Las Vegas go hard or go home thread

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

5 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

 

Damn even with the crazy resort fees that's pretty cheap

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[Armybrat 40896]

😅

[Francisco 2.0 32426]

10 hours ago, Grade of D as in David said:

Damn even with the crazy resort fees that's pretty cheap

 

I've got 5 nights at the Wynn for late July at $111 per night

 

I booked in December, and I asked for a rate reduction in April.  Not long ago, they emailed me back with another rate reduction.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[Landomatic 3813]

2 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

 

That's pretty badass.  Spent some money on that thing.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[Landomatic 3813]

15 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

 

They need to add a level for people who don’t gamble much but still spend a shitload of money there.  One thing MGM has going for it that I always felt Wynn needed. Some poor schmuck can spend $500 gambling and he’s got more stroke and perks there than someone who spends $5,000 on food, booze and other shit.  Never seemed quite right to me.

[Angry Gorilla 1769]

27 minutes ago, Landomatic said:

They need to add a level for people who don’t gamble much but still spend a shitload of money there.  One thing MGM has going for it that I always felt Wynn needed. Some poor schmuck can spend $500 gambling and he’s got more stroke and perks there than someone who spends $5,000 on food, booze and other shit.  Never seemed quite right to me.

I don't know the economics of casinos, but do the bars, restaurants, clubs, shops etc in the casinos just pay a flat rent or is there some sort of profit sharing?  If someone spends $500 gambling, and loses $250, I know that the entire $250 goes to the casino.  If someone spends $5K on food and club and shopping, and there isn't profit sharing, then the casino doesn't benefit from that beyond helping insure the tenants can continue paying rent.

 

More casinos should add points for room reservations though.  So far Cosmo is the only place I have found that does that.  

[wild_turkey 3182]

They need to add a level for people who don’t gamble much but still spend a shitload of money there.

Agreed. In a given trip I’ll spend 5-10 hours playing craps, mostly $10 or $25 tables. I usually leave +/- $1,000 so I’m far from a high roller. I also eat most of my meals on site, drinks at the pool or a bar, usually hit up XS, maybe the spa...so the non-gambling expenses are certainly there.

In the past that would get a few drinks at the pool knocked off my bill, maybe brunch one day - not a lot but it’s something. Now I rarely get anything comped back.

I’d like to see some kind of Red Card benefit, just to say thank you for being a loyal customer and to justify even having it or bothering to hand it to a dealer. It feels a bit silly showing my Red Card to people only to get 0 benefit at checkout.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

A little busy right now to get too deep into all the casinos operations but some background might help.

A former Harvard B-school professor named Gary Loveman was consulting with Harrahs in the late 1990s and then became the COO. He created what became the whole data tracking and rewards industry. It centered around comps for gaming, mostly table games and slots. From the casino perspective, the big change was the ability to track your play and adjust offers accordingly. Also gave them a way to cross market to regional players and send them Vegas offers.

Fast forward to today’s situation and now you have the tiered reward systems at many big casinos. The reason for the tiers is to have some way to offer basic deals to those who don’t gamble but spend money at the casino on rooms and food and entertainment etc. As witnessed above, it’s nothing great but offers some modest benefits. Once you become more of a rated player, then the comps ramp up quickly. I think most here are aware of the system of rewards and benefits. For example, as an aside, poker is rewarded differently in that usually players can receive modest food comps and for lengthy minimum playing times per day can get a reduced room rate.

The entire business model has shifted over this time period as well, whereas the main focus used to be gaming, now the bulk of the revenues come from non-gaming. So the convention and entertainment/sports calendar is paramount, bringing large amounts of paying customers to stay in the rooms and spend money on food and everything else. Gaming whales are still very important and obviously receive generous comp deals. What has changed dramatically is the low end casual gambling customer. We saw the rise is fees from parking and resort. In a growing and stronger economy, they didn’t mind squeezing the little guy but now we see the rollback in parking fees for now.

