Re: AC closing in on Vegas?
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LV is more than gambling.
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I know most people probably agree with you, but as far as I'm concerned all Vegas has is gambling. AC has the beach and boardwalk, both of which are suprisingly nice (the beach is a lot nicer than it was 15 years ago when I went for the first time).
I went to Vegas for the first time last year and was bored when not playing poker, and the poker was not as good as in AC (and nowhere near as good as in California). Some of the stuff at the big casinos was interesting to look at _once_, but I have no desire to ever see it again.
Honestly I have no idea what the allure of Vegas is. If you live on the East Coast, like poker and the beach, go to AC. If you really just want great poker (and want other interesting things to do as well), go to Los Angeles or the Bay Area of California. If you're a degenerate gambler who doesn't mind never being outside, go to Vegas.
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If all these places were dependent on poker, then you're point is well put. But, as an example of extreme myopia, I think you are unable to see the broad picture.
How many people go to AC who don't gamble? If it's a large percentage, I'd be surprised. That's not the case in LV. An amazing percentage come here with no intention of gambling, and that's not including the numbers of people who come here as part of conventions and business meetings.
There's around 50 conventions this month, of anywhere from a few hundred to many thousands. There was a family reunion at the Orleans last week attended by over 100. There might have been a poker player in the family, but chances are good you wouldn't have known the fact that a hundred people came from all over to be with their family in LV.
When AC opened, LV was predicted to die. People from the East Coast would stop coming. Vegas reinvented itself, a couple of times, from the failed attempt to become "family oriented," to a destination resort and convention town. There's a lot more to do in Vegas than gambling, despite there is no beach.
Now, it's my understanding from reading reports, that AC is under the same pressure LV was under when AC opened. The racinos in PA are taking away a lot of the slot customers from AC. I believe I read revenues in AC are down. Instead of trying to close in on Vegas, AC is going to have to do something to keep its customer base, as LV did when AC opened.
Now, if you want to talk about someplace closing in on Vegas, we could mention Macau. It's going to exceed LV in terms of gambling revenue--it's close and some say ahead while others say it's an accounting thing--but that's only for the gaming revenue. When it comes to tourism and business travelers, LV has no peer. It's not even close.
What other city in the world has 151,000 hotel rooms at 95% occupancy rates and another 50,000 online to open?
I've never been to AC, so I'm not commenting or comparing about quality. I have, however, seen what many who come to LV haven't seen. That would be the huge numbers of people who don't set foot in the casinos.
When AC has 40 million go through it's airport or bus terminals a year, then we'll talk. Not everyone is like us, man. Few come here for the reasons we are here. Poker is a tiny, unimaginably small part of what makes these places go.
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