East Coast Gambler

Here’s the latest edition of Seven Stars Insider.  This is an easy read and an excellent resource for Harrah’s players.  Head over to Seven Stars Insider to sign up for the newsletter.  There is lots of information in this edition, so read on for all the goods.

NOTE: While this newsletter was originally designed exclusively for Seven Stars members, there is useful information for anyone who has a Total Rewards® player’s card and/or plays/stays at a Harrah’s property.  Please feel free to pass this on to your friends.  Back issues of the Seven Stars Insider newsletter are available online at http://sites.google.com/site/sevenstarsinsider.

Rio For Sale – Maybe
It’s been in the news for months, but several media reports – chiefly Bloomberg News, whose story August 20 was then picked up the following week by the Las Vegas Review-Journal – claim the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is for sale.  Harrah’s continues to deny it.  I know it’s popular with a lot of Seven Stars players who read this, but I like to be a little closer to the “action” on The Strip.  Plus, it’s just a little too noisy for me with all those “flair bartenders” and “bevertainers” (most of whom should stick to delivering beverages and stay away from microphones).  I guess I’m just getting too old!

Question Of The Month
I have a companion card and tried to go with a friend to the special Seven Stars weekly Sunday brunch at Showboat in Atlantic City.  I was told that the primary cardholder had to be present, and he/she could invite only one guest.  I thought I had all the privileges of the primary cardholder.  Well, yes, sort of.  Think of it in terms of other offers your husband gets, e.g., three complimentary nights at Paris.  Only he could claim it – you could accompany him, of course.  Same with a free coffeepot or blender.  The offer is for the cardholder, not the companion.  In terms of the brunch, do I think it’s fair?  Once again, Harrah’s is being short-sighted and causing unnecessary irritation for its best players (and their companions).  As long as the brunch is limited to two people per card, what difference does it make if you and a friend take advantage of the brunch, or you and your husband attend?  In the overall scheme of things, this is a very low-cost benefit that Harrah’s [Showboat] is offering.  What they might be gaining in loyalty and customer satisfaction for some, they are losing as much – or more – by alienating others.

Planet Hollywood Page Added To Seven Stars Insider Site
Thanks to a Planet Hollywood “veteran” who has stayed there on a number of occasions, there is now a page on the site with details about this latest addition to Harrah’s Total Rewards casinos in Las Vegas.  Some of the more interesting “highlights” are a rumored Seven Stars Club that may open there, and the fact that the staff hasn’t really grasped the Total Rewards concept, and isn’t sure what to do when they see a Seven Stars or even a Diamond card.  Check it out by clicking here.

Read the rest of this entry →

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It has to be difficult being an independent casino is Las Vegas as there aren’t partner casinos to share customers with.  Because of that it’s no surprise to see the Cosmopolitan team up with a partner, Marriot, with a large database of customers

The partnership gives the nearly 3,000-room Cosmopolitan access to Marriott’s vast customer database, and gives its 33 million members their first Las Vegas Strip option to stay and win rewards points.

“A lot of those customers are going to Las Vegas every year and not staying in a Marriott product,” J.W. Marriott, Marriott International’s CEO, told The Associated Press. “Now they can go and stay in a Marriott product.”

As important, if not more, the Cosmopolitan will still have a separate gaming club.  The two will likely act similarly to how Planet Hollywood and Starwood worked together before Harrah’s took over.

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I was chatting with some locals at the Diamond Lounge at Rio after I got knocked out of the poker tournament on my last trip to Las Vegas and they tipped me off that I could get my Grazie card upgraded at Venetian/Palazzo if I show them my Harrah’s Total Rewards Diamond card.

So, of course I upgraded my Grazie card from purple to gold, but it was a little late on the trip to have any real effect.

Unfortunately the upgrade is only for 3 months and my first impression was not good.  I could not get a later checkout than normal and the room rates I was given were higher than I have ever seen.

There are quite a few perks with the gold card, but most important to me is access to the 24 hour Gold Club and 50% increase in points for play.  Here are the extras you get with an upgrade.

