Living in Las Vegas

Spring break is officially over.   The April 15th tax deadline is on the horizon. All good things must come to an end.  Financial issues are on my mind.  And it seems like financial issues are affecting many members of the Las Vegas community. The top headlines today include:

Nevada bankruptcies skyrocketed in 2008

Bankruptcy petitions increased 71% last year while the national increase was only 31%

Educators protest outside Legislature, seek more funding

Today while lawmakers were voting on several education issues, over 150 teachers and students carried signs reading “Nevada’s children deserve better” and “Teachers are worth every penny.”

Harrah’s needs more debt relief to avoid bankrupty

Harrah’s debt swap offer cut Harrah’s debt by nearly $2.3 billion, but Wachovia said that may not be enough.

MGM Mirage faces Friday deadline for $70 million City Center payment

MGM Mirage and Dubai World, which each own 50 percent of CityCenter need to commit a combined $3 billion to finish the development by December. 

And to end on a happier note . . .

Reno mom hits $33 million Megabucks jackpot

Rachel Romanick had been playing for about 10 minutes at Terrible’s Rail City casino when she hit the jackpot.  This is the second largest Megabucks jackpot in history at a Sparks casino.

Elton John has been a staple in the Caesar’s Palace entertainment line up for the last 5 years.  Tickets are available for  his last performance of The Red Piano at the Caesars Palace Colosseum on April 22, 2009.

The Red Piano has been summed up as a career overview performance. Elton John teamed up with photographer David LaChapelle and states on his website  “It’s what I am like from an artistic point of view. It’s fun, it’s deep, it’s the songs I really love and it gives me a chance to get across what I am all about, visually as well as musically.”

Caesar’s is offering a pretty good package deal for the next couple of weeks that includes a one night stay in a classic room and two rear orchestra tickets. From what I understand, all the rooms at Caesar’s Palace are really nice. In fact Caesar’s Palace in and of itself is more than really nice.  I think Caesar’s could even be described as timeless.  But I will probably have a good laugh about that statement when in 10 to 15 years it gets knocked down too.

Anywho, enjoy Elton John I am sure his show is absolutely amazing!

Shortly after 2:30 a.m. this morning, Peter Eastgate, age 22, won $9.15 million and the title, 2008 World Series of Poker Champion in the final game last night at the Rio Hotel Casino. Eastgate is the youngest winner ever, breaking the 19-year record held by Phil Hellmuth, who was 24 when he won the World Series of Poker in 1989.

Eastgate’s winning hand was the 102nd hand of the game, an ace to 5 straight. The final game began Monday night against Ivan Demidov at the Penn & Teller Theater before 1,000 fans. They were the final players from the World Series of Poker which started back in July with 6,844 entrants.

The World Series of Poker began in 1970 at Binion’s Horseshoe and is the largest set of poker tournaments in the world. In 2004, Harrah’s Entertainment purchased Binion’s, and now the tournament consists of 55 events held at Harrah’s different properties in Las Vegas. The winner of the tournament wins the World Series of Poker bracelet, a cash prize based on the number of contestants and their picture is placed into the Gallery of Champions at Binion’s.

ESPN will be showing the game live tonight at 5:00 p.m.