Latest / Vegas Revealed / MGM’s All-Inclusive Experiment, Vintage Casino Chips, Greek Restaurant Expands to Downtown Las Vegas, Elvis at Fontainebleau & Mahjong with Kelly Hu | Ep. 334

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MGM’s All-Inclusive Experiment, Vintage Casino Chips, Greek Restaurant Expands to Downtown Las Vegas, Elvis at Fontainebleau & Mahjong with Kelly Hu | Ep. 334 · Vegas Revealed

• 0:00
  Dayna Roselli: It's episode 334 of Vegas Revealed.
• 0:03
  Dayna Roselli: That MGM all-inclusive deal worked.
• 0:06
  Dayna Roselli: The numbers are in.
• 0:07
  Sean McAllister: We hit up the Casino Collectibles show.
• 0:09
  Sean McAllister: Ever wonder what makes some chips so valuable?
• 0:13
  Sean McAllister: We reveal it.
• 0:14
  Dayna Roselli: A fast casual Greek restaurant in Las Vegas keeps expanding.
• 0:17
  Dayna Roselli: There's a new one in downtown Las Vegas, and let me tell you, it is so good.
• 0:22
  Sean McAllister: And Mahjong is having a major moment right now.
• 0:26
  Sean McAllister: Have you ever played?
• 0:27
  Sean McAllister: We'll tell you about a monthly event here in town where you can learn and play at the same time.
• 0:32
  Sean McAllister: We also ran into a famous actress at one of the tables.
• 0:36
  Dayna Roselli: Let's get to it.
• 0:37
  Dayna Roselli: Vegas Revealed starts now.
• 0:41
  Dayna Roselli: Welcome to episode 334.
• 0:44
  Dayna Roselli: I'm Dana Roselli, along with Sean McAllister.
• 0:47
  Dayna Roselli: 334 is the beginning digits of my parents' phone number my whole life.
• 0:51
  Sean McAllister: Isn't it funny how that's the kind of thing that just sticks with you forever?
• 0:55
  Dayna Roselli: I'm just staring at it, and that's what, yeah.
• 0:57
  Dayna Roselli: Isn't that weird?
• 0:58
  Dayna Roselli: We used to remember remember people's phone numbers.
• 1:01
  Sean McAllister: I mean, I've gotten so bad at this point.
• 1:04
  Sean McAllister: I've I can I remember my phone number uh at home growing up, but I don't know that I remember any other phone numbers.
• 1:15
  Dayna Roselli: No, which I feel like is actually very alarming.
• 1:17
  Sean McAllister: It is.
• 1:18
  Dayna Roselli: I think about it all the time.
• 1:19
  Dayna Roselli: Like, I'm gonna try, I'm gonna try.
• 1:20
  Dayna Roselli: I remember I tried to do yours.
• 1:22
  Dayna Roselli: I still I I got some of the digits in my head right now, but it's it is alarming.
• 1:27
  Dayna Roselli: So what do we do if we don't have our phone or we're waiting to shout out a phone number to someone to call for an emergency?
• 1:35
  Dayna Roselli: What do we do?
• 1:36
  Sean McAllister: You're not looking at the phone book because we don't have them anymore.
• 1:38
  Dayna Roselli: No, we don't.
• 1:39
  Dayna Roselli: But anyway, interesting, right?
• 1:41
  Sean McAllister: Sidebar.
• 1:41
  Dayna Roselli: Sidebar.
• 1:42
  Dayna Roselli: Okay, anyway, episode 334 of Vegas Revealed.
• 1:45
  Dayna Roselli: Welcome everyone.
• 1:46
  Dayna Roselli: Um, we are recording this uh before we take a little break.
• 1:49
  Dayna Roselli: So we're just now fresh back from our break, if you're listening.
• 1:52
  Dayna Roselli: And we just wanted to remind you that the Backstreet Boys did extend.
• 1:56
  Dayna Roselli: I know a lot of you that listen are Backstreet Boys fans.
• 1:58
  Dayna Roselli: You haven't been able to get to the Sphere show yet, but uh you have more chances.
• 2:03
  Dayna Roselli: We assumed and predicted they would extend, and now they're doing a bunch of um shows around the holiday.
• 2:09
  Sean McAllister: Well, and this is something that we've been waiting for.
• 2:11
  Sean McAllister: We knew that uh Backstreet was doing uh a big show, uh kind of an after-party show, uh, right around the big Formula One race.
• 2:20
  Sean McAllister: And we were like, gosh, we haven't gotten an alert that the show is ending, so there have to be more dates coming out uh relatively soon, we imagine.
• 2:31
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, and sure enough, now we've got the New Year's dates.
• 2:34
  Dayna Roselli: I know.
• 2:35
  Dayna Roselli: So uh they're doing December 31st and January 1st.
• 2:40
  Dayna Roselli: But it says three dates.
• 2:41
  Dayna Roselli: Wait, dude.
