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IN THIS ISSUE WANT MORE? Head to lasvegasweekly.com.
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SUPERGUIDE
Your daily events planner, starring Silk Sonic, Metallica, the Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon, the Harlem Globetrotters and more.
THE STRIP New Cirque show Mad Apple heads for—where else?— New York-New York.
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COVER STORY
NOISE
Video games and Vegas have long been a good-time combo. We run down some of the history, and point the way to present-day fun.
Cheap Trick has four shows planned for the Strat Theater, but could that lead the way to more from the “I Want You to Want Me” gang?
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NEWS
VEGAS INC
Pandemic challenges still abound for the restaurant industry, yet the Strip continues to roll out exciting new spots.
ON THE COVER
GAME ON! Illustration by Ian Racoma
Local company Digital Trust helps folks navigate the world of cryptocurrency.
The Flaming Skull at Chica (Christopher DeVargas/ Staff)
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FOOD & DRINK Carversteak adds to Las Vegas’ storied steakhouse legacy. Plus, oven-roasted octopus and more at Chica.
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SUPERGUIDE ALLMAN FAMILY REVIVAL With The River Kittens, 7:30 p.m., the Theater at Virgin, axs.com.
MUSIC
(Courtesy)
SPORTS
GABRIEL BARCIACOLOMBO
ARTS
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NEBULA With Formula 400, Sonolith, Lazer Beam, 8 p.m., Count’s Vamp’d, eventbrite.com.
DARRELL HAMMOND 8:30 & 10:30 p.m., thru 2/27, Laugh Factory, ticketmaster. com.
MICHAEL GRIMM 7 p.m., Myron’s, thesmithcenter. com.
JEROME ISMA-AE 10 p.m., Commonwealth, elationlv.com.
The Neon Museum’s 2021 Artist in Residence focuses his mixed-media work on collections, memorialization and our digital imprints, and Simulations of the Sacred, his exhibit at Juhl Las Vegas, follows that trend. “We live in a sort of hyperreality through technology, media and digital spaces that question our perceptions of truth, memory and history,” Barcia-Colombo explained in a statement about the show. “How does technology change our perception of reality? What sort of digital relics will we leave behind? Does an actual in-person experience matter, or is the documentation of an experience equally valid?” This weekend marks your last chance to catch Simulations, in which he utilizes neon, digital technology and Mexican folk art—including sculptures inspired by signs in the Neon Museum collection, along with digital nicho boxes—to tackle some of those questions. Through February 26, noon-6 p.m., free, 353 E. Bonneville Ave. #181, neonmuseum.org. –Evelyn Mateos
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UNLV WIND ORCHESTRA: ESPRESSO EXPRESS 7:30 p.m., Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall, unlv.edu/ music.
DIRTY HONEY & MAMMOTH WVH 7:30 p.m., House of Blues, livenation.com.
PARTY
THURSDAY 24 FEB.
DJ PAULY D 10:30 p.m., Hakkasan Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.
BELLA FIASCO With P-dot, AndyOowops, 8 p.m., Oddwood, oddwoodbar.com. (Courtesy)
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FRIDAY 25 FEB.
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METALLICA With Greta Van Fleet, 6 p.m., Allegiant Stadium, ticketmaster.com. (AP Photo)
S U P E R
CHEAP TRICK & 2/26, 9 p.m., Strat Theater, tickets.thestrat. com.
ANDREW RAYEL 10:30 p.m., Marquee Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.
LOUIS THE CHILD With Charly Jordan, 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv. com.
UNLV DANCE: KINETIC LANGUAGES 7:30 p.m. (& 2/26, 2:30 p.m.), Judy Bayley Theatre, unlv. edu.
PETE BARBUTTI 8 p.m, Nevada Room, vegas nevadarooms. com.
DILLON FRANCIS 10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com.
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RAY ROMANO & DAVID SPADE & 2/26, 10 p.m., Mirage Theatre, ticketmaster. com.
GRANDTHEFT 10:30 p.m., Light Nightclub, thelightvegas. com.
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NGHTMRE 10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.
BLUE ÖYSTER CULT 8 p.m., Golden Nugget Showroom, ticketmaster.com.
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LUKE BRYAN & 2/26, 8 p.m., Resorts World Theatre, ticket master.com.
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SHANIA TWAIN & 2/26, 8 p.m., Zappos Theater, ticketmaster. com.
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FABOLOUS 10 p.m., Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com.
LVL UP EXPO Fandoms, unite! This annual happening returns to Las Vegas Convention Center for three days of anime, video games and technology. You don’t need to be fluent in nerd to enjoy this convention. Just bring your passion and closeted obsession with all things cosplay, esports, board games, wrestling and comic books, and you’ll be in great company. Guest speakers will include Tara Strong, who has voiced characters in Mortal Kombat X, Jak and Daxter and Batman: Arkham; Cherami Leigh, the voice behind Sword Art Online’s Asuna Yuuki; and Ray Chase, who you might recognize for his acting in Borderlands 3, Tales of Berseria and Kingdom Hearts. LVL Up’s K-pop dance battle and cosplay contest will surely turn heads, and there’s an official afterparty at the HyperX Arena at Luxor to keep the fandom fun going. February 25-27, $30-$150, Las Vegas Convention Center, lvlupexpo.com. –Amber Sampson
F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T S , V I S I T L A S V E G A S W E E K LY. C O M .
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SUPERGUIDE VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS VS. COLORADO AVALANCHE 7 p.m., T-Mobile Arena, axs.com.
MUSIC
PARTY
SILK SONIC
SPORTS
ARTS
FOOD + DRINK
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We can’t think of a better match made in funk than Silk Sonic. After Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars formed the soulful duo in 2021, they released “Leave the Door Open,” a velvety offering straight out of an episode of Soul Train. That song carried the pair to the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, where they performed for the very first time. “Leave the Door Open” went on to rule the urban airwaves, spending two weeks at No. 1 and 18 in the Top 10. Just recently, Paak and Mars reclaimed their No. 1 spot with “Smokin Out the Window,” a funky tune about a tricky woman who’s got the duo paying her bills and running the streets. Catch them in all their retro glory this week or at one of their other dates through May. 9 p.m., February 2526, March 2, $125+, Dolby Live, ticketmaster.com. –Amber Sampson (AP Photo)
ROCK ’N’ ROLL MARATHON Stretch now or forever hold your peace. The Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon, one of the largest running marathon series in the country, returns to Las Vegas this month, with a half marathon, 10K and, for the first time, 5K distance challenge. The marathon will take rock star runners up and down the glitz of Las Vegas Boulevard and under the neon lights of Downtown. There’s little chance of being bored with a view like that, but on-course live entertainment will also be on site to keep folks motivated and ready to run. February 2627, runrocknroll.com. –Amber Sampson
UNLV MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. BOISE STATE 7 p.m., Thomas & Mack Center, unlvtickets.com. BILLY JOEL 8 p.m., Allegiant Stadium, ticketmaster.com. DJ SNAKE 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zouk grouplv.com. NV BEER DASH 1 p.m., Cornerstone Park, raceroster.com. GRYFFIN 10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com. MARTIN GARRIX With Justin Mylo, 10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events. taogroup.com OPERA LEGENDS IN BLACK 3 p.m., Windmill Library Theatre, lvccld.org.
BIG SEAN 10 p.m., Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com.
SATURDAY 26 FEB.
LIL JON 10: 30 p.m., Hakkasan Night club, events. taogroup.com. ANDY GRAMMER 8 p.m., Green Valley Ranch Grand Events Center, ticket master.com. BOXING: COLBERT VS. GARCIA 7 p.m., the Chelsea, ticket master.com. AXIE OH & KAT CHO 7 p.m., the Writers Block, thewritersblock. org.
GUILTY BY DESIGN With Trvlrs, Retrogrvde, Tree Frog Express, Gerry Trevino, Sleep Eater, 5:30 p.m., Eagle Aerie Hall, eventbrite.com. THE THRILLSEEKERS 10 p.m., Blvck Box Studios, seetickets.us.
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SUNDAY 27 FEB.
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SETH RUDETSKY 2 p.m., Myron’s, thesmithcenter. com. SUNDAY JAZZ 11 a.m., Bootlegger Bistro, lvjs. org.
MOKSI
LIVING HISTORY: LIVE THEATRE OF ANCIENT MUMMIFICATION Noon, Natural History Museum, lvnhm.org.
SUPERGUIDE
HEATHER WALKER & THE SHADOW BAND 10 p.m., the Sand Dollar Lounge, thesanddollarlv. com.
A bass rumble straight out of the Netherlands shakes Fremont East on February 27, when Moksi brings its deep house beats to Discopussy. The Dutch duo—producers Samir and Diego—has been flying just beneath the mainstream for several years, but the duo are steadily gaining altitude through relentless touring and high-profile remixes for Valentino Khan and DJ Snake. If you’d like an advance taste of what they have to offer, stream the fittingly named “Downtown” from their full-length 2019 debut The Return of House Music, and marvel at how easily they can produce a deathless party banger. Moksi sounds like it’s destined to soar even higher, so get on board now. 10 p.m., $20. Discopussy, seetickets. us. –Geoff Carter
MONDAY 28 FEB.
