Hello, Mr. Casino bossman!

I know you know a lot more about a casino operation than I do, but please read this because it may help you out a bit.

Please accept it as kindly, free advice.

I know you casino guys spend lots of money in an attempt to get us little lambs and big whales into your front doors. It may be a good idea to spend just as much to determine why some of us lambs and whales don't show up for a second visit.

Once ya get us in, you want to do everything possible to insure we have a good time and come back again. Repeat customers are good customers. That just sounds like good business sense to me.

I think some of the downtown casinos forgot that.

During my most recent Las Vegas vacation I decided I would never return to two of the downtown clubs ever again. That's harsh treatment on my part because I have been a loyal customer of these two prominant Fremont Street hotel/casinos for more than twenty years.

Last week I decided that these two establishments were leading the way of destruction for the downtown area casinos. (I won't be so bold to state that they were knowingly doing this though, so maybe there is still time to save the downtown area. I do know that a movie theater ain't gonna do it!)

Let me tell you why I think the downtown casinos are heading down the wrong path as briefly as I can.

Some of the downtown casinos are pretending to be what they are not!

By doing so they have lost touch with reality. They think that they can offer table games at the same minimums as their bigger and grander brothers and sisters on the Strip.

They forget that people come downtown so that they can stretch their gambling bankroll and have an enjoyable evening without being too concerned about that evening's losses. And they have been doing this for years on end since the first casino went up on the Strip and even way before.

Downtown used to offer us what we could not find on the Strip, but like the immediate desert - that is disappearing too!

No more quarter craps or dollar blackjack. No more friendly greetings by the casino owner himself offering the occasional complimentary roll of nickes or quarters and a hearty, "Good luck, Pardner!". No more friendly dealers (with some exceptions). No more good old days!

Downtown has put on the tuxedo without taking a shower. It's pretending to be what it is not! As a result more and more people who used to love Fremont Street and it's immediate surroundings are heading out to the local casinos such as the Stations, Gold Coast, Orleans, and Sams Town where things are somewhat the same as they were in the good old golden days of downtown Las Vegas.

But you guys downtown - it's like you just don't care no more!

I hope I'm wrong.

------------------
will800


[This message has been edited by will800 (edited August 20, 1999).]

Good thoughts here, will 800.

It's amazing that it's much easier to get a comped room at Caesars than at the Golden Nugget. And in order to join the GN Slot Club you must earn 100 points and only on dollar machines--that's a load of money to put through. Plus playing quarter machines won't earn points-- at a Downtown hotel!



[This message has been edited by Veronica (edited August 21, 1999).]

Well put Will800, I just made a comment on another thread about how dirty the Lady Luck has been on my last few visits.

will800, I think it is all part of the grand plan by Steve Wynn to take over downtown. He wants it his way. The FSE was never wanted by the average downtown customer. It was just one step into getting downtown to undefine itself. Downtown customers never needed or wanted modern slot clubs, card peekers on the blackjack tables, higher stakes games, doubling the price of shrimp cocktails, raising the steak dinner prices, or 6 minute wonders.

FSE was hoax and most people bought it. FSE did no clean up anything outside of those few blocks of Fremont St. It ran off the customers that used to go downtown, and did NOT bring the strip corwd as it was supposed to do. So as downtown loses direction, the value of the casinos continue to drop.

As soon as the casinos start to go under, you will see them snatched up, and just like the game Monopoly, when he gets enough properties, he will start builing more hotels them. It might take another 10 years to see it in action, but you will be seeing the early stages of this plan sooner, rather than later.

Will,

Good thoughts. AS more and more big corporations buy up all the casinos, this situation will get much worse. I guess I'm fortunate that I"ve been going to Vegas for less than 15 years. Much more than that and I'd have known the really great Vegas and would be more disapointed than I already am.

jm

Thanks, Veronica, Kizzy, JMT, and Senator.

Thanks for your interesting replys to my little "expose" on downtown Las Vegas. Probably the wrong word to use but seems appropriate at the moment.

