Is Vegas dying? (2 Viewers)

[Kam]

@Schmendr1ck I don’t disagree. Changes yes but am I happy with all of them? No.

@Kam was there really any other option?

View attachment 1596308

Now that is real pr0n.

 

[Jaxen]

Well sure. Vegas will always provide a super premium experience for those with a super premium vacation budget. That's always been the case and hasn't changed.

The point of this thread, I think, is that the middle class tourists who have been the backbone of the LV economy are being pushed out by predatory pricing and policies.

Maybe that's by design. Maybe LV can sustain itself on sports events, conventions, and wealthy tourists alone. I'm not sure I believe that, but my opinion isn't worth much. Time will tell.

It's the Disney model. Seek those with the deepest wallets. Then work to empty them into yours while providing an experience that makes it palatable.

 

[BigGrizz]

I used to be a Disney pass holder back in the day but they completely priced me out. Why would I go to Disney when I could go to Europe or the Caribbean instead? Vegas is basically the same now.

 

[bananapeel]

I used to go every year. Haven't been since 2019. Not the bargain it used to be. Had an HOA connect at Jockey Club and used to rent a 2 bed for a month over the WSOP for $1500, just ridiculously cheap for the location. The last hold-outs in that HOA sold up to Platinum Timeshares which already ran 90% of the apartments in around 2018. If I want to pay $30 for a burger I can do that in London Playing FLO8 with cranky locals, grinders, pit bosses and strippers is what I miss the most (honestly)

 

[ekricket]

I used to go every year. Haven't been since 2019. Not the bargain it used to be. Had an HOA connect at Jockey Club and used to rent a 2 bed for a month over the WSOP for $1500, just ridiculously cheap for the location. The last hold-outs in that HOA sold up to Platinum Timeshares which already ran 90% of the apartments in around 2018. If I want to pay $30 for a burger I can do that in London Playing FLO8 with cranky locals, grinders, pit bosses and strippers is what I miss the most (honestly)

We stayed at the Jockey Club several times. Unbelievable value for location, parking was always $5 a day. The condos were always dated, but who cares? Free popcorn in the lobby and public dvd library, lol.

 

[bananapeel]

We stayed at the Jockey Club several times. Unbelievable value for location, parking was always $5 a day. The condos were always dated, but who cares? Free popcorn in the lobby and public dvd library, lol.

Yeah, it was great. I used to love meeting friends in the Cosmo, then weaving them through the slots area to the hidden lifts, then up one floor and suddenly you're outside by the JC pool! The confusion on their faces was always priceless. But why use that pool when we had access to the Cosmo non-party pool for free also.......ah you're making me nostalgic

 

[bananapeel]

We stayed at the Jockey Club several times. Unbelievable value for location, parking was always $5 a day. The condos were always dated, but who cares? Free popcorn in the lobby and public dvd library, lol.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275479773951

Picked up one of these a couple of years ago for a gift to a fellow player who I often stayed with at JC. Definitely didn't pay that much for it though. Apparently these were from original chips made in the 70s when a casino was planned before building

 

[DirtyTIVA]

Jockey Club is like that house in Up cramping up Cosmo’s style.

 

[Rakrul]

 

[Rakrul]

 

[XBobdog]

I just saw this video because of the bump. But this video is complete crap. there are some illusions of reality. But they have exaggerated or blatantly lied so much that it is hard to take any of it seriously.

 

[DirtyTIVA]

I thought it made a lot of sense.

Edit: the second video. Just realized a different video was referenced above.

 

[DrStrange]

Skinning the customer is a one-time income stream. It seems short sighted and likely counterproductive.

I have visited Vegas ~50 times in my life. I already posted about our last trip and why I am not likely to return. OK - I am an old guy. How many more visits would I have had anyway? So maybe one last skinning is an OK result?

Doesn't mean Vegas is dead. But it likely means a shrinking financial ecosystem, failure for the weaker properties and economic distress for the workforce. Let's say I wouldn't be thrilled to have business in Vegas or Nevada for that matter - what happens in Vegas doesn't stop at the city limits, it is a problem for the region.

Bottom line, I don't care. Do you? I can spend $5,000 plenty of other places and have more fun. -=-DrStrange

 

[Poker Zombie]

I just saw this video because of the bump. But this video is complete crap. there are some illusions of reality. But they have exaggerated or blatantly lied so much that it is hard to take any of it seriously.

Agree with the crap.

Yes, Vegas revenue is down about 3.3%. Nike was down 10%. UPS was down 4% over the last 3 years. I don't think anybody would define either as "dying", much less make a video about it.

YouTube creators are the new click-bait. "Let me tell you something you want to believe!" "Click and be fed misleading facts that you can wow your friends with!" "Click and subscribe so I can get paid to do absolutely nothing of value!"

We know better - or we should. Let me see if I can find my Nigerian Prince Halloween costume and put together a video. Perhaps people have really gotten this dumb.

 

[BigGrizz]

Vegas isn't dying so much as telling the middle class to fuck off.

 

[LotsOfChips]

Perhaps people have really gotten this dumb.

