Harrah’s Entertainment Goes Public With IPO

Personally, I love Harrah's. I've played at different casinos on the strip & downtown, and I've had the most consistent experience at Harrah's run casinos. Every single dealer I've ever had at a Harrah's owned casino has been a ton of fun, and the slots have been enjoyable.

They are also really good at marketing to my age group (20-30). When I went to PH to get engaged back in August, I reached out to them on twitter and they comped me a pool cabana the day after in celebration. They've advertised all over the sites I visit, and they have comped me rooms at PH (my favorite casino/hotel) for my trip in December even though I've lost all of $500 total over my past two trips.

Everyone that went with me the last time was extremely impressed with the service they got at Harrah's casinos and how all employees went out of their way to make the experience fun.

The one thing that everyone agreed is that the worse odds at those casinos don't matter as much if the experience of gambling is a ton more fun, and everyone was surprised at how much of a difference dealers made. As long as Harrah's keeps hiring the same type of people that they do now, they'll really connect with my demographic.

It's really made me interested in investing with them.

Quote: Nareed

several of their hotels date from much later (Rio and Paris to name two). And there have been renovations and additions, too. I doubt the newest towers at Caesars are built on the same floor plan as the original hotel.

For the record, both Rio and Paris were built by others (Marnell and Bally/Park Place, respectively) and then acquired by Harrah's after the fact. So was Caesars, for that matter. In fact, I don't believe Harrah's has built *any* of the properties they own in Las Vegas -- even the Harrah's Las Vegas was an acquisition.

Bluefire hit the nail on the head. The number of players who care about VP odds tables, i would guess, is an insignificant percentage of their business. I always feel I am treated well at Rio/Harrah's/Paris and the room comps far outweigh the low level of comps my meager play generates. Now they will even comp me midweek at Caesars as a $25 pai gow player. I think that Harrah's business model makes perfect sense. Essentially they are saying- advantage players stay away- non advantage players- come stay with us for free!!

>Every single dealer I've ever had at a Harrah's owned casino has been a ton of fun, and the slots have been enjoyable.
Congratulations.
>The worse odds don't matter as much the experience of gambling ...
Yes. Sort of like these trendy restaurants or trendy nightclubs, its the "experience" that counts.

>everyone was surprised at how much of a difference dealers made.
Well, slot machines don't have dealers so if Harrah's income is largely due to slot action, dealers may not be critical.
How would you describe these Dealers Who Make A Difference? Is it that they are pleasant and interact or what?

>It's really made me interested in investing with them.
Investment decisions are usually based on the bottom line but do you want to put your money into The Evil Empire?

I've had good and bad dealers everywhere- but Harrah's room prices, at least in Vegas, are still hard to beat, at any range (IP to Caesars).

The bottom line MGM properties (excalibur, circus circus) seem to march right in line with say the IP or Flamingo- but the resort fee always makes them come out more.

Plus, even if you are just a TR member, and are not entitled to any comps, you get discounted rooms at Harrah's, just by logging in. I am staying at Paris soon for $50 a night, compared to $60+ for Monte Carlo for the same period, or $55 for luxor, or $90 for mirage. Just saying.

Quote: SOOPOO

Bluefire hit the nail on the head. The number of players who care about VP odds tables, i would guess, is an insignificant percentage of their business.

Guess again. On VPFREE, where all the supposed AP's and big names hang out, plenty of people come on and gripe about the vp paytables (which I agree are terrible, without exception) but then these big rollers are always bragging about having 7-Stars cards, which naturally means they play at Harrahs casinos regardless. They've been called hypocrites and liars, but they ignore that just so they can blab about all their "comped" trips to different harrahs locations around the country, the yearly 7-Stars get-togethers, and all their nonsense that just makes them all look so stupid.

Quote: JerryLogan

Guess again. On VPFREE, where all the supposed AP's and big names hang out, plenty of people come on and gripe about the vp paytables (which I agree are terrible, without exception) but then these big rollers are always bragging about having 7-Stars cards, which naturally means they play at Harrahs casinos regardless. They've been called hypocrites and liars, but they ignore that just so they can blab about all their "comped" trips to different harrahs locations around the country, the yearly 7-Stars get-togethers, and all their nonsense that just makes them all look so stupid.

VP Free players are almost certainly a insignificant part of Harrah's business.

Quote: thecesspit

VP Free players are almost certainly a insignificant part of Harrah's business.

Not so sure. There's over 10,000 of them and many hold 7-Stars & Diamond cards. I also would think it's impossible to gauge how many players don't care about the pay tables. If we did it from watching then it's got to be pretty small.

Quote: JerryLogan

Not so sure. There's over 10,000 of them and many hold 7-Stars & Diamond cards. I also would think it's impossible to gauge how many players don't care about the pay tables. If we did it from watching then it's got to be pretty small.

I think most players are barely aware the pay table exists. I know when I try to explain it to someone who doesn't know they usually seem to listen then go play "their" machine or on some other hunch. Here in Pittsburgh I found the pay table changes when the bet level changes on the very same machine. (Locals who want to try, you have to rase the bet $1 to go from really bad to mostly bad.) I was very happy with myself when I figured this out, but no one seemed to care at all except on a board like here.

Those of us who practice AP seem to get it in our heads everyone cares, but they do not. Like in 1972 when McGovern Voters could not understand why he lost as they said, "But everyone I knew voted for him." Though I am happy to have my AP friends, if I was the GM of a Harrah's property I would never base my business plan on the AP set. Plenty of fools who will say, "I'll play this machine instead--prettier colors."

By definition, you do NOT want AP players in your casino. But JL has a good question... Why would a casino allow a VP pay table to exceed 100%? I trust the Wiz and others here that they exist, but if I was the casino exec I would not have them in my casino....