I’ll be leading the 1:52 half-marathon pace group, so if you don’t mind a somewhat leisurely pace, I’d love to see you on race night. Yes, race night. This year they’re running the race at night (well, early evening). The marathon kicks off at 4:00 and the half-marathon gets going at 5:30. That means that, if you’re running with me, you should be back at Mandalay Bay by 7:30.

If the prospect of spending nearly two hours of your weekend running up and down the Strip with me holding a pace sign isn’t inducement enough, I can offer you the “don’t” as well. If you want to run the race but absolutely don’t want to run into me, if you run it at any other time you’re just about guaranteed to have a completely Dr. Dave-free race. And if that’s not incentive enough, I don’t know what is.

I’m looking forward to the race being a little different this year–I’m not sure exactly how and when the parking is going to work (the official site says “coming soon!”), but I’m sure I’ll figure something out.

If you want to register or just check out the event, you can check the official race page.

With just about everyone in the industry mistaking the 2005-2007 boom for a new normal, it made tons of sense to trade in your sun-faded casino for a newer, bigger one with higher revenue per available room.It seems incredible that the 2000s saw exactly as many big casino demolitions as the 1990s four in each decade, but the Strip’s upside seemed so limitless that the present seemed little more than a springboard to better times.

via Las Vegas Business Press :: David G. Schwartz : Dreamer’s paradise hit with dose of reality.

I think there’s a lot to this story. What does it mean when we stop shooting for the stars?

And that little factoid about casino demolitions surprised me. If you want to stretch it, you can say there were actually more in the 2000s. Here’s my complete list, though I kept a few out for each decade. The ones I counted are in bold”

1990s: Sands, Dunes, Hacienda, Landmark, Marina, Vegas World

2000s: Desert Inn, Stardust, New Frontier, Boardwalk, Bourbon Street, Castways/Showboat, Sahara (closed, destruction almost inevitable)

I might have forgotten one or two.

With all due respect to artists’ renderings, the recent unveiling of plans for Caesars Entertainment’s Linq have people wondering just what the east side of the Strip will look like when the project opens in June 2013. But behind the aesthetic curiosity is another, more immediate question: How will the massive construction project affect guests and employees? Most of the initial dislocations will be behind the scenes, says Rick Mazer, president of Harrah’s Las Vegas, Flamingo, Imperial Palace, Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon and O’Sheas.

via Stirring up the Strip | Vegas Seven.

To me this is the interesting aspect of the story right now–how’s all of this construction going to work, and how will they keep negative externalities to a minimum? They seem to have a plan, and it will be interesting to see how well it goes.

I’m most curious about what’s going to happen on the Imperial Palace’s casino floor, and I’m looking forward to walking around it when it’s in the middle of being transformed, just to get that old>>>new under construction vibe.

It goes without saying that there are several ways to cut costs. Shaving off some perks — first-class travel for jet-setting execs or caviar in the employee dining room — makes eminently good sense when revenues are down. Likewise, optimizing employment levels, which often means finding ways to do more with less, can help strengthen a hospitality company’s bottom line and competitive position if it’s done sensibly.

But not all cost-cutting provides a net benefit.

via Las Vegas Business Press :: David G. Schwartz : Cut costs now or invest for the future?.

I still don’t understand why you would want to incentivize your executives to make decisions that hold costs down without regard for performance or guest satisfaction. I don’t have any problem at all with people being well compensated for their work (I know I wouldn’t turn down a bigger paycheck if someone offered it to me, and it’s hypocritical to assume that others would), but they should be rewarded for either improving results or delivering better service, not just keeping costs down.

That’s my two cents, anyway. Though if I start cutting costs, I might only give you one cent’s worth next time.

If you’ve been in the vicinity of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue lately, you might have noticed some work being done on the Venetian/Palazzo megacomplex. Several weeks ago, the letters spelling PALAZZO on the spine of that resort came down, and there’s been some painting on sections of the Venetian.

via Polishing the Palazzo | Vegas Seven.

It’s always nice to know what’s going on with projects like that.

If you love those Las Vegas Sun slideshow-riffic stories (15 intersections of certain death! click now!), you might like this quick, numbered list of potential future events that will likely never come to pass but may give you a chuckle.

On the heels of this morning’s delightfully-sequined astroturf “angry showgirl” march to protest resort fees, I started pondering what other marches protesting other indiginities or inconveniences of today’s Vegas I’d like to see. My brain stopped working after five, so that’s all you get. If you’ve got any ideas, feel free to add them in the comments.

via Five (5!) Potential Strip Protest Marches | Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog | from ratevegas.com.

I thought I’d have a little fun with the idea of staged protests on the Strip. as you can see, “fun” can be purely subjective.

