October 2009 Archives

The future of sports booking is now available at the Venetian and Palazzo. It's called pocketcasino in-running and it's the latest craze. A personal, handheld computer a little bigger than an iPhone is all you need to make bets.

The old system of sports betting was all about what happens at the end of the game. Who wins, point spreads but this new system lets players place bets anytime during the game. Want to be on if your team will make a field goal? Go for it! Think you know who will make the next first down? Place a bet electronically while watching the game.

These devices are available exclusively at Lagasse's Stadium in the Palazzo and the Venetian Sport Book. Players put money into an account when they get the device and can cash out their winnings when they turn it back in. Updated in real time, the pocketcasino works anywhere in the casino. It really is the future of sports betting!

Every day, one morning and one afternoon game are run using pocketcasino, as well as the Sunday night and Monday night professional football games.Even college games that are played on Thursdays or Fridays are entered into the pocketcasino system.

As much as we'd love to take one home with us too, it only works in the casino.

Oh boy, now this was an episode of Top Chef! Rampant product placement, just enough chefs to keep track of and one of the best elimination challenges possible! But the pace kept up and worked great. Aside from a brief quip to buy Seattle Express coffee, the episode went straight to the quickfire.

A TV guide sponsored quickfire (that's two instances of product placement for those counting at home) was first with special guest chef Paul Bartolotta, of Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. With the knife block of names shown, the chefs were told the challenge: make a gourmet TV dinner inspired by the show they draw on the knife.

Each knife had a classic TV show on it, and some of them were more interesting than others. Kevin drew the Sopranos, and immediately went into a story about how his grandmother makes his entire family breakfast every morning since his entire family lives on one street. Eli pulled Gilligan's Island and showed his age: he'd never seen it! Michael ended up with Cheers allowing for some easy bar food. Jenn got the Flintstones and went off on an awkward aside about how she wants a boyfriend like Bam Bam, who will carry a club and pull her hair. Robin got Sesame Street and said she'd never seen a whole episode. Bryan got M*A*S*H* and knew immediately he wanted to make a classy army meal. Mike pulled Seinfeld and claimed to have never seen the show about nothing. Blashphamey. Oh, and this puts the total number of brands mentioned up to 8 (9 if you count the M Resort!)!

But the chefs each worked to come up with a main course, two sides and a dessert, all served in an adorable porcelain tv tray. But while some of the chefs did great work, a few of them made me wonder how they ever part of society. Jenn had a good idea, a nice chunk of meat with a bone in it for the Flintstones, but her chicken roulade didn't quite pull it off. Meanwhile, Robin sacrificed flavor in attempt to make something more whimsical. Her giant eye burger was an interesting concept but the execution failed. It's no big surprise they were the two in the bottom.

In the middle were Mike with his sasusage and peppers. I don't know how he didn't get called out on that. No double dip chip? No soup nazis? No chocolate eclair from the top of the trash can? As GOB from Arrested Development would say, "COME ON!" Eli tried to stick with tropic flavors and ended up with a station smelling like a Jimmy Buffet concert while Michael's chicken parmigiana seemed to be completely skipped over.

But the top two chefs were Kevin and Bryan (both of whom I think will be the final 2). Kevin took the Sopranos and made meatballs which went over very well while Bryan's classic American dish: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and apple pie was very well received. "Ditto on the mmmm," is what Paul said after Padma expressed some delight.

But in the end, there could only be one winner. Now that the chefs are down to the final 7, immunity is off the table. But there is a prize at steak. The winner will get his dish served as part of the new Top Chef line of frozen dinners from Schwan's. My brain skipped a beat or two after hearing that. But Kevin takes home the prize and he's thrilled! His grandmother buys from the Schwan's delivery truck. He just wants his picture on the packaging. Kevin's a weird guy.

I almost feel bad posting two references to Las Vegas Weekly but their directory of Halloween Themed events is absolutely excellent. With events starting today and going until Sunday, it is the most complete directory of parties, concerts and events happening in Sin City.

Looking to dress up like a superhero? Or maybe you want to dress up as something a little sexier, either way there are plenty of costume parties in the city this week.

If you prefer partying it up with celebrities, Holly Madison is hosting Hollyween at Studio 54 or check out Jerry Springer's Dysfunctional Halloween Bash at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone.

But the best party of them all has to be the 14th Annual Fetish & Fantasy Ball at the Joint. We'll have photos of it next week and they'll be worth it.

