The Las Vegas Report - Issue #31 - July 1999 >>Your monthly source for info on Las Vegas << Web Page: http://www.viva-vegas.com Subscribe / unsubscribe at: http://vivavegas.listbot.com ** VIVA VEGAS' VIEWS: Greeting Vegas Fanatic's. In last month's newsletter I talked about taking Westward Ho up on their summer special, well what a difference a month makes. By taking some new responsibilities in my company I've had to put the trip on hold for a month or two, perhaps we will head out for the opening of Paris. The new position sent me to Memphis, TN on June 19th for a couple of days. If you are interested I have included a trip report from Tunica, MS and the eight casinos I visited. Once in a while luck finds me, Funjet Vacations and my friends from Milwaukee area travel agent Las Vegas Vacations offered their free open house last month in Milwaukee. Steve Marincovich from Las Vegas Vacations sells more trips to Las Vegas than any other agency in Wisconsin. The presentation featured a review of what's new in Las Vegas and offered some special deals along with several door prizes. I was lucky enough to win a Luxor Shirt and a two nights a Caesars Palace tower rooms before December. Thanks Steve for a great evening and a great trip in the future, Steve runs a great company, if you want to book a Funjet Vacation give him a call at: 414-543-4455 and let him know Viva Vegas sent you. ******************** Are getting this newsletter from newsgroups, friends or AOL forums? Get "The Las Vegas Report" delivered directly to your own e-mail FREE! Visit: http://vivavegas.listbot.com ******************** Las Vegas Feature News FLOODS STRIKE LAS VEGAS: Someone build the ark, Noah's coming to town. Las Vegas recently received three-quarters of their annual rainfall in one afternoon causing flooding in several major Las Vegas casinos and area mobile home parks. The Forum Shops adjacent to Caesars Palace had nearly 2 feet of water sitting in the middle of the upscale shopping mall. Caesars Palace flooded an area of the casino forcing 16 table games to close for some time. Flooding also closed the lower levels of the parking garage of Imperial Palace and caused several flights to be diverted to Los Angeles and Phoenix. All attractions have now reopened and looks like not even flooding can stop gaming in Las Vegas. MURDER MYSTERY APPEARS SOLVED: The death of former casino executive Ted Binion has ended in the arrest of his girlfriend and one of his friends who were charged with the death of the wild living from the longtime Vegas gaming family who ran Binions Horseshoe. Binion's friend Rick Tabish was arrested 48 hours after Binion's death unearthing $4 million in silver Ted Binion had buried in the desert near Pahrump. RESORT AT SUMMERLIN OPENS TONIGHT: After several delays the long awaited resort in Summerlin is now ready for a partial opening. An expected 200 of the nearly 300 rooms at the Regent Grand Spa will open this evening. Much of the grounds will continue to be work in progress till the opening of the second phase, Regent Grand Palms opens in September. The 50,000 square-foot casino is located within a few miles of seven of Las Vegas' best golf course making this property the place to stay if you like to hit the links. LAS VEGAS SPORTS UPDATE - LAS VEGAS TRIES FOR NFL GAMES: Las Vegas area officials are putting the finishing touches in bringing a pre-season NFL game to Las Vegas next summer. Officials are working with the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys in hopes of creating annual game to Las Vegas' soon-to-be remodeled Sam Boyd Stadium. Only one catch to this whole game, Las Vegas area casinos would not be allowed to accept bets on the game. The last time a national football game was in Las Vegas was in 1964 when the Raiders played Houston Oilers at Cashman Field. In 2001 officials would like to host San Diego Chargers and my own Green Bay Packers!! CART & LVMS CLOSE TO RACE DEAL: The last missing piece in the motorsports puzzle is being negotiated with a deal coming soon. Championship Auto Racing Teams is working to bring a race to the track in the fall of 2001. *********************** Looking for a great deal on a hotel room? Try Hotel Reservations Network at: http://www.hoteldiscounts.com/cgi-bin/pickcity?SID=VIV&LKF=GEN *********************** LAS VEGAS MILLENIUM UPDATE: (A new feature to "The Las Vegas Report", a guide to the festivities surrounding the upcoming millennium) MANDALAY BAY ANNOUNCES NEW YEARS ENTERTAINMENT: Bette Midler has announced she will perform two shows at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on December 31st and January 1st. The shows are scheduled at 9:00pm. Tickets are now available for $500 to $95 and are available through Ticketmaster. *********************** UPCOMING EVENTS / OPENINGS: - Paris Las Vegas - September (9th?) 1999 - Polo Tower (Phase III) - 3rd Quarter 1999 - Hyatt Regency (Lake Las Vegas) - December 1999 - Grand Bay Hotel & Condo (Lake Las Vegas) - 2nd Quarter 2000 - The New Aladdian - 2nd Quarter 2000 (Remember to avoid being in town during any convention with over 50,000 attendees, due to artificially inflated room rates.) *********************** Looking for a deal on your next airfare? Rental Car deals? Or a nice Hotel Room? Visit our travel mall: