And Caesars Entertainment‘s March stop on the World Series of Poker is … Lumiere Place?!?!? Yes, a marquee Caesars attraction is being held on Tropicana Entertainment property. The reason is twofold. One, Horseshoe Cleveland isn’t big enough to handle the 2,500-plus players anticipated. Secondly, Caesars has no casino in the St. Louis area, having sold its Maryland Heights property to Penn National Gaming. I’ll bet they’re sorry about that now.
Vegas visitation hit a record level a year ago, but visitors spent $297 less each, on average. What’s the cure for those blues? That was the problem wrestled with by the Nevada Governor’s Conference on Tourism. Brows were undoubtedly knitted out at Red Rock Resort as varying marketing philosophies vied for dominance. The most prominent voice seems to have been that of marketer Chuck Underwood. He urged Sin Citizens to hew to the Baby Boomer customer base and not remind the latter of its age: “With their zest for squeezing life of all of its satisfactions, baby boomers represent a golden opportunity for Nevada tourism.”
As for the millennials, coming of age as gamblers, freebies were encouraged, chalking it up to an attitude of entitlement among that group. And when it came to Generation X, “You’re probably going to take a hit with this generation,” Underwood said, predicting some rocky years ahead for Big Gaming.
Just to be contrarian for a moment. Let’s look at the shrinking market share that gambling represents, losing ground to dining, drinking and clubbing. Is it too soon — and foolish — to write off twentysomethings? How much longer can Baby Boomers be expected to prop up Las Vegas, especially when there is so much ‘convenience gaming’ closer to home? Methinks Underwood is peddling conventional wisdom that’s past its sell-by date. (And I’m enough of a traditionalist to be surprised I wrote that.)
When the slot industry was trying to whip up interest in server-based 
gambling, I kept asking, ‘What’s in it for the customer?’ Getting a satisfying answer to that query was always a struggle. The proof has been in the pudding, not the recipe. For instance, MotorCity Casino in Detroit is making strategic use of its server-based slots. “Real-time interaction” is the catchphrase: “the interactive bonus system can reward a customer with extra playing cash if he or she has gone a significant stretch without winning a game or if there is a special occasion, such as a birthday.” That’s not wildly out of the box, but it provides an incentive to keep playing.
It’s also targeted toward younger gamblers who are habituated toward video games and what’s called the ‘second screen phenomenon.’ Now there‘s a way Big Gaming can keep pace with the times.
