August 2020 • Vol. 37 • Issue 8 $5

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

CIRCA COMETHNews aplenty

about Vegas’ next big thing …

pgs. 3, 13

BACK TO BARGAINSSaving big on

rooms and flights … pgs. 1, 2

PRIMO PRIMEPrime rib tandem a

cut above … pg. 8

BARS CLOSEDHow do ya get a

drink around here? … pg. 11

BARTOPS TOOStand-alones save

the day … pgs. 14, 17

2020 MEMBER REWARDS

24 BUFFETS, 43 DINING IN-CLUDING “LOCAL CORNER”,

2 DRINKS, 8 SHOWS, 11 RIDES/ATTRACTIONS,

AND 37 GAMBLINGAdditional show discounts, Printable Rewards and show

codes located at LasVegasAdvisor.com.

*The 2020 LVA Member Rewards book is avail-able ONLY with a paid one-year subscription to

the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter. No exceptions.

Local (702) Toll FreeCASINOSAliante Casino+Hotel+Spa ...................692-7777 ...... 877-477-7627Aria .......................................................590-7111 ...... 866-359-7757Arizona Charlie’s Boulder .....................951-5800 ...... 800-362-4040Arizona Charlie’s Decatur .....................258-5200 ...... 800-342-2695Bally’s ...................................................739-4111 ...... 877-603-4390Bellagio .................................................693-7111 ...... 888-987-7111Binion’s .................................................382-1600 ...... 800-937-6537Boulder Station .....................................432-7777 ...... 800-683-7777Caesars Palace.....................................731-7110 ...... 866-227-5938California ..............................................385-1222 ...... 800-634-6505Cannery ................................................507-5700 ...... 866-999-4899Casino Royale (Best Western Plus) ......737-3500 ...... 800-854-7666Circus Circus ........................................734-0410 ...... 800-634-3450Cosmopolitan .......................................698-7000 ...... 877-551-7778Downtown Grand .................................719-5100 ...... 855-384-7263Eastside Cannery .................................507-5700 ...... 866-999-4899El Cortez ...............................................385-5200 ...... 800-634-6703Ellis Island (Super 8) .............................733-8901 ...... 800-800-8000Encore ..................................................770-7100 ...... 877-321-9966Excalibur ...............................................597-7777 ...... 800-937-7777Fiesta Henderson .................................558-7000 ...... 888-899-7770Fiesta Rancho.......................................631-7000 ...... 800-731-7333Flamingo ...............................................733-3111 ...... 800-732-2111Four Queens .........................................385-4011 ...... 800-634-6045Fremont ................................................385-3232 ...... 800-634-6460Gold Coast ...........................................367-7111 ...... 800-331-5334Golden Gate .........................................385-1906 ...... 800-426-1906Golden Nugget .....................................385-7111 ...... 844-468-4438Green Valley Ranch ..............................617-7777 ...... 866-782-9487Harrah’s ................................................369-5000 ...... 800-392-9002LINQ, The .............................................731-3311 ...... 866-328-1888Longhorn (Super 8) ...............................435-9170 ...... 800-800-8000Luxor ....................................................262-4000 ...... 800-288-1000M Resort ...............................................797-1000 ...... 877-673-7678Main Street Station ...............................387-1896 ...... 800-713-8933Mandalay Bay .......................................632-7777 ...... 877-632-7800MGM Grand ..........................................891-1111 ...... 800-929-1111Mirage...................................................791-7111 ...... 800-627-6667New York-New York .............................740-6969 ...... 800-693-6763NoMad ..................................................730-7000 ...... 888-706-6623Orleans .................................................365-7111 ...... 800-675-3267OYO ......................................................739-9000 ...... 866-584-6687Palace Station ......................................367-2411 ...... 800-634-3101Palazzo .................................................607-7777 ...... 866-263-3001Palms ....................................................942-7777 ...... 866-942-7770Paris......................................................946-7000 ...... 888-266-5687Park MGM ............................................730-7777 ...... 800-311-8999Planet Hollywood .................................785-5555 ...... 866-919-7472Plaza .....................................................386-2110 ...... 800-634-6575Rampart ...............................................507-5900 ...... 877-869-8777

Red Rock Resort ..................................797-7777 ...... 866-767-7773Rio ........................................................252-7777 ...... 888-746-7482Sahara Las Vegas .................................761-7000 ...... 855-761-7757Sam’s Town ..........................................456-7777 ...... 800-634-6371Santa Fe Station ...................................658-4900 ...... 866-767-7771Silver Sevens ........................................733-7000 ...... 800-640-9777Silverton................................................263-7777 ...... 800-588-7711South Point ...........................................796-7111 ...... 866-791-7626Suncoast ..............................................636-7111 ...... 877-677-7111Sunset Station ......................................547-7777 ...... 888-786-7389Texas Station ........................................631-1000 ...... 800-654-8888The Cromwell, The ...............................777-3777 ...... 844-426-2766the D .....................................................388-2400 ...... 800-274-5825The STRAT ............................................380-7777 ...... 800-998-6937Treasure Island (TI) ...............................894-7111 ...... 800-944-7444Tropicana..............................................739-2222 ...... 800-634-4000Tuscany ................................................893-8933 ...... 877-887-2261Vdara ....................................................590-2767 ...... 866-745-7767Venetian ................................................414-1000 ...... 877-883-6423Waldorf Astoria .....................................590-8888 ...... 800-925-3673Westin Lake Las Vegas ........................567-6000Westin Las Vegas .................................836-5900 ...... 800-937-8461Westgate Las Vegas .............................732-5111 ...... 800-732-7117Wild Wild West (Days Inn) ....................740-0000 ...... 800-777-1514Wildfire..................................................648-3801Wynn Las Vegas ...................................770-7000 ...... 866-770-7077

