Wynn Las Vegas also is in the midst of being expanded. Dubbed Encore, the $1.74 billion project will add 2,042-rooms in a single tower. In and around the base of the tower will be a 54,000-sf casino, additional convention and meeting space, as well as restaurants, a nightclub, swimming pools, a spa and salon and retail outlets. The project has been under construction since April 2006. Completion is slated for the end of 2008.

Further out on the development horizon for Wynn is a 54-acre site on Cotai, the name given to a strip of new reclaimed land between Taipa and Coloane in Macau. Cotai is about 300 acres in size and equal in length to the distance between Wynn Las Vegas and the MGM Grand. Wynn said discussions are ongoing with the government regarding its land concession. The deal for the property is expected to be finalized before the end of September.

The property is situated next to the airport, between the Macau East Asian Games Dome and Macau University of Science and Technology. Wynn isn't providing much detail with regard to his plans for the property, which he describes as two 27-acre pieces that face each other. He says the site could hold four hotels or two very large ones. Previously, he has alluded to four hotels, three of which would have casinos.

As for how the property will get developed, Wynn says he's been working on three different casino-hotel deals. As it stands, he said it's likely one of the casino hotels will be 100% owned by Wynn Resorts and the other two hotels would involve joint ventures, then cautioned that "we have not made final arrangements with anyone in that regard."

In August, Wynn reported increasing sales and a narrowing loss in the second three months of the year. The company posted a net loss of $20.1, or $0.20 per share, compared with a net loss of $41.8 million, or $0.43 per share for the same 2005 period. The company's adjusted net loss, which excluded $15.2 million in pre-opening expenses, was $4.9 million, or $0.05 per share. Regarding rumors of a weakening Vegas market, Wynn said "we've been looking at this, and our non-casino revenue this summer is sharply ahead of last year as well as casino revenue, and that includes July."