PAULY SHORE: STICK WITH THE DANCING 8 p.m., Wiseguys, vegas.wiseguys comedy.com. YO YOLIE 10:30 p.m., Jewel Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.
JON LOVITZ 7 p.m., Laugh Factory, ticket master.com DJ CO1 9 p.m., Emporium, emporium arcadebar.com. DJ DAN VS. DJ MES 9 p.m., Oddwood, oddwoodbar. com.
F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T S , V I S I T L A S V E G A S W E E K LY. C O M .
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SUPERGUIDE WEDNESDAY 02 TUESDAY 01
THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS
7 p.m., Thomas & Mack Center, unlvtickets.com.
MAR.
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MUSIC
KATY PERRY 8 p.m., Resorts World Theatre, axs.com. PARTY
SPORTS
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LIVE: MIREYA MAYOR 7:30 p.m., Reynolds Hall, thesmithcenter. com.
ARTS
FOOD + DRINK
DRAIWATCH: MARIA ROMANO 11:30 p.m., Drai’s After Hours, draisgroup.com. UNLV WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VS. UNR 6 p.m., Cox Pavilion, unlvtickets.com. HANNAH WANTS 10:30 p.m., Marquee Nightclub Library, events. taogroup.com.
SUPERGUIDE
PAC-12 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT Thru 3/6, times vary, Michelob Ultra Arena, pac-12.com/ tickets.
UNLV MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. WYOMING 7:30 p.m., Thomas & Mack Center, unlvtickets.com.
S U P E R G U I D E
COMEDY
DJ CROOKED
MISC
MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA With Foxing, Michigander, 6:30 p.m., Brooklyn Bowl, ticketweb.com.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS VS. SAN JOSE SHARKS 7 p.m., T-Mobile Arena, axs.com.
UNLV SYMPHONIC WINDS 7:30 p.m., Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall, unlv.edu.
UNLV CHAMBER ORCHESTRA 7 p.m., Clark County Library, lvccld.org.
ROB GUSON 10:30 p.m., Omnia, events. taogroup.com.
F O R M O R E U P C O M I N G E V E N T S , V I S I T L A S V E G A S W E E K LY. C O M .
He’s the founder of the KNYEW streetwear brand, inspired by his native New York but originated right here in Las Vegas Chinatown. He’s also one of the hosts of the influential, industry insider podcast Reflections of a DJ. Crooked has never been just a DJ, always bringing his own sense of style and culture to the Vegas club scene and connecting the dots between the party and the music and fashion that impacts the lifestyle. He’s made a big move for 2022 by signing up with blossoming agency Sleeping Giant Music, and now Crooked is back on the Strip with an EBC at Night set to kick off what will undoubtedly be a monster month of March in Vegas. 10:30 p.m., $30-$50, Encore Beach Club, wynnsocial. com. –Brock Radke
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O U R
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AND RECEIVE A
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CENTER OF THE ACTION BY C. MOON REED
Gaming expert-turned-restaurateur Jeff Hwang on counting cards and the future of the Arts District Jeff Hwang is a Las Vegas renaissance man. He is, or has been, a gaming industry expert, an author, a poker player, a card counter, a game designer, a stock analyst and now, a restaurateur. Hwang, who learned how to count cards as a teenager, has become an expert on Omaha poker, which he calls “the highest action game around” and “hold ’em on steroids.” Hwang’s books include Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy and The Modern Baseball Card Investor. Last year, he opened Taverna Costera, a combination restaurant, coffee shop, bar and music venue Downtown at 1031 S. Main Street. As that latest chapter unfolds, Hwang spoke to the Weekly about all things Las Vegas. Jeff Hwang on Taverna Costera’s roof (Wade Vandervort/Staff)
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How are you finding life as a restaurateur? I never really thought of myself as a restaurateur. My role was building this place. It was [my chef’s] job to be the restaurateur and develop the menu. But he’s gone. Now we’re building the things I want. I’m not a restaurant expert … but I’ve learned a lot about this business. My philosophy now is that I’m going to do the things I want, and people are going to like it or not. Why did you put your venue in the Arts District? In Las Vegas, there’s the Strip, there’s Downtown Fremont Street and now you have the Arts District, which is kind of a third theme park. It’s walkable real estate without the price-gouging of the Strip. And it’s all local, so there’s a lot of personality. In the past few years, this place has grown dramatically. There’s something new coming in here every two, three weeks. Unless it’s First Friday, most Arts District activity happens south of Charleston Boule-
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Vegas [to get] a dual masters degree in hotel and business at UNLV. I started working for a company called HBS to do hotel and gaming consulting. That’s where the whole concept of scale and the multi-use concept comes from. Do you still play poker? I’ve been retired almost since I started working full time. Once you quit playing, it’s really hard to get back into it, because you have $4,000 swings, which you can [only] handle when you’re playing every day.
vard. Why did you choose the relatively quiet north side of the street? I’ve played [guitar at] ReBar many times, so I [first] wanted to be on the other side of the street. [But after a lease fell through], we started poking around this side. I’ve got … the only rooftop in the Arts District. The guys who own the building … were willing to invest in us. The catch is there’s no foot traffic on this side of the street … so it’s our job to anchor the development of this area. Where do you think the Arts District will be in the next five years? Things are changing. The English Hotel is opening, 50 to 60 yards from here. That will change the dynamic of this area completely. As soon as Able Baker opened up on the far end of the Arts District, all that real estate between Able Baker and ReBar started to fill in. The next step is this side of the street. Now, we’re at the endpoint of the endpoint, [but] in five years, we’ll be the center of the next wave of development. You grew up in Florida and went to college in the Midwest. How did you end up in the gaming industry? When I was 17, I was on a cruise ship with my family. I watched my brother play blackjack. I’d heard the game was beatable. Before I turned 18, I started reading books on counting cards. When I
turned 18, I started going on cruise ships and counting cards. [When] I went off to college in St. Louis, it was the beginning of the boom of the riverboats in Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi. So when I turned 21, I started going to riverboat casinos and driving down to Tunica to play blackjack. You get free food. It was a lot of fun. How long did it take for you to get good at blackjack? It’s just a mathematics game. The trick is making lots of money, which is a very different game, because you have to beat the casinos without getting caught. But the game I was playing wasn’t a huge sum of money. Around that time, I also started writing about the stock market, did internships at Fidelity and the Motley Fool. Nobody on Wall Street had seen these riverboat casinos, and I was driving around visiting all of them. That’s how I got started with gaming and writing. You’ve written four books on poker strategy. How did you transition from blackjack to poker? The poker boom happened in 2003, right when I graduated. So I started driving around playing poker. I started looking at casinos from all these different angles. It was a fun time, a very profitable time. It was a good education to go out to a casino and win. … I came to
Do you still watch the gaming industry? Constantly, but it stopped being exciting like 10 years ago. How could the gaming industry possibly become boring? Because the whole market is mature. In 2014, the skill-based gaming companies started talking about video game gambling. The argument was [that] millennials don’t like to gamble, which was a bullsh*t argument, because it wasn’t true. The reality is that the price of gambling has been rising for the past 20 years. It’s simple economics: When you raise the house advantage, people are going to gamble less. The market has been growing since the ’90s with riverboats. Now everybody has access to gambling, so it’s not a novelty anymore. Gambling hasn’t changed much for the better in two decades. Yet you still design games, right? I started a game development company about five or six years ago. I created my own lineup of games. I sold that to Galaxy Gaming this [past] summer. What types of games have you designed? There’s a blackjack game where you can split any two cards, and double down for up to four times. … The pots can get pretty big pretty fast. The way my games are designed is to put a lot of action in the smallest space possible.
THE WEEKLY Q+A
Your background’s in gaming, so why enter the restaurant and bar world? I’ve been studying the gaming industry for two decades. I did the market feasibility study on the Las Vegas Sands Spain project. They were looking to build a Las Vegas Strip all at once in Madrid or Barcelona. That was the genesis for this, because this is a multiuse project. It’s a restaurant and a coffee shop with a rooftop bar, in the same vein as a modern, integrated resort-casino. The principle is scale. In gaming, the bigger the casino, the bigger the draw … and the more casinos you can put in one spot, you create a destination. In this property, by packing all these things together, it’s more reasons to come here. All these components cross-market each other. If you come in the morning for coffee, you’d probably come for the restaurant, or you’d probably come back for entertainment on the roof.
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From arcade bars to celebrated game studios, Las Vegas’ pixelated roots run deep When you say “gaming” in Las Vegas, you’re most likely talking about gambling. And make no mistake, this city has done more to shape, promote and advance casino gaming than any other place in the world. But most everywhere else, “gaming” refers to video games and the culture that has developed around them over some 50 years of arcade, computer and console machines. And Las Vegas has played a role in that history, too. Read on to learn some of the ways Vegas has transformed video gaming—and how it’s helping to set the stage for the industry’s next big leap.
