Ghost in the (slot) machine; The “evil genius” of resort fees

Electrical troubles are bedeviling Downtown casinos. All the slot machines at the Four Queens and Binion’s Gambling Hall were idled by a mechanical snafu last week. Table games remained operational, as did selected video-poker machines. Terry Caudill clammed up when reporters came calling, so most of what we know falls in the category of anecdotal customer reportage. Needless to say, with slot machines KO’d, so was their TITO capability. (A $17 hand pay took an hour.) “Maybe the one IT guy dropped his stack of punch cards and then missorted them,” grumbled a player. Points could not only not be accrued at slots but, reportedly, at table games as well. ATMs were allegedly idled and credit cards unusable, while comps could not be redeemed.

Guest-management, point-of-sale and TITO systems were all reported to be down. Speculation on causes ranged from sabotage by a disgruntled employee to—more plausible—a systems upgrade gone awry. Perhaps the cruelest blow, if true, would be an inability (or at least great difficulty) to book hotel rooms, negating Caudill’s biggest selling point: no resort fees.

It’s not just a Four Queens/Binion’s problem. An S&G source was at the Golden Gate trying to redeem free play and the system wouldn’t recognize her points. Also, computer issues at The D have meant no February freeplay from them. Derek Stevens will want to have issues like that definitively sorted by the time he opens Circa on New Year’s Eve.

* 4Q19 was a mixed bag for International Game Technology. Expansion unit sales were off the charts at 1,405 (+469%), although the replacement cycle, while still impressive—5,986 slots—was 8% down. IGT’s casino-installed base was 11% off, at 20,493 units. Interactive revenue was up 10% at $300 million, while lottery sales were 10% down at $279 million. Italy, though slightly down, was a strong source of revenue at $448 million. Service revenue, while 6% off, contributed $967 million and sales jumped 20% to $286 million. More good than bad, we’d say.

* Former White House staffer Fred DuVal believes resort fees are “Pure evil genius.” We agree. However, we hope no one in the hospitality industry was reading his recent column, lest it give them ideas—like charging for how often you flush the toilet or for the air that is piped into your room (in Las Vegas there’d be an air-conditioning premium, for sure). Then there could be levies for using the elevator (“You do have options.”) or for walking on the sidewalk. At least Clark County owns the latter. Whew. But DuVal isn’t so far off the mark when he writes, “Restaurants could apply a mandatory fee for water, utensils and plates that must be washed.” Some of the restaurant and bar imposts come dangerously close to that. Not that the extra diñero would be passed on to the poor dishwashers, of course.

* Virgin Hotel has lost its Vegas virginity, signing a pact to present the AVN Expo, AVN Awards and GayVN Awards next January. That means we can look forward to the return of Mistress Cyan and her Lair, as well as “the infamous” LATATA Porn Star White Party. The so-called “CES of sex toys” will be Virgin’s first marquee event and it bids fair to be a memorable one.

Jottings: Crown Resorts has received a reprieve of sorts, as a court appeal of its New South Wales regulatory inquiry has been enjoined while a legal challenge is heard. Crown shareholders are undoubtedly heaving a sigh of relief … Violence at Encore Boston Harbor is getting out of hand. A police officer suffered a concussion and two other policemen were injured trying to corral rowdy guests last weekend … With management’s support, workers at Maverick Gaming have voted to unionize. That makes them the first union-repped gambling employees in Washington State … Macao casinos grossed $387 million last month, good for most jurisdictions other than the Las Vegas Strip, terrible for the Macanese … Live crab from a vending machine? They’re available in China. Then again, that might be a good way to contract coronavirus.