Collusion?

Looking at the absolute shitshow gougefest Vegas has become, I've been wondering: couldn't somebody step into the breach and absolutely clean up by offering visitors an experience commensurate with what they routinely received in, say, 2010? No resort fees. Free parking. Good VP and slots. 3:2 BJ. Low ($5, at least) table minimums. A buffet that costs $15 or less. A generous player's club where you don't have to spend the equivalent of the GDP of a small country to advance in "tiers" and you start earning benefits from the first dollar you play.

Now, South Point does many of those things (not all), and they're packed all the time. Is it simply because corporations (that own multiple properties) don't want to rock the boat/innovate, or is is something more purposeful, like a tacit/implicit agreement among those entities? I've noticed that in the last ten years or so, when one major casino megatoilet implements its latest screw-the-customer move, the others follow quickly in lockstep.

South Point is a sole proprietorship, as far as I'm aware. The other Vegas casinos have handed them a massive gift by becoming rape-the-players ripoff joints. And it's not as if South Point is all that much of a bargain any more--it's as if most cruise lines beat their customers senseless while one innovator merely kicked them once in the genitals; that kick would look attractive by comparison. (I still wouldn't sign up for a cruise, though.)

Do you think that there's active collusion among the Vegas casino operators to keep prices high? The recent controversy about inflated room rates sure seems to suggest it. And do you think some rebel casino operator (besides SP) is going to break the cartel and offer, God forfend, a decent experience once again?

I don't know if there is collusion right now.  There doesn't have to be, since casinos still have high demand.  They seem intent pushing prices/game minimums/players club downgrades/worsening amenities to see just what they can get away with.  Will a lessening of demand help?  Maybe, but only to a point.  I'm afraid there's no turning back on some of the downgrades.  

Some of this practice has become standard procedure in other markets besides Vegas.  I was down at the beach a month ago and the hotel didn't even mention there would be no housekeeping while I was there.  It's now become the norm that daily housekeeping is a thing of the past.  

I've wondered the same thing for a the past few years especially.  SP has the model that would work anywhere.  They at least give you a fighting chance.  If I could start a casino anywhere, I'd run it like them and run others right out of business.  I've said that many times.  But thinking it might work like that might be false when I see reality out there.  What scares me, is SP might be one of the last to do it though.  As soon as they change (God forbid), I'm done with Vegas.  

Used to play at Caesars (JoB in late 2000's), Barbary Coast, Gold Coast, Red Rock, Palms, GVR and few others.  I'm down to SP and I dabbled a bit downtown at your suggestion and few others suggestion in January.  (didn't mind it; didn't love it)  

Honestly, I'm just hoping our home state's casinos get back to poker soon and it has a playable rake.  (Been closed since Covid hit.  Real poorly run casino.)  That may soon be the extent of my gambling.  

Vegas conditions might not ever return to even the prevalent pre-pandemic levels..I don't know. It seems to me that the old axioms of economics will eventually force reversion back to old-fashioned competition and the offering of a fair shot by those casinos who do decide to compete. I suspect that the last entities to back off will be the mega-conglomerates, though (MGM, CET, etc.) That scenario may involve a significant drop in visitation / demand and an increasing proportion of visitors using the option to just say no to existing conditions. The overall general economic scenario might have to hit some sort of iceberg ( which is definitely and currently on the visible horizon) in order to see those hypotheticals happen. We'll see..(eventually).

I doubt that any economic gloom-and-doom situation is a realistic possibility, though the right (as in, the wrong) uses it to frighten and gin up "the base," fear being the essence of conservatism and the fuel that drives it. Most of the factors contributing to the current shaky economic situation are transient, and that includes inflation (again, despite all the rhetoric). So things will return, I believe, to something approaching "normal" in the near future.

However, the standard shibboleths of economics only apply in a free market--and Vegas is anything but that. The casinos are an oligopoly, with a firm grasp around the balls of the local and state governments. I really thought that the growth of casino markets outside Nevada would break that cartel, but I was wrong. Vegas still manages to sell itself as a mystical magical adult Disneyland whose debauchery and libertine atmosphere are unique. That's utter bullshit, of course, and Vegas is in fact LESS fun than a couple of dozen other vacation spots I could name, but the goobers and lemmings keep flocking in---"Surely they won't pay THIS much?" "Just wait, they will, and they'll trample each other for the privilege."

I do, though, if the gouge persists, expect one or more of those other markets to rip away and keep a significant percentage of the party-hearty gambler market, perhaps permanently. Which MIGHT cause Vegas to loosen up. Maybe.

Define gloom and doom for us, then. Regarding the general US economy, a couple of the largest banks ( in terms of total held asset values) were seized in the past few days; they're being bailed out ( depositors protected), looks like. Will that mushroom or domino into additional bank failures? Or, were those named bank failures just one of those sh*t happens events? Would you have the same attitude if you had deposit accounts in such banks? Doubtful..in fact you might storm the drive-through in order to get your funds out like the thousands of other customers at these banks did ( which created part of the insolvency problem).

The failure of two banks ( at this point) won't destroy an economy, but OTOH the current economy is not all flowers and butterflies, either. It's prudent to admit that ( label it fear if you have to in order to support your other psychological profile narratives). Interest rate increases by the Fed in order to curb inflation pressures were and are necessary to a degree, but banks feel interest rate hikes pretty quickly ( particularly affecting mortgage backed securities, bonds, and daily deposit market values). So, you might want to be just a tadf more fearful than you indicated.

   The reality of all of this comes down to this phrase " whatever the marker will bear" - as long as visitors are willing to pay whatever the casinos charge, the casinos will continue to raise prices and charge more for what they offer and will find more ways to gouge visitors. 

Kevin has no bank deposits......that is why he is always bitching on this forum and so angry.  

First of all, the bank failures are the direct result of Trump wiping out Dodd-Frank. So since Republicans capered and gibbered at that news at the time, we can only conclude that bank failures is what they wanted. Darwinian, and all that. Play fast and loose with other people's money and you probably won't get caught. It's so Trumpian! The gift that keeps on giving.

Federal Deposit Insurance is still a thing, though. (And boy, did Republicans back then rail and bloviate against THAT!) So aside from a bout of nervousness, things will be OK...because most banks still adhere to the "old" regulations. It's quite possible that Worm Farm Bank, run by an illegitimate son of Trump, will also fail, because the CEO uses depositors' funds to play baccarat. But even a huge cancerous blob like the Trump family and their scams and shenanigans is dwarfed by the US economy overall. A few bad actors and a few failures will easily be absorbed...like tossing a rock in a lake, there are ripples but they soon die out.

Also, don't forget that "DOOM APPROACHETH" sells more newspapers and ups the charges for ad time more than "Everything's cool." Furthermore...it elects more Republicans. All they need to do is point at something...anything even remotely to do with the economy, say "That bad, elect me," and they'll get votes, even thought when they're asked exactly what they intend to do about it, they say, well, we'll end that liberal wokeness, no CRT, no transgender bathrooms" and then scurry off the stage.

That guy downtown wearing one shoe and waving a sign warning of the end of the world was there was I was five years old. His successors look and sound the same. But so far...we're still here.

Jerry, every so often you go into asshole mode. Are your hemorrhoids acting up again?

Please take the personal attack shit over to the Sink, where it belongs.