Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

Welcome to the first in a new series. Thanks to our friends at CotaiCasinoNews.com, we will have some regular news and updates from Las Vegas Sands' replica of the Las Vegas Strip in China.

Continue after the jump for the posting with all the latest Cotai Strip news.

Technorati Tags: casino design, gaming industry, lasvegassands, macau

QUARTERLY UPDATE FROM THAT OTHER STRIP

Greetings to RateVegas and its loyal readers! My name is Trevor and I write at CotaiCasinoNews.com, a blog all about Cotai, the Cotai Strip, and other big happenings in Macau.

I plan to give quarterly updates on the big news items out of Cotai and Macau, so hope you guys enjoy reading about what's happening on the other side of the world. Take a look at the highlights below and visit my site if you want more details. Your questions and comments are always welcome.

April
* LVS announces Manchester United will play for the Venetian Macao Cup on July 23rd.
* Macau Labor shortage boils over. Laborers protest illegal workers in Macau. Police fire shots. Unemployment is below 4% and wages have skyrocketed – can’t we all just get along?
* LVS announces Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic will play at the Venetian’s new 15,000 seat arena in October.

May
* The Chinese government places restrictions on the Macau-Guangdong border to try and cool down the rapid (or should I say rabid) gambling growth. This is the main entrance for Mainland Chinese to gamble in Macau, so it is quite alarming for the Macau operators.
* Crown Macau got the hat-trick – poor pre-opening (multi-million TV ad banned because it depicts gambling), grand opening * Murphy’s Law nightmare, and slow start out of gate. It is still not completely open.
* Venetian Macao announces Federer vs Sampras in November. Expects to sell 10,000 tickets.
* Tryst closes at Wynn. Is this an omen that everyone’s worst fear could come true – the Chinese only care about gambling?

June
* Playboy announces the Playboy Macao Mansion as part of eSun’s Macao Studio City on the Cotai Strip
* Galaxy Entertainment’s announced a few changes to its Mega Resort project on the Cotai Strip. The two big changes were: the name was switched from Cotai MegaResort to GalaxyWorld Resort, and the total number of hotel rooms will increase from 1,500 to 2,500 with the addition of another hotel tower to be managed by a yet unnamed third party
MPEL’s City of Dreams follows in the path of their Crown Macau casino by announcing higher costs. The higher costs were partially from cost-inflation and partially from an increase in size and scope.
* LVS announces the Venetian Macao opening is scheduled for August 28th
* WYNN delays WYNN Macau expansion in response to the Chinese government’s border restrictions. The company also would like to wait and see how the Venetian Macao does upon opening. Expect WYNN Cotai to be pushed back too.
* Marriott formally announces its 30 story, 968 hotel room tower will open in 2009 as part of eSun and New Cotai’s Macao City of Dreams.

Third Quarter Radar Screen
* The Donald’s name is now being thrown around as a potential developer on the Cotai Strip. Will he or won’t he?
* Will the Crown Macau iron-out its kinks?
* The Venetian Macao opens! If Sheldon builds it will they come???