Archive for November, 2011

Take It From a Poor Man

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
I am not a rich man, so it may seem silly that I am offering business advice to an industry that manages to make enough money to help an entire state limp through an economic crisis.  However, here we go.  The brick and mortar casino industry needs to stop being so afraid of the Internet.  The Internet is the future of everything, particularly entertainment.  It seems like casinos are the only people that have not gotten the memo on that.  People do not go to record stores anymore, they download MP3.  There is no Blockbuster anymore because people have Netflix accounts.  The Internet is everything.  I suppose the brick and mortar industry is nervous about ending up like Blockbuster.

That does not have to be their destiny if they move fast enough.  There is a concern that if they start dealing with online casino then fewer people would attend their brick and mortar venues.  That would be the best thing that could happen to them.  They would be able to make even more profit with a lot lower overhead.  Slot machines are expensive, but software is cheap.  Working online would mean having to higher fewer employees and not having to maintain as big a venue.  They could still keep their casinos.  Nobody wants them to disappear, but they venues would not have to be as big and expensive.  Casinos are still a great place to have a few drinks, dinner, and enjoy live music.  Casinos need to embrace the online industry.

What’s the Hang Up?

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
I really do not understand the hang up about online casinos.  There is a clear political part of the entire issue.  Most online casinos have been established in countries outside of this country.  The United States would start out as the underdog trying to break into the industry.  But that could never last too long.  If the United States wanted to, we have more than enough tech savvy and technical infrastructure to really get a strong industry growing.  The problem is that brick and mortar casinos, which still have a lot of lobbying power, are doing everything they can to keep the government from legalizing online casinos.  I think this is a very foolish plan.

What the brick and mortar casino industry does not seem to realize is that a lot of Americans do not trust a lot of these online casinos.  What people trust in this country are brand names.  If people where to see advertisement for Trump online casinos they would be more inclined to visit the site.  Casinos may be concerned that the more people that visit online casinos means the less people that would visit their actual venue.  But this is, again, a foolish thought.  There are just a some things you cannot do at an online casinos.  You may be able to watch a live webcast of your favorite band playing at a casino music venue, but it is not the same as seeing them live.  Also, while playing slots online, it just is not the same as getting out and playing a few real slot machines.

The Passion Hasn’t Left

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
Young people still gamble.  I hear them talk about it all of the time.  Many of the time they are talking about wagering on sports.  It is still very common place for a group of young men to get together and have a poker night.  What you do not hear about very often are young people that make a regular stop at the convenience store to pick up a few lottery tickets.  I rarely hear of young people going to the casino on a regular basis to play slot machines.  The stereotype for the average slot machine player is a little old grandmother.  However, there is some truth to this stereotype as the chief demographic for a slot machine player are women that are middle aged and older.

I wonder what will happen to slot machines and casinos when the popularity of slot machines finally tapers off.  I say when because nothing lasts forever.  There have been many pastimes in this country that seemed like they would stand forever.  Try telling that to the governments that agreed to allow horse racing tracks to be built all over their cities.  I have to wonder what will be the new popular form of gambling that will emerge that state operated casinos will beg for in order to subsidize their operations.  If anyone knows that nothing is promised forever in the gambling industry, it has to be Atlantic City, which until recently had a dominant choke hold on the east coast gambling industry.

Simple and Innocent

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
The idea of gambling is very simple and somewhat innocent.  When people say that humans have been gambling since the dawn of civilization, they are not talking about casinos.  When two people are waiting on a result, particularly a mundane result, it makes it more interesting to assign a monetary reward to the outcome.  To this day, when people are bored gambling seems to emerge.  Many of us will remember the scene from the movie Jarhead where the Marines, bored out of their mind in the deserts of Iraq, captured scorpions and pit them against each other.  Of course the real thrill was wagering on the outcome, not watching insects slay each other.  Gambling, in this simple format, will never go away.  However, gambling as we consider it may change drastically.

Slot machines are currently the most popular form of gambling in the United States.  But it is not certain to stay that way forever.  Poker, one of America’s contributions to the international gambling scene, has faded in and out of popularity every other decade.  Slot machines may eventually fall to the way side.  This is a warning the gambling industry needs to take very seriously.  Slot machines need to evolve in a manner that will keep the attention of a generation of people that walk around with electronics in their pockets. I do not think having a screen light up every few seconds will be enough to keep many young people coming back since they have been born with flashing screens in front of their faces.

The Fall of Casinos

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
Horse racing was once the sport of kings, even in this country that has never had a king.  It was a sport that everyone watched and even if they did not, everyone heard about the results of the big races the same way that everyone hears about the result of the Super Bowl even if you have not followed one game during the entire football season.  But that eventually changed.  There grew a great divide between the sport and the common people.  I have hypothesized that the lack of interest in racing came from the fact that the average American does not have any interest in horses, thus the quick rise of NASCAR as the most popular spectator sport in the nation.

My question is what will happen to the casino if that is ever to happen.  Certainly, the concept of gambling is not in danger, but popular forms of gambling go in and out of popularity all of the time.  That is exactly what happened to the horse racing industry.  Slot machines still reign supreme in the casinos but even that role could be under fire.  The young people growing up are no longer as drawn in by the bells and whistles of a slot machine.  Young people today have be brought up on home video game consoles that become more realistic and more interactive everyday.  The limited animation in a slot machine just is not enough to capture their imaginations the way it did the generation before them.

