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Mar 11, 2026
Vegas Expansion, Huge Wins, And Big Casino Headlines
Vegas Expansion, Huge Wins, And Big Casino Headlines
00:00
39:51
Transcript
0:00
It continues to get worse to a point where they make massive permanent changes to make things better. Permanent. Didn't tell them in a timely manner- Right... that this happened.
0:08
Yeah, they were trying to- So the people couldn't even- This w- this stuff was happening. Yeah. They were trying to sm- squash it down.
0:12
And it's just so interesting to me, like how hypocritical all of this stuff is because the guy that championed the bill is like, "Gambling tears at the fabric of society-" Right...
0:20
"and social mores," and, you know, all this terrible stuff. But horse racing, that's okay. Totally okay. Totally. 'Cause, you know, my, my state has that.
0:35
Today's lead story is kind of a conglomeration of a bunch of things 'cause we got- True... a whole bunch of announcements today. Yeah. Ellis Island expansion enters phase three. Third and final phase.
0:45
We were just down there. Oh, yeah. Because we're filming there now. We are. Boom. Another. How about that? Another place. Partnership, Desert DGens and the Ellis Island. Yeah. Very, very cool.
0:55
So man, we were already down there just kind of in an official capacity- For parties... when they opened up the other phase. Casino. And the place is looking great.
1:04
And, uh, and now we're officially working with them, so you're gonna be able to go down there in just a couple of weeks. We, we can announce all the things, but you can't go do the things yet- Right...
1:11
because we have to get some logistic things done. A lot of things to get done. We are going down. So, yeah. So we're already recording. We recorded our first video.
1:18
So you'll be able to start going down to Ellis Island and get free play from the Desert DGens. And what you'll do is you're gonna go to desertigens.com/ellis to register for it. Right.
1:27
And you'll bring the email down there, and then you're gonna get to spin a wheel that will get you 15 to $1,000 in free play. A nice big chunk of change right there. Yeah.
1:35
You can also come down and watch us do a group pull on the last Friday of every month starting immediately. Watch us. They can join us. March 27th, come do a group pull with us. It's gonna be a live stream.
1:46
There'll be an hour cocktail hour starting at 6:30, followed by the group pull. Free drinks. Yeah. Very, very cool. Well, let's talk a little bit more about the expansion.
1:53
So they did phase one, which has been done for a while. Phase two opened, uh, just now in February. Just now, yeah. Looking great. We got some footage of it here we'll throw in the video. New table game areas.
2:04
The- Yeah, it looks great... motions desk was redone. They moved some slot machines around. Like, the place just looks newer, fresher. So- Don't have to walk down that long hallway- Yeah...
2:11
to get down to the bathroom and the cashier. It's right there in the casino now. Yeah. New Village Pub. Yeah. They had, like, taken the Village Pub out and put in slot machines [laughs] separately.
2:18
Some of the best ribs in town. Yeah. It's looking good. Now they're gonna redo the karaoke area. Yeah. And, uh- That's phase three... yeah. It's... In the, in the front yard is also under construction. Yeah.
2:28
Which is a shame 'cause I, I like the front yard. I hope they can- The front yard is open. Oh, is it open? I thought it said here- Yes, the front yard is open...
2:33
uh, oh, it says the front yard would stay open during construction. No, the front yard is open. Should read my, read my notes. The karaoke is being redone. Yeah. Right. Karaoke's down.
2:39
And eventually I'm told that when they reopen that, we might be able to do a Desert DGens karaoke party in there. Oh, absolutely. That's what they're offering us, so pretty, pretty cool stuff.
2:48
Ellis Island's got, you know, some really cool things going on. It's a family-owned property, and our experience just playing there limited. They were returning to players better than on the Strip. Right. 'Cause it's...
2:57
You know, they're not the big corporate, uh, conglomerate trying to suck all the money out of tourists. In fact, they get a lot of locals that go down there as well. They do. They do. Really good specials.
3:05
They have a 7.99 steak special, which you know darn well I'm gonna be taking advantage of down there. They brew their own beer there. Yeah. It's a brewery. Yes. It's, it's in the name. Yes. It's, it's funny. Mr.
3:14
Dgen's like, "It's not a brewery." I'm like, "It's in the name." Yes. They literally brew their own beer. Ellis Island Brewing. Pretty freaking cool.
3:18
So guys, come check us out down there at Ellis Island, especially when we have that free play o- offer. Go down there and check them out. Ryan, there's some storm clouds on the horizon here. Yes, there are. Yes.
3:30
It's been interesting 'cause as we started this podcast, we've had some, like, positive news on this front, some negative news, and some positive news, and some negative news as well. This is not looking great.
3:41
Not positive. Yeah. Uh, Las Vegas Strip gaming win drops 11% to start the year in 2026. It's not a good start. It's pretty significant. Yeah. 11% is massive. These are not, these are, these are not one or 2%- Right...
3:56
numbers. There was another thing in here that I saw, uh, about the consecutive nature of some of this. It's in the next topic- Right... we, we'll get into.
4:05
Uh, Mesquite and North Vegas still continue to, to h- to have some growth. We talked about that last week. But Clark County specifically, 8.3 s- uh, overall. 8.36%. Down. Nevada statewide down 6.6.
4:19
Less and less people I think feel the need to come here- Yeah... and pay $25 extra for room charge. There was another story that we just saw. Parking. Uh, yeah, all the things.
4:29
There was someone that just had two margaritas and two bottles of water at a show and paid almost 200 bucks. $200. It was like a $25 admin fee. Oh, my chair is, like, going crooked. Sorry. A, uh, a $27 tip. Right.
4:42
Plus the, you know, the VI- The drinks... the VIP margarita. The double shots of Patron or whatever it was. Yeah. These stories get out. People don't appreciate getting ripped off. No.
4:50
I don't mind paying for a premium experience and paying a premium price. Right. Never had a problem with any of that. I just never like to feel like I'm objectively being just completely ripped off. Gouged. Gouged, yes.
5:00
Just, you know, because you can kind of thing. Right. And the because you can doesn't exist here any longer. People can gamble in something like 40 states now. Yeah. You don't have to come to Vegas. Everywhere.
