There have been several posts about the changes at LVH. I was there during
the Labor Day weekend & noticed a significant change but waited till now as I
was hoping that I was witnessing just an anomaly.
During the Labor Day weekend LVH had its 2nd Heads-Up Blackjack Tournament.
I had played in the 1st & would have played in the 2nd except for a
significant change. The qualification requirement was increased from 2500 theo to 3500
theo. Mailers that had been sent out stated 2500. The day before customers
were to arrive, the hosts were notified of the change & were now saddled of
informing customers of the switch AFTER they arrive. I walked in the day before
it started, asked about the qualifications, learned of the increase & spent
the better part of the night carefully considering it before deciding to
enter 2 other tournaments at Harrahs & Venetian which required much less play.
Long story short, I had hoped that this customer-unfriendly approach was
confined to just this tournament & Baccarat tournament #2 but due to a
subsequent event & recent posts, I'm afraid this isn't the case. The event was
learning that Baccarat tournament #3 theo was increased to 3500 from 2500 & a week
ago I learned that was increased again to 4000. It leaves you wondering who's
running the show. Most likely it's someone with a bean-counter mentality
since it's hard to believe that anyone with a marketing background would not
anticipate the long-term damage of bait-and-switch offers and precipitous changes
in comp programs.
Since I like my host at LVH very much & have fond memories of LVH overall,
I'm hoping that things settle down and that this period of uncertainty passes
quickly. In the meantime, I suggest that everyone confirm all offers and the
requirements and to keep options at other places open just in case you need
to make changes at the last moment.
Another option: Last Sunday I made my first-ever visit to a San Diego
casino, Harrahs Rincon. I only had time to spend one day there & was not able to
visit any other casinos. As things get worse in Las Vegas, the differential
between staying in California & going to LV will narrow & I'll find more reasons
to explore my own back yard. With the prices of everything not likely to
come back down, that's something we all should consider.
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