Las Vegans Louis Castle and Brett Wesley Sperry reinvented strategy gaming with Westwood Studios
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BY AMBER SAMPSON ome of the most popular real-time strategy titles today can be traced back to Dune II and Command & Conquer, two of the most influential releases in recent memory for the genre. And the world has Las Vegas’ own Westwood Studios to thank for that. “Video game history in Las Vegas goes back before Westwood, but not much before Westwood,” says co-founder Louis Castle. Castle and his partner Brett Wesley Sperry (owner of Downtown’s Brett Wesley Gallery) worked on several programming contracts together before they formed Westwood in 1985. Sperry and Castle made a profound team. Both programmers shared an interest in art, something they wouldn’t discover
until they met in 1983. Early on, unreleased computer game at Castle painted, studied fine art age 16 and continued working on and computer science in college others during late nights in his and worked at Century 23, an Apuniversity computer lab. ple computer store that proved Westwood’s early days were to be quite special for him humble, to put it lightand his colleagues. ly. “We started in a “Numerous peoconverted garage back ple who became very room at my parent’s successful in the house, where I had all video game industry my computer equipall worked at this little ment and a Black Hole Louis Castle store in Las Vegas at pinball machine,” some point,” he says. “It Castle remembers. just goes to illustrate The duo spent months how incredibly small working alone (and the video game indusbarely sleeping) try was at that time.” until they hired Barry Sperry gravitated Green to program toward architecture the Atari ST version and photography but of Temple of Apshai Brett Wesley Sperry found himself drawn to Trilogy. computers after a friend showed Porting games consumed him how to program graphics. Westwood’s early work, but by “I took to it like a fish to water,” 1988, the company had begun he says. Sperry created his first creating titles of its own. One
of them was 1991’s Eye of the Beholder, a breakout role-playing game that sold more than 100,000 copies, according to Castle. A year later, Virgin Interactive Entertainment bought Westwood, which Castle says allowed its founders to finally draw a decent salary and add more talent to the team, including future A Public Fit theater company co-founder Joseph Kucan and award-winning game composer Frank Klepacki. If Eye of the Beholder put Westwood on the map for RPGs, 1992’s Dune II: The Battle for Arrakis put Westwood on a throne for real-time strategy. Sperry remembers the day Strategic Simulations Inc. executive Chuck Kroegel told him strategy games were dead. Sperry doggedly disagreed. Those games just needed an adrenaline shot, he reasoned. The developer connected with Virgin Interactive President Martin Alper. “I said to Martin, ‘I’ve got a new idea that the industry has never seen before. I want to do a real-time strategy game.’ And Martin doesn’t even know what I’m talking about, but he goes, ‘OK. That sounds like something Virgin would want to do.’” The game would be “pretty hardcore,” the young Sperry decided. Fast, different. It would also be a prototype. “The next game after that will be the real breakthrough,” he recalls confidently believing. Alper, who had rights to certain films and books, offered up David Lynch’s Dune as a potential backdrop, and Westwood ran with it.
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Dune II established itself as a blueprint for real-time strategy games. The title sold more than 100,000 units, according to Castle, even though game piracy was running rampant. “If we could go back in time and see, I think Dune II might have been played by well over a million people,” Castle says. As predicted, Westwood delivered its breakthrough game with 1995’s Command & Conquer, which spawned a franchise that has sold more than 30 million copies, according to an Electronic Arts press release. “You never know if you’re gonna have a million dollar franchise. You don’t know that when you’re working on the game,” Castle says. “But when you feel the entire studio wanting to play the game all the time, when you have to remind people to get back to work and stop playing, you know you’re on to something big.” Though Westwood was later bought by Electronic Arts—and its LA and Las Vegas teams were merged with DreamWorks to create EA Los Angeles—its legacy lives on. Las Vegas’ Petroglyph Games consists of many former Westwood employees, and other alumni went on to become executives at high-profile game companies like EA, Blizzard and Zenga. Castle still works in games at GreenPark Sports, while Sperry has returned to art and architecture, though he also privately consults on games. Their paths have forked, but there’s still much to look back on with pride, Sperry says. “It validates that working really hard, having really high standards and being exposed to that culture and that dynamic when we were in our 20s and early 30s, can set the course for so many good things later on.”
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GAME ON!
Games created by Westwood Studios with archival photos from the studio in its heyday (Staff)
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Find unlimited fun at these local arcades
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BY GEOFF CARTER Emporium The Vegas location of this national arcade and bar chain, set within the hi-tech fun house Area15, is a spectacular destination for 21-and-over fans of old-school video games. Live DJs spin house, hip-hop and techno sets; a heavily-stocked bar pours craft beers, draft cocktails and “boozy slushies;” and the arcade floor features classics like Konami’s side-scroller The Simpsons, Williams’ beat-’em-up Smash TV and Atari’s unique maze game Marble Madness. Mix things up with a few games of pool or Skee-Ball, located on the ground floor. Area15, emporiumarcadebar.com.
Pinball Hall of Fame Though its website promises 25,000 square feet of “pinball and nothing but pinball,” the all-ages Pinball Hall of Fame also offers a terrific selection of arcade classics, such as Midway’s Tron, Cinematronics’ Dragon’s Lair, Atari’s 720°, Sega’s Star Wars Racer and Midway’s Tapper. So extensive is the PHOF’s video game collection that one Weekly staffer recently remarked that they can easily spend an hour there, in sight of nearly every pinball machine known to humanity, and blow through a cup of quarters without playing even one game of pinball. 4925 Las Vegas Blvd. S., pinballmuseum.org.
Game Nest Hidden away in a Chinatown strip mall, Game Nest is an all-ages, pay-by-the-hour arcade featuring offbeat Japanese imports. Many of them are rhythm games that require you to beat something in time with an onscreen prompt, such as Namco’s Taiko no Tatsujin (taiko drums) and Konami’s Bishi Bashi (oversized, colorful buttons). This is also where you’ll find Taito’s glorious Cho Chabudai Gaeshi, in which the player ruins a social occasion by flipping over a tea table in anger. (You get points for how many friends and relatives you knock down in the process.) Game Nest also features games with more traditional controls, including “Luigi’s Mansion” and “Tekken 5”—though at just $10 for 60 minutes of unlimited play, you can afford to try most everything here. 4525 W. Spring Mountain Road #112, gamenestlv.com.
Player 1 Video Game Bar Anyone who frequented Fremont East’s late, great Insert Coin(s) will find much to love at this Midtown bar and arcade. For just $8 ($5 for Nevada locals with valid ID), 21-and-over guests get unlimited access to a giant room of vintage games, from Xenophobe to Battlezone to Qbert. The bar offers 50 taps and 150 bottled beers, a selection of specialty cocktails and craft sodas for non-drinkers; they’ll keep you fueled while you re-acquaint yourself with Player 1’s complement of classic consoles, from the Atari 2600 up through the Wii U. They also offer current-generation consoles, and lots of comfortable places to play them. 2797 S. Maryland Parkway #24, player1vegas.com.
Emporium Bar (Courtesy/ Area15)
With Downtown’s Insert Coin(s), Christopher LaPorte married arcades with Vegas nightlife
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even years after Christopher LaPorte closed Insert Coin(s), people still recognize the owner when they see him. “That’s why I love Las Vegas. We didn’t forget about a f*cking bar,” says LaPorte, who opened the video game bar and lounge on Fremont Street in 2011. “It touched a lot of people, and that means a lot to me. I attribute all of that to the fact that we were proud of ourselves for being video gamers.” LaPorte, who grew up playing arcade games in a New York laundromat with his mother, began conceptualizing Insert Coin(s) well before he jumped into nightlife. The Rutgers University graduate moved to Las Vegas as a medical device sales representative, and part of that gig included taking doctors around the city, especially to bars. “I would take my clients to
these different places, and there was always a video poker machine,” LaPorte says. “I was like, ‘Why don’t we have a video gaming machine?’” New York’s Barcade and Portland’s Ground Kontrol inspired LaPorte to bring a similar video game bar concept to Vegas, but with a very specific caveat: “Don’t typecast this venue where it’s just a nerd bar.” Insert Coin(s) proved to be anything but. DJs pumped through the hits nightly. Dynamic artwork from local
muralists adorned the walls. Guests brought pocket change to play retro arcade cabinet games. Clubbers ordered bottle service with their pick of a video game like holy sh*t, you’re a hardcore system (Atari, Xbox, PlayStagamer?” tion, ColecoVision) at their Even UFC President Dana table. And at the bar, servers White was. “He would come in passed patrons controllers to and be like, ‘All right, I want play video games on the overthat video game system, and head TVs—always two, because hey DJ, play the Beastie Boys,’” no one should have to call “next.” LaPorte recalls with a smile. “I’m all about Tron and DonIt might not have seemed like key Kong and the old cabinet it at the time, but Insert games. I’m talking, like, an Coins(s)—along with Atari 2600; that’s what I Fremont East staples grew up on. And to see like the Beat coffeethis type of nostalgia, house, Downtown it just brought the kid Cocktail Room and out in you,” says Colin Beauty Bar—stood on Fukunaga, owner of the front lines of the the beloved FukuburgChristopher Downtown revival. er food truck, which LaPorte The impact of Tony supplied the eats for Hsieh’s Downtown Project, Insert Coin(s) visitors. “I wish I along with the debuts of the could make kids understand how Smith Center, Mob Museum Insert Coin(s) really hit your and Neon Museum, were still a soul for the old-school guys.” year away. And frankly, the area Insert Coin(s) drew people was still rough and overrun with in by way of what LaPorte calls questionable activity. his “mouse trap.” The owner “The early east Fremont days purposely left the lounge doors were a Wild West,” Fukunaga open to capture wanderers off remembers. “There used to be a the street. fire lane right in front of Insert “[It was an] inclusivity space, Coin(s), and we’d park right where a stripper from Sapphire in front. Not one person said could be playing Mortal Kombat anything, because they’d rather with some lawyer from an office see that than whatever else was down the block Downtown,” going on.” LaPorte says. “The joke I would Insert Coin(s) closed in make was, ‘How many gamers July 2015, though LaPorte has can I get out of the closet?’ How been working toward a similar many people would I see and be concept for when cannabis lounges begin opening around town later this year. Meanwhile, more video game bars have popped up across the Valley, following in LaPorte’s footsteps (see Page 18). If you see LaPorte on the street, don’t be shy about shouting out a friendly “hadouken.” The longtime gamer might be a serious businessman these days, but make no mistake: “I can kick your ass in Street Fighter,” he assures.
