Last week felt like the first week of spring back east. It was so nice out that I went for extra spent as much time as I could outside so I took some extra long drives with the windows down and smoothies. This is something I used to do when the weather turned nice back east. It’s going to get cooler this week, but it’s still going to be nice. It’s Vegas, it never really gets cold. The week will start off paying off my Jets loss to Denver Gambler and it will end with a wedding somewhere in California. Hopefully, I’ll have time to blog in between.

If anyone is planning on getting to Revel when it opens I’d love some thoughts and pictures. I don’t plan on making it back east to check it out until later this year. Let’s look back at the week that includes info on Revel opening.

AC2LV

• Revel Opening Details
• D-Day For Atlantic Club Casino Hotel is Halloween
• Revel Opening Dates Announced
• Atlantic City Hilton Became ACH, Now It’s Atlantic Club Casino Hotel
• Getting Ready for Vegas, Part 2
• Metallica Brings Orion Music & More To Atlantic City
• Getting Ready For Vegas, Part 1
• 3 Card Poker Face Up at Mandalay Bay

Vegas Chatter

• Take It To Go At Cosmo’s Va Bene Caffe
• Easy, Cheap Way To Get Started Playing Craps
• Big Wheel Keeps On Turning, Now At The Venetian
• The Big Game Was So Sunday, It’s March Madness Now
• Sigma Derby Coming To Downtown, And More Changes In Store

Metallica

Yesterday I received an email from Revel with their opening dates for their Atlantic City casino while I was running out, but I wanted to pass on the information in case you wanted to make plans. I read the email and saw more information on the soft and grand openings and wanted to pass on the details.

Direct from the Revel email.

BE AMONG THE FIRST TO EXPERIENCE REVEL.

FOR THE PREVIEW
The $2.5 billion destination resort, set on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, will debut with an eight-week Preview on April 2. Early adopters will be able to enjoy the ocean view guest rooms along with multiple levels of offerings which include:

Resort level
Perched 114 feet above sea level sits The SkyGarden with pine grove, fire pits, and ocean views; an indoor/outdoor pool; The O2, an area with six living rooms and several bars; a 31,000-square-foot spa; a pool bar and bistro.

The Mezz
Just below the Resort level, The Mezz features 160,000 square feet of meetings and pre-function space; it also includes a poker room.

Revelry level
This area, 61 feet above the sea, will offer The Social, a two-story bar and entertainment hub; seven restaurants; nightclubs and lounges; 150,000 square feet of gaming.

BY THE PREMIERE
During the eight-week Preview, progressive openings will include a four-story nightclub; a 5,500 seat amphitheater with top headliners; The Row featuring multiple experiential retail spaces; and the remaining seven restaurants for a total of 14 with cuisine from Iron Chefs and Michelin Star chefs.

The full resort will open with a private beach club, a day club, and The Cabanas.

Experience a new age of fun on the Atlantic Coast.

This really is a soft opening and a hard opening. Revel isn’t trying to make believe everything will be ready by one date, rather they will open different parts of the hotel at different times. This gives them time to work out the problems in part of the casino while completing some of the bigger items.

Recent soft & grand openings in Las Vegas have been done differently. The soft open included opening the entire property, make a lot of mistakes,  and then throw a party for the Grand Opening. The Grand Opening would consist of the property opening again and excusing their mistakes on the soft opening. The mistakes usually go unfixed. At least they did at Plaza, Cosmopolitan and Aria, the last three properties to open in Vegas.

At least Revel is attempting to execute a real soft and hard opening. It will be nice to see if the property can fix any problems they come across during the two month soft opening.

Side note: Revel Resorts tweeted me that the full website will launch on March 5.

Atlantic Club Casino Hotel has until Halloween to start making money or they will suffer some kind of consequences.

In approving the rescue plan, the casino commission obtained a commitment from the casino to stay open through October 2012.

Of course, the casino operators are hoping that their efforts keep the casino alive.

But Frawley (Michael Frawley, the casino’s chief operating officer said The Atlantic Club) plans to be in business long after that. ”Oct. 31 is not an apocalyptic date for us,” he said. “We see ourselves operating well beyond that.”

There is so much history with the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel building that I would hope the new marketing efforts work. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that there are enough people that will be coming through the doors this spring and summer.