• 2:42
  Sean McAllister: Uh first and second.
• 2:43
  Dayna Roselli: Oh, first and second, right?
• 2:44
  Dayna Roselli: Okay, so now they officially have dates into 2027.
• 2:48
  Sean McAllister: I love it.
• 2:48
  Sean McAllister: And we do, and it will just go on the record right now.
• 2:52
  Sean McAllister: We anticipate even more dates coming in 2027 as well.
• 2:56
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, because we recently did that podcast where we played the interview uh for you with Howie Duro from the Howie D from Backstreet Boys, and he even said, like, you know, they're doing great, it's amazing, and uh they just can't even believe how they keep selling out, but they're loving it and riding the wave and having so much fun.
• 3:14
  Dayna Roselli: So good for them.
• 3:15
  Sean McAllister: Because when we get these alerts, uh the headline will often say final dates just released.
• 3:21
  Sean McAllister: And there is nothing final about anything that we got associated with Backstreet Boys.
• 3:26
  Dayna Roselli: So Right.
• 3:28
  Dayna Roselli: Nothing final.
• 3:28
  Sean McAllister: They'll keep going and going.
• 3:30
  Dayna Roselli: I know.
• 3:31
  Dayna Roselli: So that's good.
• 3:31
  Dayna Roselli: And we were saying speaking of boy bands, I remember us talking about we felt like they didn't say that for the new kids on the blocks final run.
• 3:40
  Dayna Roselli: It's kinda I think that's in October.
• 3:42
  Sean McAllister: Right.
• 3:43
  Dayna Roselli: Final scheduled performances.
• 3:47
  Dayna Roselli: Yep.
• 3:47
  Dayna Roselli: And I remember you saying you read something in a release that you picked up on the fact that this could possibly not be the end.
• 3:55
  Dayna Roselli: So we'll see.
• 3:56
  Sean McAllister: I think it probably I I I don't think it'll be the end for new kids.
• 4:00
  Dayna Roselli: Well, I'm glad that the Backstreet and New Kids are doing so well.
• 4:03
  Dayna Roselli: Um exciting stuff for all the people that come in to see that show.
• 4:06
  Dayna Roselli: It really is great.
• 4:07
  Dayna Roselli: A lot of people went over the weekend that we know, and I was looking at some of the videos in their Instagram stories, and I was like, man, that really is an incredibly visual, fun show.
• 4:17
  Sean McAllister: Well, it is, and it just sparks so much joy from people who go and see the show.
• 4:24
  Sean McAllister: I mean, every single time I see someone post, they have a massive smile on their face.
• 4:30
  Sean McAllister: They uh talk about how this was like reliving some of the best years of their life with their friends who've come into town to go and see the show.
• 4:40
  Sean McAllister: And yeah, I don't know, there's just something about it that's special and unique, and it's drawing people to Las Vegas.
• 4:49
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, it's it's an event for sure.
• 4:51
  Dayna Roselli: And I I I think I was telling you, um, I don't usually scroll through TikTok, but uh I got into some algorithm, I think, because I posted a clip with Howie D on our TikTok and all the backstreet boys' TikToks were coming through, you know, people we don't follow, but just people visiting and just the joy, like you were saying, and their outfit changes and the excitement and um some really creative TikToks too.
• 5:16
  Dayna Roselli: So it's nice to see, and it's great promo for our city.
• 5:19
  Sean McAllister: It absolutely is.
• 5:21
  Sean McAllister: Uh, and bringing a lot of people to Las Vegas who may not otherwise uh plan a trip to come here, and another uh attraction that people have really uh grabbed on to recently is this all-inclusive package that MGM Resorts put out at Luxor and Excalibur.
• 5:41
  Sean McAllister: You might remember we talked about this uh back in springtime.
• 5:45
  Sean McAllister: Uh Dana and I worked on a satellite media tour to get the word out.
• 5:49
  Sean McAllister: Uh, we worked with MGM Resorts uh on that to get the word out to people across the country and let them know that MGM Resorts was launching this all-inclusive package.
• 6:00
  Sean McAllister: And uh, there's some new reporting just out that shows that that worked.
• 6:06
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, the MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle revealed the company's latest earnings on their, you know, their call that they do.
• 6:13
  Dayna Roselli: Um, and a lot of newswriters and that write about gaming and newspapers listen in on those calls.
• 6:18
  Dayna Roselli: And um basically, you know, uh they they he was saying that they brought in a whole new audience uh to Las Vegas.
• 6:26
  Dayna Roselli: He said on the it was the July 29th call that half of the guests who booked the package offered at Luxor and Excalibur were first-time visitors to MGM properties, and it was a figure that he called startling but promising.
• 6:40
  Sean McAllister: Wow.
• 6:41
  Dayna Roselli: And they quoted him saying, it is drawing a new customer base, presumably younger.
• 6:46
  Dayna Roselli: So great news.
• 6:48
  Sean McAllister: That's incredible news.
