February 2018

Vol. 35Issue 2

$5

LasVegasAdvisorA N T H O N Y C U R T I S ’

A.Y.C.E. AT THE PALMS

New best buffet comes with an

instacomp … pgs. 3, 5, 10

ANATOMY OF A FREEROLLLessons to be

followed … pg. 1

VISITOR NUM-BERS DOWN

Could it be the fees? … pg. 2

COMP CITY SLOTS

Best social VP returns on the planet

… pg. 3

NATIONAL BOOKIE

ASSOCIATION?NBA wants in on

sports betting … pg. 11

Local (702)Toll FreeNumbers

CASINOS(800) († 855) (††866) (* 877) (**888)

Local Toll FreeAliante Casino+Hotel+Spa ........692-7777 ............477-7627*Aria ............................................590-7111 ............359-7757††

Arizona Charlie’s Boulder ..........951-5800 ............362-4040Arizona Charlie’s Decatur ..........258-5200 ............342-2695Bally’s ........................................739-4111 ............603-4390*Bellagio ......................................693-7111 ............987-7111**Binion’s ......................................382-1600 ............937-6537Boulder Station ..........................432-7777 ............683-7777Caesars Palace..........................731-7110 ............227-5938††

California ...................................385-1222 ............634-6505Cannery .....................................507-5700 ............999-4899††

Casino Royale ...........................737-3500 ............854-7666Circus Circus .............................734-0410 ............634-3450Cosmopolitan ............................698-7100 ............551-7772*Cromwell, The ...........................777-3777 ............426-2766^the D ..........................................388-2400 ............274-5825Downtown Grand ......................719-5100 ............384-7263†

Eastside Cannery ......................507-5700 ............999-4899††

El Cortez ....................................385-5200 ............634-6703Ellis Island (Super 8) ..................733-8901 ............800-8000Encore .......................................770-7100 ............321-9966*Excalibur ....................................597-7777 ............937-7777Fiesta Henderson ......................558-7000 ............899-7770**Fiesta Rancho............................631-7000 ............731-7333Flamingo ....................................733-3111 ............732-2111Four Queens ..............................385-4011 ............634-6045Fremont .....................................385-3232 ............634-6182Gold Coast ................................367-7111 ............331-5334Golden Gate ..............................385-1906 ............426-1906Golden Nugget ..........................385-7111 ............846-5336Green Valley Ranch ...................617-7777 ............782-9487††

Hard Rock Hotel ........................693-5000 ............473-7625Harrah’s .....................................369-5000 ............392-9002Hooters ......................................739-9000 ............584-6687††

Klondike Sunset ........................826-3866LINQ, The ..............................................................328-1888††

Longhorn ...................................435-9170 ............800-8000Lucky Dragon ............................889-8018Luxor .........................................262-4000 ............288-1000M Resort ....................................797-1000 ............673-7678*Main Street Station ....................387-1896 ............713-8933Mandalay Bay ............................632-7777 ............632-7800*Mandarin Oriental ......................590-8881 ............881-9578**MGM Grand ...............................891-1111 ............929-1111Mirage .......................................791-7111 ............627-6667Monte Carlo ...............................730-7777 ............311-8999New York-New York ..................740-6969 ............693-6763Orleans ......................................365-7111 ............675-3267Palace Station ...........................367-2411 ............634-3101Palazzo ......................................607-7777 ............263-3001††

Palms .........................................942-7777 ............942-7770††

Paris ..........................................946-7000 ............266-5687**Planet Hollywood ......................785-5555 ............919-7472††

Plaza ..........................................386-2110 ............634-6575Rampart ....................................507-5900 ............869-8777*

Red Rock Resort .......................797-7777 ............767-7773††

Rio .............................................252-7777 ............746-7482*Sam’s Town ...............................456-7777 ............634-6371Santa Fe Station ........................658-4900 ............767-7771††

Silver Sevens .............................733-7000 ............640-9777Silverton.....................................263-7777 ............588-7711Slots A Fun ................................734-0410 ............354-1232SLS Las Vegas ..........................737-2111 ............761-7757†

Stratosphere ..............................380-7777 ............998-6937South Point ................................796-7111 ............791-7626††

Suncoast ...................................636-7111 ............677-7111*Sunset Station ...........................547-7777 ............786-7389**Texas Station .............................631-1000 ............654-8888Treasure Island (TI) ....................894-7111 ............944-7444Tropicana...................................739-2222 ............634-4000Tuscany .....................................893-8933 ............887-2261*Vdara .........................................590-2767 ............745-7767††

Venetian .....................................414-1000 ............883-6423*Westin Lake Las Vegas .............567-6000 ............563-9792††

Westin Las Vegas ......................836-5900 ............937-8461Westgate Las Vegas ..................732-5111 ............732-7117Wild Wild West (Days Inn) .........740-0000 ............777-1514Wildfire.......................................648-3801Wynn Las Vegas ........................770-7000 ............770-7077*

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• 2018 LVA MEMBER REWARDS •ALL-PURPOSE COMP

50% off up to $50 (Palms)

ACCOMMODATIONS2-For-1 Room (El Cortez)

BUFFETS2-For-1 Buffet (Aliante Casino+Hotel, Arizona Charlie’s Boulder, Arizona Charlie’s Decatur, Cannery, Fremont, Main Street Station, Westgate); 2-For-1 Gospel Brunch (House of Blues at Mandalay Bay); 2-For-1 Buf-fet or 50% off one (Boulder Station, Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho, Gold Coast, Green Valley Ranch, Orleans, Palace Station, Rampart, Red Rock Resort, Sam’s Town, Santa Fe Station, Silver Sevens, Silverton, Suncoast, Sunset Station, Texas Station); $10 Off Brunch Buffet (Cae-sars Palace); 25% Off Buffet (Rio, Treasure Island)

DINING2-For-1 Menu Item in: (Big Dog’s), Siegel’s 1941 (El Cortez), Fat Choy (Eureka Casino), Northside Café (SLS Las Vegas); 2-For-1 Menu Item or 50% off one in: Club Café (Club Fortune); 25% Off Bill in: Top of Bin-ion’s Steakhouse (Binion’s), Hooters Saloon and Restaurant (Hooters), Oscar’s Steakhouse (Plaza); 2-For-1 Entrée in: Market Street Café (Cali-fornia), Carve, Snaps, or The Deli (Eastside Cannery), Fuego (Fiesta Henderson), Sarah’s Kitchen (Klondike Sunset), House of Blues Rest. & Bar (House of Blues at Mandalay Bay), Sterling Spoon Café (Silver Sevens), Pub 365 (Tuscany); 2-For-1 Entrée or 50% off one in: Freedom Beat (Downtown Grand), The Café (Ellis Island), Emerald Grille (Emerald Island); 2-For-1 Coney Dog (the D); 2-For-1 BBQ Plate (Ellis Island); 2-For-1 Lunch or Dinner Entrée in Magnolia’s (Four Queens); 2-For-1 Burger in Le Burger Brasserie (Paris); $30 Off Dining in Charcoal Room (Palace Station); $25 Off Dining in: Sonoma Cellar Steakhouse (Sunset Station), Austins Steakhouse (Texas Station); $10 Off Dining in Wild Grill or Brewer’s Café (Wildfire); $5 Off Dining in the Grand Café (Texas Station); $4 Off Entrée in: Guadalajara (Boulder Station), Pasta Cucina (Sunset Station)

DINING—“LOCAL CORNER”$25 off Dining (Rosati’s); 2-For-1 Menu Item: Sagos Ft. Apache; 2-For-1 Burger or Philly (Home Plate); 2-For-1 Hot Dog (New York Street Dogs); Pizza Upgrade at Naked City Pizza Shop; Comped Lunch or Dinner at Sporting Life Bar; Comped Steak Special at Jackson’s Bar

DRINKSFree Drink Brewers, Kixx, or Havana Bar (Boulder Station); 3 Free Rounds (Ellis Island); Free Margarita or Beer (Fiesta Rancho); Free Mar-garita (Sunset Station); 2-For-1 Specialty Drink (Lucky Dragon)

