Sirens Sip - Outdoor Lounge opening at TI

Treasure Island announced that they are opening a new outdoor cocktail lounge called "Sirens Sip." The lounge will overlook Sirens Cove and should provide great views of the show.

The spot will be open Tuesday through Sunday from 5-11 pm. Not sure about cover charge, but the TI facebook page mentions a 2 drink minimum, so I think it's probably free admission with the drink minimum.

This space used to be occupied by the now-closed Christian Audigier nightclub, a club that was frequently voted worst nightclub in the city. Sirens Sip is taking over the outdoor space of the club, and the indoor space will be filled by another bar or club later this year.

Sirens Sip looks pretty nice, and it definitely seems like a better way to watch the Sirens show than fighting the crowd on LVB. Given the hours and location, I'm guessing this will draw an older crowd, probably a great place for a married couple to grab a few cocktails after dinner without going to a true "nightclub."



Source: Treasure Island Facebook.

Hard Rock Fined by Gaming Control Board

The Hard Rock Hotel was fined $650,000 by the Nevada Gaming Control Board for incidents involving drugs and other illegal activities taking place at hotel nightclubs. I'm not sure why Gaming Control cares about stuff that's happening outside of the casino, but I guess they have the power to regulate the entire hotel, and chose to use that power.

It will be interesting to see if this fine changes how the Hard Rock and some of the other "party hotels" around town do business. I'm guessing some of the more overt violations will be taken care of, but it's unlikely that the hotels will change their party atmosphere.

I'm also wondering if the Control Board will go after any other hotels or if this was a one time thing. I think the Hard Rock was probably used as an example of what could happen if you don't follow the rules, and so I doubt we see many more fines like this anytime soon.

Source: News 3.

Vegas hopes for Record Super Bowl Wagers

An attractive Super Bowl match up of two teams with storied histories (and large traveling fan bases) could add up to record wagering on the game in Las Vegas. The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers will play on Sunday, February 6th.

Managers of two of the largest sports books in Las Vegas are predicting total wagers for the Super Bowl to range between 90-100 million, according to the New York Post. John Avello of Wynn is hoping for wagers to reach $100 million, while Jay Kornegay of Las Vegas Hilton is predicting a more conservative $90 million. The all time record is $94.5 million wagered, but that was in 2006 before the recession and during the heyday of Las Vegas visitation numbers.

As it stands right now, the Packers are slight favorites. Prop bets on things like the coin toss and wagers on the stats of individual players are expected to be posted this weekend.

Caesars Entertainment opens Ticket Booth

Caesars Entertainment has opened a small ticket booth on the Strip in front of Bally's. Actually I can't say for sure that it's owned by Caesars, but the only thing they are selling right now are All Stage Passes. That and the Caesars Pulse of Vegas blog had a story on the booth make me think that it is indeed owned by Caesars.

The booth looks just like one of the discount ticket booths that you see in various places around town. Although they only sell the All Stage Pass now, I wouldn't be surprised to see a bunch of Caesars shows go on sale individually in the future. Again though, I can't even say for sure the booth is owned or operated by Caesars, so most of this is speculation.

I guess it does make sense for a company that has so many shows to have their own discount ticket booth. Instead of off-loading extra tickets to a third party, why not just sell the discounted tickets yourself? It looks like Caesars Entertainment might do just that. I wonder how it will affect the other discounters around town if Caesars decides to keep their tickets completely in-house?

For more on the new ticket booth check out Pulse of Vegas.

2011 WSOP Schedule Announced

The World Series of Poker is a huge event. The 2011 edition will include a whopping 58 tournaments in 50 days. The tournament will take place May 31 - July 19 at Rio, with the final table of the Main Event taking place from November 5-7, airing on ESPN the next day on November 8th.

Caesars Entertainment made a great investment a few years ago when they acquired the WSOP brand from Binion's. The event seemingly growing each year is a good sign for Caesars and the city as a whole.

The WSOP is a great event, but I have to wonder if 58 tournaments is too much. With so many bracelets up for grabs each year, it seems like each one becomes less and less valuable. They are still very hard to win, but a pro can play so many tournaments that it's likely he (or she) will come up with a bracelet eventually.

For more on the 2011 schedule, check out WSOP.