PCP - 360 Vintage Vegas: Bob Stupak, Vegas World and the Stratosphere

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Today, Bob Stupak is considered just another colorful character in the history Las Vegas and properly credited as the visionary behind Stratosphere.  His tacky taste, public antics and wacky persona are all just part of his legend. The truth is, Bob embodies everything negative you've ever been warned about gambling and the industry.  He didn't want to just take your money, he wanted to make you look foolish while he did it. His nickname might as well have been "fine print Stupak” because just about everything he did had a catch to it or a technicality he hoped you would miss so he could exploit.  He preyed on those that didn't know better. But what's wrong with that? Most people know there is a mathematically proven way to play some games and yet willfully choose to ignore them in favor of strategies that increase the odds already stacked against them. Some people believe the earth is flat.  The fact is we all have access to the same information, especially in the Internet age. The only disadvantage one person has over another is self-imposed. An intellectual isn't discourage from using their acquired knowledge so why is gambling any different? Morality, you say? Well, as Canada Bill Jones said, it's immoral to let a sucker keep his money.  I’m pretty sure Bob just thought it was fun.

If you're interested in learning more about Bob Stupak, check out No Limit: The Rise and Fall of Bob Stupak and the Stratosphere

E-309: Resting Asshole Face

Random Vegas

The exterior sign for the Moulin Rouge Hotel was designed by Betty Willis, creator of the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” Sign on the south strip (sincitytalk.com) 

Twitpic of the week

And you thought snow was pretty where you live.  Thank you @rtphotos_ for capturing this magic moment for future generations to discover and fall in love with.  It’s so good it doesn’t look real; snow basking in the glow of the strip at night, making it difficult to ascertain what is frozen precipitation and what are stars in the night sky.  Being a part of this vision must have be like strolling through a dream. Until you attempt to do something inspired by the illusion you are in a consequence free situation and permanently scar yourself.  An experience I’m certain is totally worth it.

News

Vegas Apocalypse

New Battle Born Pins

Shi-te-pa-town (aka Moulin Rouge) struggles

Vegas Podtoons and m00nshot

#Stratselfie

E-300: FSE Dimmer Switch

Random Vegas 

The NYNY skyline is a collage of 12 NY skyscrapers approximately one-third the size of the originals with a 150-foot-tall Statue of Liberty (super casino) 

Twitpic of the week 

It’s fascinating to me that @Cosmopolitan_LV does more with 4.4 acres of land than City Center is able to do with 19 time that real estate.  Don’t get me wrong, the City Center campus is attractive.  It’s just, who really wants to vacation in an office park on the strip.  I know that sounds like a knock but it isn’t intended to be in this case.  It’s more a testament to how special the minds who think up such concepts are.  As critical as I can be towards some of the decisions made by the people running the casinos I love, I always try to keep in mind before voicing that opinion, especially a negative opinion, is could I do any better.  And the answer is no.  Then again, that’s not my job.  I’ve never claimed to know how to build a better resort.  I make a point to stay in my lane and share insight I feel I can offer educated commentary on.  Speaking of, let me give a little insight into what’s going on today in Vegas.  Vegas has historically been recession proof, or at least virtually.  After feeling the impact of the Great Recession, everything, including long standing established protocol, is under scrutiny by industry leadership.  History shows us that Vegas may be the first company to follow the software development philosophy known as Agile.  A practice that gives businesses the ability to try out new concepts while still giving them the freedom to pivot from the original plan when market feedback does not respond favorably.  Today, we are at that juncture.  Just like the patience one needs to exhibit when telling a child not to do something for the millionth time, now is the time to stay resolute because the hardest thing for a company to explain to shareholders is eliminating a source of revenue for the betterment of the company.  Keep complaining about resort fees, paid parking and CNF charges.  Reward companies like Wynn and TI who are beginning to eliminating such fees with your patronage.  Support them for pioneering the change back to a Vegas that can be experienced by all income demographics.  

News

4DX Movies at Red Rock  

Ruffin Wants a Piece of Caesars

MGM Takes Over Hakkasan Restaurant/Lounges

Arcade City Planned for Fashion Show Mall

LOOK @Stratosphere

Mandalay Bay LED Wall

E-292: It's Magnets, Keren

Random Vegas

To draw traffic to his casinos during traditionally slow times, Jackie Gaughan, best known as the owner of the El Cortez, would give out up to 70,000 boxes of candy on any given holiday; Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. 

