Rumor of Downtown Grand being sold

Vital Vegas

I would be a bit conflicted if Derek Stevens and his brother bought the Downtown Grand.  He's not mentioned in the article but I could see him picking up another property near Fremont.  

On one hand, he has revitalized Fremont and glitzed up the place at Golden Gate, The D and Circa, but this has come with a price: worse odds downtown, higher minimums, higher room rates, more expensive restaurants, worse comps, and way too loud music on his properties.  

This has, in my opinion, moved other casinos to spoil their more budget friendly gaming and services to match.

How would you feel if he became the new owner of the Downtown Grand?

New owners, a new G m, and new management team.  This casino has lost its appeal to me.  i recommend taking your business elsewhere downtown.  Higher table minimum, continueus shuffle machines, 6 to 5 blackjack, NO thankyou!

I won the Blackjack portion of the tournement, this last weekend( $500 in Promo chips)  I then went to spend my Promo chips at the only non-continueus suffle table for blackjack,and it was the only table paying 3-2 on blackjack.    No mid shoe play, so while I was waiting for the shuffle I asked the Pit boss (John he would not tell me his last name) to hold the spot on the table while I played Roulet waiting for the Shuffle.  He refused and I asked him why.  He said House rules, situation escalated.  I asked to speak to his boss.  I had just won their tournament, and I thought I was being disrespected.  Long story short, this used to be my favorite casino downtown, but since the Old GM left it has gone hill.  Iam a local consummerand I will be taking my business elsewhere, not that they care, but I will vote with my pocketbook and tell all my friends to do the same.  Let's turn the Grand into a ghost town again.

Paul Schouboe

For an all too brief period, they were the best deal downtown. Now, it's all winking out, one by one. 

As you say, all we can do to protest is not darken their doorstep. I'm just amazed that they don't understand the nature of the handicap their location imposes. People NEED a reason to wander over there. They seem to think that that will happen anyway, without incentives. Ghost town!

The only, and I mean the only reason I ever go to 3rd and Ogden is Pizza Rock.  We'll eat our pizza slices outside on the benches and look at The Downtown Grand and have zero desire to open the doors to go in.  Nothing there is appealing at all, not even the hotdog and beer special.  Pizza Rock is too good to skip for a cheap hotdog and tiny beer.

Stopped in right after they opened, have had no desire to go back. Just felt a bad vibe while there.

Yep. Agree with Kevin. Location, location, location.

Back in the day Lady Luck had some pretty good promotions to get players in the door.

  I had great hopes for the Downtown Grand. I have stayed there 3 times - the rooms are nice, gambling was so so - but still a nice respite from all of the downtown hustle and bustle. I really liked it when Anthony got them to host the black jack and video poker tournaments - the place was alive and had a good vibe.Then some meathead decided that the events Anthony inspired were not needed. Now we have a clueless, rudderless casino that hasn't a clue how to operate. Today you see the applicable phrase "stupid is as stupid does". 

I used to spend most of my bankroll at Fremont S casinos.    Now I do the coupon run and I'm outta there.    
I understand how the strip has moved their customers away from gambling to other revenue sources which is their excuse for tightening up the casinos.   But what does downtown think they are doing?   They don't have other sources.     

Well, they've been trying for some time, with varying degrees of success, to turn downtown into some kind of "entertainment district," starting with the FSE, then the northern end (El Cortez, etc.) "rehab," Container Park, the "Arts District," etc etc. None of it has really worked. Downtown is still a toilet. 

The various downtown casinos have been talked into financing/approving/tolerating these changes because they've always had an inferiority complex. Steve Wynn first tried to counteract that when he acquired the Golden Nugget and tried to make it a pseudo-Strip joint (with moves such as standing on soft 17). But the GN is just another downtown dust joint.

The other deterioration besides the formerly good gambling is the nesr-abolition of good, cheap eats. As you say, it's good for one coupon raid, and that's all. (Pity that the ACG folded; its  downtown coupons were awesome, making for a $200+ combined coupon run.)

The GN was a nice reasonable place to stay. My spot in The 1990's.The downtown has slowly gotten trashy.Maybe I feel that way because of my age.

The Fremont Experience interesting. Yet I feel street bands,zip lines,and street artist of all types getting a bit much.Thats just me.