For the past few years I've written on here, and other places, that the days of the Las Vegas Strip as a gambling destination is rapidly coming to an end. The Corporate policies of reduced odds in the form of 6:5 blackjack, triple zero Roulette, reduced odds on craps, tighter hold on slots, worse payouts on video poker, a reduction of comps and fewer perks for gamblers have been slowly grinding away at the value proposition for some time now.
Add in resort fees, parking fees CNF fees, light/ticket systems for comped drinks and reduction in gambling-related staff and it's been fairly clear that the mid-to-low level gambler is not a coveted tourist by casinos.
This is doubly true if you're smart, understand the games and the baked-in house advantage and try to position yourself at the games where you have the best of it.
Casinos "back off" card counters not because the practice is illegal, but because if done correctly they can gain a slight theoretical edge over the house. In other words the casinos are using the age-old practice of "management reserves the right to refuse service" to shield themselves from a player who works to gain an edge.
In that sense owning a casino is a license to print money. You can refuse the action of anyone who might potentially win from you long term, while keeping the action from players who have no shot. The same is true for the "European" regulated sports book operators moving into town now (WilliamHill, FanDuel, etc.) who refuse action from anyone who seems to have more than a basic understanding of a) What a line is and b) How to get the best of it.
With everything in their favor it's ridiculous to think just how many hotel and casino operators go out of business/file for bankruptcy. But they do, famously in some cases, and the ones that do well have decided that the answer to new profit is to cut, not to grow.
Cutting your way to increased profitability is rarely a sustainable business model, yet that's exactly what Caesars and MGM have decided to do. Not only are they cutting staff, which hurts service, but they're cutting odds as well, taking away even the hope of walking out a winner. As a result of this their occupancy rates have been taking a hit, gambling revenue on the Strip is declining at a faster rate than elsewhere, and regional operators are starting to make up some ground.
Add to that mix decreases in handle in Macau, based largely on the anti-corruption push in China right now, and you have a perfect storm of suck for the mid-range gambler when heading to Vegas.
Does this mean you shouldn't visit the Strip?
Of course not. Because the Strip is still full of great restaurants, great attractions and is still the most awesome streets in the world. Nor does it mean you should never PLAY on the Strip. There are still some decent games to be found, you just have to look really hard.
It's also not a death-knell for your offers if you quit playing at CET and MGM. I haven't played all that much at CET in 2 years, moving what remains of my Strip play to MGM and (more often) Cosmopolitan. Yet, I'm still getting offers for 2-3 free nights at LINQ, Bally's and Harrah's and discounts at Paris, Caesars and Cromwell. When the casinos feel that they're going to have trouble hitting occupancy targets they'll still give you discounts and rooms as they have in the past. So keeping all of your play at one casino or brand because of loyalty is clearly not worth the effort.
The tipping point for the Strip however appears to have been the recent renovations at the Palazzo. From reports it appears that Ol' Sheldon has finally decided that unless you are a high-limit gambler or attending a convention he wants nothing to do with you. He's placed a ticket system on his VP machines that is stingy, he's reportedly gutted his Grazie program and continues to make it very non-transparent and he's greatly reduced host ability to offer comps for theoretical losses.
Other casinos have tried this before with varying levels of success. WynnCore, for a time, stopped comping drinks altogether at the video poker bars, but they've recently walked back that policy due to reduced traffic. MGM and CET use the red light/green light system and Cosmopolitan uses as ticket system.
On a whole I'm OK with these drink metering systems, as they prevent free-loaders and slow-players from occupying seats that really should go to those of us who want to actually.....play. But my play on the Strip has become smaller and smaller over time, to where now I'm probably not even risking 20% of my trip bank-roll in Strip casinos.
The fact is this: There are better games off the Strip in various casinos around the city, from downtown to Boulder Highway to South of Town and all around. And with the rise of Lyft/Uber getting their has never been cheaper, or easier.
So, if you're a mid-to-low level gambler who wants to at least feel like you have a CHANCE to return home a winner you're going to have to move off Strip for the majority of your play.
One caveat however: Already we're seeing signs of Strip creep into the downtown Fremont area. This is a horrid development that I hope changes soon. Already the Golden Nugget is unplayable, and the D and Golden Gate are getting there. Even the El Cortez has installed a light system.
I still Love Las Vegas, I just spend a whole lot more time while I'm there away from the Strip. Outside of a loss in gaming revenue, they also lose quite a bit in dining and drink money, because when I go I eat and drink well.
Let's hope the pendulum eventually swings back to sanity, but more likely it's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. It may even get so bad that your local casino is the best gambling option of them all.
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