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BY AMBER SAMPSON
L A S V E G A S W E E K LY
Insert Coin(s) (Courtesy/ Peter Suh)
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Las Vegas offers a one-of-a-kind backdrop in these classic games BY AMBER SAMPSON
Game developers can’t keep their hands off Las Vegas. There’s something about the Strip, about all those bygone landmarks—and the ones still standing—that inspire developers to keep rendering our city into games, often with great detail. Here are some of our favorite games putting Vegas on the (digital) map. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Rockstar Games’ second-best-selling GTA takes place in San Andreas, a fictional world inspired by LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas. The game’s Las Venturas features hilariously titled remodels of Vegas landmarks from the early ’90s. Cruising the Strip, you can spot “the Camel’s Toe,” a re-skin of the Luxor’s pyramid and Sphinx. Further north is Treasure Island, pirate theme and ship still intact—only now, it’s called “Pirate in Men’s Pants.” Rockstar also includes a glittering stretch of the Fremont Street Experience, the Bonanza Gift Shop and Caesars Palace, aka “Caligula’s Palace,” which serves as the spot for the game’s biggest heist. And over in the desert, a secret base known as “Area 69” remains heavily guarded.
Hitman: Blood Money Agent 47 checks in for business in the Las Vegas-based mission “A House of Cards.” His task? Eliminate three high-profile targets who have conspired to trade important DNA material. And because it’s Vegas, and Vegas is nothing without a good heist, he needs to steal some diamonds and escape. The hit happens at the “Shamal Hotel and Casino,” but before entering, you can spot the “Belmondo Hotel,” a direct nod to the Bellagio. It’s probably all a setup, but in terms of re-creating Vegas, this is a good one.
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These Vegas brothers hope to make skill-based gaming more mainstream BY AMBER SAMPSON “We’ve had a lot of people who have jumped on the bandwagon, thinking that this would be a good idea,” says Ben Fox, co-founder of Las Vegas’ annual Casino Esport Conference, a two-day event with the goal informing casino leaders on how to integrate video gaming successfully. “Their approach is wrong, because they approach it from whatever they think works instead of approaching it from what works for gamers or video game enthusiasts,” Fox says. If there’s anyone who understands the Venn diagram of those worlds, it’s Fox and his brother Ari. The two have worked in the casino industry for more than 25 years, and in that
Ari (left) and Ben Fox (Courtesy/Photo Illustration)
Fallout New Vegas Obsidian Entertainment pored over every detail to get this version of post-apocalyptic Vegas right. You awaken from your dirt nap in Goodsprings, Nevada, where the town’s schoolhouse and Pioneer Saloon can be accurately traced on Google Maps. As New Vegas opens up, finding landmarks becomes a game in itself. Favorite moments include fighting off escaped jailers on the tracks of the Desperado roller coaster in Primm, discovering the armored raiders who have overtaken Red Rock Canyon, declining propositions from a feisty robot at the “Atomic Wrangler” casino and befriending a grotesque group of super mutants at Mount Charleston. This one gets our local stamp of approval.
Gameacon offers a place for gamers to gather, play upcoming indie games, dress in cosplay, listen to panels and hop into virtual reality. Esports are still a part of the agenda, but “the offering can’t just be esports,” Fox says. “Gameacon offers more. It’s a festival.” In the past, Las Vegas casinos have bet on esports breaking big, but “they’re [still] missing elements,” Fox says. “They’re missing the community.” Running a convention like Gameacon helps Fox understand what resonates with gamers. And with that knowledge, he can continue to educate industry leaders at CEC—and try bridging these two communities together once and for all. “We’re watching and observing and we’re providing,” Fox says. “And that’s a lot different than coming up with an idea in a vacuum.”
CASINO ESPORT CONFERENCE March 23-24, Alexis Park Resort, casinoesportconf.com.
Call of Duty: Ghosts The 10th installment of the Call of Duty franchise sends players to a casino safe house inspired by the Luxor. Naturally, the mission turns lethal. At one epic point, you head outdoors, take cover behind broken Egyptian statues and start shooting down a helicopter. Vegas looks sand-ravaged and in post-war shambles. A post-apocalyptic north Las Vegas Boulevard also appears in Ghosts’ multiplayer map “Octane.” This map favors Downtown with a motel, pawn shop and gentleman’s club featured on the block—next to a destroyed tank.
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t happens like a stack of collapsing dominoes. Downtown Grand begins hosting video gaming competitions inside its esports lounge in 2016. Millennial Esports, a studio located in Downtown’s Neonopolis, opens in 2017. In 2018, the multilevel LAX nightclub at Luxor transitions into HyperX Esports Arena. And that same year, Rio debuts the Wall, a lounge for casual and competitive video gaming. Today, only HyperX Esports Arena remains. So here’s the billion-dollar question: If esports are a billion-dollar industry, why haven’t they hit it off in our billion-dollar casino town?
time, they’ve developed relationships with video game developers from around the world. That’s why you’ll see guest speakers at the CEC like Tyler Bushnell, son of Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and CEO of the arcade company Polycade; but also members of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and legal and wagering experts. The Fox brothers look at the big picture, which doesn’t focus solely on esports. In 2014, the pair hosted their first Gameacon (Game Arts Convention), a traveling convention that will land in Las Vegas again this August. “We came up with the idea of creating something similar to the Sundance Film Festival for video gaming,” Fox explains, noting it was originally for developers to showcase their work but has since become what he calls “the Comic-Con of games.”
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Caesars Palace Game devs’ obsession with Caesars Palace dates back 20-plus years. One of the earlier love letters came from the developer Virgin Interactive, whose NES and Game Boy casino simulator Caesars Palace spawned sequels on multiple platforms during the ’90s. The goal of the game is to win big at the famed casino, but later iterations introduce fun role-playing mechanics.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
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NEWS 2
MYSTERY INGREDIENT? The Southern Nevada Health District is probing more than 30 reports of “unusual illness” by people who ate at northwest Valley Thai restaurant Secret of Siam in January or February, the agency said in a release. The restaurant is currently closed while the matter is investigated.
USHER MOVES TO PARK MGM After 20 shows at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Grammy-winning pop and R&B superstar Usher will slide south on the Strip, to Dolby Live at Park MGM. Usher: The Vegas Residency will pick up on July 15, with 23 performances scheduled through October 29.
REGENTS END PROBE INTO CHANCELLOR’S ALLEGATIONS
N E W S
Seven members of the Nevada Board of Regents disregarded the advice of the board’s counsel and joined a 9-3 majority February 28 voting to acknowledge the conclusion of a special investigation into hostile-workplace claims lodged by Chancellor Melody Rose. The vote during a special meeting also served to reinstate Regents Cathy McAdoo and Patrick Carter as the board’s chair and vice chair. The investigation stemmed from accusations Rose made in October that McAdoo and Carter subjected Rose to gender discrimination and retaliation in an orchestrated effort to oust her. She also alleged that McAdoo and Carter had committed a host of ethics breaches, code-of-conduct infractions and possibly violations of Nevada’s open meetings law. A follow-up complaint by Rose named Regents Joseph Arrascada, Patrick Boylan, Byron Brooks, Jason Geddes and Laura Perkins. McAdoo and Carter had stepped down from their leadership posts last fall (but retained their seats) for the duration of the probe. Las Vegas law firm Kamer Zucker Abbott, after a four month investigation, found a lack of evidence for the claim of sex-based discrimination, but it did find instances of a “challenging” and “inappropriate” work environment as well as possible ethics violations. McAdoo, Carter, Perkins, Geddes, Arrascada, Boylan and Brooks joined Regents Mark Doubrava, and Lois Tarkanian in the majority. Regents Carol Del Carlo and Amy Carvalho, who served as temporary chair and vice chair during the investigation, and Donald Sylvantee McMichael Sr. voted against the motion. Regent John T. Moran had dropped off the call during the vote but had expressed opposition to making any changes to the leadership. –Jessica Hill
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EICHEL BREAKS OUT Center Jack Eichel, the Vegas Golden Knights’ star midseason acquisition, scored his first goal in 388 days to propel the visitors to a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks February 20. Eichel, who suffered a neck injury last March, also contributed an assist, as Vegas ended a three-game slide.