SHOWS2-For-1 Hypnosis Unleashed (Binion’s), Show in the Cabaret (Westgate Las Vegas); 2-For-1 or 50% off Beatleshow (Saxe Theater), Nathan Bur-ton Comedy Magic (Saxe Theater), Vegas! the Show (Saxe Theater), All Shook Up (V Theater), Aussie Heat (V Theater), Hitzville (V Theater), Las Vegas Live Comedy Club (V Theater), The Mentalist (V Theater), Popovich Comedy Pet Theater (V Theater), V the Ultimate Variety Show (V Theater), Zombie Burlesque (V Theater); Drink-minimum Mac King (Harrah’s); 25% Off Carrot Top (Luxor); Free Tickets with Box Office charge Marc Savard (V Theater)

RIDES/ATTRACTIONSUp to 45% off Real Bodies (Bally’s); 25% Off SlotZilla Zip Line (Fremont Street Experience); $5 Off High Roller (LINQ Promenade); $4 Off Admis-sion Mob Museum; 2-For-1 Admission to the Eiffel Tower Experience (Paris); 1 Free Game of Bowling at Strike Zone (Sunset Station); 40% Offf Admission to Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. (Treasure Island); Massage Special in Happy Feet (El Cortez)

GAMBLING$15 Bonus, 4-of-a-kind, 25¢ machines (Big Dog’s); $10 Slot Free-Play (Binion’s), (Downtown Grand), (Four Queens), (Plaza), (Rampart); $10 Slot Matchplay (Gold Coast), (Hooters), (Orleans), (Sam’s Town); $5-$100 Slot Free-Play Bonus (the D), (Golden Gate); $10-$100 Slot Free-Play (Ellis Island); $10-$1,000 Slot Free-Play (El Cortez); $10 Bonus for Slot Play (Cannery), (Club Fortune), (Eastside Cannery), (Eureka); $20 Bonus for Slot Play (Klondike Sunset); $10 Matchplay (Downtown Grand), (Ellis Island), (Palms); $25 Matchplay (the D), (Golden Gate), (Lucky Dragon), (Plaza); Push on 22 at Blackjack up to $25 (the D); Wheel of Cash Spin (Emerald Island); Bingo Bonus (Plaza); 2-1 Payoff on first Blackjack up to $25 bet (Golden Gate), (Silver Sevens); 100-Coin Video Poker Bonus (Sagos Ft. Apache), (Sagos Spring Mtn.)

*The 2018 LVA Member Rewards book is available ONLY with a paid one-year subscription to the

Las Vegas Advisor newsletter. No exceptions.

FEBRUARY 2018 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 1

February 2018 $5A N T H O N Y C U R T I S ’

continued on next page

LasVegasAdvisor

Freeroll at a Closed Casino

Had it not been for all the news surrounding Steve Wynn this month (see the lead in news), the top story would have been the Lucky Dragon, which after only a year, has “closed.” Why the quotation marks? Well, you’d expect that closed means closed, but that’s not always the case—at least not in this town. The follow-ing tale contains a few lessons that apply to playing for profit in casinos.

In late-January I got an email stating that the Lucky Dragon was holding a drawing. I didn’t pay any attention to it, figuring it was a mistake and threw it in the trash.

Lesson #1: Don’t assume anything. It’s important to read emails from casinos closely

(even if they’re closed). I made a key mistake in assum-ing that the email was in error, rather than recognizing that the fact that the casino was closed might yield even more potential. The following day I was contacted by a friend asking if I knew about the drawing at the Lucky Dragon.

“Umm, sort of. Is it real?” It absolutely was! It was a mandated drawing to give

back “meter money”—money collected on progressive games that was owed to the public at the time of the closing. The drawing was for more than $46,000 and to be eligible, you had to have a Lucky Dragon players card and be present.

Lesson #2: Don’t throw away your old cards.Treat it like an IRS thing and keep your cards and

paperwork in box for a year or two. I always keep my players cards and dug out my Lucky Dragon.

How good could this be? That depended on how many people showed up. It was a last-second an-nouncement, many customers of the casino would have been visitors who weren’t in town, and many locals would have thrown away their cards by now or assumed it was in error, as I did initially. I figured there was a good chance that only 50-100 would show up.

This is a pure equity consideration, so if 100 people were in the drawing, the value for showing up would be $460 ($46,000/100). With 50, it was a $920 play, etc.

Lesson #3: Understand the realities.My 50-person estimate was a pipe dream. In today’s

world, you have to assume that everyone hears about everything. I arrived to find a line snaking around the building. I didn’t conduct a head count, but I’d estimate there were 600-700, while some thought more like 1,000. OK, so the equity for waiting in line was more like $45-$75. Still not bad for a lazy Saturday afternoon. I walked to the back of the long line with a couple of buddies.

Lesson #4: Be prepared to adjust your strategy.A rules sheet read, “The drawing will happen

promptly at 5:15 pm once all guests have been entered.” How do you read that? “Promptly” means right at 5:15. But it also said “once all guests have been entered.” All should mean all, but what if it doesn’t?

There are two bars next door to the Lucky Dragon—one at the Golden Steer and another at the newly re-named Mint (formerly Red Label). Why stand in line when we could go relax with a $3 PBR at the Mint? The wife of one of my buddies was already in and registered, so she would let us know when the line was getting close. We went to the Mint.

Ring (at 5:20). “Have another beer,” my friend’s wife said. “They’ve already held the drawing.”

Lesson #5: Be prepared for the worst.At 5:15, they shut the doors and pulled the names.

Hundreds were left standing outside. Was it fair? Prob-ably not, but it was apparently within the rules, because I haven’t heard of any subsequent pushback. You have to understand the situation and realize that in cases like this, the casino doesn’t care. It just wants to get the business over with. Bad customer relations? Sure, but so what? The joint’s closed.

Lesson #6: Go the extra mile. If you want the value, you have to be prepared to put

in the effort. The people who got in and won the $46K did so because they worked harder by arriving earlier and waiting longer. Those in the room probably had an EV of $500 or more. They deserved it. On the other hand, I was drawing dead with an EV of zero. But thanks to following Lesson #4, it wasn’t all that bad.

As for the closing of the Lucky Dragon, not a lot

COUPONOMY by Anthony Curtis

2 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • FEBRUARY 2018

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of details beyond what’s written in news are currently known. In a nutshell, the place never got tread with its target market of Asian gamblers. It made some classic opening mistakes with promotions and staffing, then knee-jerked and tightened up too fast. But no matter what they’d have done, it’s a tall order opening a smaller specialty house (that’s not easily accessible by the local crowd) so close to the big boys on the Strip. n

Visitation Drops

After three years of increases, Las Vegas’ visitor count hiccupped in 2017. The 42.2 million visitors last year were well below the projected 43.2 million and down 1.7% from the record total of 42.9 million in 2016. A drop in the number of available rooms is being blamed for the shortfall, although the room total was down only slightly from 149,339 to 148,897. The economy was strong, so might it have been something else?

No one knows for sure what’s ultimately behind these results, but we sure get a lot of messages from customers saying they’re coming less (or not at all) due to the terrible trio—resort fees, parking charges, and tightened games and comps. Part of the visitation report included information on the average daily room rate, which rose 2.8%. So add escalating base prices on rooms to the mix.

Further to parking, we’re running a poll at LasVegas Advisor.com as this issue goes to press about the paid-parking initiative on the Strip and the results are pretty damning. With more than 1,700 votes cast so far, 88% say that the move to paid parking has in some way negatively affected their Strip-casino patronage, while 44% say that for them, parking at any Strip casino where there’s a fee is a “100% no.” At the same time the poll voters were making their dissatisfaction known, MGM Resort International announced that it’s raising fees. That’s right, 24-hour rates were increased in late-Janu-ary by $3, to $15 or $18, depending on the casino, along with $2 increases for 1 to 2 ($9) and 2 to 4 ($12) hours at most properties.