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August 2020 $5A N T H O N Y C U R T I S ’

LasVegasAdvisor

Getting Back to BargainsIn Las Vegas, bad times bring bargains. Always have. And it always

starts with room rates. At least until these bad times. When the casinos were allowed to reopen in June, what surprised me most was the absence of immediate room discounting. A few statements came out by industry consultants claiming that discounting rooms was an unsound strategy. I scratched my head and assumed that the first thing to be discounted would be that advice, followed by the rooms. But early on, that wasn’t the case. The rates in our big July room survey were low, but not as low as I’d expected.

I’m pretty sure that those who didn’t discount were patting themselves on the back when that pent-up demand exploded in the first week or so. But then reality set in. The crowds thinned. The media was reporting 50% occupancy rates, but we were hearing much lower numbers—below 10% in some instances. There were rumors of entire sections of hotels being closed at some of the big resorts. Palazzo quite publicly stopped accepting weekday reservations.

As far as I’ve always understood it, getting bodies in the rooms is the first step toward increasing revenue in other areas of a resort operation. It’s absolutely fundamental and there simply has to be a point at which even the staunchest dissenters agree to do what’s necessary to attract in-room guests. I think we’ve hit that point, because rates are coming down.

It’s not an avalanche yet, but it’s enough for us to list low room rates in the Top Ten, if only in the 10th position at this point. Some of the week-day rates we’ve been quoted are $64 at Luxor, $61 at The STRAT, $58 at Orleans, $57 at Excalibur, $55 at the D, $53 at Circus Circus, $47 at Silver Sevens, $45 at Four Queens and El Cortez, and $41 at Wild Wild West. These rates include resort fees. Some of the base rates are in the teens and twenties (resulting in super deals for those who have a level of player status that can get the RFs waived). On weekends, rates in the $80s and $90s are easy to find.

COUPONOMY by Anthony Curtis

continued on next page

2 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • AUGUST 2020

Couponomy continued …

It should get better. If it doesn’t, the casinos will be making a mistake. n

Flying the DiscountersAn area in which we’re absolutely seeing discounting is airline fares and

boy, are there ever some strong deals out there. In July, Southwest ran $49 one-way specials and Frontier ran $21 round trips. I flew round-trip to Burbank for $78 and Reno for $58 after all taxes and fees. We’re covering the saving opportunities in multiple ways. By next issue, members of our staff will have flown on Southwest, Spirit, Allegiant, Alaska, and Frontier and we’ll provide a comparative account of our experiences. In the mean-time, check out the relevant blog posts by Michaels Trager and Friedman in “The Travel Game” at LasVegasAdvisor.com. A recent post identifies the safest airlines to fly if virus aversion is the primary goal: Southwest, Jet-Blue, and Delta. And you shouldn’t miss our new blog, “Conrad’s Capers,” through which thriftmaster Conrad Stanley tells you, step by intricate step, how to fly the ultra-low-cost carriers for the price of a 10-mile Uber ride. If anyone needs to discount more than the hotels, it’s the airlines, and they’re embracing the strategy. That’s good for us! n

Top TenuousFor the second month in a row, the Top Ten list needs some additional

explanation. We face quite a dilemma these days in predicting which deals will and won’t be available in the upcoming month. We don’t want to leave one of the top values out, but we also don’t want to list something that won’t be available. Consequently, we’re including three on the list on faith, based on what we think will be happening politically and economically.

The most speculative is Mac King. In entertainment, we all but insist that the shows won’t come back till September or later, but the Harrah’s web-site lists Mack’s return for August 18. OYO is now scheduled for an early August reopening (see news), so that’s the second on which we’ll take a chance. And as we go to press, the Stage Door isn’t open due to the bar ban, but we’d be more than surprised if that survives the month. We hope these three will be back, but if they aren’t, the other seven are a lock. n

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: editor@LasVegasAdvisor.com • Internet: LasVegasAdvisor.com All information is current at press time. Listed offerings are subject to change at any time. Huntington Press ©2020