CONTEST MERGES FILMMAKING, CHARITABLE GIVING
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AVI KWA AME MONUMENT PROGRESSES The Clark County Commission voted February 15 to send President Joe Biden and Congress a resolution urging them to designate 450,000 acres of land around Searchlight as a national monument. The area, known as Avi Kwa Ame, which means Spirit Mountain in Mojave, is the basis of several Native American tribes’ creation stories and is a popular outdoor recreation spot. Tribes, off-roading recreation groups and conservationists have been working for years to have the land designated as a national monument to protect it from development. At today’s meeting, several residents of nearby Cal-NevAri spoke against the proposed monument, saying they were worried it could hinder expansion of their community. Under the Antiquities Act of 1906, a national monument is a designation for public lands established either by Congress or through a presidential executive order. Spirit Mountain is considered sacred by 10 Yuman-speaking tribes, along with the Hopi and Chemehuevi Paiute. The public lands are also home to Joshua trees, petroglyphs and threatened wildlife. –Jessica Hill
UNLV men’s basketball great Robert Smith gets a hug from his son Jamaal during a ceremony retiring Robert Smith’s No. 10 jersey at halftime of UNLV’s 72-51 win over Colorado State at the Thomas & Mack Center. Robert Smith played in 92 games from 1974 to 1977 and helped the program to its first Final Four appearance in 1977. (Steve Marcus/Staff)
action against Ukraine] is a flagrant “ [Russia’s violation of international law and demands a
firm response from the international community.” –U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking from the East Room of the White House on February 22
IN THE NEWS
One year ago, local actor and producer Ben Stobber and local filmmaker Jeremy Settles launched the Lucky Sevens Film Challenge. The aptly named contest invited seven Las Vegas filmmakers to produce and direct a film in one week on a $7,000 budget. February 26 and 27, three of those films— along with four others that were not specifically produced for the contest, but chosen by supporters of Lucky Sevens’ fundraising campaign—will screen at Galaxy Theatres at the Boulevard Mall, with the proceeds from the seven screenings going to the charities of the filmmakers’ choosing. Even though the challenge only resulted in three produced films, Stobber says he’s happy with the results. “In my career as an actor and filmmaker, I find that this can be a very self-focused industry. … This was an opportunity to give everyone an equal opportunity to see what they could create,” he says. “And it’s raising awareness for seven charitable organizations.” Screenings by the three filmmakers who completed the challenge—Brenda Daly’s revenge thriller Rogue Angel, Dale Neven’s time travel drama House in Time and Mike Conway’s survival horror film Drone Down—were close to selling out at press time, with the proceeds benefiting Project 150, Hookers for Jesus and Heaven Can Wait Animal Society, respectively. Other screenings will benefit BurlyCares, the Leah Willis Dance Arts program and more. For more information on the films, charities and event tickets, visit Lucky Sevens’ Facebook event page at bit.ly/3LPJRJt. –LVW Staff
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H O S P I T A L I T Y
NO STOPPING THE STRIP
Bar Zazu’s interior spaces and sangria rojo (Courtesy/Sabin Orr)
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BY BROCK RADKE Below: Peter Luger Steak House (Courtesy)
Despite industry challenges, the Boulevard continues adding to its restaurant portfolio
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rants on the Strip despite ongoing pandemic issues. “We had a stockpile of projects that were on hold due to some overall uncertainty, and we’ve been able to announce many things rapidly,” says O’Donnell, who previously served as regional vice president of food and beverage for all Caesars Las Vegas resorts. “It’s exciting to continue some of those relationships we had in place with new projects and to start with these new folks.” As COVID restrictions have waned, Caesars Entertainment has focused on dining—and specifically on its celebrity chef partnerships— because customers spent more time and money at restaurants in the past two years, O’Donnell says. “Where dinner may have been a prelude to a bigger night out in the past, oftentimes now dinner is the highlight or headline event for an evening, and that gives us more opportunity to expand on our stable and make sure we’re giving guests what they’re looking for.” And that’s just one casino resort company. Other prominent 2022 arrivals planned for the Strip include Wakuda at Palazzo, Villa Azur at the Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian,
Ballo at Sahara, Toca Madera at the Shops at Crystals and RPM Italian at the Forum Shops at Caesars. But what appears to be a boom time for big resort restaurants doesn’t equate to actual immunity to the challenges of the times for Las Vegas Strip dining. “Las Vegas has been through this before. When we opened CityCenter in the middle of a financial crisis, we had to find ways to overcome it until operations went back to what they were supposed to be,” says Resorts World Vice President of Food and Beverage Bart Mahoney, who has served in similar roles for Golden Entertainment, Wynn Las Vegas and MGM Resorts. “[The Strip] is not immune. We’re all looking at occupancies being affected, but it also give us an opportunity to retool things, to review menus and do more research and come out with a better product.” The restaurant portfolio at Resorts World was already massive when it opened on the Strip last summer, and even more F&B venues have been added in recent months—Carversteak, Caviar Bar, Bar Zazu, Mulberry Street Pizzeria and Tacos El Cabron. Just last
week, Resorts World announced it will be adding two new plant-based restaurant options this spring from chef Tal Ronnen. Chef and restaurateur Nicole Brisson and her partner Jason Rocheleau operate the new Bar Zazu, an upscale lounge with a new take on European-style tapas, along with Italian restaurant Brezza, which opened with the resort in June. Brisson says Las Vegas Strip restaurants have been able to thrive during the pandemic in part because affluent diners have a greater appreciation for quality culinary experiences after months and years of cooking at home and ordering takeout. “I think [COVID] made Americans really appreciate premium product,” she says. “Where can I get a good cut of beef, a truffle, a unique mushroom? It forced us all to cook at home. And it made me realize how the food chain is so important, and that our best way to get through would be to collaborate and support each other.” Brisson, who has run restaurants on and off the Strip throughout her career, says her venues at Resorts World has largely avoided the staffing issues that have wreaked havoc on many restaurants across the country. “We have been in this sort of bubble of opening in a new place on the Strip, but we’ve been very lucky that a lot of my crew that I’ve worked with through the years were looking forward to coming back,” she says, though she notes that other unique-to-the-Strip challenges have popped up. “We have huge swings in business when there’s not a convention here, where we can go down to 20 to 30 covers and then there’s a convention and you walk in the door with 350 covers.”
