4/2/2004
A warning – I’m up on a soapbox this week!
I’ve tried to be broad-minded about Vegas and its reputation as Sin City, but I can’t stay quiet anymore. Things have gone too far.
I really don’t know when it started – maybe back when the Riviera started advertising with the bare backsides of the Crazy Girls on the back of taxis all over town. Although at first I thought it was kind of cute, I realized that when my grandchildren came to visit us, I was a little embarrassed and tried to explain that showgirls in casinos were used to performing with scanty costumes, but they didn’t dress like this except when they were on stage.
Vegas has always had casino advertising with scantily clad beauties, but a couple of years ago, it seemed to turn a corner and go to a place where sex in advertising was no longer restrained and turned from classy to crass. Jane Ann Morrison, a Review-Journal columnist, said it well, “My personal advertising gripe: Ads that show only body parts such as … the ones that show just a woman’s breasts and nothing else. No head, no face. Just parts. Even the reclining showgirl of yesteryear expressed more humanity than these ads.”
Some of the sexy ads are just plain stupid – one casino restaurant ad shows a girl in a very short skirt doing an uncomfortable-looking backbend, with no visible support, in front of some guys at a table. Does this make anyone think that if they eat in this restaurant, they will have a sexy time? All I think about is that I need to ask my chiropractor to come along with me. Are people all over America suddenly deciding to come to Vegas because they see an ad that implies that people with common sense can visit and get drunk or at least carried away and do stupid things they wouldn’t dream of doing at home because “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”?
Casinos are stumbling all over each other to capture the interest of a new target group, the affluent 21- to 40-year-old bracket. It seems like a new nightclub or lounge is opening every other week, each one trying to be more blatantly sexual in its advertising. I’m not sure this phase the city is in now is going to be as successful as so many businesses think. I’m firmly in the “old” bracket – 41 and up – but the biggest majority of the gamblers I see actually putting money in the machines or on the tables are in my age group. Do these young kids really buy enough beer to make a casino successful?
We play video poker at both the Palms and the Hard Rock and we have watched as these two hip joints keep trying to outdo each other in being an over-the-top sexy place. The Hard Rock started sending mailings to their players, even to us seniors, with so-called sexy messages. The first one was a promotion for playing and earning enough points for a jacket. They pictured the jacket with lipstick on the collar – we thought that was pretty cute and liked the subtle message. But I guess they thought we weren’t smart enough (or too old) to get the slightly suggestive message, so on the other side of the postcard, they had this blurb: “Believe us, Lipstick on your Collar is a plus.” Okay, we got the message–but they were afraid we wouldn’t so they continued: “This jacket can help your odds at achieving it. Earn 250 points … and it’s all yours. Accompanied by a skyrocketing dry-cleaning bill. But that’s not a bad thing because you’ll be getting some.” Sheesh, do people over 40 seem that dense to young casino-marketing directors?
But that postcard was extremely subtle compared to the next one we got for another promotion, a gift giveaway where you had to stick your hand in a black box to pick your gift. “So come and grab it; it makes us feel so dirty.” Is there anyone who gets sexually aroused choosing a free gift? Brad and I may be a bit old, but we’re not dead yet. However, all we were thinking about was our hope that we would get one of the $100 Free Play cards instead of a dinky keychain!
Oops, my space is gone and I have
4/8/2004
Did you get tricked on April Fools Day? Well, no tricks here. (Now there’s a terrible pun!) I told you last week I would continue my discussion about sex in the city – Las Vegas style. So back up on the soapbox I climb.
There’s a time and place for everything, including sex. I’m enough of a libertarian to feel that what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes, as long as it doesn’t harm anyone, is “right.” What is done in public is a different matter.
This concept was brought home to me recently when Brad and I finally got around to seeing Zumanity, the “other side” of Cirque du Soleil – and a blatantly sexy show. We’ve seen a lot of shows down through the 20 years we’ve been visiting casinos, but this one probably had more nudity and sexy positions and actions than any other.
Were we offended?
No!