To me, downtown has always been the place to go when you could not really afford to go uptown and join in the fun that they had to offer. It was always more fun downtown anyway, so no one gave a damn!

Downtown is where you went with fifty-bucks in your pocket and you were guaranteed to have a great time and come home with a pocketful of change..

And that great time would include dinner, cocktails, a couple of hours at the tables, and entertainment in the nearby lounge with a smelly cigar or a beautiful lady..

I guess I hate to see those old times change. I hate to see the places that offered those great times change and attempt to assume an identity they don't deserve.

Maybe Las Vegas has passed me by.
Maybe I want to keep those old times in my pocket and expect them to be there where I return wearing the same old pair of pants.

But that's the exact feeling that built this town and it's the exact feeling that's slowly fadeing away.

I have to say it again - the local neighborhood casinos are doing their best to grab some of the best from those good old days and some are doing a dang good job at it.

Maybe they foresee the failure of downtown Las Vegas and are doing their best to capitalize on it.

I can tell you that they got my attention.

I can't forecast that one company or individual plans to own then all, but I can say this - if major changes are not made, if downtown casinos fail to realize that low rollers are there to spend their hard earned dollars - then the downtown casinos will slowly drift away or come under the control of one major enterprise.

If that's the plan and if it proves to be successful, downtown as we have known it, will become a memory while the neighborhood casinos will take up the slack and capitalize on the loss until they too become too high and mighty for the customers who made them successful.

I hate to admit it, but the only thing sure to change is change itself.

In the case of downtown Las Vegas, I hate that with all my heart.



------------------
will800

Will800,

My appreciation of the old downtown was not predicated on a low budget. The way I see it, with all other factors remaining the same, I think raising the limits on table games would have helped the area much better than FSE.

I thought of Downtown as having ideal gambling halls. It was an excellent escape from the tourist and strollers and themes that have turned the strip from adult playground to a poorly defined destination. Downtown was very predictable, and the low prices were a reflection of the low costs. It was the kind of place where you could drink, gamble, smoke, have fun, eat good food, enjoy freindly atmosphere, and have relatively good odds at your game of choice. The hotel room was just that! A room, and a price that reflects what you pay for as a place to sleep.

Yep, I too miss the good ole days.

I remember our first Las Vegas trips, as ones where we had to see them all (casino's). As time marches on, I find myself visiting fewer & fewer of these.
Ok, I'm picky! Some things that upset me are just minor blips for some people. But even on our longer stays, I find we return to a smaller group of casino's with every trip.
Downtown, is the worst hit by our culling.
Even the strip joints are very limited lately. I find myself seeking out friendlier waters at the locals casino's. I hated the closing of Fremont Street. I show all the people we take to LV the Experiance thing, but I'd rather see traffic on that street! I remember them closing the street for a corvette show that was amazing. I know JMT probably has seen this sort of thing all over the USA, but all those beautiful cars shining in the Las Vegas setting sun, under all the flashing neon, is a memory that is hard to forget.
I wouldn't mind the attitude, or the higher limits so much if they'd improve the casino's. But I've seen nothing in that area. So I'm paying a higher price for less....I don't think so.


------------------
Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com

Let me throw this at you under this topic:

Tickets to New Year's Eve at the Fremont Street Experience will be available through Ticketmaster within a few weeks. Weren't tickets $10 the last few years? Now guess how much?

$100 each, not counting Ticketmaster charges <g>. That does, however, get you a concert with Starship, Guess Who, CCR, REO Speedwagon, and the premiere of a new FSE show.

V,
As stated on another post in this forum, right after my lobotomy!


------------------
Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com

$100 a pop for the Fremont Street New Year's Eve Party is relatively inexpensive compared to the other entertainment options in the Las Vegas area.

But don't be surprised if parking spaces in the downtown area during the New Year's celebration go for premium prices to the surprise of many celebrators..

This is called "Cougeing" (taking advantage of a given situation and making a profit on it) and I hope the good city fathers of Las Vegas have foreseen this possibility and are takeing steps to prevent it.

