Agreed, 100%.
C'mon, all you Chicken Littles. There was no keeping this play a secret.
Not with a brand-new locals-only slot club desk right outside the corral of
machines. Not with a brand-new separate card status just for locals. Not
with a ten foot high sign reading LOCALS' LANE. Not with machine-top signs
advertising the 100%+ status of the machines.
I know how paranoid this list is about plays being outed on here - but this
was not a single isolated machine, this was not a slot tech's mistake, this
was a concerted effort to lure locals in with a selection of well-publicized
100%+ games and additional slot benefits. This was not one slot tech
mistake in an isloated machine in the middle of nowhere.
This was something the Sahara clearly wanted publicized. a .50/$1 FPDW
machine with 100% signage? On the Strip? Come on, people, let's use a
little common sense. That play was going to get slammed the second people
found it. And its location was so high-profile that it couldn't be missed
by anyone visiting NASCAR Cafe, roller coaster, buffet, or the showrooms.
Contrary to what you all may think, slot directors know what they have on
their floor, they know where they have it on their floor. This is the
computer era, people. Assets like slot machine RNG chips are inventoried
fastidiously. This was a deliberate move on Sahara's part, not an overlooked
mistake. This was a concerted effort.
And of course they realize that when they offer a high-demon positive game
plus .25% CB + .25% free play + 1% comps, it is going to be played heavily.
Honestly, do you think casinos don't anticipate this? Do you think that
they don't run all kinds of financial models and evaluate the impact on
business before they change up their machine mix?
Seriously, people! Think about your own jobs. Do you throw new products
out on the market without running pro formas on their profitability first?
Do you execute a new plan without planning for its consequences? Do you
think in the computer age, in a business as numbers- and technology-driven
as gaming, that "throw a bunch of shit against the wall and see what sticks"
is honestly anyone's business plan?
Casinos are businesses, just like any other. And management at most casinos
are not ignorant rubes to be fleeced by smart players. Mostly, it's the
other way around.
And if a week of Sahara having the best-paying slots on the Strip is what it
takes to get their publicity, kickstart their business and give people a
reason to go into the building, so much the better for the casino, for the
market and for the business.
We all know that this is a constant game of cat and mouse between player and
house. It's just important to keep in mind sometimes that while the mouse
may be clever, the cat doesn't always have its head all the way up its own
ass. How much mileage do you think Sahara is going to get out of their
Locals' Lane slot machine mix just in terms of PR?
A play like this has a limited shelf life by sheer value of the competitive
market conditions. No reasonable person would assume that machines of that
sort would last. Deal with the knowledge by either resigning yourself to
the fact that plays like these will not survive in the long term, and get in
on them while the getting's good.
It's one thing when a long-term, dependable play bites the dust, like the
FPDW at Silverton. It's something clearly different in this case, which was
obviously meant to provoke a certain response and generate a certain amount
of buzz.
There's so much bellyaching on this list about the consequences of the
sunshine policy. Consider the following:
Not all plays are meant, by casino management, to be long term.
Sahara's promotion of these games' availability indicates they had no desire
to keep it on the downlow.
Let's get real here. If you want to point fingers, might I suggest the
following worthy targets of your blame, rather than those altruistic souls
who choose to share a good play with the group IN ACCORDANCE with group
policy. Word gets out on good games. Any slot director worth his paycheck
knows this intuitively. Deal with it.
If you're looking for someone to blame. blame the economic slump that's
tossing Vegas' salad right now. Blame the short-sightedness and greed of
private equity investors who bought highly leveraged gaming companies at top
dollar at the peak of the market, and now have to scramble to cut costs.
Understand that the very nature of the casino industry right now will result
in limits the "loss leaders" that casinos can afford by offering positive
play opportunities. In more profitable times, casinos can afford a few
machines with lower hold - but in bad economic times, they're going to try
to squeeze every last drop of juice out of their players.
Seriously, people. Paranoia and finger-pointing are pointless. Complain
about it if it makes you feel better, then vote with your feet and your
dollars if you don't like the changes your favorite casino makes.
Be grateful that places like the Sahara have the brass cojones to even
experiment with something like this when every single trend in the whole
market is going in the exact opposite direction.
Jay Fenster
Open Road Publishing
* * *
Author, Open Road's Best of Las Vegas
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
···
On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 8:18 AM, worldbefree22001 <krajewski.sa@pg.com> wrote:
I won't dispute the likelyhood that a post here
let to the pounding, but do you really think this
play would fly under the radar for long? Being
snarky to the original poster who was simply
following the sunshine policy is counter productive.