PDA

View Full Version : Beginning of the end of Vegas freebies?


barahona44
10-28-2016, 12:02 PM
If MGM and Ceasars have their way and you're playing (for now) video poker, you're going to have to reach into your pockets a little deeper to get free drinks, using technology to determine when you have reached the free drink level.

MGM has also been charging, since June, for self parking.

With all the casinos in competition with each other, I don't think this has legs but if revenues don't suffer, this may get expanded.

The bean counters are out for every nickel! :bang:

http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-tr-las-vegas-no-free-drinks-caesars-mgm-20161019-snap-story.html

PICSIX
10-28-2016, 12:06 PM
The "free" drinks I get in Vegas cost me around $20 each. Free rooms, even more :lol:

barn32
10-28-2016, 12:45 PM
Caesars Palace is now charging people to watch the sporting events.

HalvOnHorseracing
10-28-2016, 12:46 PM
The bean counters are out for every nickel! :bang:

I think they learned that from the racetracks.

JustRalph
10-28-2016, 03:58 PM
Caesars Palace is now charging people to watch the sporting events.

I was there a week ago and didn't see that?

For every ten dollars I bet on a horse they gave me a free drink ticket.

I caught a 50 dollar horse at Parx and the lady gave me two drink tickets when I cashed. She said 20 dollar plus horses get a drink ticket too

I stayed Sun thru Tues. the football crowd on Sunday was pretty big, but I didn't have to pay at the bar. I did see some reserved seats though.

Parkview_Pirate
10-28-2016, 05:01 PM
Machines now print out free drink vouchers for gamblers who hit a certain amount of play time.

Translation - you drink for free as long as you're losing enough to cover that cost, or if you've won enough to be worth the risk of a drink to entice future losses. The middle of road, "break even" players (if there are any), will probably get stiffed.

I've noticed a trend in Vegas over the years, as prices went up and deals were harder to find as it became more and more popular from the mid '80s to 2000 or so. Then in 2008, some great deals were once again out there for a short time, and I suppose the next market downturn will see that again. I'll be driving down there in January for the NHC.

Dave Schwartz
10-28-2016, 07:25 PM
I was there a week ago and didn't see that?

For every ten dollars I bet on a horse they gave me a free drink ticket.

I caught a 50 dollar horse at Parx and the lady gave me two drink tickets when I cashed. She said 20 dollar plus horses get a drink ticket too

I stayed Sun thru Tues. the football crowd on Sunday was pretty big, but I didn't have to pay at the bar. I did see some reserved seats though.

The term, "drink ticket" by itself illustrates how the sands are shifting.

Clocker
10-28-2016, 08:34 PM
The term, "drink ticket" by itself illustrates how the sands are shifting.

And that is not the beginning of the end, but a step well along the road. A bigger earlier step was the introduction of membership or reward cards.

The symbolism of a plastic bungee cord connecting a slot player on one end with a membership card stuck in a slot machine on the other end tells the whole story. :p

barn32
10-28-2016, 08:39 PM
Perhaps someone here can explain "resort fees."

proximity
10-28-2016, 09:13 PM
Perhaps someone here can explain "resort fees."

for cet properties your diamond card will get this waived.

this doesn't seem to be the case for mlife (?) but i'm about to find out as i believe the borgata is switching to mlife on january 1st?

right now "free" rooms cost me like $15 at borgata and $5 at cet (tax).

in atlantic city there are parking charges but again a diamond (and i believe platinum) will get these charges waived as will a black card at borgata. also even with a lower tier card you can typically get out of these charges with a modest amount of daily play. and golden nugget i believe is always free?

_______
10-28-2016, 09:56 PM
Perhaps someone here can explain "resort fees."

They are a way to advertise a lower price while charging a higher one.

Search for a hotel room and sort by price, everyone wants to be higher on that list. This is a problem throughout the resort industry that isn't limited to gaming destinations.

ReplayRandall
10-28-2016, 10:42 PM
The OP asks the question, "Is this the beginning of the end for Vegas freebies", and I'm suggesting that it is the end for Vegas PERIOD. Once the gambling mecca of the world, Vegas has turned into a RETAIL destination for party goers, and realizes the GAMBLERS are playing closer to home throughout the US. Unless I'm going to the NHC in Vegas, the wife and I have decided to just go to Harrah's Cherokee, right here in NC, from now on. Cherokee still pays 3-2 on blackjacks, where Vegas is almost totally 6-5. We have to pay for cocktails, but so what, they give us beautiful spacious comped rooms with no resort fees. Big name entertainment comes here, no need for round-trip airfare expenses to see the same acts in Vegas...It's a no-brainer, without a doubt, Vegas will never be the same and is DONE.....BTW, I worked there 14 years in it's heyday, so my opinion is worth slightly more than 2 cents.

Elliott Sidewater
10-29-2016, 12:49 AM
What? Blackjack now pays 6-5 almost everywhere in Vegas? I guess imitation is the purest form of flattery, because your basic 3-2 shot at the race track now pays 6-5, too, by the time the race is over. :bang:

Parkview_Pirate
10-29-2016, 12:51 AM
The OP asks the question, "Is this the beginning of the end for Vegas freebies", and I'm suggesting that it is the end for Vegas PERIOD. Once the gambling mecca of the world, Vegas has turned into a RETAIL destination for party goers, and realizes the GAMBLERS are playing closer to home throughout the US. Unless I'm going to the NHC in Vegas, the wife and I have decided to just go to Harrah's Cherokee, right here in NC, from now on. Cherokee still pays 3-2 on blackjacks, where Vegas is almost totally 6-5. We have to pay for cocktails, but so what, they give us beautiful spacious comped rooms with no resort fees. Big name entertainment comes here, no need for round-trip airfare expenses to see the same acts in Vegas...It's a no-brainer, without a doubt, Vegas will never be the same and is DONE.....BTW, I worked there 14 years in it's heyday, so my opinion is worth slightly more than 2 cents.

I would agree that Vegas is past its peak and will never be the same, and it's not just the greater availability of local gambling that is a problem. In the years ahead it will also have issues like the ongoing water shortages, higher airfares, and fewer customers as the economy tanks and there's less disposable income to blow at the casinos.

But I would argue that maybe there's a still another trick or two up the city's sleeve, and like Madonna, maybe it can invent itself another time or two to slow down the decline. There's still plenty of convention and tourism business, and that seems to have offset the stagnation in gambling revenue - for now....

Tom
10-29-2016, 10:18 AM
Perhaps someone here can explain "resort fees."


Means we think you have $10 left in your pocket.