The Palazzo just barely made it for the end of the year with a “soft” opening. They were really rushing to get it open for New Year’s Eve. They did manage to make it. I can see the point in trying for New Year’s Eve, especially seeing what a big deal NYE is here, but there’s so many little small ends to be tied up, especially after a 2+ year construction.
That old saying “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression” comes into play here. I mean, the place is gonna be there for 30 years what’s another couple of weeks!
The only thing that really was open was the casino & Jay-Z’s 40/40 club. They had a couple of issues with permits at the last minute but they got resolved. The rest of the place is scheduled for the grand opening on January 17-19. I’ll get over there in a few days & check it out.
Christmas is a little different in Las Vegas. We basically don’t “close for the holidays” but there’s not a whole lot going on. It’s relatively quiet, probably a good thing compared to the chaos that’s New Year’s Eve! Most of the casinos put some sort of Christmas displays though. Hope you enjoy the pictures & have a Merry Christmas!
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I had a chance to go see a taping of a Criss Angel stunt the other day. For those of you not familiar with him, he’s a magician & has a show called Mindfreak on the A & E channel. He’s based out of here & lives in a penthouse at the Luxor (lucky guy!) The stunt was over at the Silverton Hotel. It was a re-do of a trick he had previously attempted & failed. It’s a re-creation of an old Houdini trick. He was placed in a metal box & had his hands & feet handcuffed and the box was padlocked shut. Then he was dropped into a huge fish tank & had to escape before he ran out of breath.
Now I know magic isn’t “real” and it’s all illusions. What’s cool about him is he makes a show out of it & is really entertaining. He’s quite good at building suspense, making the wait before the actual trick full of drama. He drew a pretty good crowd too!
The trick came off without a hitch & he’s alive and well. Although we waited nearly 3 hours for the trick & it was over in about a minute!
Unfortunately they don’t allow any filming or photography during the stunt, so here’s a before & after shot. It was also his birthday a couple of days after & they had a nice cake for him!
Celine Dion ended her 5 year run at Caesars Palace this past weekend. She had played a total of 717 shows in that time. Pretty much all of them were sold out as well. Even though she had her detractors, it was one of the most successful shows we’ve ever had here. The Colosseum she played in was specifically built for her by Caesars at a cost of $95 million! Personally I never saw the show but from all accounts it was really something. They’ve tapped Bette Midler to replace her, she starts her show in February. Elton John will still have his Red Piano show when she’s off. There’s still a rumor that Cher will be joining the mix as well, but nothing’s confirmed as of yet.
On another note I’ve noticed several other Vegas blogs gleefully commenting on Celine’s departure. I’m really not sure where the hatred came from. Honestly, she’s not my cup of tea, even though I think she’s quite talented. The bottom line is she made a TON of money for both herself & Harrah’s. (Yes I know it’s horrible. A big evil corporation made money)and made a lot of people happy. I even read a story about a lady that saw the show over 100 times! Now that’s a fan! At the end of the day a show is judged by how many tickets they sell & how much longevity it has. Remember, her original deal was only for 3 years & she extended it to 5 years.
The Luxor has been in a ongoing series of changes in the last year. Basically what they’re doing in trying to “de-brand” the Egypt theme & make it a lot more contemporary. The parent company, MGM-Mirage said it was in need of updating & this was their answer. They’ve made quite a few changes already, adding several bars & opening the new ultra club LAX in the spot of the former RA. The poker room has been moved right by the sports book & the new Cathouse restaurant/nightclub is slated to open New Year’s Eve. They also opened the new American Company Bistro restaurant a couple of weeks ago, right next to LAX. It’s got a nice theme resembling a mountain cabin. They also just opened up a Fat Tuesday’s just outside the Luxor in the Mandalay Place.
Also coming in 2008 is the Criss Angel Cirque du Soleil show. It’s the first Cirque show designed specifically around a single person. He’s been filming most of the latest season of Mindfreak in & around the Luxor.
Personally I’ve always had a soft spot for the Luxor, having stayed there several times. It’s a really unique experience. I’ve only stayed in the Pyramid rooms. There’s nothing like the “inclinators,” the main elevators located at the corners of the building. They go up at a 39 degree angle. It’s a weird feeling going up the elevator sideways! Plus the view of the inside is jaw-dropping.
Vegas is all about what’s new & exciting. There’s so much competition here that you always have to stay one step ahead. The trend lately has been to upscale and flashy & the changes at the Luxor reflect that. Here’s some quick shots of some of the changes.