5:09
We talk about this- There's casinos everywhere... all the time. It's, uh, it's a problem. They're gonna need to figure that out. Yeah. I don't know. I mean,
5:17
I hope to see- How many times can it go down 11% before they finally say, "We need to change something here"? Well, here's a fun fact. [laughs] It can go down 11% every month and never hit zero. True.
5:28
'Cause mathematically, you know. Yeah. Till they get to 1%. Yeah. And they'd be like, "Why are we open?" Yeah. Why are we here? [laughs] So maybe it can go to zero, and they close the doors.
5:35
I don't think it would get to 1%. No. I think it might get to 70. I, I don't know. Like, this might be- I don't know what that number is... some short-term pain for the local economy for maybe some long-term gain. Maybe.
5:48
'Cause maybe this is the thing that gets the big resorts on the Strip. Maybe some of that new stuff coming. The MGM and the Caesars. Right. You know, the Wynns and the Venetians of the world to- Take over... to- [laughs]
6:00
... to change things a little bitI always like to at least counter everything if I can, 'cause I don't, we don't like to talk about negative things- Right... in general if we can avoid them. I mean, but it is life.
6:09
Life has got some negatives. Well, just- So... based upon how bad that number is going down, they're blowing buildings up, Mike. Yeah. [laughs] You know that they just, uh, imploded- Oh, I know... the cannery.
6:22
That's why I have- The Eastside Cannery... toothpicks in my eyes right now. I got woken up- [laughs]... at 2:00 in the morning. Crazy. I- it's so funny. I heard, like- It's not close to your house either...
6:29
boom and then, like, boom, boom, boom, boom. Yeah. Like, like sequential. They imploded. And then I heard, like... I, I could hear the whole building. I think they're gonna build a housing development there.
6:38
It scared the living crap out of me. [laughs] I didn't know what the heck it was going on. I didn't hear it. I woke up, I looked at the clock. It was 2:00 in the morning. And I'm like, "This can't be anything major."
6:47
You know, whatever. Right. Like, but like I- Right... I, I want, I tried to fall back to sleep. [laughs] And I couldn't fall back to sleep, so I got up and, like, used the restroom and got my phone.
6:53
And I, like, looked on Twitter. And found it. And I, and then I remember, 'cause our buddy, uh, John and Christina, buddies, John and Christina- Yeah... from Vegas Advantage. Maybe they... I'll, I'll ask them.
7:02
I, I don't know if I can get the footage this quickly. But they were there. They rented a room. And they- Across the street?... they, yeah. And they, and they ha- they were filming the thing. Not in the building.
7:09
So I saw that. No, they weren't in the building. [laughs] Thank God they're okay. [laughs] Oh, man. Yeah, we don't have to go to a funeral. Right. Oh, man. I love those guys. Yeah. No, they were, they were in a...
7:20
They checked into a building across the street. And they got there early, so they got the perfect view. Nice. And they're, like, kinda known now for filming implosions. Implosions, yeah. Like, that's their thing.
7:28
vegasadvantage.com, go check them out. Uh, again, I'll try to put a little clip in here. I'll ask their permission, see if I can get ahold of them. Right.
7:35
We, we got a tight editing schedule, so I'm not sure we can get that done. All right. But yeah, out with the old and in with the new. I'm sure you can find it online. Well, and it's there.
7:42
But I don't- They're not the only people that videoed it, I bet... but I'm not gonna use anyone's footage without their permission. No, I understand. I'm saying if- Well, we'll see... we can't get it, you can find it.
7:48
That's true. That is true. So, uh, but as I was saying, uh, out with the old, in with the new. Has some, maybe some bad news, has some good news. That's right. Okay. Vegas visitation is dipping. But...
8:00
[laughs] But convention stuff is up. And we talked about this. We broke this story last week. Right. We have more information. Uh, while January 2026 visitor volume dipped another 2.2% year over year.
8:13
13 months consecutive. 13 consecutive months. Wow. That's a big number. Of dipping. Uh, it's not great. All of 2025, every month has been- Right... year over year, month over month, slow. Into '26. Into '26.
8:26
Convention attendance, which is a huge part- Huge... of the Vegas economy. If you've never been to the convention area here, it's massive. We, we start... I don't wanna get off the same topic again. But- Right...
8:36
the thing's so big, they built the Tesla Loop originally underneath the convention center just to link them all together. Just to get around. Just so people can get around quicker. That's how- Yeah...
8:43
massive this complex is. Right. 6.9% increase in attendees. That's, that's pretty good. Which is pretty massive. Yeah. The big conventions that are here, um, in January. Yeah. CES, bet you guys saw the new robots. Right.
8:58
Uh, World of Concrete, which amazes me that it's so big. The SHOT Show. That's right. Which we've gone to before, 'cause we used to own a, an e-commerce company that- Right... was involved with those types of products.
9:07
Right. Uh, International Roofing Expo I haven't had anything to do with. Oh, I've been to that. But that's, that's your thing. Been to that. My brother owns a roofing company. Yeah. Out in Colorado.
9:14
We've come for that convention. And those guys are crazy. Man, they're big drinkers too, the roofers. Yeah? Oh, geez. They wanna make sure that when they fall off the roof, they don't feel anything. I guess.
9:23
So you gotta make sure you, you are... I guess. Or maybe you're celebrating not falling off the roof for another day, and that's why they drink when they get home. Lot of fun.
9:30
Uh, visitation overall last year, we did a story about this before. But just to reiterate, final numbers are official now. 7.5% down. 7% per, 7.5% down to 38.5 million. Right. Still a gigantic number. Huge number.
9:43
But, uh, in 2024, it was 41.6 million. Right. So, you know, millions of less people came through the airport and visited Vegas last year. We barely even left town, so we're not a very big part of that number either.
9:55
There's, uh, official headlines out. You know, the, the, uh, CEOs, the executives, the big wigs, the guys with the big say. The big, the big wigs, yeah. That cut off the oxygen. Right. We don't wear those.