• 6:49
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, and you know, and people were uh saying when they launched this, like, I don't know, you know, it's a great deal, but oh, I don't know if people will stay there.
• 6:57
  Dayna Roselli: But look, look at this.
• 6:58
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, people want to come in and enjoy Vegas and get some value and do things, and this allowed them to do that.
• 7:06
  Sean McAllister: And for so many of the people who took advantage of this package to be first-time uh Las Vegas visitors and to have your meals, your entertainment, your uh uh room, all your parking, all rolled into one uh bundled price where you know what you're getting for what you're paying.
• 7:29
  Sean McAllister: And I mean that's gotta be a reassuring thing for first-time people.
• 7:33
  Sean McAllister: And it's a great way to experience Las Vegas for the first time because it can be overwhelming.
• 7:39
  Sean McAllister: If you're booking a trip here, there are so many options.
• 7:43
  Sean McAllister: It can be I mean, it can be a kind of a major thing to have to sit down and plan the trip.
• 7:50
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 7:51
  Sean McAllister: Because it's like, okay, well, where do we go?
• 7:53
  Sean McAllister: And then if you don't plan and you just come here, you go and start walking down the strip and you're like, okay, well, which way do we go?
• 7:58
  Sean McAllister: What are we gonna do?
• 7:59
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, what do we see?
• 8:00
  Dayna Roselli: And you always sit there and analyze like, how much time am I gonna spend in my room?
• 8:03
  Dayna Roselli: Do I care if my room is like some people love a nice room?
• 8:07
  Sean McAllister: Right.
• 8:07
  Dayna Roselli: There are some people who come here, they do the spa, they want to sit in their beautiful room and relax and like do, you know, if that's important to you.
• 8:16
  Dayna Roselli: Others want to run around Vegas and do things and gamble and try new things.
• 8:21
  Dayna Roselli: And so it's it's allowed those people to do that.
• 8:24
  Dayna Roselli: Um, but it is still going on because I have a friend that wrote me and said, um, he's coming in October 24th.
• 8:29
  Dayna Roselli: There's a news colleague of ours, there's a celebration of life um uh planned.
• 8:34
  Dayna Roselli: And he said, Are you going to this?
• 8:35
  Dayna Roselli: I'd love to fly in, but I really need to kind of do it under 2,000.
• 8:38
  Dayna Roselli: And um he's like, Boy, Vegas is expensive.
• 8:41
  Dayna Roselli: And I said, you know what?
• 8:42
  Dayna Roselli: Let me check and see if the all-inclusive.
• 8:43
  Dayna Roselli: So I plugged in the all-inclusive for October 24th that weekend, and it did still stand.
• 8:50
  Dayna Roselli: It was 558, but still two nights, all meals, right?
• 8:56
  Dayna Roselli: Three meals a day and show tickets.
• 8:58
  Dayna Roselli: And he's like, Wow, this is amazing.
• 9:00
  Dayna Roselli: Thank you.
• 9:00
  Dayna Roselli: And so I sent him the link.
• 9:01
  Dayna Roselli: So it looks like because they thought maybe it would, they weren't sure if it was just gonna be a summer thing or if it would, but it looks like it when I plugged it in that it worked.
• 9:08
  Dayna Roselli: I went to the all-inclusive link, went through everything, and that was for the Luxor.
• 9:13
  Sean McAllister: Well, and based off of the success that uh MGM Resorts has has seen off of it, I can't imagine that they're going to uh back away from the deal anytime immediately.
• 9:25
  Dayna Roselli: Well, and then you think 550 people think per night?
• 9:28
  Dayna Roselli: Oh you know, oh 330 per night.
• 9:31
  Dayna Roselli: No, no, no.
• 9:31
  Dayna Roselli: For two nights.
• 9:32
  Sean McAllister: For two nights with meals, with attractions, with show tickets.
• 9:37
  Dayna Roselli: Well, isn't that crazy?
• 9:39
  Dayna Roselli: It really is a good deal.
• 9:40
  Sean McAllister: That is a good deal.
• 9:41
  Dayna Roselli: I'm glad it's working, and I'm glad that it's, you know, bringing in younger people, presumably, according to Bill Hornbuckle.
• 9:47
  Dayna Roselli: So good stuff.
• 9:48
  Sean McAllister: And uh Caesars Entertainment uh uh did their own inclusive package.
• 9:53
  Sean McAllister: However, uh, because of the uh ownership uh shuffling that's happening with them, their uh earnings call is not going to be happening.
• 10:05
  Sean McAllister: So we're we're just getting this information from MGM Resorts because it was spoken about on the investor earnings call.
• 10:12
  Sean McAllister: Yeah.
• 10:13
  Sean McAllister: Caesars isn't going to have that for this quarter.
• 10:15
  Sean McAllister: So um we haven't uh gotten any feedback yet on how uh successful it's been for them.
