Bob and I are back to talk to Dennis Rappaport. Dennis was a boxing manager, and promotor probably best known for managing Gerry Cooney. He also was a brilliant PR man, and has some crazy stories from his years in “The Sweet Science.”
podcast – https://www.spreaker.com/episode/dennis-rappaport–58880349
Contrary to Wall Street’s expectations, gambling revenues on the Las Vegas Strip dropped 4% last month. The $686 million haul was depressed by 4.5% lower coin-in at the slots, despite tight hold (9%). Table games fared even worse, with a -17% trend in wagering (baccarat excluded) driving a -20% plunge in casino winnings. Baccarat play plummeted 31.5% but luck was with the house, which saw only a 7.5% decline in win. Contrarily, locals-casinos blossomed, their revenue up 4.5%, propelled by Durango Resort, which continues to do boffo business. Slot revenue of $239.5 million was up 5.5% while table win ($46 million) was flat. Compared to the once-halcyon days of 2019, the Strip was up 29% and locals joints were 31% higher. The January numbers may be somewhat misleading, as end-of-December slot winnings got rolled into the next month (due to a Nevada reporting oddity); making locals numbers look even better and Strip ones marginally less worse.
Continue reading Dip on the Strip
Among the many good deals at Downtown Grand are the instacomp dining specials. After earning just 25 points ($50 coin-in), you’re qualified for discounts on several meals in Freedom Beat.
When we describe this deal, we usually reference the $14.99 prime rib, but there are also other half-off specials, including the Freedom Beat burger, a half-pound Angus beef patty with cheese, lettuce, and tomato on a brioche bun. This one’s a banger! Cooked to order — if you want rare, you’ll get rare — and served with fries or a fresh fruit cup, you probably wouldn’t mind handing over the $16 retail price. But it’s just $8 on this deal. Eat at a table or the counter. Parlay with the blackjack and video poker mini-tournaments on Thursdays.
Play $50 through any machine with your players card inserted, then download the coupon from a DG kiosk. That’s all there is to it and it can be done daily — get another burger tomorrow or switch to the prime rib or another half-price option.
Additionally, the same $50 coin-in gets you free parking. Park in the Ogden garage, earn 25 points, then take your players card to the club booth for validation (you don’t need the kiosk if you don’t eat).
If you play 8/5 Bonus Poker (99.17% return), your expected loss to qualify for this deal is about 50¢. That’s with perfect play. Since most of us aren’t perfect, let’s call it a $1. That’s good, but you can usually do better. As we’ve reported many times, the return on the quarter 9/5 Double Double Bonus progressive at the Furnace Bar is almost always close to breakeven, if not positive. Whatever you play, a burger and parking for $50 in action is as good an instacomp as you’ll find.
Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: All weekend buffet prices went up $5. From $19.99 to $24.99. Breakfast Friday & Sun, 7 a.m.-11 a.m. Breakfast Saturday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday BBQ Night Dinner, 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday Mexican Night Dinner, 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m. No Sunday Italian Night Dinner this weekend.
Excalibur – The Buffet at Excalibur: Weekday Brunch went up by $1. Mon-Thurs, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. is $31.99. Weekend Brunch went up by $4. Fri-Sun, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. is $37.99.
Palms – A.Y.C.E. Buffet: Brunch is a daily buffet now instead of weekends only. Mon- Tue & Friday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Wed-Thurs, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. All daily brunch costs $32.99.
Reservations are now required for the all-you-can-eat lobster dinner buffet. Available every Wednesday and Thursday, from 2pm – 9pm. Still costs $64.99. Must go to Palms website to reserve.
There was a rumble in Manhattan on the 22nd. Proponents and foes of New York City casino descended upon a town hall to duke it out. In this corner, opposed to casinos is state Sen. Liz Krueger. In the other, favoring a megaresort is state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal. “We do need to center the community and insure community members have the opportunity to have their voices heard,” said the latter, adding, “I’m going to be using my involvement with the community advisory committee … to do just that: insure that the proposals—and there are two of them in my district on the west side of Manhattan—are first and foremost beneficial to and desired by the community around it.”
Continue reading This & that
Bonnie and I regularly played at an out-of-town Caesars property where part of the monthly mailer was $200 in resort credit apiece. If we played our usual amount, our host would pick up food charges. So that left the resort credit to be spent at gift shops. They had a women’s store, a men’s store, and a jewelry store, in addition to a typical small gift shop where you could get various sundries.
Generally speaking, you don’t expect casino gift shops to compete on price. At the men’s store, I was told that if I paid with cash or credit card, I’d get a 35% discount. If I used Reward Credits, I’d get a 20% discount. And if I charged to my room, I’d get no discount. Part of the deal with the $200 resort credit was that you had to charge it to your room.
The resort credits weren’t worth anywhere near face value to us — but they were obviously worth something and made the play worth more to me than if I didn’t get to spend them. So how much are they worth?
