The Movable Buffet

Dispatches from Las Vegas
by Richard Abowitz

Category: Wynn Hotel

Wynn Resorts shakes fist at Garth Brooks scalpers

October 26, 2009 | 12:16 pm

What is called scalping elsewhere is called being a ticket broker here. It was not legal where I grew up but it is to the best of my knowledge totally legal here in Vegas. I have known one person who made money doing it on a professional level on EBay. It was like a stock market thing to him. He bought on shows he hoped would increase in value. On some concerts he lost money, just like a promoter, when the demand wasn't what he expected.

Now, imagine a guy like that when someone offers a stock at a special low price, hoping only regular customers will show up to buy it. He wins. He is set up already to be first in line, using computer programs, automated dialing machines and multiple credit cards. He has many assistants and competitors. Whatever odd rules are set up for the intended customers, he professionally circumnavigates with ease.

Garth Brooks tickets were a sure thing, with a flat-fee ticket at Wynn of $125 in a small venue (1,500 seats). It was such a sure sellout that I clamped my mouth shut when other commentators suggested it might not be so. I was even pleased when Perez Hilton, in our interview, hinted his fans might balk at the price. I thought, maybe.... Anyway, I intentionally did not blog about the Brooks show until after tickets went on sale to give his fans a chance, just a chance, to get them. Well, they didn't need me to tip them off or Perez Hilton to throw them off. The Wynn website received record traffic, and ticket brokers got hold of many of those tickets. Here they are now selling them for $800 on this site plus a hefty service charge. On EBay, according to journalist and blogger Steve Friess, there are 100 offerings.

What is interesting is that Wynn Resorts seems totally caught off-guard that the predictable happened when you substantially under-price tickets in Vegas. I have some sympathy for Wynn's problem. The pricing, I understand, was Brooks' bright idea. But there has yet to be a successful solution to ticket brokers that does not come before the tickets are sold -- i.e. the wristband stuff some bands tried a few years back. And even that was usually only a lesser failure. If Brooks wants to charge what people will pay, and give the difference to charity, great. But there is no way to stop a legal business from doing business in Vegas. And these people earn their living beating fans to Web offerings, ticket lines or any other approach yet devised by the industry. Some states have made this behavior illegal, but Nevada has not. And so these professional middlemen thrive here.

Yet Wynn Resorts still dissents. Jennifer Dunne, a spokeswoman for Wynn and a very reasonable person, tells Norm Clarke in the Review-Journal today:

"We have a number of people mobilized to take the necessary steps to see that the scalper tickets are canceled. We won't stop until we succeed."

There is no way I can think of to succeed. Wynn resorts is stepping into an issue that has existed as unsolvable since I was a teenager. On private property like Wynn's, you can make scalpers leave the premises on the night of the show. But how do you cancel the tickets -- purchased by ticket brokers using Wynn's system and who are doing legal business -- without punishing the fan who bought the tickets from the broker, who had no idea these tickets would be canceled to punish them for paying so much because they love Garth Brooks? Other after-the-fact plans I have heard about, such as checking IDs to make sure they match the name of a purchaser at the door, could cause even greater problems. Say I resold a pair of Garth Brooks tickets vs. bought a pair as an anniversary gift for my friends -- how is Wynn Resorts to guess which happened?

I have a call into Metro to confirm the legality of ticket brokers and I have put a call into Wynn to get its response on how it intends to regulate this legal activity. So, far I have not heard back.

This is all very interesting given that Steve Wynn of late has been so strongly opinionated on the subject of capitalism and the economy. As for the interaction of capitalism and radically underpriced Las Vegas tickets, I totally knew what would happen when those tickets went on sale; my only surprise is that Wynn Resorts is acting like it discovered there's gambling in Casablanca. I am interested in any plan it has to do something about it. But honestly, there really doesn't seem anything that Wynn can do differently than price the tickets at value when selling them the first time. Otherwise, in Las Vegas, there will always be someone to step in to sell at the difference.

Photo: Sarah Gerke

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Club owners show off; they aren't the little people

November 17, 2008 | 12:43 pm

Steve Wynn must be so proud. Details (actually the magazine's Men.Style.com site) offers a you-have-to-read-it-to-believe-it profile of Cy and Jesse Waits, the twin brothers who are the power at Wynn's Tryst nightclub. Fittingly titled "The Biggest Pair in Vegas" the article is must-read for a study in Vegas egos run amok and includes such memorable highlights as:

"At about 3 A.M. ... while driving his Hummer across Las Vegas Boulevard.. Jesse blows through a red turn arrow. He doesn't bother checking his rearview for flashing lights. 'I know the guys at Metro,' he says. 'You'd be surprised at the influence that comes from owning a club in this town.'"

