Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

February 4, 2011 8:54 PM Posted by Amar Chhabra

Who are these tweeters you guys were referring to?

February 4, 2011 9:57 PM Posted by Hunter

Here's the info on the backstory: http://www.vegastripping.com/news/news.php?news_id=3854

February 5, 2011 5:09 AM Posted by detroit1051

Thanks for the segment on Kirk Kerkorian. I don't know his plans for Tracinda Corp after he dies, but he is such a powerful individual, I have to believe most holdings will be disposed after he's gone.

Captain Kirk will be 94 this June. As vibrant as he has been, everyone starts winding down at some point, and the past decade or so really hasn't been good for him. His attempted entry into the auto business, Chrysler (twice), GM and Ford didn't work out well. He was very dependent on Jerry York's counsel, and York died a year or two ago. York's advice may have cost Kerkorian millions.

Kerkorian bought 8 million share of Ford at $8.50 and sold them all at approximately $2.50. He should have known better.

Add MGM's problems to the mix, and it hasn't been pretty.

As Jeff Simpson or Hunter said, Kerkorian may sell MGM as part of his estate planning. When he is no longer part of the company, will MGM become another generic company like Caesars? I may just want to live in the old days, but casino companies are different than most others, and they've been successful in large part because of the larger than life individuals who led them. MGM won't be the same after Kerkorian; there will just be more Murren clones running around.

My gut feeling, with no sound basis, is that Kerkorian will be out of MGM by the end of the year

February 5, 2011 3:23 PM Posted by atdleft

I stopped at HRH last night, and it was quite an interesting walk through. I could really see what you were all talking about. There were quite a few cars with California license plates outside along with people checking in inside, but it was nowhere near as crowded as I remember it was just three years ago.

This was a Friday night, and there were empty slots at Hard Rock's casino floor. The expansion was so "wrong place, wrong time", and it does seem like HRH really needs to do some "soul searching" and think about how to differentiate itself from all the Strip casinos now offering plenty of "guilty pleasures" akin to what was exclusively at Hard Rock 15 years ago.

February 6, 2011 1:06 AM Posted by ooo000

I stopped in there during the week just over a year ago, and the place was DEAD. Like a few people at the bar and barely a soul in the casino. I've always been somewhat suspicious of the manufactured hype behind the Hard Rock, especially since 2007 and the end of the bubble years in Vegas. I recall several tabloid reports of celebrities not so secretly staying there... I recall Brad Pitt was there with his kids at one point. Entourage filmed there, I'm sure others as well... Not to mention the obviously scripted "Rehab" reality show. My point being that they've obviously offered heavy incentives for any and all avenues of publicity in the last few years... I highly doubt A list celebrities would stay and be seen there without major incentives.

February 8, 2011 7:29 AM Posted by PeterF

Don't be so hard on yourself about the quality of the show. Skype craps out on everybody sometimes. Bad luck for you this time around, but it really wasn't that bad. The show sounds good. The work you've done to better the sound of the show is really working.