Thirty episodes after his first appearance, Scott Roeben is back! The man behind the Vital Vegas blog shares some of his strong opinions about the region’s post-Covid resurgence.

Scott and Jonathan also take a deep dive into the history of Plaza’s fractious relationship with the Fremont Street Experience – especially regarding construction of “Slotzilla,” the zipline that terminates right on the corner of Main St.

Rated ‘S’ for Strong Opinions!

Hosts: Jonathan Jossel, Lisa Melmed, Gary Vickery

Tony Hsieh wouldn’t join a startup company called Shoesite unless Fred Mossler came along. Fred Mossler said he wouldn’t sign on until Tony Hsieh did.

Despite barely knowing each other, both said yes, and both turned Shoesite into Zappos — and helped turn downtown Las Vegas into what it is today.

Fred was also a co-founder of The Downtown Project and owns Nacho Daddy. Fred shares stories from those early days, and says downtown’s progress is just beginning.

But he won’t reveal the source of the key ingredient in Nacho Daddy’s signature Scorpion Shots!

Hosts: Jonathan Jossel, Lisa Melmed

Running the region’s largest distributor of wine and spirits inevitably makes Larry Ruvo a player in Las Vegas. But Larry never rested on his wealth. After his father died from Alzheimer’s Disease (which had been mis-diagnosed), Larry decided to do something about it.

That “something” is the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, a world-class research facility in downtown Las Vegas. In this very special episode, Larry tells that story — including how he talked superstar architect Frank Geary into designing the Center’s unique headquarters.

Larry also recounts coming to Las Vegas as a child, growing up here, and working in his parents’ restaurant, The Venetian. And he tells the REAL story about how that name went from a family restaurant to one of the most famous hotel-casinos in the world. 

Hosts: Jonathan Jossel, Lisa Melmed

He’s an Emmy winner, a veteran of more than 40 years making people laugh, and the former resident comic at the Plaza. He is comic legend Louie Anderson! Louie talks about how much he loved playing Plaza’s showroom and how he coped with the past year. And he drops a few hints about his future projects.

Also: Jonathan, Lisa and Gary remember March 18th, 2020 – the day that Plaza and every other hotel/casino in Nevada shut down. 

Hosts: Jonathan Jossel, Lisa Melmed, Gary Vickery

What’s it like to make your living playing cards? Anthony Curtis did it for nearly two decades.

Along the way, he became a publisher of gaming-centric books and a collector of great deals and value in Las Vegas. He shares stories of both counting cards and diving into discounts in this packed episode.

Hosts: Jonathan Jossel, Lisa Melmed, Gary Vickery

In the early 2000s, nobody was going to East Fremont St. But veteran New York hospitality executive Paul Devitt saw something there and decided to become the area’s nightlife pioneer.

Devitt opened Beauty Bar, a Vegas version of his successful New York bar and music venue. Other bars followed, inspired by Beauty Bar’s success.

While Beauty Bar is gone, Devitt is looking for new Las Vegas opportunities. Which brought him to town. Which inspired Jonathan to invite him on the podcast to talk about those wild early days of East Fremont.

Hosts: Jonathan Jossel, Lisa Melmed, Gary Vickery

Lawyer, by day, foodie by night. And morning. And afternoon. And pretty much every waking hour. John Curtas has been blogging about the Las Vegas food scene before most people knew there WAS a food scene!

John shares his thoughts about how downtown has improved, details his most memorable Vegas meal ever, and is not so kind when discussing how covering the food scene has now devolved into “influencers” looking for free meals and advertising.

Bonus: John makes up for his not-so-complementary review of Oscar’s 11 years ago by proclaiming it now has the best hamburger in Las Vegas.

Hosts: Jonathan Jossel, Lisa Melmed

Why does one casino property flourish while the one next door flounder? That’s one of the many subjects that Oliver Lovat has tackled in more than two decades of research into the business of Las Vegas and its unique real estate market.

Along the way he’s also become a Vegas historian and expert in how it all gets done. Oliver also shares some insights from his latest project: a deep dive into the history of The Plaza!

Hosts: Jonathan Jossel, Gary Vickery, Lisa Melmed

For more than 30 years, Steve Cyr has defined and re-defined the job of Las Vegas casino host. He’s still at it, taking high rollers and ‘whales’ on gaming adventures around the world.

He shares how his plan to finish his degree at UNLV then manage the family motel in Salina, Kansas was suddenly derailed by meeting casino legend Michael Gaughan. From there, Steve took casino hosting to levels never considered by the old generation. And he looks ahead to what’s coming in a career and life that are far from over.

Hosts: Jonathan Jossel, Gary Vickery, Lisa Melmed

Jonathan and Gary spend a fast-paced 40 minutes with Vegas icon Frankie Scinta (pronounced SHIN-tuh), who’s been performing since childhood. For nearly 20 years, Frankie’s been headlining rooms from the Rio to the Sahara… to The Plaza.

Frankie shares great stories from those wild times, gets serious about losing his brother and dealing with the Covid shutdown — and caps it off with a performance on the spoons!

Hosts: Jonathan Jossel, Gary Vickery, Lisa Melmed