Vegas happenings

A quick look at some news and rumours from Sin City...

• Steve Wynn first pushed Franco Dragone aside as creative director of Le Reve, and then decided to finally do the deed and purchase Dragone's interest in Le Reve. Apparently Wynn wants to add pyrotechnics, lasers and other special effects to the water based, Cirque-esque show. This can only mean one thing - sharks with frickin' lasers on them!


• Speaking of Vegas shows, Hairspray is closing on Sunday, (the cast was told 30 minutes before curtain raised on their Monday preformance). If the rumour reported in the Two Way Hard Three thread is true, Cirque is getting yet another show, this one being a magic show. While it sounds interesting, can't we have a moratorium on Cirque shows?


• One more Vegas show related note: Andrew Lloyd Webber is so involved in the Vegas production of "Phantom" that he didn't know the name of the show was Phantom: The Vegas Spectacular.


• Fun find from Norm's archives: Norm talks about the American Idol finale, and notes that at least one person already thinks that Taylor Hicks has an attitude problem, while Andrea Bocelli has McPheever.


• In what is probably the greatest story about a casino that will probably never get built, I bring you Maxim: the Casino. To summarize:
  
  • The site is on the very north end of the strip, right by Circus, Circus and far away from any of the other locations that the presumed target audience would want to go to.
  
  
  • The CEO of the company that will be building and operating the casino was convicted of bank and wire fraud in the 1980's, which means that his company won't be able to get a gaming license. This in turn means that they are already looking for an outsider operator to become a partner.
  
  
  • Because of the first two points, this isn't being treated as a big announcement in Las Vegas, which explains why the story first appeared in the New York Times.
  
  
  • The kicker in all this? Dennis Publishing, publishers of Maxim, are getting paid an upfront fee for use of the Maxim name. So, regardless of whether the casino is even built, Maxim makes money.
  
  
  
  (Big H/T to The Moveable Buffet.)
  
  
• I first heard about this after my friend Boyd visited Vegas in February, but the Excalibur poker room is being moved and downsized. When I was there last October, it was full on Friday night, Saturday night and Monday night (as they ran a Monday Night Football pool). I guess it isn't as busy now. The disappoint piece of this? The 2-6 spread game could be history. That is the game that I play when I'm down in Vegas as it offers the best chance of making money while also giving a bit of room to make plays that 2-4 or 3-6 wouldn't.