• 10:24
  Sean McAllister: But I have to imagine if it's been good for MGM, it's it's still probably been good for Caesars, too.
• 10:31
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, we're kind of back in that hole.
• 10:32
  Dayna Roselli: I keep seeing online again, like, what Vegas is in debt.
• 10:36
  Dayna Roselli: I'm like, oh gosh, are we gonna revisit this again?
• 10:38
  Dayna Roselli: You know, because you know, numbers are down, 7.5% less visitors came in.
• 10:42
  Dayna Roselli: I don't know, whatever it was, but like it's not that much, and then you know, it but yeah, I'm starting to see people this weekend were showing Encore and Wynn, how it was packed, someone else was showing the fountain blue.
• 10:54
  Dayna Roselli: Like, I don't know why I keep hearing there's nobody at the fountain blue, and so like here we go again, more trends, more clicks on videos.
• 11:01
  Dayna Roselli: I don't know, social media is starting to really wear me out.
• 11:04
  Dayna Roselli: It's just gotten it's gotten to be a lot.
• 11:07
  Dayna Roselli: It has gotten to be a lot, you're right, and there needs to be some changes, I think, and hopefully some change is coming on you know, things when it comes to social media and what can be put out there, all that kind of stuff.
• 11:20
  Dayna Roselli: We did our first um Vegas Reveal TikTok live the other day, did it with Frank Marino.
• 11:24
  Dayna Roselli: We talked all Vegas and old stories and uh people that have come to his show through the years, things we love about Vegas, the parties and uh different kinds of things that have happened through the years.
• 11:35
  Dayna Roselli: It was it was a lot of fun.
• 11:36
  Dayna Roselli: Um I appreciate everyone who joined in and contributed with questions.
• 11:41
  Dayna Roselli: So we do have a TikTok and it does pretty well.
• 11:43
  Dayna Roselli: I wouldn't say any of our social media that we sit there and we're like experts at it and like really dive in, but we put stuff up and we share stuff and interact and always answer questions.
• 11:55
  Sean McAllister: So but a lot of Vegas revealed followers joined in on that live.
• 11:59
  Dayna Roselli: They did.
• 11:59
  Dayna Roselli: We had thousands, so I was like, okay, maybe we should do lives more.
• 12:02
  Dayna Roselli: Great, yeah, with all our free time, with all of our free time.
• 12:06
  Sean McAllister: As soon as we find a pocket of time and a corner somewhere, we will hop on the TikTok live.
• 12:14
  Dayna Roselli: Hop on the TikTok live.
• 12:16
  Dayna Roselli: Oh man.
• 12:16
  Dayna Roselli: All right.
• 12:17
  Dayna Roselli: Well, recently we did a show, um, and you can go to our YouTube channel and see it, all about food and restaurants in Las Vegas.
• 12:23
  Dayna Roselli: You obviously could go on and on, but you know, through the last three years, we've covered a lot of different restaurants, and so we use different uh segments from that.
• 12:31
  Dayna Roselli: We went out and shot some news stories, and it's really interesting that show.
• 12:35
  Dayna Roselli: I think you'll really enjoy it.
• 12:36
  Dayna Roselli: But um, something that I realized we didn't talk about on the audio podcast was Meraki Grill.
• 12:41
  Dayna Roselli: Now, this is a Greek restaurant that I guess you'd call it uh fast, casual, but not so so casual.
• 12:51
  Dayna Roselli: Like you order at the counter, sure, but they make it fresh and it takes uh so when I the fast part is what I'm I mean, it is fast, but they they're actually making it.
• 12:59
  Dayna Roselli: You have to sit and wait for it for a little bit.
• 13:00
  Sean McAllister: Right.
• 13:01
  Dayna Roselli: So it's it's you know, it's coming out fast is and made to order.
• 13:06
  Dayna Roselli: It's all made to order, made to order, yes.
• 13:08
  Dayna Roselli: Uh, but they open a new one in downtown Las Vegas.
• 13:10
  Dayna Roselli: I was super excited about this because it's kind of near where I live, and it's great.
• 13:14
  Dayna Roselli: They have uh parking lot across the street.
• 13:17
  Dayna Roselli: They said they've been looking for uh a place for a while, but it's really nice inside, and it just made me remember how good the food is there.
• 13:25
  Dayna Roselli: It really is absolutely wonderful.
• 13:28
  Sean McAllister: And we stopped over there to uh talk with the owners and hear all about this new location and what they offer there.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: At the core, we're a Greek restaurant without question, but um at the same time, it's a story of myself and my upbringing being born and raised here in the States, and food should look very familiar, and we keep it very simple.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Everything that you see on the plate visually is what you get.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: There's no hidden flavor, so it's about sourcing, you know, good tomatoes, good olive oils, good lettuce.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: You know, in this day and age, you know, a lot of us, you know, we're trying to be healthy.
• 13:58
  Dayna Roselli: And do people talk about a certain dish a lot?
