The Money Mustache Community
Around the Internet => Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy => Topic started by: FireLane on April 24, 2017, 04:30:24 PM
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Those typical spoiled millennial brats, not wanting to... um... throw their money away on casino gambling (http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/sin-city-bust/story?id=46773399) like their parents and grandparents did?
But that's not the Vegas Strip where the Raiders will play after owners on March 27 approved the team's relocation by a shockingly lopsided 31-1 vote. They're moving in either 2019 or 2020 to a Vegas that is fading, thanks to the continuing fallout from the real estate crash a decade ago and millennials' deep distaste for casino games. Wide swaths of craps tables and roulette wheels sit empty on casino floors as 20-somethings, mesmerized by their smartphones, idle on leather chairs with their backs turned to the pulsating penny slot machines. Deep debt hangs over most gaming corporations, and a handful are untangling themselves from multibillion-dollar bankruptcies. Many casinos now charge for parking, once unheard of in an industry designed to make it easy for customers to enter and all but impossible to leave.
You always hear people accusing us millennials of being the entitled ones, but here the casino owners are the ones showing a sense of entitlement. Even though we're making a financially savvy decision, they use the same language to attack us for it. They think it's rude of us to not waste money on games where the odds are in the house's favor, as if they had a right to presume that every generation would be as mathematically illiterate as the one before it.
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The first time I went to a Casino was when my Aunt dragged me to the Tropicana in Atlantic City, New Year's Eve 1987. I had no interest in gambling, but got $20 in quarters just for something to do. $14 later, the slot machine I was playing lit up - I had hit the jackpot, yay! Because I was only playing one quarter at a time, I only won $125. If I had been throwing my money away at the rate of five quarters per throw, it would have been $12,500. I was quite happy to walk away with $111.
I've been back there many times over the years, only because my in-laws live in Atlantic City, so we often ate (free on their points) at the Tropicana restaurants. It still blows my mind to see people huddled over machines, pouring money into them.
We were walking past a roped-off slot machine area one day when a woman hit the jackpot on the dollar slot machine. I forget how much she won, but the guy guarding the entrance told me she'd been there for hours, playing five dollars at a time. I'm sure nobody heard about that part later on, just the winnings.
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If I had been throwing my money away at the rate of five quarters per throw, it would have been come up as something other than a payout of $12,500. I was quite happy to walk away with $111.
FTFY :)
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The first time I went to a Casino was when my Aunt dragged me to the Tropicana in Atlantic City, New Year's Eve 1987. I had no interest in gambling, but got $20 in quarters just for something to do. $14 later, the slot machine I was playing lit up - I had hit the jackpot, yay! Because I was only playing one quarter at a time, I only won $125. If I had been throwing my money away at the rate of five quarters per throw, it would have been $12,500. I was quite happy to walk away with $111.
I've been back there many times over the years, only because my in-laws live in Atlantic City, so we often ate (free on their points) at the Tropicana restaurants. It still blows my mind to see people huddled over machines, pouring money into them.
We were walking past a roped-off slot machine area one day when a woman hit the jackpot on the dollar slot machine. I forget how much she won, but the guy guarding the entrance told me she'd been there for hours, playing five dollars at a time. I'm sure nobody heard about that part later on, just the winnings.
Have you ever seen a slot tournament? Just hundreds of people slumped over machines hitting the buttons as fast as they can. I still don't completely understand what that is all about.
I hear about retirees spending time at the casino. I don't get it. If I wanted to sit in a windowless room all the time with people I barely know I would stay at work.
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Good for you millenials. Good for you.
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Casinos are dumb. Gambling is dumb.
That said, you're really reaching for the "entitlement" here. If I had a business model that worked for decades and made tons of money, I would be confused and frustrated if it suddenly stopped working. The whiny ones will go bankrupt. The smart ones will innovative to a new normal.
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The first time I went to a Casino was when my Aunt dragged me to the Tropicana in Atlantic City, New Year's Eve 1987. I had no interest in gambling, but got $20 in quarters just for something to do. $14 later, the slot machine I was playing lit up - I had hit the jackpot, yay! Because I was only playing one quarter at a time, I only won $125. If I had been throwing my money away at the rate of five quarters per throw, it would have been $12,500. I was quite happy to walk away with $111.
I've been back there many times over the years, only because my in-laws live in Atlantic City, so we often ate (free on their points) at the Tropicana restaurants. It still blows my mind to see people huddled over machines, pouring money into them.
We were walking past a roped-off slot machine area one day when a woman hit the jackpot on the dollar slot machine. I forget how much she won, but the guy guarding the entrance told me she'd been there for hours, playing five dollars at a time. I'm sure nobody heard about that part later on, just the winnings.
Have you ever seen a slot tournament? Just hundreds of people slumped over machines hitting the buttons as fast as they can. I still don't completely understand what that is all about.
I hear about retirees spending time at the casino. I don't get it. If I wanted to sit in a windowless room all the time with people I barely know I would stay at work.
I've never seen (or even heard of) a slot tournament, but it sounds terrible.
The biggest disconnect for me was when we were enjoying a day at South Lake Tahoe, and my SIL got us a free room at Harrah's for the night. It was just so weird to come indoors after riding horses and being at the beach, just to see all these zombie people at the slots, looking as if they raided the Goodfellas wardrobe. How does that vacation discussion go? "Hey, let's go spend some time in one of the most beautiful places in the US, but stay indoors breathing secondhand smoke and eating casino food!"
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I'm GenX, not exactly the subject demographic.
I was encouraged to go to the races with a group of family and friends one evening. They seemed shocked that I wouldn't gamble. Yeah, I'm a little weird like that. ;)
At the time DW and I were working pretty hard and some of DW and our money was literally sweaty odd-job manual labor. I just couldn't enjoy throwing it at the (unlikely) chance that I would win something.
I didn't understand then or now how it all worked anyhow so any bet would truly be a shot in the dark.
I was content to sip on something cold and watch the races. ;)
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A lot of millennials are gambling but not in the casino sense. Instead they are playing fantasy sports on sites like fanduel or draftkings.
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I'm skeptical of the idea that this is purely a story of millenials turning away from gambling. Another trend that has been happening over the last couple of decades is the spread of legalized gambling in other states and the availability of online gambling. In other words, fewer Americans need to physically travel to Nevada to scratch that itch.
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I'm skeptical of the idea that this is purely a story of millenials turning away from gambling. Another trend that has been happening over the last couple of decades is the spread of legalized gambling in other states and the availability of online gambling. In other words, fewer Americans need to physically travel to Nevada to scratch that itch.