The visitation projection for 2018 is 42.7 million. We’ll see. n

Value Blog

In the discussion above, I’m talking mainly about the Strip, of course. There are still lots of good things go-ing on downtown and in the locals casinos. So if that’s

Free Roll at a Closed Casino continued … what we seem to be focusing on in this newsletter, it’s because that’s where the value is. Same at LasVegas Advisor.com, where we’ve debuted a new Vegas With An Edge blog that focuses on taking advantage of com-petition among casinos. It’s written by Kevin Lewis, who’s extremely savvy and current on the scene and will be posting every week or so. Check it out, along with the ever-increasing volume of posts and reader comments on both the Vegas With An Edge and Gambling With An Edge blogs. n

Comp City Bonus

We’ve had some questions about the bonus offer in the Member Rewards Book for our Comp City Slots app. It’s a special offer available only to LVA members that consists of 5 million coins and 250 Comp City tickets. The tickets are like money for redemption of prizes and have a value of $2.50 total, and the coins give you a leg up on earning more comp tickets (see gambling). To get the bonus, you first have to download the game from ei-ther the Apple App Store or Google Play (it’s free). Then go to LasVegasAdvisor.com and click on “Comp City Slots” in the “Online Gambling” box in the upper right-hand corner of the home page and follow the prompts at the bottom to the bonus. n

NEWS

Wynn West—Although it was generally expected that Wynn Las Vegas would sit and hold the land from its recent Alon-site purchase, Steve Wynn announced immediate plans to build a 2,000- to 3,000-room hotel tower on the property. Few details have been revealed about “Wynn West”—a name that reflects the project’s location on the west side of the Strip—except that a 100-foot-long “umbilical hallway” will run over the Strip and connect to the Paradise Park resort that’s just be-

FEBRUARY 2018 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 3

ginning construction. Wynn told investors he built the infrastructure outside the Encore Beach Club, know-ing that he’d acquire the vacant lot across the street and that Wynn West would open within three years. Unfortunately for Steve Wynn, this wasn’t the biggest news concerning him last month. A story hit in the Wall Street Journal accusing him of a “decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct.” The report was pounced on by news outlets worldwide and Wynn resigned his position as finance chairman of the Republican National Commit-tee, saying the work being done by the committee is too important to be “impaired by this distraction.” The Wynn Resorts board of directors has formed a special commit-tee to investigate the allegations and gaming regulators in Massachusetts say they will also launch an investiga-tion. Wynn has denied the allegations, attributing them to attacks by his ex-wife, Elaine, stemming from their divorce battle.

Lucky Dragon—After just one year, the Lucky Dragon resort has shut down its casino and all restau-rants except the Cha Garden tea house. The hotel and gift shop also remain open. An issued statement called it a “temporary closing for repositioning” with a reopening expected in six months, but the resort is reportedly in default to its lenders and a foreclosure auction is sched-uled for February 6.

Hard Rock/Virgin—In December we wrote that Richard Branson’s Virgin Hotels was exploring opportu-nities in Las Vegas, but we didn’t know which properties were being targeted. It’s now been disclosed that a deal is in the works to sell the Hard Rock, and that Virgin will manage the casino and also be part of the ownership group. No other details, including the purchase price, were disclosed, except that the sale could be concluded “this quarter.” It appears that the resort will switch to the Virgin brand, ending the Hard Rock’s casino presence in Las Vegas.

Esports Arena—The opening date of Luxor’s Esports Arena has been announced for March 18. The first dedicated esports venue on the Strip will immedi-ately begin hosting a series of tournaments and other esports events.

Trump Tower 2—According to a story in the LV Review-Journal, the possibility of a second tower on the Strip for Donald Trump took a hit with the sale of the Alon site to Wynn Las Vegas. Part of that 38-acre purchase was a 3.6-acre parcel next to the Trump tower that was earmarked for a possible second tower or a joint-venture casino project with TI owner Phil Ruffin.

Ellis Island—Ellis Island has completed a renovation of its 289 rooms and 12 suites. The rooms have been outfitted with new flooring and furnishings, plus USB chargers, mini-refrigerators, and safes. They also come with a complimentary growler filled with EI beer.

Tuscany—Just around the corner, Tuscany has un-veiled a $5 million renovation of its 716 rooms. Tuscany

Las Vegas’ Top Ten Values

1. Steak Dinner • Ellis Island • 24 hours • $7.99 2. Shrimp Cocktail • Skyline • 24 hours • $1.49 3. Breakfast • Klondike Sunset • Daily • $1.49 4. Buffet • Palms • Daily • $10.99-$19.99 5. Draft Beer • Flamingo • Daily • 5¢ 6. Mac King • Harrah’s • Tues.–Sat. • $14.98 7. Hot Dog • South Point • Daily • $1.25 8. Beer • Stage Door • 24 hours • $1 9. $1 Blackjack • Hooters • 24 hours • $1.20 10. Lunch Comp • Crown & Anchor • Daily • $20 buy-in

The Ellis Island steak dinner (#1) is served in the Café and requires that you print out two coupons from an EI kiosk, the second one after playing at least $5 in any slot machine with your club card inserted, to get the $7.99 price. The shrimp cocktail at Skyline (#2) is served at the main bar. The $1.49 bacon or sausage & eggs breakfast at Klondike Sunset (#3) is served every day in Sarah’s Kitchen from 7 to 11 am. The Palms is back on the list with it’s awesome new A.Y.C.E. buffet (#4). The listed prices require showing the lowest-tier Boarding Pass card and there’s an excellent player’s comp good in February (see gambling). The 5¢ beers (#5) at the Flamingo are served in the Margaritaville Casino area’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar from 5 to 6 pm. Get a ticket to the Mac King Comedy Magic Show and a drink for $14.98 by asking at the players club booth (#6). The hot dogs at South Point (#7) are sold from a cart in the sports book from 10 am until they close down the cart around 5 pm. Pabst Blue Ribbon in the bottle is $1 (#8) at the Stage Door slot house on Flamingo, just east of the Strip. Hooters’ $1-minimum blackjack game (#9) runs 24/7 in the pit; naturals pay even money on bets of $1-$4. The Crown & Anchor bars’ lunch comp (#10) runs daily from 8 am to 2:30 pm at the east location and 11 am to 3 pm at the west, and is good for an appetizer until 6 pm on the east and 7 pm on the west. n

is a good under-the-radar lodging play. All of its rooms are suites, but they were a bit weathered. This renova-tion remedies that deficiency.

Westin—The Westin on Flamingo has completed its transformation from a casino—originally the Maxim and later the Westin Causurina with the Max Casino—to a non-gambling and non-smoking hotel catering to con-ventioneers. (Or has it? See entertainment.).

Raiders Stadium—As parking continues to be a concern for the Raiders stadium, it appears likely that an elaborate series of bridges and underpasses will be built to provide access across I-15 from the casinos. Specific plans aren’t expected to be submitted until November.

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4 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • FEBRUARY 2018

News continued …

Atlantic City—The former Revel in Atlantic City, closed since 2014, has been sold to a developer out of Colorado for $200 million. Plans call for it to reopen this summer as the Ocean Resort Casino.

Washington—The Airway Heights casino has opened near Spokane. The casino that features 450 slots and 12 table games will be followed by a hotel and retail center.

Indiana—Four Winds, the state’s first Native Ameri-can casino, has opened near South Bend. Owned by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, it’s a machines-only house with about 1,800 games. Indiana has 13 other privately owned casinos.

Macau—The opening of MGM Cotai in Macau has been postponed for a fourth time. Originally scheduled for a 2016 debut, and most recently January 29 of this year, the reason for the latest postponement is being blamed on problems with the licensing process. The new opening is set for “the month of February 2018.” At least the year is probably solid.

Statistics—Nevada’s statewide gambling win was down 2.3% in November compared to the same month last year. The Strip win was down 6% while downtown continued its winning ways, up 7%.

Las Vegas airline traffic set an all-time record with 48.5 million passengers in 2017, breaking the previous record of 47.7 million set in 2007. The passenger count fell as low as 39.7 million in 2010 and has risen every year since.

The Atlantic City gambling win was up 2.2% in 2017, a second consecutive yearly increase. The seven casi-nos brought in $2.66 billion, including $245 million from online gambling, which booked a fourth consecutive year-over-year double-digit increase, up 25%. The Bor-gota was the market leader with an $800 million win, and the Tropicana ($390 million) supplanted Harrah’s ($363 million) for the number-two spot. The Golden Nugget led the way in online win with $69 million.

