Hollywood, Aurora IL brief report

[Stephen Jacobs]

Just went for the first time since the governmental catastrophe. Parking
$2, casino admission $5, no poker room admission but the rake is unchanged
at %10 up to $5 (but short-handed it's only $1 max).

The old daily special games are dead. Strictly $5/10 and $10/20 hold'em
except for a new special: $2-10 stud8 on Wed and Fri (which may not last).
Noise level is down substantially, partly because management has toned down
some of the slots near the poker room, but largely because attendance is WAY
off. One side-effect of note: poker seems to be getting more respect
because with a small crowd the poker income holds up better than the slot
income (in particular, they're keeping the poker room open this weekend; it
would be nice if that lasts). I didn't get the story exactly, but there was
apparently some kind of mass coupon mailing; cocktail waitress was going
nuts from drink coupons (something like having to get reimbursed for coupons
at a cage window; this while they've been changing drink prices every week
to the point that waitresses are carrying price lists). Anyway, I guess the
coupons were well received by customers.

Overall impression: I don't think this casino can survive under present
conditions, but they'll probably keep poker until the very end. I guess the
games have gotten a bit tougher, by the way, with fewer casual visitors.

[Stephen Jacobs]

It is not true. Somebody told me they would have needed gaming control
board approval to do that. Whatever the reason, it didn't happen (yet).

"Trapshooter870" <trapshooter870@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030808003629.28318.00000107@mb-m10.aol.com...
> I heard that they were charging $30 just to get a seat in the poker during
the
> week and $50 on the weekend. Is this true or not? I personally haven't
played
> there since they killed the 1-5 stud game.

[desire]

trapshooter870@aol.com (Trapshooter870) wrote in message news:<20030808003629.28318.00000107@mb-m10.aol.com>...
> I heard that they were charging $30 just to get a seat in the poker during the
> week and $50 on the weekend. Is this true or not? I personally haven't played
> there since they killed the 1-5 stud game.



You should change your name to "Crapshooter" if you play 1-5 stud.

[Stephen Jacobs]

It IS the government this time, but it's not _mostly_ the 70% tax (which was
widely supposed to be a bargaining chip), it's _mostly_ the 1200 playing
position limit (which was supposed to be raised to at least 2000
_permanently_ in exchange for the temporary tax hike). The coupon mailing
shows that even under present conditions it's POSSIBLE to run a promotion
and get people to come, but with the low position limit, if you run a great
promotion you wind up having to turn people away just about when you break
even. And of course the tax hike to 50% last year was widely considered
temporary and even more widely considered a prelude to an increase in gaming
positions.

I swear, if Blogo and half the legislature changed their last names to
Gantry, we'd at least have an idea where we stood. And if Ricki Ducksauce
(I'd rather play than bother to get his name right) got permission to put
some slots at his track, I think the casinos would suddenly have fewer
regulations.


"PJ DiSanti" <pj@pjdisantinospam.com> wrote in message
news:5rOYa.2641$Ih1.980577@newssrv26.news.prodigy.com...
> Keyword... YET, IGB denied it but it's on appeal, doesn't it piss you off
> that they are even WANTING to do that? It has more to do with the current
> ownership.... Penn National, they refer to Hollywood as the "Illinois
> Disaster" because of the 70% tax, which had been planned for a long time
and
> is only temporary, yet the casinos are using it as a convenient excuse to
> fire people, charge customers, etc etc....
>
> In a couple years when the 70% tax goes away do you think they are going
to
> get rid of the door charges... water charges... etc etc... ? not likely,
> it's just nice for them to be able to blame the Governor for their
> mismanagement.
>
> When they converted from 2 boats to a barge they went into debt, the loan
> was to be paid over a 5 year period, the leadership of Penn National has
> said that the loan will be paid in 3 years NO MATTER WHAT. And that
includes
> firing 400 employees, and more if IGB let's them cut the operating hours.
If
> they extend the loan perhaps some people would be able to keep their jobs,
> but fuck that we need to make money for our shareholders at the cost of
> employees and service to the customers, they've gotten rid of the High
> roller room that used to have snacks and such.
>
> Now they are in let's lose money mode, by way of losing customers, if they
> can reduce profits the state will revert that particular casino to it's
50%
> tax, Grand Victoria and Empress are on that scheme, which is why they
aren't
> charging at the door, but even Empress has a door charge in the plans,
even
> though they DON'T pay the new 70% tax, greedy fucks.
>
> It's easy for them to blame the government on this one, but the 70% tax
> isn't a new concept, it's been discussed among the casinos and the state
for
> a while as a temporary measure to help correct the budget issues because
the
> economy went to shit.
>
> Casino's in the first place are traps to take money from the elderly one
arm
> bandit addicts, now they want to fuck the employees, the neighborhood they
> operate in and the patrons.
>
> The previous owners of Hollywood actually gave a shit about the service
they
> gave and how they treated employees, Penn National on the other hand are a
> bunch of greedy corporate fucks...........
>
> Bottom line, Indiana wins.
>
> PJ
>
> --
>
>
> 'Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.' - Euripides
>
> .sdrawkcab dootsrednu tub sdrawrof devil si efiL
>
>
>
> "Stephen Jacobs" <jacosa@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:bgvkjv$pa3nh$1@ID-198302.news.uni-berlin.de...
> > It is not true. Somebody told me they would have needed gaming control
> > board approval to do that. Whatever the reason, it didn't happen (yet).
> >
> > "Trapshooter870" <trapshooter870@aol.com> wrote in message
> > news:20030808003629.28318.00000107@mb-m10.aol.com...
> > > I heard that they were charging $30 just to get a seat in the poker
> during
> > the
> > > week and $50 on the weekend. Is this true or not? I personally
haven't
> > played
> > > there since they killed the 1-5 stud game.
> >
> >
>
>