• Additionally, he would usually buy the candy from a charity fund-raiser establishing good will in the community and creating customer loyalty to the casino (Book: The Players: The Men Who Built Las Vegas)  

Twitpic of the week

Magical.  I can think of no better way to describe it.  I don’t bemoan the evolution of Las Vegas. It’s that creative evolution that drew me to the city in the first place.  It’s the lack of creativity currently being showcased that disappoints me.  I’m the last person to criticize the excitement of using new technology. That being said, knowing what all of these LED signs can do, I look forward to the time when they stop being used as giant TVs playing an endless loop of commercials and start getting creative like the neon signage of old, showcased this week by @Summacorp a la Stardust Circa 1959.  However I fear this may be similar to the endless conversation I have with my beloved wife. Attempting to show her all the bells and whistles, shortcuts and efficiency enablers available on her apple devices only to be disregarded and scolded for not allowing her to utilize them in the way that works for her.  Shaking my head in defeat, I’ll never understand the resistance to better.   

News

#360VV8

More Monorail Extensions

Skypod Skywalk

Apache Hotel @Binions

(Thanks @GamblinMcGoo)

E-291: Liquor Up and Down

Random Vegas 

All the custom videos advertising the rebranded name “The Strat” have something gold in them, a call back to their new owners, Golden Entertainment (Vital Vegas) 

Twitpic of the week

There isn’t enough massive signage at the street level.  Like signage so close you could jump up and touch it with your hands.  Then again, I imagine that’s exactly why you can’t find signage you can touch anymore.  While Neon lights don’t get hot, they weren’t the only source of exterior illumination utilized in the Fremont signs of yesteryear, shared this week by @TonyIllia, flashing lightbulbs do get hot.  And while I think the generations of the last 40 years have cornered the market on lawsuits resulting from being stupid, just like sex, recent generations didn’t invent stupid.  Signs like these are the reason why I visit the Neon Museum so often.  There’s something about being surrounded by massive signage that reminds me just how small and insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things.  And yet, all those signs were made by people.  So maybe we are a little bigger than that.

Above Them All: The Story of the Landmark

News

The Strat Rebrand

Binion's Renovations Announced

360FHE

Eataly Menus

E-290: The Betty White Affair

Random Vegas

Like Cosmopolitan, due to Luxor’s unique design, it has been a popular place for people to commit suicide.  The most infamous of which was in 1996.  A 23 year old women climbed over the ledge of the 26^th floor of the atrium and jumped, landing near the long line to the buffet at the property, causing her body to “burst”.  A hazmat team was bought in to clean up the mess as rumors that the jumper had AIDS spread and social ignorance at the time began to cause panic.  Luxor offered free counseling sessions with a therapist to guests who saw the incident.  The idea of installing Plexiglas on the corridors was entertained to prevent something like this from happening again.  However the fire department informed them it would violate fire code as it would trap smoke in the hallways outside guest rooms.  Another idea was adding wire screens to catch jumpers but that idea was eventually nixed as the nets were not only unattractive, they were distracting and gave a haunting reminder of why they were there. (Book - Super Casino) 

Twitpic of the week 

Come on man, seriously.  Seriously?  @Vegasphotograph just sees and thinks differently from the rest of us.  Rain in the desert is uncommon enough but mix that with Vegas signage and those that love the city can’t whip their phones out fast enough to catch the neon reflections everywhere.  But a picture of the Stratosphere reflected in drops of water is some next level shit.  Reflections in fucking drops of water.  As I reflect on this picture, I feel like it’s a great representation of how my love for this city has evolved since moving here.  Similar to how the love for a spouse evolves and grows deeper than one could imagine over time, living here has given me the opportunity to move beyond the feeling that I only have 5 days or however long I’m staying to enjoy the city as much as possible before I have to go home and transitioned to enjoying every single aspect of it I can possibly think of, further deepening my appreciation for it.  While I’ll never be half the photographer this guy is, I can only hope I write with the same askewed view. 

