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Inside Gaming: The Value of Minding Our Own Business

Listening to gaming aficionados and hospitality honchos in Los Angeles talk about the proliferation of gaming has made me think Las Vegans are a little like Alices in Wonderland. That's what three months in Los Angeles for medical treatments will do to your perspective.

The trouble with Wonderland was that Alice saw the world through a looking glass and got everything backward. The trouble with Las Vegans, business insiders in L.A. say, is that they see a lot of blue smoke and mirrors and think it spells doom -- or, sometimes, a bonanza -- for Las Vegas.

Among Las Vegans, there's a lot of hand-wringing that new jurisdictions will steal our thunder and take away business. But hospitality honchos in Los Angeles don't think the second-tier venues threaten Las Vegas.

Atlantic City is the second-biggest single draw nationwide, but gaming insiders here scoff at the idea visitors would pick the grimy New Jersey shore over the Strip for first-class conventions or getaway vacations.

Secondly, Las Vegans worry that tribal casinos in California are becoming competitive with Strip properties. However, I have not heard a single industry insider in the Southland say tribal gaming is a challenge to Las Vegas -- others say it, but not insiders who know the data.

Instead, tribal gaming is locals entertainment for Californians. It's a way for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to add to his budget. And it's either another way for the government to steal from American Indians or the best source of income for the poorest of American demographic groups, depending on your view.

Finally, Southland executives say Las Vegans are deluding themselves if they think the spread of gaming will build interest in Las Vegas as a destination. Instead, they say the proliferation of gaming is the result of interest in Las Vegas as a destination.

Opening a new jurisdiction drives scant demand compared with the national television exposure Las Vegas gets from the opening of new megaresorts such as Wynn Las Vegas or the constant advertising that hawks the city as hip and cool, the place of all places to sin -- or to pretend that you have.

The spread of gaming doesn't reprise the Strip. Proliferation reprises Station Casinos and Boyd Gaming Corp., but in other jurisdictions. It has as much to do with gaming on the Strip as Rolex knock-offs have to do with shopping at Tiffany's.

The lesson for Las Vegans is not to worry about our neighbors' back yards. The lesson for other jurisdictions is that it's not easy to become a pretender to a throne.

And however brightly the promise of gambling may glitter, tarnished towns tend to stay tarnished rather than turn to gold.

The Inside Gaming column is compiled by Gaming Wire Editor Rod Smith. He can be reached by e-mail at rodneysmith1@aol.com, by phone at 338-9653 or by fax at 387-5243.

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