In a perfect world for Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, all the youth marketing by the casinos in Atlantic City will push the older customers their way. Good luck.

Revel just released it’s opening days!

• Preview will be from April 2 through May 24
• Grand Opening will be May 25-28

See video below (if it decides to work) or g

Go to their site for more information.

UPDATE: I’ll have more information tomorrow.

Atlantic City Hilton went away last year and became ACH which was just a placeholder name. Beginning next month the hotel, with many names in it’s past, will become Atlantic Club Casino Hotel.

The name change will take effect March 13, with cards, dice and gambling chips bearing the new name and logo. New signs will be erected on the Boardwalk building by the last week in April.

The casino is reducing its slot machines from 1,850 now to about 1,500 and its table games from 86 to 50. The casino floor will be redesigned, including new carpeting, and restaurant prices throughout the casino will be lowered.

Their target demo will continue to be locals and old people. While not having said that this was their target customer for my whole life this has always been their customer – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

With many of the casinos in Atlantic City marketing themselves to younger people, Atlantic Club Casino Hotel will become one of the few places you will still be able to roll dice with people that know what they’re doing. That’s not a bad thing at all.

I saw a post on the board at Vegas Tripping over the weekend that they are now dealing 3 Card Poker with the cards face up at Mandalay Bay.

3 card poker is now dealt face up to all players at Mandalay Bay. The players hate it. The dealers hate. I cycled through two dealers and they both asked if we’d write a letter to complain. Apparently the decision was made to increase the number of hands dealt per hour.

At first glance I wasn’t bothered by this because I don’t really care much about the surprise, but after thinking about it…I do care about the surprise. Actually, I care more about the option to be surprised by the cards than I do the surprise.

Besides the fun of the game being altered the speed of the game is being altered in the houses favor, of course. Even though the odds in Three Card Poker aren’t very good, I play it every now and again because it’s a pretty brainless game and the pace it pretty relaxed.

I’m hoping this change is only being tested at Mandalay Bay and doesn’t spread across to other casinos. Adding pace to 3 Card Poker is only bad for the player and I’ll probably stop playing.

Today Caesars Entertainment set it’s IPO price range in an effort to go public to raise funds.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp. on Thursday said it plans to offer 1.8 million shares at an estimated price range of $8 to $10 a share in its upcoming initial public offering. Based on the midpoint of its estimated price range, Caesars will raise $16 million in its IPO. Caesars plans to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol CZR.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Caesars has discussed going public.

Caesars previously filed for an IPO in October 2010, under Harrah’s Entertainment. That deal, estimated at $500 million, was delayed partly because of investor concerns about its debt.

That’s a huge difference in what Caesars is looking for by going public. $16 million for Caesars won’t cover many substantial costs or debt. I’m not sure what their plan is for this, but I don’t see any reason someone would invest in a company with so much debt and no plan.

I don’t think the costs of Project Linq have lessened. Maybe the money raised will go towards the timeshare owners that are supposedly in the way of the supposed Project Linq.

If you’re reading this site, chances are that you too like to gamble. But no two gamblers are exactly alike as they may prefer different casinos, games, etc. It’s no secret that my favorite casino games are Craps, Blackjack, and Video Poker. But there’s subtle nuances to these games that can make for a better gaming experience.

1. Video Poker at the Bar – I definitely prefer playing Video Poker at the casino bar than at a bank of machines. First and foremost, there is generally little wait before you get a drink, where as at a bank of machines you are at the mercy of the cocktail waitress. Also it’s easier to take a quick read of what beers are available. Drinking better beer and getting faster service is a much better vibe when playing the game. (ED: What you give up in payouts, you make up in booze.)
2. Blackjack Table Ends – I’m definitely superstitious when it comes to blackjack. I find it a bit annoying when someone consistently is making terrible decisions. As such, I like to have as much control over my cards as possible. For me this happens at the end of the tables. The first seat means that I am not victim to anyone else’s decisions yet, the last seat means I get last choice before the dealer takes their card. I know it’s irrational, but it makes my gaming experience more enjoyable.
3. Empty or Full Craps Tables – Empty craps tables are my absolute favorite. I can walk up, roll a few dice and see where it goes. I have an irrational confidence in my own rolling, so I always like it better when I’m the shooter. If an empty table isn’t available, then I’d rather have the full table. At least that way everyone can cheer and celebrate when points are hit.