And why not?
We weren’t tricked. Whenever you read advertisements for this show, the sexual content is always emphasized. That this is definitely for adults is emphasized with an under-18 ban. And even at the last minute, when we were picking up our tickets, we were warned at the box office that this show had extreme sexual content and nudity. So it would be very hard for people who object to this type of show or children for whom it would be unsuitable to be accidentally exposed to the show. This is the right place for this type of material.
On the other hand, advertisements, whether atop taxis or on posters in the public part of the casino or on huge billboards that are prominently positioned all over town, are a completely different matter. These can and will be seen by anyone and everyone, of any age or set of values, with no option to avoid them.
Advertisements in Vegas now for several years have been in a gray area, going closer and closer to the place where a big segment of the city’s public, both local and visitor, object to the blatantly risqué direction. The final straw for me was the tawdry billboard that the Hard Rock put up during the National Finals Rodeo. Again, they figured people wouldn’t get the message with just the suggestive words “Get ready to buck all night.” So they had a picture of a woman at the edge of a bed, with a cowboy hat on the floor. But in the ultimate in tastelessness and crudeness, this woman was only shown from the knees down, pulling her panties down around her ankles. (Okay, for you who were not in Vegas at the time of this billboard and you would like to see it – simply so you can judge it properly, of course – http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jan-23-Fri-2004/business/23058075.html)
I thought, “I wonder if I’m the only one who thinks that even in Sin City, this billboard is definitely too much!” And for a while I heard nothing about this and I figured that once again, as broad-minded as I am, that I must be the only prude in town who found this ad offensive. But then I heard the Nevada Gaming Commission had received so many complaints that they were going to consider whether this ad fit into the standards for the state’s casinos. On March 18 a group of riled residents protested in front of the building where the meeting of the Gaming Commission was being held.
I haven’t yet heard the decision they made about this Hard Rock ad – I guess the Commissioners need to look at it a long time to make a fair decision, heh, heh – and whether they have set any limits in this area. But hopefully they’ll use common sense. Even my 9-year-old granddaughter, Kaitlynn, knows when things go over the line. When we drive around town, she points out various advertisements and pronounces, “That’s inappropriate for children!”
It’s not a matter of right and wrong. It shouldn’t be hard for the Commission to decide what’s best to be kept in private and what’s inappropriate for anyone to have to view in public!
Oscar Goodman, the mayor of our fair city, is often asked about the suggestive slogan that currently advertises Las Vegas, “What ha”
4/15/2004
A growing trend is for casino players clubs, especially those that don’t have cashback programs, to make your club points redeemable for merchandise gift cards or gift certificates. Many casinos issue comps and/or let you use points for meals in their restaurants, hotel rooms, merchandise in their shops, and on-site amenities such as childcare, spa, hair salon, and movies. But I especially like gift cards or certificates for outside stores, where we can get almost anything we ever need for free. Right now I carry the following cards or certificates in my purse when I go out shopping:
Von’s grocery store. We don’t eat every meal in a casino. We could — we earn enough comps to do so — but I haven’t found a casino that lets you eat in any of their restaurants in your jammies or will provide room-service to our condo.
Three malls. I have cards to the new downtown Las Vegas Premium Outlets and two suburban ones, Meadows Mall (near Arizona Charlie’s Decatur) and the Boulevard (near UNLV). My cards provide a large selection of stores where we can buy clothes, shoes, housewares, and hundreds of other necessities and luxuries.
Home Depot. This is Brad’s favorite gift card. He spends so much time in these stores that I have accused him of being in love with a Home Depot cashier!
Macy’s Department Store. I wait until they run a sale and this makes my gift cards go even further.
Rite Aid Pharmacy. This is a new one we got recently and is very valuable. Not only does it provide us with a multitude of choices of sundries, but we can take our prescriptions there and this covers the co-pay that our health insurance doesn’t pay. We don’t need a Medicare drug benefit!
