CASINO NEWS: VEGAS GEARS UP FOR ASIAN CLIENTEL & LUKE NGUYEN ‘POPS-UP’ AT THE STAR

Two companies are developing casinos in Las Vegas specifically targeted at Chinese clientele but each taking a different approach to getting a slice of the growing market.

The Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino is scheduled to open later this year and is the first new casino development to be built from the ground up since The Cosmopolitan opened in late 2010.

The resort, which is operated by the Las Vegas Economic Impact Regional Centre and Lucky Dragon LP will have multilingual staff, signage in Chinese and English, a range of Asian food & beverage offerings, and the city’s only tea garden. It will also feature a 2½-story, 1,134k glass dragon suspended over the casino floor.

The resort plans to offer an “authentic Asian lifestyle experience.” David Jacoby, chief operating officer for the resort, said, “This whole place has been very specifically feng shui’d, from the colour patterns, to the carpets, to where the seats are, to where the cash is. There will be no fourth floor in the hotel. In fact, there’s no number 4 anywhere on the property”.

The hotel has 204 rooms and suites, and the casino floor will have an emphasis on popular Asian games like baccarat.  “At most properties, about three-quarters of the table games are the traditional ones, blackjack, craps and roulette,” Jacoby said. “But we’re going to flip that, have three-quarters of them baccarat, maybe some pai-gow with just a few blackjack and craps tables.”

Jacoby added that the 37 table games will be the featured attraction with 300 slot machines a secondary choice.

Located on Sahara Avenue about midway between the Strip and Interstate 15 and across the street from MGM Resorts International’s Rock in Rio festival grounds, the Lucky Dragon will reportedly seek out West Coast domestic Asians and Asian locals.

However, that may change with Hainan Airlines receiving approval in May to operate three direct weekly flights between China and Las Vegas. This is a first, and it is expected that incremental flights and carriers will follow suit.

Construction is due to start on the second Chinese-themed property around November/December this year, and located less than a mile away from the Lucky Dragon.

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The massive 3,500-room Resorts World Las Vegas mega-resort, scheduled to open in 2019, will have a casino floor more than five times as large as Lucky Dragon’s.

“We’ll definitely be different from them, but I think we’ll actually complement each other,” Gerald Gardner, Resorts World Las Vegas’ general counsel and senior vice president of government affairs said.

Resorts World’s parent, the Genting Group, is a multinational company based in Malaysia with properties in the Philippines, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States along with its flagship Malaysian property.

As a result, Genting and the Resorts World brand already have an international following and are expected to draw the growing middle- and upper-middle-class Asian demographic.

In what’s forecast to be a $4 billion project, Resorts World Las Vegas will feature 3 x 56 story hotels, over 30,000 square metres of gaming floors and gardens and 3,500 slot machines and table games.

See all the latest details at the casino websites.    http://luckydragonlv.com/  and   http://www.rwlasvegas.com/

LUKE NGUYEN ‘POP-UP’ OPENS AT THE STAR

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Award-winning chef and TV personality, Luke Ngyuen has opened a Street Food pop-up at The Star’s Café Court.  Street food or hawker’s food are a hot trend in clubs and casinos right now, and Ngyuen’s Southeast Asian street fare is sure to be popular.  However it will only be open for a short time, so get down there soon if you’re interested in trying it out. Click here for more details >>