M Resort Pink Blackjack Table

M Resort has pink felted blackjack tables this October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Blackjack pays 3:2!


Photo: M Resort Twitter.

Cosmopolitan gets Sportsbook

Just in time for March Madness, Cosmopolitan has opened a sportsbook. Cosmo has partnered with Cantor Gaming to open the book on the second floor of the hotel next to Holstein's restaurant and Marquee Nightclub. The sportsbook is small by Strip standards, but with Cantor's mobile gaming devices customers won't need to actually be at the sportsbook to place wagers.

Cantor has some interesting new concepts for sports betting, including live betting throughout the game. They just opened a new book at Tropicana, and also have locations at M Resort, Venetian and Palazzo.

When Cosmopolitan opened in December it did not have a "traditional" sportsbook. Instead the Book & Stage lounge served as a place where you could place wagers. The betting terminals at Book & Stage will remain open.

I know Cosmo caught some flack for not having a real sportsbook. I wonder if this is a direct response to that, or if it was planned all along. It seems like sports weekends are a huge part of Las Vegas with the Super Bowl and March Madness. Having a legit sportsbook would almost seem like a requirement for any casino resort.



For more information, see the Press Release and Cantor Gaming.

Penn National Buying M Resort

Penn National has bought the M Resort's debt, paving the way for the company to take ownership control of the casino. The Pennsylvania based company paid $230.5 million for about $860 million of total outstanding debt.

Penn National has been looking to get into the Las Vegas market for a few years now. They own 23 casinos around the country, so they have a pretty big customer base to lure to a Vegas property. M Resort is probably a good place to get their feet wet in Las Vegas, especially considering they are getting a brand new property for a fraction of the building cost.

Penn was a player in the auction to buy the stalled Fontainebleau project, but backed off in the later stages giving the property to Carl Ichan. They have also been long rumored to buy the Rio, but nothing ever came of that either.

While the M Resort is a good start, there is little doubt that Penn National would like to have a property on the Strip. Perhaps they will look to expand further into Las Vegas after they fully acquire M Resort. Who knows, maybe they will end up with Fontainebleau after all in a few years when Ichan decides to unload it. M Resort and a finished Fontainebleau would be a really nice foundation for Penn National to build on in the Las Vegas market.

Source: Bloomberg.

Hash House coming to M Resort

Popular restaurant Hash House A Go Go will be opening its third Las Vegas location at the M Resort in October. The off-Strip restaurant recently expanded to the Strip with an Imperial Palace location, and will now replace the closed Red Cup Cafe at the M Resort.

Hash House is known for huge portions of what they call "twisted farm food". I haven't been, but it seems like the place has gotten consistently good reviews, so it's definitely on my list of places to check out.


Hash House A Go Go BLT

Source: M Resort Press Release.
Photo: Hash House Photo Gallery.

Tiger Woods good for Vegas Sportsbooks

Tiger Woods' return at the Masters last weekend was great for Las Vegas, as the sportsbooks took full advantage.

M Resort reports that wagers on Tiger possibly set a new betting record for the property.

Las Vegas Hilton says that it was the biggest golf tournament in history, with a 30% increase over the previous biggest, but still fell way short of the Super Bowl and March Madness.

Source: KXNT.