Millennials are also all about 'authentic' experiences, they don't want something manufactured and marketed. And there's nothing less authentic than Las Vegas.
I do think though there are plenty of millennials who enjoy 'real' gaming, like playing poker (maybe online) and blackjack and other games where this is some skill or thought behind it. But blindly jabbing at slot machines? No.
Me, I'm not opposed to gambling if I can have some fun with it; I went to an off-strip casino in Vegas once and put down $40 and played blackjack for like 4 hours while downing endless pitchers of free Miller Lite, THAT is fun. But I went in assuming I would lose all $40, and that was acceptable; there's never any fantasy of a "big win" for me because I'll never wager enough to win much. I'd rather play a long time for $40 and walk away with $20 than put in $400 and hope to turn it into $10,000.
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I'm older than most, I do remember going to Vegas for fun in the eighties. I learned to play the Don't Pass Line in Craps, because that's where the odds were "best". I never spent more than a couple of twenties, and I made it last a long time, occasionally winning a little, but nothing spectacular.
What killed Vegas for me was the sprawl and having to travel there for Trade Shows 2-3 x per year. We walked and stood so much all damn day that there was no energy for anything else by close of business.
The rise of state lotteries, Internet gaming, and flashing light games on smartphones have all contributed to the slowdown in Vegas*. Have no fear, they will morph themselves into something else that sells. Millennial just have different hot buttons.
*ETA: Totally forgot about Indian Casinos and Gaming Parlors. Those, too.
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I'm in my 30s. I went to a casino for the first time ever a few months ago (not in Vegas) just to see what it was like. I decided to goof around with the penny and nickel video slot machines because I have no idea how to play any of the real games.
After playing for a few minutes I realized that I had no idea what was going on. Things that looked like they should be winners weren't, and things that looked like losers were winners. Then every so often there would be a special item or something, and it would go to some sort of mini-game where you did stuff on the touch screen. The whole thing was just kind of tedious, and I felt kind of silly and frustrated so I cashed out and left. I realized then that this is probably how my parents feel when they have to use a smartphone or any other "new" technology.
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After playing for a few minutes I realized that I had no idea what was going on. Things that looked like they should be winners weren't, and things that looked like losers were winners. Then every so often there would be a special item or something, and it would go to some sort of mini-game where you did stuff on the touch screen. The whole thing was just kind of tedious, and I felt kind of silly and frustrated so I cashed out and left. I realized then that this is probably how my parents feel when they have to use a smartphone or any other "new" technology.
DW and I went to a casino a couple of months ago, because someone who wanted to thank her took her for lunch at one and she had gotten a "free introductory money" card which she was still carrying around. It took us quite a while to figure out how to work the slot machine, it is not that easy, and I do have a smart phone. We finally discovered we had turned the $20 in "free" money we couldn't cash in into something like $11 in money we could, so we cashed in and went, woot! :)
I do agree with one of the earlier posters that part of what is killing Vegas is much more legalized gambling in more places as more states either authorize Native Americans to build casinos, or just cave completely and allow it anywhere. I was showed a casino in Mississippi that was a "riverboat" casino. It was a large, multistory concrete building with a moat you could only see looking over the side of the walkway entrance. Apparently it floated on an artificial pond, pylons holding it in place, with a ditch connecting the pond to a river miles away, and was officially licensed as a boat. Probably a fairly boring job as captain. . .
The other thing is a lot of other online entertainment options without even leaving your house, including probably any kind of gambling you could think of. I suspect more people gamble than ever before, but it is less visible and concentrated.
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I was in Vegas for the first time last fall. I don't gamble or drink alcohol. But it was fun being in casinos - I like the lights and sounds. We spent our trip checking out the city and local veg restaurants, going to shows, and heading out to the Grand Canyon. It was a blast, but it sure would seem strange to a lot of people, I bet.
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A lot of millennials are gambling but not in the casino sense. Instead they are playing fantasy sports on sites like fanduel or draftkings.
+1
Poker is also popular, but if you play with a group of friends it's zero sum. Winners and losers net out.
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I went on a vacay to Vegas once or twice. I had always heard how cheap it was. Well that's not the case, at least on the strip. Most young people are going to Vegas as a destination, and you pay through the nose for restaurants, drinks (unless you're on the casino floor), and even hotel rooms. The strip has lots of nightclubs now too that make $1000s in cover charges and bottle services. Now I can't imagine that millennial tourism is making up for gambling decline. Not really sure the exact profits from gambling, I feel it must be very profitable? but the tourism must be easing the pain at least a little.
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PS there's a YUGE casino at the end of the strip that's half finished, apparently construction was stopped in 2008 and never resumed.
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A lot of millennials are gambling but not in the casino sense. Instead they are playing fantasy sports on sites like fanduel or draftkings.
Sports betting on mobile apps is also a massive problem now.
The major sporting codes take tens of millions of dollars in sponsorship from the betting shops, under the guise that the wagering companies will monitor things like match fixing and unusual betting patterns.
In return, our TV screens are completely saturated with ads for gambling. The language used is totally inappropriate: a stake is now an "investment", a payout is now a "return", various aspects of the game e.g. first/last pointscorer, total overs/unders are now called "markets".
The mute button on my TV remote is destined to break soon... it's insidious.
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PS there's a YUGE casino at the end of the strip that's half finished, apparently construction was stopped in 2008 and never resumed.
It's the Fantainebleau Resort (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontainebleau_Resort_Las_Vegas). The story is pretty interesting--What stopped the construction was that Bank of America, representing the creditors, refused to give them more money to finish construction in May 2009. It sounds like the project itself was progressing as expected, but the long-term financials suddenly didn't look so good after the crash :)
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Horse racing, golf, motorcycles catering to the "dress up like a pirate and pretend I'm Billy Badass" crowd, and now casinos. Yea, it's starting to look like an intelligence test, and millenials seem to be testing pretty well.
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Perhaps the American character types are getting tired?
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With Millennials not going to casinos, would this thread find a better place in the "Mustachianism around the web" subforum? :P
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I went to Vegas for a trade show once. Wasn't interested that much in gambling but I fell into the "When in Rome..." mindset and thought I'd play some blackjack. I convinced myself that although it was technically gambling, I was doing it as entertainment.
About the fourth hand, I took a card and busted. The guy two over from me took a card and busted, pointed to me and said "If you hadn't hit like an idiot, I would have gotten the card I needed." Entertainment time now over, I left and really had no desire to do it again.