But check out the complete listing over at Las Vegas Weekly, including links to buy tickets to each event.

I write about Top Chef a lot for two main reasons: I love food and I have a horrible weakness for trash television (I am hoping that the Real Housewives of Orange County go to Las Vegas again so I can write about that show too).

But this season is wrapping up and three new shows are already being planned: Top Chef Season 7, Top Chef: Just Desserts and Top Chef Masters 2! With all those shows, that means there will be casting calls!

There will be a casting call in Las Vegas for Top Chef: Just Desserts on Wednesday, November 11, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM at Tom Coliccio's Craftsteak! But there are plenty of other casting calls happening around the country. The full lists for both Top Chef season 7 and Top Chef: Just Desserts are after the break!

It's getting close to lunch time and I figured that was the best time to share the Ultimate Las Vegas Pizza Map over at Las Vegas Weekly! It's beautifully drawn and interactive.

The map covers two dozen different pizzerias, from Lefty's in the south to Streets of New York in the north and everything in between. All the places are reviewed, with ratings from one to five. The more I stare at it, the hungrier I get.

Check it out and grab a slice somewhere!

Elvis has returned to Las Vegas! For the most part. Well, his stuff has returned to Las Vegas at the Imperial Palace. The King's Ransom Museum is a one-of-a-kind exhibit of priceless Elvis Presley artifacts and memorabilia seen for the first time in Sin City!

Showcasing pieces from Elvis' personal life as well as his acting and singing careers, The King's Ransom Museum is the most complete collection this side of Graceland. Legendary items like Elvis' 1977 Lincoln Continental, stage and film wardrobe from over the years, personal clothing items, jewelry, guns, badges and a variety of Elvis' law enforcement objects and objects from his Graceland Home!

Last week was the VIP opening that included Linda Thompson, one-time Elvis bodyguard Sunny West, Elvis tour manager Joe Esposito and Kathy Spehar. Photos of the VIP opening can be found over at Vegas Deluxe, where we also learned that the exhibit contains "the Bible that was on his nightstand when he died."

It's the episode you wait for all season, the one where anyone can go home but you need to see what happens. It shows the chef'testants in their element and you just want to see one of them fail but before we get to the epic showdown, there are some other bits worth talking about.

Right off the bat, the episode started strong: Jenn in a bikini. I feel like if she lasts a few more episodes, she'll get requests from a couple magazines. Hottest chef'testant? She's up there. But since the episode is oversized, they're moving quick. There's a brief mention of how everyone misses Ash and the fact that Robin is still there. So the chefs were packed up and sent to the kitchen.

At the Top Chef Kitchen, the chefs were greeted by Padma and legendary chef Rick Moonen (who looks way too much like Rick Bayless, especially from the side), he was also on Top Chef Masters. To make for some great TV, the chefs drew knives.

And all except for two were blank. Jenn's said first pick and Michael's was second. Now for the good old fashioned see who gets picked last like we're in gym class again. The strongest went first: Kevin and Bryan respectively, further comfirming they even they see themselves as the Top 4, followed by Mike and Eli. The last to be picked were Laurine and, of course, Robin. The teams were selected and given their colors: red for Michael and his group, blue for Jenn and hers.

So the teams were made but they still had no idea what the actual challenge was. I think the producers just like watching Jenn squirm sometimes.

It's no surprise that Las Vegas is one of the best places to go to for a Bachelor's Party. Between endless parties, clubs, and bars it has everything needed for a man to celebrate his last night of freedom. And one of the best places to do it is at the Gentlemen's Club Crazy Horse 3.

The best part about Crazy Horse 3 is that they've got a great assortment of packages to fit any size party. They range from the free to the $25,000 extravaganza. So if you're looking for a night in Vegas worth remembering, check out their packages.

The most basic of all packages is the Pony Ride. It's great for one reason: it's free! Included is a limo ride and free cover. Seating is general, so no special VIP treatment but you get in for free!

Next up is the Winner's Circle, which is $200 and includes cover, the limo ride, a VIP table, one bottle of SKYY Vodka and three mixers. But that still doesn't get the bachelor anything too crazy.

That's why there's the Hang Over package. It runs at $380 but includes everything from the Winner's Circle, and a t-shirt (which the website claims is "free"). But you're not paying an extra $180 for a "free" t-shirt, the bachelor gets a stage dance with not one, not two but three girls!

