The NFL and Raiders: Leverage.

Las Vegans are no doubt salivating today at the news the NFL is still interested in locating a team in their city.

NFL Official: Don't write-off Las Vegas as possible home for the Raiders. John Breech, CBSSports.com

What happens if Oakland and Los Angeles both fall through?

Viva Las Vegas!

Sin City was a hot topic at the NFL owners meetings this week, and it's starting to look like Vegas is becoming a more attractive option.

"I think it would be a mistake to just write Las Vegas off," a high-ranking league official told the Los Angeles Daily News. "It's all predicated on getting the financing in order, but if they do, considering the Raiders brand and how well it could play in Las Vegas and all the various other dots that can be connected, the Raiders would have a very compelling argument to make."

More here here and here.

Now, before you get all fired up and make plans to either get season tickets or, more likely, try to decipher the NFL's scheduling algorithm to determine when your team is traveling there, please remember that the NFL has a long, long history of setting up cities who are never going to have a serious chance in order the sweeten the deal for the owner currently in negotiations.

Make no mistake about it, NFL Commissioner Goodell would rather sit in the cheap seats and share a beer with the common fan than he would have a team located in the sports-gambling mecca of the United States of America.

Goodell hates sports gambling because the NFL cannot control it.  Unlike DFS, which was an emerging industry and needed the league's participation to grow, sports gambling is already a multi-Billion dollar enterprise. It's ran, and almost totally controlled, by either casinos or off-shore betting houses, who have little reason to partner, and be controlled by, the NFL and their heavy regulatory hand.

It also doesn't help that Goodell, and most of the owners, are still living in the fantasy land of the past where sports gambling is rigged by the mafia and where cars hit transformers mysteriously when the game play is headed against a large interest. In fact, big losses on single games are expected, at times, by the sports books now. Sports gaming has become just like all other gaming. Based on theoretical formulas and based on maths.  In the old days the casinos were nowhere near as savvy at advanced mathematics as they are today.  They still overwhelmingly won, but they were also prone to panic, which is something you never see today.

What the NFL is doing is using Las Vegas for leverage. It's something they've done quite frequently in the past and it's an attempt to get Oakland, or another city, to pony up hundreds of Millions in tax incentives for their playgrounds.

While I think it's a possibility that Las Vegas ends up with an NHL expansion franchise, I don't see any way that the doddering old fools who run the teams ever allow Steve Wynn or Sheldon Alderson into the game of professional football.

Spring Trip 2016: Dinner at Craftsteak

When we were planning the trip for my Mom she had two requests:

1. She wanted to see the Bellagio (Ocean's 11 being her favorite Vegas movie)

2. She wanted to eat at Tom Colicchio's Crafsteak (Mr. Colicchio being one of her favorite chefs)

Taking the 2nd item 1st, here is the recap of our dinner at Craftseak. (In MGM Grand)

First, MiniHam decided to stop for a picture in front of Caesar's. Then he tried a little gambling at Whiskey Down prior to dinner.

MiniHam and My fat arm in front of Caesar's

No pockets, this is a problem.

After a trip down the Strip to MGM, cocktails (not pictured, although on my next trip I'm going to write more about Whiskey Down which is a great place) We finally settled into our table.

MiniHam checks the menu

He liked Whiskey Down quite a bit.

Now that we had the menu, it was time for appetizers.

The wife's: Caprese salad with hazelnuts

Mine: Warm Firsee salad with duck egg

Mom's spinach salad.

Once done with the salad course we moved on to Entrees.

The wife: Strip Steak

Me: Braised Short Ribs

Fingerling potatoes and gratin potatoes

Creamed pea tendrils and mixed carrots.

Then on to dessert..

Monkey bread - House signature dessert

Coconut and orange basil gelato

Not too bad for 4 people.

For our wine selection I ordered a Tenuta San Guido, Guidalberto 2012 which was priced at $125, when he brought the wine the sommelier brought out a 2002 Tenuta San Guido which retails at $550. When I pointed out the error to him he was more than polite.  I've had that particular wine and find it lackluster for the price. All in all I prefer the Guidalberto which is a much better wine for value.

Now that the pictures are done let's talk about it just a bit.