I think gambling is like investing in a way... if you do stupid things when starting out and you get real lucky anyway, that's about the worst thing that could happen. You'll believe your "system" is better whether it's blackjack, poker, or stock-picking - and stick to it doggedly. But stupidity will overcome luck in the long run.
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Horse racing, golf, motorcycles catering to the "dress up like a pirate and pretend I'm Billy Badass" crowd, and now casinos. Yea, it's starting to look like an intelligence test, and millenials seem to be testing pretty well.
Don't forget car ownership.
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The guy two over from me took a card and busted, pointed to me and said "If you hadn't hit like an idiot, I would have gotten the card I needed."
What a complete dick. If you hit like you did, and he ended up with 21, I am guessing he would not have thanked you.
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Last time I was in Vegas I sat down at a $1 Roulette Table with $20. I was with my wife and some old friends. I played for about 3 hours, we made pals with our table mates, got free drinks (except for the tip of course) and had a crack.
On the other hand I quit my local monthly poker game. I am not very good at it (which is fine by me), but people were constant dicks about it (which is not). So, they drove away their easy money by being dicks.
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Vegaas can be fun, with or without gambling. If you sit down at a bar and put $20 in a video poker machine you get a "free" $14 cocktail. You might even win some money. Last time I was in vegas I think I spent a total of about $22 on gambling. My favorite thing to do is fill a water bottle full of booze and go walking around people watching. Gets more and more entertaining as you finish your "water".
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The guy two over from me took a card and busted, pointed to me and said "If you hadn't hit like an idiot, I would have gotten the card I needed."
What a complete dick. If you hit like you did, and he ended up with 21, I am guessing he would not have thanked you.
From what I gather (and I am definitely no expert), there is an etiquette that comes into play with respect to taking and not taking cards in blackjack. I'm not really sure what these rules even are (I think it has something to do with the odds of drawing face cards), but some people get really bent out of shape if they perceive your deviation from this standard to be affecting their draw. I've been to Vegas twice, and both times I've encountered that exact behavior at the table. The first time, the dude was standing by the table with his entourage wanting to fight me, until security stepped in and politely asked them to move along.
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Ah yes another "snake people are ruining the world" article. I'm doing my part by not contributing! I'm currently on my third week in Vegas for work, and I've spent $0 on gambling. I went to one strip hotel for dinner once (Yardbird at the Venetian...super good fried chicken and waffles...but super pricey...so it tasted even better putting it on my corporate card)...parking and walking a mile just to eat was a just a super annoying experience.
The Vegas strip has it's place among vacation experiences, and I've done the partying thing, and will probably return for a future drunk vacation, but I'm of the opinion that it's way more fun to bring your own alcohol and engage in shenanigans than to mindlessly gamble away your hard earned money.
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I've been to the local casinos 6 or 7 times, had a great time, but never put a dime into gambling there. The casinos here have the best restaurants around in a mall-like setting, I love heading that way with friends just to try out a new place to eat. They get their fair share of money from me, but I demand to receive SOMETHING in return, a show a meal or an overnight stay.
To me, gambling on games at the casino is lame. I'll only bet on poker games outside of a casino setting.
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Vegas is about entertainment not just gambling; it will survive just fine (so long as it has water).
I would strongly consider moving there for work if an opportunity presented itself. LOTS of cool stuff to see and do.
re personal gambling - meh. Cant say I really like trying to do math while drinking at 2am.
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Once they stop trying to water the desert we'll all be better off. Moving there, in my opinion, is foolish unless you're there to make a quick buck and get out.
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This was a while ago. My mother (RIP) would take the free senior center bus trip to Atlantic City (she wasn't living at the senior center, volunteered there). Free trip back and forth, and they would give you a $10 roll of quarters. The bus dropped you directly in front of the casino. She would walk through the casino, exit the back side that faced the boardwalk, spend a lovely 4-5 hours on the boardwalk, eat lunch with the roll of quarters and get back on the bus at the end of the day. A lovely day at the beach for free. From what she could tell, everyone else spent the entire day inside the casino and most would spend way more than the $10 they were "given."
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The guy two over from me took a card and busted, pointed to me and said "If you hadn't hit like an idiot, I would have gotten the card I needed."
What a complete dick. If you hit like you did, and he ended up with 21, I am guessing he would not have thanked you.
From what I gather (and I am definitely no expert), there is an etiquette that comes into play with respect to taking and not taking cards in blackjack. I'm not really sure what these rules even are (I think it has something to do with the odds of drawing face cards), but some people get really bent out of shape if they perceive your deviation from this standard to be affecting their draw. I've been to Vegas twice, and both times I've encountered that exact behavior at the table. The first time, the dude was standing by the table with his entourage wanting to fight me, until security stepped in and politely asked them to move along.
Haha, I love those people. They're so delusional. I've had my fair share of blackjack playing when I happen to be somewhere with casinos for work. I go in expecting to lose money, but consider it a win if the money spent/drink ratio breaks even. The characters at the tables are fun to interact with, in a schadenfreude kind of way. The people who get upset are the people who actually think playing cards is a viable way to make money. When they're down on their luck, many of them take out the pain on others who "aren't playing right" according to the books. While there is a slight statistical advantage when everyone plays "properly", in order for those stats to play out you have to play a ridiculous number of hands. The house definitely has the advantage when it comes to the number of hands they deal vs the number of hands an individual plays.
On the other hand, it is quite sad when you realize the person next to you isn't going to be able to pay rent this month because they lost the last money they had on the hopes of winning. Casinos are a dark place when you get past the flashy lights.
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This was a while ago. My mother (RIP) would take the free senior center bus trip to Atlantic City (she wasn't living at the senior center, volunteered there). Free trip back and forth, and they would give you a $10 roll of quarters. The bus dropped you directly in front of the casino. She would walk through the casino, exit the back side that faced the boardwalk, spend a lovely 4-5 hours on the boardwalk, eat lunch with the roll of quarters and get back on the bus at the end of the day. A lovely day at the beach for free. From what she could tell, everyone else spent the entire day inside the casino and most would spend way more than the $10 they were "given."
