Question of the Day - 26 February 2020

The only thing "New Vegas Casinos" have to offer is newness.  I prefer Old Vegas Casinos for one simple reason.  Old Vegas Casinos were never cheap or money grubbing about anything.  New Vegas Casinos only offers lower quality on everything Old Vegas Casinos offered and at prices that could be beaten all over town by non casino places and with superior quality.  New Vegas Casinos treats all of its customers like their own personal cash cows.  Luckily, most Casinos in Nevada outside of Las Vegas are better Casinos to visit.

I miss the Imperial Palace.  It has not been improved.  Cleaned up maybe but has zero character.

I'm sad that I missed out on some of the best parts of old Vegas. I would love it if people still dressed up (I really don't want to have a nice meal next to someone in cargo shorts, an old t-shirt, and flip flops). I would be thrilled to be able to see showroom acts by great entertainers. But I'm glad not to have to eat cheap but mostly mediocre food, play old-fashioned slots, and stay in tiny motel-style rooms.

Finally, old Vegas WAS NOT CHEAPER! You can find ads for some of those "great deals" that people still rave about. After you adjust for inflation, even with resort fees, the prices today are still comparable.

I’ve only heard rumors about this but would have loved to witness it. 

Headliners roaming the casino floor, and sometimes dealing a game for a few minutes — and cheating to help the player. 

I imagine that it would cost the casino pennies, but generate incredible buzz. 

I also imagine that it was not corporate greed that ended it, but Gaming Control. 

Sigh. The good old days. 

In Old Vegas EVERYONE made money. In the new Vegas only the corporation makes money. And now that I think about how badly the corporation overpays for some of these properties I guess you can say that even the corporation isn't making money.

Old Vegas was single-deck blackjack paying 3:2. Old Vegas was 9:6 JoB video poker everywhere. Old Vegas was no resort fees. Old Vegas was free parking. Old Vegas was hot cocktail waitresses everywhere you looked giving you basically whatever drink you wanted. Old Vegas was buying show tickets without paying an extra 20% in surcharges. Old Vegas was casino/hotels that didn't all look alike. Old Vegas was gourmet rooms and cheap prime rib specials. Old Vegas was a sense of class. Old Vegas was great cocktail lounges with stiff pours and decent entertainment. I'm only 58 years old but I've been coming to Las Vegas since 1966. 

I didn't begin to visit Vegas until about 20 years ago; so we're the slot machines better then or now? We're there any big jackpot winners back in the day as opposed to the here and now? 

What's not to like about Vegas---single deck black jack with all the player favorable rules, not 6/5 on a natural, great pentration, great expensive food, great dealers, comps all over the place etc.

No one appreciates any of us anymore. The whole city/county had flavor and sass. Now it corporate and no longer a “fun vacation” destination. People can gamble anywhere in the country with crappy rules and schedules. Why fly to Nevada to get fleeced?

? is a joke. is there anyone 50 years plus that likes the new vegas. you youngsters are lucky you do not know old vegas. reasonable priced food that was good. easy comps and free money. free rooms. slots that pd 95 % plus. full pay video poker every where. need a buffet or rest comp just ask. take the new vegas and you have none of these. casinos are interested in party goers exp food and booze. i never had time for such activity. now there is only 90 % payback on slots on strip. you cannot get a comp. resort fees taxes parking fees. no one seem to note that with all the above cuts the casinos are barely making a profit. what do they plan next to maintain their bottom line. i think they have fun out of ways to gouge customers. the same techniques was used in tunica and 3 casinos have closed. the strip is a time bomb waiting to go off. guess what? i don’t care. am i mad? hell yes. next trip to downtown may be my last trip. New vegas sucks. 

I miss the late night food specials and the 24 hr. coffee shops but not the smokers in those places. Don't miss coins, and thank God I don't have to dress up. 

I liked some aspects of old Vegas, but also like a lot of the features of new Vegas. I guess I would check the box that says Vegas is Vegas, it still beats going anywhere else for gambling! Either era had/s its benefits. 

And a lot of old Vegas is still here if you look for it, it's just not going to be found on the strip.

Back in 1985,we stayed at The Stardust for $7.77 a night.
How much is that in today's money?
  The sexiest cocktail waitresses were at the Imperial Palace,by far.