I am very interested in that surprise as well as some others in the article. I have put in a request to interview the twins in part so I can get the name of the folks at Metro who don't give our heroes tickets like the rest of us who blow through lights get. Then there is their juvenile sexual braggadocio that permeates the article. I warn you that you may want to shower after reading this. But not to pick on them: These two characters fit their milieu perfectly. Honestly, I had just thought Steve Wynn liked his world, shall, we say, a tad bit classier than this display of hormones and ego.

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The dumbest working girl in Vegas?

August 5, 2008 | 9:04 am

I am wondering if Sarah Cournede could be the dumbest working girl in Vegas. Most women who are cruising a casino looking for opportunities at vice try to avoid hotel security. But, allegedly, not Sarah Cournede. Sarah Cournede and her sister, Maria Cournede, whom police describe to the Review-Journal as having a history of prostitution, were in the Wynn last week when Sarah apparently chose to approach and proposition none other than Wynn Resorts Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn. Oops.

According to the Review-Journal, Wynn put his arm around Sarah Cournede and walked her to the door. This would be taken for an encouraging sign by any woman gauging a man's interest who did not know about Wynn's vision problems. She may also not have known that Wynn has long been opposed to even expanding legalized prostitution to Vegas.

No one more than Wynn is responsible for the Strip's theme resorts in the '90s, followed by the luxury Vegas of today. They are Wynn's successes. His failure is less discussed: the attempt to make Vegas a family-friendly destination. That effort died, but Wynn's own sensibility has not changed and publicly he is well known to have zero tolerance for prostitution on his properties. His resorts even avoid the sort of adult shows that are ubiquitous elsewhere on the Strip. There are no topless showgirl reviews at Wynn or planned for expansion Encore.

Anyway, upon reaching the door, Steve Wynn asked for security to be summoned. This resulted in a melee where Maria Cournede allegedly slapped Wynn.

According to the Review-Journal, "Both women had been banned from the property in the past and were arrested on trespassing charges." But according to the report, Wynn left the resort by the time police arrived and therefore was not available to press battery charges over the slap.

Photo: Sarah Gerke

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Steve Wynn hiring thousands

July 22, 2008 | 11:48 am

Las Vegas offers many opportunities to grapple with the term "negative capability." One of these moments comes with the current economy. Things are bad. Gambling stocks have tanked. The construction of many major projects in Vegas has fallen through, and others seem in danger. The entire condo/hotel merger concept (Trump and Palms Place -- and they are the buildings lucky enough to be completed and open) has yet to demonstrate much visible success. One classic resort on the Strip (Tropicana) is owned by a bankrupt company, and one of the major resorts being built (Cosmopolitan) has the bank now overseeing the project after the developer defaulted on the loan.

Yet undeniably Vegas continues to grow in a display of incredible foresight or foolishness. The Palazzo with more than 3,000 rooms opened last year attached to the Venetian. And soon next door Steve Wynn brings online an additional 2,000-plus rooms when he opens Encore connected to his Wynn.

Long before Hollywood applied the idea to a baseball field, the Strip has bet billions believing if you build it, they will come. And once built, undeniably the jobs created by all these resorts are real, many union and almost all with great benefits.

For Encore, Steve Wynn has begun the process of hiring more than 5,000 people for his new property. My guess is that this number is slightly larger than how things will work out in terms of new jobs. Casinos tend to hire too many employees at opening to assure fantastic service for overflow crowds and to let attrition fix the issue over time. But also Steve Wynn has the ability to temporarily shift employees from Wynn to Encore and thus help himself keep his promise of having no layoffs during the current economic mess (unlike some of his competitors, including far larger gaming companies Harrah's and MGM-Mirage, which have both had cuts). Still, math games aside, Encore is going to be hiring thousands of people with living-wage jobs in Vegas. That was true of Palazzo (minus the union jobs) too.

Yet the economy does have an impact; Wynn tells the Review-Journal today that he is expecting 12 applications for every position. I seem to remember getting a similar statistic on an Ivy League college admission rejection letter in the '80s. So if you have service industry skills and experience and are looking to come to Vegas and change your life, you can apply to work at Encore.

One other detail: The Review-Journal article also quotes Wynn being more specific about Encore's opening date than I have seen before, though he offers himself wiggle room: "He plans on opening Encore Dec. 21, but knows the construction process could move the date." That probably means the date is going to move. (Photo by Sarah Gerke)

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Wynn sues Charles Barkley for gambling debt

May 15, 2008 | 10:13 am

Last month I interviewed music industry mogul Irving Azoff, and he told a story about a night in Vegas a few years ago with basketball great Charles Barkley and Tiger Woods. Azoff recalled that "a very drunk Charles Barkley challenged me to a game of golf. Tiger was going to place a large wager that I would beat Charles provided we went and played at once on that golf course down the Strip that was lighted. It was a very, very large wager, and luckily for Charles, who was so drunk he was cross-eyed, he chickened out at the last minute. Lucky for him, because we would have taken a lot of money." And, indeed that might count as luck in the life of Charles Barkley.