Yup, they have.

Or maybe they've always been this dumb. But the Internet seems to have found new ways to exploit them.

 

[Rakrul]

I just saw this video because of the bump. But this video is complete crap. there are some illusions of reality. But they have exaggerated or blatantly lied so much that it is hard to take any of it seriously.

Yeah, it seems like they exaggerated, most likely for the views. I haven't been there in years so it's not meant as proof, merely as "here's a point of view from someone".

Seeing as visits are down 7.5% or something but revenue is only down 3% or something it's obvious that they're changing identity. It might be because they're greedy or because they think their main focus group, the middle class, is being eroded. My guess is that their plan is "if they shift Vegas from being a place where everyone goes to a place that is too expensive for most, the ones that can afford it will start to come as a status symbol". Also, fewer staff, less logsitics, extracting more money per (fewer) heads seems beneficial but I'm not sure how sustainable it is.

Also, media and bloggers/vloggers has made the 7.5% decrease seem like 40% with their videos which strikes me as weird due to the volume of these "VEGAS = DEAD" assertions.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

Vegas isn't dying so much as telling the middle class to fuck off.

This is pretty much it. Watch the More Perfect Union video above.

They present a great explanation on why Vegas seems significantly emptier but also revenue is only down a few percent.

 

[justsomedude]

Vegas isn't dying so much as telling the middle class to fuck off.

This.

They don’t want your money.
They don’t need your money.

If you’re not gonna play $500 min tables and gladly drop a few grand on 10x marked up dinners and drinks without complaining, then please, don’t come.

Can’t say I blame them, it’s obviously working for them.

 

[BigGrizz]

Caesar's fell out of the S&P 500 so working is a bit strong. I think its working for a few properties. Others not so much. We could start taking bets on when Fountainblue dies.

 

[suchj0sh]

It’s still cheap if I just wanna go sit at South Point or The Orleans and play cards all day, right?

 

[rumz1]

Why go to Vegas and pay so much when you can go to a real destination and gamble at a local casino. There’s a lot of “sin city’s” now a days and with online sports gambling and the nickel and diming that’s become the norm in Vegas, it’s becoming less and less enticing. They killed themselves.

 

[BigGrizz]

Off strip is fine. Station and Boyd reported record profits and prices haven't gone insane.

 

[Poker Zombie]

I remember when Vegas catered to families. Stuff themed for your rug-rats to do while dad burns money at the tables. They eventually ditched all of that (except Circus Circus), and they continued to thrive. Why not ditch the ever-dwindling middle class next? The execs probably know what they are doing. Lay off some staff, keeping enough on to cater to the whales.

Vegas: It's like Monaco, without having to leave the US.

I don't like it, but I can absolutely see it.

 

[cpiaaq]

It’s still cheap if I just wanna go sit at South Point or The Orleans and play cards all day, right?

I was at the Orleans today. Saturday night, $5 roulette and blackjack and probably craps (didn’t look). Poker room was packed.

 

[Jaxen]

Why go to Vegas and pay so much when you can go to a real destination and gamble at a local casino. There’s a lot of “sin city’s” now a days and with online sports gambling and the nickel and diming that’s become the norm in Vegas, it’s becoming less and less enticing. They killed themselves.

When I went in October it was the first time there 2009 that I'd been. In between I made 4 trips to Tunica/Biloxi and I've played a number of times at the Seminole Hard Rock casinos in Tampa and Hollywood. I get the same things I ask for without the rigamarole of flying five hours west and buying $60 meals and $14 bottles of water.
I would be inclined to go back, but I'd stay on Fremont at one of the old-timey places like Fremont, 4 Queens or El Cortez.

 

[Taghkanic]

YouTube creators are the new click-bait. "Let me tell you something you want to believe!" "Click and be fed misleading facts that you can wow your friends with!" "Click and subscribe so I can get paid to do absolutely nothing of value!"

I have less of an issue with silly YouTube creators than with the platform’s absolute tidal wave of A.I. slop.

Over the past six months, this has really escalated.

If I watch one authentic video about any topic… Vegas prices. Lord of the Rings trivia. Splitting and seasoning firewood. Pickup trucks being released in 2026... Doesn’t matter what subject…

Now my feed will be flooded with lowest common denominator vids on that same theme. But with a stock/A.I. slideshow. And a bot reading a scraped script, usually in a British accent.

 

[ihuegi]

Went there last year and I can't say Vegas is entirely dead. Course, the price of everything rising has made Vegas feel less exciting. Despite that there's still decent foot traffic on the strip at night and action at some of the casinos. At one of the tables I met this really nice guy who'd been playing since the 80's.

 

[jhwang]

Everything has gotten more expensive but theres still a ton of suckers willing to lose their money at table games.

 

[Jaxen]

Everything has gotten more expensive but theres still a ton of suckers willing to lose their money at table games.

That will never change. What's changed is, that when the mob ran the Strip the gamble take was the No. 1 source of income and they were fine with that. The corporations want it to be the No. 3 or 4 source behind lodging, food and "intangibles".