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LAS VEGAS ADVISOR

AUGUST 2020 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 3

continued on next page

NEWSShutdown—The situation continues to evolve, or some might say

devolve. With positive COVID-19 tests increasing, Nevada was frozen in its Phase Two position throughout July, meaning that no additional progress was made in the opening of shows or the easing of safety protocols. In fact, the opposite occurred. First the rules for wearing masks were made more stringent, with patrons at most casinos required to wear them at the bars even while drinking. You’re expected to lower your mask to drink, then replace it. And if you walk onto a casino floor maskless, expect to be flagged by security, quickly. That wasn’t enough, and the governor ordered all bars to close again on July 9. The details are explained in entertainment. The order was reevaluated on July 27 when it was determined that bars would have to remain closed for at least one more week, which takes us into August. The governor also expressed that he will move away from the phase-by-phase method of determining the state’s recovery protocol. The pivot allows him some wiggle room in setting the rules, which was sorely needed given that the state was never allowed to progress from Phase Two of an originally planned minimum of four Phases. It’s been announced that Fiesta Henderson will not reopen until June 2021 at the earliest. OYO didn’t open in July as scheduled and now lists August 4 as its opening date. Bally’s and Vdara opened in July, leaving the following resorts still closed: Mirage, Park MGM, The Cromwell, Planet Hollywood, Rio, Palms, Main Street Station, Eureka, Silver Nugget, Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho, Texas Station, Eastside Cannery, and Eldorado. Aside from the Tropicana, which is scheduled for a September 1 reopening, there are no tentative dates for the return of these casinos. Two of the city’s biggest conventions, G2E and CES, have been canceled.

Caesars/Eldorado—The final regulatory constraint on the $17.3 billion Eldorado Resorts buyout of Caesars Entertainment has been lifted with the approval of the deal by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. The massive and complicated transaction, more than a year in the making, has Eldorado owning 56% of the “new Caesars” (the company will operate as Caesars Entertainment). The new Caesars will be the biggest casino com-pany in the world, with casinos in 16 states and 55 properties worldwide.

Circa—News from Circa is coming fast and furiously with the October 28 opening date approaching. Exterior signs are being put into place, including the epic 68-foot-wide Circa logo at the top of the tower. The logo sign, which took a month to make and three days to install, weighs 12,000 pounds and will be lit up with 3,000 programmable red-green-blue LEDs connected to the lighting-control system. The typography is a classic script with connected letters—a perfect look for a name that represents various

4 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • AUGUST 2020

eras in Las Vegas history. See this issue’s cover for a look at the tower and logo.

Resorts World—The Resorts World Las Vegas opening is still a year away, but we got a flash of what’s to come when the resort unveiled the immense LED screen that will face the Strip. At 100,000 square feet, the screen is nearly twice the size of a football field. It’s nearly 30 stories tall (294 feet) and 340 feet wide and consists of 3,550 LED panels. Details of the resort’s giant showroom were also released (see entertainment).

Hotel Cloé—Work has begun on Hotel Cloé, a four-story 74-room boutique hotel in the downtown Arts District. The hotel will include a pool, restaurant, and rooftop bar. A projected opening date has not been dis-closed.

Henderson Event Center—Plans have been approved to build the $84 million Henderson Event Center, which will serve primarily as the home rink for the Henderson Silver Knights, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights. The 6,109-seat venue will also be used to host basketball games, concerts by the Henderson Symphony Orchestra, and other events. The project is scheduled for completion in early 2022.

Reno—The latest victim of the pandemic is the Little Nugget in down-town Reno, which has closed permanently. It was a locals hang that was renowned for its Awful Awful Burger, which will survive at one last casino: the Carson City Nugget.

Illinois—A bill that reduces tax demands was passed last month, sig-nificantly improving the odds that a major casino will be built in Chicago. As of now there’s been no movement in that direction, but this step paves the way to build what has the potential to be a major casino project.

Statistics—Nevada’s statewide gambling win was down 99.4% in May compared to the same month last year. Statewide, the casinos won $5.8 million, which was a little better than April, but crushing compared to $981.8 million in May 2019. As a result, the state collected exactly $56,000 in tax revenue, down 99.9% year over year. For the second month in a row, all of the win came from online poker and mobile sports betting. The casi-nos were allowed to reopen in June, so next month’s report will be vastly improved.

News continued …

Presidential LinesHere are the current lines on this year’s presidential race from CRIS. Joe

Biden has increased his lead and is now the -175 favorite to win the presidency, with Donald Trump at +150. Kamala Harris remains the favorite to be Biden’s running mate at -140, followed by Susan Rice at +315. Val Demings’ odds to be the vice-presidential nominee have skyrocketed to +3000; she’s been supplanted as the second favorite by Karen Bass at +1000.

AUGUST 2020 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 5

The story was again the same for visitation, which was down 96% from May 2019. Interestingly, the 151,000 visitors tallied for the month would have filled the city’s roughly 150,000 hotel rooms for one night.

Airline traffic was down 92% to 392,712 passengers for the month, compared to 4.6 million in May 2019. Looking on the bright side, it was a 157% increase over last month’s total. n

continued on next page

The Ellis Island complete steak dinner moves back into the #1 spot after making room last month for the traditional acknowledgment of July’s bar-gain room rates. Served 24/7 in the Café, get the $7.99 price by playing at least $5 in any slot machine with your club card inserted, then downloading the required discount coupon from an EI kiosk. If you 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 debuts on the list way up at #2 by virtue of it currently being far and away the best buffet option in town; get the details in 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 99-centers (#6); it’s served in the Lanai Express snack bar all hours except 7 to 11 am daily. OYO’s $1-minimum black-jack game (#7) runs 24/7 in the pit; naturals pay even money on bets of $1-$4. The $1.20 listed cost is your expected loss for one hour of play at these stakes. New to the list is the prime rib tandem at Ellis Island (#8). You won’t get a better prime rib deal for the price anywhere in town and the humungous double cut stands up to anything you’ll find at twice the price. Get a ticket to the Mac King Comedy Magic Show and a drink for $14.98 by asking at the players club booth (#9). After some hesitation, we’re starting to see the emergence of distress-period room pricing, so we’ve inserted room rates at #10. Look for this one to move up the list. See couponomy for details.

