Do you prefer the "old days", like from the movie Casino, or the new Vegas?

The movie had a bias for the old Vegas - or at least Sam Rothstein had a bias for it - when at the end of the movie it talks negatively of the corporate, mega-casinos.

What's your opinion, assuming you're old enough to remember the old Vegas?

 

the corporations suck in terms of how they treat their customers, but at least today if you take a casino for a big score you don't have worry about getting beat up in a back room or being found in a ditch next month.

 

I suppose if the score was legitimate you wouldn't have anything to worry about.

 

Also Shifter, I have read many of your posts and am surprised to see you're making the trip to Encore.

 

I think something that is missing about "the old days" is that even in this era's down years, there is so many more visitors than 40 years ago. In the Startdust/mob glory years, their only hotel was a two-story motor lodge out back (the tower hadn't been built, yet). There were just less players to try to keep happy, and if you did have a High Roller, he was easier to pick-out. With MGM having 5000 rooms, that is a lot of people to process through just that one casino.

You also didn't have as many people who - just because THEY feel like they're high rolling - seemed to expect a lot of spiffs.

The one thing that I believe that I miss about the olden days is that people dressed appropriately in casinos. Check out some of the YouTube videos from days gone by. I don't now, but certainly could see myself needing to wear slacks, a button down shirt and sport coat to fit into a casino. Today? Too many people in sweats, ill-fitting T-shirts and (the bane of today's fashion) flip-flops.

 

I think too many mistakenly view the "mob days" with rose-colored glasses. When you speak with folks who were around Vegas in those days, it was anything but a "wonderful" time. I understand that many appreciated the personal-service of the clubs in those days, as the mob understood they had nothing without customers. Spilotro and his gang ran throughout the town extorting, robbing and burglarizing at will for some time. I only go back to the early 80's when the influence was severely curtailed and don't know these things first hand, but I've spoken to plenty of old-timers.

I like a clean, well regulated Vegas!

 

Well of course he would be bitter about the change: to him "the old days" meant the mob was skimming millions from the casinos and some of it was ending up in his pocket...

When people say they miss the "old days" of Las Vegas, back when the mob ran things and knew how to take care of customers, they almost always fall in to one of three groups:

A) The "absence makes the heart grow fonder" group:
They have a few good memories that paint over everything else and as each year passes their looks back seem better and better.

B) The "hoping and dreaming" group:
They are small time gamblers who "the big corporations" never give comps to and they keep hearing about how "the mob knew how to treat customers" and equate that to "back in the day I would have gotten a comped room"

C) The "clueless about economics" group:
They hearken back to the days when buffets, dinners, shows and gambling were all really cheap... but are clueless about economics because they don't put two and two together and realize that $5 back in the 1970s was worth a lot more than $5 today and that when you apply basic inflation and cost of living to the prices from the 70s they end up being just as, if not more, expensive than today.

 

The Vegas of the "old days" also used to have to entice people to come to town with hopes of a cheap vacation with $10 rooms, $2.99 buffets, midnight specials in the coffee shop. Vegas was new then, and not everyone had experienced the town. Now, they don't need to do that to get people / tourists to come. They come anyway.

Also, back in the day, you could not be sure of getting a fair shake in your game of choice. The mob allowed or employed card mechanics to cheat the games they dealt, crooked dice, rigged roulette wheels, and a bunch of other tactics to separate you from your money. They felt no compassion to give you a fair shot at their money. They wanted YOUR money. The gambling control board was also in it's infancy, and really didn't have the power or control it has now over slot payouts and making sure gamblers have a fair shake. The corporations saw an end to all of that as they could not afford to get caught dealing crooked games.

 

I agree with MJames about the way people dress in casinos, I HATE seeing people in their PJs gaming.. Its tacky. I do have to say I am guilty of flip flops, they are just too comfy and I do a lot of walking in Vegas, like everyone, so Id rather match a cute outfit with flip flops then a tshirt and comfy sneakers. At night tho, I do usually dress up a lot more.

I LOVE looking at old pics of Vegas, and the TV show Vegas makes me want to have lived in that era, enjoy the classic Vegas with lounge singers, and classy showgirls! I hate the ones who walk the strip, they look like strippers. If I wanted that Id go to a club!

