Poll : 24 June - 07 July 2020

I think you fell flat on this one.  As they say "the devil is in the details".  Reducing this question to a simple yes/no completely guts it of any meaning.  It definitely is a yes-but/no-but question and the reasoning behind the choices are varied and meaningful.  In my opinion, the mob wanted everybody to be happy, spend money.  The corporations are more direct about squeezing every penny out of properties and guests.  As you have pointed out several times, statistics indicate that most people know that in the long run, they are going to lose and come to town mainly for fun. In the previous era you could have a thoroughly enjoyable time while getting fleeced.  Today, when you get sheared, you get skinned as well.

I'm probably in a vast minority here, but I liked the fact that in the days of the mob, you had to dress up to enter a casino: men had to wear jackets and ties and women wore dresses. There was a degree of class to the casinos back then. That's what I miss most. Today, the dress code consists of anything goes.

I voted "Yes".  I know Las Vegas wasn't built on winners.  I want to have fun knowing I will most likely lose.  I have adjusted my bankroll to account for inflation and earnings.  So, all things being equal, during the "mob" years, I was recognized for my play on the spot (comped meals, show tickets, rooms, etc) and after with room offers.  I remember suits coming up to you to ask if you were having a good time and if there was anything they could do for you. The casino was a classy place that evoked a wanting to dress up.  Now, I often feel I should just walk to the cage, hand over my money and leave because I don't feel invited to stay.  Everything is sterile, corporate, and void of any humanizing comforts.  There is no soul to Las Vegas anymore, over the last 40 years I have watched it slowly disappear.  Yes, my parents brought us kids to this incredible oasis in the desert. I'll take the smooth criminal.

I love Alan's analysis, clear and accurate in my opinion. I voted Yes for all of the points of Alan's reasoning before I even read his comments! FYI, I'm 74 and have been visiting Vegas since my mom first brought me for my 21st B'day, she was one of the original professional poker players! :)

made on the sixteenth and today lead to one inescapable fact, age.  Those who experienced the 50's and 60's and also saw the decline leading up to 2020 will always chose the Mob days.  Those who didn't experience Las Vegas until the 70's and beyond will always choose the status quo based on erroneous feelings of dangerous mobsters burying people in the desert as a consequence for any winner.  However, these are mute points as the pandemic is already changing Las Vegas into a new and unrecognizable creature, one in which attendance is sparse at best and insufficient to produce profits.  I would predict that corporate casinos who do not adapt quickly will suffer bankruptcy.

Alan's comments made me wish I'd been there.  I was there almost right after the mob left and corporations were 'in the process' of taking over.  
 - Not the massive crowds of today (or before the virus). 
 - $5 and $10 blackjack still on the Strip($2 at Casino Royale) 
 - a $300 gambling budget was enough for a 48-72 hour stay vs 30 min.
 - Coming to Las Vegas was special.  Not everybody did it.

Now: the crowds, the kids.  The Tiers.

It is like going through TSA to redeem a comp or coupon. "ID and players card please.  Take this to the cashier. NEXT IN LINE!!"  LOL.

I first went to Vegas in 1973, passing through on my way to a new duty base in the Air Force. I was only 18, but I was able to see Kenny Rogers and the First Edition at the Flamingo for a 2 drink minimum. It seemed everything was geared to ensure you had a good time. I went back 15 years later and could not believe the difference. The shows were costly, we had three kids and stayed at the Excalibur, where I was sure they would entertain the kid for free while Dad gambled, BUT NO! It cost me so much for the kid's games at the arcade downstairs, I had nothing left to gamble. My wife became regular visitors to Vegas since the early nineties, and most of the post here agree, it was so much classier before the corporate greed and massive people. When Caesars sold off all their steak house, we were at Bally's steakhouse on their last night. All the waiters, some there for over 20 years, were lamenting about the demise of Vegas. Looking around, people were in shorts! Sorry for the long post

People look at the past with rose-colored glasses---that time when you were stronger, faster, smarter, didn't need Viagra, had hair...and ignore the bad aspects.

Vegas was a thugocracy back then, with no rule of law. The only rule was: don't dip your toe in that river of money. As for its worth as a city: it was basically ramshackle housing for the casino employees, with a few rich folks' enclaves consisting of mansions and golf courses surrounded by alligator-filled moats. As late as 1990, for example, there were still only NINE bus routes, most sidewalks weren't paved, and Vegas had fewer city parks per capita than any other major American city.

As far as the tourist experience goes: it was much more about gambling, period, than all the other diversions that have been added. Back then, you got tired of playing (losing), all you could do was go hang out by the pool.

And of course, "back then," approximately 112% of people smoked. Including in the restaurants. Gaah.

Much better back then. 

I prefer the good old days, of the MOB!  Made the whole experience that more special, knowing your time, was spent amongst the movers, and shakers of the world!