1. Steak Dinner • Ellis Island • 24 hours • $7.99 2. Buffet • South Point • $9.95-$18.95 3. Beer • Stage Door • 24 hours • $1 4. Breakfast • Arizona Charlie’s • Daily • $5.99 5. Hot Dog • South Point • Daily • $1.25 6. Shrimp Cocktail • Fremont • Daily • 99¢ 7. $1 Blackjack • OYO • 24 hours • $1.20 8. Prime Rib • Ellis Island • Daily • $16.99/$26.99 9. Mac King • Harrah’s • Tues.–Sat. • $14.98 10. Room Rates • Wild Wild West et al. • $41 and up

TOP 10 VALUES

6 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • AUGUST 2020

News continued …

Sports Betting ScorecardIt was a predictably quiet month for sports betting legalizations. The

biggest news came out of Illinois, where the approval of remote registration for mobile accounts granted in June spurred a rush of activity by operators. Chief among them was DraftKings, which moved to launch its mobile sports betting app and made a deal to “rebrand” the Casino Queen casino as DraftKings at Casino Queen. However, remote registration was abruptly rescinded in late July, bringing things back to where they were initially and prompting DraftKings to suspend its plans for the app.

Attempts to legalize sports betting in Massachusetts and Georgia didn’t make it through the government process and will have to be resurrected in the future.

Follow the progress of sports betting legalization across the country and track developments as they occur via our blog and map at LasVegas Advisor.com. n

DININGService Suffering

Last month, we discussed some changes that negatively affect the dining-out experience and cited paper plates and plastic utensils as an example. A related change that we didn’t mention is the increased use of disposable paper “tablecloths,” which, if you’re not eating barbecue or a clam bake, just doesn’t feel right. Something else we’ve noticed since restaurants reopened has been a general decline in service. The prob-lem can be attributed to some degree to short staffing and the additional duties attached to maintaining cleanliness and safety. Yes, those require attention, but there seems to be a lack of enthusiasm in general, possibly a reaction to having to do the extra work or the discomfort of working in a mask. It’s not the case everywhere, as a couple of examples in this month’s reviews attest, but put it this way: If you’re someone who tips on merit, you’ll probably save some money.

If you encounter diminished service, there’s not a whole lot you can do about it without raising a stink, but here’s a preemptive move to consider. One of the safety precautions is the removal of salt and pepper shakers from the tables—the idea being that you don’t want them being handled by multiple customers. The same is true for other condiments, like mustard, ketchup, and steak sauce. You’re supposed to get salt and pepper if you ask, even if only via the little take-out packets, but this can prove diffi-

AUGUST 2020 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 7

cult if you ask after your food has arrived. Since servers visit tables less frequently, you either eat half your meal without or wait while things get cold just to make the request. And once you ask, it’s usually another wait until the server returns. Basic strategy is to request all desired condiments when you place your order. That way, if they don’t arrive with your food, you get to make a second request right away. If you don’t want to take any chances, bring your own salt and pepper packets. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but if you take your seasonings seriously, you’ll thank us for this advice. n

Buffets—Three Different ApproachesThree Las Vegas buffets are now open—Wynn, Cosmopolitan, and

South Point—and each is structured in a different way. The Wynn uses a “serviced” format where you order from a menu and the food is brought to your table. At Cosmo and South Point, you get your own food at the serving islands. The difference is that Cosmo uses a small-plates format where your selections are handed to you, while everything at South Point is dished out from the steam trays. We expect the South Point method to be prevalent as more buffets open. A problem with this method is servers disappearing and not noticing when people are waiting at a station. Basic strategy is to target a station where an employee is present—you’re sure to get your food that way and you can often get them to move to the next station with you if necessary or alert another server to help.

It looks like the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace will open this month. Early notices indicate the serving procedure may be some combi-nation of the styles at Wynn and Cosmo. n

By George!Here’s a good one. In celebration of its 15th anniversary, downtown’s

Triple George will give you a free appetizer if someone in your party is named George. If there are two Georges, you’ll get an appetizer for two and two martinis. And if there are three Georges, you’ll get appetizers for

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Reader LeaderThe Wynn buffet has “early bird” seating Mon.-Thurs. from 3:30 to 5 pm

for $44.99 instead of $59.99. Same menu as regular dinner pricing. Split crab legs included. Over 80 items. They were crowded. Reservations are required.

LVA: Good one. Not only do you save $15, you get your evening off to an early start. Check out the locals instacomp in GamblinG.

