Operators of The Linq project are seeking a sponsor for a 550-foot observation wheel, the centerpiece of the $550 million Strip-area outdoor dining, retail and entertainment district.

Caruso Affiliated, the company serving as the leasing and sponsorship consultant for development for Caesars Entertainment Corp., said the observation wheel offers a sponsorship opportunity similar to the Staples Center in Los Angeles and Citi Field in New York.

Artist’s rendering of Caesars’ new thrill ride center Strip, just begging for public displays of big-time shenanigans.

Currently named the High Roller, the under-construction observation wheel is taller than the Singapore Flyer and the London Eye and offers views of the Strip. The wheel has 28 glass-enclosed cabins.

“We have already received interest from big brands for the naming rights of this landmark, but given its significance on the Las Vegas landscape, we continue to search for the right brand to feature as the name of the wheel,” said Dan Burgner, executive vice president of Caruso Affiliated.

The project will have 178,000 square feet of restaurants, bars and clubs, 37,000 square feet of retail and 70,000 square feet of entertainment venues.

Portions of The Linq, located between the Flamingo and Quad resorts, will open in December. The majority of the development is scheduled to open in February. The observation wheel will open at a later date.

Follow reporter Howard Stutz on Twitter @howardstutz.

Somebody please tell Caesars to not even think of hosting a WSOP sit-n-go on this thing … ack, no, puke. [photo: Jeff Scheid / Las Vegas Review-Journal]

Caesars Entertainment Corp. [recently] showed off its $550 million vision of urban renewal.

The casino operator is still seven months from finishing The Linq, which was designed as an eclectic urban streetscape suggested by New York City’s trendy Meatpacking District.

The project transforms an eastside Strip area between The Quad and Flamingo that until last year housed a dilapidated parking garage, an underused alleyway and a tiny casino favored by the beer pong crowd.

When it fully opens in February, The Linq’s open-air promenade will encompass 300,000 square feet of stylish retail offerings, trendy restaurants and hip entertainment venues, all anchored on its east end by a 550-foot-tall observation wheel.

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Having navigated MGM Resorts International through almost four years of turbulent economic waters, Jim Murren has grown used to hearing negative comments from haters and detractors.

What surprised Murren, however, were some recent vitriolic remarks directed at his company from a competing corporate office down the street.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson used his quarterly earnings conference call to blame Caesars Entertainment Corp. and MGM Resorts for driving down hotel room rates along the Strip, thus, diminishing Adelson’s earnings in Las Vegas.

Adelson claimed the industry-leading long-term debt carried by Caesars ($23.7 billion) and MGM Resorts ($13.1 billion) affects the way they do business, such as lowered room rates to drive up occupancy.

“I don’t necessarily blame them,” Adelson said. “I suppose if I were in that position, I might do the same thing.”

In an interview following MGM Resorts’ quarterly earnings conference call last week, Murren, MGM’s chairman and CEO, said his company and Caesars have a better understanding of how Las Vegas works these days than Adelson does. Las Vegas Sands drew 86 percent of its quarterly revenue from Asia.

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The Linq won’t be confused with CityCenter.

Then again, analysts have said the last thing the Strip needs right now is another massive hotel-casino complex. The Las Vegas gaming market is still in economic recovery mode after the recession sent gaming figures crashing back to 2004 levels.

Through September, Strip gaming revenues have increased 2.5 percent over the same nine months of 2011, lending some to speculate that the market is slowly coming back.

This brings us back to The Linq.

As 2013 unfolds, the $550 million nongaming Linq is one of three Strip construction projects expected to heat up during the year.

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The temporary poker room at IP during construction of the Linq project is currently enjoying Quad-a-Palooza.

In the weeks leading up to the World Series of Poker, grinders all over Vegas start making big plans. Even small-stakes guys like me and my friends want a piece of the action. But with the major online sites shuttered for US players, we must hunt for a way to qualify for a bracelet event.

WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart told reporters that Caesars properties would increase satellites leading up to the series.

Caesars Palace just launched its WSOP Warm-Up, running through May 20, with tournaments as low as $130 that have $20,000 guaranteed prize pools and $1,000 WSOP seats.

My friends and I decided to skip those tournaments for now — thinking we’d hit a few of the smaller Caesars properties to increase our chances of scoring a seat. These rooms wouldn’t be as packed with local grinders, we figured, and the games would be less volatile.

With the construction of the Caesars’ Linq project underway, the Imperial Palace poker room moved from the front of the casino, by which all the tourists would stumble, to a rather inconvenient spot up on the third floor.

“I don’t get it. They had such a great location,” said one of my poker buddies — an out-of-towner who takes most of his vacations to Vegas.

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It’s hard to play anywhere in Vegas as a non-tourist without hearing noise about the room you’re in or one down The Strip. No wonder so many regs wear headphones. But I keep my ears unplugged to filter through it all for Pokerati — and so Dan has at least half a clue about what’s real, what’s bullshit and what’s a live tell.

Some of what I’ve picked up lately:

Karina Jett is the MGM’s new poker room ambassador, meaning she will promote the room and host the weekly $120 HORSE event at 7:15pm every Tuesday. Jett has hosted the HORSEament previously at the Palms and then M Resort before settling into her new gig at MGM. The inaugural running at MGM featured a drinks-flowing pre-party that saw Cyndy Violette, Gavin Smith, Layne Flack, Allen Kessler, and Erik Seidel.

DonkDown Radio founder Bryan Micon won the tournament last week, beating a pro-filled field of about 80 for a $2k score, along with besting several others in a last-longer bet that paid an added $4k. The next running, earlier this week, attracted a field of about 60 players.

Meanwhile, WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage is also on board with MGM, serving as tournament director for the upcoming Grand Challenge Tournament series. Savage apparently was looking for something else to do in Vegas now that the Epic events are off his calendar.

Occupy Aria?
Players take Ivey Room mixed game back to Bellagio

This hasn’t been confirmed yet, but according to at least one regular player in one of the bigger regular games in Vegas:

For everyone that plans on playing mixgames in Las Vegas…We are no longer playing at Aria… Come join us everyday at @BellagioPoker

— Mike Thorpe (@RealCrazyMike) March 21, 2012

Politics don’t allow us to be able to play at Aria now…Aria is a great place and has great staff and I love it and prefer Aria overall.

— Mike Thorpe (@RealCrazyMike) March 21, 2012

I Hate politics… So easier to move to Bellagio…Come join us everyday @BellagioPoker and get your picture for “playing with this guy”

— Mike Thorpe (@RealCrazyMike) March 21, 2012

FWIW I saw Jean Robert Belande (@BrokeLivingJRB) still playing in Ivey’s room with David Williams (@DWPoker) just last night, so there could be more to this schism. If it’s all political, as Crazy Mike says, that could explain why Barack Obama was in town yesterday.

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