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Inside Gaming Column: Wynn Feeling Sure About Macau5 August 2003He's baaaaack. Steve Wynn returned from his 10-day magical mystery tour of Asia last week. No fine art on his private plane this time, but plenty of assurances about his development. Wynn's "absolutely confident" his Macau casino project is steaming forward. Certain enough that he hired Grant Bowie, formerly senior vice president for the Conrad Jupiter casinos in Australia, to be the general manager of Wynn Macau. Looks like he snagged him out from under Park Place Entertainment Corp., which owned almost half of Jupiter until a year ago. ¥ ¥ ¥ Just when you thought you'd heard it all, up pops a rumor that there's a Cirque du Soleil-themed resort in the works. The idea for the new Strip property is said to be the brainchild of entertainment maestro Franco Dragone. Cirque supposedly produces a synergy with top-flight hotels and casinos that distinguishes Las Vegas from other cities. Soon, Cirque will have four shows spread up and down the Strip and some worry the market is oversaturated. Others, including host MGM Mirage, say nothing succeeds like success. So why not go all the way? ¥ ¥ ¥ First out of the starting gate. The Riviera was the first to put out a press release capitalizing on the death of entertainment icon Bob Hope. The hotel claimed it was the first to change its reader board in memory of Hope's passing. Riviera spokesman John Neeland said it's a tradition for the hotel whenever a performer who's been there dies, saying other honorees have included Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and John F. Kennedy. ¥ ¥ ¥ Online gambling sites are taking bets on the 2004 Democratic Presidential sweepstakes, and Sen. John Kerry is the odds-on favorite. Tradespots.com, for example, operates a Web-based futures market with bettors buying and selling contracts on candidates. Each trades from 0 to 100, with each point costing 10 cents. A single contract on Kerry has been going for just over $3, with former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean running second at about $2. Kerry is down from $5 a few weeks ago, with only Dean coming on strong. ¥ ¥ ¥ Collectors alert: It used to be, "collect the whole set" referred to baseball cards or dinnerware. But now you can add at least one slot club card to the list. The Stardust has released a collector series of slot club cards for its 45th anniversary. The cards are emblazoned with an image of the Stardust marquee from 45 years ago when "Lido de Paris" was playing in the showroom; each also has a portrait of a showgirl in the corner. But get in line. Some 40,000 of each of the cards are being released, Ron Aller, vice president of casino marketing said. The Inside Gaming column is compiled by Gaming Wire Editor Rod Smith. You can contact him by phone at (702) 477-3893, fax (702) 387-5243 or e-mail at rsmith@reviewjournal.com. Copyright GamingWire. All rights reserved. |