8 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • AUGUST 2020

the table, three martinis, and a comped 96-ounce porterhouse. We assume IDs are required. The porterhouse can also be purchased for $150 through-out August and there’s a lunch special that includes a half-sandwich, soup or salad, side dish, dessert bite, and a non-alcoholic drink for $15. n

Prime Rib at Ellis IslandUpon a reopening reeval-

uation of the town’s best prime rib deals, Ellis Island is the easy first choice. There are two options, the King for $16.99 and the double cut for $26.99. Both come complete with potato, green beans, and choice of soup or salad (many specials don’t include salad), plus they serve the biggest glasses of ice water in Vegas. There are lower-priced specials, but they don’t approach the size and qual-ity of EI’s prime rib, including the $16.99 version (a diner at a neighboring table asked if our King cut was the double). Both are served 24/7 with fresh horseradish if you request, and absolutely nothing we wrote above about bad service applies here. n

Breakfast Buffet at South PointIf you want to include a buffet in your dining itinerary, this is the least

expensive of the three options by far at $9.95 for breakfast, $11.95 for lunch, and $18.95 for dinner Sun.-Thurs. when you show a players card ($3 more with-out the card). The next least expensive option at Cosmo is almost twice the price of the South Point dinner. We went for breakfast for a couple reasons. First, breakfast is unique in that it comes with unlimited Bloody Marys and we wanted to see how that’s handled. And second, LVA members can download a 2-for-1 coupon for breakfast from our online

Dining continued …

King cut prime rib at Ellis Island

How many can you drink?

AUGUST 2020 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 9

“Printable Rewards,” which makes this a ridiculously good deal. Putting aside the fact that we hate the staff-served format, there’s not

many ways to shoot this one down. If you do nothing but have some fresh fruit, a made-to-order omelet, and a Bloody Mary or three, you’ll absolutely crush it. But there’s a lot more to choose from, including a Mexican station with Spanish breakfast specialties, a selection of soups, sautéed mush-rooms and spinach, cereal, oatmeal, grits, and a carving station with ham, pork belly, and kielbasa.

The Bloody Marys used to be lined up on a bar for you to serve your-self, but due to the bar prohibition, they’re delivered by your server. These will get your day off to a very Vegasy start. n

Late-Night Specials at South PointSo it’s the breakfast buffet every morning at

South Point, right? Not necessarily; SP also has some smokin’ late-night deals that run seven days a week from 1 to 6 am. Most interesting among them is an “old Vegas” shrimp cocktail for $2.45. Good shrimp cocktail deals are hard to come by

these days and as you can see from the photo, this one looks like a doozy, but there was something a bit off about ours—not bad, just off. It was served at room tempera-ture, which doesn’t quite work for shrimp, and it didn’t come with a lemon. There’s nothing off about the quantity and price, though. We’ll try it again. A sure thing is the steak & eggs for $5.45 and there are several other choices for under $5. n

Carpaccio at Bazaar MeatWe sang the praises of the Sahara’s Bazaar Meat in the March issue

and we hadn’t even tried the carpaccio yet. This is one of the best we’ve continued on next page

10 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • AUGUST 2020

Dining continued …

had in years, reminiscent of the huge plate that used to be served at Ruth’s Chris, but even better quality. At $28 it’s not cheap, but this is a meal by itself and it’s an easy in and out if you set up at the bar outside the restaurant. Bazaar continues to run at reduced hours Sun.-Thurs. only and with a trun-cated menu, but the carpaccio is on it. n

Mr. Mamas Breakfast and LunchThis breakfast/lunch diner at 5693 S. Jones has been getting a lot of

buzz. The food is good and the portions large, with just about everything you’d expect on the menu—omelets, Benedicts, pancakes of various types—all in the $10 range. There’s also a big lunch menu. For at least a year pre-pandemic, lines waiting to get in were long. We don’t rate it wor-thy of that level of hype, but it’s a solid play. What is extraordinary here is the level of service. Completely opposite of the disimpassioned examples described herein, the waitstaff (and owner) are hyper-attentive. That cer-tainly has something to do with the lines—service sells. n

Dining NotesPandemic Fallout—As expected, there’ve been restaurant casualties of

varying degree as a result of the shutdowns. After opening briefly, the orig-inal Commercial Center location of Lotus of Siam has closed for in-person dining due to the owner’s concerns about the surge in COVID-19 cases. Two other prominent eateries that opened, then closed by choice, include Izakaya Go and Other Mama. Closing permanently are Lagasse’s Sta-dium at Palazzo and Sage and Five50 Pizza Bar at Aria. The latter will be replaced by Moneyline Pizza & Bar.

Mexican on Main—The classic hole-in-the-wall building on Main Street that housed the El Sombrero Café for decades will become the home of the new Mexican restaurant, Letty’s, run by the owner of Leticia’s Mexican Cocina.

No Room Service—Room service is suspended at the major resorts, but many of the restaurants have added take-out options that weren’t previ-ously available. Order out and take it to your room. n

AUGUST 2020 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 11

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Openings/ClosingsBugsy & Meyer’s Steakhouse has opened at the Flamingo.With the Palms closed, Marc Vetri of the heralded Vetri Cucina has

moved to Red Rock Resort and converted Terra Rossa to Osteria Fiorella. The restaurant is patterned after his boutique Philadelphia restaurant, Fiorella.

Dick’s Last Resort will open a second Las Vegas location at Neonopolis in 2021.

