Interesting take massraider. Was your job eliminated or did you leave voluntarily? Where did you move to? Did you like living in Vegas while you were there?
I left voluntarily, once I realized that if my job disappeared, there were no other ones out there. I loved Vegas, and would go back in a second. My opinion about the future of Vegas kind of evolved as I talked to people there: gamblers, people in the hotel business, casino managers. Heck, even builders. I remember articles about illegals living there, who were going back to Mexico because there was no work. When illegals are crawling back under the fence to Mexico, you know things are bad. Some interesting stuff people may not know:When the building explosion was going on, there was actually like a lottery system set up. People were buying so fast, you couldn't just walk in and buy a house. You were put on a waiting list at various realtors, and if you were lucky, they'd call you and let you buy a house. A buddy was out there 5 years ago with a handful of money, looking to buy, and couldn't even get a call back for 4 months. Best move he never made, in hindsight.A couple years ago, entertainment, food and beverage surpassed gaming for percentage of hotel/casino revenue for the first time ever. Now, that can be spun that hotels were building up the other revenue streams, but the fact is they had to start turning a profit in other areas, because gaming was declining. Entertainment and name chefs were originally brought in just to bring in bodies, thinking they get a comped show/dinner, and they'd leave the mortgage payment on the craps table. It was that way for 40+ years. some of these chefs were given amazing deals. I heard the details of the deal Todd English got when the Bellagio opened, and it was ridiculous. Those deals are over.Now, hotels want to make money on the restaurants and shows. They have to. A lot of the freebies and perks are gone. It used to be you could play quarters at a video poker game at a bar, and drink all night. now, most places have a system in place where you get one free drink for every $20 played. Big difference. City Center just opened, with 4,000 more hotel rooms (I think that number is right). That's not what Vegas needs. City Center can only cannibalize MGM's other properties, especially a monster like the MGM Grand, which costs 2 million a day, just to open. That'll also mean 2 or three more nightclubs, which Vegas also can't afford. Those clubs rely on bottle service, and there's only so many people willing to do bottle service on any given night, and these clubs are so big, 500 people looks empty. Bartenders at Jet 4 years ago were making 2 grand a week, working 4 nights, now that number is probably closer to 900. Like I said, I think the bigger problem is the gambling online, and the casinos all over the country/world. For years, Vegas was the only game in town, aside from Atlantic City. The monopoly is gone. I will be interested to see the first places that close their doors. The Trop seems like the first to go, but I think a big dog like Treasure Island, Harrah's, or even the Rio will fall in a few years.