If you don't receive Raving Consulting's "Raving HOT Flash!" news alerts, then I'll share with you its latest one, which relates a particularly player-friendly move by Harrah's Entertainment:

Win/Loss Statements are now available on-line for Harrah’s Total Rewards members. With their membership number and password, guests are able to access and print Win/Loss Statements from the past five (5) years directly from their home computer. There's no more mailing, faxing or waiting for the critical tax information your savvy players rely on for their tax reporting purposes. The information is available immediately – eliminating the amount of waiting time that has become customary for players during tax season. This type of on-line convenience also figures to reduce the internal paper shuffling (and finger pointing) that can occur, while at the same time, empowering your players to access their information hassle-free.

Let's hope other companies move -- quickly -- to emulate Harrah's. As usual, you have to be an early riser to get ahead of Harrah's, at least where player marketing is concerned.

Speaking of Harrah's: If you're looking for insight into the private equity world, its appeal and its perils, be sure to read James B. Stewart's New Yorker profile of LBO king Stephen Schwarzman. He didn't figure in the Harrah's buyout, but Stewart's (typically excellent) story is a primer on how private equity deals work, particularly in terms of minimizing risk and maximizing profit to the firms fronting the LBOs.

Thanks to an ill-timed public offering on Schwarzman's part, the tax structure for private equity could soon become considerably less advantageous. Read Stewart and find out how.

Coincidence or design? Since private equity firms look for a 15% or greater return on their investment (something not seen in gaming since Paris-Las Vegas opened), reductions in manpower are, sadly, to be expected. (Check the comments, too.) Maybe the nascent recession has something to do with that, but ...

When an entire subsidiary gets the sack, there may be extenuating circumstances. But that's still 200-some-odd bodies that aren't on the payroll anymore. After all, you can always outsource that work to one of the many qualified design-and-construction firms in town. So the "bad actors" are removed and the proverbial "economies of scale" are achieved in one fell swoop, whether intentionally or not.

Ever since the prospect of a Harrah's buyout hove over the horizon, departures have been early, often and high-profile. Whether the latest departures are part of a larger bloodletting or simply a reflection of economic reality will be revealed once warmer market breezes start blowing.