This may not be your favorite way to play these games, but this is how I like to play. I recommend these different styles and if you’ve never played this way, give it a shot. I would definitely be curious to see what you think. Also, if you have any unique ways you like to play certain games, let me know. I’m always looking for a fun and different gambling experience.

Photo: Cruise Critic Board

Another MGM Resorts hotel in Las Vegas has come down with Legionnaires’ disease. Three people who stayed at Luxor have contracted Legionnaires’ disease since last spring. Unlike last year at Aria, when 6 people survived a bout with Legionnaires’ disease, one of these people passed away.

Three guests at the Luxor have contracted Legionnaires’ disease since last spring, including one who recently died as a result, the Southern Nevada Health District announced today (yesterday).

Well, that’s definitely not good. Don’t worry MGM says this time, they’re going to do sometime to combat Legionnaires disease.

Gordon Absher, vice president of public affairs for MGM Resorts International, said authorities immediately began remediation — super-heating and super-chlorinating water to kill the bacteria — when health district officials notified the resort last week.

“We take this very seriously,” Absher said. “Health of our guests and our employees is of paramount importance to MGM Resorts.”

This is nothing to joke about, but if MGM Resorts really took the health of their guests seriously they wouldn’t have waited for someone to die before bringing out the heavy artillery.

I’m not going to lie, I don’t know much about Legionnaires disease, but when I visit casinos I usually bring hand sanitizer with me and ALWAYS wash my hands when I use the rest room. This isn’t going to protect me that much, but at least I’m trying.

Casinos are the only place I’m a germaphobe. Most house keeping I’ve seen doesn’t seem too sanitary and guests at the hotels are even worse.

The conspiracy theorist inside tells me not to think these issues that are making people sick are not just with MGM Resorts properties, but 25% of the hotel owned by one company can’t be good.

Seriously, buy some of these Purell wipes. People are dirty.

Photo: Flickr

Okay, so I realize that this title isn’t anything shocking.  The Cosmopolitan is brand-spanking-new, has a lot of fans, a great location, and is very much a 2000’s Vegas property.  The Riviera, by contrast, is over 50 years old, no one really seems fond of it, it’s in a desolate area of the strip, and it feels old an worn.  So what’s the point?  Well, to begin, the Las Vegas Review Journal published this interview with Riviera’s new 36 year old President and CEO, Andy Choy.

What I find interesting is that Andy Choy really seems to understand his property.  It is old, it has history, and it will never even be a mid-market place.  This is what the Tropicana failed to understand.  Even though their location was a thousand times better, they still tried to add the day club and Miami vibe to bring Tropicana to 2000′s Vegas.

So what is the Riviera doing?  The exact opposite.  Where as new resorts like the Cosmopolitan almost feel ashamed to have a casino, the Riviera is promoting itself as a casino.  This is obviously partly due to the fact that there isn’t much else to do there, but also it speaks to a Vegas customer that is starting to feel excluded these days: the gambler.  And while it is too ambitious for the Riviera to shoot for “The Best Casino in Las Vegas,” there is no reason to think that the Riviera couldn’t be to the strip what El Cortez is to Fremont St. (ED: I love the El Cortez)

It also appears they are interested in offering somewhat decent odds (for the strip, anyway).  Craps is offered with 10x odds, single deck blackjack pays 3/2, and there is even a single-zero roulette wheel.  It’s clear that Andy Choy understands that true gamblers are painfully aware of the odds being offered to them.  Ask any blackjack player how they feel about 6/5 blackjack payouts and you are likely to see smoke come out of their nose.  Offering good payouts is a great way to appeal to true gamblers who know and  want good odds.

In the interview Andy Choy says that they have been working solely on the inside of the property.  They have taken over retail, reconfigured the casino floor, and tried to do what they can to make it more appealing.  This is a good start, but to truly show a new beginning it will take more.  It will take a combination of marketing, a new brand image, and probably an updated strip facade to show people who want to gamble that Riviera is the best Las Vegas Strip casino at which to play.  The key, as Andy Choy says, is to become relevant again.  After that, all bets are off. (ED: Based on radio commercials it seems as if comedians that used to play Las Vegas Hilton are all playing the Riv now. This includes Andrew Dice Clay and Mark Curry)