Anthony Curtis’ nationally syndicated weekly column.
June 23, 2010
While the $10,000-buy-in Main Event receives the lion’s share of the attention at the World Series of Poker, this is a huge series of tournaments that runs for nearly two months. At the halfway point, a few interesting developments have taken place. While it initially looked as if this year’s event would draw fewer players than last, attendance is up 10.2% and appears to be gaining speed; the annual Senior’s tournament set a record with 3,142 players willing to pony up the $1,000 buy-in, an increase of 16% over last year. On the subject of ponying, the world’s second-most-prestigious poker tournament, the $50,000-buy-in Poker Players Championship (formerly called H.O.R.S.E.), was won by Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi, who collected almost $1.6 million for his efforts. And poker pro Phil “the Unabomber” Laak set a new Guinness World Record for continuous poker playing by logging 115 hours and annihilating the previous record of 72 hours and 2 minutes.
Walgreens: A three-story 100,000-square-foot retail center will occupy a 2.16-acre parcel across the Strip from CityCenter. A new Walgreens pharmacy will be the anchor tenant, the third of the chain’s stores on Las Vegas Boulevard. Ground will be broken in the “next few months,” but no construction schedule has been released.
Comedy Trop: Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club is poised to open at the Tropicana. The Trop, which hosted the “Comedy Stop” for many years, is in the process of revamping all of its dining and entertainment options, along with upgrading several other aspects of the casino. Tickets for Brad Garrett are $47.95 and $69.95.
Question: How does Las Vegas compare in size to other cities in the country?
Answer: According to just-released statistics, Las Vegas ranks as the nation’s 28th most populated city with 568,000 residents—one spot behind Washington, D.C., and one ahead of Louisville, Kentucky.