News

ViceLounge Online Review - Jefferson's Grand Selection
360Vegas Vacation 8
Bond Barbershop Update
Wynn/Genting Settle Out of Court
Encore, Resorts World, Wynn
More Wynn Legal Shit
Christina Aguilera Vegas Residency
Hard Rock Neon Returns
Tony Spilatro's former home

Coming Attractions

Blue Oyster Cult
Fabulous Thunderbirds
The Roots

360 FHE

Carson's Kitchen

E-282: O'Sphere Irish Bar

Random Vegas 

Gary Loveman was the perfect fit for CEO in the Harrah’s business model, offering a quality experience at a reasonable price.  Despite the wealth he acquired from his various business successes, Gary and his family didn’t live like millionaires.  True, they did have a vacation home on the beach in North Carolina and at one point Loveman did have a Ferrari but he ended up selling it because he said it wasn’t practical.  Not wanting the invasion of privacy, the Loveman family even elected to clean their own home ever Saturday rather than hire a housekeeper.  It was reported that one of the weekly choirs the CEO of Harrah’s had was to clean the toilets.  (Jackpot - Harrah's Winning Secrets to Customer Loyalty) 

Twitpic of the week 

Creedence Clearwater Revival.  3 words I would have never thought would find their way into a Twitpic of the week monolog.  But every time I look at this week's winner from @vegasphotograph, the phrase "I see a bad moon rising" comes to mind.  Not just because it features a brilliant oversized moon hovering over a collection of properties but because it's a fitting metaphor for what's happening to the market and the danger it finds itself in.  Unlike any time before in Vegas history, the market is experiencing a slump that has nothing to do with the economy, it's the current experience available at fault in this case.  Resort fees, Pay for Parking, CNF charges and the likes have taken the record breaking attendance the city has seen over the last few years and given all those first time visitors an experience that won't encourage them to return.  

When Vegas was growing up, even the mafia understood the most important thing to establish with the customer is that the game is fair.  The house already has the advantage so there is no reason to build in scams to cheat the customer out of their money.  That philosophy developed a trust that has lasted over a millennia and made Las Vegas the #1 tourist destination in the world.  Today, that trust has been broken and the market has lost its integrity.  Visitors now need to keep a vigilant eye out for the metaphorical shell game that does exists around every corner.  You're room doesn't cost what it was advertised to cost, your meal is more expensive than the price of your food and the things that made Vegas different from every other place on the planet are falling away one by one.  Uninspired industry leadership like Jim Murren are succeeding in turning the Las Vegas experience into one that can be had in every other major city in America.  And with gambling becoming legal across the country, if the Vegas experience is no different than the one available back home, why go.  There was a time when people would ask me what they needed to do during their first visit to Las Vegas.  That response used to always start with "There's so much to do it just depends on the experience you want to have".  Today, it begins with "Beware." 

News

Golden Nugget/Caesars Merger

Stratospheric Activity

Fremont Expansion Plans

On The Record

Sports book Plans for the Stevens Group

E-167: Vital Cat Herding

Download M4A

Random Vegas

Tecate paid $5.6 million to be the official beer sponsor of the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight. (@vitalVegas)

Vegas Mate Review of the Week

Ncastle11’s April 28^th Review of Yard Hours @Linq – 5/5 chips

Twitpic of the week

It’s the end of an era.  The Riviera is closing.  It’s got some great mob history, Liberace was their resident performer and hell, it was one of the properties Danny Ocean and crew originally robbed.  True, she isn’t the property she used to be but who the fuck does that Circus Circus clown think he or she is mockingly waiving goodbye, in the properties reflective exterior no less, brilliantly captured by @JLscheid.  I’m putting the word out now. 500 grand for this clown dead, a million alive so I can teach him some manners first.  For those of you I’m now extremely disappointed in because I have to clarify this for legal reasons, that was not a real proposition, it was a quote from the Dark Knight.  Thank you for being the person who ruined the joke.

News

Riviera Closes

TITO Redemption

Penn National Buys Tropicana

Vegas Legend Passes

Linq not Connecting

Mariah Arrives

Stratosphere DayClub

Vegas Downtown Parklet

Downtown Project Housing

Coming Attractions

Slipknot - 8/28   Counting Crows - 10/3   Marc Anthony - 9/14

Bryan Adams - 5/16   Sublime feat Rome - 5/22   Kevin Hart - 5/22

2015 Billboard Music Awards - 5/17   Bette Midler - 5/22
Metal Meltdown - 5/30