Layoffs at The Venetian.
https://www.casino.org/news/layoffs-...ore-questions/
Vegas nightclub layoffs
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOFFDdFgRiA/
Man on the street report:
Layoffs at The Venetian.
https://www.casino.org/news/layoffs-...ore-questions/
Vegas nightclub layoffs
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOFFDdFgRiA/
Man on the street report:
This isn’t on Dave because he only posted reports….although he added a clickbait video and a link to perhaps the BIGGEST Vegas clickbait scammer in the Starfish CUNT. She has been busted for taking gifts from casinos for promotion and not stating it in glowing reviews.Originally Posted by Dive_Bar_Dave
This video title is exactly what I bitch about, read the title.
“Mass Layoffs-Everyone is getting fired”
Pure clickbait, I didn’t watch the video because I don’t want to give the assclown even one penny. But they know a factual title wouldn’t get suckers to get excited, click and repost it.
But when you read the link Dave posted from casino.org you see…..
“Layoffs at the Venetian are the latest example of Las Vegas casino operators responding with their actions to the headlines they’re downplaying with their words. Via a statement to the media, the Las Vegas Strip property confirmed that “less than 50” of its 8,500 team members were let go last week”
Now casino.org isn’t innocent either because they are in the business of clicks and links to online casinos so negative Vegas sediment helps them as well as their comments show. So they do add comments about the legal requirements for layoffs of more than 50. Which they are correct about the law, however there is no way around it if you are laying off hundreds or every EVERYONE like the scammer titled their video.
Bottom line, nothing new here, Vegas goes as the country goes and tomorrow’s job report nationally might be UGLY. But a guy in Peoria losing his job isn’t as click worthy as a guy in Vegas losing his. Unemployment could hit a 4 year high tomorrow but scammers what you to think it’s a Vegas issue. And the saps, suckers and rubes immediately fall it and share it to make them feel they aren’t alone in their current tough situation. Natural human reaction I guess to have others share in your financial misery.
Note United Airlines just announced increased daily flights to Vegas and other cities from places like Newark New Jersey.
“ United is adding flights to Las Vegas as part of its expanded winter 2026 schedule, with new and additional flights starting January 6, 2026, from hubs like Houston, Chicago, and Newark. This expansion includes additional daily roundtrips from Chicago and Houston to Las Vegas, as well as from Los Angeles. Tickets for these new flights went on sale on September 4, 2025.”
https://thepointsguy.com/news/united...it-bankruptcy/
https://onemileatatime.com/news/unit...t-of-business/
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/04/spir...ls-circle.html
To be fair and cover both sides they admitted it is to be ready if Spirit goes out of business, which is entirely possible as they are broke, in bankruptcy for the 2nd time in a year and in a death spiral.
Beating a dead horse on last weeks clickbait post we already discussed over and over, but IF the 7 daily flights they are flying are “Empty”, why would they even consider adding more???
Here is the video for the new ad campaign for Vegas from the LVCVA. "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas":
And an article about it.
https://news3lv.com/news/local/new-t...ng-hospitality
South Point overnight specials, not worth a special trip from the strip but again shows deals are still there if you look.
The Lisa Mel empty airplane Tweet post
First, this is a super lame sub-topic over a single picture that is a waste of time. But because someone had to keep pushing it, I finally did some research and broke down my thoughts on this.
Second, when I post here on PFA, I keep it honest and no BS, lying on here just isn’t worth my time and discredits the whole board. Again, keeping it honest here, although most wont believe me. Oh well, no loss.
Third, two members have attacked me here for my opinion on the picture and even lied and claimed that I said- “Vegas is dead”. I have never made that statement and only responded to the Vegas topic with 3 or 4 specific bullet points and validated them. To date, no one has really attacked me on my points and accepted my personal opinion. I also have not attacked any member here for not agreeing with me or having a difference of opinion.
What my first impression of the picture and my motivation to re-post it here-
1. “Hey, the airplane is empty; I love those flights with less people.”