The best meal that I've ever had was eaten at Craftsteak a few years back. That meal included the same short ribs, but prepared as raviolo in a brown butter sauce. I also had the braised prime New York Strip and creamed spinach. That was the first time that I've ever had the Monkey bread and it's so good that I'll never really enjoy a cinnamon roll again. During that meal we had the perfect combination of waiter, assistant waiter and sommelier, it was the most enjoyable dining experience of my life, that I did not cook at home.

Fast forward to this trip and it was just as enjoyable. The wife and I have eaten at restaurants all over the world, from 3 Michelin star palaces to glorified dives. We've found outstanding food in all locations. Saying that I realize that there are more accomplished chefs in Vegas (Robechon anyone?) or restaurants with more status (Nobu, and several others) but when you consider service, food quality and value for money Craftsteak is just about at the top for me.  All of the appetizers, especially my warm frisee salad with duck egg, were excellent, the entrees were outstanding, Colicchio's short ribs are a destination meal, and oh that Monkey bread.

Next time you're in Vegas I suggest you get a reservation (strongly recommended, it's always busy for dinner) dress up (dress is business casual) and give it a try.

Don't forget the monkey bread.

Spring Trip 2016: Introducing MiniHam

I wanted to take just a second to introduce you to MiniHam, the unofficial, official mascot of Las Vegas Central.

Here he is ordering Bloody Mary's for everyone and saving our seats on SW during the February Las Vegas Trip:

You'll be seeing a LOT more of MiniHam in the trip reports to come.

Gambling News: MGM PGP It's bad.

Judging from the scuttlebutt around various Las Vegas Message board the recently announced MGM Profit Growth Plan is starting to cut into gambling compensation in a big way.  Anecdotal evidence, again from the chatter boards, reveals that the cuts are starting hot and heavy.

1. Reduced comp percentages:  This is the option that really seems to be getting everyone's goat, because theoretical-based compensations somewhere around 40% of expected loss has been the law in Las Vegas for a while now. Like free-parking, which we'll get to in a minute, 40-45% is almost viewed as a constitutional right by the seasoned high-roller. It's hard to tell just how far the exact rate has fallen but there are reports that it could be by as much as 10%.

2. Death by 1,000 cuts. - A poster on the VegasBoards forum noted that MGM has cancelled the Sirius XM radio service in their luxury fleet of courtesy cars, have cut the schedules of experienced dealers, as well as implemented a series of other cuts that can only be viewed as gambler unfriendly.

3. Raising comp prices.  Call it the third prong in the gambler-pitchfork that is the PGP, by raising comp prices,  (there is a good discussion on this here) In effect, MGM has decided to reward the players less, reduce how much they can get, and charge them more for getting it.


The effect of this is driving more players to less networked casinos like The Cosmopolitan or Wynn/Encore who, while still making cuts, are not doing so with the speed of MGM.Left out of consideration, for the most part, is Caesar's who really doesn't have anything in it's profile that can really cater to the modern high-end player.

MGM does have hotels that can compete however, in the form of Bellagio and Aria but the company seems content to abandon the deep-pockets gambler in return for courting the younger, clubbing crowd that both don't get, and usually don't ask for, compensation.

There are also rumors that the casinos are altering the calculations on their theoretical loss calculations downward. It's going to be difficult to determine whether or not this is actually taking place because they are treated as trade secrets and not readily available. According to one recent report, they are also loss-amount restricting the loss payback to $100K, which is awful.

In the short-run there's no reason to think that this is going to get better before it gets worse. The more casinos clamp down on the players the less revenue comes from the gaming floor. This is acceptable to the casinos because 1. They're currently making up for the lost revenue in retail (both club and store-front sales) 2. Room renovations mean that they can charge higher rates to millennials, who don't gamble as much, don't ask for free stuff, and just come to Las Vegas to party.

It's not that the millennials aren't gambling, it's that they don't do it very often, seriously.  The typical millennial gambler in Las Vegas is stopping off at a black jack table, craps, roulette or even slots for fun. They're typically with a group of friends and are willing to blow $200-$300 on a lark. The ones with a bigger bank-roll aren't any more serious, but they might think they are, and can waste thousands per night making hunch plays.  For this they typically do not get either rated, or comped for an entire weekends play.

