Cheers! Margaritaville casino at Flamingo opens Saturday

By Delen Goldberg(contact)

Friday
30 September 2011
2:32 p.m.

A year ago, the space between the Donny and Marie Showroom and the Margaritaville restaurant in the Flamingo was dark and empty.

“It was pretty much a dreary hallway,” Caesars Regional President Rick Mazer said.

Today, it’s bright, airy and bustling with activity. Caesars Entertainment executives have transformed the former hallway into the world’s first Margaritaville casino. It opens to the public at noon Saturday.

The 15,000-square-foot “casino within a casino” features 22 gaming tables, 220 slot machines and a centerpiece “5 O’clock Somewhere” bar. Palm trees double as pillars, tiki huts poke from the ceiling and a giant margarita blender decorates an entrance. Almost everything in the venue pays homage to Margaritaville founder and musician Jimmy Buffett.

Friday, staff put the finishing touches on the $10 million casino. Workers swept up dust as dealers in Hawaiian shirts and bikini-clad cocktail servers toured the floor.

The mini-casino links the main Flamingo casino floor with the resort’s 8-year-old Margaritaville restaurant. Caesars staff oversaw gaming decisions, and Margaritaville officials designed the space.

“What was so important was that we get the Margaritaville brand, which is so strong, right,” Mazer said. “We didn’t want to interpret it.”

Likewise, the 250 employees Caesars hired had to interview with both companies to make sure they had skills needed to work in a casino as well as the laid-back attitude intrinsic to the Margaritaville brand.

For now, the casino has no Margaritaville-themed slot machines (although judging by the company’s success, those are probably coming.) Instead, Caesars employed the same gaming mix they use on the main Flamingo casino floor. The Margaritaville mini-casino includes craps, blackjack and other popular table games, as well as video poker, reel slots and digital slots. Tables are decorated with palm trees and parrots, while slots are fastened to pillars shaped like waves. One bank of machines has a plastic shark circling overhead.

While Las Vegas’ Margaritaville casino is the first to open, it won’t be the last. Construction is underway on a second casino in Biloxi, and ground will be broken for a third next year in Bossier City, La.

“To us, it’s about a fun gaming experience,” Margaritaville Holdings CEO John Cohlan said. “The business of Margaritaville is fun.”

Company executives will host a grand opening at Flamingo’s Margaritaville Oct. 14 with a street party and attempt to create the world’s largest margarita. Festivities will last a week and coincide with two Buffett concerts planned for Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Lucky Parrotheads might also be able to sneak a peek of Buffett at the casino tables. Cohlan said he always frequents his namesake properties.

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