When the prospects of a recession first came about, some speculated that the casino sector may be insulated, thinking gambling was a recession-proof business. Their reasoning was that either gambling was addictive so people did it no matter what or people would try to ‘win back’ their portfolio and other losses at the dice table. Boy were they wrong. Vegas has seen a huge drop in wagers; gambling was the first thing consumers cut out of their spending. Stocks like MGM Mirage and Las Vegas Sands (who owns the Venetian) are down close to 90% from their highs.

I recently went to Vegas and saw this first hand. I gamble quite a bit and will play for high stakes at the casino. The first thing I noticed when going to Vegas was that the room rates were down considerably. At the Wynn and the Venetian, where a Saturday night stay was often sold out or room rates were $400-$800, a Sat night stay over New Years could be had for $160. Needless to say, if you haven’t been to Vegas and were thinking about going, room rates now are better than ever. You can stay at the Wynn for the same price it used to cost to stay at the Flamingo.

One thing I wondered about is if the casinos changed their comping policies. It’s difficult to tell. For example, how much easier would it now be to get your room comped than in the past? If you think about it, it should be considerably cheaper since the room is now worth less. Comping a $170 a night room means a lot less than comping a $400 a night room in the sense the casino is losing out on less revenue.

On my recent stay, I initially stayed at the Venetian. They sent me out a mailer offering me a free hotel room over New Years, so I went ahead and took them up on it. Three nights into it and down about $3500 with an average bet of well over $500 and 5 hours of play at the craps table, I asked if they could extend my stay a few more nights. Also, I might add, I was very annoyed with the casino’s taxi valet. It’s a long story, but I was shocked at how rude casino employees could be, given at least in the Venetian’s case, the company is on the brink of bankruptcy and the last thing they should do is offend any customers.

At this point, the casino host was pretty curt with me and acted like my play wasn’t  that much in of itself to guarantee a few more free nights and that he couldn’t do anything about the rude taxi valet. I was pretty shocked they wouldn’t bend over backwards to keep me there, since there weren’t that many people gambling ofr high stakes. The casino was fairly empty, so they risked losing a valuable customer (I go to Vegas 3-4 times a year) to keep a room for a few nights.

I told the casino host peace and went to the Wynn. With less play and a less loss, they happily comped my two nights there. At least the Wynn gets it.