VIPs get first glimpse at latest in locals market

Justin M. Bowen

Guests enter the casino for the first time Sunday night at the M Resort.

By Richard N. Velotta (contact)

Monday, March 2, 2009 | 12:05 a.m.

Anthony Marnell III was making the rounds through his new casino during Sunday’s VIP event showing a mix of satisfaction that things were going well and anticipation for the public opening just hours away.

“It’s really great to see all the people in here, to see that the flow is working,” Marnell said from the Studio B buffet entrance. “It’s been a long haul, but it’s finally here.”

Hundreds of VIP guests sampled their way through the various restaurants, trying hors d’ouvres, shrimp and lamb chops while getting their first look at the number of intimate nooks of the M.

Several guests found their way to the buffet and its various stations. Some lingered at a room overlooking the Las Vegas Strip and the cascade of spotlights projecting into the night while the M airship, which has been flying over the valley for months, circled overhead with signs announcing the pending opening.

Among the guests in the Terzetto steak and seafood restaurant was longtime Southern Nevada gaming executive Bill Boyd, whose company was in the news this week with a proposed takeover bid of locals market rival Station Casinos.

Boyd, who sat in a booth at the restaurant with friends, said he was impressed with the new entry in the market.

“This place is just beautiful, they did a marvelous job with it,” Boyd said.

A number of guests remarked that Marnell had raised the bar for the locals market.

“I think they’ve even beaten Red Rock,” said one guest who asked to remain anonymous.

“It’s elegant without being stuffy,” added another.

Also on hand for the opening was Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., who attended the opening with her mother.

“I didn’t want to miss this,” Titus said while waiting for a special entertainment presentation at the opening prior to the 9:50 p.m. fireworks show. “It’s an impressive place – and it’s even in my district.”

Moments after the fireworks show ended, the public poured into the resort and began playing the resort’s 1,847 slot machines and 64 table games. Gaming trade publication journalist and professional poker player William Krackomberger of Galloway, N.J., threw the first roll of the die at the craps table and was a winner with a 7.

Krackomberger, who spends about six months out of the year in Las Vegas and has attended seven casino openings here since 2000, said M “blows away every other locals casino in the market.”

While the Trump magazine writer was dazzled with the attributes of the building, he was most impressed with the resort staff.

“If they can keep this up, they’ll be the top locals place in Las Vegas hands down,” Krackomberger said. “I don’t know who trained these people, but whoever it was did an absolutely fantastic job.”

Marnell has said the M’s emphasis would be on bringing back a Las Vegas reminiscent of the early days of the Rio, which his father built, and that, he said, is why the training of staff is so important.