NEWS
he National Restaurant Association released its state of the industry report earlier this month, and key findings illustrate that restaurants across the country are recovering but still facing significant challenges brought on by the pandemic. More than half of operators polled said it would be a year or more before business conditions return to normal, and 96% said they experienced supply delays or shortages last year that have continued into 2022. A recent statement from the Independent Restaurant Coalition notes that despite adding 108,000 jobs in January, the restaurant and bar industry remains down 948,700 jobs from pre-pandemic levels, and the unemployment rate for leisure and hospitality is around 8.2%. The IRC points out that job growth has stalled in 2022 compared to December (163,000 jobs) and November (191,000). Meanwhile, on the Las Vegas Strip, huge casino restaurants appear to be running on all cylinders and are especially packed with diners on weekends. A significant batch of new dining destinations opened doors in late 2021 or announced upcoming openings. During the first few weeks of 2022, Caesars Entertainment announced it will soon open Martha Stewart’s first restaurant, the Bedford at Paris Las Vegas; Martin Yan’s M.Y. Asia at Bally’s; and Peter Luger Steak House at Caesars Palace. Those projects will join previously announced high-profile food and beverage arrivals including another Nobu restaurant at Paris, Dominque Ansel’s bakery at Caesars and Buddy Valastro’s Boss Café at the Linq. Terrence O’Donnell, vice president and assistant general manager of Caesars Palace and the Cromwell, says it’s an exciting time for restau-
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NIGHTS
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2.24.22
IN GOOD E SPIRITS
A new hospitalityindustry event drops anchor in Las Vegas
C U L T U R E
BY BROCK RADKE
verybody in the Las Vegas bar and club scene is familiar with Tony Abou-Ganim, “the Modern Mixologist” who (literally) wrote the book on classic-to-modern cocktails, won big on Iron Chef, and developed pioneering bar programs at iconic destinations like Bellagio, Caesars Palace and T-Mobile Arena. Before the pandemic arrived, Abou-Ganim partnered with friends and fellow beverage industry leaders Julio Bermejo and David Grapshi to develop a new event that would celebrate and evaluate the world’s best spirit brands, while connecting to the public and all of us ordinary booze enthusiasts in a more meaningful way. After two years of COVID delays, the TAG Global Spirits Awards have finally come to fruition, and of course, there’s no better place than Las Vegas to host. Events kicked off this week and continue through February 26 at Delano Las Vegas, the cool hotel attached to Mandalay Bay. “We’re building something that we are looking to grow from year to year that will not only be great for our profession and industry but great for Las Vegas,” AbouGanim says. “As it hopefully expands, we should see more people come to visit from out of town and out of the country … and it means the world to me to be able to bring this to Las Vegas, the nightlife capital of the world.” Vegas has been AbouGanim’s home since 1998, and he has noticed—like all of us ordinary nightclub and bar enthusiasts—that Vegas nightlife has continued to grow and diversify, even through the pandemic. The
booming megaclubs will always be ready and waiting on the Strip, but more socially inclined, cocktail-focused offerings keep popping up in casino venues and off the Strip at refined restaurants and bars. “The social aspect of what we do is the most crucial,” he says. “Our job is to make our guest’s day a little brighter than when they first walked in, and those smaller, more intimate settings really enhance that experience. I’m a bartender, but my job is not just to make you a drink. You have to bring worlds together with personality and all the tools you have.” Another important tip: You can’t make a great cocktails without great spirits. At the heart of the TAG Awards are multiple rounds of judging by one of the most elite, international panel of experts every assembled. But things really take off when the gap between industry and consumer is bridged by tastings, parties and dinners at places like Libertine Social, Border Grill and Lupo by Wolfgang Puck. The event’s culmination will be the Pink Tie Gala, February 26 at Skyfall Lounge, with music, food and drinks and the announcements of the final winners. Tickets ($125-$175) were still available at press time, with the gala benefiting the Helen David Relief Fund, supporting bar industry pros across the country who are dealing with cancer. Go to tagspiritsawards.com to get them. “The word I keep coming back to, to describe the event, is ‘celebration,’” Abou-Ganim says. “We are celebrating these makers and their vision, and celebrating the way bartenders utilize those spirits.”
Tony Abou-Ganim (Courtesy Tim Turner)
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C U L T U R E
THE STRIP
(Courtesy/ Cirque du Soleil)
Brad Williams
Simon Painter
START SPREADING THE NEWS Cirque du Soleil celebrates New York City with new Vegas show Mad Apple BY BROCK RADKE
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roducer Simon Painter calls his shows “entertainment for entertainment’s sake.” They’re heavy on comedy, light on story and generally designed to provide audiences with a greatest-night-out feeling. That approach sounds appropriate for a new Las Vegas Strip production show, and Cirque du Soleil agrees. The Canadian entertainment mega-company acquired Painter’s the Works Entertainment in 2019 and has partnered with him to create its newest Vegas show, Mad Apple. An announcement this week has the acrobatic, musical, comedic new creation opening May 26 at the New York-New York Theater, the room that hosted Zumanity for nearly 17 years before its 2020 closure. “Thankfully, this room was my favorite one in Las Vegas, and that was before we started,” Painter says. “The audience I hope [to have] coming to see this show is anyone who is in Las Vegas and wants to have a fantastic time. That sounds like we’re casting a wide net, but that’s what we’re trying to do. It’s a fun night out and a celebration, a great place to come have a drink and enjoy some incredible entertainment inspired by the greatest performers in the history of New York.” Mad Apple will match up with its host property by celebrating all things NYC, attempting to blur the line between circus, live entertainment and the nightlife culture of the iconic city. The spectacular acrobatics of Cirque du Soleil will be a major part of the show, Painter says, but so will stand-up comedy—from a variety of performers including star and host Brad Williams—and music recalling artists from Billy Joel
to Run-D.M.C., George Gershwin to Lady Gaga. “The soundtrack of New York City is really central to this show, and we have some unbelievable singers who really made me say, ‘Wow!’ many times when I auditioned them,” he says. “Acrobatically, it’s still really strong, and that talent should stand on its own. And yes, there is some more adult comedy. It’s a bloody fun night out, but it’s also a beautiful show.” Williams, who has visited Las Vegas frequently on the stand-up circuit, says Mad Apple is unlike anything with which he’s been involved, and that’s what made it such an attractive offer. “Even if you’re used to seeing other Cirque shows, which are spectacular, this is special, because normally you’d have to go to different shows to see comedy, acrobatics and music like this,” Williams says. “Now you can go to Mad Apple and see all of that, and it obviously works with the whole theme at New York-New York. I feel like anything can happen in that city, and it’ll be the same for this show.” Renovations are underway at the 1,200-seat theater, which will bring the audience closer to the performers and add interactive elements and extra bars to the venue. Both Painter and Williams are excited about a pre-show being planned that will entertain audiences well before the actual production begins. “I would put the pre-show up against any show in Las Vegas—magicians walking around the theater doing incredible magic before the show even starts, and a bar where you can walk up and get a drink, which will morph into the stage,” Williams says. “If that doesn’t start things out with a bang, I don’t know what will.”
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L A S V E G A S W E E K LY
2.24.22
NO SURRENDER
NOISE
BY BROCK RADKE
he intimate Strat Theater might seem like an unusual venue for Cheap Trick, Rock and Roll Hall of Famers who seldom play any sort of residency or extended engagement. It happened once in Las Vegas, back in 2009, when the band played nine shows at the Las Vegas Hilton, a celebration of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band complete with a symphony orchestra and special musical guests. “It’s not something we normally do, because we are rarely—OK, never—in the same place for long,” says founding Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson, who sounds like he’s hoping this week’s launch of a fourshow run at the Strat could turn into a longer residency. “They asked, we were available and one thing lead to another. It’s always more convenient to get to stay in one place, and it’d be a nice change of pace for us.” The 800-capacity venue at the iconic north Strip property is more of a classic Vegas showroom than a rollicking concert hall, but it has proven its versatility recently with Sammy Hagar’s residency. Rock aficionado and show producer Adam Steck has made a quick impact on the room through his company SPI Entertainment’s entertainment partnership with the Strat. As significant as these concerts are for the venue, they’re also a big deal to Petersson, who had open heart surgery last year and hasn’t played a proper Cheap Trick show in many months due to his recovery and the pandemic.
C U L T U R E
Cheap Trick brings four nights of fun to the Strat Theater
T
CHEAP TRICK February 25-26, March 4-5, 9 p.m., $75-$125. Strat Theater, tickets. thestrat.com.
Cheap Trick’s (left to right) Rick Nielsen, Daxx Nielsen, Robin Zander and Tom Petersson (Courtesy Jeff Daly)
“I feel great now, but I felt fine before. It was just a weird thing where we found a birth defect and had to repair it. I had no symptoms,” he says. “Having the operation was like some sort of weird dream, and it kind of feels like it didn’t happen. But I get to leave the house now. I’ve been doing my exercises at home with my bass on, and it looks ridiculous, but who cares? I’m at home.” Petersson, who says he’s excited to return to the stage with singer Robin Zander, guitarist Rick Nielsen and drummer Daxx Nielsen, teases the Strat shows as “straight-ahead, Cheap Trick rock shows”—with a cool twist. “We’re going to do four nights and four decades. The first night will be [music] from our first 10 years, and so on just like that. For die-hard fans, it’ll be interesting, because we’ll be able to do all sorts of weird songs we don’t normally do.” Then again, Cheap Trick doesn’t normally do any one thing. The band released its 20th studio album, In Another World, in April, continuing an impressively prolific five-year period. Few rock outfits from their generation are steadily touring and recording new music these days. “We really do records for our own enjoyment,” Petersson says. “We do stuff that we think sounds good to us. We don’t know what people want to hear or even think about that, maybe just slightly. And we’re always thinking about the next one, getting done with a record and then OK, what’s the next thing, what else do we got?”
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L A S V E G A S W E E K LY
C U L T U R E
A CUT ABOVE
Carversteak’s caviar poppers, battered onion rings and bone-in ribeye (Wade Vandervort/ Staff)
2.24.22
2.24.22
L A S V E G A S W E E K LY
35I
CARVERSTEAK Resorts World, 702-550-2333. Sunday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 5-11 p.m.