For the most part, restaurants inside the casinos pay rent and employ the workers. The casinos benefit from them being successful and staying afloat. The clubs are usually run by a group like Hakassan but I think have a slight revenue sharing agreement.

Bottom line is the business model has evolved greatly over the last 20 years. Pro tip, it never hurts to ask what the casino can do for you, especially in the current environment.

[Landomatic 3813]

4 hours ago, Angry Gorilla said:

I don't know the economics of casinos, but do the bars, restaurants, clubs, shops etc in the casinos just pay a flat rent or is there some sort of profit sharing?  If someone spends $500 gambling, and loses $250, I know that the entire $250 goes to the casino.  If someone spends $5K on food and club and shopping, and there isn't profit sharing, then the casino doesn't benefit from that beyond helping insure the tenants can continue paying rent.

More casinos should add points for room reservations though.  So far Cosmo is the only place I have found that does that.  

Yeah, I don't know how the economic structure works.  I'm sure the majority of their revenue comes from gambling and I understand that's what drives the big perks and comps and shit.  I get that.  But, when I used to go the Wynn 3-4 times a year, I think I estimated that we were averaging about $2K per night with each trip being 2-4 nights per trip.  So, I was pretty easily dropping around $20K a year there, give or take, and we did that for more than 5 years.

So, yeah...I kind of think there should have been some kind of program to reward several years of loyalty and spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $100K with them.  At least have me flagged as some level of spender for extra ass kissing from time to time.  There was just nothing like that.

The one time I stayed at Aria a couple years back, they had an MGM reward system there that wasn't just for gambling and it earned you some stuff.  Didn't ever go to enough MGM properties to see it through, but it was nice and I remember wishing the Wynn had something like it.

3 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

I’d like to see some kind of Red Card benefit, just to say thank you for being a loyal customer and to justify even having it or bothering to hand it to a dealer. It feels a bit silly showing my Red Card to people only to get 0 benefit at checkout.

Yep, that's exactly where I was at.  I gamble even less than you and that's how I always felt.  Always just felt like a way for them to track the fact that I wasn't gambling much so they could verify that they didn't have to treat me special.  Meanwhile, I just dropped a grand on dinner for 2.  That doesn't count for something?

Edited June 12, 2020 by Landomatic

[Landomatic 3813]

Speaking of Wynn Encore...anyone else get this?  Pretty cool deal...

Spoiler

JSX jet service starting at just $513* for two. Escape Travel Package Dear Landomatic, Jet away on your next getaway to Wynn Las Vegas with this exclusive, carefree travel package, in partnership with JSX, starting at just $513* for two, including airfare. We've taken care of all the details so you can enjoy your Five-Star getaway experience to Wynn Las Vegas from the moment your travel begins. Depart with ease from crowd-free, private terminals. Fly in comfort aboard JSX's exclusive 30-seat aircraft. Sip and savor complimentary drinks and snacks as you look forward to being welcomed to our resorts where our exquisite restaurants, sparkling pools, shopping, spas, salons and golf course await your arrival. Your Travel Package Includes:   Hotel Accommodations for Two Nights complimentary upgrade to a Tower Suite King.* Air Travel to Las Vegas round-trip flight for two from JSX $50 Dining Credit available at select Wynn Las Vegas restaurants *Tower suite upgrade based on availability. Click here for terms and conditions.   ABOUT JSX Avoid the crowds and enjoy worry-free flying from private terminals on 30-seat jets. Your JSX flight experience features business class legroom, free snacks and drinks and two free checked bags.

 

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Yes I’ve seen that offer recently for Wynn/Encore it looks nice

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[T-shirt Sip 2107]

For those that have been recently, what’s the Uber, Lyft or taxi situation? We keep hearing stories about really long wait times. 

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

For those that have been recently, what’s the Uber, Lyft or taxi situation? We keep hearing stories about really long wait times. 

