Inside Gaming Column: Look for Boyd to Join Urban Cowboys

Gaming industry insiders say Boyd Gaming Corp. is likely to be the big winner when the dust settles from MGM Mirage's announcement of plans to build an urban resort village on the Strip. Sources say Boyd's Stardust site just south of the Stratosphere is the last and best parcel big enough -- and with enough frontage -- to anchor another urban village with a price tag they say could now approach $6 billion. Las Vegas developer Steve Wynn is also said to be exploring the idea of adding an urban resort village to Wynn Las Vegas on the old Desert Inn site.

***

Scuttlebutt on the Strip is that Ritz-Carlton is pining for the chance to operate one of the four boutique hotels planned in MGM Mirage's new CityCenter project. Ritz-Carlton President Simon Cooper for months has been scouting sites for another five-star hotel that could be linked with a residential development. For Ritz-Carlton, Las Vegas is still the best draw out of all the "megaentertainment" areas in the world. And without a Strip hotel, Cooper said customers who are willing to pay profit-yielding rates will be lost to competitors.

***

Casino executives say airline magnate Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, has feelers out to Stanley Ho's Shun Tak and Air Macau about starting up a no-frills airline based in Macau. Asian operators say a Macau-based Virgin Blue would take Chinese to Macau, but Wall Streeters say Branson's real goal is service to Las Vegas. With a billion Chinese living within two miles of the casinos planned by American operators and the government easing travel restrictions, it's not surprising the market has caught Branson's eye.

***

The implosion of the Palms and St. Andrews towers at the old Desert Inn was an anticlimax compared with some predecessors. Take a look at the National Geographic Channel at 9 p.m. Dec. 12. It'll feature the Loizeaux family, the "first family" of implosions in Las Vegas, and show the demolition of seven hotel-casinos on the Strip, including the Dunes and Hacienda, whose implosions were broadcast live. It'll also show the Landmark Hotel, the Sands, the Aladdin, El Rancho and the Desert Inn's Augusta Tower blowing up.

***

We've all left our hearts with Tony Bennett, but "ambassador of cool"? Seems a stretch, but that'll be his fancy title for 15 performances over the next two years at the Golden Nugget. It's easy to understand crowning Celine Dion queen of cool at Caesars Palace; she's bringing in 4,000 big spenders 200 nights a year. But Bennett is more reminiscent of Butterbean ripping through the Boardwalk buffet. In the wake of their reign in "The Casino" on Fox TV, you'd think Nugget owners Tim Poster and Tom Breitling would have a firmer grasp ong cool.

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.