Sapphire Las Vegas Strip Club Patrolled By 4.4-Ton Robot for CES Weekend

Posted on: January 7, 2023, 05:25h. 

Last updated on: January 7, 2023, 06:20h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A 4.4-ton robot will act as a bouncer/security guard this weekend at Las Vegas’s Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club. Its presence at the strip club coincides with CES 2023 now underway in Las Vegas.

Called “Mech ‘The Bot’ Johnson,” it is placed at the gates to the club. It is 15-feet tall and weighs 8,800 pounds.

The machine is described as an “all-terrain robotic ‘mech’ suit.” Humans control it in conjunction with security at the Sapphire.

It was flown in from Vancouver, Canada.

The robot is also likely to entertain visitors to the strip club as they wait in line, the New York Post reported. The robot was introduced to the public on Friday night.

Protects Against AI Bots, Club Claims

“He will be protecting us all from the AI bots taking over the Las Vegas #CES convention, so that you may party worry free all weekend long!” the Sapphire announced in an Instagram post.

It only makes sense that the world’s largest gentlemen’s club would have the world’s largest security guard,” Peter Feinstein, the club’s managing partner, added in an online statement.

“The fully human piloted mech suit has traveled all the way from Vancouver and is excited to make its Vegas debut at Sapphire during CES 2023.”

CES, the world’s largest annual tech convention, opened to the public Thursday morning at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Some 3,000 companies signed up to attend.  The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) predicts that CES 2023 will draw more than 100,000 attendees. That is still less than recent pre-pandemic levels.

Sapphire describes itself as the world’s largest gentlemen’s club and adult entertainment complex. Last month, just before Christmas, a club manager claimed a UFO hovered for a full hour above the Sapphire. It had red and white lights.

Casino.org was skeptical it was a UFO. Because of the cold weather nationally, ice crystals high in the clouds were acting as a giant floating mirror, reflecting the lights of Las Vegas back down to earth. Meteorologists call it “light pillars.”

Club Looking to Boost Revenue

As of this summer, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Sapphire experienced a 25% drop in its estimated 500,000 annual customers.

The decline was because of  COVID-19. Strip clubs were among the last businesses allowed to reopen following the state-mandated pandemic shutdown in 2020.

As of August, the club was seeking a state gaming license and Clark County approval to operate bar-top video poker machines. They are seen as a way to boost revenue.