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Recent conversation has been had around the uh our Athenian chicken sandwich, which is kind of that that one item tells a story about the restaurant, right?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's you could tell that the roots of it are very Greek.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's crusted and phyllo dough, which is the dough we make baklava with, but it's a chicken sandwich, so it's crispy, it's crusted and phylow um on a brioche bond, so it's delicious.
• 14:23
  Dayna Roselli: This is nice being downtown because you can get locals and tourists.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: We're really, really excited to be downtown.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: We feel like this was a pocket that we've been wanting to come for a long time.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: We just needed to find the right spot because you know we understand we want it to be convenient for our customers too, right?
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: So what really drew us here, we've looked at this location before the parking lot across the street was built, and originally we had turned it down because we wanted it to be convenient.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: And then once they built the parking lot across the street, it started to change our feelings about it.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: And because we really want our customers to have easy access in and out.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: We're very close to the strip.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: We obviously have downtown, so it'll hopefully we'll get some recognition from tourists as well, you know.
• 14:59
  Dayna Roselli: As we always say, you gotta get the visual.
• 15:02
  Dayna Roselli: Go to the YouTube page to watch the story because once you see it, you're gonna be craving it.
• 15:06
  Dayna Roselli: We had a couple people watch the show that uh were writing us on threads and going, that Meraki Grill looks delicious.
• 15:11
  Dayna Roselli: I'm like, it is.
• 15:12
  Dayna Roselli: It's really fresh.
• 15:13
  Dayna Roselli: It's good food.
• 15:15
  Dayna Roselli: You can also, you know, dabble in some desserts there too.
• 15:18
  Dayna Roselli: I had like a uh like a custard with like the baklava pieces on top.
• 15:23
  Dayna Roselli: That was great.
• 15:24
  Dayna Roselli: They had some um little donut holes that you dip in a chocolate sauce.
• 15:27
  Dayna Roselli: So I mean, and you can get like the fries, the Greek fries and stuff like that.
• 15:31
  Sean McAllister: But the Greek burger is good.
• 15:33
  Dayna Roselli: Oh, it's delicious.
• 15:34
  Dayna Roselli: I had that after I returned.
• 15:35
  Dayna Roselli: We did the story, then I went back like a week later just for dinner.
• 15:39
  Dayna Roselli: And the guy at the register was like, you guys gotta have the Greek burger.
• 15:43
  Dayna Roselli: You have you haven't tried it yet.
• 15:44
  Dayna Roselli: So I had it and it's amazing.
• 15:46
  Dayna Roselli: There's like feta on it, and tomato.
• 15:48
  Dayna Roselli: Oh, it was so good.
• 15:49
  Dayna Roselli: Yum.
• 15:50
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, so it is great.
• 15:51
  Dayna Roselli: They um have just recently opened another location in Henderson in addition to the downtown one.
• 15:56
  Dayna Roselli: They've got locations in Utah.
• 15:58
  Dayna Roselli: So I'm happy for them.
• 16:00
  Dayna Roselli: They're um, you know, from Vegas, but have really been able to expand because there's demand for it.
• 16:05
  Sean McAllister: So whether you're staying on the strip or if you're you're downtown, be sure to check out Meraki Grill.
• 16:11
  Dayna Roselli: Hey, just wanted to mention this was really cool.
• 16:13
  Dayna Roselli: I saw a video and uh we're putting it in our TV show too, that the Hall of Excellence over at the Fountain Blue just added the Elvis Black two-piece suit that he wore here in Las Vegas from July 31st, 1969.
• 16:29
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, this was his big, this was his first big uh comeback show for that Las Vegas residency that set all the records when he played here for for so long over there at the International, now the Westgate.
• 16:42
  Sean McAllister: Um, but but this uh black uh two-piece suit, it looks the first time that I saw it, I was like, oh my gosh, that looks so uh modern.
• 16:53
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, modern.
• 16:54
  Sean McAllister: It it didn't uh look like it was something from back in the 60s.
• 16:59
  Sean McAllister: I could see somebody walking down the street in it today, and it was like in perfect condition.
• 17:04
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 17:05
  Dayna Roselli: They were saying in the one video that I watched that um the designer, his it was kind of like a karate theme suit because it you had the little bit of the high collar just like halfway to the neck.
• 17:15
  Dayna Roselli: Yep.
• 17:15
  Dayna Roselli: And then it kind of like came down almost like uh, and I was looking, I was like, oh yeah, it kind of does.
• 17:20
  Dayna Roselli: And then my mom was saying, you know, because she's a huge elvision, she's like, I don't, I think that's the only time he's ever really worn all black.
• 17:25
  Dayna Roselli: He did not wear black a lot.
• 17:27
  Dayna Roselli: That was like a big deal.
• 17:28
  Dayna Roselli: And I was like, oh, interesting.
• 17:30
  Dayna Roselli: And I was trying to think it, I was like, Yeah, maybe you're right.
