe, Opium, and Atomic Saloon Show, made a case (and we agree with it) that shows should be in a sepa- rate category from other “public gatherings,” but no relief is in sight. MGM Resorts announced that it would cancel all live entertainment through Jan. 15 and presumably longer if the pause is extended again. But that edict has already been countermanded with the reopening of “Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club” at MGM Grand in late December. The point is, no one really knows what might happen next. Some small-scale shows and comedy clubs are performing now. We’re maintaining an ongoing list at LasVegas Advisor.com. n

12 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • JANUARY 2021 Circa Opens Legacy Club

The Legacy Club, Circa’s rooftop bar and lounge, opened on December 28. An express elevator runs direct to the “60th” floor (in quotes because the tower is 458 feet tall, which doesn’t add up to 60 floors; in the Las Vegas tradition, a number of floor numbers were likely skipped and we won’t know which and how many until next month). The lobby is deco- rated with busts and portraits of “legacy” personalities, such as Benny Binion, Jackie Gaughan, Jay Sarno, Howard Hughes, Bob Stupak, and Steve Wynn. The 12-seat inside bar shares the limelight with 1,000 ounces of gold (worth around $1.88 million at today’s spot price). On the outside deck are plush chairs and a fire pit. A dress code will be enforced, but we don’t know yet what that will entail. n

Bars and Happy Hours

Circa’s 8 East has a happy hour that runs daily from 3 to 5:30 pm, with $9 wine, $6 beer and sake bombs, $5 well drinks, and $8 small plates. Town Center Lounge (6050 Sky Pointe Dr.) has a happy hour daily from 2 to 6 pm, with $3 wine, $2 beer, and $4 appetizers. Hardway 8 has happy hours daily from 3 to 5 pm and 10 pm to mid- night, with selected menu items (including the bologna sandwich, see Din- ing) for $8 and $2 off beer and wine. The new Miz Lola’s that’s replaced Money Plays on W. Flamingo has happy hours daily from 4 to 7 pm and 11 pm to 2 am, with half-off all drinks and $2-off appetizers and small pizzas. The Hard Hat Lounge, located behind The STRAT on Industrial Rd., appeared to be closed for good, but has reopened. Operating as a restau- rant or bar since 1958, the Hard Hat is considered to be the oldest dive bar in Las Vegas. A new bar called The Ridge has opened on the west side, replacing the former Bubby’s University. n

Entertainment Notes

Cirque Update—Cirque du Soleil has announced that contract exten- sions have been signed for five of its Las Vegas shows—Mystére, O, KÁ, LOVE, and Michael Jackson ONE—all of which will return “as soon as pos- sible.” Donny Returns—Donny Osmond has announced a new Strip residency. “Donny in Vegas” will play 40 dates at Harrah’s; however, the show won’t begin until August 31, under the belief that the pandemic will be under con- trol by then. Tickets will start at $65 base. continued on next page

JANUARY 2021 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 13 Entertainment continued …

Good Foos—In a rarity, the new Tailgate Social sports bar at Palace Station has a good foosball table. It’s not quite championship level, but it’s the best we’ve seen in a casino. There’s also a pool table and shuffle- board that are a few notches below top grade. n

GAMBLING MRB Gambling

Any way you look at it, we had a pretty remarkable result with the gam- bling offers in the 2021 MRB. The combination of 33 matchplay, free-play, and special bonuses creates a total value that’s $79 above last year’s. It’s only $10 less than last year’s easy-to-play total that we designate by “AI Value” (see below) and it produces the same value of free-play. And this isn’t even the final tally, as you’ll see. 2020 2021 Total Value $543 $622 AI Value* $283 $273 Free-Play Value $65 $65 *AI stands for “any idiot,” as achieving at least close to optimal value from an AI offer requires no skill aside from just showing up to play it.

