The Side Action The other gambling empires strike back
Cigar Aficionado|November - December 2023
Las Vegas and Atlantic City are not exactly sitting back on their comfy gaming-table chairs while potential competition brews in New York. After all, the Big Apple already attracts three times as many visitors as Vegas, even without full-service casinos, and the three-hour trip to Atlantic City is looking less attractive if all you want to do is place a wager. Both cities have moved quickly to hedge their bets with bolstered attractions.
Michael Kaplan
The Side Action The other gambling empires strike back

The newest entry in Sin City is Fontainebleau, an offshoot of the famous Miami hotel. While it will have the usual top-notch amenities that make Vegas desirable—spa, gambling, gorgeous rooms, cool restaurants—Fontainebleau will introduce one thing that Vegas does not have.

“There will be a membership club on the top floor,” says Jeffrey Soffer who heads up Fontainebleau in Vegas and Miami. Its name—the Poodle Room—harks to a spot at the Miami Fontainebleau where Frank Sinatra hung out in the ’50s. Soffer enthuses that the Las Vegas incarnation “will overlook the city and be for members, VIP guests [i.e., big gamblers] and people staying in certain room products. The space is around 20,000 square feet, highly decorated and the nicest lounge in Las Vegas. There’ll be a cigar room in there and it will be totally unique to Vegas.” At the foot of the Vegas Strip,

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM CIGAR AFICIONADOView all
A High Steaks Game - Gallaghers restaurant, New York's oasis for carnivores, has thrived for 96 years, playing host to a colorful crowd of sports heroes, show people and classic characters
Cigar Aficionado

A High Steaks Game - Gallaghers restaurant, New York's oasis for carnivores, has thrived for 96 years, playing host to a colorful crowd of sports heroes, show people and classic characters

Dean Poll, the owner of Gallaghers Steakhouse on Manhattan's West 52nd Street, has to think both like a restaurateur and the curator of a museum with an entire wing of art. Only, instead of tending to European oil paintings, Poll oversees images of Old New York. I work here every day. I am thinking about the food and staff, Poll says, sitting in a corner that could be called baseball cove. Over his right shoulder are stills of Lou Gehrig and the Yankees' Murderers' Row manager Miller Huggins. Jack Dempsey is clowning, grappling with a bat also held by Babe Ruth. "To Helen Gallagher, sincerely Babe Ruth," the inscription reads. Poll gestures toward signed caricatures of Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. "So I lose, to a certain extent, the importance of what's on the walls. But the photos are the decor. They lend some hominess to the place. It's the heart and soul of this restaurant. It's not cheap decoration. The only thing missing is the cigar smoke", adds Poll, who fancies a Partagás 8-9-8 It's what this restaurant is for 96 years.

time-read
5 mins  |
September/October 2024
The Enforcer - Cole Hauser, who plays the tough-as-nails cowboy Rip on the hit show "Yellowstone," has been around horses since he was a little boy
Cigar Aficionado

The Enforcer - Cole Hauser, who plays the tough-as-nails cowboy Rip on the hit show "Yellowstone," has been around horses since he was a little boy

Cole Hauser looks like he can kick your ass. And kicking ass is the specialty of his most famous character, Rip Wheeler from the hit series "Yellowstone." He's the show's man in black, his dark cowboy hat often coated in trail dust, shades hiding his intense eyes, black beard covering a mouth that seldom smiles. The absolute opposite of a pretty boy, he's never chatty-and when he does talk it's often with a bit of menace in his voice. He's not the kind of guy to take a back seat to anything.

time-read
10+ mins  |
September/October 2024
Pinball Machines - "Two kind of people in this world," Ray Liotta's character says in the 1997 movie Cop Land.
Cigar Aficionado

Pinball Machines - "Two kind of people in this world," Ray Liotta's character says in the 1997 movie Cop Land.

"Two kind of people in this world," Ray Liotta's character says in the 1997 movie Cop Land. Pinball people and video game people." If you're 50 or older, you might fall into the former group of gamers who are enthralled by the ringing bells, snapping flippers and the captivating combination of mechanics and electronics that make pinball irresistible. While it's the ultimate Sisyphean game-the eternal (and doomed) effort to keep an 80-gram, carbon-steel ball from going down the drainfor those who love it, it couldn't be more fun.

time-read
2 mins  |
September/October 2024
TAG Heuer Formula 1 | Kith
Cigar Aficionado

TAG Heuer Formula 1 | Kith

Many connect TAG Heuer with Formula 1 racing through the renowned Monaco watch, named for the Grand Prix held in that city.

time-read
1 min  |
September/October 2024
My Favorite Cigar
Cigar Aficionado

My Favorite Cigar

Cigar aficionados describe their smoke of choice

time-read
3 mins  |
September/October 2024
A Trinidad Celebration
Cigar Aficionado

A Trinidad Celebration

One of Cuba's star cigar brands commemorates 55 years with anniversary smokes

time-read
2 mins  |
September/October 2024
Gentlemen 1919 A CIGAR HIDEAWAY IN PARIS
Cigar Aficionado

Gentlemen 1919 A CIGAR HIDEAWAY IN PARIS

In the front, there are hair cutters; in the back, cigar cutters.

time-read
2 mins  |
September/October 2024
SHORT BUT SWEET
Cigar Aficionado

SHORT BUT SWEET

Golf courses traditionally are played on 18 holes, but a new crop of exciting shorter courses from top-name designers might just be the big new thing in golf

time-read
10 mins  |
September/October 2024
A Major Celebration - pro golfer and cigar lover Xander Schauffele was ready to unwind after winning the PGA Championship in May
Cigar Aficionado

A Major Celebration - pro golfer and cigar lover Xander Schauffele was ready to unwind after winning the PGA Championship in May

Cigars are meant for celebration, so when pro golfer and cigar lover Xander Schauffele was ready to unwind after winning the PGA Championship in May, he lit up.It was a time of immense relief. Despite being a marquee name in golf, with a Gold Medal and a Ryder Cup among his wins, the 30-year-old Schauffele was haunted by another distinction: the back-handed compliment of being on the list of the best golfers never to win a major. He had come ohso-close in many majors, finishing second twice, and seven times in the top 10. But in May, when his final putt-just over six feet in length-dropped for a birdie, the wait was over. He raised both arms in celebration, a huge smile spreading across his face. He was finally a major champion.

time-read
2 mins  |
July/August 2024
Leader of the Lost Boys
Cigar Aficionado

Leader of the Lost Boys

Mike Rypka loves smoking cigars with his friends so much, he bought his neighbor's house and transformed it into a smoking lounge

time-read
8 mins  |
July/August 2024