vpFREE2 Forums

Nomination For The Worst 2009 Casino "Holiday Greeting"

#1

In yesterday's mail, together with some very nice cards from a
few other casinos, I received a holiday Greeting from Jackie's
Club Cortez, the player's card club at the El Cortez.

Though the letter was signed by Jackie Gaughan, I am reasonably
sure that he had nothing to do with the letter's content. I
remember Jackie from days past, and I doubt that he would have
countenanced this "holiday greeting".

The letter was a "friendly reminder" that unless I earned a stated
numbher of points, prior to a certain date in January, that I would
lose my current high tier status on that date.

This downgrade would then cause me to lose my 2 free weekly entries into the daily slot tournament (which, though eligible each day, I never once entered when I was staying at the EC), a 50% dining
discount (I have not paid for any food at the EC in recent years)
a 50% hotel room discount )I have never paid for a hotel room at the EC), a 15% gift shop discount (I do not shop at their junky gift shop) plus some pther "special offers" and free play.

To intice me to return (I have not played at the EC since last Spring, the letter offerd me ONE 5 X points day, between the current date and the date that I am destined to lose my club status. WOW!

The letter went on to say that they understood that due to events
of the past year, I may not have been able to play my favorite games as frequently as in past years......Well, no. Not exactly. I can no longer play my favorite games at the EC, because they no longer exist at the EC. Except for a VERY few old, dirty, clunky, horribly slow
coin-droppers, there is not a decent EV game left at the EC. There is not a single decent VP game at all, (except 9/6DDB) which includes TITO.

Though I will be in LV during this time period, and have received a msiler which includes $200 of FP and a $100 dining credit, which can could be used during this time frame, I will NOT be visiting the EC
on this trip. I might have done so, and given them several hours of play during the visit, but their letter turned me off to the extent
that I will not go there now.

I'm sure that some of you will think that I'm foolish not to go the
EC, use my freebies, and then stiff them. That is something that I have never done, and I don't wish to start now. I do not believe in "burning bridges behind me", especially in the current unsettled state of full pay VP.

I'd be interested in hearing if someone received a worst "holiday
greeting" than this one.

~Babe~

#2

Many times I've received an offer from Terribles and a few other casinos including the EC, and I played and stayed at EC a few times in 2008. When I come to town I collect all that I can on the offers. For instance the EC's free food is tied to checking in but their freeplay is not. i've probably went there a half dozen times in2009 on their offers, played the fp along with a little extra, and left w/o checking in. It's one reason I'm up at that place even with their bad games.

My EC freeplay is typically $25, so why in the world would you not go there for $200? My experience is the fp keeps on coming and they don't have any idea where that bridge you don't want to burn is located.

···

________________________________
From: jackessiebabe <jackessiebabe@yahoo.com>
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, December 20, 2009 10:03:38 AM
Subject: [vpFREE] Nomination For The Worst 2009 Casino "Holiday Greeting"

In yesterday's mail, together with some very nice cards from a
few other casinos, I received a holiday Greeting from Jackie's
Club Cortez, the player's card club at the El Cortez.

Though the letter was signed by Jackie Gaughan, I am reasonably
sure that he had nothing to do with the letter's content. I
remember Jackie from days past, and I doubt that he would have
countenanced this "holiday greeting".

The letter was a "friendly reminder" that unless I earned a stated
numbher of points, prior to a certain date in January, that I would
lose my current high tier status on that date.

This downgrade would then cause me to lose my 2 free weekly entries into the daily slot tournament (which, though eligible each day, I never once entered when I was staying at the EC), a 50% dining
discount (I have not paid for any food at the EC in recent years)
a 50% hotel room discount )I have never paid for a hotel room at the EC), a 15% gift shop discount (I do not shop at their junky gift shop) plus some pther "special offers" and free play.

To intice me to return (I have not played at the EC since last Spring, the letter offerd me ONE 5 X points day, between the current date and the date that I am destined to lose my club status. WOW!

The letter went on to say that they understood that due to events
of the past year, I may not have been able to play my favorite games as frequently as in past years......Well, no. Not exactly. I can no longer play my favorite games at the EC, because they no longer exist at the EC. Except for a VERY few old, dirty, clunky, horribly slow
coin-droppers, there is not a decent EV game left at the EC. There is not a single decent VP game at all, (except 9/6DDB) which includes TITO.

Though I will be in LV during this time period, and have received a msiler which includes $200 of FP and a $100 dining credit, which can could be used during this time frame, I will NOT be visiting the EC
on this trip. I might have done so, and given them several hours of play during the visit, but their letter turned me off to the extent
that I will not go there now.

I'm sure that some of you will think that I'm foolish not to go the
EC, use my freebies, and then stiff them. That is something that I have never done, and I don't wish to start now. I do not believe in "burning bridges behind me", especially in the current unsettled state of full pay VP.

I'd be interested in hearing if someone received a worst "holiday
greeting" than this one.

~Babe~

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#3

I drove by The 'EL' today and saw on their window "VOTED THE BEST DOWNTOWN HOTEL FOR 2009"
Never been through the door so I can't judge, it but it does make you wonder who did the voting.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "jackessiebabe" <jackessiebabe@...> wrote:

In yesterday's mail, together with some very nice cards from a
few other casinos, I received a holiday Greeting from Jackie's
Club Cortez, the player's card club at the El Cortez.

