Football season kicks off with 2 noteworthy contests

Football season is here, and in Las Vegas that means promotions, parties, betting specials and football contests. Two contests are particularly good plays for visitors.

The first is the “Gridiron Glory” contest at any Station casino, where you have a chance to win $10,000 if you pick the most winners in Sunday’s NFL games. The second is the excellent “Pick the Pros” contest at the Orleans, Gold Coast, Suncoast, Sam’s Town, California and Fremont casinos, which has a $30,000 prize on the line every week.

Both contests are free to play and require only that you have a players’ card that you swipe in a kiosk to enter. You don’t have to know anything about football to play; just pick the teams you like and watch the results unfold. There’s a lot of competition, so you’ll probably have to pick ’em all correctly to win, but the worst you can do is break even and have some fun.

Taxi rate hike: It costs a little more to cab it after a rate adjustment that’s recently gone into effect. The “drop” has been raised 5 cents to $3.50, the mileage rate has been raised to 69 cents from 67 cents per quarter-mile, and the state has tacked on a 3 percent tax on all charges and fees, including the credit card transaction fee. The relatively small increases will raise the cost of most rides by less than $1.

Rainforest dry: The Rainforest Cafe has closed at MGM Grand. It’s expected to reopen in the pending Harmon Corner retail complex, which is slated to materialize sometime this year.

Question: I read in this column that the sports book at the Westgate was going through a big renovation, but I was there last week and there’s only one small walled-off area where work is being done. Where’s the big transformation?

Answer: It’s all being done behind the scenes where a gigantic high-definition screen is already in place. The area you describe will be a new bar in the center of the book. It’s all expected to be up and running by opening day of the NFL.

For more information about Las Vegas shows, buffets, coupons and good deals, go to www.LasVegasAdvisor.com.