Anybody got anything to add about whether or not Luxor has fallen in
prestige, or about any of the other Strip properties?
Luxor is part of the Mandalay group, whose management has always tried to
avoid giving comps or otherwise spending money. It just runs against their
ingrained corporate philosophy, which goes back to their origin as
Circus-Circus.
When the LV tourist economy went south in 2001, exacerbated by 9-11, Luxor
went back to its cost-cutting roots. That drove away most of those who
reasonably expected tourist-level amenities, and/or strip-level comps. What
was left were the "mid-market" tourists, typically drive-in or bus-in, whose
expectations didn't exceed what Luxor was willing to give.
Do some of you locals enjoy hanging around these casinos, regardless of
whether or not you do most of your playing there?
Some strip casinos have reasonable games, not profitable, but playable for
comps. Luxor used to have $5 10-7, a long time ago, but got rid of it. I
haven't played there since.
Or is at, as it appears to be, like two seperate cities, one for the
locals, who have their own places, and one for the uneducated touristas,
who are relagated to the low-pay Strip carpet joints?
Even the El Cortez and Western (before it closed) have carpets nowadays.
The locals casinos have been getting rid of their loosest paytables; there's
hardly any 100% or better games left in $1 or higher denomination. There
are still a few full-pay joker-wild, a notoriously difficult strategy to
play correctly, and deuces-wild, at the 25-cent level.
Does it upset you when you drive into the Gold Coast parking structure and
see a few California licence plates? If so, I'll move my car.
The stratification into "locals" and "tourist" casinos is created by the
marketing strategies of the casinos, not because either group of players
shuns the other.
If you find 25-cent deuces-wild with a quarter-percent cashback (or 0.3%
comps) attractive, then you "think like a local," and can be expected to
seek out casinos more commonly thought of as "locals" casinos.
Several years ago, the slot director of Ballys fielded a question as to why
certain video poker machines had certain paytables, responding "The players
that know the difference between those paytables, aren't the players we want
in our casino." Exactly, and that's the strip/tourist philosophy, though
it's usually expressed with less candor.
ยทยทยท
--
Randy Hudson <ime@panix.com>