Vegas Casinos seeing red

Vegas faces two problems:

1. The aforementioned competition from regional competitors.

2. Millennials are not playing slots. The slots demographic, which is still the bulk of the business, is aging much like the subscribers to newspapers.

The casinos on the strip have lost hundreds of millions since the bust of 2008. I think many will eventually fade away. And I think as a result Las Vegas will turn into another Detroit.

 

I wonder if the effect of the Great Recession also will have a long-term impact on how younger adults think about gambling. I get the sense that this generation of people born between 1988 to 1995 doesn't mind spending money on experiences or seeing elite performers.

Yet will they see gambling as "entertainment"?

Especially slot machines, which is like playing Pong compared with games on smart phones.

This is a generation that doesn't trust the stock market. Will they think slot machines are any better?

 

When the public teams win but don't cover, Vegas thrives. Alabama, USC, Ohio State, Packers, Steelers, Cowboys.

The best case scenario for the books would be for the Cowboys to win a Super Bowl but fail to cover in each game, from the wild card to the super bowl.

I broke even last night. Put a heavy ML on Alabama but a side bet of the ML winning amount on a -7 play on the Tide.

Was rooting for Alabama to get stopped on third down up 38-33 to kick the field goal to go up 8.

 

I disagree, Lancey. There's plenty of stuff besides gambling to sell to suckers. The overall idea of here is where you go to do stuff you can't get away with at home will remain endlessly appealing to enough folks to keep the lights on.

 

Perhaps this shift will continue to more expensive restaurants and hotel rooms in Las Vegas for the bottom line instead of the casinos.

Not that long ago, room food and beverage was the loss leader to keep people playing.

 

Of course, I've never forgiven Boyd Gaming and Vegas as a whole for the demolition of my beloved Stardust - the mid-rollers paradise.

 

This x1000. RIP Stardust.

 

Loved the sportsbook there. #RIP

 

I stayed there only once, a year or so before it went down. Had a great time. And wasn't the Stardust the one with the great sportsbook? I was there one random Monday night in 2001 when a team tried a long field goal at the end of the first half with, apparently, several first-half lines in play. When the ball bounced off the crossbar, about half the sportsbook audience screamed with delight. Then the guy playing way-back defense caught the ball on the fly and started to return it. Suddenly, it seemed that other first-half lines were in play, and a different half of the sportsbook audience roared to life. After the "touchdown" the referee reminded everyone it had been a dead ball, so a different half of the sportsbook cheered.

I had 'nary a penny bet on the game, but for the price of my tall draft (probably $2 or $3) I was entertained royally!

 

Ditto. Stardust sports book was one of my favorite places in the whole city.

 

I was in the sports book at Caesar's when Bryce Drew threw in the shot for Valpo in . . . '98? I swear they heard the reaction from the noise in whatever arena they were playing in hundreds or thousands of miles away. That was five minutes of absolute mayhem.

 

My favorite was a Boston College-Pacific tournament game in 2006. BC was favored by something like eight points -- with a high percentage of the money on them because that line had moved upward ahead of the game. BC had a 13-point lead in regulation, but Pacific cut it to three in the final minute ... and then hit a three-pointer on its last shot to send it to OT. Caesars erupted because going to OT was the only way those bets were going to cash. It ended up going to double OT, where depth took its toll and BC won by 12.