This made me smile. My wife's grandmother was a little old Russian lady. Stereotypical, to the point that if you were casting for a movie and needed a little old Russian lady, you could do no better. She was hunched over a cane, house dress with support stockings and what could pass for men's dress shoes, babushka tied tight, a proudly permanent scowl, and a no bullshit outlook on life. Once a week she would jump on the free AC Casino bus, departing from the lobby of her elderly high rise. Once there, she would grab the roll of quarters, and head for a cheap lunch. If it was nice outside, she would spend the day on a boardwalk bench facing the waves, then head back to the bus. She was a thrifty old bird. When she passed, there as about $10K in cash hidden in every nook, book and hat box in her little apartment. Best job she ever had was as the cleaning lady at a rough corner bar, in a bad neighborhood, in the shadow of a steel mill.
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This was a while ago. My mother (RIP) would take the free senior center bus trip to Atlantic City (she wasn't living at the senior center, volunteered there). Free trip back and forth, and they would give you a $10 roll of quarters. The bus dropped you directly in front of the casino. She would walk through the casino, exit the back side that faced the boardwalk, spend a lovely 4-5 hours on the boardwalk, eat lunch with the roll of quarters and get back on the bus at the end of the day. A lovely day at the beach for free. From what she could tell, everyone else spent the entire day inside the casino and most would spend way more than the $10 they were "given."
This made me smile. My wife's grandmother was a little old Russian lady. Stereotypical, to the point that if you were casting for a movie and needed a little old Russian lady, you could do no better. She was hunched over a cane, house dress with support stockings and what could pass for men's dress shoes, babushka tied tight, a proudly permanent scowl, and a no bullshit outlook on life. Once a week she would jump on the free AC Casino bus, departing from the lobby of her elderly high rise. Once there, she would grab the roll of quarters, and head for a cheap lunch. If it was nice outside, she would spend the day on a boardwalk bench facing the waves, then head back to the bus. She was a thrifty old bird. When she passed, there as about $10K in cash hidden in every nook, book and hat box in her little apartment. Best job she ever had was as the cleaning lady fat a rough corner bar, in a bad neighborhood, in the shadow of a steel mill.
Great description of the Russian grandma! My family came from E. Europe so I had a grandma a bit like this too. Being thrifty wasn't an option for them. I remember once grandma found a fur coat at a yard sale - it was black and possibly something like shorn lamb. Apparently this was her 'dream coat' and she was so happy to finally get one. :)
I will keep this in mind when I am a senior - free bus to a casino, possibly a freebee thrown in and an inexpensive lunch.
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This was a while ago. My mother (RIP) would take the free senior center bus trip to Atlantic City (she wasn't living at the senior center, volunteered there). Free trip back and forth, and they would give you a $10 roll of quarters. The bus dropped you directly in front of the casino. She would walk through the casino, exit the back side that faced the boardwalk, spend a lovely 4-5 hours on the boardwalk, eat lunch with the roll of quarters and get back on the bus at the end of the day. A lovely day at the beach for free. From what she could tell, everyone else spent the entire day inside the casino and most would spend way more than the $10 they were "given."
This made me smile. My wife's grandmother was a little old Russian lady. Stereotypical, to the point that if you were casting for a movie and needed a little old Russian lady, you could do no better. She was hunched over a cane, house dress with support stockings and what could pass for men's dress shoes, babushka tied tight, a proudly permanent scowl, and a no bullshit outlook on life. Once a week she would jump on the free AC Casino bus, departing from the lobby of her elderly high rise. Once there, she would grab the roll of quarters, and head for a cheap lunch. If it was nice outside, she would spend the day on a boardwalk bench facing the waves, then head back to the bus. She was a thrifty old bird. When she passed, there as about $10K in cash hidden in every nook, book and hat box in her little apartment. Best job she ever had was as the cleaning lady fat a rough corner bar, in a bad neighborhood, in the shadow of a steel mill.
Great description of the Russian grandma! My family came from E. Europe so I had a grandma a bit like this too. Being thrifty wasn't an option for them. I remember once grandma found a fur coat at a yard sale - it was black and possibly something like shorn lamb. Apparently this was her 'dream coat' and she was so happy to finally get one. :)
I will keep this in mind when I am a senior - free bus to a casino, possibly a freebee thrown in and an inexpensive lunch.
My MIL lives next door to the Tropicana in Atlantic City. She gets a lot of visitors who are there to gamble, so she makes them use her casino card so that she gets all the points. She takes us out to eat at one of the nicer restaurants sometimes, and it's always free when she uses her points.
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I used to go to Vegas to rock climb a lot. It was great. You could get a cheap room, climb hard all day, come back to your room (after running through the stink cocktail of smoke, bad food and old people), shower, go to the pool and have a real meal instead of the usual campground groveling and no showering of all non-Vegas climbing trips. Not to mention Red Rocks was my favorite place to climb.
At the end of the trip I would ceremoniously and tongue in cheekily gamble the pocket change from the trip at the airport. The cashier (?) person smirked at me one time as I cashed in my $7 something in coins. I got the last laugh when about 15 minutes later I gave him my payout slip for $54.
Casinos are soul sucking places. I learned this when my parents took me to one of those third rate "riverboats" the midwestern and southern states use to get around their self imposed, biblical based hangups so they can do unholy things like play games of chance. It was full of retirees playing slots, looking like zombies. I lived in South Lake Tahoe for four years too and only went to the casinos to catch movies or something and they made me feel the same way. Yuck.
I was born in 1978 so I don't think that makes me a millenial, but I don't give my hard earned money away either.
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Casinos are supremely depressing, filled with geriatrics that probably have no business being there, and just sleazy feeling. I'd have fun with poker or something (and have done random pickup games at various points in my life), but the casinos I've seen don't seem to offer that outside of high rollers.
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I was in Vegas last week.
I can't help but notice how freaking serious people look when they gamble. Even it's "for fun" they don't look like they're having much!
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I was in Vegas last week.
I can't help but notice how freaking serious people look when they gamble. Even it's "for fun" they don't look like they're having much!
In this respect it's much like golf. For people playing a "relaxing" sport "for fun", they sure get upset a lot. When I was 18 I got paid USD$100 for writing a 4-line poem mocking the fact; I sold the poem to Golf Digest. Best 10 minutes I ever spent and more than worth the paper and postage.
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Local to me the casinos in Macau are faceing a slow down too. Some people blame the crack down in China others changing tastes. It's also a lot less international and aimed at the higher end market then Los Vegas. Also it just does not look fun, lots of guys with intense looks on their faces loseing money playing Fan Tan. Even the bad looking prostitutes outside look more fun.