Not everyone has the luxury of a Malibu summer home or the accrued sick/personal leave to spend their summer crashing in the Pacific waves or touring the Continent, so Las Vegans have increasingly turned during the recession years to a marriage of convenience: the Vegas staycation, where locals stay on the Strip and act like tourists.

via Staycation, All I Ever Wanted | Vegas Seven.

I absolutely love the art for this story.

And I’m really interested in learning about why people staycation…if you’ve got any thoughts, go ahead and share them.

But most people have the perception–or at least the hope–that they’ll get lucky, or at least have a swingin’ time ending up broke. So, despite millions of visitors proving that regression to the mean is a money-making concept each year, people continue to gamble in Vegas–and buy lottery tickets, pick ponies, and visit casinos around the world.

When deciding what to do for fun, vacationers have no problem choosing perception over reality.

That’s worked to Vegas’ advantage, but what happens when perceptions shift from fun to fearful?

via Safety on the Strip | Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog | from ratevegas.com.

Early this morning, after a fight at O’Shea’s casino, a third visitor to the Strip is dead. By late this afternoon, Metro had announced it was shifting resources in response to concerns that the Strip has become unsafe.

I think this is a start, but I think that, given the Strip corridor’s high profile and critical importance to the state as a whole (gaming revenues from the Strip account for more than 50% of the state’s total), it might be time to strategically rethink law and order on the Strip.

In the piece I briefly discuss how a “broken windows” approach might be the right idea. It worked in New York City in the 1990s (read this City Journal article to get the specifics) and I’ve been advocating its use Downtown for a while now (I remember talking about “nuisance abatement” on a Vegas Gang quite some time ago).

On the surface the recent murder spree on the Strip seems to be three cases of (allegedly) alcohol-fueled violence ending in death, but the bigger question remains: why do people suddenly feel like anything goes on the Strip? I think the general feeling of encroaching lawlessness that others have noted over the past few months has something to do with it.

I had an interesting Twitter exchange this morning with Resorts CEO Dennis C. Gomes, who’s been focused in Atlantic City but who spent much of his career in Nevada, about the pedestrian safety issue, which he agrees “has become a major issue.”

When I asked him what he thought, as a casino operator, the Strip operators should do, he replied that, “It is more a matter of Strip properties taking the initiative which will happen if their revenue becomes threatened.”

Clearly something’s been happening behind the scenes, and it’s good that Metro is trying to get the Strip under control. Ultimately, I think that the casinos and the county will have to work together–strategically, not just in response to flare-ups of violence–to make the Strip corridor feel safer and, more importantly, actually be safer.

As a rule I don’t write open letters; I’ll leave that to someone with an axe to grind, whether it’s because their neighbor’s dog won’t stop barking or mind control rays are seeping through their artfully constructed tin-foil hat. In the next few paragraphs I don’t want to raise a grievance, just encourage a robust discussion of an issue that’s important to the economic health of Nevada.

To put it bluntly, the situation on the Strip and downtown with costumed “performers” and other assorted smut peddlers, water, liquor and drug salesmen, and even three-card monte hustlers intimidating and preying on passers-by has gone from nuisance to menace. It’s getting difficult to walk very far–whether it’s on the sidewalk or on the pedestrian bridges that link major properties — without being hassled.

via Las Vegas Business Press :: Opinion : Street ‘performers’ should be checked, regulated.

What bugs me is that the NRA was able to lobby the Clark County Commission for a change in the law that basically criminalized Dotty’s, the slot parlor/tavern chain that 99% of visitors to Vegas will never set foot in, but it has been mum when it comes to the deteriorating condition of the pedestrian Strip, something that impacts a good number of the visitors that pay for hotel rooms and spend money in Las Vegas.

Why is it that the county is willing to fight a protracted legal battle to put Dotty’s out of business, but won’t investigate ways to limit the nuisance that licensed, unregulated “businesses” on the Strip present to our visitors? I’m not aware of any public safety issues associated with Dotty’s; no brawls over tchotkes between grandmas spilling out into the street, no grievances from patrons about the hard candy being substandard. But talking to Metro and to visitors to Vegas who walk the Strip, I’ve heard plenty of complaints and even what sound like legitimate concerns over public safety. What gives?

At the very least, Metro needs to be empowered to tackle those who are out-and-out breaking the law–particularly the 3-card monte hucksters and the liquor salesman. Setting up discrete areas where performers can ply their trade without impinging the ability of pedestrians to get from point A to point B is another idea that deserves, at least, serious consideration.

We really ignore the impact that street-level safety and comfort concerns have on future visitation at our own peril. Those who are entrusted with running the state’s resort industry should spend a few hours riding along with Metro–or just try walking from the MGM Grand to Caesars Palace one night–to get a better idea of what they’re up against.

