16th December 2006

Rio Says “Yes” to Bowling and “No” to Bikinis???

posted in Las Vegas |

Bikini and Bowling

What is this world coming to?

I was at the Rio a few days ago, and I noticed some changes to the place.

First, the good:

The poker room is now semi-enclosed with a 5 foot high wall.

That’s it.

Now, the bad:

The blackjack dealers near the entrance were no longer wearing bikinis. Why? Because the Rio is losing the whole “bikini” theme, and is instead putting a bowling alley …. yes, you heard me right, a BOWLING ALLEY … where the Bikini club used to be.

I saw the big walled-off construction area that said “Bowling Lanes Coming Soon” (I should have taken a picture) and I sort of thought it was a joke, but after searching around a bit, I confirmed that it is true. There will now be bowlers instead of bikini-clad women at the entrance to the Rio.

Ewwwww Ewwwww Ewwwww

This is just wrong on so many levels.

Another thing I noticed, the Masquerade Show in the Sky ends at 10:00pm (no more “adult” versions after 11pm), and even that show seems to have been scaled back quite a bit.

And last but not least … get this … NO MORE THONGS ON THE WAITRESSES!!!!

So much for that 5 year running “Best Waitress Costumes” award.

What on earth is happening to the Rio? It used to be that I could not go from the entrance to the parking garage without pitching a tent, but now the place just reminds me of the Palace Station.

Prince can only carry the joint so far …


There are currently 5 responses to “Rio Says “Yes” to Bowling and “No” to Bikinis???”

  1. 1

    On December 17th, 2006, Rory Gillespie said:

    I am the editor of US Bowler, 3 million member magazine of the United States Bowling Congress.

    When did Rio announce the move to bowling?

  2. 2

    On December 17th, 2006, VegasRex said:

    Hello Rory,

    I did not personally hear any announcement whatsoever about the Rio’s move to bowling. This is why I was so suprised to see it with my own two eyes when I went there last week.

    After reading some more, making some calls, and asking around, I have learned that the Rio hopes to attract some big name bowling tournaments in the years to come.

    Apparently they liked holding the World Series of Poker so much, that they decided to branch out into other games.

    And for the record, I have nothing against bowling. I have been known to play a few games myself here and there. It’s a great game.

    But, if you had to chose between mostly naked chicks and a bowling alley, well …. you know …

    They could have had the best of both worlds by keeping the bikini ladies AND the bowling alley. Wouldn’t bowlers have enjoyed that?

    They kind of killed the old Rio vibe, not necessarily because of the alleys, but because of the overhaul of the casino atmosphere as a whole

  3. 3

    On December 18th, 2006, Rory said:

    Thanks,
    And I will use your story in US Bowler.
    Send me an address and I will send out a copy when the quarterly comes out next month.

    Used to hit Vegas a couple times a year for the bowling business I do. It seems to change so often I haven’t been there for a year and a half now.

    Cheers!

  4. 4

    On December 19th, 2006, VegasRex said:

    Hi Rory,

    Please send me a private email to spam_blocker@vegasrex.com with your email address, and I will reply with my mailing address.

    Thanks! I look forward to receiving the magazine.

    (I have to use the spam_blocker thing, it takes the spambots about 15 minutes to harvest an address these days)

  5. 5

    On January 21st, 2007, VegasRex said:

    For those that have this page RSS’ed … here is a new development:

    http://www.vegasrex.com/2007/01/21/and-it-shall-be-called-lucky-strike/