Herbs & Rye has reopened at Sahara and Valley View. Select steaks are still half-price daily from 5 to 8 pm and midnight till closing.

Toridokoro Raku has opened in the Flamingo Arville Plaza at 4439 W. Flamingo. The restaurant from the owners of Raku specializes in robata- style (barbecue) chicken preparations. Dishes start at $2.50 and there are $75 and $80 tasting menus (we’re kinda curious about that $5 disparity).

The Taco Stand out of San Diego has opened in the Shops at Lotus at 3616 Spring Mountain Road.

Three of Las Vegas’ eight Smashburgers have closed.The Codfather, specializing in English-style fish & chips, has opened at

2895 N. Green Valley Pkwy. in Henderson.In Reno, the venerable Santa Fe Basque Restaurant has closed for

good; it opened in 1949. n

ENTERTAINMENTBars Closed

On July 9, bars throughout most of Nevada were closed again by the governor’s order, due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. The ban prohibits access to all bars, including those in restaurants and casinos. Bars that serve food can continue to do so at 50% capacity, with patrons allowed to eat inside and order drinks at tables. Unlike the original shutdown, you don’t have to buy food to order drinks. However, the restrictions close bars completely that don’t have kitchens. The order originally applied to seven of Nevada’s 17 counties—Clark, Washoe, Nye, Elko, Humboldt, Lander, and Lyon. With Las Vegas in Clark and Reno in Washoe, the ban encompassed nearly 95% of the state’s population. Not included was Douglas County, which contains Lake Tahoe. After two weeks, the order was reevaluated and as we go to press, it now applies to Clark, Washoe, Nye, and Elko counties only, but that means Las Vegas bars remain off limits. Thirty-seven Clark County bar owners joined in a lawsuit to overturn the order, but the situation figures to revert before this action has time to get any tread.

12 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • AUGUST 2020

You’ll feel this the most in the casinos, where unless you’re gambling and being served comped drinks on the floor or eating in a restaurant, it’s almost impossible to get a cocktail. Some of the lounges are open and you can get served there, but only if a waitress is on duty. Another play is to hit the happy hours, which can be conducted away from the bars. You’ll always be able to buy drinks if you target a HH, but that doesn’t help much when you’re looking for one at 10 pm.

This restriction is in effect until further notice and is being evaluated week by week. n

Shows Pushed BackThe starting dates for shows continue to be pushed back, based on

both the rules in place and the experiences of those that have tried to get around them. The Downtown Grand attempted to open its “Delirious Com-edy Club” in July, but those plans were scuttled by Gaming Control, which ruled that staging the shows would violate Section 22 of the governor’s Phase Two Emergency Directive prohibiting audiences at live events. Simi-lar attempts to stage shows at non-casino venues Mosaic on the Strip and Notoriety downtown were also stopped. The Garth Brooks concert that was to christen Allegiant Stadium this month has been canceled (finally, see “Entertainment Notes”) and potentially all of this year’s Raiders games could be played without fans in the stadium.

You have to give credit to the show producers for their perseverance. In a canvasing of 109 shows, we found 72 with listed opening dates, ranging from July 30 to January 28 (the Top Ten Mac King Comedy Magic Show lists August 18). In most cases, it looks like September 1 is the current target date. Or is it? Subsequent to our call-around, MGM Resorts Inter-national announced that most of its entertainment and sports division employees will be laid off August 31, a move that doesn’t augur well for a return of entertainment the next day. So it’s anyone’s guess how far away we are from the reopening of major production shows. If you want to see a particular show when you come to town, keep checking the host casino’s website or call ahead to stay up on the latest plans. n

Drive-Thru Drive-InAmidst all of the strangeness on the city’s entertainment scene, here’s

something a little stranger. Burger51, a combo drive-thru burger shack and drive-in-movie theater, has opened at 101 N. Decatur Blvd. a block north of the Decatur-US 95 interchange. From what we can discern, customers

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AUGUST 2020 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 13

who buy a burger, or something from the classic drive-in menu, can also watch complimentary films on a screen that appears to be built onto the roof of the restaurant. The mostly sci-fi flicks are short-film genre (family friendly till 9 pm, adult-geared after) and can be viewed from the parking lot with audio dialed in on your car radio. Like we said, strange, but it sounds fun. Oh, and there’s some sort of UFO thing going on just to make things a little more confusing. We’ll check it out and report. n

Bars and Happy HoursCirca has unveiled its beverage program that includes four bars, a

rooftop lounge, and a coffee shop. Most interesting is Vegas Vickie’s, described as “an elevated lobby cocktail lounge” that surrounds the Vegas Vickie neon-cowgirl sign. (Derek Stevens acquired the sign in 2016 with the intent to give Vickie a makeover, then a new home at her namesake bar.) The MegaBar will house Nevada’s longest indoor bar (165 feet) and 120 beer taps with a rotating selection. Circa Bar will be Mega’s outdoor counterpart, with a selection of 24 frozen-cocktail flavors. The Overhang Bar will overlook the big sports book. Jack Pots will be the 24/7 coffee bar/shop, featuring Michigan’s own Zingerman’s coffee. Vickie, Mega, Circa, Overhang, and Jack Pots will open with the casino in October. The rooftop Legacy Club, overlooking downtown from the 35th floor, will celebrate the movers and shakers who helped build Las Vegas; a display will also feature 1,000 ounces of gold. Legacy will open with the hotel tower in December.