http://www.viva-vegas.com/travelmall.htm *********************** AIRLINE NEWS: WINAIR ENDS SERVICE: After only eight months of service Salt Lake City based WinAir has ended all service including all flights into Las Vegas from Long Beach, CA. Las Vegas based National Airlines has agreed to accept tickets from travelers from WinAir through the month of July. NATIONAL PLANS ADDITIONAL SERVICE, ONLINE: Las Vegas' hometown airline has announced new service to Dallas, TX with two daily non-stops beginning August 25th. The airline is now accepting on-line e-ticketing through their web site at: http://www.nationalairlines.com National features seat assignment and baggage check-in in the lobbies of Rio Hotel Casino and Harrah's Casino in Las Vegas. LAS VEGAS MAY ADD INTERNATIONAL AIR TERMINAL: Clark County officials are looking for funding sources to build a $200 million international arrival terminal to handle the ever increasing travelers arriving from abroad. Officials would like to complete the international terminal by 2004 that would handle new and additional service from countries such as Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, South Korea, Italy and France. AMERICA WEST OFFERS CHECK-IN SERVICE: America West has joined the latest craze by adding Check-In Service at Imperial Palace. Travelers can check baggage, get seat assignments and boarding passes at a special service center at the center strip hotel. To take advantage of the service, passengers will have to check baggage 2 hours prior to departure and be traveling on America West. *********************** Help support the "Viva Vegas" pages and visit Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/vivavegas *********************** Las Vegas Business Focus: Are you a Brit looking for extended stay corporate apartments for COMDEX any other major event, visit Terry's site. He features packages from Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester or Prestwick. He's a Brit with a love for Vegas: http://www.roundrobincorporation.com or e-mail him at: mailto:roundrobincorp@hotmail.com ** If you have a product or service thats Las Vegas orientated drop me a line I would love to feature it here! mailto:cochs@yahoo.com *********************** Las Vegas Discussion List: The Vegas discussion list gives members a chance to talk to each other about the Entertainment Capital of the World -- Las Vegas, Nevada! Guaranteed SPAM-free, and it's FREE. To subscribe, send any email message To: vegas-subscribe@onelist.com *********************** Have a Vegas web site? Join the Viva Vegas banner exchange! http://www.viva-vegas.com/exchange.htm *********************** This Month's Quick Notes: RUMOR MILL: Station Casinos is looking at buying the struggling Reserve in Henderson. The Silverton local's casino has upgraded $2 million worth of their slot machines, featuring some of the latest machines available.
. Playboy Enterprises is still looking to enter the Las Vegas casino market along with 10 other around the country.
. The never aging Cher will play the MGM Grand Garden on August 28th and 28th. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster with prices ranging from $39.75 to $150.25.
. Las Vegas favorite slot machine "Wheel of Fortune" has been on a streak. The linked game hit seven times in one week, paying out nearly $9 million.
. Madame Tussaud's Celebrity Encounter wax museum is scheduled to open at The Venetian on July 22nd.
. Wal-Mart stores plans on adding three Super Wal-Mart's and two Sam's Clubs store in Las Vegas in the coming years.
. A mysterious briefcase caused quite a panic to guests of the Excalibur. Hundreds of guests were evacuated from the southeast corner of the 4,032-room hotel, but the briefcase turned out to be empty.
. BET (Black Entertainment Television) has announced plans to add "Tres Jazz" restaurant to the Paris Hotel-Casino scheduled to open in September. Steve Wynn has announced he is looking to purchase a NBA or a NHL team to bring to Las Vegas. The team would play in an envisioned 18,000-seat arena in the Union Pacific railroad yard behind Plaza Casino near Fremont Street.
. ESPN's ESPY awards plan to move from New York City to Las Vegas. The sports award program will feature the some of the world's best athletes on February 14, 2000.
. Rumors are still flying about the takeover of the Tropicana. The latest rumors include MGM Grand, With the purchase of Tropicana; MGM would own three of the four busiest gaming corners in the world.
. The World of Coca-Cola Las Vegas is turning two and wants you to join them for a party on July 17th. The party will run from 11am to 8pm and will feature a Coca-Cola Barbie, celebrity look-a-likes and lots of fun!
. The Paris Hotel-Casino will feature a wedding chapel on top of the fifty-story replica of the Eiffel Tower. The Hotel is running a contest to pick to the first couple to wed in the chapel; you can register at http://www.vegasvows.com.
. Thomas & Mack Center and Sam Boyd Stadium has dropped Ticketmaster, in favor of Tickets.com, a upstart company that handle ticket sales for the main concert venues in Las Vegas. Drivers visiting Henderson have opened an addition to I-215 to help lighten the traffic on Green Valley Parkway. The 1.5-mile addition will allow motorist to travel from I-15 to Green Valley Parkway.
