Inside Gaming: Housekeeping Olympics showcases best of Las Vegas casinos, hotels

Las Vegas housekeepers and custodial staff put their skills to the test Monday evening during the annual Housekeeping Olympics inside Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.

Teams from Strip resorts and local businesses competed in events like bed-making, mop relays, vacuum races and buffer pad tosses.

The annual event highlights the work of employees who help maintain Las Vegas’ reputation for world-class hospitality. Now in its 35th year, the competition recognizes the city’s guest room attendants and environmental services workers, many of whom start in housekeeping before moving into supervisory and management roles.

Ten teams took part this year, including MGM Grand, Park MGM, Bellagio, The Cosmopolitan, Carriage House, Resorts World, Atrium Health, Staples Business, and combined teams from Mandalay Bay/Luxor and ARIA/Vdara.

Winners

Bed-Making Competition:

1. Resorts World
2. Bellagio
3. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Vacuum Race:

1. ARIA/Vdara
2. Atrium Hill
3. Mandalay Bay/Luxor

Buffer Pad Toss:

1. Staples Business
2. ARIA/Vdara
3. Resorts World

Mop Relay:

1. Mandalay Bay/Luxor
2. ARIA/Vdara
3. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Executive Challenge:

1. Staples Business
2. Carriage House
3. ARIA/Vdara

Spirit Dance Competition:

1. Resorts World
2. ARIA/Vdara
3. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Overall Winner:

1. ARIA/Vdara
2. Resorts World
3. Staples Business

World Record Awards:

• Bed-Making: Resorts World
• Buffer Pad Toss: Staples Business
• Vacuum Race: ARIA/Vdara
• Mop Relay: Mandalay Bay/Luxor

Sam’s Town closure

Boyd Gaming Corp. has closed its Sam’s Town property in Tunica, Mississippi.

The company cited declining market conditions as the reason for closing the property and putting more than 175 people out of work.

The 1,070-room property opened in May 1994 and was a sister property to Sam’s Town in Las Vegas.

“This was not an easy decision for our company,” Boyd officials said in a statement about the closure. “However, demand throughout the northwest Mississippi market has declined significantly over the past 20 years, with several of Tunica’s original casinos closing since 2014. Our decision to close Sam’s Town is a result of these market conditions and follows our best efforts to adjust the business to address lower demand. These decisions are by far the most difficult we have to make as a company, and we regret that this was necessary.”

Mullally out

Former MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren has been named interim CEO of the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority in the United Arab Emirates after CEO Kevin Mullally announced last week that he is stepping down from the role.

“Kevin has played a significant role in the authority’s early development, helping to establish its core governance and regulatory structure,” Murren said in a release announcing Mullally’s departure. “We thank him for his contribution and wish him continued success in his future endeavors. The GCGRA remains focused on the next stage of its growth, ensuring regulatory excellence, responsible gaming and continued confidence in the UAE’s approach.”

In a LinkedIn post, Mullally said he needed to spend more time with his family as the reason for stepping down.

“My commitment to the principles and progress we established remains unwavering. I will continue to support the authority as it completes this important transition and as the regulatory structure we created realizes its full potential,” Mullally said in the post.

“However, following a recent trip home to the United States, I realized I must prioritize family over my profession at this stage of my life. I look forward to returning to Kansas City with my incredible wife and best friend, Jerri, to be with our five children, their spouses and our eight grandchildren. While this decision has not been easy, it is the right one for us and our family.”

Kalshi scores legal win in California

A federal judge denied a request Monday from three California tribes to block Kalshi, a federally regulated prediction market, from offering its event contracts on tribal lands.

The Blue Lake Rancheria, Chicken Ranch Rancheria and Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians argued that Kalshi’s sports-related contracts amounted to illegal gambling under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said that while she understood the tribes’ concerns about sovereignty and revenue, they did not show that Kalshi was violating any tribal-state compacts. Scott Corley also noted that Kalshi’s contracts, which are traded on a platform overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, are legally distinct from traditional casino gambling.

Kalshi said it welcomed the ruling, calling its exchange “a fair and transparent way to trade event contracts,” in a news release.

The company still faces a similar lawsuit from Wisconsin’s Ho-Chunk Nation.