Lucky Dragon welcomes first guests — in Mandarin first

Stephen Sylvanie

The main casino floor of the Lucky Dragon is seen during a tour of the property on Saturday afternoon.

Lucky Dragon Media Preview

A detail of the crown jewel of the Lucky Dragon, a large golden dragon coiled above the casino floor is seen during a tour of the property on Saturday afternoon. Launch slideshow »

First a grand opening was set for Dec. 3, then a soft opening was scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday. But even that wasn't soon enough. Shortly after 8 p.m., the doors of Las Vegas’ newest resort, the Asian-themed Lucky Dragon, had been open for some time and the casino floor was busy.

The resort is notable because it is the first ground-up casino built near the resort corridor in several years and also because of its focus; executives are marketing the casino almost exclusively to Asian customers from Las Vegas and the West Coast.

In addition to incorporating feng shui principles into its design — from the rooms to the glass dragon sculpture hanging over the center bar — signs around the casino are written in Mandarin first, then English.

Opening Day

In fact, during a tour of the casino for the media given earlier Saturday, after the casino’s Chief Operating Officer Dave Jacoby spoke to reporters, Lucky Dragon’s Vice President of Marketing Jordan Seager also addressed reporters, but in Mandarin.

Although the main focus of the property is on Chinese culture, Seager said that when customers sign up for the player rewards program, one of the first questions they’ll be asked is what language they prefer. And whether that’s Tagalog, Korean or Vietnamese, Seager said, the casino will do its best to cater to that customer’s needs.

It was all hands on deck later with Seager handing out bottles of water to customers waiting in line to join the players club.

Summerlin resident  Peter Lewis, his wife and son came down to see the Lucky Dragon on its opening night.

"It's fantastic here," Lewis said. "It's very bright and open. I like how you can watch the chefs cook. It's much more bright and open than other casinos."

Lucky Dragon is still planning a grand opening celebration for Dec. 3.

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