Poll : 26 August - 08 September 2015

Analysis

The results of this survey are self-explanatory, but here are some of your additional thoughts:

• My husband and I have been going to Vegas 3 to 5 times a year for the past 16 years. Gambling was part of the fun because the losses (which was most of the time) were soon forgotten because we still won enough to keep the thrill going. Now the machines are considerably tighter and the hope for thrills is pretty much gone. Our family and friends say the same. We will still come to Vegas, but maybe just once a year from now on."
  
  
• "Gambling is not the main reason I come to Vegas a few times a year, but I do have fun playing slots and watching people. I have cut back slots (more people watching, it's almost more fun!), due to tighter payouts. I think better comps might help, or maybe drop the 'resort fee' so I would consider staying longer and playing a little more."
  
  
• "This tightening doesn't really have much impact on me. I don't really enjoy playing slots or video poker unless I have some kind of a finagle like a coupon or promo that gives me positive expected value, in which case I will play exactly enough for the freebie and cash out."
  
  
• "The decreased payouts have definitely curtailed my gambling expenditures. You used to be able to put $20 in a slot and enjoy playing for a while. Now it's not unusual to lose the entire amount in just a few minutes, sometime without a single paying spin. Where's the fun in that? I know you're going to get my money eventually, but don't you want me to leave having had a positive experience at your property and wanting to return again in the future? I have places I used to frequent that I never will set foot in again anymore due to their 'bad vibes'."
  
  
• "I don't play slots but I do play video poker but my main game is blackjack. I don't play 6:5 -- that's a rip off! I like Vegas because I can usually find a good game of blackjack where I'm not at a bad disadvantage."
  
  
• "I would have chosen the first option - 'I don’t play slots or video poker, so how loose or tight the machines are is irrelevant to me, but I DO play table games and if a casino that I like switches to 6:5 blackjack games, it’s enough to make me take my business elsewhere - which I have done' - but I couldn't because I do sometimes play slots. The lousy changes in table-game rules used to send me off to another casino but, when they all went to 6:5 payouts, etc., I actually stopped going to Las Vegas, period. The loss of revenue you describe is simple economics: When the cost goes up (tighter slots), people change their behavior to compensate (play less), just like when they decided to raise subway fares in NYC and it resulted in reduced ridership and a DROP in revenue. You can't lessen someone's enjoyment or comfort and not expect them to react by scaling back their participation."
  
  
• "We generally play the $5 and $1 Wheel of Fortune machines and, in the past, we have searched them out at every casino we go to. After the tightening over the last 2 years, we have QUIT. With 6:5 blackjack, we have QUIT those games also. While we still love Vegas, a lot of the fun of gambling has gone out of it and that's sad as it was one of the main reasons we went to Vegas from NC. We have plenty of casinos much closer and if Vegas keeps working so hard at taking the fun away, we'll stay away. There are LOTS of other places we can spend our money.",br>
  
• "Tighter slots are one thing -- just play less. It is the lack of service, such as cocktail waitresses coming around less often that bothers me just as much. Casinos got cheap. Table games seem no better for service. So I go to Vegas once every two years instead of every year. Bahamas are nice..."
  
  
• "I've been going to Vegas for 20 years and the last few years it is nearly impossible to win...you just look at what you take out and what comes home, always in the negative! I get Strictly Slots magazine and always flip first to the back to see the pictures of the 'big' winners -- rarely are the photos and winners from Vegas. LVA does an excellent job reporting the woes of the casinos...most are hurting for our bucks. It is not much fun to spend and spend and not win!!!"
  
  
• "I get punished for points anyway, being a video poker player, but I've seen I get hardly any mailers, if at all, the past few years. (I'm not a local, but I visit Vegas/Tahoe/Reno frequently.)
  
  
• "I just don't play as much as I once did and when I do play, I try to be away from the Strip."
  
  
• "It's so sad what they're doing to my Vegas. Corporate CEO's aren't gamblers and shouldn't be running casinos. They tighten slots hoping that will make their bottom line look better and when that doesn't work they switch to drugstores and shopping. Well, I don't go to Vegas to shop and neither do all my friends. That's probably why places like the Linq (mall) and the horrible Bally's Grand Bazaar are struggling. Vegas is gambling and I used to love coming here but I now win more at my local Indian casino than I do in Vegas. Will this poll change things? I hope so!"