Happy Holidays to Everyone!

'Tis the season to wander through the stores and malls and casinos to view the season's decorations... and Reno has its "cheer" on...the Reno Hilton is lit up red and green with a Happy Holiday message...the Reno skyline is equally red and green and it is an inviting sight.

I received an e-mail survey form from the Reno Hilton the other day. It was pretty extensive, but it seemed to have a central focus on the soon to be outdated "Connection Card." (Outdated because CZR is selling off the Reno Hilton and Colonial Sussex is buying Caesars Tahoe.) I filled it out because I have my opinions and welcomed a chance to be heard... and I liked the idea of having a chance to win a couple of room nights at the Hilton for my efforts. I think they are trying to concoct the "perfect" players club for whomever buys it...

It appears that more casinos are starting to pay a little more attention to the www.UnitedGamblers.com and it fills me with hope.

I always have thought that we all need to sit down and talk and both sides need to listen and learn from the experience. The casinos claim that they are a misunderstood entity... the gamblers should at least hear them out before we get to the part where we ask, "But what about us?" We do need to be part of our gambling future...AND NOW...NOT LATER. At least the casinos are paying attention...I would have given up on that ever happening, but that is what seems to be going on. It probably will lead to an "Insider" section to give the casino execs their fair shake...to let them respond. It seems to be a discussion we need to have.

I'm glad they are paying attention. I received a couple of letters from casinos that would like to hear what people think. It's their opinion that they can prevent major marketing mistakes by listening to what people have to say. They can change their line of thinking when needed to continue giving their guest base the best they can offer. Keep in mind that these are smaller casinos that don't want to do anything other than have happy guests. We hope we find many more with like attitudes. One of our goals is to better communications between gamblers and their casinos!

The Gripes section of the members area allows people with valid gripes about casinos across the country to have those gripes looked into in an effort to seek resolution. Everyone gets stuck in a "gripe" at some point that they would rather someone else handle. If you have encountered even one situation in a casino that had you dazed and confused and not knowing what to do about a complaint and wondering where things went wrong...this is the corner of the Members section for you! I'm going to keep saying it over and over again...

The casino corporations are getting bigger and bigger... everywhere they are getting bigger and bigger. Morongo Valley opened last week on Monday a new 21-story hotel structure opens at Harrah's Rincon. The biggest hotel in the whole state attached to a Tribal casino. Some feat. MGG and MBG are merging... Mandalay shareholders voted in favor of the merger on Friday December 10. HET and CZR are closing their merger about the same time. Summer 2005 will be the season of the mega-mergers for the gambling sector.

Missouri is growing, Chicago is growing, Kansas City is growing, Pinnacle Entertainment is building a gorgeous casino complex in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Racinos are appearing across the country and poker... well, poker is just out of control on the growth index chart.

The bigger they get the smaller we will get. The more fractured we are the less effective we are. If we don't want to be kicking ourselves in the butt later for not saying something sooner while we had a chance...then now is the time to start collecting. I've got a place for a collective voice and I'm putting the world on notice...THE UNITED GAMBLERS ARE COMING AND WE WANT TO TALK.

That's UNITEDGAMBLERS.COM!