10:04
Uh, they, they're optimistic about 2026 turnaround. They always are. But I, I feel like that they have to say that. They do. So I don't know that I'd put any- No... any weight into this. Cloud on that, yeah.
10:12
That- I, I hope it turns around, like I said. Right. But I also hope... My, my... If I, if I could- Predict? We, we play, we play Mystery of the Lamp. Right. If I could rub the genie. Yeah. Yeah, [laughs] rub the genie.
10:23
And ha- and have a wish, I would say I hope that it continues to get worse to a point where they make massive permanent changes to make things better- Permanent... for customers. Keyword. And then everybody comes back.
10:33
Right. Right. So yeah, free parking. Let's start with that. Free parking. There's a, there's a- Let's start simple... there's a, a, like, a petition online- Right... to try to get free parking back in Vegas.
10:44
I, I don't know why they don't do it. I mean, I know it makes them money, but it also makes a lot of people not go down there. So there's gotta be a give and take. It irritates me going in and coming out. Absolutely.
10:54
You have to wait in line, you have to go dig for my card. Right. And I get free parking- Yeah... at most places. And we do it for free. And it still irritates me. [laughs] Right, right. Freaking parking situation.
11:01
Anyway. Silliness. All right, we have to do an update on the Wynn cyber attack. We broke this story last week. Yes. There's now a lot more information about this. It was indeed all employee records. Yeah.
11:13
This number blew my mind. I, I don't understand how- I didn't know they had that many people... this is a huge number... employed. 800,000 employees?
11:19
Must be from day one, that they still had their information in the computer. There's a, a lot of part-timers. Yeah. There's international- Or people who worked there maybe years ago that don't work there anymore.
11:27
That too. Is what it's gotta be. There's, there's people who work internationally. Yeah. So they got the Macau operation. Right. Uh, so the numbers start to make more sense. You think about it, it's a 24/7 operation.
11:36
Yeah. And, uh, yeah, people come and go. Right. So all of a sudden numbers...
11:40
But, like, when you just first get that number, it's big, but they got, you know, Social Security numbers and a bunch of other- It's what they claim... pieces of data. I mean, I- It's probably somewhere near that...
11:49
I'm believing it 'cause now there's lawsuits. Right, right. So the organization that takes credit for this is ShinyHunters. There is now- Out of the UK they said? Yeah. Yeah? There's a- Out of the UK?
12:00
Uh, well, the, the, the story came out of the UK. Okay. But I, I- So that's not where they are... I doubt that they are there.
12:04
They're usually in a, in a jurisdiction where they can get away with this stuff.And I don't wanna just cast aspersions, but- Not be hunted down? Yeah, it's- The shiny hunters cannot hunt- You know, there's, there's-...
12:13
them down... there's some places in the world that are kinda known for this. Um- Non-extradition-type countries? Yeah. [laughs] And yeah, unfortunately. Right.
12:21
Um, they were asking, the, the, the, the number's been confirmed now, $1.5 million in Bitcoin. Uh, but a former employee, actually, who's now turned federal class action lawsuit advocate- Whoa...
12:31
uh, Drake Maynard, uh, filed a, a lawsuit on February 24th in US Distr- uh, Court here in Vegas, and alleges the Wynn was negligent in safeguarding employee data, and failed to properly notify employees, claims that the Wynn violated the Federal Trade Commission Act by failing to use reasonable measures- Yeah...
12:49
to protect the data, and is now seeking a $5 million lawsuit, and that might get bigger as more people- It would definitely get bigger... sign on to that. Uh, and they're asking the court to adopt,
12:59
uh, more reasonable measures from the Wynn to protect against this data. So- They're saying 800,000 people, so
13:07
this happened in September of '25, and they're also saying that they didn't tell them in a timely manner- Right... that this happened. Yeah, they were trying to- So the people couldn't even-...
13:16
disclo- just not disclose it... yeah, they were trying to smo- squash it down without telling the people, "Hey, you might be in jeopardy. Maybe you should look into some type of company that can protect you.
13:26
We'll take care of it." And then months later, they come out and say, "Well, now we have to pay them $1.5 million in Bitcoin." I, I have stock in a company that protects- Do you really? Yeah.
13:35
I don't wanna m- mention the name right now. Right. But it's, it's probably the biggest one that- Yeah... you know, it's a huge business. Yeah, huge. And it's kinda sad- Huge...
13:42
because I used to work for a company, uh, as, as a director of IT. Right. And now, this was- How it's possible... you know, 2004, so the cybersecurity risks were lower back then, and things were a lot less- Right...
13:54
sophisticated as now, but we spent six figures a year even way back then- Wow... on cybersecurity. That would probably be closer to a million dollars or more. Yeah. And this was a small business. Sure.
14:04
But, you know, just firewalls and other protections- Right... to protect against these people that are just trying to steal and, and hold you hostage. It's a un- just such an unfair- Yeah, it's crazy...
14:13
uh, I can't believe that people can feel good waking up every morning making their living that way. Right. Yeah. Just, just- They're out there... not my thing. So all right, on to the next story. All right.
14:24
The next story is one of these ones where I had to blink three times- [laughs]... 'cause I thought maybe I was- See if this was really happening? Yeah, I was like, "Bump, bump, bump, is this, uh, really 2026?" Um.
14:32
Mayweather versus Pacquiao. This story came in right as we were about to record last week's podcast. Right. So this is a kind of almost a week old story now, but they're fighting again. These guys are old.
14:44
I, again, 49- To be fighting... and 47. I mean, they're younger than me. I'm about that age. [laughs] Yeah. I don't wanna be in a fight anymore. And you, you do not wanna be fighting Mike.
14:52
I didn't wanna be a fight when I was 19. Right. This is crazy. I mean, these guys are punching the living crap out of themselves as hard as they can. 50 years old. But there's a lot of money to be made. A lot of money.
15:00
That's why they're doing it. Oh, my Lord. And guys, this is gonna be at the Sphere. Yes. Look at this. The first ever boxing event at the Sphere. There was UFC there. They've had... Right. They've had other things there.
15:11
Yeah. But not professional boxing, so. This will be, this is gonna be on Netflix. It's included in all- Right... subscription plans. We might have to renew our Netflix. Oh, we have it.
