As the woes of the economy continue to dampen everyone’s spirit and casino revenues in Las Vegas continue to dive down to new depths, the last thing economists would advise is to cut costs at every corner. The result of this, particularly during this distressing time could be disastrous in terms of the impact it could have on alienating customers. This notion holds especially true for poker players.

If casinos in Las Vegas begin to take steps to downsize their extensive poker rooms and decrease their selection of games, it could backfire on them in big ways. Poker rooms don’t typically generate very much revenue for their casinos but if certain changes come to pass, poker-playing customers could get annoyed and decide to leave in search of greener pastures.

Casino operators need to treat this situation very carefully. Any players they end up alienating due to sharp cutbacks and cost-cutting measures may not be as resilient as they would hope for once the economy picks back up. One option that several economists have suggested as an alternative measure to take is to refinance the debt they hold.

Some casinos on the Las Vegas strip have actually reported that their poker revenue has not been hit too hard in these financially challenging times. The Flamingo, Harrah’s and the Venetian have all reported that their poker revenue was up compared to that of the previous year. But, keep in mind that poker rooms do not bring in the really big money compared to other games. Table games and slot machines ten to bring in a lot more money to casinos. And they have taken a much bigger hit than poker rooms during these hard times.

Tags: las vegas economy

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 20th, 2008 at 3:18 am and is filed under Las Vegas Casinos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.