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I'd rather sit in our quiet, sunny kitchen and read something... ;)
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Local to me the casinos in Macau are faceing a slow down too. Some people blame the crack down in China others changing tastes. It's also a lot less international and aimed at the higher end market then Los Vegas. Also it just does not look fun, lots of guys with intense looks on their faces loseing money playing Fan Tan. Even the bad looking prostitutes outside look more fun.
I went to Macau a few years back and tried using a slot machine for the first time - it wasn't fun at all, and the casinos sure were not fun places to be in! I had way more fun checking out the places where local people hung out, visiting the big church ruins (forget what it was called), and strolling along the waterfront.
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Millenials should not be expected to gamble as much as older demographic groups as gambling tends to correlate with age. Las Vegas is dominated by those over 65 who have both the time and discretionary cash to enjoy gaming. I think average visitor spends about $600 per trip to Vegas and four hours per day playing games. It can be a lot of fun for relatively little money and a huge amount of fun if you win!
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Agreed that maybe Millennials would gamble more if only they were making real $$$. The economy is more to blame by giving them short shrift.
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Local to me the casinos in Macau are faceing a slow down too. Some people blame the crack down in China others changing tastes. It's also a lot less international and aimed at the higher end market then Los Vegas. Also it just does not look fun, lots of guys with intense looks on their faces loseing money playing Fan Tan. Even the bad looking prostitutes outside look more fun.
I went to Macau a few years back and tried using a slot machine for the first time - it wasn't fun at all, and the casinos sure were not fun places to be in! I had way more fun checking out the places where local people hung out, visiting the big church ruins (forget what it was called), and strolling along the waterfront.
Yeah St. Paul's ruins are a popular place for the SEA that live in the Peninsula. Interesting fact. That is the third St. Paul's, the previous two burnt down too.
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I'm in a casino a few days a week. Side hustle is playing poker on nights / weekends. It is depressing seeing all of the zombies around the slot machines. Occasionally you hear stories about some elderly zombie that just pisses themselves at the machine because they don't want to get up.
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I'm in a casino a few days a week. Side hustle is playing poker on nights / weekends. It is depressing seeing all of the zombies around the slot machines. Occasionally you hear stories about some elderly zombie that just pisses themselves at the machine because they don't want to get up.
You can say what you want about native American casinos. However, the slot machines at the casinos in my area are a sad and surreal experience to see. Zombies is a good term to use.
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I'm in a casino a few days a week. Side hustle is playing poker on nights / weekends. It is depressing seeing all of the zombies around the slot machines. Occasionally you hear stories about some elderly zombie that just pisses themselves at the machine because they don't want to get up.
You can say what you want about native American casinos. However, the slot machines at the casinos in my area are a sad and surreal experience to see. Zombies is a good term to use.
It doesn't seem to me that the ownership of the casinos is a factor in how zombie-fied regular slot and VLT players can be.
Besides tuning all the machines in the key of C, optimizing colors, rhythms, and patterns to have a more hypnotic effect, and the very well known intermittent reward conditioning technique, would it be possible for game designers to do much *more* to make them mesmerizing? Especially with people serving them free alcohol while they play? It sounds to me like a recipe for inducing zombie behavior.
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I'm in a casino a few days a week. Side hustle is playing poker on nights / weekends. It is depressing seeing all of the zombies around the slot machines. Occasionally you hear stories about some elderly zombie that just pisses themselves at the machine because they don't want to get up.
You can say what you want about native American casinos. However, the slot machines at the casinos in my area are a sad and surreal experience to see. Zombies is a good term to use.
It doesn't seem to me that the ownership of the casinos is a factor in how zombie-fied regular slot and VLT players can be.
Besides tuning all the machines in the key of C, optimizing colors, rhythms, and patterns to have a more hypnotic effect, and the very well known intermittent reward conditioning technique, would it be possible for game designers to do much *more* to make them mesmerizing? Especially with people serving them free alcohol while they play? It sounds to me like a recipe for inducing zombie behavior.
Likely has more to do with where tribal casinos are as opposed to the tribal ownership if that makes any sense. Case and point, there is one about twenty minutes from where I live that only the locals frequent and even then it really is just the retired members of the community. Given that this is a rural area and tourists come up here to hike and enjoy the national parks, the target audience for the tribal casinos really is retired people burning through their savings.
That is true. I was talking in generalities. As you mentioned, it has to do with the fact that tribal casinos are generally much more 'local' ( i.e. - easier to get to ). Since they are more local, they tends to attract more lower-income people than a gaming mecca like Vegas.
This article is pretty interesting..and it ties right into the slot machine issue :
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/gaming-the-poor/
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I play poker for a living and am in casino 5 day/week but I don't play slots/table games. so many thought...
I agree with others who just don't get the appeal of sitting in front of slots, and the dreary nature of the casino floor.
Millenials were a big part of the online poker boom ~6-8 years ago, but I would love to see some demographic breakdown on online player pool but I don't think any of this is public. As others have said part of millennials not gambling has to be connected to income/assets.
Sheldon Adelson is hated by any online poker players who pay attention because he is spending millions in lobbying and advertising to stop online poker from getting legalized/regulated in the US. He is a huge hypocrite because he argues that against online gambling on moral grounds - remember this is coming from a guy who has made his Billions on gambling!
Any slowdown in LV revenue has to be seen in the context of new casinos opening all over the US in last 10 years and of course in Maccau
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In vegas I have walked the floor at 5am on my way to work and seen plenty of zombies at the slots, it was really sad.
As far as zombi-ification and the slots go many of the same principles are at play in cell phone apps; pretty colors, nice sounds, blinky lights. Have read a little on the stuff going on with how you set up an app/websites look to get people hooked-is interesting. It might just be that young folks are getting there blinky light fix from there cell; or not, plenty of old people are hooked on CandyCrush.
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I grew up in the NE with relatively frugal parents. One of their friends convinced them to go to Atlantic City one Wednesday morning, so they gave in and went. It was the 90's when they went, I recall it was $20 for the bus and they gave you $20 in quarters when you got there. I remember getting a call from my parents after school to check up on us, and then complaining about how much it sucked, they didn't get it, and they were dying for the stupid bus to return so they could come home! I don't even think they got a nice lunch together, and my mom was weird and hated the beach, so the boardwalk wouldn't have been an option.
FF to 2001, and hubby & I decided to skip the ridiculous "requirements" of the east coast wedding, so we did a destination wedding in Vegas, mostly b/c there were no residency requirements to get married there. I recall having to go back to my in-laws room to pick up something for the wedding that they had forgotten to bring, and by the time I got back, the entire wedding was nearly over. Those places are HUGE!