You can pull up the Uber app, and put in sample rides (addresses) and it will pop up with the availability time and map. But yes, from what I have seen online recently the wait times have been longer than usual.

[T-shirt Sip 2107]

15 minutes ago, bigup2dahorns said:

You can pull up the Uber app, and put in sample rides (addresses) and it will pop up with the availability time and map. But yes, from what I have seen online recently the wait times have been longer than usual.

I have done that the past couple of days and most times it states no available cars. I was just wondering if it was the specific times I was checking or all day. I guess everyone is making too much on unemployment to venture out. I’ll just rent a car. 

Edited June 12, 2020 by T-shirt Sip

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

I have done that the past couple of days and most times it states no available cars. I was just wondering if it was the specific times I was checking or all day. I guess everyone is making too much on unemployment to venture out. I’ll just rent a car. 

From what I’ve read online, that is the issue on the supply side for drivers. So perhaps that situation will be around for awhile and possibly get worse as the demand increases. At least you get free parking now with a rental car if you go that route.

I tried it awhile ago and it said no cars available at first and then finally one would be available in 13 mins (center strip). Waited 30 mins and tried again and it said car available in 10 mins. It could be sporadic.

[T-shirt Sip 2107]

4 minutes ago, bigup2dahorns said:

From what I’ve read online, that is the issue on the supply side for drivers. So perhaps that situation will be around for awhile and possibly get worse as the demand increases. At least you get free parking now with a rental car if you go that route.

I tried it awhile ago and it said no cars available at first and then finally one would be available in 13 mins (center strip). Waited 30 mins and tried again and it said car available in 10 mins. It could be sporadic.

Good to know about the car rentals. I appreciate it. 

[Napoleon 8699]

2 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

You can pull up the Uber app, and put in sample rides (addresses) and it will pop up with the availability time and map. But yes, from what I have seen online recently the wait times have been longer than usual.

Convertibles and rides with all windows open or hard pa

ss.

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

Got a house in West Hollywood for some good times.  Lots of LA girls looking for shit to do.  I‘m sure we will manage to have a good time but it’s not Vegas and that’s where we normally would have been this weekend.  
Appreciate the updates...for the type of trouble we usually get into I don’t think this is the year to party there.  I may actually go for a more chill weekend with the wife.  

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[wild_turkey 3182]

For those that have been recently, what’s the Uber, Lyft or taxi situation? We keep hearing stories about really long wait times. 

When I was there last weekend there were no lines at the taxi stands. Lots of taxis waiting outside the airport. Not sure about Uber.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

USA Today on the hotel situation in Vegas:


https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/hotels/2020/06/13/hotel-safety-covid-19-coronavirus-las-vegas-open-new-york-new-york-caesars-palace/5341691002/

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[Angry Gorilla 1769]

Marquee Pool reopens this Friday. Max of 10/cabana.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

At least one Las Vegas Strip buffet is back, albeit with a few tweaks.

The Buffet at Wynn Las Vegas is set to reopen Thursday with a serviced all-you-can-eat concept. According to a Monday news release, it’s the first buffet on the Strip to return after shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restaurant will bring the buffet to guests by offering unlimited servings of nearly 90 “well-portioned” dishes to diners’ tables. Customers will be able to reorder as many times as they want within a two-hour period.

The Buffet will follow new health and safety protocols, including social distancing, touchless technologies and both QR code downloadable menus and single-use menus. Reservations are required, and available online at www.wynnlasvegas.com/dining/casual-dining/the-buffet.

Dishes include double-cut lamb chops with truffle spinach and crispy onions, steak and lobster topped with a bearnaise sauce, lobster ravioli with roasted red peppers, fennel and saffron sauce as well as Old Bay braised shrimp and scallops. Desserts include chocolate-dipped rice krispies, creme brulee and 13 flavors of ice creams and sorbets.

