Las Vegas Advisor: New upscale resort planned with Wild Wild West closure

Another Las Vegas casino has closed and is scheduled for demolition.

The Wild Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel, located on Tropicana Avenue less than a mile west of the Strip, closed its doors last week with only three days’ notice after operating since 1974, originally as the King 8.

Owner Station Casinos has announced plans to raze the casino and attached 260-room motel to make way for an upscale resort, though no timetable for the new project was revealed.

Mirage promos: Previously thought to be closing before the end of the year to begin its transformation to Hard Rock, the Mirage has issued a press release about its National Finals Rodeo promotions. The promos run through Dec. 10, which lends a little more credence to recent talk that a December demise is no longer in the cards. Still no word on the closing of the volcano.

Long run: After 55 years, 78-year-old Benny Figgins has finally retired as the last remaining original employee at Caesars Palace. Benny was hired on April 17, 1967, four months before Caesars opened. He worked as a porter, a dishwasher at the original Bacchanal restaurant, a busboy in the Circus Maximus showroom and finally as a blackjack dealer, crossing paths with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Diana Ross, among countless other celebrities.

Bloody good deal: La Salsa Cantina, in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, serves a $5.99 breakfast daily from 8 a.m. to noon. It’s a good deal that’s made better by the 99 cents bloody Marys that are also available. Yep, they come in little plastic cups, so get two.

Question: How much money do the casinos make on unredeemed slot tickets?

Answer: The breakage from unredeemed ticket-in ticket-out (TITO) systems came to more than $22 million last year. Customers forget to cash them or simply don’t want to bother with small change and leave them in the machines. The windfall is split 75% to the state and 25% to the casinos.