A:
When the pandemic subsides and business slowly returns to "normal," do you think the casino industry will be more generous or less generous with its customers? Understanding that the casinos will take a hit in the billions, does conventional wisdom say, Let’s entice our customers back with great comps and offers, or will they tighten up to catch up?
This is our second-most frequently asked question these days. Here at LVA.com, we have our suspicions, though we're far from any agreement, with factions on all sides of the issue. That's why we're currently running a poll on the issue; we're curious about a possible consensus, or at least a plurality of opinion, from all you other experts out there in QoDland. Please vote! Results will be posted in a couple of weeks.
Do the win total bets on hockey and basketball get refunded because the seasons likely won't finish? What about baseball win totals that were sold, assuming that the season may be shortened? And if there are no playoffs, can we assume that "odds to win the title", etc. bets are considered no action? And: I made a couple of bets on the Masters while in Las Vegas in February. Will they refund if the Masters is not played?
This is our number-one most frequently asked gambling question. Everything that's known about how the sports books will handle existing tickets on games that aren't being played and seasons that might not be completed or start is contained in a blog by Blair Rodman. Blair, among his other advantage-play qualifications, was part of one of the biggest and most successful sports betting groups in the world throughout the 1990s, has made some kind of bet on a sporting event practically every day for the past 40 years, and is the author of a book we'll release this year, All About Sports Betting. Here's the link to his blog.
During the shutdown, are hotel and casino owners using the down time to do any renovations or sprucing up of their properties?
Not that we've heard.
We do know that janitorial staffs have been doing deep cleaning and disinfecting of public spaces in many casinos, as you might expect. Renovations and even "sprucing-up" projects, however, need to be planned well in advance in terms of design, materials, labor, and financing; plus, as seen in Monday's QoD on negative cash flow, casino companies are desperately trying to extend their cash-burn rates. So we tend to doubt that any are taking advantage of this situation to undergo impromptu and/or quickie construction projects.
Is the city planning to do some roadwork on the Strip while the coronavirus has rendered it nearly empty? It definitely needs some TLC. I often wonder when or how they could ever get anything on a big scale done on Las Vegas Blvd. with the few minutes every morning it might experience what might be considered “light traffic."
Here's what Anthony Curtis wrote in the April issue of the Las Vegas Advisor: "Despite what I just wrote [about the surreal ghost-town scene], the Strip is still somewhat clogged. How can that be? It’s because roadwork has been ramped up. It makes sense to take the opportunity, but we can’t even get the small favor of a quick Strip commute out of the mess we’re now enduring."
Can you play VP and slots in the Vegas grocery stores/gas stations while the shutdown is in progress? If so, are they limiting players to social distance guidelines? (Hang in there, looking forward to coming back ASAP.)
Answer to the first question: No. This was specified in the Nevada edict: all gambling shut down; all machines turned off. Answer to the second question: Moot.
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