So, as much as I love Vegas now, I think I prefer the "old days"

 

Both old and new Las Vegas were (and are) great for their time. You can't just plop something from the past into the present and compare. They are comparable only to their own place in time and history. It is what it is.

Bill

 

I prefer it now.

Back then there were long walks between casinos.

you were not allowed to take drinks from one into the next, if they say you walk in with a beer from outside you had to drink it or dump it.

The was much less selection of everything which in turn lead to them having the advantages with the pricing and that sort of stuff.

Sure, people say they miss the $1.99 buffet but they never say they miss making 10k per year at their jobs.

I dont want to have to dress up everywhere I go. i want to be able to see everything from the comfort of my shorts, hawaiian shirt and flip flops while strolling in and out of places with a beer in my hand.

people always remember the glory days and forget the day to day grind that made the glory possible.

If you want to relive the glory you have to relive the grind.

 

Not to be nitpicking, but the Stardust's 9-story East Tower opened in 1964.

 

Well, I'm one of those "old-timers" who has fond memories of the mid-80s through 90s strip. But it's not the 'prices' or 'selective memory'. I can tell you exactly what it was:
1. All blackjack was 3:2... DAS was permitted everywhere... two-deck pitch games were common... many still had S17 and some even had late surrender.
2. Pit bosses could actually give comps based on his perception of a player's value - not just some computerized assessment of the gambler's play.
3. Even 'low-rolling' players were treated with much more courtesy & respect by dealers, CWs and hotel staff.
4. Cab drivers. Yes. Back then, no driver ever even tried to long-haul me anywhere, once I made it clear I was a regular visitor to the city.
5. Free cigarettes, at the table, for any player - anytime while playing.
6. All "invited guests" back then had an exclusive line for hotel check-in - at least at the Stardust they did.
7. Way more space was allocated for table-games back then. Now it's way more slots.
8. From Houston and DFW anyway, there were a LOT more non-stop flights, available from more than one airline.
9. Casinos were MUCH more diligent about keeping bums & riff-raff out of their properties.
10. In general, the manners and behavior of all of the gamblers were far more civil & courteous. I can tell you - if you ever heard an 'F-bomb' back then at the blackjack tables, the player would be cautioned once...and escorted out if he did it again. Today? The coarse language is constant and prevalent... and tolerated.

 

I have to agree with Topcard. Our first 2 trips were in the 90s. I prefer that time to now. Demise of the quarter reel slots. Normal pools not hip hop day clubs. Free monorail from Ballys to MGM and nowhere as near crowded on the strip as it is now. Probably why we are much happier off strip than onstrip nowadays.

 

Fair enough, as I was unclear that I was thinking about the larger tower that opened in the late 80s/early 90s. However my comparison of hotel size relative to the number of casino players is still valid. The monster hotels have so many more guests and casino players to tend to that it is almost impossible to offer a more personalized experience except to their top players.

 

The old Vegas, truly old Vegas that my grandparents and parents went to was a different world than what we go to from what they tell me. From their descriptions as well as our first visit in 93 I prefer the newer Vegas, better amenities, FAR, FAR better food and more attractions that are easier to get in to.

 

When I went in the early 90s we stayed at the then new MGM. I don't recall being assaulted by so much raunchy 80s music walking down the strip then. I would stop that immediately if I could! And it did seem as though flights were quite cheapish compared to now. Of course I do like being able to compare rates online myself now. Guess if I feel like going old school this next trip I'll just get on the bus and go the the El Cortez.

 

Depending on when you consider the 'old days' to be, you can still get the equivalent of those prices fairly easily, due to the magic of inflation.

For example, $3 in 1970 (to pick a year at random that isn't too far in the past but not too recent either) is about the equivalent of $18 in today's dollars - that'll get you a low-end buffet even on the strip. Likewise, $10 in 1970 is about the equivalent of $60 today, enough to get a weekday room on the Strip in the lower tier hotels, although that's getting harder these days with that 'resort fee' garbage.

http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

 

For some folks, it may be their (distorted) view of the prices of things. For others, (like me) it is the corporate sanitization, the severe decline in quality customer service and the deterioration in individual and cultural civility. It used to be that one consistently got the feeling that their business was appreciated by the casinos. No more...at least not on the strip, unless you're betting black+.

 

I do miss those old slots where actual coins came out and using those plastic cups they had next to slot machines.