10 years later, hubby & I decided to go back for a vacation and to check out the real Las Vegas. Other than stopping by the wedding chapel to take a peek, we did not step foot in any casinos. We saw the Vegas sign, we took in a minor league baseball game, we went to the Hoover Dam, Red Rock and did a quick overnight trip to Los Angeles. I scored a newly renovated massive timeshare for $250/week, just around the corner from the strip, and we rented a car for about $150. We grocery shopped and did quick meals in our cool apartment, hung out at the pool, did some mini-golf, visited a chocolate factory, it was a great vacation and really cheap too! That's the Vegas I love. I'm not a millennial, but I fail to see the draw of casinos too.
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I changed planes in Vegas. That was close enough to the tourist crazy for me. The airport had plenty of slots and "oxygen bars" and other silliness. I think I'd like to drive down the Vegas strip at night, take a few pictures and leave.
I'm not a gambler nor do I support gambling b/c of the disportionate hit the gambling poor take. Just too much technology at work to entice people to spend money they might not have. Not a fair fight IMHO.
If my absence hurts the casinos just a little then I feel better.
Gamble if you like though. I'm not preaching.
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The best part of Vegas for me has always been the artwork. Dale Chihuly has a new shop open, and you can't beat his installments inside the Bellagio. I love the flower displays as well. The last time I went to Vegas for my husband's birthday, we went to the Bodies exhibit and to a circus thing called Absinthe which was hilarious and awesome and well worth the ticket price. Apart from that, we just walked around looking at all of the amazing sculptures and paintings on display. Gambling is just so dreary. Why do that when you can spend your money on Penn & Teller or some other awesome show instead?
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Driving down the Vegas strip, if you're the one driving, is overrated. Yes the lights are cool, but the traffic is insane and the cab drivers are even more insane. It's hard to enjoy the lights when there are crazy pedestrians and crazier drivers all around you.
There is a bus for like $2 that goes up and down the strip if you want to drive the strip, or, better yet, get some steps in and walk it (it's longer than it looks!).
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Thanks - the bus sounds like the answer.
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FF to 2001, and hubby & I decided to skip the ridiculous "requirements" of the east coast wedding, so we did a destination wedding in Vegas, mostly b/c there were no residency requirements to get married there. I recall having to go back to my in-laws room to pick up something for the wedding that they had forgotten to bring, and by the time I got back, the entire wedding was nearly over. Those places are HUGE!
I may have missed something here. Are you saying you missed part of your own wedding? They actually started without you?
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i love gambling but hate losing money ... i should only play games where i have a statistical edge ... poker and sports betting. i'll take my winnings from there to the Black jack tables or pai gow tables. but since finding MMM my gambling has almost stopped entirely.
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I've wondered if millennials don't gamble in casinos much anymore because of the proliferation of video games. Slot machines these days are just boring video games that just suck a ton of money away regularly. I'd rather buy a good game for a fixed price.
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I still go to Vegas. good meeting point for friends scattered around the globe. We do cheap hotels, poker, $5 blackjack and Pai Gow and $1 roulette. Any losses are part of the entertainment budget. The hotel food and drink costs are minimal.
Reduce the house edge as far as you can, learn basic strategy and don't do stupid shit when you are drunk. Turns into a hell of a good time.
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I still go to Vegas. good meeting point for friends scattered around the globe. We do cheap hotels, poker, $5 blackjack and Pai Gow and $1 roulette. Any losses are part of the entertainment budget. The hotel food and drink costs are minimal.
Reduce the house edge as far as you can, learn basic strategy and don't do stupid shit when you are drunk. Turns into a hell of a good time.
this is why i stay away from Vegas now except with my wife. b/c she keeps me in line. haha.
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I still go to Vegas. good meeting point for friends scattered around the globe. We do cheap hotels, poker, $5 blackjack and Pai Gow and $1 roulette. Any losses are part of the entertainment budget. The hotel food and drink costs are minimal.
Reduce the house edge as far as you can, learn basic strategy and don't do stupid shit when you are drunk. Turns into a hell of a good time.
this is why i stay away from Vegas now except with my wife. b/c she keeps me in line. haha.
Took my wife last year. cost me more as she likes decent dining and not a club sandwich on points!! AND i had to bankroll her!
Luckily I learn from my mistakes... :D
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I'm in a casino a few days a week. Side hustle is playing poker on nights / weekends. It is depressing seeing all of the zombies around the slot machines. Occasionally you hear stories about some elderly zombie that just pisses themselves at the machine because they don't want to get up.
You can say what you want about native American casinos. However, the slot machines at the casinos in my area are a sad and surreal experience to see. Zombies is a good term to use.
Nothing like watching dozens of blue-haired widows pumping their husband's Beth Steel pension into a slot machine at 2pm on a random Tuesday.
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FF to 2001, and hubby & I decided to skip the ridiculous "requirements" of the east coast wedding, so we did a destination wedding in Vegas, mostly b/c there were no residency requirements to get married there. I recall having to go back to my in-laws room to pick up something for the wedding that they had forgotten to bring, and by the time I got back, the entire wedding was nearly over. Those places are HUGE!
I may have missed something here. Are you saying you missed part of your own wedding? They actually started without you?
LOL, I should have been more clear. The Reception, by the time I got back, the reception was nearly over. The actual wedding ceremony was Vegas style, done in 20 minutes, with the next wedding party waiting in the hallway...
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FF to 2001, and hubby & I decided to skip the ridiculous "requirements" of the east coast wedding, so we did a destination wedding in Vegas, mostly b/c there were no residency requirements to get married there. I recall having to go back to my in-laws room to pick up something for the wedding that they had forgotten to bring, and by the time I got back, the entire wedding was nearly over. Those places are HUGE!
I may have missed something here. Are you saying you missed part of your own wedding? They actually started without you?
LOL, I should have been more clear. The Reception, by the time I got back, the reception was nearly over. The actual wedding ceremony was Vegas style, done in 20 minutes, with the next wedding party waiting in the hallway...
Yeah I remember walking from the Sands Convention to the Mirage (across the street on the strip) and then up to my hotel room to grab some things and then walking back and it was probably like 90 minutes.
I love that most of the conventions I go to now are at the Vegas Convention Center which is off the strip and that now I stay at the Best Western. It's so much more comfy, cheaper, less smokey and casino-y, and has a free lot where you can park your car.
