Atlantic City Open Forum
Quote: onenickelmiracleDoes taj advertise any now yet?
I found out about my offer to Taj via a mailer, if that's what you're talking about. I have a room at Plaza until the Plaza closes, then my Taj room offer starts.
No in the past they would have new member sign-ups for new and inactive members. 40 tier credits would get you $25 free play, free buffet and maybe $25 free play 72 hours after sign up. It's not necessarily worth taking their room and $10 free play if I can stay somewhere else and take the offer. I'm not sure I can stay somewhere else because I haven't looked yet. I'm kind of anticipating the post card Taj sent to be only in kind actually not redeemable, but I'll have to wait and see.Quote: ahiromuI found out about my offer to Taj via a mailer, if that's what you're talking about. I have a room at Plaza until the Plaza closes, then my Taj room offer starts.
Sounds a bit premature. Quit talking to whoever feeds this to you.Quote: aceofspadesRumour of Taj closing in January
They definitely wiped the Showboat off the face of the Earth. Their Facebook page is finito too.Quote: BozDidint take long for CZR to remove the Showboat webpage. Hitting it directs you to a general AC and NJ Online Poker site of theirs.
Quote: onenickelmiracleThey definitely wiped the Showboat off the face of the Earth. Their Facebook page is finito too.
of course they would. Why is it any surprise that a company this large making this big decision wouldn't remove them from their web presence?
You've obviously never had any experience with Caesars promotions...Quote: GWAEof course they would. Why is it any surprise that a company this large making this big decision wouldn't remove them from their web presence?
(Actually that's somewhat disingenuous. CZR runs their promotions probably better than any other company).
Quote: teddysYou've obviously never had any experience with Caesars promotions...
(Actually that's somewhat disingenuous. CZR runs their promotions probably better than any other company).
Talk about a backhanded compliment! You were right with your first comment.
Quote: teddysYou've obviously never had any experience with Caesars promotions...
(Actually that's somewhat disingenuous. CZR runs their promotions probably better than any other company).
other than the race to rewards I have never dealt with them. FWIW, that promo worked out awesome for me as we still have 180k points left.
Quote: ahiromuI'd be curious to know the % of people applying for jobs in the new casinos on the East coast are from AC. If I were a current casino worker in AC, I'd be kicking myself for not taking a job at Horseshoe Baltimore and eager to deal cards at MGM National Harbor in a couple of years.
I was in Colorado when gambling was legalized. Having Vegas on your resume was a golden ticket to a job. Imagine an AC resume will do the same in Baltimore.
Quote: JackStraw8004Try to cultivate actual gamblers and stop catering to the Nightclub crowd. I know the Nightclubs make money but the clientele chases everyone out of the casino.
I know nothing about the AC scene, but the complete opposite is true in Vegas.
Ever since the MGM Grand finished and opened Hakkasan, it is PACKED. Not just the club; the casino too. The limits are high and the tables are packed. All the hot women show up wearing next to nothing. So of course all the guys want to be there. Even the non-club types like to sit at the tables and watch the parade go by. You need to walk ALL the way through the casino (and it is a very big casino -- 3-5 minute walk?) to get from the lobby entrance where the cabs drop you off to the nightclub -- they are on opposite sides.
I have spent a fair amount of time at the MGM Grand and the uptick in business since they opened that nightclub is noticeable. They are just always busy now. And, of course, I'm sure that the casino is getting a cut of the $20/drink that they charge inside the club.
Quote: BozAmen Jack
Gee, I personally have never assumed the AC and Las Vegas market to be the same. Not too many of the young and beautiful in California drive to AC on the weekends !
Quote: BuzzardGee, I personally have never assumed the AC and Las Vegas market to be the same. Not too many of the young and beautiful in California drive to AC on the weekends !
No Buzz...but the old..smoking...slot jockeys do. Or they used too.
Quote: BuzzardGee, I personally have never assumed the AC and Las Vegas market to be the same. Not too many of the young and beautiful in California drive to AC on the weekends !
You are forgetting about NY, but we can argue about the quality of each. You know because both coasts fight over old guys like us, I can't decide which ones treat me better.