15:20
I used- You can come over and watch... I used to get Netflix for free with my mobile provider. You can come right over to our house, Mike. But we switched mobile providers, and I no longer...
15:25
And we don't watch a lot of TV. Mike, you also didn't know that Mayweather was 50 and 0- I didn't... with 27 KOs, where Pacquiao's 62 and 8, and everyone that's Filipino thinks- [laughs]... Pacquiao's gonna win.
15:38
It's crazy when you talk to them. Mayweather's 50 and 0. Yeah. He is older. So, so I don't have to, to look further in my notes to know that Mayweather won the last fight [laughs]- Yeah... against him. He's 50 and 0.
15:48
Yeah. Yes. So, you know, look at the big brain of Mike. Yeah, that's right. This is, this is why you guys follow us, 'cause I'm so smart. They have been, they've been anticipating this fight again because of the money.
15:57
Yeah. It all comes back to the money. I, uh- Mayweather's a big gambler out here, too, in Vegas, so. I'm wondering if we're big enough by, by September- To get to go to this?
16:05
Yeah, to, like, get a comp tickets to, to the Sphere. Ooh, I don't know about that. September 19th, everybody, come down, check it out. I'm sure it's gonna be amazing.
16:13
If we got seats, we'd be flying the fact that we, we'd be watching a screen and not the ring. Right. I don't quite understand having a boxing match or UFC at the Sphere. Right.
16:20
It doesn't make a lot of sense because- You watch it on the screen. Yeah. Like, no seat's a bad seat to watch it on a screen, but no seat's a bad seat in your living room to watch it on a screen.
16:26
Keep in mind, this is a professional bout. This is not an exhibition bout. No. This is literally a pro fight at these ages for this much money. Six, uh, is $600 million, is it gonna be the total purse?
16:40
That was last time. Is that la... That was, so it's gonna be more probably. Last time. More than that. Could you imagine? Probably $1 billion. What an insane number. Potentially.
16:46
What an insane- It was the most anticipated boxing match in decades. I'm guessing, like, you know, Holyfield or- Right... Sugar Leonard- Well, Tyson fought-... you know, Tyson... uh, that- You know-... Jake Paul guy.
16:55
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Something like that. Yeah. Maybe, maybe that was- And that was a, that was a joke. Yeah. That was, that was a joke. Tyson coulda knocked him out at any time he wanted in that fight. I think so.
17:05
But there was money involved. I think so. Yeah, definitely. Netflix has been aggressively entering the live sports market. They had the Jake Paul fight. Yep.
17:12
They had the N- N- NFL Christmas game, which was irritating, 'cause I wanted to watch that game and didn't- Right... on Netflix. Right. Well- Silly... come over. I didn't wanna come over. I've got it.
17:20
I was in my Christmas pajamas. Well, you're welcome in your pajamas- And, uh-... as long as it's not a birthday suit. Yeah. WWE Raw, which I, I... Uh, no offense to anybody out there, I have no interest in that.
17:29
We don't watch a lot of wrestling. It's not my thing anymore. No. I did it when I was a kid. Yeah. Um, but yeah. Any rate, I'm, I'm happy for Vegas- Right... to be getting that. It's, uh, pretty, pretty amazing.
17:39
Should bring a lot of people to, to town to watch it. Yeah. Mayweather doesn't have to go far. He lives here. Oh, does he? Yeah. Wow. He lives out in, uh, s- southern, no, uh- Southern Highlands?...
17:49
yeah, Southern Highlands. Okay. Yeah. Uh, Kane did his yard. Is that right? We have a friend- Our landscaper- Yeah... that's in our poker league. Could you imagine that, right? Kane.
17:57
The guy owns- He owns a landscaping company... the guy, the guy-... and he did his yard... wears a chain that's worth more than- [laughs]... than I'm, my, my entire net worth. Than... Right.
18:04
Can you imagine what the yard looks like? Right. Man. So speaking of the Sphere- Right. Straight into the next update... uh, I, I mentioned this last- [laughs]... last week.
18:11
Now, people probably think that-I said it afterwards. We record these a few days before we publish them. Right. But I'm like, "There's no chance in, in this world that they're not gonna add more dates." Right.
18:20
'Cause this is what they... There's... Uh, we've seen this trend at the Sphere. It's like, "Oh, by popular demand." Oh, when the tickets are $1,000- So-... and they sell out in the first few minutes...
18:28
my guess- They add dates... there'll be even more shows coming. Right. Uh, but they did add another six shows. Six more, yeah. So they start with eight. They're at 14. The next dates are really spread out.
18:38
They, they go into next year. Uh, and they're... It looks like that Metallica's gonna take off for, for a while. Yeah... like, uh, November, December-ish. Yeah, they probably spend that time with family.
18:48
Yeah, makes sense. But, uh, yeah, they'll be here in the next year. So we're, we're just gonna wait. Yeah. My... You know, we've had good luck waiting until last second trying to buy resale tickets.
18:59
I've seen several shows here where the demand's very high. The Eagles demand- $1,000 ticket... was super high. Uh, Dead & Company demand- Right... was incredibly high. Right.
19:08
Phish demand was incredibly high, but they only had three shows. See- Yeah, and they didn't add any... so don't use that. Yeah.
19:12
But, uh, Backstreet Boys and some of these other shows, the demand was high and then, and then it starts to wane to some- Right... level. Depends on the, depends on the band. Right.
19:21
But typically, and, and I've been in this situation myself so I understand, but what ends up happening is people that have the tickets, in the last hour or two, it's a hot potato. They bail, yeah.
19:33
And they start to panic. Yeah. And the prices start to come down. Yes. And if there isn't any demand at that time is when you can get some really good deals.
19:40
I mean, we, we went to the very first night of a Dead & Company show for 100 bucks. Yeah. 'Cause the demand dropped so much. Panic. Panic sets in. You know, it just... And then it just...
19:50
You know, then the word got out and then that didn't happen as much anymore. We just got tickets for this thing that we're going to tonight. We'll put, we'll put some footage of this... We're gonna record it tonight.
