| When Harrah's Entertainment bought the Rio a few years ago, it made the mistake of stripping away too much of what made the property unique in the market and painted over with a generic corporate makeover. The result? The Rio went downhill, revenues plunged, and soon the much sought after Vegas "in crowd" and high rollers which had previously made the Rio their home had moved to Mandalay Bay. Even though the Rio has managed a recovery to fiscal soundness and corporate profitability by marketing to a broader data base of casino gamblers, it has never regained the mystique, popularity and unique appeal it enjoyed under Marnel's ownership. Jack Binion and his executive staff brought a similar mystique to the Horseshoe Casino Hammond. The "golden horseshoe" has become the single most recognizable casino brand in the Chicago-area. Marketing the name, face, and voice of Jack Binion himself has capitalized on the legacy of a famous gaming family by making the "legendary" theme a self-fulfilling marketing strategy. Average casino fans can relate to Binion. He brings a hands-on, personal quality that no other casino company in the world can imitate. Picking up where Binion leaves off, building and enhancing what he has already done, will be the best thing that Harrah's can do. Harrah's has already announced intentions to preserve the Horseshoe brand in Hammond. More important, they should stick by the old adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". If Harrah's strengthens what the Horseshoe Casino Hammond is all about, the entire market, including gaming fans, will benefit. The hotels and mega-resorts on the famous Las Vegas Strip serve the tourist trade, the heavy bettors, and a younger crowd that loves to party. Most of the table games have high minimums and few player-friendly rules. There's a low priority on video poker, and the games that do exist have less than desirable pay tables. There's also a vibrant locals casino market in Las Vegas. Very popular "off-strip" properties owned by such successful gaming companies as Station Casinos, Coast Casinos, and Boyd Gaming (Sam's Town), among others, do big business catering to average gamblers by offering lower limits at the tables, better rules, as well as good video poker and lots of it. It appears as if Majestic Star and Trump have taken the lead in that department in the Chicago area. Majestic Star, for example, has a dedicated two-cent slot machine area that features many of the most popular multi-line video games from IGT and Williams Gaming. There's also a video poker area that offers a wide variety of games with rock-solid pay tables. There are some nickel games and even penny Hundred Play. The overall slot product, along with the table games selection, appeals to a broad spectrum of gaming enthusiasts. The Trump Casino is more aggressive in marketing its product to average gamblers. The casino has a bank of the popular Multi-Strike Poker machines in nickel format, as well as a selection of nickel Triple Play, Five Play, and Ten Play video poker games. I never thought I would see that in the Chicago area! |
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