Where Have All The Young People Gone?

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
Where have all of the young people gone? If you visit a racetrack in the United States, any racetrack, there are a few things that you will find in common.  Unless you visit one of the very few prospering racetracks in this country, it is very likely that the grandstand will be almost completely empty.  However, the people that you do find there will most likely be elderly people.  These people are left over from a time when horse racing was one of the most popular sports in the whole country.  Those days are long since past.  Unfortunately, the racetrack is not the only gambling venue largely populated with the elderly.

The same thing happens on the gaming floor of a casino.  Unfortunately, when you see a stack of slot machines in a casino, it is not typically young people you see sitting in front of them.  More often than not it will be a women who is either middle aged or above.  The same is true of the people that you typically find buying a lottery ticket.  This does not bode well for the gambling industry.  Young people are still gambling, the question is where.  Many young people gamble on sports, but these are usually private pools at a barber shop or a bar.  It is not that people have become disinterested in gambling, but perhaps gambling at the casino has become a little dated.  Although young people are still largely attracted to table games and card games at a casino.

The In Thing

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
I have had a few conversations and read a few articles that provoke major questions about the future of the gambling industry.  When I was in a bar discussing the opening of a brand new casino in Queens, New York the response that I got was that the only people that will attend the venue will be old people.  This was emphasized because there were nothing but slot machines coming to the now operating Resorts World Casino.  Slot machines were even described as being boring.  I cannot contest a lot of these complaints as the average age group that plays slot machines are are middle aged people and above.

This experience has left me asking where all of the young people have gone.  Slot machines were at one point in time the most exciting thing in the world of gambling.  At some point in time that generation that gave it such popularity turned into old people and I am not sure that the current generation is growing up with the same enthusiasm.  People have gambled since the dawn of society so I do not think younger people are disinterested in gambling.  I think the disinterest may be coming from where they gamble.  It is likely that more and more young people would prefer to gamble online.  However, many of them do not feel comfortable gambling online since the United States has not yet regulated the gambling industry.  This would be a multibillion dollar industry that would create a lot of new jobs.  I think the future of the industry depends on it.

The Influence of Horse Racing

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
It is surprising to me how many lives are affected by the horse racing business.  At one point in time in history horse racing was a huge deal.  People came in large numbers to see a racing event and if they could not be there then they would huddle around the radio and listen in for the results.  Going to the tracks for a day during the weekend was sort of a common escape.  Of course the prime entertainment at the racetrack was to place wagers on horse.  Horse racing was such a common part of American culture that we use terms in our everyday life that refer directly to racing; such as neck and neck or photo finish.  But those days are long gone.  Most horse racing tracks are attended by a very modest handful of elderly people.

However, as this industry disintegrates, there is a major push to keep the tracks open.  The main solution that lands on the table is the legalization of slot machines. While slot machines are great for racetracks, it is not the most profitable location for slot machines.  The problem is that if the horse racing industry were to sink it would not just be the horse racing industry that suffers.  Professionals like veterinarians, hay farmers, and blacksmiths would take a major hit.  Many of them have already suffered a great deal from the financial decline of the industry.  If the industry were to collapse all around the nation the would be hundreds of thousands of jobs gone with it.

It All Adds Up

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
Somehow, slot machines received the reputation of being the most addictive form of gambling in the world.  I personally do not believe gambling is addictive.  I think there is a very big difference between addiction and an object possessing the attention to a compulsive personality.  I have certainly bared witness to people rolling into to casinos that clearly look as if they would be better off staying at home and spending their money on other things.  However, I firmly believe that those people would and do do that with other things.  I have seen it many times on my on block in New York City.

Going to a casino is not something I do regularly, but it is something that I find to be an interesting change of pace on occasion.  However, I have never had the urge to purchase a lottery ticket.  I just do not see the appeal.  I supposed I could spend one dollar and maybe become a millionaire, but it still does not peak my interest.  I have seen many elderly people on my block line up at deli counters buying their lottery scratch offs and playing their numbers.  It seems like a complete and total waste of money to me.  There is nothing wrong with doing something like this on occasion, but it should not be a regular use of you paycheck. Just like a slot machine wager, one dollar does not seem like a lot of money, but overtime it is a giant waste.

Moderation

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
Everything must be tempered with moderation.  That is a very important lesson that I think is lost on us in this country of excess.  We have a culture where we think that more for some reason means better and that is just not the case.  I have learned very quickly living in New York City that you do not need a lot of things to live comfortably.  You just need a few things of quality.  Most people would rather have a whole bunch of things of varying quality.  I was in a Starbucks once and ordered a lemon ice pound cake, because those things are delicious.  It was close to closing time and the clerk offered me two cakes for the price of one.  I refused, not wanting anymore than the one I already had.  He then insisted as if I did not realize that he was offering it to me for free.  I told him thank you. I just want the one.  I am not a trash can.

That is not an offer that most people would turn down.  The logic is that if I love something, I am certain to love two of them.  That is part of the trap that people fall into with casinos.  It is certainly a lot of fun to visit casinos and have a night of playing slot machines, but there is no reason you have to make a regular trip out of it.  Let it be fun for that day and maybe visit again several months later.