19:58
We'll have it next week, but I always get the name wrong. I think it's Illumi-... It, I kept on wanting to say Illuminarium, but it's like Ill- No... Al- Aluminum A- Al- Illarium. It's Aluminum. Yeah.
20:08
It's, it's Illarium. No. I'm gonna get it all wrong. Yeah. We're going. Uh, we got these- We're going... tickets together, eight seats together for 125 bucks. It's crazy. Last second, so we're pretty- It's really good...
20:17
This is a D Gem doesn't want people to know that you can get tickets at the last second. No. So don't tell 'em my secret. Don't tell my secret. Stop telling them. That's what we're here for. Tell people the secret.
20:24
All right. Fun story. Next, next topic. I love this one. [laughs] Ryan, one day this could be us. This could be us. One day. $5 spin. $107, $107,000 jackpot. 107,000. Not dollars. Yeah, doll-...
20:36
Well, I'm happy when- $107,000... it happens. That's all I said. I w- Right... I am... It was on a D- This, this happened over at the Suncoast. It was on a Dragon Cash. Yeah. Our favorite. Dragon Cash. $5 spin.
20:47
We play it all the time. Oh. So it's, like, gonna be on the High Limit Room. Must've been on the High Limit, yeah. $5 spin. $5 spin, $107,000- Yeah... grand jackpot. Hit on Saturday, February 21st.
20:57
Uh, that person had no interest in having their name out there. No. So. Neither did the other guy that hit six jackpots- Yeah... in one day for 206,000. Yeah. We don't know how much he was playing, though.
21:07
He might've been- Yeah. He might've been stuck $400,000. Congratulations, John Doe or Sue Doe. Yeah, whoever it was. We're, uh, we're happy for you. Right. That's, that's pretty freaking awesome. We had,
21:19
in real time we're recording this, yesterday, a ball come back- Right... for one spin. Yes. It was in there on the final- It was. I was like, "Oh my God, it's there." And then it just was like bom, bom, bom, bom, bom.
21:30
Right, and then it was gone. True. So $107,000 jackpot. Crazy. Unfortunately, we don't have any footage of this. Oh, wish we did. 'Cause it wasn't us and we weren't there. [laughs] One day, though. But- One day...
21:41
uh, uh, on the theme of big wins- On the theme, yes... which I love, $275 parlay. I don't know that I would have the guts to make a $275 parlay. Not a 10-teamer. My, my- [laughs]... 10-team parlays are $10.
21:53
Would be $5, $10, right. I do 10 sometimes. Yeah, that's about it, though. I do five as well. It just- So hard to hit... I, I know I'm practically throwing money away 'cause they're so hard to hit.
22:02
I don't even know- But they are fun... Mike, I don't know if this number's even right. It says that a 10-team parlay odds are 1 in 1,000. I don't even believe that. I believe it's, like, 1 in a million.
22:13
[laughs] Well- 10 teams is so hard... it, it really depends on the bet. So you could be like- Well, of course... you could be taking a team that's, like, favored by 14. Right. Right.
22:20
You know, and, and just doing the money line. Right. And if that's... You're doing 10 of those bets, it's- But if you're betting
22:26
straight up games with point spreads or trying to beat the book in a sense- I mean, this paid 2,000- 10, 10 of them... 2,000 to 1, right? 10 of them. Something in that range. Am I doing the math right on that?
22:38
Uh, no, at 2,000- It paid way more than 2,000... it paid 2,000 to 1. Yeah, 275 pays 513,000, so it's something like 2,000... It's, it's not exactly that, but it's, yeah, three zeros and- Okay... yeah, 2,000 to 1.
22:49
2,000 to 1. Yeah. That's pretty nice odds. It's pretty good odds. So. Half a million dollars for picking- 10 lines... who's gonna win some sports games. It was, uh, NBA- Sports games...
22:59
N- NHL teams 'cause that's what's going on right now- Phew... this time of year, and it was done on the William Hill app. Right. Mobile app. So it's someone that was here physically.
23:07
They signed up at the Palms at some point, uh, and then the Palms just reported this on, uh, February 27th. So- Crazy... it's, uh, that's pretty awesome. They said it's a local. They said it was a local. Okay. Okay.
23:17
Yeah. Well, congratulations to them if- Local sports bettor. Some of those apps- If that local doesn't want his name-... you have to be in Nevada, right? You can't- Oh, oh... be outside. Okay, I see.
23:25
Well, oh, in this situation. Yeah. You gotta... Like, the Nevada app, you have to physically be- Be in Nevada... and it checks your location. Right. Right.
23:31
Then there's some of these other apps, you can, or it's all state by state. Right. So... And they all have different rules and different lines, so. So crazy. All right.
23:39
This next story here, I don't know how to take this. I don't like seeing stuff like this- Yeah... 'cause we're big music fans. Right. We have not been to either one of these festivals.
23:47
We had contemplated going to both of them. Right. Uh, but, and this is maybe why I'm thinking it's possible that they decided to cancel this thing. So it's because we didn't go.
23:55
Well, uh, I don't think it was because of us. I- Just us. I know you th- Just us... I know you think that we have a lot of pull. I know. We do. But- It was us... I...
24:01
They, they end up having these at the worst time of the year. Right. Uh, like, two or three of the last years have been canceled completely because of wind. Wow. Like, the wind rolls through this time of year. Yes.
24:12
It gets really, really windy. It's horrible outside today. It's an outdoor venue. Yeah.
24:15
And I don't quite understand-Having a festival like this in an outdoor venue in Las Vegas, like I understand EDC where it's in a, in a stadium like that. Right. Right. But even there, like it can be, it can be a problem.
24:26
But- The wind... it's typically in a time of year where there's less wind, but these, these festivals- Right... have scheduled during a year, time of the year where it's just notorious to be windy.
24:36
That's just- And they know this... the seasons are changing, and they know that. I don't quite get it. But When We Were Young and Best Friends Forever have officially decided to skip- Canceled... 2026.