2. I assume most locals in New Jersey stay home and gamble there, that explains the less Jersey people flying to Vegas.
3. The plane looks very clean and I like the purple ceiling lights.
4. Yep, most people are avoiding Las Vegas.
I didnt even post an opinion or commentary on the Lisa Mel X post, just the post only. No one even know what my opinion of the post was, just started attacking me.
Then it was pointed out that the overhead bins and the cockpit door was open. My reaction was- “So what, the guy just boarded, sat there for a little bit, texted his wife and is still flying home to Vegas,” This was NOT some smoking gun and I guess the plane departed the ramp 10 minutes later.
In the past, I have noticed less people at the terminal gate, less people on the ramp with me and less people actually boarded on the plane with me. I too have lived this scenario in real life and its just no big deal and no big catch on Lisa Mel.
Were you there and do you have any proof??
Were you actually physically on the airplane with the husband? Have any actual proof that he was lying? We really dont know. A picture (digital or 35mm) is a single fraction of a second snap shot in time. In legal terms, unless you were there, your opinion is hearsay and you opinion has no weight.
To me, it looks like the passenger on the left has been there for some time and settled into his seat. I also know what it feel like to be the seated on an airplane for awhile and then take out your phone and send a text. This husband was just communicating to his wife what he was seeing and letting her know he will be home soon. Spoiler alert- married people do this all the time. I don’t get the impression the husband and wife have some national Las Vegas travel agenda to fool her followers on X with some single picture and three short sentences of what he saw. Having a major reaction to this picture and his observation is super silly and just lame.
Speaking in generalities-
So the wife said “flying” when the husband just boarded the airplane and settled into his seat- big fucking deal. She is speaking in generalities, not playing word games or trying to fool us. When I travel, I say in general- “I’m flying” vs. specifically breaking down each step of the process to the person on the other end. I also do this when eating out to- “I’m going out to dinner” or “I am renting a car”…there is no need to break down the specific event to the person on the other end to prove to them you are not sending “click bait”.
The wife speaking in generalities is NOT some big smoking gun. She is summarizing the picture her husband sent her before taking off. This is just not some big deal to me. I text and communicate with my girlfriend all the time and sometime send pictures. Heck, I text and send pictures to Druff’s phone often to show him something unusual in life, but I just generalize it instead of breaking it down by specific steps.
The women’s (Lisa Mel motivation to post-
1. Lisa Mel gave a glimpse into her personal life, not some major attack taking on Las Vegas tourism. Not a big deal and a reason to go ballistic over it.
2. X/Twitter is private property, so “Freedom of Speech” and “Expression” is not a legal platform here. But just like Druff, the woman can and should be allowed to say what she wants on her own X/Twitter account. If you don’t like what she says- scroll past or engage her, but no need to go full-tilt over her one single post and attack her or anyone that shared her tweet.
3. All she said was- “As a local, I blame the nickel and diming of everything at the strip.” And I agree with her. She is a Vegas local, not me or Druff, so she probably knows more than us.
There was NO “click bait”, “being fooled” or “everyone fucks up”-
1, She did not ask anyone to subscribe or follow her.
2. She didn’t ask anyone to click any link. Hence no click bait.
3. She didn’t attack or reference anyone specific.
4. She gave her opinion only on her own personal page, that’s legit and leave her alone for it.
5. She didn’t violate X/Twitter’s rules and get her account banned, unlike someone else recently.
6. Vital Vegas and Las Vegas Locally did not remove their post or admit to being fooled or tricked by any click bait. There is no proof of them admitting that they “fell for it” either.
Lisa Mel did not do anything wrong, nefarious or push ill will in her tweet. I just don’t see the need for the “It’s click bait!!” Chicken Little outrage.
Airline schedules and passenger seating chart
Her post was on August 30, 2025. By posting flight schedules and seating charts a week later- this doesn’t really offer any real evidence that she lied. Flight schedules and cheating charts change daily and one week doesn’t dictate the next or set some forever standard to follow.
Druff has some axe to grind with this person-
Respectfully- clicking on the actual post link and reading down, I feel Druff has some past history and an axe to grind with Lisa Mel. Maybe because she is a Vegas local with a lot of followers. His reaction to her is not his first interaction with her, there is definitely some history between the two…enough that some random member named Jay Bird responded back with some choice words to Druff. I’m not attacking Druff here, but the big picture here is obvious- he doesnt like her.