No gift shop is worth the same amount to every player. I would wear a few of the shirts sold by this particular men’s store — but not all that many. A younger man — or a man whose taste is different from mine — might find he liked a much larger percentage of the inventory than I do. Bonnie is usually with me on these trips — and she can usually find something in one of the gift shops. If I tell her she has $400 to spend at such and such a selection of stores, she’ll find at least that much for one of us — or for one of our relatives or friends.
If I were thinking a $200 gift shop award might be worth $100, I asked myself, “Would I pay $100 in cash to get that $200 gift shop award?” For me, the answer was, ‘No.’ But I might pay $50 in cash. So, I figured that’s what the award was worth.
I find it useful to turn this into a percentage — so I can add it into the mix along with the return on the game, the slot club, and other such awards. If I regularly played $10,000 and they gave me this award worth $50 to me, the award would be worth 0.5%. If I played $100,000 (which is closer to what I actually play), the award is worth 0.05%.
Frankly, something worth 0.05% would rarely be enough to tip the play-or-not-play scales into positive territory. Maybe if a play were already worth 100.3%, which is about the minimum I’ll play, I’ll make a play I might otherwise pass on. But that exact circumstance rarely happens.
It turns out that I find such awards most valuable for “keeping Bonnie happy” reasons.
Bonnie and I keep our finances separate. If I win or lose $40,000 on a trip, it basically doesn’t affect her finances at all. But if I have the advantage on the play, and I can play on her card as well as mine, it’s good for her to make the trip with me, even if there is not much for her to do once she’s there.
So, gift shop awards, at least one nice dinner per trip, free movies in the room, and excursions to sight-seeing places are all part of what we do while we’re there. Sometimes I give her half of my win in a drawing. She’s 80 years old, I’m 77, and staying happy together is a significant part of our game plan. If there is suitable music, we dance for a few hours. If we earn cruises, she gets a big say in where we go. Bonnie’s generally a good sport about coming with me when I take these “business trips,” I want her to look forward to our time together. If getting to go shopping brings a smile to her face, I’m all for it.
In this week’s video Anthony and Andrew talk about the jaw-dropping gaming revenue on the Las Vegas Strip, how to fix a video poker mistake, a MASSIVE jackpot, and more.
This post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.
AC Says:
There’s no shortage of bad gambling advice out there, as well as misinformation and faulty assumptions. Perhaps at the front of the list for blackjack is the notion that the skill level of the other players at the table affects your results. Or specifically, that a bad player, especially one who’s last to act before the dealer, will negatively affect the overall outcome of good players. You’ve heard it a thousand times, but it’s not true. Anyone who’s ever felt this needs to read this article in which Henry Tamburin presents evidence that settles the matter. It’s your skill level that determines your results, not the play of others. Pay attention also to the list of things that do matter. I’ll take slight issue with the last bullet point that observing a lot of small cards having been dealt in previous rounds signals a good time to raise your bet. That’s certainly the essence of card counting, but simply “observing” isn’t likely to yield solid information. You need to become proficient at counting to detect favorable situations.
This article was written by Henry Tamburin in association with 888Casino.
Several years ago, I wrote an article that contained misinformation about blackjack that originated from players, dealers, movies, and the Internet. I thought I had heard and read all the nonsensical misconceptions about blackjack that have been spoken or written over the past 50 years; however, I was wrong, dead wrong.
That’s because I recently received a print magazine published in the USA for casino players that contained an article on blackjack strategy, which floored me…
Managing expectations was the order of the day for Caesars Entertainment, which had guided Wall Street to expect cash flow of $930 million. That included a 5% revenue disappointment on the Las Vegas Strip, despite 98% occupancy. The quarter could have been better were it not for salary increases (we thought the company had made provision for that; it certainly said it had), construction-related disruptions in New Orleans and Indiana, the loss of 65,000 room nights at the Versailles Tower of Paris-Las Vegas and Colosseum Tower at Caesars Palace, and adverse sports betting hold as punters did well. Caesars execs warned stock boffins not to anticipate too much from 1Q24, saying January was “a debacle” thanks to dreadful weather. In the same breath they said, no matter, it’s “a seasonally slow month.” So which is it?
Continue reading Caesars on ice; Bally’s “respectable”
Frustration is setting in with the players, the fanbase, and Chris and Eddie, as the VGK struggle with inconsistent play.
For the first time since the Stanley Cup run of last year, Adin Hill has had multiple subpar games back to back. Is this a fluke or a regression?
But the huge story coming out of Tuesday’s loss to Nashville is the injury to Captain Mark Stone (and the return of Shay Theodore after 35 games on the shelf).
Given the history of the Injury Bug biting the VGK, GM Chris Chapman talks about what he and the VGK should do with potentially $19 million in LTIR cap space.
All this and much more on Episode 70 of Hockey Knights in Vegas!
