Death of a Casino

[jcs152112]

Had to report the death of a casino. I have been a faithful "customer" of the Venetian in Las Vegas since it opened. I have seen it go from the best casino, to the worst, back to mediocre, and now have watched it die. I was there over Super Bowl weekend. Had a great time at the party except they were severely limiting on drink choices. Only the cheap well drinks were available. But the casino was the story. I play video poker. DDB mostly in dollar and above depending on the luck. I first noticed most of the machines were removed. Those that remained were now mostly 7/5 machines with many 6/5 scattered through. We did find four 8/5 machines that had not been changed yet for some reason. Anyway, over 3 days lost $5K, hit no jackpots, no W2G's. Went to checkout with my "new host" and was informed my 38000 points over 3 days barely covered the cost of my "free rooms" and therefore she could not comp any of my meals. I have never paid for anything there. My host for years left in 2012 and died shortly thereafter. This new girl said that the comps for video poker players and crap players had been cut because they were not profitable for the casino. I tried to tell her that with the paytables no one with any sense would even play them. I told her that 4% of a lot was better than 100% of nothing. She said that video poker machines were slowly being faded out. I was also surprised when I went to the Palazzo on Monday morning that every machine on the left to the entrance had been removed during the night. The only progressive in both casino's was moved to the back...and guess what...they were now all 6/5 machines. I had the pleasure of then talking to many people playing video poker and showing them how much they were losing by playing there. Most were there at 3 different conventions going on. After 15 years, I won't be back. I told the girl that I would never set foot in there again, and her response was, "There are a lot of other casino's in Vegas." Damn right there are, and I will be looking for a new one. The Venetian and the Palazzo are now strictly for conventions. They do not want informed gamblers...just those that hammer those sickening, noisy penny machines.

[notes1]

jcs, welcome to the forum and heck of a good first post. there used to be an old adage on wall street, that casinos were recession proof. just maybe, these casino owners will find out that you can only get so much blood out of a stone and eventually we will do something else.

[phnxnmartini]

That is what happens when a casino is owned by a tightwad right winger like Sheldon Adelson!

[ko king]

Started to make a post concerning a topic like this a while back. In this area I've seen the rise and fall of a few casinos over the years. You can see it coming from a mile away, they all seem to follow the same pattern. Revenue drops a bit they begin to cut, cut, cut, recipe for disaster. Pay tables dropped, some machines are removed all together, players start to go elsewhere. Casinos put in all kinds of crappy penny games and the crowd starts to get rough looking, next thing you know the parking lot is almost empty. There are a few casinos in this area on life support, their days are numbered, they've cut back on all they can, no room left and where has it got them. There is one casino around here that did the opposite, started out as a tiny place but they seem to have caught on to the idea that cutting isn't going to get many players into the casino. The casino just got thru with new construction and added all kinds of new games along with 2 beautiful bars and a great restaurant. The offers to players are really good and they also are preparing to start construction on a hotel. While the other casinos are dying this place keeps growing, it's packed most of the time now. The other casinos are actually using their name in surveys they send out like it's a real secret as to why that one casino is growing while they're dying, they must have complete morons running a lot of these casinos. Adapt or die, looks like most of them have chosen, die.

[djc32]

Great 1st post jcs, welcome!
I have also seen this at my local casino. They keep reducing the benefits of playing VP , while they keep adding more and more penny slots every time I go ,and making it obvious that they don't want VP players ,even with 96% paytables.. Like you, I won't be back, I'll save my $ and take my business elsewhere. How stupid of these casinos executives, a 6/5 game isn't profitable? give me a break!

[Tedlark]

Eye awakening to say the least. A simple game plan for a casino to follow can sometimes be a most difficult thing to do. Where's Benny Binion when we need him and his common sense approach the most?

[DaBurglar]

Had to report the death of a casino. I have been a faithful "customer" of the Venetian in Las Vegas since it opened. I have seen it go from the best casino, to the worst, back to mediocre, and now have watched it die. I was there over Super Bowl weekend. Had a great time at the party except they were severely limiting on drink choices. Only the cheap well drinks were available. But the casino was the story. I play video poker. DDB mostly in dollar and above depending on the luck. I first noticed most of the machines were removed. Those that remained were now mostly 7/5 machines with many 6/5 scattered through. We did find four 8/5 machines that had not been changed yet for some reason. Anyway, over 3 days lost $5K, hit no jackpots, no W2G's. Went to checkout with my "new host" and was informed my 38000 points over 3 days barely covered the cost of my "free rooms" and therefore she could not comp any of my meals. I have never paid for anything there. My host for years left in 2012 and died shortly thereafter. This new girl said that the comps for video poker players and crap players had been cut because they were not profitable for the casino. I tried to tell her that with the paytables no one with any sense would even play them. I told her that 4% of a lot was better than 100% of nothing. She said that video poker machines were slowly being faded out. I was also surprised when I went to the Palazzo on Monday morning that every machine on the left to the entrance had been removed during the night. The only progressive in both casino's was moved to the back...and guess what...they were now all 6/5 machines. I had the pleasure of then talking to many people playing video poker and showing them how much they were losing by playing there. Most were there at 3 different conventions going on. After 15 years, I won't be back. I told the girl that I would never set foot in there again, and her response was, "There are a lot of other casino's in Vegas." Damn right there are, and I will be looking for a new one. The Venetian and the Palazzo are now strictly for conventions. They do not want informed gamblers...just those that hammer those sickening, noisy penny machines.I agree with notes1, excellent first post, best ever in my opinion......and like Ted said, very informative.I never played at the Venetian, could not stand it to be honest....I always thought it was a pretentious, preposterously poor imitation of the real thing (VENICE)......If you play and gamble at the level you described consistently, may I suggest taking your business to a place like the Golden Nugget?  You'd have the run of the place if you spend that kind of dough there......and it really is a nice place.Welcome to the forum......by the way are you a winner or are you unprofitable over the last 5 years overall???  we are taking a  poll

[notes1]

That is what happens when a casino is owned by a tightwad right winger like Sheldon Adelson!
   some comments are so stupid, they do not justify a response.

[TIMSPEED]

It's all based on ADT...and for some reason, even with 6/5 and 7/5 paytables, they STILL put the theo at only like 1-2%...when they SHOULD be set at 8-10% (since playing perfectly would only result in 98% payback, and who really plays perfect video poker? 1% of the gaming populous?

[jcs152112]

I stayed at the Golden Nugget back in the 80s when my PGA section had winter golf tournaments in Vegas. I would take my members and we would play the Legacy in Henderson and stay at the Nugget. I had a wonderful host at the Venetian for years who made me feel like a whale when I was only a guppy at that place. I have since called the Nugget and spoke to a very nice lady who is a host there. They had sent me an invitation offering to double whatever any other casino was offering me in free play. when normal at the Venetian was 4-5 hundred dollars, that was very enticing to get free rooms and 1K in free play. Before I had a stroke and was still a golf pro at a country club, I would visit Vegas 2-3 times a year. Several times my end of year statement would show over 600K coin in. I also got an invitation from The Grand hotel yesterday, never heard of the place. Think I will try the Nugget next time