User profile: FleaStiff

Just as police can not bypass a magistrate in order to conduct a search and seizure, the casino can not bypass a magistrate in order to fill empty seats at some Diversion Program, much less utilize scare tactics to do it.

Casino management tends to view the phrase "educated player" with the same disdain it would have for the phrase "educated whore". Just as a whore's education is irrelevant to the transaction, so too is the player's knowledge of 6:5 versus 3:2. The casino wants to take money from the players. If some players want to bet at the dollar level they will be paid even money for blackjacks; if some players want to bet at the five dollar level they will be paid 6:5 for blackjacks; if some knowing soul in the high-limit room wants to play some real money then and only then will the casino offer him some old-style blackjack with its far more favorable rules. Why? Because despite recent headlines about declining tourism there are still hordes of gamblers who are both willing enough and stupid enough to play under the adverse conditions established by the greedy casinos.
Management scalps the players who have come for "the Las Vegas experience" instead of a good gamble and then management goes on to scalp the stockholders who are also short term oriented and don't know that a truly successful parasite never kills its host. Left behind is an empty corporate-shell of a casino for the bankruptcy lawyers to feast on.

A return to basic values: a place to gamble that offers a pleasant experience in an attractive and well-staffed atmosphere. Value! Sure some segments of the market might opt for better ventilation, some like free tee-shirts, many prefer simple drinks to exotic ones. The Strip Casino management focuses on those who want "an experience". Club Fortune focuses on those who want to gamble without being trampled by hordes of people rushing to overpriced nightclubs or over-hyped shows. Ofcourse slots and keno are not my preferences but many people want them so its nice to provide them in an honorable fashion. Young "newbies" want an experience, a hangover and music at a deafening roar. Club Fortune provides loose slots and subdued music. Its a casino, not a trendy ultra-expensive nightclub with exhausted over-worked dealers.

I imagine that in our modern corporate world the bean counters will use any adjectives they are pleased to concoct. Some puffery might be expected from time to time: after all, what happens in Vegas doesn't really stay there! We all know that. We also know that while Reno may claim to be the biggest little city in the world, that claim is rather absurd.

Ofcourse some matters are subjective and some are not. I choose to shoot craps at a casino that is generous with their beverages. Others may make choices based on their own unique values and interests. However, we all expect a fundamental honesty from the casino. Honesty in their operations and disclosures. I think we should also expect a fundamental honesty in their advertising and corporate operations. A casino license is often described as a license to print money but its not a license to lie by misdescribing the odds.

Someone more clever than I may have to come up with cutesy marketing names that embrace different points on the Locals-Tourists spectrum.

Perhaps SuperLocals, Locals, TouristWannabe, Tourist, SuperTourist. Its sort of like the terms "strip odds" and "downtown odds"... the terms still exist but their meanings and significance have changed and they no longer have any real geographic validity. Its the same way with casinos: they all want a "mixed customer base" composed of locals, tourists, low income, middle income, wealthy and super-wealthy.

An illustrative detail: the airport shuttle drops passengers bound for The Venetian off in some distant Siberia and they WALK for "miles" to get to the main entrance, simply because Adelson values customers who arrive by Limousine far more than 'peasants' who arrive by the airport shuttle. At Wynn properties, many of their customers arrive by Limousine too, but even those who arrive by airport shuttle are dropped off at the main entrance and welcomed!

Steve Wynn's public pronouncements about keeping everyone on the payroll and everyone sharing in the pay cuts is good. Ofcourse time will tell whether its just guff or not, but when the rebound comes, Wynn properties will have waiters, maids, dealers, etc. and all the other properties will have new hires and training schedules. Meanwhile, before the rebound takes place, Wynn properties will have plenty of maids to keep the rooms clean while other properties will have far fewer and far more exhausted maids on their staffs. So Wynn will benefit from these policies. His employees will remain enthusiastic.

So the influx of Asian Dollars and SuperBowl Dollars was less than expected this year? Okay... Steve Wynn tightens his belt when that happens and encourages his workers. Other casino owners all fire half their workers and the CMs use their belts to whip the remaining workers into submission. Which casinos will have a brighter upside potential when that rebound finally arrives?