The Buffet will open Sundays from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., Mondays through Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Weekday brunch and dinner are $36.99 and $59.99, respectively, while weekend brunch and dinner are $48.99 and $65.99, respectively.

Limitless pour packages are available for $24.99 and $29.99 and offer beer, wine, sparkling wine, rose, signature cocktails and more.

[Landomatic 3813]

46 minutes ago, bigup2dahorns said:

At least one Las Vegas Strip buffet is back, albeit with a few tweaks.

The Buffet at Wynn Las Vegas is set to reopen Thursday with a serviced all-you-can-eat concept. According to a Monday news release, it’s the first buffet on the Strip to return after shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restaurant will bring the buffet to guests by offering unlimited servings of nearly 90 “well-portioned” dishes to diners’ tables. Customers will be able to reorder as many times as they want within a two-hour period.

The Buffet will follow new health and safety protocols, including social distancing, touchless technologies and both QR code downloadable menus and single-use menus. Reservations are required, and available online at www.wynnlasvegas.com/dining/casual-dining/the-buffet.

Dishes include double-cut lamb chops with truffle spinach and crispy onions, steak and lobster topped with a bearnaise sauce, lobster ravioli with roasted red peppers, fennel and saffron sauce as well as Old Bay braised shrimp and scallops. Desserts include chocolate-dipped rice krispies, creme brulee and 13 flavors of ice creams and sorbets.

The Buffet will open Sundays from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., Mondays through Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Weekday brunch and dinner are $36.99 and $59.99, respectively, while weekend brunch and dinner are $48.99 and $65.99, respectively.

Limitless pour packages are available for $24.99 and $29.99 and offer beer, wine, sparkling wine, rose, signature cocktails and more.

Just what America needs.  Now we don't even have to get off our fat asses to stuff our faces at a buffet.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Marquee Pool reopens this Friday. Max of 10/cabana.

[RPM 26352]

Are the shows and titters open yet? Otherwise, what's the point?

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Are the shows and titters open yet? Otherwise, what's the point?

Not seeing anything yet on the strip clubs and bigger shows/concerts, just some entertainment like Big Elvis

[RPM 26352]

When Cirque opens, I'll start thinking about it. I really want to watch a Raider's game, but even in non-COVID times there's no way I could afford a decent ticket this season. Those home games are going to be huge. Every visiting team's fans are going to travel for that game. Best thing ever to happen for Vegas tourism.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[hornbri 1402]

1 hour ago, RPM said:

 Best thing ever to happen for Vegas tourism.

Huh I kinda thought it was legalized gambling. 

[RPM 26352]

Just now, hornbri said:

Huh I kinda thought it was legalized gambling. 

Hookers and blow figure in there heavily as well, but you know what I mean. This is a new revenue stream at least 8 weeks a year that didn't exist before. It's an incentive for people that have never gone to Vegas before. This is yuge.

[Wally Pryor 5262]

22 hours ago, bigup2dahorns said:

Not seeing anything yet on the strip clubs and bigger shows/concerts, just some entertainment like Big Elvis

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure what to make of the guy in the upper right hand corner with the security guard.  Looks like he was pissed about something.   Or just didn't like the sound of Big Elvis. 

 

 

 

 

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[Armybrat 40896]

6 hours ago, Wally Pryor said:

Not sure what to make of the guy in the upper right hand corner with the security guard.  Looks like he was pissed about something.   Or just didn't like the sound of Big Elvis. 

 

 

 

 

Too bad.

Big Elvis is an icon. Used to catch his lounge show at the Barbary Coast.

[Wally Pryor 5262]

It didn't get any better than the Barbary / Bill's.    Small, quaint casino.   Great location, mid Strip.   Easy access, in and out.   Low min tables.  Excellent cocktail service.  Great dealers.   And then around midnight to sunup you got one of the best shows in Vegas with the Drais crowd.  And on that subject, the craps tables were 5 or 6 feet from the women's restroom.

