Mikes Las Vegas

One of the places that I find to be the best place to sit and just enjoy the atmosphere has to be Wynn and Encore. It’s always fun to sit in one of their bars and watch people or talk with the people who work there. A question I always as is do you ever see Steve? And I always get the same response; it starts with a look to the left and right as if he is watching their every move. It’s then followed by “I’ve seen him but try and stay away”, or “when I do I walk the other way”.  On my recent trip to Wynn I talked with young women who work in the “Wynn” logo store. She told me that Wynn is blind and can’t see, she has even been told that people have been fired because they have tried to help Wynn get back on his feet after a fall! I’m not sure if her allegations are true or not nor to I really care what Wynn does with his employees but it is always interesting to ask employees if they ever see Steve walk through the property.

May be you have hear, seen, or read a review of Aria at City Center. With many of them being negative or not as good as we would have thought you have to wonder what MGM and Murren are doing to fix the problem. Lets start with my review, the casino was too dark, and there really wasn’t anything to do there. Because of all the bad reviews similar to mine MGM has started reading what there customers are saying and trying to adapt there resort to fit as many lifestyles and expectations as possible. So what is there solution you ask? A call center, where you can call and complain as much as you want and hope for some change. In my opinion this is the down side of the peak of MGM. Most of there really good properties were made by other people, Wynn, or Mandalay resorts. City Center has had many problems and with Revenue down I don’t know how they will recover from this. I believe that Las Vegas being owned by one or two companies is a thing of the past, look for liquidation of resorts in the coming years. I would like to see Wynn take back Bellagio or Mirage and take them back to the days when they first opened.

My origional review can be found here

Las Vegas Sun artical can be found here

MGM Resorts International page can be found here

Steve Wynn gets mad at a reporter, do you think he is in the right here???

With the addition of the Sky Jump to the Strat. I though I would ask, are you willing to jump form 855 feet in the air in a controlled free fall going 40+ miles an hour?

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http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jan/08/stratospheres-new-skyjump-fall-855-feet-100/

As some of you may know downtown Las Vegas has seen better days and the Mayor has been trying for years to reinvent Fremont street for many years. Las Vegas has had many properties over the years that have sat unused for many years, The Landmark was only open a few years and sat around for many years do to lack of funding. Downtown the Lady Luck had sat unused for the past 4 years, Until now! Announced yesterday 3/29/2010 the owners are working to present a plan to reopen the hotel sometime in 2011.

Link to news article:http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2010/03/29/news/iq_34990591.txt

Been listening to Double or Nothing over the past few days. If you are not familiar with this book its a must read if you are a fan of Las Vegas. Written by Tom Breitling and Cal Fussman its the story of Tom and Tim poster and how they took over the Golden Nugget on Fremont Street. Tom discusses how players took millions and how players lost millions. One of the Best parts of the book is the stories about gamblers, such as “Mr. Royalty” and his game of craps. The book goes into detail as to what a player and dealer may be thinking as well as odds on games like, craps, black jack, and so on. The best part is its an easy read and doesn’t go so in depth on odds and play that you miss the message of the book.

I was reading an article the other day on the difference between casinos in Las Vegas and your local Indian casino. I dont remember where the article was so I apologize in advance that I cant provide a link but similarinformation also shows up in the book “Winner Takes All”. In the past few years the Hold on Las Vegas slot machines has been at an average of 2-4% meaning that 2-4% of each dollar you put into the machine stays with the casino. That said the local Indian casino down the street from your house can have holds up to 20%. I can only think that this is a result of less competition around the Indian casinos, they have to hold more of your money in order to make money for new development. Where as casinos in Las Vegas have a lot of competition.

Whats wrong with this picture?

 May be I am the only one to notice but, this picture taken in jan 2010 shows many things that are no longer there…What you ask? Look at the Mirage sign, or Caesars Palace. This happens all the time and it bugs me that advertisement firms cant get current photos of Las Vegas, or when looking at photos of rooms they show views of the strip that are just not possible from that hotel!