Quote: AxiomOfChoice
You need to walk ALL the way through the casino (and it is a very big casino -- 3-5 minute walk?) to get from the lobby entrance where the cabs drop you off to the nightclub -- they are on opposite sides.
Well, this was one of the big problems with Revel. You did not need to go anywhere near the casino to go to the HQ nightclub, the HQ day (beach) club, or Ovation Hall (the concert venue). Those are the three biggest attractions Revel had, and their visitors were not passing through the casino at all. Downright stupid design.
Quote: BozTelling customers buffets are "mass feeders" and they don't need them?
I actually wonder how a small, high-roller-only casino would do.
No table games below $200 min. No slot machines or VP below $5 denom. No high limit room because everything is the high limit room. Impeccable service, high quality booze in all bars. Espresso machines with good coffee. No buffet; no crappy cafe: Good, expensive food only. Just about everyone is getting it comped anyway. Same with the hotel: suites only, very expensive to book, but no nickel-and-diming, and just about all the players would be comped anyway. Waitresses and dealers would be well-compensated, and tipping is strongly discouraged (no use fiddling with small chips anyway). All the employees would have to understand that customer service would be their #1 priority, or they would not be working there for much longer.
Games would all have low house edges (0.3% HE blackjack, 99.5%+ VP). No need for a high house edge when the chips are all black or higher. Take a smaller percentage of larger bets.
Basically, keep the riff-raff out, and have a much smaller team focused on making the customer experience as good as possible. Every individual customer would be very valuable (everyone would have a high theo) so it's possible to spend a lot of money making sure that every customer is happy.
The main downside would be that, with a small volume of large bets, losing months would not be uncommon. The place would have to be very well-bankrolled.
I keep hearing about how much of a casino's wins and losses for a month or a quarter comes from whales. So why not just downsize and focus solely on them?
Essentially, the Ferrari of casinos.
Quote: AxiomOfChoiceI actually wonder how a small, high-roller-only casino would do.
No table games below $200 min. No slot machines or VP below $5 denom. No high limit room because everything is the high limit room. Impeccable service, high quality booze in all bars. Espresso machines with good coffee. No buffet; no crappy cafe: Good, expensive food only. Just about everyone is getting it comped anyway. Same with the hotel: suites only, very expensive to book, but no nickel-and-diming, and just about all the players would be comped anyway. Waitresses and dealers would be well-compensated, and tipping is strongly discouraged (no use fiddling with small chips anyway). All the employees would have to understand that customer service would be their #1 priority, or they would not be working there for much longer.
Games would all have low house edges (0.3% HE blackjack, 99.5%+ VP). No need for a high house edge when the chips are all black or higher. Take a smaller percentage of larger bets.
Basically, keep the riff-raff out, and have a much smaller team focused on making the customer experience as good as possible. Every individual customer would be very valuable (everyone would have a high theo) so it's possible to spend a lot of money making sure that every customer is happy.
The main downside would be that, with a small volume of large bets, losing months would not be uncommon. The place would have to be very well-bankrolled.
I keep hearing about how much of a casino's wins and losses for a month or a quarter comes from whales. So why not just downsize and focus solely on them?
Essentially, the Ferrari of casinos.
As much as many of us would like to see you can't make debt service off this...BUT lowering the hold on slots would get you business. As long s every game is still positive for the house and taking every possible AP possibility with cash back out of play, you can make money. And players would flock to such a casino. Question is can you get 5x the players at 98 percent that you can get at 90 percent?
Quote: JackStraw8004If the MGM is doing great business it's because of their location. The MGM has always been busy even before Hakkasan
The MGM was never dead, but it was not as busy at it is now.
It really is a huge casino; it takes A LOT of people to make it look busy. It's even busy mid-week now, which is amazing (it was always busy on long weekends or during events where they packed the grand garden arena).
Hakkasan is absolutely massive (several floors); I think that filling it (and they do fill it) has a similar effect to filling the grand garden arena. It just holds so many people that even if only a small percentage of them gamble, that is a lot of gamblers. You should see the craps tables late at night -- high limits and you can't get a spot (for whatever reason, craps is the game that the bros like to play to prove to their bro pals how much of a gambling bro they are. They also have absolutely no clue how to play the game. Field bets everywhere)
Quote: AxiomOfChoiceI actually wonder how a small, high-roller-only casino would do.