Last Wednesday, with a T-shirt slingshot and plenty of Twinkies, a new colossus had its formal debut on the Strip. In front of Fashion Show mall, a 15-foot statue of the Blue Man Group both trumpets the famous show at the Venetian and serves as a quirky attraction in its own right, allowing passers-by to see themselves on screen.

via Another Shade of Blue | Vegas Seven.

Speaking of blue, this might be the coolest thing ever:

I’d like to see a casino show based around that aesthetic.

The Tropicana and the Sahara are a study in contrasts despite some shared history; at opposite ends of the Strip, both holdovers from the 1950s managed to survive into the 21st century. Both drifted further and further down market as they faced larger and more luxurious competitors. And, as of today, they are facing profoundly different fates. One is closing, while the other has a new lease on life.

via A Tale of Two Casinos | Vegas Seven.

Why did they end up going in different directions? I’d say it’s equal parts decision-making and geography. Obviously, the Tropicana’s going to get much more walk-in action and attract more people who want to be around other casinos. The Sahara, as of today, is almost in a no-man’s-land. The decision making part is: the Sahara folks (SBE) wanted to go for a massive renovation project that would have aimed towards the luxury market, and missed the timing. Two years earlier, and they’d have gotten funding, no problem. The Tropicana, on the other hand, took a smaller approach, simply remodeling its rooms for the mid-market.

The Sahara’s scheduled May closure, however, is as bad as it gets. Not only has the current owners’ business model gone belly-up; they can’t persuade anyone else to take the casino off their hands, make a few changes, and hopefully ride out the storm.

By a strange coincidence, I just talked about the Sahara in my GAM 495: History of Casinos class, so its history is fresh in my memory.

The property opened as the Club Bingo, a 300-seat bingo parlor, on July 24, 1947. To put it in perspective, the first Strip resort, the El Rancho Vegas, had been open six years (and was right across what was then called the “Los Angeles Highway”). Further south, the Last Frontier was just starting to assemble the Last Frontier Village, and the Flamingo was barely a half-year old. Local builder Marion Hicks was putting together the Thunderbird with a little help from “the Big Juice” Clifford Jones (then the state’s Lt. Governor) and, it was later learned, Meyer Lansky.

When the Club Bingo was remodeled, expanded, and rebranded as the Sahara in 1952, it was the first Vegas rebirth. In the past few years we’ve seen the San Remo get some plastic surgery and re-emerge as Hooters, and the Aladdin turn into Planet Hollywood. The Sahara was there first.

So the Sahara officially opened, as the Sahara, on October 7, 1952. The Desert Inn had opened a few months earlier, and Moe Dalitz and Allard Roen were just starting to kick around the idea of a golf course. Jake Freedman and Jack Entratter were watching the Sands take shape; it would open that December. People were just starting to call the stretch of road with all that construction “the Strip” instead of “Highway 91.”

And the Sahara saw booms and busts, right from the start. It did so well that it added rooms a year after its opening When several casinos declared bankruptcy in the aftermath of 1955′s over-expansive boom, the Sahara soldiered on. Not every casino made it out of that slump intact, but the Sahara did.

The 1960s might have been the golden age of the Sahara. For the price of a drink, Don Rickles would insult you in the Casbar Lounge. But the story beneath the surface was even more interesting. In 1961, Del Webb acquired the casino from Milton Prell and his partners, becoming the first publicly-traded corporation to own a Nevada casino. Because of the restrictive gaming ownership laws of the time, they had to create a series of shell operating companies, but this was a real milestone.

Architect Martin Stern, Jr., raised the Sahara’s profile with two tower expansions in the early 1960s, putting the Sahara at the cutting edge of casino resort design. He applied some of the lessons he learned there in the iconic Sands tower and the International (1969) and original MGM Grand (1973).

In its later years, the Sahara coasted along, drifting further into the value-oriented market, but filling an important niche in Las Vegas nonetheless. The casino’s closing, no matter how you try to spin it, is awful news and a real loss to the city.

A mattress fire at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas Sunday afternoon sent one person to the hospital.

Clark County Fire Department spokesman Dan Kulin says the blaze was confined to a room on the 25th floor of the hotel. The fire was put out by the hotel sprinkler system. Guests reported hearing a fire alarm accompanied by a voice that informed them to evacuate the hotel.

via Fire at Bally’s Hotel and Casino Sends Man to Hospital.

This is partially notable because, back in 1980, the then-MGM Grand was the site of one of the deadliest fires in US high-rise history–a fire exacerbated by the lack of sprinklers on the casino floor.

That the fire was extinguished by sprinklers in an almost routine fashion shows how far high-rise fire safety has come in the past thirty years. The MGM disaster was followed about three months later by a fire at the Las Vegas Hilton that killed seven, and did a great deal to undercut the image of Las Vegas hotels as safe, with good reason.

