Thank You to Steve and Garth. Re-selling at a profit does nothing for the industry. Overpaid before and kept wondering why. The scalpers bought off all the excess, so an opportunity for a late arrival buyer to buy at a fair price was not available. Paying the scalpers premium of ticket plus $100, another $35.50 shipping and a $18.50 service charge was stupid. So what changed? Now if we can not buy at the listed price, we do not go. This requires us to plan cetain visits in advance, we enjoy it more and spend much less. Then when playing by the rules Steve/Garth collect and pay the taxes, my $155.00 became tax free income to the scalper, so the scalper does not play under the same rules Steve is required to follow. Scalpers are vultures, Thanks again for taking their food off their table, now they might get a real job and produce something at a fair price.

WOW It took years, now if ONLY the casino control board could see that the system of gaming versus gambling has brought Nevada to it's knees. Bring back gambling, take your "did you have fun" gaming and give it back to Harvard. One other question, if gaming systems replaced gambling how come this combined mutual quietly decided choice not considered consumer fraud and thievery? Wall Street stealing money through rigged systems sound familiar?

It is all the same, everyone in this economy is taking a paycut, except the firefighters. They do not feel they are part of our society, they feel they are above everyone else. But then, did the Electric company CEO take a pay/bonus cut from his $4 million dollar salary before asking for a rate increase? Are natural Gas Executives taking a pay/bonus cut before asking for a rate increase? Did hotel exec's take a pay cut before laying off employee's? Currently the controlers of society feel that the masses of rate/tax payers OWE them a future when our future is not bright. All public unions, corporations like the power company need to prove they have cut overtime, cut pay, cut bonuses, cut expenses, basicly became better business people BEFORE they get another dime.

Why can not corporate gambling see that "expense-reductions" are people. When a company wipes out entire departments, fires older higher paid workers to obtain newer lower paid workers, and takes a stand that the company matters and people do not, they reap what the sowed. People drink, gamble and party and reduce their own expenses when they do not have a job. Gary cut his own business base, his perfect plan now has this company spiraling downward in a never ending expense reduction plan. It takes money to make money. take a stand, stop the layoffs, stop the cut backs, restore confidence that corporate will not destroy Las Vegas by focusing on the bottom line. Focus on people!

This "chnage" is not about profits. The change from gambling to playing; the change from a chance to win to only an opportunity to play has only served to drive gamblers away. The public gets it, the industry does not. You can not expect people to play where there is no winning. As bottom line casino operators focus on charging an hourly rate for playing their video game, first the old time gamblers left, followed by the frustrated "I Never win any more" player, and now the masses have caught on and are just not playing. Can the profit driven corporations change enough to bring back real gambling? Follow the history of gambling, when Vegas never suffered in a recession, jobs were not lost, gambling continued to circulate the cash, people were more important than profits. To the casino's. just stop it, shut the computer off and get back to work, employ people not systems, pay your people, bring back gambling. If the casino's choose to maintain the current pay for play standard, they need one more program, please teach the computer to shut the lights out.

When they get back to gambling and forget about playing, people would return. When they introduced, "did you have fun, Playing..." the gambling was gone. Now you are expected to enjoy your play as you pay $100-$300 per hour for the priviledge. Winning is no longer an option. So like many good customers, I did what good customers always have done, I just went away. I want to gamble with a chance to win, I do not want to play any more.

It is time for the "Give them $5.00 to keep them alive" campaign. The "older" generation is stuck on the $1 and $2 dollar tip, and that does not cut it. IF tips would rise with the cost of everything else the $5.00 is reasonable, so let us all support those who support us and Give Them FIVE ($5.00) to keep them ALive!!! PS: NO I do not work for tips, but I do leave $5.00 minimum, each time, everytime.

Foolish writer, the question always from this company is not could you or did you win, it is the company protecting themselves, "Did you have fun" You had fun, not your kinda of fun, yet fun to have something to write about. Now if only a brave writer would write about how this company really changed gaming, as it is no longer about gambling, it is about gaming which is only pay for play, with winning have no part.

So now Nevada has probable cause, if the statutes are right the Nevada has sufficient evidence, the final question is...Does Nevada have the political will to move forward with the hearings on the suitability of the Columbis Sussex license? It will require every worker that has been "harmed" to file complaints with the US Dept of Labor, the State and local politicians to insure there is enough pressure for the process to move forward. Without the personal filed complaints from the employee's, the authorities can not proceed.

It does ultimately come down to the future of Las Vegas. Many business sytems call for executives to cut costs, to enhance the corporate bottom line and the exectuive's bonus. This pressures workers into multitasking everything and/or the threat of being replaced by someone willing to do more for less, or contracting out becomes the motivational factor.
It works, although it is a downward spiral for the customer as service, cleanliness and unrepaired/unreplaced infrastructure suffer under this system. The competition that does offer a clean environment, new modern facilities and excited motivated well paid employee's will be the industry leaders. Columbia Sussex's corporate greed just insures they will be the bottom feeder.