The Economy and Las Vegas
I recently returned from a trip out to the west coast and saw first hand how that the combination of the holidays and the economy is affecting poker and the gaming industry in general.
An article was recently released on PokerNewsDaily.com that stated that revenue in Las Vegas is down by over 20% for the month of October. When I first got out to Vegas which was a few days before Thanksgiving, I really did not notice the difference much where I was staying. Of course, there was a poker tournament set about to begin across the street and that could possibly attribute to some of the slowdown.
Of course, that tournament set began to open my eyes a bit about how much the economy is beginning to affect the poker industry. The numbers for the event I attended were way down overall from what was expected. The management partially blamed the holiday week but even the more popular tournaments, including NL Holdem were just not drawing the people.
It wasn’t until after I went out to Reno and returned to Vegas a 2nd time that I saw the difference. The Rodeo was in town and things were somewhat busy for a while, but as soon as the Rodeo was done, business in Vegas, especially downtown, was dead. Something that you don’t expect is for a casino to be quiet and the place I stayed was quiet.
Another tell tale sign of the economy is the lack of cash games. Naturally, I have a tougher time than most finding good games because I don’t play a lot of NL, but Holdem was almost my only option in most instances. Poker rooms were even having trouble keeping 2-4 and 3-6 Holdem games staffed. One small casino I visited near Reno couldn’t even fill up their weekend tournament. Normally they have alternates but this time, we couldn’t even fill three tables.
If you really want an accurate gague of how things are going in Vegas, talk to some of the working girls in the city. Yes, I am referring to escorts and prostitutes. I know one girl that has been working Vegas for quite a while that was mentioning how that normally Christmas is a slow time of the year, but this year was extraordinarily difficult. Now some of you probably could care less that a escort is not making money, but it is a sign of the way things have become.
Now I am not saying that the end has come in regards to gaming etc. All I am doing is giving you a little insight about how things have slowed down a bit for Vegas. Once the economy begins to turn around a bit, the revenue for places like Vegas should shoot back up. Of course, that does little for the short term. One recommendation that I can make is that if you are interested in going to Vegas, now is a good time to go. Many places are offering great deals on hotels, rental cars, shows, etc.
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