New York New York found a new tenant to fill the recently shuttered ESPN Zone’s old space. The Sporting House Bar and Grill opened yesterday. ESPN Zone fans who mourned the loss of the old joint will probably feel right at home in the new place. Based on the logo, I’m guessing few changes are in store.

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.