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I wonder why nobody has built a "locals casino" on the strip?
The current model has tourists playing on the strip, and locals avoiding it in favor of places off-strip which offer better payback / playing conditions.
Why not build a casino on the strip that offers more meat and less sizzle?
The old Sahara, before, sale, remodel, name change catered to local's it's last few years.
The Boyd project "echelon" which stalled almost immediately, and was sold, and now stalled again, would have likely catered to 'locals', similar to how the two Boyd casinos, just off strip, Gold Coast and Orleans do. It would have been at least a semi-local place I suspect.
But really locals just don't like going to the strip. For me an AP, its about rules and conditions, but for non-AP's its about traffic, parking and crowds, higher buffet prices. When locals hit a buffet for lunch they are looking to pay $7 or $8 dollars (half on senior day), not $20- $25. Free parking as also a biggie. Where can you park for free now that the evil empire casinos have joined in eliminating free parking. I guess TI is still free. That probably won't last long.
The basic issue is that two companies monopolize the strip, and one of them has basically bankrupted itself to preserve its business model, which is the opposite of the old Benny Binion "give 'em a good gamble" philosophy. Hard to penetrate monopolies that are too big to fail.
Thirty years ago, there were some strip casinos with good gambles. The MGM/Mandalay/Mirage conglomeration and the Harrah's/CET borg model have suppressed any liberalization of gambling.
SLS is sort of a local's casino. But then again, it's not really even a casino.
What about the Lucky Dragon? Their offers seem more like what one would get from a local (i.e. junk things like a wok or small $ giveaways) than the offers I get from MLife/CET.
I was thinking north strip would be the logical location for such a beast.
Lucky Dragon? Do you play Lucky Dragon regularly? Do you get mailers from them? I have been there once, for my partner and I to collect our $7.77 in free play for new card sign-up and frankly, I would like to have that 10 minutes of my life back. I hated that place.Quote:
Originally Posted by pkspins
Somebody just bought the blue monstrosity that has been sitting 90% built and rotting away for a decade, right? Maybe that will turn into something? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterV
Personally, I wonder how structurally sound that building is now after rotting away for a decade. They had to fence off a wide area around it because pieces literally break off and come crashing to the ground.
I went there once in January to check it out. I didn't think it was that bad but it wasn't terribly convenient. I still get mailers which are kind of a joke in terms of offer level - more like what I get from locals with hotels within relatively short driving distances from my home, as opposed to Vegas where it takes hours to fly there from where I live. I typically do not rent a car and I stay center strip where I can walk everywhere. There's no way I would stay there and just play there, and the offers aren't enough given the inconvenient location to consider double booking. It was pretty depressing the day we went (I have a friend who lives in Vegas who drives me around places during my visits) - they'd been open a month maybe and the place was deserted already.Quote:
Originally Posted by kewlJLucky Dragon? Do you play Lucky Dragon regularly? Do you get mailers from them? I have been there once, for my partner and I to collect our $7.77 in free play for new card sign-up and frankly, I would like to have that 10 minutes of my life back. I hated that place.Quote:
Originally Posted by pkspins