Gambling in the Media—The new Las Vegas-themed TV comedy, “LA to Vegas,” is set on the Friday-night-up and Sunday-night-back weekend flights that

are typically full of partying optimists on the first leg and defeated realists on the second. The first episode, while cliché-laden, provided some Vegas references that fans of the city could recognize and appreciate.

The 500th episode of “Pawn Stars” ran in January. It’s been an amazing run for the History Channel show that first aired on a lark in 2009. n

Pot Particulars

Proceeds exceeded expectations in the first four months of legal recreational cannabis in Nevada. Rev-enues and taxes collected in October (released in late December) continued to outpace projections. October sales reached $37.9 million, more than $10 million more than September ($27.7 million); sales in August were $33 million and July $27 million. Nearly $20 million in taxes has been collected by the state since legalization, almost $1 million more than expected.

Retail patrons pay a 10% excise tax, which goes into the state’s rainy day fund; what’s left of the 15% wholesale tax after government administrative costs is channeled to Nevada schools.

The 273 marijuana businesses in Nevada employ more than 6,700 people. The average wage is $19.28 per hour, more than double the state’s $8.25 minimum. And it’s a diverse workforce, with 47% minorities.

Clark County has 43 dispensaries, including Essence Cannabis that’s right on Las Vegas Blvd. S. across from the Stratosphere. Reef Dispensary is on Western Ave. a couple blocks behind the Fashion Show Mall and is open 24 hours.

The NuWu Cannabis Marketplace, at 16,000 square feet with 170 feet of display counters, is billed as the world’s largest; it’s owned by the Las Vegas Paiute tribe, located on Paiute Circle, off N. Main Street just up from Washington Ave., on 31 acres it owns (10 of which were deeded to the tribe by Helen Stewart, First Lady of Las Vegas, in 1912). NuWu (which means “the people”) is also open 24 hours and has a 24-hour drive-thru, the first of its kind in the country. Upwards of 20 of the 100 or so employees are Las Vegas Paiute, a tribe with 56 members. The Las Vegas Paiute also own and operate a smoke shop that’s the largest single retailer of cigarettes in the U.S.

Obviously, the Nevada marijuana industry is still in its infancy, with a number of issues to be resolved. The biggest: Out-of-town visitors can buy all the marijuana they like, but they have nowhere to consume it legally; the state continues to consider marijuana lounges, though the casinos remain prohibited from any involve-ment in the pot business, due to federal regulations con-cerning financial institutions. n

Reader LeaderOn a guy’s trip to Vegas, my buddy used the

Member Rewards Book’s $10 free-play from the Four Queens and on the second play was dealt the AKQT of hearts. He drew the J of hearts for a $1,000 royal! You can bet we’ll all be LVA members on our future trips.

LVA: Very cool. As we often note, downtown is the place to go to get the most MRB bang in a single area.

FEBRUARY 2018 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 5

continued on page 8

DINING

Toughest Table in Town

Gordon Ramsey is, perhaps, the most famous celeb-rity chef of them all, star of the wildly popular Fox reality TV show, “Hell’s Kitchen” (now in its 17th season). He also has four Vegas restaurants: Gordon Ramsay Steak (Paris), Burger (Planet Hollywood), Pub & Grill (Caesars) and Fish & Chips (LINQ).

The newest Gordon Ramsay restaurant held its soft opening on January 6. The huge 300-seat Hell’s Kitchen, located outside Caesars Palace at the corner of the Strip and Flamingo in the space formerly occupied by Serendipity 3 and the world’s first actual Hell’s Kitchen restaurant, received more than 25,000 reservation re-quests when it opened up online. When we attempted to make a reservation on January 19, OpenTable indicated that more than 600 reservations had been made that day and the first available was 9:30 pm on February 26. No reservations between 5:15 and 9:15 were available until March 11. (The first we were able to make at a more rea-sonable 6:30 pm was March 15; we’ll try it then.)

Even for a world-class dining capital, Las Vegas hasn’t seen this much excitement over a restaurant opening since Picasso at Bellagio. And Ramsay told the L.A. Times that a sixth Vegas restaurant is in the pipeline. n

A.Y.C.E at the Palms

After trying the Palms’ A.Y.C.E. buffet for break-fast and lunch and doing several walk-throughs, our opinion that this is easily the best buffet value in town hasn’t changed. It’s a Top Ten deal, even at its re-tail pricing of $21.99 for dinner and Sunday brunch, $15.99 for lunch, and $12.99 for breakfast. But the real prices are $19.99/$13.99/$10.99, because you get a $2 discount for showing the lowest level Boarding Pass players card (President), even if you sign up for it on the way to the buffet. Show the next level card (Gold) or higher and it’s $17.99/$11.99/$8.99. Compare with Bellagio at $38.99/$27.99/$24.99 or Caesars Palace at $54.99/$39.99 (brunch) and you can see the huge price disparity. We’re not saying the Palms is as good for quality as those, or the other super-luxe super buf-fets, but it’s not that far off. Even M Resort takes a back seat at $24.99 for dinner and $16.99 for brunch, and you can’t even get into M until 11 am, whereas breakfast at the Palms begins at 8.

Breakfast is an egg-fest, with multiple versions of Benedicts and scrambles, plus an omelet station. Many dishes are in small-plate format, like a miniature serving of hash & egg or cauliflower grits. And this is the first time we’ve ever seen shakshouka, an African dish made of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili pep-pers, onions, and cumin that by itself is worth the price of admission. Other highlights are the frittatas and the potstickers—the latter being part of a small Asian selec-tion that includes bao, egg foo young, miso soup, and cold ramen noodles—plus pancakes, waffles, blintzes, bagels, croissants, quiche, small salads (good breakfast potato salad), and fresh fruit.

Dinner is also small-plates dominated with an amaz-ing selection: walnut shrimp, Moroccan lamb, Singapore noodles, General Tso chicken, Mongolian beef, kalbi, coq au vin, salmon, duck, turkey leg, stromboli, vegan stuffed peppers, lots of veggies (including the big roast-ed cauliflower at the carving station), and all sorts of salads and soups, featuring individual servings of French onion. Chocolate mousse cake is the main attraction in the big dessert selection. As is typical, lunch and dinner are similar, with a few upgrades for dinner, e.g., beef at the carving station.

Cauliflower at the carving station

Shakshouka and quiche

6 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • FEBRUARY 2018

ADVANCE PLANNER—HEADLINERS AND EVENTS

FEBRUARY2/1 • Rebel SoulJahz Brooklyn Bowl • $22–$402/2 • Eddie Money G. Nugget • $31.61–$173.312/2 • Peabo Bryson Texas Station • $20–$502/2–2/3 • Artie Lange South Point • $40–$502/2–2/3 • Classic Cher Monte Carlo • $55–$4752/2–2/3 • George Strait T– Mobile • $50–$2002/2–3/31 • Incubus Hard Rock • $50.50–$1762/2–5/12 • Daniel Tosh Mirage • $70.99–$106.992/3 • Arsenio Hall Orleans • $29.95–$49.952/3 • Killers MGM Grand • $40.25–$69.502/3 • Tonight Alive & Silverstein Hard Rock • $19/$362/7 • Fetty Wap Brooklyn Bowl • $32–$552/7–2/24 • Chicago • Venetian • $52–$2892/7–2/24 • Diana Ross Wynn LV • $60.50–$3012/8 • Jeezy • MBay • $39.50–$552/9 • America G. Nugget • $42.51–$206.012/9 • Lights • Hard Rock • $21 2/9 • Stick Figure and Twiddle Brooklyn Bowl • $20–$402/9–2/11 • Atlantic City Boys South Point • $25–$352/9–2/27 • Elton John Caesars Palace • $55–$5002/9–12/15 • Ron White • Mirage • $68–$882/10 • Judah & The Lion MBay • $22 2/10 • Shakira MGM Grand • $50.50–$140.502/10 • Valentine’s Love Affair Orleans • $25/$762/10–2/11 • Engelbert Humperdinck Orleans • $65–$852/11 • Pod Tours America Hard Rock • $39.50–$69.502/13 • Lettuce Brooklyn Bowl • $27/$322/14 • Clint Holmes and Earl Turner Westgate LV • $48–$98

