Benny The Beer

How to play Benny The Beer

The artifacts also include a 1966 cocktail waitress uniform, a Cleopatra costume and headdresses from opening events, a Tom Jones show program from 1971, Caesars Palace Grand Prix posters, and an old high-stakes slot machine.

The statue now stands, bargeless, mounted on a red-striped pedestal flanked by golden sphinxes.

Cleopatra’s Barge opened in September 1970 in what is now the Nobu Hotel tower, replacing the earlier Nero’s Nook lounge. The 180-seat lounge featured as its centerpiece a “floating” stage designed as a replica of the vessel aboard which the Egyptian queen is said to have bewitched Mark Antony.

The pleasure craft, installed in a shallow lagoon, featured a gold-painted, topless figurehead that extended far into the public walkway. Guests quickly turned rubbing the statue’s golden breasts for luck into a classic Vegas tradition; staff regularly repainted the most-touched areas.

How to play Benny The Beer

Caesars, of course, isn’t the only major casino participating in the “Vegas 5-Day Sale.” MGM Resorts, which operates the most casinos on the Strip, has slashed Bellagio rooms by 25% and is incentivizing guests with $100 in daily F&B credit. MGM Grand rooms are 50% off.

The Venetian and Palazzo suites are 33% off, Wynn and Encore are discounted 20-30%, and Fontainebleau is 20% off with $50 daily resort credit. For budget travelers, Treasure Island has rooms from $69 and no resort fee, Westgate has two-night stays for $199 with $100 resort credit and four Cabaret tickets, and Golden Nugget has $49 rooms that come with a $20 gas card.

The LVCVA launched the “Vegas 5-Day Sale” last year in response to growing public sentiment that Las Vegas no longer provided value and that resorts were focused on nickel-and-diming customers. Many on social media criticized the tourism agency’s efforts as “too little, too late.”

About Benny The Beer

Two blockbuster developments in the casino space earlier this year seemed to indicate an increasingly bullish bet on the sector, including Fertitta Entertainment’s acquisition of Caesars Entertainment in May. The other is a subsequent takeover offer of MGM Resorts from its largest shareholder, Barry Diller’s People Inc. But a negative shift in market conditions could affect both deals.

In July, Fertitta’s General Counsel Steven Scheinthal told the Nevada Gaming Control Board that the company had a letter of intent from banks to finance the transaction but was waiting for better borrowing conditions. Fertitta is assuming nearly $12 billion in Caesars’ debt and is committed to a $6.6 billion financing package.

“Our hope is that in the next few months there will be a window of opportunity where the market will be hotter and [it’s] a more interest rate friendly environment where we can go raise the money and then just put it in an escrow account,” Scheinthal said at the time.