Carversteak amplifies the Strip steakhouse experience BY JIM BEGLEY
Wood ovenroasted Peruvian octopus at Chica (Christopher DeVargas/ Staff)
Fire it up at the
NEW CHICA n Thanks to chef Lorena Garcia’s expansive menu of regional Latin cuisines, Chica has been one of the most consistently interesting eateries on the Strip, offering flavors and dishes you simply can’t get anywhere else. And thanks to a massive summer remodel, it’s essentially a brand-new restaurant in 2022, an even stronger version of itself. Chica reopened just before the new year arrived with fresh energy from murals by Miami graffiti artist Daniel Osorno, an even bigger front bar and lounge space that stays open in the afternoons between lunch and dinner hours, and an open-flame Josper grill that adds excitement to the overall atmosphere and the new
menu. Everything is more sophisticated and fun. It’s hard to choose which new dishes to try, since so many of them splash familiar flavors and presentations across unique ingredients and combinations. The wood oven-roasted Peruvian octopus ($25) is a can’tmiss-bite, smoky and tender with blistered chilies, crispy quinoa and Brazilian-style pico de gallo. Three new signature dishes are perfect for sharing with your date, especially baby back ribs “al pastor” ($38), a meaty masterpiece. And if your’re there with a group, go all out with Chica’s parillada experience ($190), a parade of different wood-fired meats and memorable sauces and sides. –Brock Radke
CHICA Venetian, 702-805-8472. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.; Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-2 a.m.; Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
FOOD + DRINK
The Las Vegas steakhouse can feel ubiquitous, so operators focus on ways to differentiate their versions while still delivering a time-honored experience. It’s a fine line to walk, one the newest steakhouse on the Strip, Carversteak at Resorts World, manages deftly. The first local culinary offering from Vegas-based firm Carver Road Hospitality, Carversteak marks the return of uber-talented chef Daniel Ontiveros to the Strip, where he had previously worked in the kitchens of such beloved spots as Comme Ça and Bouchon. In his first executive chef position on the Boulevard, Ontiveros shines. Begin with his Wagyu cheesesteak bites ($21), which are truthfully more than a bite. The two-to-anorder mini sandwiches, featuring six-month-aged provolone Mornay sauce hinting of truffle and thinly sliced Wagyu swaddled in buttery rolls, are a must order. Equally memorable are caviar poppers ($22), light gougères topped with fish roe bursting with salinity, offset by a bright and creamy lemon-chive creme fraiche. The poppers are as refreshing as the Wagyu bites are decadent. Contrasting nicely with the meat-centric menu are some lighter seafood options. The bigeye tuna tartare ($26) is highlighted with an aji amarillo aioli that delivers a hint of heat, while the crispy rice spicy salmon ($19), Ontiveros’ play on a sushi-joint staple, offers sweet and spicy. And while the lobster en
croute ($95), contained within puff pastry, is tempting and visually impressive, this isn’t a lobsterhouse. Instead, one should continue diving into the menu’s red meat section, where a variety of cuts from esteemed countrywide beef purveyors await. My preferred selection is the 28-day dry-aged Kansas City bonein strip ($76) from San Rafael’s Flannery Steaks, combining what I consider the pinnacle of steak traits: dry-aging and a bone-in cut. The combination delivers just the right amount of funk with extra tenderness delivered near the bone. But you certainly couldn’t be faulted for ordering either the Australian F-1 Wagyu striploin ($90)—not nearly as fatty as its Japanese brethren—or the 8-ounce Snake River Farms rib cap ($70), a favorite cut enjoying renewed interest on menus. A steakhouse is only as good as its sides, and Carver’s don’t disappoint. Crispy bourbon Brussels sprouts ($12) are a highlight, rife with smoky bacon and garlic chili crunch for textural contrast in a melding of sweet and salty. Equally successful is the mac and cheese gratin ($15), spiral cavatappi pasta swimming in six-month aged cheddar and baked to a crisp. And loaded potato croquettes ($14) are a fun play on the traditional baked potato, a handheld version accompanied by a sour cream and chive sauce for dipping. Refreshingly, Carver doesn’t take itself too seriously. Whether it’s the whimsical wine list with headings such as “Que Sera Syrah” and quotes from SNL philosopher Jack Handey, or a knife box presented to steak eaters prior to their cut’s arrival, emblazoned with the words “choose your weapon,” the restaurant delivers as easygoing a vibe as a multimillion-dollar Strip venue can. It is a welcome addition to the city’s big steakhouse scene.
C U L T U R E
36
L A S V E G A S W E E K LY
2.24.22
SUDDEN SWAGGER
Mia Trejo scores during a game against CSU Bakersfield at UNLV. (Steve Marcus/Staff)
2.24.22
Led by hot-hitting Mia Trejo, UNLV’s softball team has become a perennial conference contender
BY RAY BREWER
M
after the February 12 comeback and picked up her cellphone, she discovered hundreds of text messages congratulating her, she says. Martin also hit a home run against nationally ranked BYU to start the season, helping UNLV start its campaign with five consecutive wins. “That shows what we’re capable of,” Martin says. “Whether we’re up five runs or down five runs, we aren’t going to change [the approach]. We know what we can accomplish under pressure.” That’s partially by Fox’s design. Early in the season, she’d purposely leave struggling pitchers in games or decline to pinch hit for cold batters, in order to gauge their ability to deal with adversity. There won’t be a late-season collapse this May, UNLV’s players promise. “Last year, our destiny was truly in our hands, and we just didn’t get it done in that final weekend,” Fox says. “[The focus] is not wanting to feel that way again, so what are we going to do to stop it from happening?” Fox, who’s in her fifth year leading the program, has slowly transformed UNLV from conference also-ran to a perennial contender. During her own playing days, she earned All-America honors at Arizona and won a pair of national titles, bringing a championship mentality to Las Vegas. Fox’s approach has certainly worked with Trejo, who was recruited out of Tucson High Magnet School by the previous staff to play third base and pitch. The coach moved Trejo across the diamond to first base, where she has started every game since 2019 while contributing big hit after big hit. She has blasted a three-run home run in the win over BYU, delivered a walk-off RBI double against Kansas City on February 19 and then hit her second homer of the season the following day to help UNLV to a 7-2 start. “For her, it is about confidence and keeping her mind right,” Fox says. “She has been able to do that for four years.” Trejo has been an accomplished hitter since being introduced to the sport by her father in grade school. He became her hitting coach, teaching her the basics of the sport— and the importance of having fun, no matter the pressure of the moment. “I don’t care if it’s a home run, a [hit] in the gap or a blooper over the infield, as long it drives in the run and as long as we win,” Trejo says.
37I
SPORTS
ia Trejo races onto the softball field at UNLV for an afternoon practice with a smile from ear-toear. Her approach to the game is simple: Bring energy and enthusiasm, and drive in plenty of runs. “You always have to remind yourself to have fun,” she says. “That’s when I’m the best version of myself, when I’m having fun like a kid.” Trejo will go down as one of the best hitters in the history of the program, entering her final season earlier this month 11th all-time in career RBIs with 124, 11th in home runs with 22, sixth in walks with 86 and ninth with a .528 slugging percentage. But the fifth-year senior insists she’s only concerned with one stat: NCAA Tournament appearances. The Rebels haven’t been to that postseason party since 2005. This season could be different. UNLV was picked as the Mountain West Conference’s best team in a preseason poll of league coaches. The team returns 13 letter winners and eight starters, including three all-conference selections in Denise Armendariz, Jenny Bressler and Trejo. Last year’s team stumbled on the final weekend of the season, getting swept at UNR to finish in second place. And two seasons ago, UNLV had a 21-5 record and was primed to reach the tournament before the season shut down at the outset of the pandemic. “For us, it’s a respect thing. We’ve earned the respect of the other coaches in this conference,” UNLV coach Kristie Fox says. “But it doesn’t mean anything, because we have to get it done between the lines. … This team has a lot of fight, and we’re going to need it going into the Mountain West Conference.” One recent game, in particular, illustrated that fighting spirit. Trailing visiting Hawaii 10-5 and down to its final out on February 12, UNLV rallied and tied the game on Janyssa Martin’s seventh-inning homer, then won 12-11 in extra innings. Trejo says she never worried that UNLV would lose the game. Every player on the roster will tell you this UNLV team is built differently, she says. There’s swagger in being one of the league’s best, determination to finally reach the tournament after two near misses and an ability to block out the pressure of the moment— largely because veterans like Trejo have paved the way with their energetic approach. When Martin returned to the clubhouse
L A S V E G A S W E E K LY
38
VEGAS INC BUSINESS
2.24.22
BANKING & FINANCE
LOCAL FIRMS HELP CLIENTS NAVIGATE THE VOLATILE WORLD OF CRYPTOCURRENCY
A
BY BRYAN HORWATH VEGAS INC STAFF
t Digital Trust, a Las Vegas digital asset trust company, any given day can bring forth a situation that would have seemed inconceivable just a few years ago. One example: A company reached out because a client wanted to purchase a $40 million home entirely in cryptocurrency. “They didn’t know how to go about accepting crypto for the purchase,” said Theresa Fette, co-founder and CEO of Digital Trust. “We’re working with them on the ability to accept that as payment.” Cryptocurrencies are forms of money that are not sanctioned by governments. They’re also not susceptible to commodity or precious metals value fluctuations. These currencies—like Bitcoin and Ethereum—are traded via a technology called blockchain, which provides a tamper-proof record of transactions. Cryptocurrencies have been notoriously volatile during their brief existence, though many, including Fette, view them as the currencies of the future. On February 18, one Bitcoin was worth close to $41,000—down from $61,000 on October 1, 2021. Yet, on March 1, 2017, that same Bitcoin was worth just over $1,000. Some view cryptocurrencies as too complicated to understand or appreciate, but there’s also a growing segment of the population that wants in on this wave, whether or not they understand exactly how these currencies work. That’s where a company like Digital Trust comes in.