• 17:33
  Dayna Roselli: Um, but yeah, it looks pristine in great condition.
• 17:36
  Dayna Roselli: Um that's a get for the hall of excellence.
• 17:39
  Dayna Roselli: I think that's gonna be a huge draw.
• 17:41
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, they have so many amazing things over there, but if you want to see Elvis's black two-piece suit from July 31st, 1969 at the International Hotel when he did that, it's it's there.
• 17:53
  Sean McAllister: It's there, man.
• 17:54
  Sean McAllister: That is really incredible.
• 17:55
  Sean McAllister: It's such a great piece of not only uh entertainment history overall, but Vegas entertainment.
• 18:03
  Sean McAllister: I know.
• 18:04
  Sean McAllister: So cool.
• 18:05
  Dayna Roselli: Well, speaking of history, um, we went to the world's largest casino collectible show.
• 18:10
  Dayna Roselli: I think we mentioned it, we've done it on our television show, but we've never done uh really talked about it on the audio podcast because you and I were like, we always hear about this casino collectible show, but like it what's it like?
• 18:21
  Dayna Roselli: And um, you know, we even have so many chips on our desk that we've collected through the years.
• 18:25
  Dayna Roselli: I've we've got ones from the Mirage and the Tropicana.
• 18:29
  unknown: And what else?
• 18:30
  Sean McAllister: Oh gosh.
• 18:31
  Sean McAllister: Uh I've got the sands in here, uh some special things from Caesars.
• 18:38
  Dayna Roselli: I think I have the Frontier at home.
• 18:40
  Dayna Roselli: Um, so and you think like what you know, what are they right, Riviera?
• 18:44
  Dayna Roselli: What are those worth?
• 18:45
  Dayna Roselli: Or what's the deal when these people come together and what other things can you find at the casino collectibles show?
• 18:50
  Dayna Roselli: So they have it at the South Point every year.
• 18:53
  Dayna Roselli: Um, but we did meet up with the president of the Casino Collectibles Association when we were there and chatted with him.
• 19:00
  Dayna Roselli: His name's Barry Sherwood, uh, to find out more about what people collect and what makes things, you know, kind of worth money.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_04: It's all about preserving gaming history.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_04: They're from all over.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_04: They bring their wares here to trade, to sell.
• 19:13
  Dayna Roselli: How do you know if something's really rare?
• 19:14
  Dayna Roselli: Because there are a lot of chips out there.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_04: So there are certain guides or certain people who have done a lot of research, like there are um order cards from the different manufacturers saying this casino ordered 5,000 of these, 200 of these.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_04: And so we know what the original numbers were.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_04: And then just by kind of looking at what's available on eBay and other places, we can see kind of the rarity.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_04: You know, where are these, how many are available for sale or available for trade.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_04: And so there's an assumed rarity for the ones you never see, and there's assumed commonality for the ones you see all the time.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_04: You you can infer from how many were made, but you don't know how many were ever destroyed, because when a casino decides to obsolete a chip, you're supposed to destroy them, dribble them, notch them, do something like that.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_04: But some of them didn't do that.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_04: Some of them dumped them in Lake Tahoe, some of them buried in concrete of foundations of other buildings.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_04: So you don't really know how many are out there, and that's part of the hunt.
• 20:05
  Dayna Roselli: What other things do people look for from casinos besides just chips?
• 20:09
  Dayna Roselli: What's popular?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_04: Well, there's popular and there's interesting.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_04: There are people who collect doorknobs uh from the doors of different casinos.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_04: There are people that collect um uh room card keys, slot keys, uh, of course, dice, whizzl sticks, ashtrays, matchbooks, um anything that has a logo on it or has provenance of from being from that casino.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_04: A chair that doesn't necessarily have a logo on it, but it was very uniquely designed, and so you know that was from a certain casino.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_04: Carpet.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_04: Carpet, believe it or not, is something people collect from different casinos.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_04: We would love to have a physical museum.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_04: We're not quite there yet.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna be putting together a virtual museum first, and in the meantime, it's everybody kind of collecting their own things.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_04: We have a lot of people donating their items to the club, which we have a nice controlled storage.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_04: And uh, we're just happy to share our experiences and the experiences of these people that were around when the mobsters were doing their thing, right?
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_04: They have stories.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_04: There's a lot of guys here with a lot of stories from back in the day.
• 21:13
  Dayna Roselli: So Barry said they're definitely back next year, so they'll be back again.
• 21:17
  Dayna Roselli: All right, and then it and it will be at the South Point.
• 21:19
  Sean McAllister: Excellent.
• 21:20
  Sean McAllister: And it was interesting to see the variety of uh casino and gaming related stuff that was there.
• 21:30
  Sean McAllister: I mean, everything from matchbooks, from uh the lounges uh at at casinos that are no longer exist, cups, ashtrays, um menus.
• 21:41
  Dayna Roselli: The cocktail stirrers.