Wow what a wild weekend we had here! It was one of the busiest I’ve seen in a while. Between the NFR being in town, the Mayweather/Hatton fight, the Spike TV video game awards, the Spice Girls concert, and the usual weekend warriors it was crowded to say the least! I didn’t realize how huge the NFR was until I moved here. I figured hey it’s a rodeo, big deal. It’s honestly one of the biggest events we have. The Mirage even had an NFR-themed Nascar race car in the lobby.
There was a ton of celebrities around as well, but I didn’t really see too many. I did see Chuck Zito hanging out in the lobby of the MGM Grand and Doc McGhee, who has managed Bon Jovi & Motley Crue.
Poker legend David “Chip” Reese died this week at the age of 56. While he wasn’t as well known as players like Phil Hellmuth or Daniel Negreanu he was one of, if not the most, respected players in the game. He purposely shunned the spotlight, prefering to focus on cash games instead of tournaments. He was a frequent player in the “Big Game”, a semi-regular high stakes cash game played by the biggest names in poker, usually at the Bellagio. To have poker giants like Doyle Brunson & Barry Greenstein to say you were the best ever, well, you gotta believe it. He was also the youngest inductee in the Poker Hall of fame.
His shining moment was his winning the $50,000 buy-in HORSE tournament in the 2006 WSOP.
A little background about that. In 2006, several of the top pros suggested another tournament. With the WSOP having been flooded with all the new internet players, they wanted something that appealed to the pros a little more. What was different was 2 things:
1. A much larger buy-in than the $10,000 that the Main Event has.
2. It’s a mixed game. Most of the poker boom has focused strictly on Texas hold ‘em and other games such as Stud & Omaha have falled out of favor. In HORSE the games are Hold’em, Omaha 8 or better, Razz, seven card Stud & seven card Stud 8 or better. The games are rotated every few hands.
Chip’s winning of this prestigious tournament was just icing on the cake of his reputation. It was also the longest heads-up match in WSOP history, clocking in at over 7 hours!
Reports said he had gone to the hospital that night and was sent home. He died in his sleep. It’s a huge loss to the poker world & my condolences to his family & friends.
It was reported this week that we finally hit the magic number of 2 million residents of Clark County this week. Now realize that includes a lot more than just the city of Las Vegas. That’s also Henderson, Primm, Laughlin, North Las Vegas, Mesquite & some other smaller places.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, there was a processing error in the way they count people. After the discovery, they estimated the magic moment happened some time in September. Welcome to the neighborhood, whoever you are!
To show what kind of growth we’ve had here the last few years, the population was around 500,000 in 1981 and approximately 1 million in 1994. We’ve been the fastest growing metropolitian area in the country. Most of the people migrated here from California. Having been a California resident, I really can’t say as I blame them. High taxes, insane cost of living, and tighter laws & regulations made Nevada a lot more appealing. Things have slowed down lately, especially with the housing market on the way down & the economy slipping a little.
Daredevil & 70’s icon Evel Knievel passed away yesterday at the age of 69. For those of us who grew up in the 70’s there was nothing more exciting that watching Evel make a jump on Wide World of Sports. Every kid, including myself, set up ramps & jumped their bicycle in the same fashion, or so we thought! Despite his legal woes & financial up’s & down’s, he was known at a man whose word meant something & took no shit from anyone.
He had several connections to Las Vegas. Most famous was his attempt to jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace on New Year’s Day 1967. The resulting crash almost killed him & was perhaps his most famous crash. Here is is on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYGGCVE2lKY
His son Robbie Knievel attempted the same jump in 1989 and he was successful. He also made a jump between the two buildings of the Jockey Club in 1999.
Little known trivia fact: The footage of the crash landing was filmed by Linda Evans, star of the TV show Dynasty in the 80’s. She was married at the time to John Derek who was hired to Evel to film the event. Yes the same John Derek who had another blond wife named Bo. Perhaps you’ve heard of her? Maybe the number 10 rings a bell!
The fountains look a bit different 40 years later but they’re still one of the highlights of the Strip. I got out & snapped a quick cell phone pic today.
He also was a resident here for a time in the 90’s. He did promotion for the old Maxim Hotel in exchange for a penthouse suite. It’s now the Westin Casaurina for you trivia buffs. He was known for doing a shot of Wild Turkey before a jump (can you blame him?) so my business partner & I stopped by the Westin for a tribute to him. Here’s our shots of his drink of choice.
There was others doing daredevil stunts but none did it with more flair & style. If it wasn’t for him there’s be no X Games, no Jackass.
RIP Evel you were an inspiration to a generation. You’ll be missed.