No table games below $200 min. No slot machines or VP below $5 denom. No high limit room because everything is the high limit room. Impeccable service, high quality booze in all bars. Espresso machines with good coffee. No buffet; no crappy cafe: Good, expensive food only. Just about everyone is getting it comped anyway. Same with the hotel: suites only, very expensive to book, but no nickel-and-diming, and just about all the players would be comped anyway. Waitresses and dealers would be well-compensated, and tipping is strongly discouraged (no use fiddling with small chips anyway). All the employees would have to understand that customer service would be their #1 priority, or they would not be working there for much longer.
Games would all have low house edges (0.3% HE blackjack, 99.5%+ VP). No need for a high house edge when the chips are all black or higher. Take a smaller percentage of larger bets.
Basically, keep the riff-raff out, and have a much smaller team focused on making the customer experience as good as possible. Every individual customer would be very valuable (everyone would have a high theo) so it's possible to spend a lot of money making sure that every customer is happy.
The main downside would be that, with a small volume of large bets, losing months would not be uncommon. The place would have to be very well-bankrolled.
I keep hearing about how much of a casino's wins and losses for a month or a quarter comes from whales. So why not just downsize and focus solely on them?
Essentially, the Ferrari of casinos.
As you pointed out, there would be losing months. A couple of whales on a roll can affect a regular casino's numbers. Can you imagine a whole casino full of whales?
Some whales like the show they put on when they are the big fish in the small pond. Would they come to this casino just to fit in with the rest of the patrons?
Pretty cool idea though. Should attract more than a few hookers, and sugar daddy searchers.
To my amateur eye, the stupidity of Revel never really dethroned the longtime reigning champion of not having a clue about what to do with prime Boardwalk frontage. That has to be the Taj, at least for the next couple of months. The poor little Indian restaurant there has been a feeble latecomer. And the Taj never was able to figure out what to do with the space between the main entrances.Quote: BozWhile they faced the boardwalk once inside they didn't show that to anyone walking the boardwalk. Almost like find us if you have have the means.
Quote: GWAEI guess I will never have a beach vacation again. Last 4 years we have been staying in AC for free. No where else could I stay 4 or 5 days for free right on the beach. We don't have 3k to waste on a vacation so these closing are really sad for my family. I guess it could be worse, I could be the one losing my job.
I agree completely, I usually go with the wife and kid 3 times a summer..for free. We go to the beach during the day. I gamble at night when they are tucked in bed. This is going to be much harder to do now.
About the Taj...I expect they'll actually do better...they will get most of whatever customers the Trump Plaza had left. Plus they are now the north end of the boardwalk now that the Boat and Revel are closed. Wait that might not be a good thing.
Quote: vendman1I agree completely, I usually go with the wife and kid 3 times a summer..for free. We go to the beach during the day. I gamble at night when they are tucked in bed. This is going to be much harder to do now.
About the Taj...I expect they'll actually do better...they will get most of whatever customers the Trump Plaza had left. Plus they are now the north end of the boardwalk now that the Boat and Revel are closed. Wait that might not be a good thing.
last month we stayed at the SB. Since I knew they were closing I gave most of my night play to the Taj in hopes of getting offers down the road. Within 2 weeks of getting home I received a post card for 3 free nights up to 5 times a month. Not including weekends but that is ok. I am just hoping they stay open and we can get these offers next year. We were actually planning on taking a trip to them in Feb with out the kids to get some decent play in for summer rooms. Well that is the excuse I am using to get a weekend away from the kids. ;-)
I am bummed though, because the one session I did at the Taj I was super hot. I was playing at $10 table but I was betting $75-$150 which is the most that I have ever bet. I played 3 hours un rated because I forgot to give them my card. Stupid rookie mistake. $75 average bet at the taj would probably have been good for some serious comps.
