Las Vegas Casinos Cashing In On Suckers?

It’s no joke, even if Bugsy Siegel or Bugs Bunny wouldn’t have dreamed of the gambit. Las Vegas casinos, it seems, have shifted bets further in their favor, raised minimums at blackjack tables & tipped odds in roulette.

The WSJ reports it’s all part of a concerted effort by today’s Las Vegas leaders to attract more “upscale” suckers, aka get rid of the “riff-raff” suckers. The pandemic, it seems, was a boon to the casinos who found people were so desperate for a good time to forget, they’d pay any price & accept any odds to get fleeced while blacking out. So, why not up the ante even further? According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, blackjack players, for instance, lost nearly $1 billion to casinos on the Strip last year, the second-highest loss on record. Said Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg, “So, [we’re] kicking out the lowest end. I see no reason that that needs to stop or would stop.”

Got it, Tom. As the WSJ notes, “In addition to smaller winnings, visitors are also paying more to visit Las Vegas. Prices for everything from hotel rooms to concerts to restaurants have surged in recent years” and “so far, tourists haven’t been deterred.” Any bets on what the city’s street walkers are charging now?

Davd Soul