• 21:43
  Sean McAllister: Uh yeah, cocktail stir.
• 21:44
  Sean McAllister: I mean, uh the whole it runs the gamut, and then there's even early uh gaming machines that uh people had on display at their little booth store as well.
• 21:56
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, they did.
• 21:56
  Sean McAllister: So it was it's really cool to see uh the evolution of.
• 22:00
  Sean McAllister: Gaming, uh how some of this merchandise from casinos of times gone by is uh just top of mind and and of such interest to so many people.
• 22:12
  Dayna Roselli: What happened to the cocktail stir?
• 22:15
  Dayna Roselli: Remember, we used to get those with everything.
• 22:16
  Dayna Roselli: Now we get a plastic little straw.
• 22:19
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, you get the cocktail straw.
• 22:21
  Dayna Roselli: It used to be fun to collect those.
• 22:22
  Sean McAllister: I mean, unless you get a martini that has your olives stuck on the little spear.
• 22:29
  Dayna Roselli: I feel like you see them a lot on cruise ships.
• 22:31
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, the stirrers.
• 22:33
  Dayna Roselli: I don't know.
• 22:33
  Dayna Roselli: Those were cool though.
• 22:34
  Sean McAllister: Those have kind of gone by the wayside, huh?
• 22:37
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:38
  Dayna Roselli: I know my parents have a bar downstairs um that uh, you know, has like a I don't know.
• 22:45
  Dayna Roselli: They have like a little vase thing where they they have all the stirr through the years from different places that they've they've gone through.
• 22:50
  Dayna Roselli: Oh, that's cool.
• 22:50
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, so but yeah, you don't really get those anymore.
• 22:53
  Sean McAllister: No, you don't.
• 22:54
  Dayna Roselli: It's funny that the price of a drink is like uh quadrupled, but we we don't get a stir.
• 22:59
  Dayna Roselli: Now a stir.
• 23:00
  Sean McAllister: You get less with your drink now, but you're paying four times more at least.
• 23:06
  Dayna Roselli: What is going on, man?
• 23:07
  Dayna Roselli: Things are so expensive right now, it's just ridiculous.
• 23:11
  Dayna Roselli: Um, just all around.
• 23:12
  Dayna Roselli: I mean, in you know, across the board.
• 23:15
  Dayna Roselli: Um, so anyway, that's a that's a sidebar.
• 23:19
  Dayna Roselli: Uh let's do some celebrity news with a Vegas Twist now.
• 23:25
  Sean McAllister: Well, I don't know if uh all of you out there listening are Mahjong players, but here in Las Vegas, and I don't know what it's like in uh other cities around the country and around the world, but Mahjong is having a huge moment in Las Vegas right now.
• 23:44
  Sean McAllister: It seems like everywhere there's lessons popping up, there's game nights, mahjong game nights popping up.
• 23:51
  Sean McAllister: I'm now getting, I don't know, I entered the Mahjong algorithm on Instagram too, and I'm getting all these videos that show these uh mechanical mahjong tables that shuffle your tiles and line them up and pop them up to the top of the table.
• 24:07
  Sean McAllister: It's crazy.
• 24:08
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, it's a I know, it's a big thing.
• 24:10
  Dayna Roselli: And there, I saw on Facebook that they're actually opening Mahjong centers, like specifically for the game.
• 24:17
  Dayna Roselli: So I'm like, okay, well, there must really be demand, right?
• 24:21
  Dayna Roselli: So we were told by Patronia Poonsman, one of our correspondents for Vegas Revealed TV show, that it definitely is popping off right now.
• 24:29
  Dayna Roselli: And she went over to The Space, which is located here in Las Vegas.
• 24:33
  Dayna Roselli: They do a lot of different uh entertainment, they have a podcast studio over there, a lot of different events at the space.
• 24:40
  Dayna Roselli: And now they have these Mahjong days.
• 24:42
  Dayna Roselli: And so she went over there uh to check it out.
