[bav]

[ QUOTE ]
Plus there is the sneaky $5 rake that Harrahs is implementing property by property.

[/ QUOTE ]
Nothing sneaky about that $5, other than the very small print they use to change the placards on the tables when it goes up.

That MAY be on its way out. I mostly stopped visiting Ballys+Harrah's after they raised the rake, but I went back a week ago, or so. The scuttlebutt is the $5 rake has been a spectacular failure, and business in the rooms is off measurably. They're making more per table, when the tables are going, but they're getting fewer tables. They've basically driven away most of the regulars and are finding it's tough to keep things going with just the bleating tourists who don't know any better. So the dealers and floors were all quietly suggesting they figured it wouldn't last much longer, nor would the manager who pushed it at the outset. I believe the make/break was considered to be whether Flamingo could be coerced into adopting it, and so far Flamingo had resisted and was showing no signs of changing (guess Caesars is written off as never coming on board [apparently kinda vocally]).