So what happened? It’s complicated, but here’s a quick explanation. From a macro sense, it’s really interesting that every place that could renew its gambling offers did. Some couldn’t. For example, there are no more table games at Lucky’s, , and Arizona Charlie’s Boulder, so those matchplays were lost. But they were almost the only ones. The reason is, with revenue way down in rooms, dining, entertainment, and other non-gambling sectors of casino operations, gambling has taken on much greater importance and that seems to have shown up in the renewal of almost all the gambling offers (plus some new ones). We can’t really take credit for the jump in the total value number, as the lion’s share of that is due to the addition of better games available to play

14 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • JANUARY 2021 on one of the bigger video poker bonuses at Golden Gate. But even if that hadn’t changed, the total value was almost identical to last year’s. Along the same lines, we feel obligated to point out that the full $622 value will be achieved by only a few who properly play the high-variance video poker bonuses. Still, the easier-to-capture value in the AI offers, which are made up mostly of table-game matchplay and slot free-play, is a whopping $273. Even if you do nothing but play the seven free-play offers, you’ll have an expected win of $65—more than your membership cost—without a penny of risk. The best addition for gamblers is from the Rainbow Club in Henderson. The Rainbow was bought by the owners of Emerald Island, which has been a big supporter of LVA for years, and they brought their new property into the MRB fold with an excellent bonus-wheel spin that we’ll elaborate on in a future issue. The downtown casinos are terrifically represented again this year and you can reap $135 in EV from those matchplay and free-play offers alone. Also, Golden Gate and Silver Sevens are back with their 2-1 blackjack bonuses. Play these for added time-on-game entertainment value, along with a combined EV of about $20 that doesn’t require a special playing strategy to realize. As for the earlier comment about the tally not being complete, we have another gambling offer coming from Virgin Las Vegas that will be part of Member Rewards Online and we expect new gambling offers to be added to the on that platform throughout the year. n

WSOP Main Event

At press time, the re-jiggered Main Event is close to naming a 51st champion. There were two sub-tournaments—Domes- tic and International. The Domestic champion was 38-year-old Joseph Hebert from Louisiana, who won $1,553,256 after beginning the final table with almost triple the chip stack of the second-place player. The Interna- tional champion was 45-year-old Damian Salas from Argentina, who won $1,550,569. Hebert and Salas will play heads-up at the Rio on Jan. 3 for the title and an additional $1 million prize. The heads-up match was origi- nally scheduled for Dec. 30, but Salas was unable to get clearance to enter the U.S. in time and the date was moved back. Both are experienced play- ers, with Hebert logging multiple WSOP cashes and Salas finishing 7th in the 2017 Main Event. The $10,000-buy-in tournament had 1,379 entrants—705 U.S. and 674 International. By comparison, the 2019 WSOP Main Event had 8,569 entrants. There was no live TV or online coverage; ESPN will produce six hours of content that will be aired in February. n continued on next page

JANUARY 2021 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 15 Gambling continued … Poker Feud

Poker luminaries Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk are in the midst of a possible 25,000-hand heads-up no-limit hold ’em match. We say “possi- ble,” because either player has the option to stop playing at 12,500 hands. They’re on the verge of that with 12,200 hands played as we go to press. Negreanu led by about $200K early, but Polk, generally considered to be the superior heads-up player, came back quickly, has dominated, and now holds an $800K lead. The two have had a long history of feuding over vari- ous poker-policy issues. n

Gambling Notes

Megabucks Hits—A player who splits his time between Las Vegas and Alaska hit Megabucks on Christmas Eve for $15,491,103 at the Suncoast. It was the largest slot jackpot in Nevada in eight years and the first Mega- bucks hit since April 2019. DG Table Games—Table games are now running Thursdays through Sundays only at the Downtown Grand. Wynn Players Club—Formerly the Red Card Club, the Wynn/Encore players club is now Wynn Rewards. If you have a Red Card, you are auto- matically enrolled. Bye Bye Bobby—The high-limit poker room at Bellagio, for years called Bobby’s Room in honor of poker great and longtime casino executive Bobby Baldwin, has been renamed the Legend’s Room. Big Dogs Parlay—Week 15 in the NFL had two giant upsets, with the Bengals beating the Steelers as 14-point underdogs and the Jets beating the Rams as 17-point dogs. Someone bet both winners in a 2-team money line parlay (+700 and +1,100) for $200 and cashed $19,000. n

Video Poker Lost and Found

The 8/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe progressives at Circa are not capped at $1,199 as we reported last month, which means they can reach posi- tive-return levels. At quarters, these games are breakeven at $1,675. The machines that provide a good viewing spot overlooking the sports book have 50¢ and $1 minimums. The royal flush on the 50¢ BPD game is breakeven at $3,350 and was at $2,830 (99.39%) when we checked. According to the online database vpFREE2, Aliante has removed its 10/6 Double Double Bonus progressives. The best game there now is Tri-