In conclusion, I feel the picture was real and legit. Some husband boarded, saw the flight was empty and texted his wife before take off. She then re-broadcasted the same picture and GENERALIZED the overall view and added her own opinion using her right to freedom of speech and expression. (and Druff didnt like it)
There was no click-bait, no one "fucked up", no one got fooled and no one fell for any thing. I think some people disagreed with Lisa Mel and looked for any little item to discredit her. OK, the bin doors were up and cockpit door open, big deal, they were departing the airport 10 minutes later. Both Lisa Mel and her husband had absolutely no reason to lie or be deceitful on Twitter/X...and if they did- just fuck off and scroll past it.
This sub-topic was lame, a waste of time and I feel one specific person went ballistic and then attacked me personally several times over it. Most likely Druff will respond and try to discredit me repeating some random non-related justifications, but seriously, let it go. This is suppose to be a “no censorship” board, so let members speak freely without attacking them just because you got an axe to grind with an unknown third party at another website.
Last edited by desertrunner; Yesterday at 05:47 PM.
ladies and gents,
i present you PFA,
circa 2025.
Im sorry, but the video came up short and not going to help. Its too complicated and just doesnt show enough to entice me to now go there. The song is 1960-70s Frank Sinatra style and that's just not Las Vegas right now. Add in a boxer in a ring, fail.
Like I have said over and over- People are cheap, they want deals, freebies and a reason to drive across the 15 from So Cal to Clark County. Its the In N Out Burger service mode- Cheap, good service and consistent- that's what the visitors want. Not a brunette singing from the Rat Pack era.
Do you really want me to respond to this? In short, I dropped it, but Druff responded for the 4th time telling us "Everyone fucks up" and I did not. Do your research dummy.1dollarboxcar: we all did let it go... you're the one that keeps drumming it up....
They agree...
The thing about people in general, when change needs to happen, there always a hard way and easy way and unfortunately, most human choose the hard way. This is how Las Vegas is going to learn- by hitting rock bottom and it hasnt happened yet. Like I said earlier, September to December are typically low tourism months for all of Clark County, so soon a new layer with be put on the Las Vegas fail cake.
My January, maybe the over lords will finally get it because hitting them in their pocket book is when the message finally hits home. By November, things are really going to suck hard.
A compliment and criticism for desertrunner...
Compliment: His analysis of the commercial and its likely impact is correct. It's an interesting and visually amusing commercial, and would make an entertaining watch during Superbowl. But it's also way behind the times, in that it doesn't change the presently negative impressions tourists have of the city. This would have worked much better in 2010, when "Vegas is fun, remember?" would be enough to entice people to book a trip. In 2025, cutesy commercials showing people having fun aren't going to work. They need to change the way tourists are treated there, and then make sure everyone knows it. At this point, marketing isn't going to be enough.
Criticism: He needs to give up on that empty plane tweet. He wrote a book about it, still not understanding that extraordinary claims (a plane to Vegas on Labor Day weekend is empty) requires extraordinary proof. If you fail to provide that proof, people should default into not believing it. Similarly, if I posted tonight, "Actually I'm a billionaire and I've been hiding it from you guys all this time via my stories of arguments with AT&T and airlines", you'd be correct not to believe me until I show you proof of such an extraordinary claim. Just give this one up. The first rule of the internet is to immediately doubt any shocking claim unless proof is provided. "Well, I believe it because you can't disprove it" is always going to make you look foolish.
BTW, desertrunner, I had never heard of this "Lisa Mel" person before (the poster of the tweet), and I don't care about her either way. Also, while I am no longer a Vegas local, I know more about Vegas casinos, gaming, its tourism industry, and the hotels more than almost every Vegas local. Saying "She's a local, you're not, so she's more credible here" is nonsense.
Here are the problems I see with Vegas, from the standpoint of its appeal (or lack thereof) to modern tourists:
1) Nickel-and-diming. There's all kinds of extra charges and fees, to where everything slowly adds up to making everything unexpectedly expensive, plus it's stressful and annoying to tourists to watch this happening as it occurs.