I remember being stranded in a major city one year during a severe storm and eveyone was stocking up to prepare for the worse. One store was charging a couple of dollars for a roll of toilet paper and was severely fined after the fact.

There are laws on the books to prevent this type of action now in the majority of states.

I wonder if LV has foreseen and taken steps to prevent this type of criminal action?

------------------
will800

Will: It seems to me everything in LV is sky high for NYE, as well as most other cities.

So if there are such laws in Nevada, as well as other states, that prevent overcharging, wouldn't those laws apply when there are catastrophic occurrences, such as earthquakes or floods, etc.--not holidays? It seems to me that New Year's Eve falls under the catagory of "supply and demand" or "free enterprise", or what the market will bear at this particular holiday time. I don't know of any city that is NOT planning to cash in on this holiday and rake in every buck that they can get.











[This message has been edited by Veronica (edited August 24, 1999).]

How they gonna charge a fee for the Fremont Street? Isn't that open to the public? How ya gonna get into the casinos?

Mike: The streets will be gated, and admission is through 8 entry points set up around the area. Gates will open at 3 p.m., and the event starts at 5 p.m. Your admission ticket that you paid $100 for will be collected at these entry gates.

FSE is open to the public, except the last few years there has been a $10 charge for entry on NYE. This year's $100 fee is in keeping with the rest of the inflated prices for New Year's in Las Vegas.

Yes, Veronica, I forgot about that old Supply and Demand gimmick. You are absolutely correct. I guess I was just trying to find out if the hotel managers are thinking way ahead about the little things like the parking situation, no-show of employees, celebrating on the job, etc.

Would be great for this BB to draft up a list of what to expect that could possibly go wrong on NYE and offer it to the casinos for planning purposes.

It is going to be one heck of a night down there. I'll bet ya a dollar to a doughnut that the City of Las Vegas will have plenty of emergency vehicles (ambulances and fire trucks) in the downtown area in the remote event that they could be needed.

If the City of Las Vegas plans to do it right on NYE, I am sure they are spending a lot of time thinking along this line right now.

Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance - (Yea, I know! One word is missing!)

Anyone got any suggestions for the City that the City may have overlooked?

I'm sure we'll know on January 1, 2000!



------------------
will800

The city planned really good last year (July 4th & NYE) but I don't know about this year. I just can't see the city having *enough* police and emergency vehicles. And it will be interesting to see how they get those emergency vehicles through all the people on the streets.

My son has tickets to see Bette Midler at Mandalay Bay on NYE. It's only August and I am sick over the thought of this <g>.

------------------
gail@talkvegas.com
Moderator, TalkVegas After Hours
Administrator, TalkVegas BB

I read in, was it USA Today maybe, (is that a real newspaper? <g> ) that the NYE LV planners are strongly suggesting that all doctors and other hospital and emergency staff do not take any vacations until such and such a time in January so that all medical personnel are available for NYE. I also read something similar where all hotel employee vacations are cancelled during this same time too. Rumors? <g>

Other thoughts: Employees *should* be getting overtime or bonus pay for working the NYE extended holiday, right? They ought to be considering the prices being charged by business owners!

I wonder how generous the tipping will be this NYE. Will people think that because they have paid way too much money for rooms, food, etc., that they will then end up stiffing the employees? I hope not! But just think of the tip on a $500 meal--the tip is as much as what the meal costs normally!

But I sure do hope the employees rake it in over the holidays.

Good thought here as mentioned above .... Will hotel and casino employees get a decent bonus consistent with the increase in prices over New Year's Eve?

I wonder if the Unions have considered this? Triple time would seem appropriate for those who work on that evening and maybe double time for the day before and the day after. Or maybe they are benefiting from a better option.

NYE in LV is going to be very interesting to read about, but I wouldn't want to be there!

------------------
will800

Will: There are a few places I kinda would like to be for NYE, including Las Vegas, but I think I'll probably just hide in my house and pull the covers up over my head and wait for midnight's arrival instead.



[This message has been edited by Veronica (edited August 27, 1999).]