Since then, I would guess that many visitors to Las Vegas have the opposite problem: they might be too confident in their safety. Anyone else remember those photos from the Monte Carlo poker room during that casino’s rooftop blaze, when the players were watching the building they were in burning on CNN?

So thankfully no one was seriously hurt in yesterday’s blaze, but this is a good time to remember that, when you hear a fire alarm, start heading towards the exits. It might like like you’ve got plenty of time to get there if you have to, but I imagine its much more difficult to get outside when the lights power’s failed and the room is filling with smoke.

Also, with a rarely-reported hotel suicide in the news today, this isn’t the best day for Strip casino public relations, is it?

The lion’s share of that haul goes to the big Strip resorts, which host most of the events that make the news. But what about casinos outside the tourist corridor? How do they compete with champagne toasts with the stars and fireworks by Grucci?

The Fremont Street Experience’s TributePalooza is one way to go: If you can’t get marquee names for your party, get sound-alikes. So instead of offering a shindig hosted by Nelly or Rihanna, the Experience rolled out sets by bands such as Fan Halen, the Red Not Chili Peppers and Led Zepagain, as well as less-obvious tributaries, such as Bonfire (AC/DC) and Rocking the Paradise (Styx).

Some might question the wisdom of offering visitors ersatz “Mr. Roboto” when there are so many real celebrities popping corks just miles away, but TributePalooza’s in its third year and shows no signs of slowing down, which proves you don’t need to pay headliner prices to put on a party that people will flock to.

via Competing with America’s Party | Vegas Seven.

Am I the only one who loves those tribute band names? One of my hobbies is thinking of good names for bands, and these are some good ones.

As to the story, I found it interesting that the folks on the Strip were mostly interested in putting on a huge party (which is good), while those off-Strip were more focused on rewarding their existing customers and advertising themselves to potential new ones.

More important, few residents of Las Vegas would any longer agree that their city is either great or happy.

Nevada has America’s highest unemployment rate. In Las Vegas, unemployment has risen more this year even as it has flattened in the rest of the country; it peaked at 15.5% in September. Nevada also has America’s highest foreclosure rate. In Las Vegas more than 70% of homeowners with mortgages owe more to the bank than their houses are worth. This desert valley, which once represented the most extreme pleasures in American consumerism, now has the most severe hangover.

via Las Vegas in crisis: Party over | The Economist.

There’s a lot of truth in this article, but the perspective is just slightly wrong. And that makes all the difference.

For instance, the author says that “Tourists are now returning, but in numbers too small” to help Las Vegas. While it’s true that the average spend per visitor has fallen, visitation actually rose in 2010. This would have been a more accurate article a year ago, but even then I’d insist the real story wasn’t that Vegas visitation had fallen, but that it was so resilient. At the (hopefully) tail end of the worst recession in sixty years, 37 million people still came to Las Vegas this year. Surely, that’s got to count for something.

And I take issue with the idea of an “existential” crisis for Las Vegas. Yes, I do believe that it’s possible that the rapid devaluation of people’s net work over the past three years has probably made them more risk averse, or “gun shy,” as I was quoted as saying. But the fact is, they are still coming to Las Vegas, which means that the city doesn’t have a major crisis of existence.

Even my theory, as logical as it sounds, is just a theory, and will never be a fact. As I explained to the reporter, it’s impossible to falsify a claim like that–you would have to have done measures of risk tolerance among people coming to Las Vegas in, say, 2006, then re-done studies on the same people this year. And since it can’t be falsified, it can’t be “true” in the way that 2+2=4 is. So, as I said, it’s the kind of thing that I’ll bring up at cocktail parties if people ask for a pop psychology explanation of what’s going on, but I can’t really say if that’s the reason for falling table hold percentages (a phenomenon which pre-dates the recession, BTW).

For that matter, I asked the reporter for evidence of this big cultural shift: how can he prove that the “zeitgeist” had shifted? It’s a pretty glib concept that, again, can’t be falsified. I could just as reasonably say that, since people saw the economic system melt down and saw companies insulated from their bad choices via government bailouts, people might have a greater tolerance for risk, or at least a lesser appreciation for its consequences.

It’s particularly galling that the author didn’t acknowledge existing revenue trends that might disprove his argument. Slot handle, which I consider as good a measure for the broad “demand” for Nevada gaming as any, rose for the first time in October.

As I told him, the idea that the zeitgeist has shifted against Las Vegas and gambling is both incredibly glib and not borne out by the facts. According to the best archaeological evidence, humans have been gambling for thousands of years; its short-sighted to say that a recession, even one lasting three years or longer, is going to change that.