Anthony’s at M Resort has a happy hour Mon.-Fri. from 5 to 6 pm, with 2-for-1 appetizers. It’s a small window, but these are high-end apps, including shrimp cocktail, duck spring rolls, and lobster flat bread, ranging from $10 to $24. Come with a group and save big on some top-shelf grub.

STK at the Cosmopolitan has a happy hour daily from 5 to 6:30 pm, with $5-$8 appetizers, including steak and tuna tartare, and half-off spe-cialty cocktails.

Rampart has happy hours at Jade Asian Kitchen & Noodles Wed.-Sun. and at Hawthorn Grill daily from 4 to 6 pm, with drinks and appetizers starting at $5.

Grimaldi’s Pizzerias have 50%-off wine and sangria on Tuesdays. Bot-tles of wine are 50% off every day with take-out orders. n

Entertainment NotesCirca Pool—Circa’s 5th-floor “pool amphitheater” will be called Stadium

Swim. The three-level complex with a 4,000-person capacity will have six pools, two swim-up bars, and a centerpiece 143-foot-wide 14-million-pixel

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HD screen broadcasting sporting events and entertainment of all kinds. It will be open 365 days a year with free entry to guests of Circa, the D, and Golden Gate and a $10 charge for non-hotel guests.

Resorts World Theater—Another major concert and entertainment venue will hit the Strip when Resorts World Las Vegas opens in 2021. The resort is partnering with AEG Presents to develop The Theater at Resorts World, a state-of-the-art 5,000-seat venue featuring one of the city’s “larg-est and tallest stages,” outfitted with 265 speakers and nearly 5,000 square feet of LED screens. While a specific entertainment policy has not been revealed, a press release indicates that The Theater will host superstar residencies, concerts, and sporting events.

Lake of Dreams—The Lake of Dreams water show, visible from most of the restaurants and bars at Wynn Las Vegas, is closing temporarily for ren-ovation and will reopen in the fall with 10 new presentations.

Garth—They held out a long time, but the Garth Brooks concert sched-uled for August 22 at Allegiant Stadium has been canceled. The new date is February 27; all tickets are being honored.

Tiger Show—Preliminary approval has been granted to erect a 13,000- square-foot tent across the Strip from Mandalay Bay that would be home to a show featuring three live tigers. If it clears all the hurdles—and there will be several due to the opposition of animal rights groups—the unnamed show would open on an undisclosed date for a six-month run.

Big Smoke—Pandemic willing (and the casino opening), Cigar Aficiona-do’s “Big Smoke” Las Vegas is scheduled for Nov. 20-22 at the Mirage. n

GAMBLINGBar Video Poker

The closing of Nevada’s bars also shut down a lot of machine play, but not all of it. The order prohibits access to all bars, which means all bartop machines are out of play. Unlike the first shutdown, however, the state’s gambling machines have not been turned off, so those positioned on the floor can still be played. This constitutes the majority of machines in casinos. It also includes many restricted (non-casino) locations, including supermarkets, convenience stores, and other non-bars with machines, as well as most Dotty’s, Jackpot Joanie’s, and others of their ilk. Not all have remained open, but many have.

Then there are the few bar locations that have bartops and stand-alones. Several of these are grandfathered to allow more than the 15-machine restricted-gaming limit, so the extra machines are placed

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AUGUST 2020 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 15

on the floor. That means you can still go to some pubs or taverns and get drinks comped while you play. This assumes that you can get on a machine; some of these places have been busy with the regulars staking out their positions. See “Video Poker Lost & Found” for a list of bars that have machines on the floor. n

Table-for-TableIn a rare move for a Las Vegas casino, the dealers at The STRAT now

go “table for table” (also called “going for your own”), which means they keep their own tips rather than pool and split them. How rare is it? Along with The STRAT, only Silverton and OYO do it. It’s a controversial policy, because it can lead to tip hustling or even dealer/player collusion. The sub-ject is discussed at length in a recent edition of “The Drop Box,” a podcast hosted by game-protection authority Willy Allison and Andrew Uyal, author of our book, The Blackjack Insiders. You can listen online at the-drop-box.simplecast.com. n

WynnstacompWynn Las Vegas is running a good instacomp this month. It’s for locals

only, but it’s an interesting example of what’s good and what isn’t in deals like this. Until August 31, locals can get a free brunch buffet for earning 150 points and a dinner buffet for 300. You have earn the points on slots, no video poker. In the Wynn’s Red Card system, $1.50 coin in = 1 point. So it’s $450 in play to earn the comp. You can’t tell exactly what a given slot machine is set to hold, but a reasonable estimate for a dollar machine on the Strip is about 6%, so your expected loss is $450 x .06 = $27 for a buf-fet that goes for $59.99. You could lose more than that or come out ahead, but $27 is the proper cost to put on the play (even if that 6% estimate is off, you’re still getting the best of it all the way up to a 13% hold). If you’re not used to playing dollars, you should do it anyway, as the average hold for quarter slots is closer to 10%, raising your expected loss to $45, albeit with less risk. Playing for brunch requires only $225 coin-in and costs $13.50 in expected loss to get a $36.99 buffet. The saving is about $8 more for dinner, but the risk is lower for brunch.