I don’t really care one way or the other. There are interesting things that I like now, there are things that I would like to go back to-in particular some of the old headliners. What I really don’t like is the continual squeeze on gambling value that seems to be a function of the extreme consolidation of the industry-almost everything is controlled by a few huge players. If I were to wish for one thing that  the new Vegas has changed, it would be to go back to more independent operators. I think that would provide for better competition and better opportunities for gamblers.  The big corporations seem to want to diversify their revenue across more things-entertainment, food, etc but still try and squeeze even more from gambling revenue at the same time.  They are both inefficient and greedy

We started going to Vegas in the 80's. It was great & exciting! Now it's all about how high the hotels can be & where to build the next condo. Downtown to me is old Vegas. You don't have to walk 3 blocks to get to a casino that's right next door. They're much friendlier downtown too. It's just more fun. I wish I could have seen the rat pack when they were there. Give me the old Vegas anyday!!!

I have to agree with most of what Jackie and David said about what the Casinos used to offer in payouts on slots, odds on blackjack, inexpensive but good food, quality, and no resort fees.  I do like the new properties, and smoke free casinos, though.

I remember fondly the very first time I was in Vegas---1976 with my parents---I was not old enough to gamble---but it was sooo cool all the big neon and the cheap/great food.  My first trip when 21 was in 1986 with 2 buddies, we sat at the Sega Derby at Alladin for many hours of great fun, and free flowing drinks---most of the places that were around then are long gone.  The things I miss the most are the enabling of players to focus and have a blast at GAMING--with payoffs and comps that made sense for the player, by having much lower/simpler casino cost structures.  Now with everything so "fancy" there is some much fixed cost and overhead that we are all nickel and dimed  (more like $5 and $10) to cover all the non-gambling overhead.  I like getting a bit dressed up, and I like smaller/simpler casinos and rooms.  It was a huge social mistake to enable to widespread availability of gambling.  I still LOVE VEGAS---there is not really any other place like it.  I still can seek/find it.

Old (Strip)
Old (downtown)
Old (locals casinos)
New (Strip)
New (downtown)
New (locals casinos)

There are very different answers depending on location.

Despite all the bitching about the bad things that have infiltrated Vegas, there is still much to like. And in general it is a better experience than the spread-out casinos in other locales or even the "mini-Vegas" destinations (like Tunica, Shreveport/Bossier City, etc). And some things, like the Golden Knights and the Raiders are improvements over the lack of available local sports of old Vegas. But part of the Vegas charm is the "Old Vegas" things that are still there. Part of the charm is some of the newer things in town. The previous poll about long gone casinos pointed out that a lot of old is gone, but some of that was replaced with good. And some of the old attractions are still there. Also, where do you place FSE? New Vegas or Old Vegas? Some of the "new" has been around long enough to be considered "old" in my opinion. A lot of "transitional" Vegas is really good.  New is good, old is good, and Vegas is still better than home.

All of my family vacations growing up were to Las Vegas(1990's-2000's) and I loved it then, granted I wasn't old enough to gamble but it was a super fun family place. I only started gambling in Vegas about 10 years ago so I don't have any reference point to old Vegas but I still think it's an awesome place. I mean I get taken care of at all the places I frequent, everything is a lot more reasonably priced than my neck of the woods, and I still find a lot of pretty good games to play. Maybe it was better back in the day but I still think it's a pretty phenomenal place, hence I keep coming back to it.

My first trip to Vegas was in 1982.  It was more fun then. The food was just as good, but not as expensive, even accounting for inflation.  And comps were much easier to get.  Stayed at the Dunes, Caesars and DI many times.  Caesars had a better attitude then.  The DI is gone.  Back then you felt that you had a chance to win.  Now, you know you are just donating.  Not just Vegas, but everywhere.  Up till this year, I was 7 Stars at Caesars.  I stopped coming so much because there is really no feeling of being able to win.  My host asked my why and I told him the same thing. VP and slots are so tight, every trip is a losing trip.  Was spending my money elsewhere.  Now its much cheaper to pay for a nice room and good food than gaming and losing and having it all comped. I am a pretty good VP player, and finding any good machines is almost impossible these days, for someone who does not live there.

I recently went back to Vegas with a group of guys that I'd been with before, but it was the first time in probably 15 years or so.  Turns out the only thing I really missed was how cheap (or even free) things used to be.  Now the prices for everything are on par with theme parks!  Food, drinks, even small toiletries all have absolutely ridiculous mark-ups.  Even the extra fees for things that were included not that long ago by hotels didn't exist the last time I went.  If they really want my money gambling it sure seems like they'd let me have more of it to actually gamble with...

