{"id":13492,"date":"2014-04-30T11:41:21","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T19:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=13492"},"modified":"2014-04-30T11:41:43","modified_gmt":"2014-04-30T19:41:43","slug":"vegas-a-return-to-the-halcyon-years-it-looks-that-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/vegas-a-return-to-the-halcyon-years-it-looks-that-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegas: A return to the halcyon years? It looks that way"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSCN1272\"<\/a>Las Vegas<\/strong> recorded its highest visitation numbers of all time<\/a> last March, helping to drive gambling revenue 8% upward<\/a>. We had 3.7 million tourists, 4% than the previous year. Despite fewer conventions, a 20.5% leap in convention attendance (with the ConExpo-Con\/Agg<\/strong> accounting for a fifth of the total)\u00a0helped drive the numbers. Hotel executives were quick to pounce, raising ADRs 21%, to $133.92 — highest since April 2008 — as occupancy hit 92%. (Occupancy metrics were higher than last year in every respect.) All these numbers have the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority<\/strong>\u00a0excited that this might be the year Vegas reaches or surpasses 40 million tourists. Only drive-in traffic was down, off 3% from last year.<\/p>\n

Fortune favored the house, with baccarat revenue up 40% (on flat handle) and craps winnings up 36%. Mesquite<\/strong> continues to decline (-9%) but nearly every other jurisdiction posted higher numbers: the Strip (+11%), Downtown<\/strong> (12%), North Las Vegas<\/strong> (15%), Boulder Strip<\/strong> (10%), Laughlin<\/strong> (8%), Lake Tahoe<\/strong> (32%). The greater Reno<\/strong> area, off 10.5%, did blot the ledger somewhat. One positive, long-term augury for the Strip was a full quarter of improved slot play, taken as a sign that visitors are finally opening their pocketbooks again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>\u201cThis new [younger] demographic isn\u2019t generally spending time on slot machines,\u201d said Union Gaming Group<\/strong> analyst Robert Shore<\/strong>. If he’s right — and I believe he is — it only makes sense for the industry to pivot toward amenity-driven attractions like The Linq<\/strong>, The Cromwell<\/strong>, The Park<\/strong> and SLS Las Vegas<\/strong>. As for those who fear Internet<\/strong> gambling, it only grossed $926K … no threat to bricks and mortar.<\/p>\n

On the subject<\/strong> of younger gamblers, a simplified version of craps has been invented by a dealer at Philadelphia<\/strong>‘s SugarHouse Casino<\/strong>. Called “Props & Hops,” it’s aimed at the craps player with an attenuated attention span and the uncontrollable urge to multitask.\u00a0“They don’t have patience like players did in the past,” lamented inventor Thomas McCann<\/strong>. Hence the new, single-roll games<\/a>. Until Oct. 1, they’re exclusive to SugarHouse. Congratulations to McCann and co-inventor Mark Grochala<\/strong> — and here’s hoping the patent trolls don’t get them.<\/p>\n

Caesars Rock Gaming<\/strong> is doing such an effective job of playing upon Cleveland<\/strong>‘s Higbee Building<\/strong> and its attendant nostalgia<\/a> that you kind of wonder why they want to build a generic, new casino nearby.<\/p>\n

Jim Murren, Zen Master<\/strong>:\u00a0\u201cThe smallest presence in Macao<\/strong> will no longer be the smallest presence<\/em>,\u201d from yesterday’s conference call<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Las Vegas recorded its highest visitation numbers of all time last March, helping to drive gambling revenue 8% upward. We had 3.7 million tourists, 4% than the previous year. Despite fewer conventions, a 20.5% leap in convention attendance (with the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51,14,7,76,49,126,11,78,71,95,79,162,19,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13492"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13492"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13496,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13492\/revisions\/13496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}