16 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • JANUARY 2021 ple Bonus Poker Plus paying 9 for a full house (99.80%) in denoms from 25¢ to $1. G.O.A.T bar has an odd mix of schedules. Some machines have quarter 7/5 Bonus Poker (98.01%), while others have 6/5 BP (96.87%). But those 7/5 machines also have 7/5 Double Double Bonus (95.71%), while the 6/5s have 8/5 DDB (96.79%). Are you following? The takeaway is, survey a few machines here for the best version of the game you like to play. The best games at Kopper Keg Rainbow are standard 6/5 BP and 25-16-13-4-3-2 Deuces Wild (96.77%), but there are lots of promotions here. In December, it ran a lose-$20-get-$20 promo on Sundays. That may not be continued, but there are five Kopper Kegs bars in Las Vegas and it’s worth joining their players club to get onto the text list for notices of future promos. There’s no sign-up bonus, but you get weekly free-play (at least $5) once you sign up, plus a card-of-the-day progressive. These places also have good kitchens. Hardway 8 bar in Henderson has a play-$20-get-$20 sign-up bonus. The best games are the same as at Kopper Keg above. If you like Pick ’Em, Jackson’s has Pick-a-Pair with a schedule that returns 96.74%, only slightly below the 6/5 BP return. Bob Dancer’s free video poker classes are expected to resume at South Point, but a date hasn’t been set. In the interim, be sure to check out Bob’s weekly Tuesday blog and the Thursday “Gambling With an Edge” podcast, with Bob and Richard Munchkin, both at LasVegasAdvisor.com. n WEATHER KEY dates JANUARY MARCH Mean 45° Avg. Max. 57° Avg. Min. 32° 14-18 Int’l Wireless Communications—12,000 Cool and dry. Days are crsip, but pleasant. Cold evenings. Pools: Currently closed by government order. Attire: Sweater and jacket—desert winters are cold. FEBRUARY JUNE Mean 50° Avg. Max. 62° Avg. Min. 37° 20-21 Int’l Esthetic Cosmetics—25,000 Days begin to wram, evenings still cool. Pools: Currently closed by government order. Attire: Light jacket for day, something warm for evenings. MARCH JULY Mean 56° Avg. Max. 69° Avg. Min. 42° 20-23 Assoc. of Woodworking—18,500 A fickle month for weather. Occasional rain and high winds, warm days. Pools: Currently closed by government order. Attire: Light jacket or sweater for evenings.

JANUARY 2021 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 17 Joe’s Dash • $17.96 includes shipping After stints in the Navy and Coast Guard, Joe Dorsey worked his way up the ranks of the San Diego PD to become a detective with the elite Robbery Unit. But it was when his career took him to Las Vegas that he really began to make his mark—as an investigator for the Gaming Control Board, director of security and surveillance for sev- eral major Strip casinos, and an international debt collector. Security and debt collecting are hidden aspects of the gambling business but revealed in Joe’s Dash.

Radical Blackjack • $32.96 includes shipping Arnold Snyder needs no introduction. One of the original mem- bers of the Blackjack Hall of Fame, Arnold is back with his first book in many years. Radical Blackjack is a memoir, how-to, and exposé all wrapped up in a single book. From his life as a starving letter car- rier to making $100,000 bets that he could only win by losing, this is a story that blackjack aficionados and gambling enthusiasts have wanted for decades. And it’s all true. If you read only one gambling book this year, Radical Blackjack should be it.

Then One Day • $14.96 +S&H Chris Andrews started booking parlay cards with the help of his Uncle Jack. After college he followed Uncle Jack to Las Vegas and landed his first job in the sports book during the early years of legal sports betting in Nevada. At age 25 Chris became the youngest sports book director in the business. There he invented the pleaser card, 10-point teaser cards, and introduced Super Bowl-style prop bets for Monday Night Football games. Packed with classic stories Then One Day offers a unique look at how a sports book director talks, thinks, and makes book—both in the “good-old-days” and today.

st The 21 Century Card Counter • $20.96 +S&H The 21st-Century Card Counter is a highly authoritative guide to card counting for profit. Colin Jones, a blackjack pro who founded the famous Church Team, manages BlackjackApprenticeship.com, leads Blackjack Bootcamps, and has earned his livelihood beating casinos for more than two decades. His book provides all the information and direction you need, along with real-life stories and interviews with active advantage players, to give you the best chance of crushing the casinos in today’s blackjack world.

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