Comments on: Viva Las Vegas for Casino Profits

By: FoolsGold

FoolsGold — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:59:40 +0000

The key is that virtually the entire resurgence in Baccarat is confined to The Strip. No boom in Bacc in Downtown or the Boulder Strip or Reno or anywhere else in Nevada! So its all Asian gamblers in the High Limit rooms or the Private Gaming rooms and that’s why the figures were so high over the Chinese New Year. Since high rollers in Maccau are usually extremely well-organized and represented by agents, you know that these Asian high rollers are not flying to Las Vegas on their own dime!

By: FoolsGold

FoolsGold — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:10:22 +0000

While numbers are greatly improved in Vegas these days, it seems that the massive Baccarat numbers are deceptive because that is largely Asian money from players being flown in. Such players often get massive comps and the use of Dead Chips. The Drop figures will be high but the comps would be buried in accounting reports somewhere.

By: FoolsGold

FoolsGold — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:25:29 +0000

“…“You can’t cut your way to profitability” has become the new mantra of the gaming industry.”

The above snippet is taken from the historian who runs the UNLV gambling study center. I think its surely true that the common practice of wholesale firings in tough times just can’t be done forever. Getting rid of alot of staffers and making the remaining employees sweat ferociously and be pushed to the limit just reaches an irreducible minimum.

Steve Wynn hinted at this in his recent phone chat with stock analysts, but other casinos are faced with the same situation. You just can’t run a Vegas casino without dealers, waiters, housekeepers, etc. And working them to death won’t really help the casino’s bottom line at all.

By: FoolsGold

FoolsGold — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:22:13 +0000

15 percent decline in gaming revenues in May.
More than people thought it would be.
Still… it means opportunities for the players as casinos will not ‘buy’ visitors with bribes of cheaper rooms and cheaper meals and more generous comps.

By: FoolsGold

FoolsGold — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:15:24 +0000

It used to be that “locals” in Las Vegas tried to keep an out of state address and drivers license so as to get good deals from the casinos but now in the competition for business some casinos are catering to “locals”. Sahara has its clearly designated “Locals Lane” of higher payout slot machines and deeper discount Players Club for Locals. Somewhat financially troubled and image-troubled Hooters is offering free rooms to some of their local players. It used to be that free meant “full of loopholes and fine print” but now free is more often meaning just that: free. You can’t beat a free room. And you can’t really beat that “cover your first day’s losses up to $100.00″.

By: FoolsGold

FoolsGold — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:15:09 +0000

The dollar value to him of 50.00 in Match Play is 46.2 percent of 50.00 or $23.10.

The thing to watch carefully are the surcharges for funbooks or gym access or internet access, these can make the rooms more costly than the quoted rates and its best to avoid the casinos that levy such charges. A daily charge for a coupon book is absurd but some places get away with it.

Usually you get thirty seconds to look at a minibar selection but a sensor can charge your room if you take a bottle out of the rack and put it back in 31 seconds or something like that.

By: JoeDuck

JoeDuck — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:41:31 +0000

FG I need to keep up on those specials – thanks for the heads up. I’ll be down there in December for National Table Tennis Championships and then in January for CES. CES fills the city and brings no good deals on the strip but downtown hotels don’t seem to benefit from CES much, which means the normal good rates. $7 for 3 nights plus $50 match play would be a net gain of $18 … That’ll be hard to beat!

By: FoolsGold

FoolsGold — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:04:35 +0000

Those who would normally travel internationally will tend to limit themselves to domestic travel; those who would normally take more diverse vacations in the USA will travel to a gaming destination, but those are all over nowadays, not just in Las Vegas. Too much of Las Vegas is the “Las Vegas Experience” rather than solely gambling.

However, casinos are already offering free gas prizes and airfare discounts along with their substantially discounted rooms. The Venetian lowered its room price by engaging in a face-saving “Your Room Rate is the Forecast Temperature” gimmick.

One acquaintance recently enjoyed 3 nights at a Downtown hotel for seven dollars. Not seven dollar per night. Seven dollars. Plus he had his fifty in match play! Vegas will probably never be this desperate again.

By: JoeDuck

JoeDuck — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:10:31 +0000

… get back to core values of gambling

Those great American core values: Life, liberty, and casino blackjack.

Although I think you are right they’ll weather the storm, I think that higher air fares, local travel, and biz problems may hurt Las Vegas. Although I think I’ve read that people tend to gamble *more* during economic hard times, I think they will travel much less.

By: FoolsGold

FoolsGold — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:37:52 +0000

Its not a particularly good time to be a poker dealer. Alot of rooms are cutting back on hours, few are hiring.
However, at Stations the recent Bad Beat Jackpot paid 322.00 to each and every poker player at all of the seven Stations casinos. So even though the poker rooms seem to contribute a slight amount to the casinos, it doesn’t mean the casinos are hurting. The casinos will weather any storm thrown at them. They just have to get back to core values of gambling rather than ‘Vegas Experience’.