Sadly, Barkley has found plenty of other opportunities in town to place lopsided wagers favoring the house, and math has taken its course. Barkley made this point himself perfectly once on a TNT show: "But I've got to understand you can't beat the casino. You might win a lot of money from them but in the long run they are going to win more money from you." Back in 2006, Barkley estimated his own gambling losses at over $10 million on ESPN. Now, the Las Vegas Sun reports, Wynn resort has filed suit for $400,000 against Barkley for unpaid gambling markers the casino issued to Barkley last October.

Obviously, Barkley is not the only regular Vegas customer to face this predicament. As resorts hate press from these sorts of actions and especially because of Barkley's fame, you can bet the casino made every effort to collect from him before escalating to a court case.

I will add that I have interviewed Barkley twice in Vegas, and both times he seemed to be drinking heavily and talked about getting ready to gamble later.

He certainly is going to wind up having to pay Wynn. In Nevada, failure to make good on markers results in felony charges. But is it hopelessly naive to ask if there comes a point in a free culture where a resort should tell someone they need help instead of extending more credit? The resorts insist on calling gambling "gaming," yet the reality is that gambling isn't a game: If you play too long you will lose, and that is not a fun or recreational activity. The case of Charles Barkley is not unique.

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Making Sin City Blush

August 10, 2007 | 9:44 am

If you are in Vegas, you have seen the advertising; and if you are out of town, you have read the coverage: Britney Spears is hosting the opening of LAX on August 31 at Luxor. So, I was surprised to learn that LAX isn't the only major new Vegas nightclub opening August 31. The Wynn, has decided to open its latest, Blush, that same night. The timing seems a curious choice to me. I assume that the industry will be totally focused on the ever increasing Britney drama and therefore LAX's grand opening. As a result, Blush's grand opening will probably get a lot less attention than a new nightclub at Wynn would usually generate. On the other hand, nothing happens accidentally with nightclub openings. So, I reached out to managing partner Sean Christie to find out about Blush and the competitive weekend timing of the club's opening.

Christie knows how to open a club in Vegas. The first time I met him, Christie was a managing partner for the Light Group and was intimately involved in overseeing the very successful opening of Jet at the Mirage. Christie gets a lot of credit for grasping the local nightclub scene as well as for being a pioneer in its development. So, I was very interested in his decision to coincide the opening of Blush on the night of Bitney/LAX.

Usually, the best that can be said interviewing nightclub executives is that they make casino executives sound like men of blunt candor. But in this case, Christie was extremely candid and straightforward, not only in assessing the Vegas scene and his hopes for Blush, but also on more touchy issues like celebrity appearance fees:

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Sign wars: Wynn trumps Trump

August 2, 2007 | 12:33 pm

The sign war has a winner. Wynn resorts has let me know that their topping delivery of their boss' name measures "69 feet from the top of the 'W' to the base of the 'Y'." On the other hand, all of the letters in the new sign going up across the Strip on the "TRUMP" building are 20 feet high. So Wynn's autobiographical sign appears to be bigger. I also note that his sign is a bit bit classier than Trump's, too; rather than all capitals, he delivers the letters of "Wynn" signed in cursive ending in an elegant period. That is the billionaire version of modesty.
(Photo by Sarah Gerke)

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Paparazzi spin on Spears incident

August 2, 2007 | 9:54 am

On their site, the photo agency Flynetonline.com offers this amazing description of the encounter between their photographers, Britney Spears and her bodyguard at Wynn:

"Everyone's asking for more inside details on the incident between Britney's bodyguards and our photographers, so here's the buzz.

In Las Vegas, on July 26th at about 11:30 am, photogs Andrew Deetz and Kyle Henderson were taking pictures, and they were standing at a safe distance, between 30 and 50 feet away from Britney. When Kyle attempted to get in closer for a better shot, Julio Camera (J.C.), one of the bodyguards, squeezed Kyle against the wall until hotel security stepped in and asked Kyle to leave.

As Kyle was being escorted out, J.C. randomly and without provocation, ran up to Andrew and attacked him from behind. J.C. threw Andrew on the ground and started brutally beating him. Andrew got injuries to his face and head as well as his back, neck and other parts of his body.

Immediately after, Britney ran towards Andrew as if she were going to attack him, but after being restrained by security, she threw a baby bottle at Andrew and said, 'I am going to kill you. I'm going to (expletive) kill you.' She then said that he should get a restraining order against her, because if she couldn't kill him, she'd hire someone who would.

At no time did either of the photographers go anywhere near Britney or her children. When the police arrived, J.C. was issued a citation for misdemeanor battery. Andrew was taken to the hospital, and Kyle was able to leave.