I guess mt memory is fading.  Sigma Derby was the machine

After reading all of your comments I now realize that the Old Vegas is dependent on what you consider to be Old.  My Old Vegas is from the 1960's so comments about my idea of Old Vegas must be in relation to what it was like back then (inflation adjustments included).  My Old Vegas wanted customers and treated all customers the same (yes whales too)but hated cheats. So when I say the New Vegas sucks by comparison there is no one who can prove me wrong.

New Vegas brought us so many new fine dining choices, but I love my memories of what was left of old school Vegas too. I'm torn, but I also think I'm an in-betweener, not being old enough to have experienced the Rat Pack days and too old today to be into the club scene. From a strict gambling perspective,everyone wants old Vegas odds/service to reappear and 6-5 BJ to disappear.

Old I walked the strip in 1985 on Sunday night and everyone was in the casino, such a pleasant walk, I was 20 and 8 months and got kicked out of casino. New, I have not paid for a room in 20 years, and I am a low-roller.

I only disagree with 1 thing in the stated description of Old Vegas: I never have liked dressing up! Not for anything in any area of life. I totally agree about personal service and want to add "one-man ownership" to the concept; Jackie Gaughan was quite magnanimous and the opposite of cold-hearted corporations.  I also agree about the gourmet dining rooms.  I'd like to add the wonderful old architecture and neon signs that were the norm; they had character. (There will never be a museum of digital signs.) As a video poker player, I have always loved "coin droppers" because you really feel the win or the "take" when you see and hear all those coins dropping out of the hopper and hitting the tray and then carry them in buckets to the cashier. And in the old days or the time between "Old" and "New", several interesting nonstandard VP games came out that no longer exist (4 of a Kind Bonus Kickers, full-pay 4-Joker and 5-Joker Poker). And buffets were cheap, like they were meant to be.

One poster mentioned that he doesn't like to sit in a restaurant next to "someone in cargo shorts, an old t-shirt, and flip flops". I agree with respect to gourmet or "fine" restaurants. But I think what's worse than that are 2 kinds of patrons:  those who are loud and irritating (either having a conversation like they're at home or in a bar, or else talking to someone on their cell phone and having to talk louder than the restaurant noise), and those who are dead quiet because they're spending all their time doing things on their cell phone screens instead of talking to each other. I will concede what one poster said about the greater prevalence of cigarette smoke back in the day, something I've always hated. It's a definite plus that smoking is now illegal in restaurants in Vegas. I'd also like to comment that, in general, visitors to Las Vegas a long time ago were more considerate to other gamblers. Nowadays, they are just generally more self-centered and lacking in consideration.

Free lounge acts with decent performers were a plus back in the day.  Handling filthy coins/slugs dispensed by the slot and vp machines was a minus.

Someone commented that he's 58 and has been coming to Vegas since 1966.  So, he was 5 or 6 years old when he started!  Must have spent a lot of time in the midway at Circus Circus.

> visitors to Las Vegas a long time ago were 
>more considerate to other gamblers. Nowadays,
>they are just generally more self-centered
>and lacking in >consideration.

That started when Bob Dancer, after extensive computer modeling, determined that gamblers who spent time being considerate of other gamblers were squandering E.V. by .00341.

I started visiting Las Vegas in the mid 80s as a young man. It was beautiful. You'd usually lose your bankroll but if you played smart, it would last the 4-5 days you were there. The food, drink, and lodging were nearly free and you always left knowing you'd be back. Now you'll be broke before you even get a chance to gamble with the exorbitant hotel fees and ridiculous restaurant prices. The show's aren't worth seeing, there's no star power anymore. The clientele is a cross between frat boys and trailer trash and the cookie-cutter mega resorts are generic and uninspiring. I give this town about another decade before its it's done, sad.

We started visiting Vegas 25 years ago.
What I miss the most is how "uncluttered" the Strip was back then.
Most of the casinos were set back from LVB.
Now, it's like driving through Manhattan with every available space filled with mostly retail opportunities.
Also, it seems that most of the people that populate the Strip are competing to see who can spend the most money.
We hang out downtown with the cheap eats, good BJ tables, free entertainment, drunks, panhandlers, and hookers.