•    Guaranteed suite availability 72 hours prior to arrival

•    Complimentary suite upgrade*

•    Invited guest check-in

•    Early check-in and noon late check-out*

•    Complimentary shuttle bus service to and from the McCarran International Airport (limit 2 guests)

•    Valet – Front-of-the-line priority service

•    Venetian Gold Club Lounge access

•    Slot Rewards points- Up to 50% more

•    Priority Concierge phone line

•    Priority show and restaurant reservations*

•    Phantom – Receive $25 off Orchestra or Golden Circle-level seats

•    10% off select non-sale items at Venetian & Palazzo-owned retail shops**

◦    Venetian: Apothecary, Baccarat, Emporio D’Gondola, International News II, Mercato III, Newstand 2, Ricordo, Venezia, and Pool Shop

◦    Palazzo: Apothecary, Café Presse, La Fortuna, Prosecco, Seasons and Pool Shop

•    Gondola Ride- 20% off tickets

•    Canyon Ranch SpaClub ® – 10% discount on services**

•    Azure – Complimentary entry for 2 (Thursday-Sunday)***

•    Tao Beach – Daybed rental with $100 F&B purchase (Monday-Friday)*

•    Tao Beach – Line pass and complimentary entry for 2 (Friday-Sunday)*

•    Tao & LAVO Nightclubs – Line pass and complimentary entry for 2*

There is a lot of *stuff* given to gold card member, but most of it doesn’t interest me.

I have to get 10,000 points on my next trip to keep the status.  I’m pretty sure I won’t, but it would be sweet if I did.  They count cash spending 2-1 for points, so I’ll earn a few bucks drinking wine and eating steak, so ya never know!

Beyonce…kick it.

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Last week almost 10% of Harrah’s shares of ownership were registered with the FCC.  Immediate thoughts were that the company would be going public, but that isn’t likely right away.

The SEC form used to register those shares, called an S-1, is the same one used as the first step toward an initial public offering, or IPO. Based on the S-1 filing Thursday, The Wall Street Journal erroneously reported that Harrah’s was planning an IPO.

The registration, made on behalf of hedge-fund manager John Paulson, does not necessarily mean those shares will be sold on public markets. The decision to trade Harrah’s shares publicly rests with company management, which has indicated no immediate plans to do so.

John Paulson is a billionaire investor who made a ton of money betting against sub prime mortgages when the real estate bubble crashed.  He will do something with his 10% ownership of Harrah’s, but the 4th quarter isn’t the best time for an IPO so I look for him to be patient and time this perfectly.  He has enough loot stashed where he doesn’t have to rush things.  At the first moment of clean air he’ll be ready to move.

photo: vegas-dreaming.com

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I was away in Las Vegas all week and was only able to get a few post up.  If you were following on twitter you saw what I was doing a good amount of my trip and if you follow my posterous you saw many (not all) of the pictures I was able to grab.  I’ll share more stories in the coming weeks, but here’s what I was able to get to last week.

• Optional Resort Fees at Venetian
• Atlantic City Pictures
• Will Claridge Make It?
• Las Vegas Video Poker Research

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I spent a few days at Bally’s in Atlantic City and my room had an awesome view of the Atlantic ocean and the Claridge hotel.

Bally’s began renovations to the Claridge hotel at the beginning of the summer, they really started renovating the casino last year closing off part of the building and opening The Ridge.

There were workers cleaning up the outside of the hotel every day trying to resuscitate the old building.  While taking a walk through and around the Claridge I wondered to myself if these renovations would bring life back to the old hotel.  Albeit a weekday, there were few people in the casino.  There’s no compelling reason go to the Claridge other than $10 table games that you can find anywhere midweek.  There are low limit slots, but that’s not a reason to walk over there.  The video poker machines have typical poor pay tables.

There’s no desirable place to eat and there’s nothing connected to the Claridge, since Sands was imploded years ago.  It’s almost as if it’s the end of the middle of the boardwalk.  So why go to the Claridge?

Plans are to make the Claridge more of a boutique hotel, so there is hope that they will add a few really good restaurants similar to the Chelsea, which houses the best steakhouse in Atlantic City.  Seeing the makeover at Wild Wild West, I can see that Harrah’s will move forward with their plans for the Claridge.

However, the missing link from all of the discussion of the makeover is the gambling.  The current casino is tiny, with low limit machines and poor video poker.  I think a way to really generate buzz when the renovations are complete would be to improve gambling payouts to draw gamblers to this section of Bally’s.

Here are a few simple things that can be done to attract gamblers to this dead end of Bally’s.

• Full pay video poker of a few different games in different denominations.
• Optimal blackjack payouts.
• New slot machines.
• “Loose” slot machines.
• Higher odds craps.

I’m sure there are more, obvious gaming additions that can be made that I’m not thinking of but this is opposite of the way all gambling has been going in the past few years.  This would draw the “gambling nerds” to the hotel to gamble and along with new rooms and restaurants would bring the Claridge full circle as a desired location for anyone in Atlantic City.

I’m curious to see if Harrah’s has the balls to do the opposite with this property, but I think it’s the only way for Claridge to survive as the dead end at the center of the boardwalk

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