Casino City’s Friday Five: Las Vegas events, changes and more edition

This week, we have an entire arsenal of news coming from Las Vegas, from things to do for the rest of 2023 to transportation changes. Before we get into the details of life in Sin City and what to expect, we also cover a couple of jackpot winners along with a new online tournament at Fairspin Casino.

Let’s begin with a couple of lucky gamblers:

5. Treasure Island Las Vegas pays out six jackpots last month
Treasure Island on the Las Vegas Strip awarded six jackpots in the month of April 2023. Below are the winners of $10,000 or more:

Alycia winning a Mask Grand Progressive jackpot (photo by Treasure Island)

- Alycia, visiting from New Jersey, won $20,219 on the Mask Grand Progressive machine.

- James, visiting from Arizona, won $10,000 on the Black Diamond machine.

- Orlando, visiting from Brazil, won $10,669 on the Crazy Money Double Deluxe machine.

- Nancy, visiting from Colorado, won $14,550 on the Bonus Dragon Link machine.

- Paul visiting from California, won $10,000 on the Gold Standard Jackpot machine.

- Cesar won $10,697 on the Wolf Run Bonus machine.

4. Fairspin launches Superhero Clash tournament
With a prize pool of $60,000, the Superhero Clash tournament at Fairspin consists of two rounds, each lasting 14 days, with $30,000 up for grabs in each round. Round 1 is underway and Round 2 starts on 16 May.

Superhero Clash features plenty of elements, including dividing up participants into groups of four, each with their own separate tournament table and prize pool.

During each round, the winners will be determined by the leaders in the Play-to-Earn program, with 105 winners in each round and a total of 210 winners across the entire tournament.

3. This Week in Gambling: All aboard the bullet train to Las Vegas
Within a few years, folks in California will have the option of riding the rails from The Golden State to Sin City.

State congressmen from California and Nevada have asked the Federal Government for help with funding on their high-speed rail project between LA and Vegas, which will travel at speeds of nearly 200 miles per hour and get visitors to the desert within two hours.

When completed the service could take millions of cars off the freeway and keep 400,000 tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere. If all goes according to schedule, riders could be shooting the rails as soon as 2026.

2. Top 10 things to do in Las Vegas in the second half of 2023
How is it May already? While this year seems to be going in just a blink of an eye, we still have more than half the year to go with plenty of opportunities to make it a memorable one. Las Vegas has a ton of offerings for guests to take advantage of for the rest of 2023 and below are just a few to think about.

World Series of Poker
The 54th annual World Series of Poker 2023 kicks off this month as it returns to the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas on the Strip from 30 May to 18 July.

Last year’s WSOP, 197,626 entrants from more than 100 countries brought in a record-breaking $347.9 million in total prize money.

This year, the series will have the largest capacity to date with 608 tables, which means there’s a good chance that 2023 will break multiple attendance records, including the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship, best known as The Main Event, which runs from 3-17 July. Last year, 8,663 participants took part in the crown jewel of the tourney, making it the second largest-field in the history of live poker. This year, it will be no surprise if the all-time record of 8,773 participants set in 2006 is finally broken.

Time to make @RealJamieGold history. Counting Down to 8774 @HorseshoeVegas @GGPoker @PokerGO #WSOP2023 pic.twitter.com/5qS7JYK8Y8
— WSOP - World Series of Poker (@WSOP) April 28, 2023

Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Race cars flying up and down The Strip at 200 miles per hour is going to be a sight to be seen in November as Sin City is the home to the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix. The inaugural race will take place Sunday, 19 November.

Practice runs will take place Thursday and Friday, 16-17 November, followed by the qualifier on Saturday, 18 November, and the grand finale on Sunday.

MGM Resorts, Wynn Las Vegas, Bellagio, and Hard Rock are all offering special seating packages to watch the race up-close-and-personal, including the Bellagio Fountain Club.

1. Caesars unveils plans to enhance Paris Las Vegas
Guests will soon say “au revoir” to the Jubilee Tower at Horseshoe Las Vegas and “bonjour” to the Versailles Tower at Paris Las Vegas. Caesars Entertainment has unveiled plans to renovate the Jubilee Tower at Horseshoe Las Vegas and integrate it into Paris Las Vegas with a new name, Versailles Tower.

An investment over $100 million, the Versailles Tower will feature a new exterior and interior. The renovation will introduce 756 redesigned guestrooms and a pedestrian bridge connecting the Versailles Tower to the existing Paris resort.

Select guest rooms will offer new 55-square-foot balconies with unmatched views of The Strip as part of the renovation. The enhanced rooms in the Versailles Tower at Paris Las Vegas are slated for completion in late 2023 with the pedestrian bridge to follow in early 2024.

Say "au revoir" to the @HorseshoeVegas Jubilee Tower and "bonjour" to the Versailles Tower at #ParisVegas.?We are delighted to announce plans to renovate the Jubilee Tower & integrate it into Paris Las Vegas with a new name, Versailles Tower.

Learn more https://t.co/GJrUPFJXEZ pic.twitter.com/J0NJu79Khu
— Paris Las Vegas (@ParisVegas) May 1, 2023