#4

That's hilarious! The El Cortez is not even on the same planet
as the Golden Nugget in the category of "Best Downtown Hotel",
(and these days their VP isn't better either). Even after the EC
spent their entire $10,000 remodeling budget {{O: a few years ago, the premises are still pretty much of a pit.

They used to have the best VP downtown, but it's all gone now. I
guess that they're into appealing to the less afluent, ploppie
crowd these days. I can't imagine why a knowledgeable player would
want to stay there anymore.

After mulling this over for a moment, I've decided that this is
probably not a bad business decision for them. Blow off the
educated locals and non-locals, and sell $39 rooms to gamblers who don't know JOB from DW.

Evidently, having Dancer there for a short period of time while he was teaching classes, did nothing good for their bottom line. After downgrading the pay tables on the machines that they had installed
for his classes, they decided to take out most everything else
with a decent EV as well. And NO. I don't think that Dancer had
anything to do with this. I believe that the decision was made by the EC suits with no additional help or advice from others.

~Babe~

···

===============================================
-- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "befstk" <mkemp@...> wrote:

I drove by The 'EL' today and saw on their window "VOTED THE BEST DOWNTOWN HOTEL FOR 2009" Never been through the door so I can't judge, it but it does make you wonder who did the voting.

#5

This appears to have been from the LVRJ's Best of LV for 2009:

http://www.lvrj.com/bestoflv/hotels/40689017.html

Reader pick: Golden Nugget
Staff pick: El Cortez

Yeah, I'll have some of whatever they're smoking at the LVRJ.

···

On Sun, 20 Dec 2009, befstk wrote:

I drove by The 'EL' today and saw on their window "VOTED THE BEST DOWNTOWN HOTEL FOR 2009" Never been through the door so I can't judge, it but it does make you wonder who did the voting.

#6

Hey, 4 out of 5 hobos can't be wrong!

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "befstk" <mkemp@...> wrote:

I drove by The 'EL' today and saw on their window "VOTED THE BEST DOWNTOWN HOTEL FOR 2009"
Never been through the door so I can't judge, it but it does make you wonder who did the voting.

#7

Very well put, Jerry. I agree 100%.

I've been doing using freebies at Harrah's properties all year (and then
stiffing them) and the offers still keep coming. They have no clue that
I've burned the bridges....yet! And, personally won't care one bit if
(when) they finally do cut me off from their casinos in which I don't want
to waste my money, anyway. There are many more places with much better
games.

Yes, Babe, you are right. I *do* think it is foolish to throw away $300.
But, then again, maybe $300 is chump change to you. I don't know. Either
way, it sounds like you are cutting off your nose to spite your face.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_off_the_nose_to_spite_the_face

Curtis

···

On 12/20/09, Jerry Logan <jerrylogan93@yahoo.com> wrote:

<SNIP>
....why in the world would you not go there for $200? My experience is the
fp keeps on coming and they don't have any idea where that bridge you don't
want to burn is located.

________________________________
From: jackessiebabe <jackessiebabe@yahoo.com>
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, December 20, 2009 10:03:38 AM
Subject: [vpFREE] Nomination For The Worst 2009 Casino "Holiday Greeting"

<SNIP>
Though I will be in LV during this time period, and have received a msiler
which includes $200 of FP and a $100 dining credit, which can could be used
during this time frame, I will NOT be visiting the EC on this trip. I might
have done so, and given them several hours of play during the visit, but
their letter turned me off to the extent that I will not go there now.

I'm sure that some of you will think that I'm foolish not to go the EC, use
my freebies, and then stiff them. That is something that I have never done,
and I don't wish to start now. I do not believe in "burning bridges behind
me", especially in the current unsettled state of full pay VP.

I'd be interested in hearing if someone received a worst "holiday greeting"
than this one.

~Babe~

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#8

Being "VOTED" The Best Downtown Hotel for 2009 is simply an advertising
gimmick. You see, they did not win anything at all. It simply means at
least one person "VOTED" for them in that category on the Las Vegas RJ
Best Of election page. Even if you receive only ONE vote in that or any
category, then you can legitimately say, "VOTED THE BEST DOWNTOWN HOTEL
FOR 2009." However, since they used "VOTED" that means someone else won
that category as the Best of 2009, and it wasn't them. Maybe the one
vote was them voting for themself.

I drove by The 'EL' today and saw on their window "VOTED THE BEST

DOWNTOWN HOTEL FOR 2009"

Never been through the door so I can't judge, it but it does make you

wonder who did the voting.

>
> In yesterday's mail, together with some very nice cards from a
> few other casinos, I received a holiday Greeting from Jackie's
> Club Cortez, the player's card club at the El Cortez.
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "befstk" <mkemp@...> wrote:

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "jackessiebabe" jackessiebabe@ wrote:

#9

Another thing to keep in consideration for the voting on the LVRJ's Best
of LV for 2009 is: I worked for a casino (unnamed) that boldly oushed
all employees to vote for "our" casino and even supplied hundreds of
copies of the newspaper section for the contest to the employees along
with envelopes stuffed with the mailing address. It won Reader's Choice
in quite a few casino categories over the years. So, the voting cannot
be considered untainted *grin.*

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, Lone Locust of the Apocalypse <zorak@...>
wrote:

···

This appears to have been from the LVRJ's Best of LV for 2009:

http://www.lvrj.com/bestoflv/hotels/40689017.html

Reader pick: Golden Nugget
Staff pick: El Cortez

Yeah, I'll have some of whatever they're smoking at the LVRJ.