2) Lack of cheap food. This is absolutely huge. You should always be able to sit in a casino coffee shop and get a quick, reasonably priced meal. At most strip hotels, even basic meals and fast food is expensive, and basics such as brewed coffee are way marked up.
3) Lack of 24/7 food. This is a distinct problem from #2. Not only is the food expensive, it's unavailable. You can't go to the cafe at 3am, because it's closed. You can't order room service late at night, either, because that's also typically closed. They market Vegas as a late night city, yet the late night dining options are shockingly slim.
4) De-theming and lack of free attractions. Remember when most major strip hotels had a theme, and you could enjoy attractions related to that theme for free? Not any longer. Most properties have been de-themed, are interchangeable, and offer nothing of interest to do or see for free.
5) Lack of cheap or free activities. This is related to #3. They are no longer providing reasonably-priced or free activities to do, and even the pools, long a staple of spring/summertime Vegas, are often closed on the weekdays and have limited hours.
6) Shitty gambling options. Odds have been so degraded on most games that it's unlikely to have a winning trip, barring a big jackpot-style hit. Blackjack is mostly 6:5, slots have a horrible return (and many are jackpot-themed, where you're guaranteed to lose if you don't hit one), and we're now seeing quadruple-zero roulette in some places.
7) Comp system is confusing and antiquated, yet carries none of the benefits of the old-school system. The days of asking a pit boss for a nice meal at the steakhouse after losing $4k at blackjack are long over. He can't even give you a free smoothie! Computer manage almost all comps, hosts are neutered, and people are constantly disappointed after being encouraged to chase tier status which (unbeknownst to them) has no impact on their offers or comps. It's stupidly based upon amount of raw action rather than likelihood to win, and is overly stingy with the people for whom they should want to roll out a red carpet.
8) Service is shitty. You get the Philippines when you call the "front desk" from a Caesars property room phone. They've cut back on maintenance staff. Front desks are often way understaffed, causing hours-long checkin lines on weekends.
I'll post the solutions to these in my next message.
Totally called here, 100% spot on.
Last edited by desertrunner; Today at 12:50 AM.
I'm a big, "If it works, don't fix it" guy.
Change and progress can be good, and is often necessary, but often things are great the way they are, and when you try to modify them for greater efficiency or profit, you accidentally ruin what was great about them in the first place.
You cannot have an ego in business. You need to adjust to what the customers want, and not just dig your heels in and decide that they're wrong. Short term savings can often lead to long term disaster.
Often the solution to a lot of problems -- both in life and business -- is to think about what worked before, and then do it again. Sometimes you can slip away from what is working perfectly in the quest to further improve, and then lose sight of the fact that it was fine all along.
The above 8 problems I posted are relatively new. It's not like they've been plaguing Vegas since it became a popular destination. People are disappointed because a lot of what they loved about Vegas has been cooked out of the experience, and it hasn't been replaced by anything appealing enough for them to forget the way it used to be.
I'm also a realist. I know that everything has a cost, and while it's easy to say, "Make things cheaper" or "Make things better", often that's not feasible, given economics and other factors. I also know that some things change over time (inflation, labor costs, labor laws, local regulations, societal fads, etc) to where simply emulating the past doesn't always work. For example, you could open a 1978-style disco in your town, and it would likely flop badly, even though it would have been a huge hit 45-50 years ago.
So here are my suggestions...
The problem with nickel-and-diming is that it works short term to increase profits, but creates a psychological barrier to people wanting to return. It is annoying and irritating for people to constantly be smacked by outrageously high prices on simple things, or to find that their "$50 per night" bargain hotel room becomes $140 after resort fees and taxes. Charging for parking discourages people from visiting properties they might otherwise find interesting. Charging $26 for an in-room water bottle, just because you can get away with it because people get very thirsty in Vegas, is a sure way to implant the wrong type of memory of their trip.1) Nickel-and-diming. There's all kinds of extra charges and fees, to where everything slowly adds up to making everything unexpectedly expensive, plus it's stressful and annoying to tourists to watch this happening as it occurs.