To summarize, here are the cost options for eating the Wynn buffet:

Brunch [locals only] play $225 through a slot machine $13.50 exp. lossDinner [locals only] play $450 through a slot machine $27.00 exp. lossBrunch pay retail $36.99Dinner pay early-bird retail $44.99Dinner pay retail $59.99

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16 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • AUGUST 2020

Again, the comp is for locals only and you’re allowed to do it one time in August. A version of this deal for first-time sign-ups from out of state requires $1,125 coin-in. That generates a $67.50 expected loss, which means that unless you were gonna play slots at Wynn anyway, you’re bet-ter off paying retail for the buffet. We analyzed this one from a distance, meaning we didn’t go in and do it ourselves, so do your due diligence to confirm the deal at the club booth before you play. n

Gambling NotesAirport Jackpot—The belief that no one wins playing the machines at

the airport isn’t true, as proven by a southern California woman who hit for $873,511 on a penny Wheel of Fortune machine. She’d just flown in and couldn’t wait to get to her casino, so she played at McCarran on Con-course C. It’s among the largest jackpots ever hit at the airport. Based on video poker schedules, the airport pays back at a rate akin to an average bar.

New Bookie—The U.K.-based bookmaker Betfred will manage the sports book at Virgin Las Vegas when it opens later this year. It’s the first Nevada presence for the company, which already operates in Colorado, Iowa, and Pennsylvania.

Poker—Poker rooms reopened last month at MGM Grand and Aria and are scheduled to reopen at Boulder Station, Santa Fe Station, and Red Rock Resort on August 5. They join Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Golden Nug-get, Orleans, Sahara, South Point, and Venetian. The Venetian is expected to become the first room to deal eight-handed games when all of its 32 tables are fitted with sufficient plexiglass dividers.

Card Rooms Reclosed—Only two weeks after reopening, Los Angeles’ card rooms were ordered closed again over COVID-19 fears. Their oper-ating status was supposed to come under review at the end of July, but there’s been no word yet on a re-reopening.

Ivey Settles—Eight years after professional poker player Phil Ivey part-nered with “Kelly” Cheung Yin Sun to beat the Borgata in Atlantic City for nearly $10 million in a disputed baccarat play, the parties have reached a settlement. The terms haven’t been disclosed, but it appears that the long legal battle will finally come to an end, allowing Ivey to return to public tournament play without fear of having any winnings appropriated. A movie titled The Baccarat Machine is in the works (it’s based on an article written by Michael Kaplan that appeared in Cigar Aficionado and will be part of an upcoming book that we are publishing, with Kelly reportedly being played by “Awkwafiina” of “Crazy Rich Asians” fame. No word on who will play Phil. n

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AUGUST 2020 • LAS VEGAS ADVISOR • 17

Video Poker Lost and FoundBartop video poker throughout most of Nevada is currently not acces-

sible. The following are bars we know of that have stand-alone machines on the floor where play is allowed: Crown & Anchor East and West, Casino Valley Verde, Mad Matty’s, Winchell’s (Ann Rd.), Tenaya Lodge (Ann Rd.), Rounders (Buffalo), Black Mountain Grill, Four Kegs, and the PT’s at Green Valley & Horizon Ridge, Horizon & Horizon Ridge, 95 & Lake Mead, and Jones & I-215.

According to the online database vpFREE2, the El Cortez has removed the last of its 100%-return schedules, leaving 16-11 Double Deuces Wild (99.62%) as its highest-returning schedule in denoms from 25¢ to $1.

Last month, we overstated the edges for the quarter progressives in the Casbar Lounge and the Sports Bar at the Sahara. The return on the 25¢ 6/5 Bonus Poker game with the royal flush at $2,450 was 100.26% and the $1 7/5 BP with a RF of $7,400 returned 99.92%.

Bob Dancer’s free video poker classes are expected to resume at South Point, but a date hasn’t been set and it looks like the normal fall semester will be skipped this year. 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

Mean 88° Avg. Max. 102° Avg. Min. 73°Pools: Currently closed by government orderA very hot and wet month. Desert electrical storms are spectacular but can cause dangerous floods on and around the Strip.Attire: Summer cool, bathing suits.

WEATHERAUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBERMean 67° Avg. Max. 81° Avg. Min. 53°Pools: Currently closed by government orderBalmy days, cool evenings toward the end of the month.Attire: Short sleeves during the day, light jacket for evenings.

Mean 80° Avg. Max. 95° Avg. Min. 65°Pools: Currently closed by government orderWarm sunny days, mild evenings. It doesn’t get any better than this.Attire: No need for jackets or sweaters.

11-14 Convenience Stores Assoc.—24,000 19-25 Live Design Int’l—14,000 27-30 SupplySide West—16,000

3-6 Automotive Aftermarket—160,000 12-14 Mecum Collector Car—15,000 18-20 Fabtech Int’l—26,000

KEY dates

16-18 Nat’l Marijuana Conf.—31,000 17-20 Mr. Olympia Fall —45,000

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

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