2/14 • Next Movement Cannery • $20/$252/14–2/19 • Bruno Mars Monte Carlo • $284–$1,3852/15 • Erykah Badu Brooklyn Bowl • $62.50–$1192/15 • Poppy.Computer Tour Hard Rock • $20/$352/16 • Lana Del Rey MBay • $39.50–$1252/16 • Orleans G. Nugget • $20.71–$107.912/16 • Queens of the Stone Age Cosmo • $49/$692/16 • EFX All Stars • Aliante • $25–$452/16 • Tribal Seeds Brooklyn Bowl • $25–$352/16–2/17 • Jim Jefferies • Mirage • $60/$702/16–2/18 • Herman’s Hermits Peter Noone South Point • $50–$602/17 • Beth Hart • MBay • $30–$552/17 • CAKE • Cosmo • $25/$452/17–2/18 • Hacken Lee w/Queen Bee Venetian • $78–$2682/18 • Theory of a Deadman MBay • $25/$42.502/18–4/28 • Tiffany Haddish Mirage • $37.20/$43.602/22 • Dark Star Orchestra Brooklyn Bowl • $25/$302/23 • Black Label Society MBay • $29.50 2/23 • Felipe Esparza • TI • $39.19/$54.452/23 • Tonic G. Nugget • $36.61–$118.812/23–2/24 • Dennis DeYoung South Point • $55–$752/23–3/3 • Nickelback Hard Rock • $50.50–$2512/23–11/17 • Ray Romano & David Spade Mirage • $90–$1202/24 • Average White Band Aliante • $25–$452/24 • Kadim Al Sahir Monte Carlo • $72–$3982/25 • G–Eazy • Monte Carlo • $45/$632/25 • Josh Turner • MBay • $35–$452/25 • WWE Elimination Chamber T– Mobile • $32.25–$5502/27 • Celebrating David Bowie Brooklyn Bowl • $32/$352/28 • A Day to Remember Hard Rock • $29.50–$150

2/28–3/10 • Elvis Costello & The Imposters Wynn LV • $59.50–$1503/1–3/2 • Elton John Caesars Palace • $55–$5003/2 • Bill Engvall • TI • $52.27/$81.703/2 • Black Veil Brides and Asking Alexandria • MBay • $32.50 3/2 • One Night For One Drop MBay • $125–$15003/2–3/3 • Rick Thomas South Point • $25–$353/3 • Demi Lovato MGM Grand • $29.95–$149.953/3 • Masters of Puppets – Metallica Tribute • Cannery • $20 3/3 • UFC 222: Holloway vs. Edgar T– Mobile • $55–$5053/3 • Walk off the Earth • MBay • $29.50 3/4 • NASCAR Cup Series LVMS • $59–$1693/4 • Of Mice & Men Hard Rock • $19.50/$363/6 • K. Michelle • MBay • $32–$553/7–3/10 • Roger Daltrey Hard Rock • $49.50–$2953/7–3/20 • Lionel Richie Planet Hollywood • $59–$3473/8 • Datsik • Hard Rock • $40/$703/9 • Grand Funk Railroad G. Nugget • $58.41–$162.413/9 • Noel Gallagher Cosmo • $32.50/$37.503/9 • Stone Temple Pilots MBay • $33 3/9–3/10 • Bill Maher • Mirage • $65–$873/9–3/10 • Tower of Power South Point • $50–$603/9–4/21 • Jerry Seinfeld Caesars Palace • $82.50–$1653/10 • Bad Bunny • Cosmo • $69 3/10 • PVRIS MBay • $25.50–$117.503/10 • Russ Freeman & Rippingtons Aliante • $39.50–$59.503/14 • Donavon Frankenreiter Brooklyn Bowl • $22/$253/14–3/24 • Reba, Brooks & Dunn Caesars Palace • $59.50–$2053/15 • Flogging Molly • Cosmo • $40 3/15 • Hippie Sabotage Brooklyn Bowl • $22–$803/15–3/25 • Ricky Martin Monte Carlo • $54–$321

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FEBRUARY 2018 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 7

3/16 • Fortunate Youth Hard Rock • $15/$253/16 • Tommy James & the Shondells G. Nugget • $31.61–$140.613/16–3/17 • Kenny Chesney Hard Rock • $150/$5003/16–3/18 • Letterman South Point • $35–$453/17 • Bon Jovi T– Mobile • $37.25–$552.753/17 • Jonathan Butler Aliante • $30–$553/17 • Psychedelic Furs • MBay • $27 3/23 • Jeffrey Osborne G. Nugget • $42.51–$162.413/23–9/1 • George Lopez Mirage • $65–$873/24 • Blue Oyster Cult Aliante • $30–$553/24 • J Boog • MBay • $25–$353/24 • Kid Rock MBay • $49.50–$149.503/24 • Ministry Brooklyn Bowl • $35/$403/27 • Galactic Brooklyn Bowl • $22/$253/27 • Michael Schenker Fest MBay • $37.50–$99.503/27–3/31 • Céline Dion Caesars Palace • $95–$5003/29–5/27 • Gabriel Iglesias • Mirage • $100 3/30 • Bobby Bones Comedy Tour G. Nugget • $72.51–$195.113/30 • Darkness Brooklyn Bowl • $25–$403/31 • George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic • MBay • $29/$393/31 • Jay Cutler • Palms • $38–$59.503/31 • Senses Fail Brooklyn Bowl • $18/$203/31–4/2 • Donny Edwards South Point • $25–$354/3–4/18 • Céline Dion Caesars Palace • $95–$5004/7 • 3LAU Brooklyn Bowl • $20–$304/7 • Gloria Trevi vs Alejandra Guzman Monte Carlo • $45–$2304/10 • Nightwish Brooklyn Bowl • $53–$1884/13 • Portugal • Cosmo • $28 4/13 • Sister Sister Sister Palms • $39–$139

4/14 • Aaron Lewis Orleans • $49.95/$59.954/15 • ACMA 2018 MGM Grand • $575/$6304/15 • Sebastian Maniscalco Caesars Palace • $39.50–$954/27 • Nick Swardson Mirage • $60/$714/27–4/28 • Mel Brooks Wynn LV • $125–$11004/27–4/28 • Pitbull Planet Hollywood • $39–$1494/28–4/29 • Elton John Caesars Palace • $55–$5005/1–5/19 • Elton John Caesars Palace • $55–$5005/2 • Enrique Bunbury MBay • $99/$1045/2–5/12 • Earth, Wind & Fire Venetian • $71.50–$324.505/2–5/12 • Pitbull Planet Hollywood • $39–$1495/2–5/19 • Classic Cher Monte Carlo • $55–$4755/5 • Maluma • MBay • $39–$1595/8 • As the Crow Flies Brooklyn Bowl • $39.50–$1505/11 • Human League • MBay • $37.50 5/11–5/12 • U2 • T– Mobile • $46–$3305/13 • Abba the Concert – Tribute Cannery • $19.95–$34.955/14 • Peter Hook & The Light Brooklyn Bowl • $30/$355/15 • Todrick Hall American MBay • $32.50–$152.505/16–5/27 • Carlos Santana MBay • $99.50–$3005/18–5/20 • Electric Daisy Carnival LVMS • $340–$7095/19 • Juanes • Palms • $60–$1505/22–5/30 • Céline Dion Caesars Palace • $95–$5005/23–5/30 • Ricky Martin Monte Carlo • $54–$3215/25 • Brian Culbertson Aliante • $30–$555/26 • P!nk • T– Mobile $47.45–$239.955/27–7/20 • Jim Gaffigan Caesars Palace • $55–$99.50

See inside wrap (pg. 13) for “Weather,” “Room Rates,” and “Key Dates.”

ADVANCE PLANNER—HEADLINERS AND EVENTS

SHOW NOTES

• INFERNO: The Fire Spectacular opens this month at Paris; tickets are $70.52-$165.22.

• Ticket prices for KÁ at MGM Grand have changed from $105.56-$243.71 to $90.16-$265.65.