Casinos, being managed by unoriginal people, are both struggling with this and adapting poorly to it by over-correcting the opposite way.  Back in the Aughts and during the so-called great recession, you could roll into Vegas with $4000, generate some play and walk-out, just, with a Jr. Suite and a limo ride to the airport.  Back then the resorts were selling the adventure.  High-end wine prices were reasonable, though not cheap, and high-rollers* were treated with style and panache. The dream was real.

Today, at MGM properties especially, you're thrown into a mechanical world of algorithms and theoretical formulas. For the most part discretionary comps have been removed from the discretion of the host, and upgrades are an auto-fee rather than a perk. They're cutting down on the rate you earn and making it more expensive to redeem. It's the classic vice that players are stuck in.

At the end of the movie Casino, a must-watch if you haven't, Robert DeNiro's character is bemoaning the changes that Vegas underwent in the late-80's. He finishes up by saying this: "Now a high-roller walks into a casino with a briefcase holding a Million Dollars and a pimple faced kid asks him for his ID." The problem for the high-roller is this: Where else are you going to go?



























*It's not right to call high-rollers 'whales'. In fact, using that term will get you branded a 'noob' by those in the know. In fact, there are only around 20-30 true "whales" in the world.  And even they don't call themselves "whales". If someone identifies themselves as a whale, they are lying.

Spring Trip 2016: About those Flamingo FAB rooms...

For rooms that were recently renovated (except for the bathrooms) the FAB (or entry level) rooms at the Flamingo are really odd.

Water Damage on the ceiling

Dead space in the bedroom.

the 80's called

For rooms that were given a courtesy once-over these rooms really are in need of some help. Of course, the bathrooms are old, but there was at least working hot water, the carpet is industrial and the separate sleeping area, off of a living area, was just barren.  Ours had a king bed, two night-tables and the big-assed empty space in the wall that you see above.

That said, having the segregated sleeping area, with no windows, made getting some shut-eye easy. One big problem though is that they didn't vent that sleeping space at all.  Because of this it would be ice-cold in the living room/bathroom area, and sweltering in the sleeping area because of no air-flow. As someone who likes to sleep cool that was a problem for me.

From the window, we had 1/2 a view....

Bad view

High Roller View

LINQ view

Fortunately, the blackout curtains worked well, and the room would get DARK during the early morning, when we were usually sleeping. As far as cost goes, the room, for us, was comped for two of the four nights and $29 for the other two. This does not include the $32/night resort fee that we still had to pay.

Part of the reason for the bad comps is my rather anemic game play on the last couple of trips. Two trips prior, I caught the worst case of food-poisoning I've ever had and spent two days shut-up in my room, shivering, sleeping and yarfing everywhere.  On the trip prior to this one (in October 2015) I played a little more, but the wife and I were staying at the Linq and spent most of our time riding rides.  My play on this trip was much more robust this time, so I'm waiting to see if that has any impact on the offers I get.

I was in a take it or leave it mode with the Flamingo. I'm a guppy, not a big gambler, so I don't expect much in the way of offers.  My chip-porn isn't rated XXX, or even R, compared to others I'd be PG. So when it comes to gaming and service I don't expect much in Vegas when we go.

The thing is though, after about 5 years dedicated to MLife I decided to switch over to Total Rewards last year and have noticed something completely different. Whether or not you are a big roller or no, you at least get treated with something resembling customer service at the TR resorts.  Yes, the hotels/casinos are not as flashy, or gimmicky as are the MLife properties, and TR doesn't have anything that compares with Bellagio, Aria etc.  But when it comes to being treated like a damn human being they run circles around MLife, who have clearly decided that it's perfectly acceptable to plug people into an algorithm, and treat them accordingly.

My next post will be a brief introduction to MiniHam, our new travel mascot and something that the wife and I are having a LOT of fun goofing around with.

Spring Trip 2016: Pizza Rock

I had seen pictures of Pizza Rock Las Vegas pretty much everywhere online for the past few months. Specifically, good things written about their meatballs. Since I was going to be in Downtown Las Vegas with no plans for dinner I figured why not give it a try.

