Steve Wynn, High-End Art Dealer?

Steve Wynn is out as casino owner. But is he all-in as art dealer?

“Steve Wynn is an art aficionado. He owns hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art and has really made himself into an art expert,” longtime Las Vegas journalist and State of Nevada contributor John L. Smith said.

Smith said there is talk that Wynn will emerge from the "dust of his personal casino empire" to become a dealer.

But he said Wynn is also one of those people who a lot of people can't imagine not being in Las Vegas running a casino. He was a person that so many people thought would "never not be there."

"Nothing lasts forever," Smith said.

And the two Democrats fighting to become their party’s candidate for governor are attacking each other.

Smith sees a lot of money being spent on the ads on both sides.

“They’re basically hitting at the belt and below right now,” he said, which might seem earlier in the election season, but there is a lot at stake.

Many on the left see Steve Sisolak as the kind of moderate who could win a general election, but Smith believes there is "a lot of interest from the monied left" in seeing Chris Giunchigliani win. 

But the big story that everyone is talking about right now is the impossible becoming possible with the Vegas Golden Knights going to the Stanley Cup finals.

“Las Vegas fans love a winner. They are really behind the team. It is delightful to see in the community but beyond that it is also amazing. You walk into Costco and people are pulling Golden Knights shirts from a stack, they’re buying large poster-sized photographs of the players, and as longtime sports reporter Steve Carp mentioned on Twitter, a year ago there were no players, there were no jerseys, there was no insignia, no logo, no mascot, essentially no arena. So much has happened in a year that to start to have it crescendo now with the Stanley Cup finals appearance - first ever in the league – it’s really amazing.”

At a watch party at Red Rock Resort, Smith met lifelong Las Vegans wearing Golden Knights T-shirts and learning the game for the first time. He also met transplants from other cities who know the game, root for their home team and their NEW home team. 

No matter who he talked to there was a common thread: “They all reference Oct. 1. They see the role the team has played as something to cheer about in a difficult time”

John L. Smith, KNPR contributor