24:45
They say it's a, you know, a one-year hangover, and they'll be back in 2027. Right. But that could just be a polite way of saying- We might not come back... "Peace out." Yeah. "Bye, Leticia." Right. Could be.
24:57
Felicia, not Leticia. Felicia. Leticia. Leticia's fine. Felicia, whatever. Yeah. Is there any other things- Whichever... that rhyme with an I? [laughs] There's a bunch of them. Yeah.
25:06
So these are, uh, you know, some punk EMO festivals. Uh- There's another festival, the Punk Rock Bowling- Yeah... they're taking off. The, the When We Were Young Festival- 26...
25:14
was the one that we were really looking to going. Last year was, uh, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy. Yeah. Uh, They Remember, uh, Blink-182. Blink-182. Weezer- Oh, man... and Panic.
25:23
That was the one that we really wanted to go to was the- I would've loved to gone to that... Weezer tour. Uh, and again, we, we're like, "Okay, we're gonna... You know, we were looking at going." We'll go next year.
25:28
No big deal. We'll go next year. It was two days back to back they canceled because of the wind. Yeah. And it's in a weird spot in town. Yeah. It's up in the parking lot, like north of, uh- Near Sahara, right?...
25:39
Resorts World. Like, right, right across from Resorts World, but... No, not quite Sahara. It's like, it's south- Oh, it's not in that lot? It's south of Flamingo. Well, one of them is downtown. Or no, I'm sorry.
25:49
South of FontaineBleau. One of them is downtown. Yeah, the other, that's the other one. But the one I'm talking about- Yeah... is like it's south of FontaineBleau, but like north of the Wind.
25:55
In that- The best, the Best Friends Forever- Yeah... was downtown. Okay. And Downtown Event Center is being converted into a parking lot, is what they're doing with that. Okay.
26:02
But there's also a venue that's right at Sahara and Las Vegas Boulevard, um, by kind of by Stratosphere, across from that Dragon Casino and Sahara. Towards the back. Massive. Um, they've had- Yeah... they've had multiple
26:16
concerts, venue, w- uh, I dunno, shows that it would be a horrible spot. It's all open. There's no protection- Yeah. Nothing... from any buildings. Yeah. It's just- It also- The wind would tear through there...
26:27
it pisses the locals off that live right there too- Oh, yeah... 'cause they can hear it all, and it's just loud and traffic- Right... obnoxious. Right. You know, festival goers kinda get obnoxious. I've, I've been there.
26:36
Yeah. Yeah. I, you know, I'm not a hypocrite. I know that- There's always a lot of drinking. Yeah. Right. Um, again, October, I don't know why. The date, maybe they can move the dates. Maybe.
26:44
Where it's a less windy month. Or just do it in an indoor venue. You got T-Mobile. That too. What's wrong with having a festival at T-Mobile? Yeah. Maybe they just charge- Too much... way more. I don't know.
26:52
Oh, I'm sure it's way more expensive than a parking lot. It is multi-day, but you can do multi-day. Like, there's been multi-day basketball tournaments and other things. Yeah.
26:58
You got, uh, Grand Garden Arena, Mandalay Bay has done festivals like this. Right. There's other venues in town. There... You know, I don't know. I'm guessing that, uh, UNLV's probably- Yeah... open to some dates. Yeah.
27:10
Right. I mean, they... Sam Boyd, all these stadiums around town that- Yeah. Do it in a non- Thomas & Mack... non-basketball season- Yeah... dates. Thomas & Mack. Or in a Way stand.
27:18
They would probably love to have someone come there. I'm sure. All right, we just got a couple more stories left. Yeah. We're saving the big one for last. This is, this is near and dear to my heart. Cadence?
27:27
Cadence Crossing. It's the old Jokers Wild. I've told you before, I've talked about it on the channel. Uh, used to go out there. Whenever I needed 100 bucks, I'd go and play blackjack.
27:37
During COVID, they got rid of all their live blackjack tables. They put in some digital craps, bubble craps, things like that. Um, but I used to love going out to Jokers Wild. Kind of a hole in the wall, little spot.
27:49
I could always pull 100 out of that place. It was so weird. But they're redoing it. It's gonna be really nice when they finish. Cadence is a massive home development. Yeah. Uh, Mrs.
27:59
Degen has sold m- multiple houses out there. People love it out there, and you're near Lake Las Vegas and Lake Mead National Park. Yeah. Um, really pretty out there, and it's only 15, 20 minutes,
28:12
20 minutes from the strip, all highway, all the way out there. Yeah. Um, we go out there. It's near the Klondike, where we go once a week and play. Um, but the old Jokers Wild on Boulder Highway. And- It's gonna be...
28:24
It's getting a, it's getting a revamp... that Boulder Highway strip has the best return to player- Yeah... in the state. This has been well published. Uh, so, you know, it's- It is a Boyd Gaming property- Yeah...
28:33
if you didn't know that. Uh, huge in town here, obviously. Boyd Entertainment's continuing to do well. We've reported that in past episodes.
28:40
So they now set out this late March date, which seems like we're, we're pretty close. They haven't still- We're getting there... given a, a, an official date that I know of yet. Right.
28:49
Uh, so, you know, within the next couple of weeks they're just gonna open without, I guess, without much fanfare and pl- and, and planning. Right. Maybe they're just...
28:56
Maybe they're waiting for, like, the, uh, the table cloths or something. They're just wanting to make sure- I'm wondering what the dining options are gonna be there, that it says here, is that they had a cafe.
29:03
I wonder if they're gonna add a couple of other restaurants or what. 450 slot machines. It's not bad. It's not a bad selection. Um, it's supposed to just be a lot nicer. It really was...
29:15
As Jokers Wild, it wasn't one of the properties that a lot of people would go and check out. Just wasn't. It wasn't the cleanest place. Yeah.
29:22
If they're gonna give it a spruce up and make it look better for all the people living in Cadence- Yeah... it's gonna be a lot nicer. And the people in, in Lake Las Vegas.
29:29
I mean, those are, a lot of them once you close that down, so. Yeah. The closest casino to them. 'Cause the one in, in Lake Las Vegas I think is still closed. It's closed. Yeah. For sure.
