Anthony Curtis Says: "Bring Back the Boomers"

This is an interesting article on several levels: Las Vegas Sun - Las Vegas Advisor boss’ advice: Bring back the Baby Boomers

I was not aware of the loss of membership and staff cuts here at LVA. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised given that I am among the Boomers who ended nearly a decade of membership two years ago. My reasons for not subscribing lately do not fit the typical profile of those who opted out, but my demographics match.

I concur with Anthony on the road to recovery for Las Vegas. He may have a self interest in promoting deals and the Boomer demographic, but that does not invalidate his viewpoint. He certainly has been around and following trends in visitation long enough to have a finger on the pulse of the city.

AC should have taken it a step further and say that a lot of the problem is that the strip needs to offer better odds, get rid of 6/5 bj and have better vp paytables. the boomers are smart enough to realize that much of what is offerred in gaming on the strip is all a rip off. While the younger people are dumb enough, err, are willing to play with such lousy pay tables and 6/5 bj the boomers won't and will take their business elsewhere. All the lower entertainment prices and food discounts won't get the crowd in the door as many boomers think the entertainment prices were overpriced to begin with.

The megaresorts still don't get it. the boomers will come back for easier comps, better pay tables and 3/2 bj. with this economy moreso the boomer generation will be watching and refusing to play the games offerred.

I enjoy the LVA just as much now as I did in 2007 (and 1993).

I'm impressed AC could do it after cutting HP so deeply. Good for him.

LVA has 2 challenges, one being the challenges of Las Vegas as a tourist destination and the being the overall decline of print media (of which I have personal experience with).

The proliferation of casinos nationwide has made Vegas less of a destination choice as people can now get their gambling fix locally.

The new strip resorts all built and marketed their properties to the under 30 group, who were not that gambling savvy, but more interested in partying. There was also a push toward the older demo making more than $200k as one can see with all the luxury condos as well as high end resorts.

In both cases there are only a small fixed number of people in these 2 groups and the high end demo either lost their jobs or became more careful with their money, while the younger demo don't have jobs or are making less.

Ignored was the huge group between the 2, to old, not cool or not rich enough. After being ignored they took their money elsewhere. Compunding this was the real estate crash as people stopped moving to Vegas or moved out.

Colin Cowherd, who is now on ESPN in the mornings did a bit about Vegas. Colin lived and worked in Vegas for many years. He said there are trends that come and go from Vegas.

He talked about how he is happy to see the family oriented Vegas leaving and having it get back to being adult oriented. The other trend he hopes will go away is almost every plush hotel having a twenty something night club.

I seriously wonder how twenty somethings do it? They will pay major scratch for bottle service at night clubs and will rent $1,000+ cabanas at the pool during the day, along with several hundred dollars of booze required to be bought at the pool. Most of these people are not rich, are not celebrities or professional athletes. I'm guessing they pack 8 to 10 in a room. I don't know if Vegas is a once a year deal for them or if they go into debt on credit cards?

It is too bad there can't be more competition on the strip. If a nice hotel was to go back to some of the old school techniques that made Vegas popular, other hotels would probably be forced to change their ways too.

I think you saw the decline of gambling (poor paytables and 6/5 BJ) for two reasons. First during the boom years strip companies were spending a ton and had huge debt, so the additional hold was a big help. The second ties in with the first. The boom years brought amny people that had never been to LV. Many of those didn't know good vp or BJ from bad and they could get away with this. As this group kept returning though, they were learning to discern good gambling from bad. For those not wanting to relocate DT or to locals joints, LV suddenly became an expendable destination instead of the default vacation spot. Couple this with the economy tanking and you have disaster. I think hometown casino have some effect, but only for the person that only cares about gambling. In my case, we've had tribal casinos for over fifteen years now and I've only made about three visits. Why? Because it's not Vegas, hell it's not even Reno! I can't get the Vegas experience at a local(Washington) casino. In this respect, they have kind of painted themselves into a corner. If they inprove gaming on the strip, it will not only affect revenue and ability to service debt short term, it will probably take quite a while to get the word out. It will take a while for the good rep with the lower hold to overtake present revenues and I don't think anyone on the strip can afford the time that turnaround will take.

I can see what's happened to LVA. Some left because they stopped going to LV. Others may have felt they didn't use the coupons, or they no longer liked the coups offered, so they moved on. The only reason I'm still here are the forums. I prefer these to others I've checked. Some don't share my view and have moved on. For some $50 is $50 and they can't afford it.

Good Luck!
Ric at Joes

25 dollar double deck, late surrender, double on any 2 cards, resplit aces, stand on all 17's where do they deal this in Vegas? They don't, yet they do at my local casino which is 3.5 hrs closer. Plus I don't have to deal with the airport Nazi's. Sportsbook only in Vegas, not any more I do my betting off shore, no need to pay the rocket high airfare.75 dollar 16 oz rib eye 24/7 in Vegas, yet in PA it's 35 for the same steak. Good drink,good eat and a good gamble is it really that hard? Been to Vegas over 350 times used to love her,she took my gambling virginty,but like your first love you must move on! Vegas it was nice knowing you,your glory days are in the past. Vegas reminds me of the rust bucket trying like hell to cling on to the 40's-60's ain't no going back. Once the gravy train has stopped it's stopped.
LVA is in the same boat.The good ole days are long gone. Gutted coupons, stale forums( who has the best buffet, does the 20 dollar trick really work, can I get comped at Wynn betting 10 dollars a hand?) Stick to giving AMCG your 20.

Does this mean you will no longer post here!?!?!?

I didn't even realize Curt had a staff other than him, Ody, Becki, Dave, and the hot blonde chick on the Travel Channel shows from the 1990s!

Then again Becki and Dave are gone, so maybe the numbers do add up.

It is pretty clear to all those that have followed the evolution in Las Vegas over the last decade that the current offerings on the strip were geared to what the suits imagined the economy and their clientele would be. The debt created by the ownership changes has created even greater challenges than what they would have had due to the economic meltdown.

The question is, how do they evolve from this point forward. The inventory of high-end rooms and the overhead of the new gaming palaces was not built with the thrifty boomers envisioned as customers.

I agree with those that have commented on the higher house edges that became common on the strip and drove many boomers away or to the locals places and downtown. The strip has become more reliant on other revenue streams that they may have thought would be more steady than gaming. Gaming built Las Vegas and is still the main attraction, despite what they have done to degrade the product. Those other revenue streams depend on an active casino.

IMHO they need to look back to find the way forward. Make Las Vegas a deal again, offer better games than folks can find at the home state casino. The demand for those fancy rooms comes from people who like to play, once they take their game somewhere else, you might as well unplug the neon.