• Ticket prices for Terry Fator at the Mirage have been decreased from $77.38-$153.68 to $77.38-$132.67.

• Ticket prices for Criss Angel— MIND-FREAK Live at Luxor have been changed from $79.26/$120.30/ $143.45/$167.65 to $79.26/$111.96/$133.76/$156.65/$211.15.

• Ticket prices for Tenors of Rock at Harrah’s have changed from $70.51-$132.51 to $81.34-$119.82.

• The $69.50 ticket price for Elton John—The Million Dollar Piano at Caesars Palace has been eliminated; the new lowest ticket is $113.

• The $86 ticket price for Penn & Teller at the Rio has been eliminated; the new lowest ticket is $99.87.

• Ticket prices for Magic Mike at the Hard Rock have been increased from $62.85-$156.45 to $64.45-$182.85.

• Ticket prices for Gordie Brown at Hooters have been increased from $45.20/$55.20 to $55.20/$65.20.

• Ticket prices for Vegas Mob Tour have been increased from $89.95 to $99.95.

• World’s Greatest Rock Show has closed at the Stratosphere.

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8 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • FEBRUARY 2018

A.Y.C.E. at the Palms continued …

The only negative is a noticeable lack of seafood. There’s some fish and individual shrimp cocktails and ceviche, but no lox, crab legs, oysters, etc. The ex-ception is Sunday brunch, which serves lox (as well as siu mai, salt and pepper chicken wings, and a few more additions that we didn’t see during the week). We checked on Friday and found green mussels and clam chowder. It seems like a conscious decision to dial it back on the seafood and probably a good one, allowing the buffet to offer high-quality items in the other areas (kind of like managing a salary cap in sports).

A whole lot of thought went into this buffet, which is only fitting, considering that Station Casinos started the big move up in buffet quality when it debuted the Feast at Palace Station 30 years ago. And this month, the deal is even better for gamblers, with a powerhouse instacomp good on Tuesdays and Thursdays (see gambling). n

Sandwiches at Club Fortune

One of the best coffee shops in town is Club Café at Club Fortune. We’ve written about it off and on over the years and we’ll revisit soon, but if you’re on the run, there’s also a little snack bar at the casino called The Deli. The Deli makes excellent sandwiches from $3.99 for a breakfast sandwich to $5.49 for roast beef, plus turkey, corned beef, ham & cheese, and tuna. The ingre-dients are a notch above and they’re made to order right in front of you, so you get it exactly the way you want it.

Francesco’s at TI

Francesco’s used to be the full-service Italian res-taurant at Treasure Island, but it downsized to a pizza place, with slices ($4.75-$6.50) and pies ($19-$39), salads ($4.50-$8), wings (85¢ per), and a few desserts. It’s New York-style pizza—thin crisp crust, not-too-sweet sauce, virtually indistinguishable from the “secret” pizza at Cosmopolitan, but 25¢ cheaper by the slice and in a much larger room with plenty of places to sit (and easily accessible with free parking). There’s also a 10-inch personal pizza with a gluten-free crust that includes two toppings ($13). Francesco’s is right at the bottom of the escalator from the TI parking garage. n

KFC at G.O.A.T.

A new bar on Sahara just west of Valley View called G.O.A.T. is working through some kinks in the sports and gaming space (see gambling), but it’s got it going with the food. There are several excellent dishes here, all priced $6-$10, but the gotta-get-it selection is the KFC (Korean fried chicken) wings, which are now inserted firmly near the top of our best-wings list. They’re rolled in rice flour to add to the crunch, then deep-fried. Out of the fryer, they’re hand brushed with a Korean base sauce called gochujang, a fermented mix made from chili powder (spicy), glutinous rice (sweet), meju (soy-bean), and yeotgireum (barley malt powder). Excellent. Other good choices are sliders, crab cake, meatball, and short rib on grits. Go for happy hour, daily from 3 to 6 pm and am, when all of the regular menu items are $5. It’s one of the best HH deals in town. Also be sure to ask about the weekly dessert special ($7) and if it’s the cara-mel cheesecake, jump. n

Turkey on rye at Club Fortune

KFC wings

FEBRUARY 2018 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 9

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Dining Notes

Follow the Puck—Wolfgang Puck’s iconic Spago has closed at the Forum Shops at Caesars. When it opened with the Forum Shops in 1992, Spago launched Vegas’ evolution into a world-class food city. Spago will reopen at Bellagio sometime this summer in the space that was, up until last month, occupied by Todd Eng-lish’s Olives, which opened with Bellagio in 1998. The room will undergo a $2.5 million makeover.

Hot Mint—Las Vegas’ Mint Indian Bistro was named in a Wall Street Journal article about the country’s “hot-test” restaurants, but it wasn’t the kind of hot you might expect. The article addressed restaurants serving fare made from potent peppers that’s so incendiary, custom-ers are asked to sign waivers before the food is brought to the table. Mint was cited for its “Inferno” menu. The owner of the two Las Vegas Mints told the WSJ that the menu is a hit, because “People are looking for these things in a crazy town like Las Vegas.” Thanks for the warning!

Denny’s at South Point—South Point has an-nounced that it’s adding a Denny’s, the 24th in Las Ve-gas. The date and location haven’t been announced, but it looks like it will be added rather than replacing an existing restaurant.

Taco Special—The $1 taco special on Wednesdays at the Roberto’s Taco Shops has increased to $1.29, still an awesome deal. With a limit of 12 per customer, you can feed four on less than a twenty spot. n

More Openings/Closings

China Tang has opened at MGM Grand in the space that used to be Pearl.

Red Lotus Asian Kitchen has opened at the Tropicana.

The Italian restaurant Esther’s Kitchen has opened in the downtown Arts District.

Fin will close at the Mirage on February 10.Zeffirino has closed at the Venetian after operating

since 1998. Jean Philippe Patisserie has been converted to

Bellagio Patisserie at Bellagio and a second Jean Philippe at Aria is now Aria Patisserie, reflecting the split of Jean Philippe Maury and MRI properties.

The Claim Jumper that replaced McCormick & Schmick’s on E. Flamingo has closed after just three months. n

ENTERTAINMENT

Big Bookings

A number of big names that aren’t regular Las Vegas performers are coming to town over the next several months. Here are some of the higher-profile performers that have just been announced.

The Venetian will host The Doobie Brothers Apr. 7 and ZZ Top Apr. 20, 21, 25, 27-28; Roger Daltrey will play the Hard Rock March 7 & 10; Earth, Wind & Fire will headline the Cosmopolitan May 2, 4-5, 9, 11-12; Paul Anka will perform at the Wynn May 18-19, 23, 25-26; Kevin Hart will play MGM Grand July 6; and Def Leppard and Journey will be at T-Mobile Sept. 6.

Barry Manilow will reportedly sign with Westgate Las Vegas for a permanent show that begins in March. And in an interview on a Boston TV station, Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry said that the band will begin a Las Vegas residency sometime in the fall. Perry indicated that frontman Steven Tyler will be involved. He didn’t say where the gig would be, but the smart money is on The Park Theater at Park MGM. n

Bars and Happy Hours

Jerky—The revamped bar at the Westin is similar to the old bar, with slightly reduced drink prices. Though still a bit pricey—a Bud is $7—when you buy a drink it comes with complimentary homemade beef jerky. We’ve never seen this before—you get two big pieces served in a little bucket, and it’s good, but watch out for the video poker (see gambling).

Jerky in a bucket

10 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • FEBRUARY 2018

G.O.A.T. HH—A twice-a-day happy hour at the new G.O.A.T. bar has $4 drafts, $5 wells, and an awesome $5-food deal that’s detailed in dining.

Half-Price Wine—Twin Creeks at Silverton has half-price wine by the bottle on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Drink Prices—At Ojah Flamingo, a Johnny Walker Black is $9.74 and a draft Sapporo is $5.36. At G.O.A.T., a Heineken is $8 and a PBR is $6. In Tonic at the Palms, a Heineken is $7. At Irene’s, a tequila sunrise is $6.75. In C Bar at the Stratosphere, a Bud is $6. At Other Mama, a draft PBR is $4.33. In the Sports Bar at the California, a Corona is $3. In West Bar at Club Fortune, a Heineken is $3.

