NEWS & NOTES

Keeping a wary eye on the Omicron variation of Covid-19, the Philippine government will maintain Alert Level 2 for most of the country, at least until mid-December. Until that time, the country’s casinos will continue to operate at 50 percent capacity. Prior to Omicron, there had been some indication that the Alert Level would be downgraded. • Sands China will give out year’s-end bonuses equivalent to one month’s salary to more than 25,000 eligible non-senior management employees. A total of 99 percent of Sands China’s workforce could take home the generous bonuses. ● Country singer Carrie Underwood will launch her first Las Vegas Strip residency show, Reflection, at the new Resorts World Theatre starting December 1. A number of country music shows will be in town during the last National Finals Rodeo, which begins December 2 but will relocate to Arlington, Texas in 2022. Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn will be at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace while the NFR is in town. ● After 19 months, Cirque du Soleil’s “Ka” is back onstage at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Cirque’s most lavish production, with 300 cast members, was dark for more than a year and a half due to Covid-19; its return puts 1,250 Cirque employees back to work in Las Vegas. ● Chinese authorities have investigated more than 30,000 cross-border gambling cases from 2020 to October 2021. A state-owned news outlet reported that “more than 160,000 suspects” had been detained. Assisting people in cross-border gambling became illegal in Mainland China in March, following an amendment to China’s criminal code. ● Suncity Group’s Philippines subsidiary, Suntrust Home Developers Inc, has announced revisions that its Manila integrated resort could be delayed until early 2024. The project was originally planned for completion in late 2023. When complete, the resort will incorporate a 450-room hotel with a casino with 400 gaming tables and 1,200 slot machines. ● Hong Kong authorities say they’re making “good progress” on the way to quarantine-free travel with Mainland China. The reopening of the border is seen as a key step to a potential opening with Macau. Hong Kong has historically accounted for between 15 percent and 20 percent of Macau’s gross gambling revenue and allowing quarantine-free travel would be a major boost to recovery. ● The Colosseum at Caesars Palace will offer singer Adele in a residency that begins in January and runs through mid-April. “We’ve led the world in entertainment for a long time now,” said R&R Partners CEO Billy Vassiliadis, whose agency produces Las Vegas tourism commercials. “Now you’ve got Adele, an absolute masterstroke, an international draw who is great for Caesars and great for the city. She’s a great accelerator of the narrative of Vegas coming back, bigger, badder, stronger.” ● The former Lakeside Inn and Casino on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe’s South Shore will soon be demolished to make way for a medical facility owned by Barton Health. Barton bought the land for $13.3 million earlier this year. The casino resort closed permanently in the wake of government-mandated closures due to Covid-19. ● Wisconsin’s Oneida Casino expected to take its first sports betting wagers November 30. It was the first locale in the state to offer legalized sports wagers. Fans can place bets on the Packers, Bucks, Brewers, and out-of-state college teams. • Google Ads has announced that sports betting services in Florida are now allowed to use its platform. The action followed a federal court ruling invalidating the Florida-Seminole Tribal Gaming Compact—effectively making Florida sports betting illegal. ● A seven-story, 100-room Wyndham Dolce Kosher House will open by October 2022 near the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, featuring a kosher restaurant and touchless “Sabbath elevator.” Developers also expect to break ground on a 200-room Wyndham Grand kosher hotel two blocks north, as part of a mixed-use development with 64 condos. ● A Jetsons-type futuristic circular pedestrian bridge to be constructed over the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue could be completed by the end of 2024. The bridge could cost as much as $40 million. The city estimates between 70,000 and 85,000 vehicles travel through the intersection daily, while thousands of pedestrians cross the four corners.