In 2015, MGM resorts made a lot of noise about their Profit Growth Plan (or, PGP in curse-word terms) and it started the Las Vegas Strip on a long spiral downward in terms of it being a gaming destination. Fast forward to today, and MGM 2020 can be viewed as PGP 2.0 or a further erosion of gaming on the Strip. Caesars, as they do, Joined MGM on this race to the bottom with each company seemingly trying to outdo one another in terms of providing gamers with the least value for their buck.
The initial results of these plans were evidenced in the rise of poorer rules for Black Jack (6:5 and no double after splitting, dealer hits on S17 etc) and Sheldon Adelson introduced the growing scourge that is "Sands" (or 3 zero) Roulette to his casino, which has now been replicated by NY/NY, 4 Queens Downtown and The Cosmopolitan sadly. Add to this increase slot holds, absolutely horrible pay tables on Video Poker and a complete and utter devastation of their loyalty programs and you have a perfect storm of suck for the serious gamer.
In addition to this, some casinos have abandoned the gamer almost completely, as Sands Corporation (Venetian and Pallazo) and Wynn (Wynn and Encore) have switched their focus to the expense account spending, and casual, uneducated gaming, of the convention tourist while taking away perks and other inducements designed to bring in the big players.
It's to the point now that you can feel the changes on the Strip when gambling. Slot wins, always rare, are reduced to the point that they're non-existent, with big bonus wins becoming fewer and fewer, while small wins coupled with long dry spells are now the norm. The Cosmopolitan, and to a lesser extent, TI and Casino Royale, as the lone exceptions in this area, offering marginally better odds and, in the case of Cosmo, much improved slot holds, but the Cosmo's Identity loyalty program is all but worthless for table games and, as stated before, they've even fallen victim to 3-zero Roulette, which is a crime against the gambling gods that should immediately call down repercussions.
When 4 Queens, still one of the best places in town for slots and VP, announced they were installing a 3-zero Roulette wheel which gives the player "more chances to win" and something that is "sweeping the country" they were forced to remove the video from Facebook because the push-back from gamblers was sudden, and it appeared that they might have been in violation of Nevada gaming regulation by advertising something clearly detrimental to the player as offering a better potential winning result.
While we'll discuss downtown Vegas in a future post in this series, I want to spend the remainder of this one addressing the systemic issues on the Strip, and encouraging you to go out and visit other Vegas locations and reward them with your play.
The Strip is no longer a gambling destination.
I've discussed this, at length, before and if you're so inclined I think a re-read of that post might do you some good. I'm going to hit on the same things here but expand on them just a bit. For one, winning at gambling is rare, it's almost non-existent today under the current operations of the large Strip casinos.
Even worse news are the recently announced layoffs. As a member of corporate management myself, I get the regrettable need to have lay offs occasionally, usually during a down turn or hard times. But the casinos are profitable right now, and they're cutting staff to become MORE profitable. This is horrible for staff, horrible for morale, and absolutely terrible for those who are losing their jobs.
Overlooked however is the negative impact on the consumer. Outside of a few bright spots, some of the dealers, some of the bartenders, customer service at MGM and Caesars is woeful. At the check-in desk, the front-door of a casino, you're more likely to be treated with indifference than as a welcome guest, in many cases you're better off using the kiosks that are rapidly replacing desk agents. Gone are the days of trying to make Vegas a special visit for people, in are trying to milk them for all they are worth, including nickle and dime charges like fee-based parking and CNF fees, which are one level below resort fees in terms of awful.
The ever-growing resort fees are about the worst thing however. In many cases the fees are more than the nightly rate itself. And you get nothing of true value for them. Since they are not easily avoidable they really should be counted as part of the room rate, but instead their hidden to allow the casinos to advertise artificially deflated rates.
Since the rise of the celebrity chef in Las Vegas, restaurants more commonly pay rent for their space and are no longer owned by the casino. This means that comped meals, wine etc. have become more and more rare, increasingly limited to the casino cafe, or a buffet that's dropped in quality in recent years because of a lack of paying customers, or a desire to grow profits by using cheaper ingredients.
You can still, just, get comped tickets to a show, but more likely you're going to be aggressively, and repeatedly, accosted by a timeshare huckster in the casino who's paid them for the privilege of harassing the guests. "Are you staying in town tonight?" has become even more annoying than the porn slappers on the street. At least you can have a moment's fun playing stripper card bingo with those.
The big lie is that Vegas is "no longer a value destination". The fact is it never was. Yes, they gave you cheap, or free, rooms and it was easy to get a comped meal, comped show tickets were plentiful and the pools were cheap, but you made up for it in gaming losses.
Now they take everything you've got before you even hit the casino floor and THEN they hit you harder on the floor than ever before. It's gotten so bad that I honestly feel paying $250 for a cabana rental at the pool is just about the best deal on the Vegas Strip right now.
All this doesn't mean that I don't think you should stay at the Strip. There's something special, still, about being on the Strip, seeing the lights and the noise and the cacophony that is Las Vegas when it's in full chat. The touristy things are that was for a reason. The Bellagio fountains are a must see, as is the conservatory, and if you're not walking through the Venetian/Pallazo and WynnCore you're missing out on some truly beautiful things.
And there is some great, albeit expensive, food to be had. The entertainment is still top notch and if you haven't seen a Vegas Golden Knights game absolutely plan to attend one if it's in the budget. You'll come out a hockey fan.
Just don't gamble there, don't give them your hard-earned (and budgeted, if you've been paying attention) gambling dollar except in small amounts. To be perfectly honest, the Las Vegas Strip Casino/Resorts need to prove to us again that they deserve to be the recipients or our gambling dollars. Right now they are not.
Next up we'll look at downtown, and why it's a better gambling destination despite the storm clouds that are building on the horizon.
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