Posted to Lodestone Reno & vpFREE
Locals have told me that it's been in the news lately that the downtown
casinos have lost 60% of their business due to California casinos. Tahoe has also
been affected.
When you go into one of the California casinos it's easy to see why. Most
weekends they probably have as many people in one casino as all of Reno.
This weekend (Super Bowl) is a welcome exception. At the Silver Legacy, it's
as crowded as I've ever seen it in quite a while. The Reno casinos are using
bouncebacks to a greater degree than they every did to get people to come back.
Here's the mailers that I've received:
Silver Legacy
I'm staying at Silver Legacy on an offer that included 2 nights & $250 cash
during a 48-hr period, noon Thu to noon Sat. The stay was not required & I
couldn't see any point requirement either.
A couple of months ago, Silver Legacy, had a mailer where players at a
certain level received $125. If you played through 625 pts ($12,500), you received
another mailer for $125. This mailer had 2 month duration & was worth 1%. My
son got this mailer but I didn't due to casual play a couple of years ago which
kept my average from making the threshhold. On this trip, I asked my host
about what it would take to get future bounceback mailers like what I received. In
a nutshell, $25K of play generates $250 bounceback, $50K of play generates
$500 bounceback. I was told that it would be based on the total play for a trip
& not a daily average. However, they may have been making an exception for me
since I took the chance of repairing my trip average in 2 trips ($28K & $38K)
without knowing what was ahead. There is likely bounceback at lower levels. So
ask for details & confirm whether it is a daily or trip average. If you have
a spotty history like I did, you may have to do some repair work.
Reno Hilton
It's my next stop & has been my main casino for years. The offer I'm using is
a $100 free play with 2 days included. Stay not required. Good from 1/1 -
2/29. What's good about this offer is no blackout dates. $20K - $30K daily
average.
Atlantis
Two $50 bouncebacks for different periods + 2 nights in a Jacuzzi suite &
other coupons. Many blackout dates. On the bounceback that hasn't expired, 1/30 -
2/2 are excluded. I like staying here but I've had no luck with the two hosts
that I've had. Peripatetic play ranging from nothing to very infrequent high
5 figures.
Peppermill
$100 bounceback exp 3/4, excludes 2/27 - 2/29, stay required. IMO, Peppermill
has the best rooms. Play has ranged from $10K - $20K with occasional bursts
of exuberance or stubbornness.
Haven't tried to maintain a consistent trip average at Peppermill or Atlantis
like I have at Reno Hilton because of their mysterious system.
What's to come
To survive, Reno must change. Like a lot of industries with an established
old guard, it will come hard & slow until the changing of the old guard. Using
bouncebacks is a knee-jerk reaction until they figure out how to differentiate
Reno from the indian casinos & remarket themselves as a whole. As I've been
saying to any casino exec that I meet, Reno has some advantages:
--much better games
--a selection of casinos where it takes only minutes instead of hours to go
to another casino
--NGC, a strict regulatory environment compared to California's weak gaming
commission
What keeps this message from being heard across the border is that Reno
casinos have not adjusted from competing with neighbors across the street to
banding together to face the competition across the border.
Anyway, as long as bouncebacks are here, we ought to take advantage of it.
Another change that is customer-friendly will be the change in comp systems.
Silver Legacy may go to cashback, Atlantis & Peppermil may put in systems which
the player can understand.
Competition is coming not only from California but also from Carson City. The
reopening of the Ormsby House is in the works but plans for 4 new casinos are
too.
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