Quote: GWAElast month we stayed at the SB. Since I knew they were closing I gave most of my night play to the Taj in hopes of getting offers down the road. Within 2 weeks of getting home I received a post card for 3 free nights up to 5 times a month. Not including weekends but that is ok. I am just hoping they stay open and we can get these offers next year. We were actually planning on taking a trip to them in Feb with out the kids to get some decent play in for summer rooms. Well that is the excuse I am using to get a weekend away from the kids. ;-)
I am bummed though, because the one session I did at the Taj I was super hot. I was playing at $10 table but I was betting $75-$150 which is the most that I have ever bet. I played 3 hours un rated because I forgot to give them my card. Stupid rookie mistake. $75 average bet at the taj would probably have been good for some serious comps.
If you had given your card after the fact they probably would have gladly backed up your play. When did you realize that you forgot to present it?
Quote: 1BBIf you had given your card after the fact they probably would have gladly backed up your play. When did you realize that you forgot to present it?
Normally when I buy in I hand the cash and card at the same time, but when I came to the table I had about $50 in chips. I had my card sitting next to my chips and didn't realize I hadn't given it to him. I had a great run for 3 shoes in a row betting $75 a min. I didn't realize that he never took my card until I was about to color up but I was up $600 so I couldn't decide if I was better off asking him to put me in or just booking the win and leaving. I decided it was best just to leave.
Of course, the problem is the design. Ten or eleven casinos on a boardwalk with absolute desolation on the other side of the casinos is not a business model that can work today. Competition destroyed that. And the AC casinos did not update themselves to keep up with trends and AC itself remained trapped in time. Revel was a lousy attempt to bring more and different people to AC but backfired miserably as those people that Revel was trying to attract don't exist or they are customers of Foxwoods, Mohegan, or Borgata already. They made the mistake of poor customer service from the get-go, astronomical hotel rates, and a lousy layout. There was no room for the staple revenue generator who doesn't care about fancy escalators, glitz, or glamour: the old penny/nickel slot player pumping in their monthly SSI check into the machine -- accessibility to the casino itself was an issue that even WynnCore gets right.
So, the future of AC might be 5 casinos and then tearing down and destroying those casinos, pushing out crime another two or three blocks, revitalizing downtown, rebuilding the boardwalk as condos and regular hotels, and turning it back into an attractive beach destination. Of course NJ won't have the political will to do that.
something like
http://www.greatwolf.com/
I don't know if there is much like this in the area but I do know that the 2 locations that I have been to get a ton of people. It would be another reason for a family to come to AC in the winter.
The numbers below show the imminent need debt restructuring.
CZR only included Harrahs AC in the group of properties they seem willing to continue paying debt service on.
"Caesars Is Worth $0 Per Share
Aug. 29, 2014 1:30 PM ET | About: Caesars Entertainment (CZR), Includes: LVS, MGM, WYNN
Disclosure: The author is short CZR. (More...)
Summary
Caesars was acquired in an LBO for $6 billion in cash and $22 billion in debt at the height of the financial crisis.
Current Long-term debt of $24 billion is 16x LTM EBITDA of $1.6 billion.
At 8x - 10x LTM EBITDA, Caesars is worth $12 - $15 billion, much less than its $24 billion debt load.
Caesars' stock is worthless."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2460235-caesars-is-worth-0-per-share
As we know, Revel is gone. I get to AC about 6 times a year. About a year ago, I used to casino hop, wasn't really loyal to any one place. Just about any time I went, I could get free rooms Sun-Thursday, at either Trop, Taj, Showboat, Harrahs or Revel. This past Feb, I stayed at Borgata a few nights comped, and the 3 trips after that I stayed at Revel, getting upgraded to their Gold Card. I usually play $25/hand BJ, some slots, my bank roll is usually 500-700 bucks. My last trip to Revel was Friday July 4th/Sat 5th(both nights comped, I was shocked!).
I find myself in a weird spot, not so much that Revel is gone, but as I look at all the other places I usually have crazy comps for, I literally have nothing, save for one night at Borgata.
So, two questions? Do the casinos communicate? Since I was at Revel the last 3 times, did the others pull offers?
And more importantly, I am planning on going down in a few weeks...I guess I'm going to have to pay for some rooms? (Wed/Thurs). Any recommendations how I can maybe establish myself elsewhere rather quickly? I see that GN and a few others are matching tiers but, I'm not sure what my best move is? I haven't paid for a room in like 5+ years!
Your offers probably dried up if you had no action for 6 months.