If your party group is more than 5 people, these are the packages specially designed for you. The Daily Double sets you back $425 but includes the limo, free entry and larger VIP table. They also include an extra bottle of SKYY Vodka and mixers.

After that, the packages start to get really crazy. In the best Vegas-way possible.

The best of the best (41 players from around the world) will be competing in Las Vegas for the 2009 MONOPOLY World Championship today!

Game play will take place today and tomorrow the 22nd at the Forum Ballroom at Caesars Palace. Be there to see the crowning of a new champion! The winner will receive $20,580 USD -- the amount of money that comes in a set of MONOPOLY!

And those just looking to watch, the first 600 attendees each day will receive a free World Championship t-shirt! Read up on the current champions and the world of competitive MONOPOLY play at the official World Championship Website.

For those still looking for some fun, Caesars Palace will have a life-sized MONOPOLY board on the Strip! The players will be picked among 50 finalist from a nationwide contest, and will use life-size tokens on a 25-square-foot board with oversized Chance and Community Chest cards for a chance to win $50,000! Yes, you read that right - the person who wins this will get more than twice what the winner of the actual championship gets.

Sometimes Vegas doesn't make sense.

The 38th inductee to the Poker Hall of Fame has been announced and it's Mike Sexton. Sexton has been playing for 30 years and his life time winnings are around $3.7 million and a gold bracelet that he won in 1989 during a $1,500 buy-in seven-card stud high-low tournament, and he also won the 2006 invitational Tournament of Champions.

But the players know Sexton more for what his attitude and willingness to help out others. His vivid analysis of the game make his opinions well known and respected. He also did what he could to help ease tensions when at the main event this year, over 500 players were unable to participate.

This marks the first year in changing how the Hall of Fame selects its inductees. This year, a panel consisting of media members and the living Hall of Fame members voted based off a fan suggested list of nominees. But while the selection has changed, the criteria hasn't. Any player to be considered must have faced top competition for high stakes and, more importantly, had an enduring effect on the game and peers.

If everything goes to plan, this New Year's Eve will herald the arrival of Vanity Nightclub at the Hard Rock. Located on the second floor of the new and exclusive HRH Tower, Vanity is looking to be the place to party.

There are currently a mess of rumors flying around, ranging from the $1 million ceiling-to-floor chandelier, over fifty VIP tables, outdoor cabanas and patio overlooking the Strip and if that isn't enough, a 15,000 square feet dance floor. LAX, your time may be up as the party place to be.

Garth Brooks and Steven Wynn announced on Thursday that Brooks will begin an exclusive engagement at Encore. For the first time since 2000, Brooks will be playing weekly shows beginning in December.

A one man show, literally, Brooks will take the stage with just his guitar to entertain audiences. And to make things easy, tickets will be a flat $125 a piece. During the press conference, the tentative schedule will be one show on Friday, two on Saturday and one on Sunday. This setup will allow Brooks to spend the weeks with his family - which is why he gave up touring almost a decade ago.

The new plan is an exclusive contract, tentatively in place for five years.

Oh Top Chef, constantly inspiring me to cook more and entertaining me for hours on Wednesdays (well, except when I'm watching Glee). Last night I was lounging around and watched part of earlier episodes of this season and it's clear we've made it half way. As the credits roll, I no longer remember what half the people got told to pack their knives for but I did learn something: Eli's been a dick the entire time and we all owe Mike an apology.

Yeah, Mike's said some mean things but looking back, Eli's been even worse. Sure, in the first few episodes, Mike was painted as the bad guy but then he was just being honest. Eli meanwhile would go out of his way to be mean. But what can you expect from someone who still lives with his parents.

Oh yes, we discovered last night that Eli still lives with his parents. He's 25, making him  the youngest contestant left. And amazingly, only a year younger than Kevin who seems to be much more experienced (and awesome). It's great that the contestant pool is manageable enough so drama can start to build. And boy is Robin bringing the drama out of everyone. Still riding the high from a quickfire win a few weeks ago, she honestly thinks she stands a chance.

But it's time for another lovely, product endorsed quickfire! This time it's Alexia snacks. Basically high end potato chips. The guest judge is one of the great pioneers of American cooking: Charlie Palmer. In a questionable lapse of judgment, both brothers have worked very closely with Palmer. But this quickfire meant one fun thing: watch Jenn squirm! I've never seen a chef'testant hate processed foods so much. Meanwhile, Ash is trying to pull a Carla and come back from behind by cooking the food he wants. Does it work? Keep reading to find out!