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I'm a millennial and while I don't *hate* gambling, I only go every couple of years now. I used to live within easy driving distance from Biloxi, so we'd go over, catch a show at the Beau Rivage and maybe play some blackjack for awhile. There was a time where I knew enough strategy and could keep up with the cards well enough to play for a solid few hours on $50. I have had some decent luck on slots, but it's not something that can hold my attention long.
The one time I went to Vegas, it was for a friend's wedding. It was sooooooo hot I didn't want to do anything.
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Shout out to the Pin Ball Hall of Fame: http://pinballmuseum.org/ (http://pinballmuseum.org/)
I'm not a gambler, and the insanity that is the excess of Vegas makes me feel ill, but I'll pay $0.25 for pin ball games.
It was a great place to spend the hot hours of the day while the party people of the group slept off their hangovers.
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Shout out to the Pin Ball Hall of Fame: http://pinballmuseum.org/ (http://pinballmuseum.org/)
I'm not a gambler, and the insanity that is the excess of Vegas makes me feel ill, but I'll pay $0.25 for pin ball games.
It was a great place to spend the hot hours of the day while the party people of the group slept off their hangovers.
That looks like a fun several hours!
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Shout out to the Pin Ball Hall of Fame: http://pinballmuseum.org/ (http://pinballmuseum.org/)
I'm not a gambler, and the insanity that is the excess of Vegas makes me feel ill, but I'll pay $0.25 for pin ball games.
It was a great place to spend the hot hours of the day while the party people of the group slept off their hangovers.
That looks like a fun several hours!
If you happen to be in downtown vegas there is the Fremont Arcade at Neonopolis that has a bunch of customized and one off pinball machines.
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Shout out to the Pin Ball Hall of Fame: http://pinballmuseum.org/ (http://pinballmuseum.org/)
I'm not a gambler, and the insanity that is the excess of Vegas makes me feel ill, but I'll pay $0.25 for pin ball games.
It was a great place to spend the hot hours of the day while the party people of the group slept off their hangovers.
That looks like a fun several hours!
If you happen to be in downtown vegas there is the Fremont Arcade at Neonopolis that has a bunch of customized and one off pinball machines.
I do enjoy me some poker but ^ and the roller coasters would be a reason to go to Vegas. Been there pre and post 21, and honestly, gambling was not the fun part!
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Millennials are too busy paying for worthless master's degrees so they can feel smart and independent. Who has scratch for slots when your $600 monthly student loan bill is due next week? =P
It could be, as others have mentioned, that mills have turned to online gambling, but, as a millennial myself, I don't personally know anybody who gambles in that way. The smart millennials are being cautious, the less-smart ones are trying to make quick profits doing other things like house flipping with money they don't have, but that leads into another topic.
At least we aren't wasting our time in casinos, though. I think I subconsciously associate casinos with old farts, to be completely honest. Fat old dudes with tropical t-shirts. The Godfather Part II. I lost $1 at a casino in South Dakota many years ago, the experience wasn't even worth that much. :o
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I've lost a total of $3 at casinos in my life. I had to go to an Indian casino in Mississippi for a work trip a few years back. I decided to take $100 out of the ATM (which charged a $3 fee). I stood at a craps table for about 5 minutes with my $100, trying to figure out what the hell what happening. Then I walked upstairs to my hotel room and went to sleep. Casinos are a literal incarnation of my nightmares, and I would never go back to one willingly.
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I live just a few minutes from a gambling town (Not in Nevada) and my observation is that young people have never gone to them whether they were millennials, genxers, or whatever came before or between. Gambling seems to be most popular with people over a certain age if you ask me. Our gambling town can't build hotel space fast enough to accommodate the number of people who want to come and stay overnight, so not really seeing a slowdown in this market.
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I live just a few minutes from a gambling town (Not in Nevada) and my observation is that young people have never gone to them whether they were millennials, genxers, or whatever came before or between. Gambling seems to be most popular with people over a certain age if you ask me. Our gambling town can't build hotel space fast enough to accommodate the number of people who want to come and stay overnight, so not really seeing a slowdown in this market.
It's pretty funny, I've been to Vegas twice now and it definitely seems like the casinos are all full of old people. There are way more young people at shows, exploring the strip, or outdoors at any of the awesome desert hiking areas near the city. The main appeal to me for Vegas is honestly the hiking. Living in the PNW, some sweet desert hiking is always a blast.
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Those typical spoiled millennial brats, not wanting to... um... throw their money away on casino gambling (http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/sin-city-bust/story?id=46773399) like their parents and grandparents did?
But that's not the Vegas Strip where the Raiders will play after owners on March 27 approved the team's relocation by a shockingly lopsided 31-1 vote. They're moving in either 2019 or 2020 to a Vegas that is fading, thanks to the continuing fallout from the real estate crash a decade ago and millennials' deep distaste for casino games. Wide swaths of craps tables and roulette wheels sit empty on casino floors as 20-somethings, mesmerized by their smartphones, idle on leather chairs with their backs turned to the pulsating penny slot machines. Deep debt hangs over most gaming corporations, and a handful are untangling themselves from multibillion-dollar bankruptcies. Many casinos now charge for parking, once unheard of in an industry designed to make it easy for customers to enter and all but impossible to leave.
You always hear people accusing us millennials of being the entitled ones, but here the casino owners are the ones showing a sense of entitlement. Even though we're making a financially savvy decision, they use the same language to attack us for it. They think it's rude of us to not waste money on games where the odds are in the house's favor, as if they had a right to presume that every generation would be as mathematically illiterate as the one before it.
I cheer every time I see a headline talking about an industry/business/product that the millennials are 'destroying' due to not spending their money there. No business is entitled to my money. The ones that earn my money provide me a service I want or need in a way that's better than their competitors. So if casinos die... ok, guess they aren't needed anymore. If they were, there would be enough customers to waste their money there. Same with every other industry. If millennials don't want mortgages, fine, the housing market can die or shift to a higher percentage of rentals. If millennials decide that they don't want blue vehicles, and no one else buys enough of them, blue vehicles will go away. That's how it works. At some point the horse buggy businesses folded because they weren't needed anymore. Blockbuster is down to one store. It's all good. Move on. If you want your business to survive, shift to meet the needs of the current customers. Even if that means getting rid of DVDs and going to online streaming.
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I've lost a total of $3 at casinos in my life. I had to go to an Indian casino in Mississippi for a work trip a few years back. I decided to take $100 out of the ATM (which charged a $3 fee). I stood at a craps table for about 5 minutes with my $100, trying to figure out what the hell what happening. Then I walked upstairs to my hotel room and went to sleep. Casinos are a literal incarnation of my nightmares, and I would never go back to one willingly.
