Citing reduced demand for hotel rooms in Las Vegas, Harrah's Entertainment is delaying the opening of the new Octavius Tower at Caesars Palace. The 23-story, 665-room tower was scheduled to debut this summer and Harrah's will finish the exterior of the building, but it will postpone completion of the interior until there's stronger demand; the interior can be completed within months of restarting construction. The rest of the $1 billion Caesars expansion project remains on schedule, including 110,000 square feet of additional meeting space, an expanded pool area and three 10,000-square-foot luxury villas.

FRANK'S STATUE: One of the highlights of the new Encore resort is a display of Frank Sinatra's Oscar for the movie "From Here to Eternity." The statue is the highlight of several pieces of the crooner's memorabilia — including a Grammy and a gold record — displayed at the entrance of the Italian restaurant, Sinatra's.

WYNN PINCHES: After viewing the Oscar, be careful where you sit down to play video poker. Continuing the break of Wynn properties with Las Vegas tradition, none of Encore's bars will give you a complimentary drink for gambling at the machines. The same is true at Wynn Las Vegas, where that casino's last holdout, the sports book bar, recently stopped comping.

Q. Are the "guaranteed-no-lose" promotions that the casinos run on the level?

A. Most are. They typically require that you join the casino's players club and are usually open to new members only. They promise to return a specified amount of losses after your first play. The rebate is often made via the mail, making a return visit necessary. Casinos currently running legitimate rebate deals are Arizona Charlie's property ($100) and Westin Casuarina ($50).

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