Openings/Closings—The champagne lounge Fizz at Caesars Palace has fizzled out; the imaginative new name of the venue is the Cocktail Lounge.

Another dive bar dives with the closing of Boomers on Sirius Avenue. n

Entertainment Notes

Last Picture Show—The Regal United Artists The-ater at the Showcase Mall has closed, leaving the Strip without a movie theater. It had operated just north of MGM Grand since 1997. The closest movie theaters to the Strip proper are now farther south in the Town Square shopping district, a mile west on Flamingo at the Palms, and two miles west on Tropicana at the Orleans.

Britney Breaks Records—Britney Spears ended her Las Vegas residency with a bang, setting box office records for her New Year’s Eve finale. Tickets selling for an average of about $250 generated a $1.17 million take, the highest ever for a show at Planet Hollywood. It was the conclusion of Britney’s four-year run.

New Clubs at the Palms—Two new clubs/bars have been announced for the Palms. The former Ghost-bar will become Apex Social Club and a new bar called Camden Cocktail Lounge will open on the ground floor. Both venues will be managed by the Clique Hospitality Group and will debut in May.

Nuevo Producción—The Strip’s first all-in-Spanish show, Ilusión Mental, has opened at Planet Hollywood. The all-ages production plays Sat.-Mon. and Thurs. at 5:30 pm; tickets are $66/$79.

Shakira Postponed—The Shakira “Eldorado World Tour” concert that was scheduled for February 10 at MGM Grand has been moved to September 1.

See the advance planner for dates, prices, and addi-tional show updates. n

GAMBLING

The A.Y.C.E. Instacomp

To jumpstart its new A.Y.C.E. buffet, the Palms is running a fantastic instacomp good on Tuesdays and Thursdays in February. Earn 200 points ($200 coin-in) to get a comped breakfast buffet, 400 for lunch, and 600 for dinner. The good games at the Palms make this a powerful deal in terms of expected value.

It’s prudent to go to a kiosk before you play and ac-tivate a 3X points promo (available to everyone by ac-cessing “Today’s Offers”), but it’s not necessary to earn the buffet comp, since the requirement is for same-day base points. Playing expertly on easy-to-find 9/6 Jacks or Better games, the expected loss to earn the points is just $1 for breakfast, $2 for lunch, and $3 for dinner. As-suming average skill levels or lesser schedules, the ex-pected loss will still be about $3, $6, and $9—more than 50% below retail.

You don’t have to check in at the club before play-ing, just after. Simply earn the specified amount of base points, then go to the booth to be issued the comp. The points are not deducted from your total.

You can track your points at the machine, but be careful to note how many you have if you want to move to another machine, because the displayed point count goes back to zero when you reinsert your card. All the points you earn are tallied and count toward the comp, but you won’t know where you stand if you don’t keep track while moving (you can also check them at the ki-osk). Playing quarters, you can earn breakfast in about 30 minutes, and it’s a good one as you’ll see in the re-view in dining. n

Bars and Happy Hours continued …

FEBRUARY 2018 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 11

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Contest Results

For the second year in a row, the prestigious West-gate SuperContest was won by an amateur player. Bri-ceton Branch, described as a 39-year-old entrepreneur from Portland, Oregon, who played under the name “Granny’s Boy,” went 58-22-5—a scorching 72.5%—to take down the record $1.3 million prize. Branch de-scribed his winning method as a “mix of gut feel and sleep therapy.”

In the SuperContest Gold, a five-man team called Stag Capital went 54-29-2 (65.1%) to win $470,000. The second-place finisher lost by a half-game and got exact-ly nothing in the $5K-entry-fee winner-take-all contest.

The winner of the Friday Football Showdown at the Golden Nugget was Chris Kozak, who also won last year. Playing under the name “Mucked Nuts” (a poker reference), the 35-year-old derivatives trader won $67,000. While it’s not quite on a par with Fezzik’s back-to-back wins in the SuperContest against bigger fields, considering the level of expertise in the GN contest, it’s a heck of an accomplishment. n

National Bookie Association?

Last month, the NBA made it known that it wants a piece of the pie if sports betting becomes legal in the U.S. An attorney for the league said that 1% of all wa-gers made sounds about right. One report stated, “The NBA wants more widespread access to gambling for its fans, pushing for bets to be made legal on smartphones and kiosks and not just inside casinos and racetracks.” So much for gambling’s negative effect on the integrity of the games, but never mind that.

The question is, who needs the permission, or even the cooperation, of the NBA? No laws that we’re aware of give the professional-sports leagues the power to pre-clude betting on their games in places where it’s legal. And even if the NBA could prevent betting (in retalia-tion for not being cut in on bookmaking revenue), why would it? The NBA, and all sports leagues, will benefit greatly from expanded sports wagering without having to also grab a piece of the bookmaking business. A bet on a game translates to instant, and stickier (watching longer), viewership. That means increased advertising revenue. The leagues have profited from this relation-ship for years and now the effect will be magnified many times over.

Here’s the problem. If the professional-sports leagues are somehow able to insinuate themselves into the process for a 1% cut, it’s gonna spell trouble for the prospects of legalized sports betting from a competitive standpoint.

With standard -110 pricing, the bookie’s expected win on an $11 bet is only 50¢. If the NBA wanted 1% of the profit, that’s half a penny—not a huge deal. But it’s asking for 1% of the handle. That’s 11¢, which means they’d cut into the profit margin by 22%, and that’s on top of whatever state taxes will be added to the existing federal tax. Eventually, the books would have to rees-tablish their margins, which could lead to -120 lines (bet $12 to win $10) or worse, putting them at a significant disadvantage in competition with the illegal and offshore sports books, which would pay neither the tax nor the league squeeze while continuing to offer -110 pricing.

At the very least, we expect that the 1% demand gets lowered to something more reasonable. Most rea-sonable would be no percentage at all, which would help maintain the important -110 status quo. n

Comp City Schedules

You should take advantage of the Comp City Slots bonus referenced in couponomy if you play the app. Since the minimum bet is 25,000 coins, the five-million-coin bonus represents a healthy 200 plays, the equiva-lent of a $250 head-start on a quarter video poker game. The app plays like real slots and video poker in the ca-sinos, only our games give you a better chance, with 10 Full-Pay video poker versions, including “Anthony Curtis’ Triple Triple Extreme Bonus” that returns 101.24% with perfect play. There’s a whole lot of variance involved, but if you get ahead early and play the game near opti-mally (Bob Dancer’s Video Poker for Winners software can create the strategy), you could earn a lot of prizes by just playing off the bonus boost. n

Video Poker Lost and Found

Schedules were bouncing all over the place in the Vue Bar at the D last month, as the installment of new machines came with the departure of the 8/5 Bonus Poker 4-way progressive, which was reduced to stan-dard non-progressive 8/5 BP. Later in the month, the progressives were reactivated in all but two machines, and now we’re told they’re on all bar games and on brand new machines to boot.

Although press releases indicate that the Westin has been converted to a non-gaming resort, that’s not completely true. The renovated Lounge Bar still has machines, even though they’re among the worst in town. The best game there is 6/5 Bonus Poker Deluxe returning 95.36% from 25¢ to $1. All the other games are worse, and the machines default to the dismal BP

12 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • FEBRUARY 2018

schedule that pays even money on 2 pair and returns 94.18%.

The play-$500-get-$50 promo at Jackpot Bar and Grill now runs on Mondays and Thursdays. Check out the detailed article on playing it in last month’s LVA.

G.O.A.T. bar has a play-$20-get-$20 sign-up bo-nus. The best game is 6/5 BP (96.87%), but if you want comped drinks for your play, don’t order bottled beer. Bottles get only a 50% discount, so order a bottle of Heineken and you’ll get a bill for $4. Very strange, but the food’s good (see dining).

Add Mad Matty’s Bar & Grille to the list of bars with 7/5 BP (98.01%). There’s also a play-$20-get-$10 sign-up bonus.