. Speaking of driving, CART Driving 101 has opened up shop at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Racing enthusiasts can feel the need for speed for a price. Programs range from $199 to $2,999, visit their site at http://www.driving101.com.
. Circus-Circus has officially changed their name to Mandalay Resort Group, trading under a ticker symbol of MBG.
. Finally, A Las Vegas tradition has ended with Kidd's Marshmallow Factory ending their tours of their Henderson facility. ************************ Wondering how those new resorts are coming along checkout this site for new pictures every month of all that new construction: http://www.vegasresorts.com/new/ ************************* Look for back articles from the Las Vegas Report in our archive at: http://www.listbot.com/archive/VivaVegas ************************* << TUNICA TRIP REPORT >> With only 3 days notice, I find out I would be heading down to Memphis, TN to meet with some customers that were recently assigned to me. A quick check on the Internet found me a $119.00 cyber-saver fare from Milwaukee to Memphis on Northwest Airlines, but I would have to travel on Saturday and return on Monday. Enough about me, what about those casinos! Tunica/Robinsonville is located about 45 minutes south of Memphis International Airport (take I-55 south to Hwy. 302 to Hwy. 61 South). Tunica County used to be the poorest county in America, a quick drive through the side roads show that this is still a very impoverished area. The casinos came to Tunica County about five years ago, with the tenth property opening later this summer. The casinos in Mississippi are required by law to located on the water, so very strangely the casinos that are developed are often built on man-made lakes, but when inside the casinos you feel as your in any casino in Las Vegas. The casinos are built along a 10-mile stretch of newly built frontage roads adjacent to Hwy. 61 and often include extravagant entrances. A number of the casinos include RV parks. All casinos are not within walking distance of each other, some are located in clusters such as: Gold Strike, Sheraton & Horseshoe in one group, Sam's Town, Harrah's and Hollywood in another group with Fitzgerald's Bally's & Grand Casino Tunica pretty much on their own. Trying to visit all the casinos in one day was a challenge, so I had to narrow down what I wanted to see from each casino to simple criteria. Visit each casino, immediately sign-up for a slot card and if they gave me something free I would gamble a little, if not I would make a quick trip through the property and head off to the next one. Below is what I found: Grand Casinos Tunica - Free $5.00 in coin. Casino is located about 1 mile from the entrance, features two different hotels and a Kid's Quest play area. Great golf course, very little trees though. It appears that Grand Casino owns at least 1,000 acres, by far the largest property in Tunica. Sheraton Casino - Nothing Free. Very small casino, hotel has only about 100 rooms. Not worth the time. Horseshoe - Free Key Chain. Nicely laid out property, a very nice "Blues Museum" that is free, theatre complex features some bigger name entertainment. Gold Strike Casino Resort - Nothing Free. The hotel is the tallest building in Mississippi, featuring a striking gold casino finish. Fairly good size casino. This would be a good hotel to stay if you don't like to walk much as Gold Strike, Horseshoe and Sheraton are about 100 yards from each other. Ballys - Free $7.77 Brunch/Buffet. I felt pretty comfortable here, the buffet could use some work, but it was ok for free, The casino is rather small but the machines seemed to target the lower end of the area with lots of nickel and quarter machines. Fitzgeralds - Nothing Free. Two-Level casino seemed to be very popular the bus tours and the casino filled up quickly when several tour busses arrived. They feature a nice deck overlooking the river, one of the only views of the river in Tunica. Sam's Town - Nothing Free. Being a fan of Boyd Casinos in Las Vegas, they have created a gem in Tunica. The entrance features a large atrium reminiscent of their Boulder Highway property. The casino also features many low-end machines scattered throughout the two-story casino. The property also features many restaurants including a Memphis tradition, Corky's. A must see is a rare look inside the "hard count" room" adjacent to the check-in desk. Harrah's - Nothing Free. Harrah's does things right, this property is bright and airy and with the best slot club in the industry, Harrah's "Total Gold" card can be used at any Harrah's property nationwide. Lot's of higher end machines with a definite lack of nickel machines. Within walking distance of the Hollywood Casino. Hollywood Casino - Free Key Chain. My favorite theme in Tunica, This wonderfully decorated property features some great props including the same crashed airplane that is featured in "The Reserve" in Las Vegas. I would love to stay in the rooms as many of them overlook the casino! Definite lack of low-end slot machines is a problem though. Conclusion: Tunica reminds me of Boulder Highway, although I have not seen any of the hotel rooms in Tunica, I would imagine they are all comparable to any Las Vegas room. If you can get a cheap airfare into Memphis or are within six hours of Memphis this is a very nice alternative to Las Vegas. On the gambling front I was a very small roller playing primarily nickel slots and some special quarter machines such as Elvis and Monopoly. All table games are represented here, but I am not allowed to play any table games without Viva-Wifey present. << END OF TUNICA TRIP REPORT >> As always your comments are always encouraged, please write us!! Thanks!! 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