News and Views
The mantra of the casino player is “the only constant is change.”
I found this quote online and it sums up the theme of my writings for the last 23 years. In fact, if all casinos had the same policies and never tinkered with them, if they always kept the same owners and management teams, and if they never never revamped their players clubs, I’m not sure I would have seen the need to write those first blogs in April 2000. For sure I wouldn’t still be writing one in January 2022. Change is the driver that has kept me on the gaming-writing road.
By the way, when I clicked on that 2000 archive link above just before I started writing this blog, I felt like I was in a time machine going backward. I hadn’t read many of these old blogs for years. A reader who just recently started casino gambling would probably think they were back in the Dark Ages. But if you’re a long-term gambler, it might bring back some happy memories, though tempered by a deep sadness as you’re reminded how good casino gambling used to be.
However, I did smile when I read some of the general advice I gave back then to help players gamble smarter. Yes, I’ve been pounding the same drums for over 20 years. Consider this excerpt from April 14, 2000: Words I hate to read in a letter from a casino: “We’re improving our slot club.” I have NEVER, in 17 years of casino gambling, known the changes in a slot club to benefit me! I could write and have written that recently, just changing the number to 39!
Okay, we must not dwell on the past so much that it keeps us from coping with the present as best we can. Here are some current news items readers have shared with me or I’ve read online.
Tuscany has changed its players club point system. Video poker now requires $2 coin-in to earn one point. Previously it was $1 per point. I could find no information about the players club on the website. On their page about promotions, they mention the DaVinci Rewards Players Club, but I could find no details about it. I finally found some info on vpFREE2, a valuable resource I go to frequently.
I don’t know whether Tuscany put the new information out on communications to players club members. It seems that this change took place at the beginning of the year. Good advice for players is to check casino websites at the beginning of each year. Sometimes casinos don’t notify their players club members when changes are made; they just put new rules up on the website. This may have happened with CZR. I wasn’t tracking this, but one of my readers said they reduced the number of tier credits you earned when paying for a hotel room. Seemed to me that I’d seen that they jumped it to 5 tier credits per dollar last year. Now I see it’s down to 1 tier credit.
It would be helpful if readers would post casino-change information. You can do it here in the comment section. And it would be great if more would post these sorts of details on vpFREE. This used to be such a great resource. but now there aren’t many members who post there. I’m not sure whether so many didn’t make the transfer when it had to find a new home or whether so many have reduced their casino visits or completely abandoned VP since the pandemic struck. I do encourage players to post changes or other casino news they know about. Of course, we don’t expect “secret good plays,” but much helpful information can be shared.
Amidst all the bad news these days, occasionally there is some good news that many players will be happy to hear. The tribal leaders have voted to permanently ban smoking in both Harrah’s casinos in North Carolina, Cherokee and Murphy. For you smokers, the news is not all bad, since they did leave open the opportunity for Harrah’s to add dedicated smoking sections that employees could volunteer to staff.
Happy News: We all celebrated Brad’s 90th birthday on January 18.
Thinking about good casino news, I’m cautiously optimistic that after the pandemic effect is gone, casinos may have to start thinking that perhaps they will need to be more player-friendly to strengthen their bottom line. More promotions? More comps? More free play?
And perhaps some new owners will have some old-fashioned ideas about how to make their customers feel appreciated. I may not get to Vegas soon or ever, but I’m super excited — and hopeful — about the reopening of the Palms.
I’m going to “steal” a great optimistic quote from my fellow blogger David McKee. If you want to read no-holds-barred casino news from all over the country, you need to read “Stiffs and Georges.” I love his tell-it-like-it-is attitude!
Quote of the Day: “Native American casino operators will undoubtedly bring their unique operating model, which focuses more on the long-term benefit of tribal citizens than quarterly results. I think they will give the big, corporate, publicly held companies a run for their money.”—Industry analyst Josh Swissman on the arrival of tribal-gaming operators on the Las Vegas Strip.