PetSmart. We don’t have a pet, but the Frugal Princess family now has a cockapoo, named Dixie in honor of their moving to Georgia and becoming Southerners. I’m sure they’ll love having gift cards to spend at the pet store.
Electronic stores. These are the really valuable ones. We’re working on earning a bunch of Best Buy gift cards so I’ll have enough to get a new computer when my problematic present one finally dies — or I go crazy trying to keep it working right, whichever comes first. I won a certificate for $1,000 in a recent Palms drawing from Fry’s Electronics, which went toward buying our new big LCD TV.
Gas stations. With the price of gas in Vegas among the highest in the nation, free gas is a very popular comp at several casinos. Some have issued national brand gas gift cards, while others have made agreements with specific local gas stations, usually near the casino.
What if I get gift-card comps that I really can’t use? They never go to waste. I can give them as a tip to hosts or other casino employees who’ve gone out of their way for us. We can give them to friends and family members for holiday or birthday gifts.
There’s also a brisk exchange program among personal and Internet friends, with a negotiable “”market value.”” We recently exchanged $1,000 in Nordstrom’s cards, where I don’t care to shop, for $850 in Best Buy cards from someone who has all the electronics he needs at the moment. You’ll also see this as a strong cottage industry on eBay.
Any gift cards or certificates that I can earn or that the casino gives me as a bonus, if it saves me taking money out of my pocket, I consider as good as gold — or greenbacks.”
4/23/2004
My columns of a few weeks ago on “”sex in the city”” elicited a number of responses. Here’s a representative sampling of sentiments, some from correspondents who obviously feel, well, passionate about this issue.
1. I’m not a prude, far from it, but the type of advertising we’re getting these days is just not acceptable. I know in the long run it will cost the valley. Already a young couple I know, who are talking about starting a family, have openly stated that they will be leaving when the first baby comes. Why? Because they don’t want to explain to the kid what that sign on the taxi is all about — you know, the one with the almost bare butts. They want a kid to be able to be just a kid. I know Vegas, at least the Strip, is not really for kids, but look at the number of youngsters walking along the Strip with their parents and all of the families driving around. The Hard Rock ads and others are really intended for “”hip”” (do they use that word anymore?) young adults, but everyone who drives by is exposed to it. I know that there’s sometimes a fine line between good and bad taste, but I think the hotels need to move their line a little to the “”right.”” Thanks for getting on that soapbox. I really wish the RJ and the Sun would pick up on your column and run it for the entire valley to read.
2. We all enjoy what Las Vegas has to offer. It shouldn’t be one extreme or the other. There should be some family areas for people with children, but that shouldn’t be the main focus either. I just think that it has swung around 180 degrees in the opposite direction. There has to be a middle ground.
3. Sex is wonderful; sex is great. Obviously sex sells. But I’m always hoping for just a little bit more imagination. The old Vegas was more of an illusion. Everything now is just laid out in front of you for the taking, it seems. I miss the classiness. I like a little more challenge in my game. It’s not just the sex either; some of the greatest entertainers of Las Vegas now are just impersonators of originals we no longer have. All I’m asking for is a fresh idea, not another flesh idea!
4. I would like to add one more negative about the new sex theme going on in Vegas. I’m usually out early in the morning (around 5:30 am) and when I stop at the Barbary Coast, I’m absolutely scared for my life on weekends. And I’m not a small man. At this time, the 21- to 30-year-olds are coming from Drai’s and the all-night drinking and drugging parties that go on there. I swear, one wrong word or funny look toward some of the people could cause all kinds of trouble. I believe that, in the future, we will hear of many rooms trashed, people injured, employees attacked, and numerous other problems caused by too much alcohol and drugs. It will become a very dangerous city to live in.
5. I fully agree that the referenced billboard, and similar material, are quite offensive. I also agree with the distinction you drew between the billboards and the Zumanity show. Even so, it appears to me that the Hard Rock does have a First Amendment right to display such material. As long as it’s merely offensive, as opposed to fraudulent, I can’t see how it fits into any of the recognized exceptions to the First Amendment. If you do see fit to mention the issue again, you might want to comment upon exactly why you feel that such displays should be legally prohibited. Unless everybody’s rights are respected, nobody’s are truly secure.
