Are we being taken across?

2 things struck me:

a famous quote that ';gambling is proof people don%26#39;t understand math.';

and a post in here that someone was charged $45 for a glass of wine at Le Cirque.

Have the casinos applied their mathmatical advantage to the restuarant and entertainment businesses. How much better can a $45 glass of wine be?

How much farther can we be pushed? In other words, at what point do you say I%26#39;m not coming back to Vegas?

Are we being taken across?

To BE or NOT to BE, that is the question.

If you cheat the IRS, it goes to the Casino.

Either way, you have fun and excitement.

Are we being taken across?

';Have the casinos applied their mathmatical advantage to the restuarant and entertainment businesses. How much better can a $45 glass of wine be?';

Casinos operate on a very simple premise, charge as money money as the guests are willing to pay. These days EVERY area of the hotel/casino is considered a ';profit center'; and is expected to generate ';X'; amount of revenue and profit.

Thats why the ';comp system'; at nearly every hotel has been tweaked to MAKE ABSOLUTE sure that whatever the guest is being comped has already (or soon will be) paid for by said patron%26#39;s gaming losses.

Thats why those folks that brag about ';comp this and comp that'; make me laugh. 99% of those folks are paying at least $0.70 to $0.80 on every dollar they are being comped. That being said, if the ';action'; is worth the money you drop, fine, have at it.

As far as $45 a glass wine goes, it might be worth it to somebody but not to me.

Some people just like to say they had a $45 glass of wine......and it might not be in Vegas. It is not mandatory to order it, is it? We keep going back and going back to Vegas.....and if we think we have fooled the casinos with our comps......LOL....we are only fooling ourselves! I would not say I will never return because the comps are tighter. We are going on our next trip in 3 weeks. FIRST CLASS class airfare with FF miles, rooms, food and beverage comped at MGM for 3 days, Suite comped a Paris for two days and two days comped at Rio suite when we arrive. I figured this trip would have cost me almost $5 even before getting on the plane and not including gambling $. What we do for gambling is not alot. I just work the comps and FF. Kind of a hobby. BTW, I did not feel the least bit guilty when I called Caesar%26#39;s and got a room for two nights in Augustus tower comped. We gambles less than $100 there are are getting offers to return due to previous play at other Harrah%26#39;s properties. They really got us in Joliet a couple of years ago! Makes me sick! I AM CONSTANTLY SEEKING REVENGE!

I recognize that we have the $4.99 steak dinner at Ellis Island, which I highly recommend and there are other bargains to be had. My fear is that as long as someone is willing to pay $50 for a steak, it is a matter of time before economic pressure will cause these bargains to disappear.

The pursuit of these bargains is one reason this site is so valuable. As the deals seem to be harder to find. I was lured to Vegas by cheap food and meals and with self restraint was able to resist losing this advantage to the casinos. Now it seems the trend toward more expensive everything, casino consolidation, and greater house advantage will price me out of the market.

It just makes me sad is all.

I dont gamble alot but I do stay at Paris alot and you would think I could at least get a room at casino rate for all my past patronage there.

Are you really Elvis Costello?? becasue if you are you can afford a 45 dollar glass of wine. BTW, I loved ';Veronica.';

I miss the ';Old Vegas'; where every hotel had a loss leader meal to entice you to visit their hotel in hoping you%26#39;d gamble there. The rooms were cheap as well. Back then, most all the hotels were individually owned and the competition was fierce. Now there%26#39;s what, 2 major corporations owning 90% of the strip. So there goes the competition with these big corporate monopolies driving up the prices for everything. It%26#39;s a shame really. And if MGM/Mirage merges with Harrah%26#39;s, look out! We%26#39;ll be sucking eggs! I really do miss the ';Old Vegas';.

E. Costello wrote:

';I recognize that we have the $4.99 steak dinner at Ellis Island, which I highly recommend and there are other bargains to be had. My fear is that as long as someone is willing to pay $50 for a steak, it is a matter of time before economic pressure will cause these bargains to disappear.';

Yeah, I ';kinda'; like that Five Dollar Meat Plate at Ellis Island also.

And as soon as the ';bargains'; disappear from Vegas so will moi.

Nevada (Reno, Vegas and Laughlin) are some of my favorite destinations of choice primarily because of very good cheap lodging, food and rental rigs. I gamble some, but not enough to warrant a trip just for that purpose.

I%26#39;ll just vacation somewhere else. There are good deals everywhere to be found.

If I were really E.C., would I use my real name on here?

This may be my last Vegas go round. I need to look into Reno.

Declan:

Look into Reno.....I highly suggest that you do your homework, and soon you will be looking at LV again.

Reno is on life support....a lot of Casino/Hotels have closed down in the past 6 years. Someone here can correct me on this one, but best to my knowledge, the latest hotel to open in Reno was Silver Legency (I actually stayed there one month after they opened)....and that%26#39;s like December 1995.....the only thing that keeps Reno alive these days are people from San Fran/San Jose.......I remember 9 years ago, my wife and I got air and hotel for 4 days for under $300 total ($150 each). Today, it cost NEARLY the same to go to LV compared to Reno....a no brainer where the Canadain rather go.

Major advantage of Reno is the very LOW limit table....this is the only place I know that you can play $5 Pai Gow Poker.....or $1 blackjack table......but, it%26#39;s been 4 years since I%26#39;ve been to Reno....the limit might be higher now.