Vegas needs to go the opposite direction -- a lot more all-inclusive, a lot less nickel-and-diming. Remove resort fees, remove parking fees, give people the impression that everything they need is reasonably priced, and make up for it by raising the nightly base price of the room. You may think you're fooling people by providing these "cheap" midweek rooms, but they're onto the poor value Vegas has become. Time to just be straightforward, give a lot away for free and cheaply, and make people aware of what they'll be getting for the new, higher priced rooms. People enjoy honestly and straightforwardness a lot more than you might realize, especially nowadays when everything in life is seemingly misleading.
You don't need to mark down Nobu or the other high end restaurants. Let those stay expensive, and they can continue catering to the rich (or the gamblers who have earned enough comps for them). But bring back the cheap coffee shop as a loss-leader, and keep prices down for snacks and coffee to where it resembles what people would pay at 7-11. Right now every tourist feels stressed when it's time to eat ANYTHING, like they're getting completely ripped off, yet have no choice because they can't starve. Reverse that narrative. Vegas once had the best value in meals, and they can again.2) Lack of cheap food. This is absolutely huge. You should always be able to sit in a casino coffee shop and get a quick, reasonably priced meal. At most strip hotels, even basic meals and fast food is expensive, and basics such as brewed coffee are way marked up.
Part of the Vegas experience involves being able to do anything at any time -- where the hour on the clock has almost no meaning. That's still mostly true with gambling, but everything else on the strip closes way too early, especially the food options.3) Lack of 24/7 food. This is a distinct problem from #2. Not only is the food expensive, it's unavailable. You can't go to the cafe at 3am, because it's closed. You can't order room service late at night, either, because that's also typically closed. They market Vegas as a late night city, yet the late night dining options are shockingly slim.
Do they not understand that many tourists take joy in being able to order steak-n-eggs at 3am after a long gambling session, or that couples often like a satisfying room service meal at 4am after having sex all night? Those little pleasures are gone. Some egghead corporate accountants figured out that they're not making much (or any) money keeping these eateries and room service open all night, so they close at a time the perceived profits disappear. They don't realize that they're ruining the overall Vegas experience by doing so.
Remember when you could walk the strip and see the MGM Lion Habitat, the Treasure Island pirate show, the Mirage volcano, and various other attractions for free? Remember when New York, New York tried hard to sort of simulate the New York City experience, and when Excalibur and Luxor both stuck to their respective themes? Remember the party atmosphere of the Rio Show in the Sky?4) De-theming and lack of free attractions. Remember when most major strip hotels had a theme, and you could enjoy attractions related to that theme for free? Not any longer. Most properties have been de-themed, are interchangeable, and offer nothing of interest to do or see for free.
Many people enjoyed coming to Vegas to see these gimmicky albeit unique features, and they made a day out of hopping from hotel to hotel, taking in the features and personalities of each.
That's mostly gone now. No more Lion Habitat, Show in the Sky, pirate show, volcano, or anything else particularly interesting and free, save for maybe the Bellagio conservatory. Even iconic longstanding features have been removed from many properties, such as Buck, Winnie, and Chip from Harrah's, and Cleopatra's Bar from Caesars. The properties today are soulless, interchangeable, and without any memorable theme. Can you explain the theme of Resorts World? Fontainebleau? Aria? Mandalay Bay? The Wynn? Vegas has been de-themed. When you've seen one property, you've seen 'em all. Vegas needs to bring theming back. Stop worrying about people stopping by just to see the free stuff and leaving. That's part of doing business. Many others will gamble while they're on property, or might grab a bite to eat or see a show. Stop obsessing over making sure every visitor doesn't leave without being profitable to you.
Have you ever been in Vegas and thought to yourself, "Okay, what should we do?" This is especially challenging if you're with your family, and a night of gambling and drinking isn't really appropriate. When you attempt to look up activities, you come to the realization that there simply isn't much you can do that's cheap, fun, and passes the time. That's not good.5) Lack of cheap or free activities. This is related to #3. They are no longer providing reasonably-priced or free activities to do, and even the pools, long a staple of spring/summertime Vegas, are often closed on the weekdays and have limited hours.
