If Benny Binion wasn't spinning in his grave before, he surely is now with reports that Poker rooms are going digital.  One of the great things about poker is the sound of the chips.  Add to that the dealers and the flipping of the card and you have one of those sounds that is uniquely old Vegas.

Like so many other landmarks that are falling way too quickly, comes word that the World Series of Poker (started by the afore-mentioned Benny Binion) may go digital in the not to distant future.  What does this mean?  No chips, no dealers, no cards.  

We say, why bother?

The Nevada Gaming Commission recently licensed a company that makes these digtial, electronic devices  to do business here in the heart  of the gambling world. 

The appeal seems to be that without a live dealer more money can be made by the house.

Will the likes of Doyle Brunson and the old school poker players come out to play the new-fangled way?  Or is this yet another nail in the coffin of the way Las Vegas used to be?

Read more on this disturbing trend here.

It's a sad day at CheapoVegas.  It has been announced that the venerable Gold Spike (home to some of Matt and Stinky's best adventures) has been sold.

Tamares Las Vegas Properties have confirmed a purchase agreement to sell the sagging downtown Gold Spike hotel to a Miami developer for $15.6 million (yes, you read that right- for the Gold Spike!).  The developer plans to convert the hotel into a trendy boutique hotel possibly closing as early as September and reopening as an upscale boutique hotel with rooms running $125 to $150 per night.

Now, if you are like me, you are asking yourself, why would I spend $125 to $150 a night to stay downtown when I can stay at the historic Golden Gate or Golden Nugget or other properties for much less?

 The Las Vegas Review Journal calls it a "dreary hotel" in the headline. 

Gregg Covin, 38, the new owner,  plans to visit Las Vegas next week to take a closer look at the Gold Spike (did he buy it sight unseen?????). But he's already confident the Spike's smoky ambience and grungy reputation won't take the shine off his vision.

"Our specialty is taking crack houses and turning them into four-star boutique hotels," Covin said. "I think the Gold Spike is perfect for that."

Has anyone out there stayed in one of his former crack houses turned four-star boutique hotels?  Because I would like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt but I have to tell you, it ain't easy.

In the short-term, Covin said he would retain the management company Navegante Group (because they are doing such a great job????)  as managers of the Gold Spike. He also said he plans to keep the property operating while it undergoes renovation.

"I'll probably keep it partially open for awhile," said Covin of the property, which has specials such as $1 for a shot of tequila or can of Tecate beer with salt and lime and $27.50 a night room rates during the week. "It will stay as is until I am ready for the grand reopening," he said.

But according to Covin, the new hotel will bear little resemblance to the current Spike.  For the extra $100 a night for a room, it better be the most comfortable place to stay and the best place to gamble downtown.

Covin envisions drastic upgrades to the hotel's approximately 107 rooms, a hipper casino and a minispa at the one-acre property.  I don't even want to think where they would put a spa in this place.

Covin said the Spike would ultimately get a new management team of his choosing (duh!). Larry Woolf of the Navegante Group said when that happens, the property's estimated 140 employees would have opportunities at other casinos (are we taking bets??)

"We would place them where we have room I'm sure," Woolf said. "It would be quite some time before we have to address that."

The Gold Spike would be Covin's first project in Nevada. But it would be far from his first reclamation of a rundown hotel.  He seems to have a history in Miami.  Unfortunately, what works in Miami may not work in downtown Las Vegas which has long had a reputation for doing things their own way.

If he does take ownership it would likely be in the name of a limited liability company or LLC set up to do business in Nevada, Covin said.

Our sympathies to the folks at CheapoVegas who are in mourning.  We feel your pain.  I can't wait to see what CasinoBoy has to say about the new Gold Spike.

 

This originally was the Stardust Country Club and Golf Course.  Then it became the Sahara Country Club and now it is the Las Vegas National Golf Course.  The houses in the neighborhood, known as Paradise Palms, were designed by Palmer and Kreisel.  This neighborhood is filled with mid-century modern homes, many of them restored.  This is where parts of Casino were filmed as the Neighborhood stepped in to portray the Las Vegas Country Club.

Word comes from our good friend Mark Minelli at Sin City Modern that National Golf Course may be endangered.

If you would like to attend a meeting to find out more here are the details:

There is potentially a pending offer on the approximate 130 acres of the LV National Golf Course. Members of the neighborhood are meeting and getting together to discuss some ideas plus it is a great opportunity for everyone to meet!

WHERE: Las Vegas Country Club Clubhouse (Rotunda Room)

Do not enter the LVCC Estates

WHEN: Wed, July 18th 6:00 p.m.

Please tell the guard that you are there for the Paradise Palms Meeting.

Dress code is enforced at the Club, and they will not allow jeans, or flip flops. Please dress accordingly.

Our good friend John Katsilometes over at the Las Vegas Weekly is reporting that Wayne Newton will return to Harrah's this fall in time for his Holiday Show.   Right now he is scheduled to be on the Harrah's showeroom stage from Thanksgiving until Dec. 22nd.  There is speculation that he might do a few non-holiday shows prior to the official opening date.  Wayne has been performing in Las Vegas for over six decades.

Or Not. 

Well, Friday the 13th proves to be a lucky day for Erin Kenny.  Due to the Davidson trial, her sentencing gets delayed again.

The presiding judge says that as soon as the Davidson jury has delivered a verdict, then Kenny will be sentenced.  He is hoping maybe Monday.

Stay tuned. 

For those that care (and I think many of us do), don't forget that later this morning, Erin Kenny (the bribe taking County Commissioner) is scheduled to be sentenced for all of her misdeeds.

Will the court go light on her because she turned state's evidence?  Or will the court throw the book at her for her role in selling out her constituents to the highest bidder?

Stay tuned.  Promises to be a juicy story.