29:36
Um, so it's starting with a 10,000 square foot renovation, 450 slot machines. It's gonna be beautiful I think. Plus, as Demian said, the dining options.
29:44
And I think similar to Ellis Island, this is a multi-phase approach. Right. They got approved for 50,000 square feet of gaming, uh, space, which is five... That's what they're opening with here.
29:54
They do not have a hotel as of now. But I believe that's a part of- They're talking about adding a hotel... larger casino floor and- Right... possibly a hotel. It's right- Right... right there. In, in- Yeah.
30:02
It's right there in bold letters... in bold white. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. All right. So we'll, uh, maybe go out there when they open and get some foot- That's what we do nowadays, guys.
30:09
We just drive around town trying to get footage for you guys. Yeah. So, all right. Final story. This one might take a few minutes to get through. It's a big story. This is crazy to me.
30:17
I knew nothing about thisI said this a couple weeks ago. I was like- I just didn't understand it, I don't think... if there was one thing that I, I would bet on, would be that Nevada casinos would not be happy- Right...
30:26
about what's happening here. 'Cause there was the, the story that came out about how much prediction markets had in bets- Right... for the big game. The big- That's... We're sitting here... the big NFLA game.
30:36
We're in the sports book right now. Yeah. At a Station's casino, and they're not happy about this. No. [laughs] So for those of you not aware of what's going on here, there's these things called prediction markets.
30:48
That's just become the, the, the official name for these types of apps that exist. Okay. And it's a loophole. And I believe that this was created during the UIGEA, the U- uh, Unlawful Gaming Internet Enforcement Act.
31:03
Okay. If I remember correctly, and I, I could be off on this part of the story, so forgive me if I am, but when that law got passed
31:10
and kinda destroyed our livelihood, 'cause we ran online poker at the time, really, really frustrating, it opened up some loopholes at the time to allow certain things that...
31:19
'Cause it kind of explicitly had some carve-outs. Right.
31:22
And it's just so interesting to me, like how hypocritical all this stuff is, because the guy that championed the bill is like, "Gambling tears at the fabric of society- Right...
31:29
and social mores, and, you know, all this terrible stuff." But horse racing, that's okay. Totally okay. Totally. 'Cause, you know, my, my state has that. Yeah. Lotteries, that's okay. Right.
31:40
Daily fantasy sports, that's okay. And, and I think that this loophole and this prediction market thing got created in there where there was like some...
31:47
There wasn't explicit language to say, "But prediction markets can be okay," but there was language in there that made it like, well, holy crap, if like we call a spade a club or a diamond a heart- It's okay...
32:00
like, it's gonna be okay. Yeah, it's gonna be okay. So here we, here we can do it. And so what is not allowed is online sports betting.
32:06
Now, obviously certain states have allowed this throughout the country, but up until this, that point, online sports betting was like completely forbidden. Right. And it was...
32:14
That was the thing that they would go after the most. Online poker was kind of a secondary thing. But they really didn't want online sports books. And with an on- like the definition of an online sports book is
32:25
a host company or person or whatever is taking action from all these people on all these different bets, and you're betting that- That-... that entity... company or... Right. Right.
32:37
So if you look behind us in the sports book here, it's kinda blurred out 'cause we do, um, the, the cinematic mode- Right... and we don't wanna show the lines 'cause they don't like that. Right.
32:45
But let's just say, you know, the, the... There's an NFL line of like the Chargers by five and a half minus 110. There would never be- You're making that bet against Station Casinos. [laughs] Right.
32:54
That's, that's who's taking that bet.
32:56
Well, with these prediction markets, it's Mike and Ryan making that bet against each other, and the platform that facilitates that takes a fee for the money that's transacting- Right... on their platform.
33:08
But they're not taking the bet. No. I'm making the bet against you. Right. And the prediction markets, it's actually the most pure betting there is.
33:14
So you go on their site, you go on their site and you say, "I wanna bet the Chargers for 100." And then I go on the site, and the Chargers are playing the Bears. Right. And I say, "Well, I wanna bet the Bears for 100."
33:24
So it links us together, and then that site takes $10 or whatever it might be. Yeah. Well, the way that it actually kinda works is like there's so much... There's, there's...
33:32
It's hard to think about it on a single- Right... like there's not just two people. Well, that's, I'm trying to make it the easiest- But let me just kinda... There's like a- Right...
33:37
th- there's so much, so much actually similar to the sports books here in Nevada. Like, as more money's coming on this team, the line starts to move. Right. Well, the same thing happens on this platform. Sure.
33:45
So I might have to bet $100, but you only have to bet 60. Okay. And then the, the winner gets the, the 160. Okay. Because you're, you're betting the underdog and I'm betting the favorite. Right.
33:55
Yeah, but if it's a sport that has lines like that, that don't move like that, if it's just a straight bet or if you're betting- But the amount of money will move... Yeah, the amount of money will move. Okay.
34:04
So the line might stay the same, but the amount- Amount of money. Okay... amount of money would move based on how many people are happening over here. That's crazy.
34:10
And it's all in real time, and there's so many bets happening non-stop. And that company doesn't pay out any of the money. Now, well, it's, it's- That company just holds it. It's your money and my money.
34:17
From a technical standpoint. Right. They hold onto it, and then they just give it back. 'Cause if you have a, you have a, a wallet with them. Right. Minus the fee. Minus the fee. I get it. So. That's crazy. Yeah.
34:26
And so- Absolutely crazy... and it's not th- not just sports, but you can bet on an election. Who's gonna win a, a election? Is it gonna be Trump or, uh, Kamala? Right. Is it gonna be... You know, there's, there's now...
34:38
It's getting to be election season now for senators. Right. So who's gonna win that Senate race in Texas? But back in the day- Who's gonna win that House race in the District 51 in California? Gotcha.
34:46
You know, whatever it might be. It might be, uh- Back in the day when I had a bookie, long time ago, he took all the action. Right. Now he doesn't have any responsibility for having a bankroll to cover all that action.
34:58
That's right. He just takes a cut. Yeah. It's, it's- That's an insane way to- That's a great business for them... to loophole the system.