First, some background.  When I eat Italian food it's typically with my wife, and my wife has Celiac disease which I can tell you, in opposition to what Ted Cruz thinks about the matter, is a real problem.  If you've never been around anyone with Celiac (as Mr. Cruz clearly has not) then you've never had to deal with the issues that result from accidentally ingesting a belly full of gluten.  As an aside, Mr. Cruz, I can assure you that we will not have the strong military that you are advocating if even 1% of your soldiers is spending half their time doubled up in the restroom throwing up.

But, back to Pizza Rock.

First, the pictures:

Quail Egg Guanciale California Style Pizza

Meatballs

As you can see I did order the meatballs.  And, yes, they were very good. I did find that mine seemed to be slightly heavier sauced than the other pictures that I've seen of these, and that did throw off the balance just a bit.  I could have used with possible 1/4 less of a ladle of sauce and these would have been outstanding.

For the main course I had the Quail Egg Guanciale pizza which comes on a thin, California-style, crust and is topped with mozzarella cheese, potatoes, Italian chorizo, calebrese peppers, pork cheek and quail eggs. The menu also claimed that the pizza was seasoned with "Rosemary and Lavender sea salt" but it was in quantities small enough that I didn't notice it.

Despite missing the aromatics however the pizza itself was great. Especially the bites where I was able to bite into a quail egg. The warm, runny egg yolk added a LOT to the pizza. If you've never had quail egg, or chicken egg for that matter, on your pizza I highly recommend you consider it when available.

I had a Dogfish head 90 minute IPA which was good (of course) although they did have some local Las Vegas beers on offer I had been Vegasing pretty much all day and just wanted something old and comfortable to sip on while I ate. Next visit I plan on paying more attention to the drinks list.

As far as ambiance?  Pizza Rock is rock and roll, and pizza. The walls are black, the carpet is gray (I think) the music is loud-ish, but not too loud. There's a take-out counter at the front of the restaurant, a giant semi-truck sticking out in the dining room and what appeared to be a stage.

The bathrooms were dirty, one was broken, but the food was good and the beer was cold. Considering we walked in after 9PM, the service was friendly, although not overbearingly so.  The food order for 4 people came out quickly, and my wife had no issues with her celiac. (She ordered white wine with clams and the pancetta and arugula salad. My father had the lasagna while my mother had her first Calzone (The Manhattan) ever (FYI: she loved it but she couldn't eat it all).  Because I'm not a fan of reaching over the table, I only took a picture of my food. (I also let everyone else in my party eat. This is something more food critics need to realize, people are hungry)

Overall that's a pretty solid visit IMO.

Summary:

Food:  A  The meatballs were good, though slightly over-sauced. The pizza was excellent.

Service: B- Overall good, but the lady that ran us our food (not our waiter) almost threw some of the plates at us rather than setting them down.

Ambiance: B+  For a place called Pizza Rock you pretty much get it as advertised. If you're looking for fancy this place ain't. It was passably clean however, which was a plus.

Overall: A- I liked Pizza Rock, a lot. Broken stalls in bathrooms, provided they are properly marked (and this one was) are not a big deal to me.  Some customers can't hold their liquor.

Price: $$ A party of two should be able to eat at Pizza Rock, including appetizer, main course and drinks, for well under $100 unless you really go extravagant. 

Value:  4/5 - Given that this is Las Vegas, land of high prices, I thought Pizza Rock was a very good value for money. The best deals were the Calzones ($13) which could easily feed two people or the meatballs (3 for $6 or 6 for $9) which could be a meal in and of themselves if you choose the larger order. Ironically, it's the pizzas that prevent PR from receiving 5 out of 5 for value. Not that they're over priced, but they're not exactly a bargain at their price points either. In other words, I think they are priced fairly.

Chance of returning: 100% If and when I get back to Las Vegas that is.

Las Vegas: Coming Soon

My first Las Vegas trip of the year is fast approaching so if you do happen to stumble across this, just wait. I'll have trip updates and other news coming up soon.

I might even have, wait for it, video content to share.

Until then....

Wait for it.....

And now, some news:

Not only paid parking on the Strip, but outsourced Paid parking on the Strip. - It doesn't get much worse than that.

The Las Vegas Raiders? This shit-show of a disaster would be fitting for Davis and Co.

Of COURSE Nevada should take the lead on DFS. - They're really the only State that gets gambling correct.