Bob Dancer’s free video poker classes run on Tues-days in the Silverado Lounge at South Point—beginner classes are at noon and intermediate at 2 pm except where otherwise noted. Must be 21. Topics are 9/6 Bo-nus Poker Deluxe (on 2/6); 9/6 Double Double Bonus Poker Ultimate X, one class only at noon (2/13); NSU Deuces Wild (2/20); Advanced NSU Deuces Wild, one class only at noon (2/27). Be sure to check out Bob’s weekly Tuesday column and the Thursday “Gambling with an Edge” podcast, with Bob and Richard Munchkin, both at GamblingWithAnEdge.com. n

Gambling Notes

Super Bowl—This year’s Super Bowl line opened with the New England Patriots -6 favorites over the Phila-delphia Eagles and has been bet down to -4.5. The total opened at 47 and moved slightly to 48. We’ll provide a complete post-Super Bowl round-up in the March LVA.

Super Beats—The NFL playoff game between the Vikings and Saints created a wild ride for sports bet-tors. The line closed at Vikings -5.5 in most places with a total of 47. With the Saints ahead 24-23, the Vikings’ miracle touchdown on the last play of the game flipped the winners, but not completely. With the score 29-24, the Vikings’ decision not to kick the extra point preserved the +5.5 win for many Saints bettors and crushed Vikings bettors, who would have won with a 6-point margin. The last-second TD also turned a push on the total into a loss for under bettors.

Double Banger—In December, a woman won an $800,000 jackpot at the Wildwood Casino in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Not necessarily big news, except that she also won $1 million in a 2007 Powerball lottery draw-ing. “I guess I’m just lucky,” she said. Ya think? n

Video Poker Lost and Found continued …FAST TRACK

Partiers Leave a Mess—An estimated 12 tons of garbage was removed from the Strip and downtown fol-lowing the New Year’s Eve celebrations. Police reported making eight arrests on the Strip and three downtown, and handing out 10 additional citations. The few medical calls reported were described as minor.

Red Rock Admission To Rise—The fee to enter Red Rock Canyon’s 13-mile scenic drive will more than double, starting February 20. The cost per carload will go to $15, up $8 from the current price of $7. Motorcyclists will pay $10, up from $3, and pedestrians will shell out $5, also up from $3. The increases for the BLM’s show-case National Conservation Area 20 miles west of the Strip are the first since 2011.

Simpson Sues—OJ Simpson’s attorney says he plans to file a lawsuit over Simpson’s recent ejection from the Cosmopolitan. The suit will seek “at least $100 million” for what Simpson’s camp calls a “bogus ejec-tion.” Given that casinos have been 86ing customers with impunity forever, we’re not crazy about OJ’s chanc-es. However, there’s also discussion that the claim may be about defamation after the incident, which would be a different issue.

Rent-A-Hotel—The Artisan has brought back its of-fer to rent the entire hotel for a night. The 63 rooms, bar, pool, and wedding chapel are all yours for $7,500. Food and drink packages are available for additional charges.

Big Sign—The Westgate Las Vegas outdoor sign has completed a “digital upgrade” that enhances its display clarity. At 28 stories tall and 15,000 square feet, it’s tout-ed as the world’s largest free-standing sign, larger than the renowned Dallas Cowboys stadium’s video display.

No More Sundays—The news magazine, The Sun-day, has ceased publication. It had been distributed weekly for free since 2014. With the recent move of Vegas Seven to online-only publishing, only Las Vegas Weekly remains as a wide-distribution newsstand freebie.

Treacherous Duty—Does your pit boss seem a little cranky? It might be due to trouble at home. According to a report from 24/7 Wall St., casino gaming manager is at the top of the list of “jobs that take biggest toll on marriages,” logging a is.9% divorce rate. Number two on the list is bartender and number four is gaming service worker. Looks like the casino environment throws up lots of obstacles to wedded bliss.

Fewer Weddings—Last year the number of wed-dings in Las Vegas hit its lowest point since 1991, falling 3.9% to 78,186. A huge drop in the 4th quarter following the Strip shooting was a major reason for the result, but the number has declined significantly since its peak of 128,000 in 2004. n

Best rates at press time from sample of 54 Las Vegas casinos. Rates NOT guaranteed, subject to change without notice, and do not include tax. Lower prices may be available online.

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WEEKENDFour Queens • $70AZ C. Decatur • $75Wild Wild West • $82

Westgate LV • $74Palace Station • $97Sam’s Town • $100

Palms • $151 Hard Rock • $160 Paris • $173

WEEKENDAZ C. Decatur • $80Wild Wild West • $92El Cortez • $94

Westgate LV • $94Palace Station • $100Sam’s Town • $111

Palms • $151 Hard Rock • $160Paris • $177

WEEKDAYFour Queens • $35Wild Wild West • $37El Cortez • $43

Circus Circus • $49Westgate LV • $56Palace Station • $57

Hard Rock • $80Palms • $91Paris • $91

WEEKENDAZ C. Decatur • $80Four Queens • $89Wild Wild West • $92

Westgate LV • $94Circus Circus • $101Palace Station • $122

Caesars Palace • $134Palms • $151Hard Rock • $160

WEEKDAYFour Queens • $35Wild Wild West • $37El Cortez • $48

Circus Circus • $51Westgate LV • $56Sam’s Town • $58

Hard Rock • $71Palms • $91 Paris • $91

WEEKDAYWild Wild West • $37Four Queens • $39the D • $44

Circus Circus • $49Stratosphere • $57Sam’s Town • $58

Palms • $81 Hard Rock • $100Paris • $110

WEA

THER Mean 50° Avg. Max. 62° Avg. Min. 37° Pools: Closed

Days begin to arm, evenings still cool.

Attire: Light jacket for the day, something warm for evenings.

Mean 56° Avg. Max. 69° Avg. Min. 42° Pools: ClosedA fickle month for weather. Occasional rain and high winds, warm days.

Attire: Light jacket or sweater for evenings.

DATES

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MAY

MARCH

FEBRUARY

APRIL

MARCH MARCH

APRIL

MAY

1 HELI Expo—20,000 5–9 Healthcare Info & Management—30,000 11–14 ASD Las Vegas—46,000 20–22 International Pizza Expo—12,000 23–25 National Automobile Dealers—30,000 27–28 Nightclub & Bar Show—39,000

9-12 National Assoc. of Broadcasters—103,000 24-26 Waste Expo—12,000

8–10 National Hardware Show—30,000 20–23 RECon—37,000 24–6/1 Valley Nat’l 8-Ball Pool Championship—10,000

Mean 64° Avg. Max. 78° Avg. Min. 50° Pools: OpenDaily highs reach into the 80s with regularity. Winds subside.

Attire: Spring wardrobe for days. Bring a warm jacket just in case.

A young reporter stuck in a dead-end job, Anna Christiansen falls head over heels for the bass player in an up-and-coming alt band. In short order, she pulls up stakes, moves to Las Vegas, gets married and pregnant, and moves into a big fixer-upper. The house is haunt-ed by the ghost of a Sin City racketeer, who counsels Anna on navigating Vegas politics that threaten her

home, family, and life. Part road trip, part coming-of-age saga, part mystery, part ghost story, The House Always Wins is all Vegas.

The House Always Wins • $12.71, plus shipping

Now in its sixth edition, Eating Las Vegas is not only a dedicat-ed guide to some of the best eateries in the U.S. It has also become the premier source for Las Vegas dining information.

After considering—and eating at—hundreds of contenders, John Curtas has assembled this exclusive guide to the new “Essential 52” restau-rants in Las Vegas. This 2018 edition features sections on the burgeoning Chi-natown district, the potentially best-in-the-country roster of steakhouses, French restaurants, burger joints, and the batch of recently arrived chain restaurants. A quick-reference lists the best bets for buf-fets, Italian and pizza, Mexican, sushi, desserts, cheap eats, late-night dining, and more.

Eating Las Vegas 2018 • $12.99(shipping included to U.S. addresses)

VEGAS FICTION AT ITS FINEST IF YOU DINE IN VEGAS, YOU NEED THIS BOOK

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All players get 1 million coins upon download, another 2 million for joining the free VIP Club, ad-ditional coins distributed every couple of hours, and assorted specials through Facebook and other av-enues. As an exclusive MRB benefit, LVA members get an additional bonus available from the store at LasVegasAdvisor.com/shop.

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