And what about the pool situation? Some properties close their pools Monday through Thursday. Many pools completely shut down by 6pm, even in the middle of summer. Why? Vegas stays over 100 degrees into the late evening in the summertime. A night swim would be fun and refreshing. Why take this option away from people? Why boot them from the pool long before the sun goes down? Once again, some asshole accountant probably crunched the numbers and noticed that people don't order much as far as food, drink, or cabanas after 6pm, so they close the pool at 6. Not everything on property has to be constantly profitable. Leave the pools open late!
In the 2000s, casino managers started to discover something. The makeup of their gambling crowd had changed. Prior to the mid-90s. most players were actual gamblers. They wouldn't tolerate something like 6:5 blackjack, triple-zero roulette, bad video poker paytables, or slots where you seemingly never have a shot to win. After the '90s made Vegas more of a destination for families and conventioneers, the casinos learned that their gamblers were no longer sophisticated. These new players only had a loose idea of how to play, and they had no idea which games had good odds and which had bad odds. Casinos started to slowly exploit this, figuring they might as well keep degrading the odds, if players weren't going to notice and keep playing anyway.6) Shitty gambling options. Odds have been so degraded on most games that it's unlikely to have a winning trip, barring a big jackpot-style hit. Blackjack is mostly 6:5, slots have a horrible return (and many are jackpot-themed, where you're guaranteed to lose if you don't hit one), and we're now seeing quadruple-zero roulette in some places.
Like many greedy, poorly thought out plans, this one had an unfortunate side effect. People would lose at such a high rate that gambling ceased being fun. Winning trips became less and less common. Tourists were retaining fewer and fewer memories of those gambling trips where seemingly everything went right. Now they would either get absolutely wrecked quickly, or they'd get lucky for a bit, but the horrible odds would eat them alive and wipe out those wins quickly. There is a sweet spot regarding how you beat gamblers. If they constantly lose, they won't want to come back. If they are winning too often, it will be tough to consistently make money from them. You need them to lose just enough to where it's pretty certain you'll get a good deal of money out of them in the medium term, but with enough winning sessions to where they always feel they have a shot. The human mind can also play tricks on these gamblers, making them feel they're "about even" when they're actually way down, as long as there are enough good sessions in the memory banks.
There's the old saying, "You can shear a sheep many times, but you can only skin it once." Current Vegas casino managers would be smart to repeat that to themselves, and learn from it.
The old model worked great. You would slowly bleed the gambler dry, but he'd have enough winning sessions to where he'd enjoy himself overall, and always feel like he's one lucky streak away from really hitting it big. In the meantime, win or lose, you lavish him with generous comps, to where he feels like a king, and can sometimes (falsely) justify to himself that he's still getting value for his losses. Today, with degraded comps and degraded games, it's just no longer fun for the gambler, nor do they typically feel special.
Vegas needs to raise the odds again, let everyone know about it, and make everyone aware that gambling can be fun once again. They can market in the way Domino's did after they wrecked their company with a lot of ill-advised cost cuts. They came out with a mea culpa ad campaign, basically saying, "We know we made some changes which made us suck, but we've learned and we are back to what you'll love." It worked.
The current comp systems in Vegas combine all the worst features of the older and newer rating and comping systems, with none of the benefits. If you're a ploppy who shows up with thousands of dollars, and sink them into low-upside, high-downside slots, but lose quickly to where you don't play very long, you get shit for comps. If you're someone who is smart enough to make your gambling dollar go farther, and stay around long enough to where you run a lot of action through machines or tables, without losing much, you'll be getting much better comps. That's absurd. It's an old, stupid system which was never fixed. However, at least on the old system, pit bosses and hosts were empowered to comp people with something fairly nice on the spot (such as a steak dinner for 4) when they've had a bad day. Today's tightly-controlled, computerized system decides based upon your "average daily theoretical loss" how much you're entitled to get, and hosts are micromanaged to the point where they are typically afraid to deviate much from what the computer says they should provide.7) Comp system is confusing and antiquated, yet carries none of the benefits of the old-school system. The days of asking a pit boss for a nice meal at the steakhouse after losing $4k at blackjack are long over. He can't even give you a free smoothie! Computer manage almost all comps, hosts are neutered, and people are constantly disappointed after being encouraged to chase tier status which (unbeknownst to them) has no impact on their offers or comps. It's stupidly based upon amount of raw action rather than likelihood to win, and is overly stingy with the people for whom they should want to roll out a red carpet.