35:04
It- So anyway, Kalshi, which is the biggest of the prediction market players right now- Right... got some paperwork from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. [laughs] Said, "We don't like you." Yeah.
35:11
"We don't like you here." Lawsuit filed February 18th. And Nevada's arguing- Makes sense... that Kalshi's sports event contracts constitute unlicensed wagering under state law. Yeah.
35:21
Which, you know, I would argue that, too. I would, too- Personally... if they were taking all the money out of my pocket.
35:25
Uh, but I think they're gonna, I think they're gonna be going on a uphill battle because, again, I believe, and I... This part I didn't, uh, further research, but I, just going from, uh,
35:35
memory, that this carve-out was made on this other federal law, which is gonna be like over top. And, and these guys were smart enough. They're not gonna go do all this without realizing and knowing- Right...
35:44
that they aren't violating any laws. Well, they might actually- And so-... just be doing it to try to get 'em to stop until there's an outcome, and then they just drag it out for years and years. Yeah.
35:52
So that's called an injunction. That's what they're seeking right now. Yeah. Right. I, I don't... I'm gonna predict, and I wonder if this is on the markets right now. I can- It might be on there...
36:00
I'm gonna predict, I'm gonna predict that they're not gonna get the injunction. Maybe we can go on Kalshi and bet that. That's what I'm saying. I bet you- Yeah... I, I would bet you, uh-huh. That we can bet it.
36:07
We can do that. So that, that's my guess. There's also another state, uh, I believe it was Massachusetts. Let me just double-check that here. Um, that's in here somewhere. I'll let you read while I'm talking.
36:17
But, uh, yeah, Massachusetts.
36:18
Separately, a Massachusetts judge, they did issue an injunction against Kalshi on February 5th, uh, to take effect in 30 days, but, uh, they appealed it-And, uh, and then they just, they, they held off the injunction u- until the appeal's done.
36:31
So no actual injunction. Um, but the, the complaints like Nevada is asserting is that there's no gaming license in Nevada. Right. There's no physical location in Nevada. Pays, uh, no gaming taxes.
36:43
That's the biggest part. That's the biggest thing, obviously. That's the most important. Uh, allows people under 21 to make the bets, 'cause in certain jurisdictions- Right... you can do that. Right.
36:50
Uh, and then there's no safeguards, which may or may not be true. So I don't know. I think that there's gonna be some turbulence here. Again, I predicted, aha, that this would happen. Yeah. 'Cause I just, whenever...
37:03
This is the exact same thing- You could see it... that happened with the UIGEA. Yeah. Even though these other companies that were operating in a legal jurisdiction- Right...
37:11
in the Caribbean or in, uh, Isle of Man or in India- Right... as a for instance, or Israel, um, and we are, they were abiding by all the rules of the WTO, the World Trade Organization.
37:22
The United States government really just had a bug up their rear end- [laughs]... because they weren't collecting taxes on it. Yes, they want their money. And even though that they...
37:28
And, and it was the, it was the first time that, uh, the, the World Trade Organization had ruled against the United States, and the United States gave them the middle finger and said, "I, we don't care." Gotcha.
37:36
Like, "Screw your ruling." Gotcha. Because they weren't collecting taxes, and it's really what it all comes down to. Right. Nevada's not happy that they aren't collecting taxes.
37:43
Obviously, like, they're friendly to the casino operators because the casino operators are paying all these taxes. Yeah.
37:48
Then there's all the other ancillary taxes that happen because there's employees that also pay payroll taxes, and- It's massive... you know, and then those people- The numbers are massive...
37:56
make the money and they go spend money. So it's like this big halo effect- Yeah... that happens when people, when a, when a subset of taxes gets taken away, and they're not happy. So we'll see how this pr- progresses.
38:07
Right. Obviously, if Nevada or Massachusetts ends up winning, this could have some big fallout- Big... for the rest of the country. Big fallout. [laughs] And conversely, if Cal-She ends up winning,
38:18
then this isn't going anywhere. Then this is gonna be a problem for the sports books and- Yeah... and the numbers, the, the bottom line of the numbers that they make every year.
38:26
Um, I have not installed this app or the other ones on my phone. I don't need it. I, I know better. Yeah. I already have, uh, Stations- Uh... and MGM Sports Book app on my phone. Yeah. That's enough.
38:35
I don't bet enough sports- Uh... for it to be a problem. You know, and I wanna make sure I get those valuable player points- Right... when I'm betting on sports. That's right.
38:41
So, you know, Cal-She doesn't give me- One day we'll get a dinner comp. Cal-She doesn't let me get to the level to get free parking- Right. Right... at MGM properties, which is very, very important to me. It is. So.
38:51
It's a lot of money. Suppos- Parking's expensive... supposedly our car's now first up in valet. Oh, wow. So. Oh, that's nice. I'm gonna wait less time than you- Wow... 'cause you bet on Cal-She- Yeah... for my car.
39:00
That's right. All right, that pretty much wraps it up for this week. Misty joining me on the other- Full rundown... LC Insights. She's got that. That's it. Yeah. She's like, "That's enough. You guys have talked enough."
39:07
[laughs] She's like, "Cut." We will, we will, uh, be checking out the karaoke place at Ellis when they finish that up. Yes. Can't wait. We'll let you guys know about that.
39:16
We're hoping to have an Ellis Island degen night there. We've been kind of hinted that that could happen- Right... as, as we mentioned at a- Please drop your comments in the-... a couple, couple weeks...
39:23
drop your comments for us below. If there's anything you wanna know about- Yeah... that's happening in Vegas or that you've heard might be happening in Vegas, we'll check it out.
39:31
We're trying to work all those in, and we appreciate all the positive feedback. We've been getting a lot of positive feedback about the new show. Yes.
39:35
So whether you're riding in your car, watching at home while you're doing some laundry- Yeah... or, uh, you know, out on a walk or whatever it might be, we appreciate you listening.
39:43
And- Don't forget to hit like and subscribe. Go Metallica. Oh, yeah. [laughs] Metallica. Go, go Prices Down Metallica. [laughs] See you all next week, everybody. All right. See you guys.
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