I have fun watching the dog and horse races. Making mental calculations on who I think will win the race. I'm very scientific about it - the red one or the one on the end of the row.
I have fun watching my friends win or lose in casinos. My money is happiest staying in my pocket. Lotteries have a similar effect on me.
Wahoo! $500M in some lottery somewhere! Wouldn't that be fun to have all that money (if I could collect anonymously)? That's as far as I get towards actually participating in any lotteries.
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My local stations air lots of ads for Lake Charles, LA and the native American resorts nearby.
I think the funniest (and saddest) part of the casinos is contrasting the actual zombie patrons to those people depicted on the TV commercials: It's almost always some successful, stylishly dressed middle aged James Bond guy with some young arm candy, cooing and cheering him on as he wins bigly. Her fancy evening dress covers slightly more than the white (always) bikini she was wearing while ordering fancy poolside drinks earlier that afternoon. And after a fancy meal, they finish the evening by ballroom dancing. Gotta love marketing!
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My local stations air lots of ads for Lake Charles, LA and the native American resorts nearby.
I think the funniest (and saddest) part of the casinos is contrasting the actual zombie patrons to those people depicted on the TV commercials: It's almost always some successful, stylishly dressed middle aged James Bond guy with some young arm candy, cooing and cheering him on as he wins bigly. Her fancy evening dress covers slightly more than the white (always) bikini she was wearing while ordering fancy poolside drinks earlier that afternoon. And after a fancy meal, they finish the evening by ballroom dancing. Gotta love marketing!
Yep. We get glamorous ads for Greektown casino in Detroit. Admittedly, I've only been there once, but I didn't see any one in a fancy suit or evening gown. Hmmph.
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The biggest issue Boomers and older gens have with Millennials is that we're not buying their worthless junk. For example, my kids just finished their Little League softball seasons. If you placed, you got a trophy, and because not everyone gets one (which can be a nice memento), the extra funds go to every team getting an equipment bag and a bucket of balls.
We're not buying "collectibles." Why? Because they are stupid.
We're calling gambling "a problem," like smoking, vaping, drinking, and working yourself to death.
Remember the headline: "Young people think they should be happy at work"? and others like it? They are trying to pat themselves on the back while trying to convince us that their old ways are better.
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I used to gamble frequently using arbitrage, sign-up bonuses and fake accounts to earn a decent buck or two off online gambling sites.
Since sign-up bonuses and betting inducements have largely been made illegal, I've stopped gambling. I don't see the point in gambling unless the house is rigged in your favour. Gambling for the sake of gambling is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard of.
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The first time I went to a Casino was when my Aunt dragged me to the Tropicana in Atlantic City, New Year's Eve 1987. I had no interest in gambling, but got $20 in quarters just for something to do. $14 later, the slot machine I was playing lit up - I had hit the jackpot, yay! Because I was only playing one quarter at a time, I only won $125. If I had been throwing my money away at the rate of five quarters per throw, it would have been $12,500 $0 as I would have run out of quarters long before. I was quite happy to walk away with $111.
Fixed that for you ;)
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Cool. Maybe the casinos will go BK and be turned into housing or something worthwhile? Probably not.
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My casino experience was I played some roulette, and was down $30. I put a dollar in a cheap slot machine and won a small prize(33 or so) so I played until it equaled my roulette loss and walked out. (I ended up with too may dollar coins though.)
I do do a bit of sport/political betting but that was funded from sign up and deposit bonuses so I have not lost their either.
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I live just a few minutes from a gambling town (Not in Nevada) and my observation is that young people have never gone to them whether they were millennials, genxers, or whatever came before or between. Gambling seems to be most popular with people over a certain age if you ask me. Our gambling town can't build hotel space fast enough to accommodate the number of people who want to come and stay overnight, so not really seeing a slowdown in this market.
It's pretty funny, I've been to Vegas twice now and it definitely seems like the casinos are all full of old people. There are way more young people at shows, exploring the strip, or outdoors at any of the awesome desert hiking areas near the city. The main appeal to me for Vegas is honestly the hiking. Living in the PNW, some sweet desert hiking is always a blast.
Exactly. I'm not there often, maybe a long weekend every third/fourth year since it's an easy spot to meet up with some remote friends (extremely cheap flights from almost everywhere is a big draw, as are the constant hotel deals) and the best use for the casinos for us is post-hike and pre-show. Post-hike we can grab showers and lounge around a pool for a while to relax; pre-show it's a couple dollars on video poker at one of the bars to get comped for a drink before said show. And by a couple dollars I mean <$5 apiece even with tip.
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I am wrapping up a book called "Born to Lose," by Mike Lee, a compulsive gambler who began losing all his baseball cards in grade school, and later went on to accumulate casino debt that took 10 years to pay off.
He once screamed to God on his way to Reno to make his car break down, and it did. He coasted to a gas station where the belt was replaced. The result? He couldn't believe he'd lost 30 minutes that he could have been gambling, and felt that $13 for the part was a bit high.
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I am wrapping up a book called "Born to Lose," by Mike Lee, a compulsive gambler who began losing all his baseball cards in grade school, and later went on to accumulate casino debt that took 10 years to pay off.
He once screamed to God on his way to Reno to make his car break down, and it did. He coasted to a gas station where the belt was replaced. The result? He couldn't believe he'd lost 30 minutes that he could have been gambling, and felt that $13 for the part was a bit high.
It's astounding that when a person is fixated on a compulsive behavior, even when they get a lucky break that interferes with the self-destructive process they don't seem to see it as anything except a barrier to be overcome on the path to more satisfying self-destruction.
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I was at a family vacation that was at Atlantis, and one evening went to the casino. They had a couple Chihuly pieces (I always think Cthulhu when I see his name) that were beautiful, but otherwise thought the place has a tacky feel. I didn't like how you couldn't even tell what time it was (no clocks or windows). I watched my BIL play roulette for awhile and then played a few dollars of slots. It wasn't fun because I didn't know what was going on. What was I supposed to press when? How do I increase my odds? What was I supposed to do when a little animation came up?) Playing bejeweled is more fun. And intellectually knowing the odds were against me, was aversive versus incentive. I would be a lot more interested if, I had cash, to spend it at the adjacent restaurant (Nobu).
The thing is, it seems every place that has casinos, the prices for regular stuff is raised (drinks, sandwiches, entertainment). I did get a free drink, but it wasn't a place I'd want to hang out.