The player's club systems constantly bombard you with marketing material encouraging you to chase the higher tier levels, only to have gamblers confused and disappointed when these tier levels only come with a few mundane benefits (such as no resort fees), but otherwise have zero effect on their offers or comps. Additionally, these club systems are highly confusing and convoluted. You have no idea how many people I've had to educate regarding what these tiers do and don't get you. I've had to clarify for people a million times that becoming Diamond or Seven Stars at Caesars doesn't get you anything special, and people are often shocked when they hear that there's Seven Stars members whose offers are inferior to that of those at the bottom Gold tier.
This all needs to be reworked. I've known people who are basically dead money to the casinos. I've known others who are fairly smart, albeit -EV gamblers, who are of some value. I've known even other gamblers who find every edge, and are of zero or negative value to the casino. They don't comp these people correctly for what they're really worth, especially the dead money ones who should get a ton more, as they're almost guaranteed to shoot off each time.
There are weird idiosyncrasies, such as in the current system where showing up and playing low stakes with your buddies for a few hours will HURT your comps, and you're better off either not having come or not showing your card. Things like this shouldn't happen in 2025. They need to rework the entire comping system, where the gamblers valuable to them are treated like gold, and the low value gamblers are given much less. Clean up and clear up the players club system, and start attaching comps and offers to tier level in a smart way, so people don't feel like they wasted their time and money earning these statuses you have pushed so hard. Empower hosts and pit bosses again to give on-the-spot comps when appropriate. Stop letting the computers control everything. It's driving away the human beings.
People remember 3-hour checkin lines, or 45 minute lines when they lose their key and need to get one remade. Don't try to save money on front desk staff. Don't skimp on maintenance. Make the little annoyances go away, even if it costs the company a little bit more. Stop outsourcing "front desk" calls to the Philippines. It makes sense to rout them to a call center, but do what you used to do in the 2010s, and at least make that call center locally based. Empower the call center to solve problems, and make sure actual front desk employees are reachable if necessary.8) Service is shitty. You get the Philippines when you call the "front desk" from a Caesars property room phone. They've cut back on maintenance staff. Front desks are often way understaffed, causing hours-long checkin lines on weekends.
Don't make guests feel like they're in a dystopian nightmare where they're staying in a hotel run by kiosks and apps.
Bonus:
Vital Vegas is NOT a fan of the new ad. I mostly agree with his points here: https://www.casino.org/vitalvegas/fa...atest-debacle/
Was looking to finalize my trip for the end of this month and was pretty gob smacked by this rate gouging!
Previously, it was $50 for Saturday night stay (ok no issue there) and now it's $331 for Sunday night???
Keep in mind, Horseshoe is a VERY low end casino and I've stayed there for an entire week Comped last year and played/Lost more than I've ever played in all my Years going to Vegas (over $10,000 in one trip!)
I realize there are shows happening and John Mayer is playing Sunday night. But let's be real, he currently isn't a Huge draw that would cause such a price jump for a Sunday night.
I'm probably going to break up my trip and stay elsewhere Sunday and possibly Saturday if MGM or Palms will comp it.
But yea, this is just Gouging at it's finest folks!
I forgot to add this to my sub-topic breakdown post.
This person did a breakdown on United's flight from New Jersey to Las Vegas on the recent holiday weekend. I dont really care about flights out of NJ, but it was a factor here someone else addressed.
https://twitter.com/dougblandry/status/1962003048663842871
I agree with all 8 of Druff's points and I would guess that, it order of importance, the nickel-and-diming is #1 and all other factors are a distant 2nd. The sad thing is that it's such an easy fix.
For Canadians, anti-American sentiment (which was definitely a thing) has subsided somewhat over the past couple of months and I doubt that'll be much of a factor affecting Canada-Vegas travel going forward. Anecdotally, recently a group of my friends was planning a bachelor party trip for my pal and we were deciding between a trip to Vegas or Toronto. The vote was overwhelmingly in favour of going to Toronto, mostly because Vegas now has a reputation for being overpriced and overhyped.