Pure gold.  

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

FT on Venetian/Palazzo:


A prominent Las Vegas casino operator is embarking on a novel strategy to fight coronavirus among its staff, giving them wearable “smart rings” that can detect infection before symptoms occur.

Las Vegas Sands, which owns the Venetian and Palazzo resorts, bought 1,000 “smart rings” from Oura, a Finnish wearable technology start-up, after two studies indicated that the discreet products worn on a finger can accurately predict the onset of Covid-19 symptoms.

It will be the first big US company to deploy such pre-symptomatic virus detection devices internally.

Rob Goldstein, Sands’ president, said if the pilot programme goes well, he anticipates purchasing a $300 wearable for each of his 9,300 employees.

“Our approach is to be measured, to make sure this makes sense, and if it does, we’ll expand it,” he said. “We need to protect our people and make it a very safe place to work.”

The Oura ring was originally designed as a fashionable sleep-tracker, counting Prince Harry and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey among its more than 150,000 customers. Unlike the Apple Watch and Fitbit, and Garmin’s fitness trackers, Oura detects body temperature in addition to heart rate, heart rate volatility and respiratory rate.

The rollout comes as researchers are turning increasingly to wearable technologies to track the spread of the pandemic in real time, often before symptoms appear.

When a person is infected by coronavirus, the body’s efforts to fight back result in a series of patterns that the Oura ring can detect with “unparalleled” accuracy, said Dr Ali Rezai, director of the Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute at West Virginia University.

Dr Rezai has been conducting a study of 900 frontline workers over the past two months and determined that the Oura ring can detect the presence of the virus up to three days before symptoms appear.

“Studies show that two days before the first onset of any symptoms, you’re actually contagious and shedding the virus,” he said. Subtle changes in temperature, sleep patterns and heart rate detected by Oura “allow us to have a behind-the-scenes understanding of disease coming on, when it’s imperceptible [to] you”, he said.

The Oura ring’s Covid-19-detection capabilities were first discovered in March when a Finnish entrepreneur, Petri Hollmen, received an alert on the device’s app one morning that his “readiness level” was just 54, versus 80-90 on a typical day.

Having just travelled to Tyrol, Austria — then a coronavirus hotspot — he decided to get tested and was surprised when he received a positive result, despite not having experienced any symptoms.

The Financial Times is making key coronavirus coverage free to read to help everyone stay informed. Find the latest here.

Dr Ben Smarr, a professor of data science at the University of California, San Diego, said research of more than 12,000 Oura users makes him “extremely confident” that wearers could arm themselves with useful data and build an early warning system for coronavirus.

To combat privacy concerns, the voluntary pilot at Sands will not allow the company to access employees’ metrics directly. Wearers will have real-time access to their own “Risk Score”, while Sands’ human resources team will only be alerted if an individual’s patterns indicate a high risk of developing Covid symptoms.

The hope is that the ring will help Sands to determine who should be advised to quarantine and get a test, given limited capacity to check every employee daily.

“The company will have access to one thing and one thing alone,” said Zac Hudson, Sands’ general counsel, referring to the company’s data gathering. Beyond that, “we don’t need that information and we don’t want it.”


https://www.ft.com/content/e3ab6110-b871-4cb4-abec-b195c0a88a9c

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Bellagio poker opens back up 10am Thursday. From online pictures, looks like they took out a bunch of tables and maybe new carpeting too.

[Incredulity 11683]

9 hours ago, Wally Pryor said:

It didn't get any better than the Barbary / Bill's.    Small, quaint casino.   Great location, mid Strip.   Easy access, in and out.   Low min tables.  Excellent cocktail service.  Great dealers.   And then around midnight to sunup you got one of the best shows in Vegas with the Drais crowd.  And on that subject, the craps tables were 5 or 6 feet from the women's restroom.

Pure gold.  

Yes,....yes.