• 24:45
  Dayna Roselli: And she also, here's the celebrity part, ran into a celebrity that was there playing and is apparently irregular.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_05: Mahjong is on fire right now.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_05: You know, everybody's playing, everybody's talking about it.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_03: Nearly a decade ago, the space founders Mark Chinook and Cheryl Darrow created this venue to bring people together through entertainment.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_03: They never imagined it would also become home to Mahjong Social.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_03: The monthly event created by Cheryl along with fellow Las Vegas entertainers and community leaders DJ E Rock and Cosmo Alonso combines beginner lessons, open play, friendly tournaments, and prizes, all while introducing new players to a game that's been loved for generations.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_05: It's such a cultural part of our family, and because of the popularity, I said to Cheryl one day, I was like, look, why don't we start a mahjong hangout at the space and get some tables, get some tiles, and see what happens.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_05: And in true space fashion, we give the money away to charity.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_03: I have to admit, I'm a little late to this mahjong party.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: I always thought this game looked a little intimidating, but after sitting down for just a few minutes, I realized that this is less about winning and more about spending time with people.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_03: And that's why so many are falling in love with this game.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_03: To have newcomers like me, volunteers with Mission Mahjong offer free beginner lessons teaching the Hong Kong style of the game before everyone joins in on the fun.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_03: For many Asian families, Mahjong has been about more than just the tiles, but a tradition that's been passed down through generations.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: That also goes for Mahjong Social's regular and Hollywood actress Kelly Who, who grew up in Hawaii and now calls Las Vegas home.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: My earliest memory of playing Mahjong was when I used to live in uh Maui with my grandparents.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: And uh they used to make us play for money.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_03: When I asked Kelly for some pro tips, she told me to just keep playing and have fun.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_03: It's not a hard game to learn, it's a hard game to master.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: Well, mastering mahjong may take me a while, but I'll definitely be back for another game.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_03: Mahjong Social is held the last Sunday of every month at the space.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_03: Tickets are$25 with pro seats benefiting local charities.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_03: I'm Patrana Poonswan with Vegas Reveals Beyond the Strip.
• 26:57
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, so that's fun that Patrana ran into Kelly.
• 27:00
  Dayna Roselli: And if you want to go over to the space, they do it.
• 27:02
  Dayna Roselli: I think it's once a month.
• 27:03
  Dayna Roselli: And so um it's it looked, you know, like a lot of fun.
• 27:06
  Dayna Roselli: And it's good that there's an instructor there.
• 27:08
  Dayna Roselli: Because a lot of people, when you go in, you're like, well, I don't know how to play, so why am I gonna bother?
• 27:11
  Dayna Roselli: But they're gonna teach you.
• 27:12
  Sean McAllister: Right.
• 27:13
  Sean McAllister: Well, and I like what Kelly said too it made me laugh when she was like, Oh, we used to play when I, you know, uh lived on Maui and would go to my grandparents and they would make us play for money.
• 27:24
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 27:25
  Sean McAllister: So that's like being thrown right into the fire.
• 27:27
  Dayna Roselli: I know.
• 27:29
  Dayna Roselli: Sure is.
• 27:30
  Dayna Roselli: So yeah.
• 27:31
  Dayna Roselli: So if you want to check out uh Mahjong, and do they have that at cause is it actual do they have that at casinos or no?
• 27:39
  Sean McAllister: That it is a casino game just yet.
• 27:43
  Sean McAllister: I can imagine that uh see.
• 27:45
  Dayna Roselli: I wonder if that's kind of a thing that they'll make mahjong rooms.
• 27:48
  Sean McAllister: I think they could.
• 27:49
  Sean McAllister: I mean, that would be smart.
• 27:51
  Sean McAllister: It would be a successful thing if they end up doing that.
• 27:55
  Sean McAllister: Um yeah, there's no dedicated uh large-scale commercial mahjong casinos or rooms, but there are a lot of studios and social events popping up all over the place.
• 28:08
  Dayna Roselli: All right, well, listen, uh, that's a podcast.
• 28:10
  Dayna Roselli: As I said, Sean and I did take a little break, so we're getting back in the swing of things and we'll be back in full force next week.
• 28:16
  Dayna Roselli: Um, we hope you enjoyed today's show.
• 28:18
  Dayna Roselli: Some different in interviews, a little food, a little casino collectibles, a little mahjong, and some numbers uh coming out from MGM after the all-inclusive deal, which I believe is still going on.
• 28:29
  Dayna Roselli: So if you're into that, go to MGM Resorts International's page and look up the Luxor Next Caliber all-inclusive deal.
• 28:36
  Dayna Roselli: It really is good.
• 28:37
  Dayna Roselli: It starts at 330.
• 28:39
  Dayna Roselli: You get show tickets, you get three meals a day, two nights at the hotel, uh New York, New York roller coaster, you know, ride uh tickets and all that kind of stuff.
• 28:48
  Dayna Roselli: So, and it's for two people.
• 28:50
  Sean McAllister: For two people.
• 28:51
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, and hey, just remember fall is one of the best times of year to visit Las Vegas.
• 28:57
  Sean McAllister: It's been a hot summer.
• 28:58
  Sean McAllister: It's been a hot summer, but fall is on the way.
• 29:00
  Dayna Roselli: Fall is on the way.
• 29:02
  Dayna Roselli: Don't forget to download the Vegas Near Me app.
• 29:04
  Dayna Roselli: Uh, everything fun to do and see is uh inside the Vegas Near Me app.
• 29:08
  Dayna Roselli: And you can go to their website, Vegasnearme.com, look around.
• 29:12
  Dayna Roselli: There's so much information there, guys.
• 29:14
  Dayna Roselli: I think you'll really benefit if you're coming to Las Vegas or even if you live in Las Vegas.
• 29:19
  Sean McAllister: Thanks for listening.
• 29:20
  Sean McAllister: We'll be back next week.