From around 2003-2020 I went to Vegas almost every single year. I loved it. Last time I went was 2022. It sucked. Everything was ridiculously overpriced. $20 for a beer at a casino bar? Go fuck yourselves. $10 for a bottle of water in the hotel sundry shop? Go fuck yourselves. $60 resort fees? Go fuck yourselves. $12 for a cup of coffee in the morning that you have to go down to the lobby AND wait in line for? Go fuck yourselves. Restaurants adding 5% CNF fees to your bill that you have to ask to get removed? Go fuck yourselves.
Zero chance I'm going back until they fix their shit.
Three things they should do:
1. Get rid of resort fees yesterday. Literally everyone hates them. Amazing that they still exist. Just add in the resort fee to the room rate and list the total price for the room (effectively we'd be paying the same amount in the end) and I guarantee it would satisfy most people. I get that it's done for third-party travel site searches when results are filtered by price. But if any of these resorts advertised "no resort fees" and just charged the same total amount for their rooms they'd suddenly get a lot of new business. But nobody is willing to try it. Pathetic.
2. Put in single-cup coffee makers in every hotel room. This might sound silly, but coffee is a big deal. Caffeine is literally the most popular drug in the world. 2/3 of Americans drink coffee so you can infer that probably around half of adults are addicted to coffee. I know I am. Coffee fiends like me simply need it in the morning. But in Vegas you'll never find a coffee machine in your room because they want you to schlep down to the lobby and buy their overpriced bullshit at a coffee stand or cafe. And there's always a line. And we stand in it because we are hopelessly addicted to caffeine. And it pisses us off. Put Keurigs in every room with K-cups. I wouldn't even care if they charged for them. $5 per pod. Whatever. It's cheaper and more convenient than doing the walk of coffee shame we have to go through. Of course, people will get wise and bring their own K-cups with them and that's fine. Just give us this one convenience and we promise to gamble on your rigged games once we get our shit together in the morning.
3. Let the booze flow. Alcohol is the second most popular drug in the world. "Free/cheap booze" has always been one of the allures of Vegas. You play the games and you get a drink. Improve drink service for people gambling. Last time I went I was playing slots with my buddy for about 30 minutes and didn't see a single server. Twenty years ago I would've gotten 2 or 3 drinks in half an hour. Stop bean-counting people at casino bars who are playing the bar-top poker games and let the bartenders once again decide whether to comp drinks. Make bar booze cheap again. $5 max for a bottle of beer for walk ups. You'd still make money on that. I guarantee most people who innocently walk up to a center bar and get charged $20 for a Heineken walk away disgusted and that experience gets baked into their overall evaluation of their trip.
I'd also add in "lack of uniqueness" as a major factor (which kind of fits with Druff's point of "de-theming and lack of free attractions"). People love the idea of Vegas as a one-of-a-kind novelty destination. Over time it has morphed into a generic gambling city with fewer interesting sights and attractions that you can only find in one place. The Sphere and residencies by major artists is a good start. More of that.
Finally, I'm begging Druff and DR to stop mentioning the airplane pic. We don't care.
The system gives you only 5 nights comp.Was looking to finalize my trip for the end of this month and was pretty gob smacked by this rate gouging!
Previously, it was $50 for Saturday night stay (ok no issue there) and now it's $331 for Sunday night???
Keep in mind, Horseshoe is a VERY low end casino and I've stayed there for an entire week Comped last year and played/Lost more than I've ever played in all my Years going to Vegas (over $10,000 in one trip!)
I realize there are shows happening and John Mayer is playing Sunday night. But let's be real, he currently isn't a Huge draw that would cause such a price jump for a Sunday night.
I'm probably going to break up my trip and stay elsewhere Sunday and possibly Saturday if MGM or Palms will comp it.
But yea, this is just Gouging at it's finest folks!
That’s why this happened.
Book the most expensive nights with the comp (only 5), then call up and have them book the other as a separate reservation. They’ll be able to do it. If not ask for a supervisor.
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