What's happened to LVA ?

We really need a group hug and more nipple threads!

I've been a member for about 15 years and have read the forums since their inception. I think there are a lot of reasons it's tapered off.

1 - Ten years ago, Vegas was still "new" to a lot of people. Beyond that, the idea of value and deals sparked a lot of interest. Posters spoke of a room deal here, a 241 at such and such restaurant etc. Lately a lot of reports deal with comp rooms at Caesars and a $300 dinner at some upscale place. I enjoy living vicariously through these reports, but I can't relate to them. I have two friends that I introduced to LVA that have dropped memberships, stating in part that as a reason.

2 - One other factor for them and probably others is the economy. I know I've had to cut way back on my trips. One year counted 9 trips (from Seattle) including 3 in a 6 week period. Now it's about twice a year.

3 - A third factor that also was part of the reason one of the couples dropped the LVA, was been there, done that. In fact , her best friend is married to my best friend which was good incentive, but they just felt they had gotten as much out of the city as they wanted. I'm sure they'll visit from time to time, but it'll be 2-3 nights to see Bob and Sue, not the casinos.

I think this accounts for fewer trips, so of course, fewer reports. This and as has been mentioned, the number of "mean" posts has increased immensely. I doubt many lurkers become posters after reading about a poster getting ripped for no reason. You could go on and on, but the you won't find a single reason for the dropoff. I think it's a combination. Hopefullt it will change 'cause I don't plan on dropping yet.

Good Luck!
Ric at Joes

Even though I still enjoy going to Vegas,my excitement is not as great as it was 20 years ago.There is far to much venom being spewed on these boards.As far as the coupon book,there is only 1 or 2 coupons that really benefits me.Before the MRB it was just fun to get the LVA every month.I still enjoy it,just not as much.I have not made up my mind yet if I'll re up or not.I have until May.Maybe it's time to move on.This is nothing against Anthony or the LVA staff,it's just that our tastes change as we get older.

Personally I enjoy the trip reports that compare and contrast places, shows, eateries etc. Those bring responses pro and con, often based on reasons and experiences, and that's interesting and informative. The ones that are just "... then I went here ... then I ate that ... then we gambled for 2 hours ..." endless recitations of itinerary, not so much. If there's a lull in the Vegas economy caused by less visitors, it seems rather natural that the boards like this would be reflective of that slow down. I'm grateful for the people who hang in here, because it's still fun to drop in and read and chat.

Will the $20 trick work at In-N-Out?

You could probably buy the place for $20 bucks.lol

Where else would she work?

I've been a member since the beginning, since the LVA get together at "Boomtown," since sports comps were as good as race comps, since vp comps were as good as slot comps.

Original value was in the newsletter, which pointed out values one couldn't find in a non-internet world. The original value in LVA.com, the paid side, was that many serious, knowledgeable actual gamblers posted who knew how to count cards, knew comp in-and-outs, knew stuff in general. They left -- pearls before swine and all that. AC insulted some of the posters, and they were gone. Some guys were off-the-wall and abrasive, but they knew their stuff. Gone.

A lot of things happened in the interim -- AC, under his real name, and "Stanford Wong" and other guys who were respected wound up being hired as "expert witnesses" for a casino versus a card counter in a big court case. I'm sure that alienated a lot of knowledgeable folks. The fact this happened has led to questions regarding who's in bed with whom as far as LVA "experts" go -- the questions regarding Dancer's loyalties (casinos or his clients?) didn't come from thin air.

Somewhere along the way, as LV boomed, the LVA expanded from its niche readership to an attempt to appeal to the 30 million Las Vegas visitors in an internet world. LVA became "the big time," but that required reaching out to the California rich kids and five-star restaurant crowd. The old readership became a semi-meaningless subset of the whole subscribership.

Which brings us to now. I'm a professional -- but in terms of useful info, the best stuff I've gotten in the last two years were the M free room code postings and a discount code for Alamo. Really useful, but not exactly a deluge. So, coincidentally, I pretty much stopped offering info myself.

I stopped posting trip reports because of the negative comments as well.

I stopped participating as much, in general, when I got in a to-do with AC on the boards a few years ago and because the boards got so slow to load.

I don't read nearly as much as I once did simply because I've been around long enough to know the answers to most of the questions being asked over and over again.

I share offers when I can (on the paid side), but even got some crap over that and almost stopped posting them.

Things are just way different now. I spend more time on LVAdvice.com since it's a friendlier place.

That's just fine. I will take you liondownnow off my party list and please be sure you take me off yours. Lol