You'd think that with the top rated food show on cable being hosted in Las Vegas, the city would be all about Top Chef to draw the foodies in. After all, the only experience missing from watching the show is eating the food.

But Las Vegas doesn't seem interested. And no one knows why. The city is struggling with the drop in visitors and should be grasping this moment to make the most of it! Steve Friess wrote a great piece showing the shortcomings of the city.

But something was also missing, so I asked Keller the question I've wanted to ask many people as Vegas' Top Chef moment hits its halfway point: "If so many of your guests are mentioning Top Chef when they come in, how come you don't have a Top Chef menu?"

The generally exuberant Keller fell silent.

"Uhhh," long pause, "good question, I guess," he said sheepishly. "We did a Top Chef night in St. Louis, and it was an enormous success, but I guess, yeah, we still have to fix it up and use it as a tool and do some of the signature dishes that I did on the show, I guess. I guess I don't want to bore people too much. But yeah, I guess that's another thing that I could do."

To which, in my mind, all I could think was: WTF? It occurred to him to do an event in St.-effing-Louis, where he has another Burger Bar and a steakhouse, but not in Las Vegas, where the show set its entire season and millions of tourists visit?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore Hubert but you have to wonder how this type of disconnect happens. Has the city become too occupied by the "What happens here, stays here" motto? It's like they don't even realize that that over 2.5 million people are watching them cook every week!

The Rev. Andrew Trapp, assistant pastor of St. Michael Catholic Church, is earning his name as the poker playing priest after beating Daniel Negreanu, one of the world's top poker players, in a national poker contest aired on television, winning $100,000!

But Rev. Trapp isn't playing for himself - he's donating all of his winnings to his church to building fund. And his church is being supportive, yesterday 300 of the church members gathered to watch him play on TV while wearing t-shirts that said "We're cheering for the poker playing priest."

Live in California and planning on going to Las Vegas? The Wynn's got the deal for you until November 29th.

The Jetsetter Getaway package starts at $780 per person and includes roundtrip airfare on a 50-person private jet from Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport or John Wayne Airport in Orange County and a three-night stay in a standard room at Encore or Wynn. Fly out Friday night at 7 pm and get back in at 10 am on Monday - just say you had a doctor's appointment.

On board the private jet, you'll get your room keys from the concierge so you can completely skip the check in process. Champagne will be served before take off and once you land, a limo will take you to the hotel.

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal for a weekend in Vegas.

After being off last week, Top Chef Las Vegas has returned with all the drama and delights we've come to expect. The cheftestants are down to 10 - a manageable number, which hopefully means we'll get Restaurant Wars in two weeks when we're down to 8. But I don't want to get ahead of myself too much.

Two weeks ago, the episode ended with Ron getting the boot for his not-deconstructed-or-even-constructed paella. But tempers were sour as many of the chefs were still bitter that Mattin went home instead of Robin. Then Robin got immunity and is still around. This episode started off by giving us some more information of the chefs (and if you haven't seen it yet, watch it online here). Ash had never been to culinary school and was starting to feel outclassed and Jenn had come down with a nasty flu or fever.

With that, they headed to the kitchen for the Quickfire Challenge which Padma (dressed like the Jolly Green Giant) told them it was high stakes but didn't say how or why. The guest judge was Tyler Florence, best known for having several food shows over the years. The gist of quickfire was a great: a special slot machine that gave the chefs three keywords to base their meal around: mood, taste/texture and region.

Before I go into it, a note to Bravo: cut back on the cross promotion and endorsements. Yes, we know all about the Gladware family of products, but making BOTH challenges corporate-sponsored? The Cookstr Quickfire and the Macy's Elimination Challenge - in the same episode? It's Top Chef, not Top Integrated Marketing Strategies. It was almost as bad as Heroes a few weeks ago when they talked about how much they loved Guitar Hero and Legal Seafood.

Back to the challenge, after each chef pull the slots there were some creative outcomes, especially Ashley's blue, cheesey, Middleastern. But the biggest thing in the quickfire to me was Eli, who got umami (along with several other chefs) and just took all the mushrooms and refused to share. Yes, it's a competition but that's like winning a race because your opponents tripped. Mike I. may be a dick, but at least you know. Eli may be up there too.

The dishes seemed okay but nothing really ground breaking. Robin was on the bottom for making a basic curry, which isn't even Middleastern. Eli was told he drowned his mushrooms in his ceviche (I'm so sick of ceviche), destroying all the umami flavor. And for the first time, Jenn was on the bottom because her scallops and salmon roe wasn't adventerous but I'm guessing she was so drugged up on sudafed anything looked like a good idea.