If a potential customer or company wants to get into Bitcoin, the firm can help. If that customer wants to change a more established currency into a digital asset—or vice versa—Digital Trust can do that, too. On the individual side, Digital Trust specializes in helping to convert IRA savings into digital asset holdings, though it also provides an array of others services. Because digital assets can be so volatile, Fette said, a retirement savings plan can be a good bridge to get into the crypto world. That’s because there’s often more time available for investors to weather any possible significant downturns. In Nevada, the digital asset “onramp” sector of the financial indus-
try—which has to date been fairly limited in numbers and mostly centered in New York City—has seemed to take a liking to the state and its favorable business climate, Fette said. That should be no surprise, because Nevada was already a popular state for wealthy families to establish trusts, partly because of friendly tax policies. There aren’t a large amount of companies like Digital Trust, but Matthew Saltzman, a managing partner at the law firm Saltzman Mugan Dushoff, said the state has gained a reputation in crypto circles. His firm helps set up trust companies that can act as “custodians” for clients’ digital asset portfolios. Other Las Vegas companies, like Prime Trust, also work in the digital
Attorney Matthew Saltzman, a managing partner at Saltzman Mugan Dushoff (Steve Marcus/Staff)
asset space. “Prime Trust is now an internationally known company for working in the digital asset space, and it’s right here in Tivoli Village in Las Vegas,” Saltzman said. “From Prime Trust, I think many people became aware of Nevada.” Saltzman said his firm is working to help establish additional trust companies that hope to offer crypto services. Digital asset trust companies now make up the majority of the trust company business the firm does, he said. “These trust companies can act as a custodian of assets, which is really where they fit into the cryptocurrency/blockchain world,” Saltzman said. “People have a real interest in having people hold those digital assets.” In Nevada, a trust company must be licensed by the Financial Institutions Division of the state’s Department of Business and Industry. In the mostly unregulated cryptocurrency space, Saltzman said, supervision from a state agency often gives people an amount of comfort. “People do want to feel safe, so there’s this entire industry building up around trust companies acting as these custodians,” he said. “Like other assets, people try to steal digital assets, and you have to protect against that.” As infamous as cryptocurrencies are for being volatile, they’re perhaps equally infamous for their lack of regulation. At the federal level, there is no mechanism in place to regulate crypto, though discussions, according to multiple recent reports, could progress on that topic quickly this spring. “The only way to look at this industry is up,” Fette said. “There’s so much growth and so many new things that will be here next year and the year after. My personal belief is that digital currency is here to stay. If you think we’ll be still carrying around dollar bills and coins 10 years from now, I don’t know that you’re keeping up with the 21st century.”
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40
VEGAS INC BUSINESS
2.24.22 BANKING & FINANCE
GUEST COLUMN
L
PERSONAL FINANCIAL SECURITY IS JUST AS MUCH ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY AS IT IS ABOUT MONEY
BY GABRIEL ALAN GORDON et’s be honest, if you’re reading this column and have a pulse, you’re probably stressed about money. I know. I know. Not another “how to” article. “It’s easy, just follow these six steps!” By now you know the steps. Quit spending. Save more. Blah, blah, blah. In one ear and out the other. Studies have shown that nearly 3/4 of adults list personal finances as their No. 1 source of stress. On the surface you’d think, “Well I guess the 25% of non-worried adults are rich!” Maybe that’s true for some, but for most people in the “25% crowd,” I suspect other factors are at play. Let’s dig deeper. As a financial adviser with almost 20 years of professional experience and a real-life family, I believe the key to financial security is buried deep in our psychology. So how do we confront our money anxiety and reduce or eliminate it? I’ll be the first to say that having more money is usually not the answer. In fact, you could argue that having more money or a high income leads to even higher levels of stress. While I’m certainly not advocating for mediocrity, I think it’s important to be selfaware of our inherent desire for more
of everything; more house, more car … more money. Once you’re convinced that having more is not the answer, you can move on and take control. Control. That’s the secret to unlocking financial security. Sounds easy. But it’s not. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we have little control over external forces. So what can we control? The easiest thing to control, and a good place to start, is purely informational. The more information you have
about your personal finances, the more control you can exert. In the simplest of terms, you need to know what comes in every month and what goes out. The dreaded budget. Remember the “25% crowd?” They didn’t get there by being blind or even somewhat aware of their cash flow. I believe these folks are obsessive about their budgets. Please, for your own sanity, sit down and add up what you spend each month and compare it to your income. Trust me, the process is empowering, and it won’t
take more than an hour. Armed with a written statement of your real-life expenditures and income, now you’re ready to approach the feeling of financial security. You can begin to ask and answer questions such as “Can I afford this?” or “Can I retire?” Not happy with what you see? Do something about it. I get it, it’s not easy to change our spending habits, and obtaining a higher income doesn’t happen overnight. If you have $100 left over each month, set a goal to raise it to $200. Six months later, make it $300. It’s not the act of saving that’ll help you sleep better at night; it’s the feeling of confidence and willpower that comes along with changing our habits. Eventually, after months of monitoring and honing your budget, you’ll likely have developed the psychological wherewithal to not only make smart financial decisions, but establish an efficient routine of holding yourself accountable. We have more authority over our financial well-being than we realize. Control what you can control and roll with the punches. Of course there will be setbacks. Your AC will go out. The stock market will fluctuate. Inflation may persist. We can’t control any of this. But if you’re diligent in your planning and obsessive about your budget, the setbacks will feel less devastating than they would otherwise. You’ll know what levers to pull to offset those nearterm shocks, and once you’ve navigated those rough seas successfully, you just may find something very special: financial security. Gabriel Alan Gordon is senior vice president - investment officer at Wells Fargo Advisors.
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2.24.22
VegasInc Notes Rosemary Vassiliadis, Clark County director of aviation, was appointed by the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System to the Federal Reserve of San Francisco’s Los Vassiliadis Angeles Branch board of directors to provide travel industry insight and perspective. Josh Nelson was promoted to chief investment officer for the Calida Group, where he is responsible for overseeing the acquisition, development and asset management-related activities across the Nelson group’s affiliated real estate holdings. Susie Fisk was recently awarded the Rookie of the Year award for 2021 by EXIT Realty Number One. In her first 12 months as a Realtor, Fisk generated $5.1 million in volume with an average sale price of $419,000.
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CEO of the firm. Stein is a member of the firm’s litigation, trials and appeals practice group. In addition, Kendra Follett was named a practice group leader in public finance. In her new role, Follett will join the firm’s practice group management team, which identifies and implements strategies to enhance the service and value delivered to clients, and manages internal efforts to drive the firm’s culture forward. Loving Hearts Adoption Services hired Nicole Rodgers as an adoption social worker. Rodgers holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in social work from UNR. She Rodgers will work to provide advocacy, support, education and mediation for adoptees, birth families and adoptive families. Southwest Medical added six new providers to help meet the growing need for health services in the Las Vegas community, including Amanda Helton, APRN, specializing in telemedicine; Tony Ngo, APRN and Deanna St. Cyr, APRN, both specializing in urgent care; Vinh Nguyen, APRN, specializing in breast care; and Amy Constable, PA and Shannon Treasure, PA, both specializing in adult medicine.
VEGAS INC BUSINESS
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NAIOP Southern Nevada announced its newly elected board officers and directors for 2022, led by president Hayim Mizrachi of MDL Group. The board of directors also includes: Mizrachi president-elect Reed Gottesman, Schnitzer Properties; treasurer Cassie Catania-Hsu, CBRE; secretary Julie Cleaver, the Howard Hughes Corporation; and immediate past president David Strickland, Thomas & Mack Development Group. NAIOP’s directors for 2022 include: Lisa Brady, Prologis; Shawn Danoski, DC Building Group; Jay Heller, Heller Companies; Matt Hoyt, CommCap Advisors; Jennifer Levine, RealComm Advisors; Michael Newman, Compass Development; Steve Neiger, Colliers International; John Restrepo, RCG Economics; Mike Shohet, Compass Development; Dan Tuntland, DJT Real Estate; and Katrina Bruce, NAIOP Southern Nevada. Amber Renee Dixon joined Vegas PBS as anchor of the station’s longest-running public affairs program, Nevada Week. Dixon has over a decade of news reporting and anchoring experience. She previously worked at KSNV as a general assignment reporter, then as a sports reporter and weekend sports anchor.
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50 Gibson Rd #170 Henderson, NV 89014 (702) 476-0420
5347 S Decatur Blvd #100 Las Vegas, NV 89118 (702) 476-0420
8605 South Eastern Ave Suite A Las Vegas, NV 89123 (702) 476-0420
100 W. Plumb Lane Reno, NV 89509 (775) 244-1420
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