We just returned home from our latest Las Vegas adventure—a trip coinciding with Harrah’s takeover of Planet Hollywood. Many Five Hundy listeners have inquired what changes are in store. Here’s what we witnessed and learned:

• Most video poker paytables have not yet changed. Machines at the Extra Lounge bar were downgraded before we arrived. Most other machines were the same as before—not full pay, but not as bad surrounding properties.
• On Feb. 21, about 30 percent of the slot and video poker machines were labeled with stickers notifying gamblers the machines would be shut down at 9 p.m. By the next morning, dozens of machines were taken offline and crews were removing them from the slot floor. Three days later, they were still rearranging the slot floor. Signs around the casino assured visitors that we’ll love their new look. Removal of machines is standard operating procedure when Harrah’s takes over existing casinos. They instituted the less-is-more slot floor concept when acquiring Imperial Palace, Barbary Coast and O’Shea’s too.
• Planet Hollywood’s A-List players club will merge into Harrah’s Total Rewards players club on April 1, 2010. A-List points will be converted into TR reward credits and will be added to players’ TR tier score. A-List gold card holders will receive TR platinum cards; A-List platinum card holders will receive TR diamond cards. No word on what happens for those of us with both TR platinum status and A-List gold status. I’m hoping platinum + gold = diamond. FAQ cards are available at the A-List desk. FAQ 1. FAQ 2.
• Planet Hollywood will have its own diamond lounge. Construction is underway near the hotel registration desk.

I learned long ago not to spend too long trying to figure out why Las Vegas hotel operators make the decisions they do or my brain may explode. The latest interesting strategy comes from The Venetian, where customers are no longer able to book rooms in the Venezia Tower online or by calling the reservation line. When Five Hundy listener tpet tipped me off to this development, my first thought was that the tower was temporarily shut down until the economy improves and there’s more demand. Not so.

A friendly Venetian reservations rep told me Venezia rooms are still available but only from The Venetian’s casino marketing department or Expedia. She had no idea why management made this decision or how long the new policy will be in effect. Sure enough, a quick check of Expedia’s Web site yielded Venezia Tower suites for at least the next several months.

Way to serve your customers, Venetian!

One of the few things I miss about the TV series “Las Vegas” is seeing where The Montecito would appear on The Strip each week. From season to season, episode to episode and sometimes even scene to scene, the hotel’s location varied. Although many of the exterior shots placed The Montecito on the south end of Las Vegas Blvd., shots from Big Ed’s office placed the resort across the street from The Venetian and Harrah’s.

Well, the magic of The Montecito is returning in the form of PH Towers. This new hotel/timeshare sister resort of Planet Hollywood is scheduled to open in November. While I’m anxious to check out the suites, the Celebrity Buffet and the pool area, the most impressive feature is PH Towers’ defiance of the laws of both space and time.

For almost three years, construction of PH Towers has taken place on land behind Planet Ho. On the resort’s Web site, both a map and a room photo showing Bellagio and Caesars across the street confirm this location.

Additional photos on the site, however, indicate some of the resort’s rooms are located just north and south of The Venetian. These rooms include not only fantastic views of The Strip, but apparently views from at least three years ago. Do you miss Stardust (RIP 2006) and New Frontier (RIP 2007)? Thanks to PH Towers, they’re back.

Few details about the Anywhere/Anytime Strip Suites have emerged, so I’m not sure what other views are available. Michele is hoping for a room overlooking the rotating shoe at The Silver Slipper, while I’d just like to see the “Future Home of Countryland U.S.A.” marquee one more time.

Some sad and surprising news came out of Las Vegas today. Impressionist Danny Gans died at home early this morning. Find details here, here and here.

We’ll be discussing Gans’ Las Vegas career on the next podcast.

It seems like just yesterday when we were talking about how nothing major was going on in Las Vegas. How quickly things change. MGM Mirage announced this morning it is selling Treasure Island to former New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin. What does this mean for TI? Will Sirens’ Cove be filled with mud for the return of Cold Beer, Dirty Girls? Will Christian Audigier: The Nightclub be replaced by Gilley’s? Will Sigma Derby return to the north end of The Strip? Will Ruffin resurrect his plans for either City by the Bay or Montreux? We’ll ponder these and other questions about Treasure Island on the next show.

Five Hundy by Midnight has learned The Second City Las Vegas is closing its doors on Aug. 1. The Las Vegas branch of the legendary improvisational comedy theater has occupied the small showroom at Flamingo since 2001. Considering the revolving door of mid-priced shows on The Strip in that time, a seven-year run is pretty impressive. No word yet regarding what Flamingo has planned for the showroom nor whether The Second City is seeking a new Las Vegas home. An official announcement about the closing is expected later this week.

MGM Mirage today confirmed ARIA is the name of the resort and casino at CityCenter.

Harrah’s Entertainment, the ginormous casino owner we love to hate and hate to love, announced today it is changing its name to Caesars Entertainment. This isn’t a huge surprise, as the Caesars name carries more prestige.

In 2004, Park Place Entertainment, then-owner of Flamingo, Bally’s, Paris and Caesars Palace along with a bunch of casinos outside of Las Vegas, changed its name to Caesars Entertainment. Harrah’s Entertainment acquired Caesars Entertainment a few months later.

So what does this name change mean? When we complain about diminishing diamond lounge benefits and 10 minutes later rave about free room offers, we’ll be calling it Caesars instead of Harrah’s. Other than that, probably not much.

If your heart (or other part of your anatomy) is set on staying at Hooters Casino Hotel, now is the time. New owners plan to dump the Hooters theme.

Rumored for more than a year, Cher is headed for Las Vegas. Tomorrow, Caesars Palace is expected to announce Cher will be performing more than 200 shows over the next three years at the Colosseum beginning on May 6. Get ready for an onslaught of media coverage, beginning with appearances on Good Morning America tomorrow morning and Nightline tomorrow night.