The top was a different story. Mike I. continues to impress judges with his dish, which was called "light and refreshing." Michael V. maintains his spot as being in the Top 4 finalist but the winner was Kevin who had to whip together  an Asian dish without ever having cooked Asian before. Now the high stakes, Kevin had a choice: immunity or $15,000. He took the money and I can't blame him, he has yet to be on the bottom in anyway and I could easily see him going to the finals. Plus, I tend to trust fat chefs.

It's been speculated for a while that Barry Manilow's long term gig at the Hilton Las Vegas would be coming to an end soon, but the official word came out today.

"Barry Manilow is an exceptional entertainer and we have been extremely fortunate to have had him as our resident headliner at the Las Vegas Hilton for the last five years," said Ken Ciancimino, Executive Vice President Administration of the Las Vegas Hilton.  "Although this current engagement is ending, our friendship with him endures and we will continue to explore possibilities for future endeavors together."

ULTIMATE MANILOW: The Hits is filled with his chart topping hits but it won't be ending until the end of December! The remaining performances of "ULTIMATE MANILOW: The Hits" at the Las Vegas Hilton are October 1-3, October 8-10, November 27-29 and December 28-30.

Todd English, the well known celebrity chef best known for Olives at the Bellagio and his numerous appearances on food shows, canceled his wedding with Erica Wang. With the whole reception paid for and 150 guests present, Miss Wang did the only thing she could do: party.

It was too late to cancel the band and entertainment, and the food and drinks had already been paid for by Todd. So while downing champagne, and devouring chilled clams and Peking duck at "The Roof" in New York City. An unnamed source said that spirits weren't dampened by this sudden turn of events. "Everybody is having a fantastic time, people are dancing their butts off!" As for what's going to happen to the gifts purchased, that remains to be seen. But you've got to wonder why someone would need a $490 cake plate.

Todd English once challenged Mario Batali in Iron Chef America and has appeared multiple times as a guest judge on Top Chef, most recently this season in Las Vegas - both facts that the NY Post and Vegas Deluxe got wrong. Whoops!

Originally announced in 2004, CityCenter has continued to face an abundance of problems plaguing its creation as the newest resort in Las Vegas which is set to open in December.

The creation of CityCenter was originally forecasted at $5 billion in 2005 but is now expected to be around $8.5 billion. An extra three and a half billion is a lot, especially when critics believed that the project would never be profitable even when it only cost $5 billion because there were too many apartments and condos in it.

If rising costs hadn't been bad enough, in the span of 18 months twelve construction workers have died on site, resulting in the remaining workers going on strike in 2008. But the setbacks didn't end there, in February it was discovered that the reinforcing steel had been installed wrong resulting in the planned Harmon Tower being reduced to only 28 floors after being planned as 49.

Striking employees, unsafe work environment, rising costs and a smaller resorted took its toll on Dubai World, a co-owner along with MGM Grand. Dubai World planned on suing MGM Mirage in March for going overbudget but ended up dropping the suit. Then the economy continued its downward spiral forcing MGM Mirage to restructure its debt by mortgaging off some casinos and negotiating with some of its loaners for a reprieve.

So there's all this talk about CityCenter being set up to fail right off the bat but CityCenter CEO Bobby Baldwin sees an upside to all this. "There's not anyone on the planet who doesn't know what CityCenter is," he said during a conference call.

The Las Vegas Sun has an interesting article on what happened to the themed resorts in Las Vegas. Remember when the Luxor was all about Egypt (I don't, I wasn't old enough to gamble back then)?

The city had -- at least until the downturn -- succeeded in luring an increasingly upscale traveler. Attracting wealthier visitors made sense from a business perspective -- the bubbling world economy minted a lot of millionaires over the past 15 years.

These tourists weren't the type to stand in slack-jawed awe at some Las Vegas imitation. They had probably visited Egypt, Paris and Venice and didn't need a foam-and-stucco stand-in. They were also more interested in world-class dining than cheap buffets and in high-end retail over T-shirt shops.

Casino operators simultaneously became less preoccupied with luring vacationing families to Las Vegas.

Has the lack of themed resorts changed your views? Do you miss the shows and themes? Between the Roman themes at Caesars to the Egyptian motif at the Luxor, stuff's changed. What do you think?