Proof positive. Not everything stays in Vegas."

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Wynn dealers vote union

May 14, 2007 | 9:47 am

For a corporate guy, Steve Wynn has always had great relations with the unions in Vegas. While the mighty Culinary Union is in the midst of negotiations that could turn hard at any moment with Harrahs and MGM for a new deal on an about to expire contract, Wynn worked his contract with Culinary 226 to run until 2015. That union covers about 9,000 Wynn employees.

But when people refer to Las Vegas as a union town that is a relative statement. The new Vegas has transformed dining, shopping and entertainment and with only modest union gains. And, gambling has remained a world of tradition. One of those traditions is that dealers don't form unions. The last serious attempt to unionize dealers was in 2001; the results were not encouraging. By and large, resorts convinced dealers that if unions got involved their tips would be impacted. So, what changed at Wynn? As reported on the Buffet in September, Steve Wynn made the decision to raise mangers' and floor supervisors' incomes not by paying them more but by declaring them "casino service team leaders." Now that the managers were involved in the chain of "service," the bosses deserved a cut of the dealer tips for good service. This cost dealers up to 20% of their income in order to clear these raises for their bosses. So, much for tradition. And, so unsurprisingly, given a chance this weekend, Wynn dealers voted overwhelmingly for a union.

Amazingly, shortly before the election, Wynn himself gave a talk to his employees admitting that his decision on the tip pool change was a mistake. By then, of course, it was too late. But a dealer recorded the audio of Wynn's speech and it is posted here. This is quite a window into one side of Wynn, if you are curious what one of the great deal makers in Las Vegas history sounds like when he is trying to be sympathetic, charming and persuasive. There is another, harder, side to Steve Wynn, too, and we will see now that the election results are known how that plays out.

(photo by Sarah Gerke)

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Spamalot Fits Vegas Perfectly

April 2, 2007 | 3:48 pm

Friday was media night at Wynn for Spamalot and then Saturday night was the VIP night for folks like Robin Williams and Steve Martin. So, I saw the show Friday and was then back the next night for red carpet interviews. The April 8 Movable Buffet print column will incorporate all of it into a look at the rollout for Spamalot. The rollout actually went amazingly well. Wynn learned a lot of lessons from Avenue Q's failure to last at the resort. First off, no one pushes Broadway authenticity anymore as when Avenue Q launched totally loyal to the original Broadway show. Instead, Spamalot knew to open at a mere 93 minutes whacking at least one song from the Broadway version. There was no intermission like with Avenue Q (when it first opened), because in Las Vegas, you never let an audience go once you have them.

But more than time and cuts to help tourists trying to fit more than a show into their Vegas night, the creators of Spamalot customized the play for Vegas adding some local jokes and also by being aware of the very different culture Las Vegas audiences present. It probably helped that the Boradway version of Camelot already looked like Excalibur resort and likewise much of what appeared customized for Vegas in fact came direct from the original Broadway production. Maybe, this affinity is why Spamalot feels so perfectly suited to Vegas and why the dozen or so actual Las Vegas changes feel completely seamless. I have to admit, I was blown away by Spamalot as presented at Wynn. It is better than I dared hope, and I am sure that audiences coming to Vegas are going to enjoy this show as much as I did. Not only that, with the cheap seats starting at $49, it is wonderful to be able to recommend a top line show most people can afford.

I, of course, admit to being a Monty Python fan since childhood. But I was also a Mel Brooks fan as a youngster, and therefore was sad to see how poorly The Producers at Paris Las Vegas seems adapted to contemporary Las Vegas. The Producers is a time capsule lovingly created of a now long gone era on Broadway. For that reason, The Producers has a hard time tickling an audience in 2007 Vegas that lacks not only the nostalgia but even the cultural memory of when Walter Winchell was a household name. Spamalot, on the other hand, feels alive to the point of being ripped from the headlines (as with a joke about Britney Spears shaved head). From its occasional crudity to its timeliness, Spamalot is a show that can please old Python fans while still being outrageous and freewheeling enough for South Park fans to not have to feel like they are watching their Daddy's idea of funny.

I should have learned by now to resist making predictions about anything in Las Vegas, yet I think Spamalot is going to be a total winner on every level for Wynn. Watching the show and seeing the audience respond to Spamalot, this production seems as close as you can get to a sure thing in today's Las Vegas.

On the red carpet, by the way, I asked Spamalot director Mike Nichols (since everyone else seemed more interested in taking pictures of his wife, Diane Sawyer) to compare opening on Broadway to opening in Vegas; his confident response, "Broadway is more of a gamble."

(Photo by Sarah Gerke)

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Dispatches from Las Vegas by Richard Abowitz

Dispatches from Las Vegas
by Richard Abowitz