5 thoughts on “Vegas Gang #92 – July 25th, 2013”

1. Re: smoking in casinos – while NV and Las Vegas are worried about the impact of non-smoking, here in the midatlantic, MD seems to be doing just fine with a no smoking rule in all casinos. That being said, I can understand why those in NV are worried, since there is so much competition.
   On a side note, what do any of you think about Uncle Sheldon’s comments regarding “internet” gambling and the ‘boycott’ by Nolan Dalla that didn’t appear to really have an impact?

   Good job as always,
   -B

2. Aaying MD seeming “just fine” without smoking is subjective. No A/B testing.

   Revel is an example A/B testing and I believe that we’ll learn quite a bit from it.

   Silver City Casino here in Las Vegas — on the Las Vegas Strip — tried being smoke-free back in the day, and the smoking ban lasted (if memory serves me correct) about 5 months. Granted… it was not a high-end property, but back then, that area of The Strip had decent foot traffic.

   That “bad taste” may still be an issue when any property thinks about going smoke-free. Even if it was a long time ago. Plus if I remember, Laughin properties who did areas of smoke-free gaming had issues and abandoned that idea.

   Gambling is all about freedom. Libertarian style freedom. As both Chuck and Hunter essentially chimed in, you feel like you are in a REAL casino when you sense/smell smoke.

   Per Dr. Dave’s comments about Hard Rock mailers to him in Henderson (since those old comments are closed):

   The only reason I believe they are targeting that area is because it is essentially a short freeway and airport tunnel ride from them. And/or some consultant has convinced them that that Green Valley is full of people who are really hip and cool and visit the tourism areas often.

   Maybe RIO on snail mail is so cheap, they can just carpet-bomb everyone. (Which is may be). Which makes one wonders why North Strip properties are not doing the same. Which they probably will now and I won’t get a dime for the advice. (They know where to find me… they need more than mailers to turn things around).

   And in the “Comments Closed” but I’m catching up category:

   Ya… the “Chuck Hates Everything” is a pretty common thought here. Like Vegas Rex before him. Except that Rex lived here and still sniped.

   Our Clark County, Nevada capitalistic, “sell the tourism” driven society dates back to the Rat Pack days can’t can’t be quantized. Some enjoy it, some want to make their name kicking it in the nuts. I respect everyone making a living off of our crazy town.

   Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots… Everybody!

3. @toastcmu: I think that LVS not getting involved with online play is a strategic misstep. But, I guess after more than a decade of hits, they are entitled to one or two.

   As far as the boycott goes, it never made much sense to me. If no one played poker there and the room closed, they’d probably be doing Sheldon a favor (short term) by letting him put in more slots or another restaurant/boutique in the same with guaranteed rental income.

   I’m probably going to write a bigger piece on this for Seven, but the problem with the way most player “advocates” approach poker legalization is that they assume that it’s a matter of dire importance to everyone, when in fact most people a) don’t want to play poker online and b) don’t really care if other people do or don’t. I guess things like the boycott might rally a few like-minded people, but if you’re just doing it to “raise awareness,” why be so serious about it?

   After all, all it took was a little impromptu #vimfp demonstration to get Caesars to (a href=”http://www.vegastripping.com/news/blog/4768/tourist-group-stages-protest-at-foot-of-paris-balloon/”>”paint the balloon.”

   I understand that a lot of people make their living from poker and feel very strongly about this, but at the end of the day I always remember that there’s a reason they call it the “gaming” industry.

   Re: Nevada-style gambling being a triumph of liberalism: Dotty’s and William Hill (sports betting kiosks) are strong evidence to the contrary. I’ve discussed this in class before (and will do so again), and usually come to the conclusion that Nevada’s embrace of gambling is far from libertarian–in fact, regulatory barriers to entry and legislative set-asides (see above) effectively make the gambling business in Nevada anything but a free market.

   Comparatively, with no cap on licenses, Nevada’s gaming market is much freer than those in other states, but it’s still relatively circumscribed by regulatory and legislative structures that, for better or worse, favor the established operators.

4. @Dave, great points in re: the imperfections in Nevada’s Libertarianism. May I add to it: The State of Nevada’s blatent rent seeking in preventing other states having the same rights Nevada has to book sports bets (i.e., the whole PASPA, New Jersey case continuum). Btw, I’d love for you guys to dedicate some airtime to the state of the sportsbook in casino property strategy. I for one make my stay decisions almost solely on sportsbook but I get the sense the window has been in a consistent state of deemphasis. I’d love to get your respective thoughts on who you think does it right and whether there is untapped potential to revitalize the -book(s).

5. I LOL’ed at the “Loveman has deferred maintenance” comment. Everyone at work turned and looked at me like I was demented.

   Perhaps he will be staring in a hipster Cosmo ad soon?