Jean’s note: This is not a First Amendment issue. The Nevada Gaming Commission has the power to judge the actions of the casinos they regulate and to decide whether anything they do (including moral as well as legal issues) will be a negative for the reputation of the Nevada gaming industry. The casinos know this and agree to this as a condition for getting their valuable gaming licenses.
Jean’s conclusion: I think I’ll let Dr. Seuss have the last word on this subject:
“”You have brain”
4/29/2004
The following article appears in a new e-book called Best of Blackjack Insider. Blackjack Insider is a Web-based newsletter produced by the veteran and prolific gambling writer, Henry Tamburin (you can subscribe for free at www.bjinsider.com/main.shtml. The e-book contains 40 articles written for the newsletter by 15 top-notch experts, including Fred Renzey, Michael Shackleford, Bob Dancer, Frank Scoblete, Hal Marcus, and, of course, Henry himself. You’ll get solid advice on basic strategy, card counting, Risk of Ruin (ROR), comps, and much much more. Check it out.
Here’s my article:
I admit that I never really was an expert blackjack card counter. Some 19 years ago, when my husband Brad and I first started gambling in casinos, we studied blackjack and mastered basic strategy. We read all the books, studied the various counting systems, and tried to master at least the simple high-low. Brad was more of a numbers guy and caught on pretty fast. And I could do pretty well some of the time — but I liked to chat it up at the tables and I could never multi-task too well. Besides, I’m more of a word, rather than numbers, kind of gal — and Brad said my lips moved while I was counting. Maybe that’s why I was spotted and barred a couple of times.
For 6 years we were quite happy with our success as basic-strategy-with-a-little-bit-of-counting amateurs. But it wasn’t long before I learned how to get us the most comps for the least amount of play. This was done mainly by going on the junket trail from our home in Indianapolis: to Vegas and Atlantic City on charter flights, to Harrah’s Tahoe on the company’s private jet, and with groups to Puerto Rico and Santa Domingo by commercial air.
I was always afraid that we wouldn’t continue to qualify for these heady VIP trips, because we were basically one-green-chip bettors at the most. But our junket rep was always trying to fill out a group and almost monthly he could depend on us to drop everything at even short notice (thank goodness Brad worked for the government and had a lot of leave and “”sick”” days stored up!). So we were welcome to join the high rollers who were mostly betting multiple black chips and we could enjoy the same luxurious level of comps as they did, but with a much smaller risk.
Our peak came when the rep needed a couple more gamblers to fill out a Monte Carlo junket — a trip to the “”real”” Monte Carlo in Europe. The upfront money needed for this was a lot more than we had ever put up, but we felt it was the chance of a lifetime. So we scraped up the $20,000 needed by emptying every account we had (except IRAs). And it was a fantastic trip, with 3 days in Paris and 5 days in Monte Carlo.
But by 1989 the junket system was declining and the betting requirements to get luxurious comps were escalating. Things were also changing in our life. Brad retired and we wanted to spend longer periods of time in casinos, especially in Vegas, rather than weekend jaunts. And we were tired of the casino heat that we were noticing because of our knowledgeable blackjack play. But the biggest factor that changed our gambling was discovering video poker. We noticed that as the table-game requirements for comps were going up, machine players were starting to be more heavily comped — and again, similar to our discovery with BJ, we could learn the system so we could get the maximum comps for the least risk to our bankroll.
We spent about a year with a foot in both worlds, but by 1990 we had joined our first slot clubs, and BJ was completely replaced by VP, which has been our game of choice ever since.
I guess I shouldn’t say “”completely.”” We still play BJ on occasion. If we’re in a casino that does not have good VP, sometimes the BJ games are pretty good and we enjoy a few hours with our old love. This is especially true when we’re on cruise ships. We’re out of practice so we don’t count cards, but we still know basic strategy, and BJ provides some low-cost ent”