What's Wrong With Las Vegas? NYTimes

[bluesbassman]

20. After leaving the Army in '79 I took a year off to ski bum in South Lake Tahoe.

I got a swing shift job at a casino working in the slot department. At that time all slot machines were mechanical, whimsically referred to as “one armed bandits. The denominations at that time were nickels, dimes, quarters, fifty cent pieces, and silver dollars. As an employee in that department I witnessed firsthand that of all the machines available for play the nickel machines were far and away the most popular. For $10 a person could play for a couple hours, all they while enjoying complimentary cocktails and when done playing could go upstairs to the buffet and eat a great meal for $5. So for $15 a person could gamble for a couple hours and enjoy a nice meal. You might think that this arrangement was a loss leader for the casinos, but it was well known among us in the industry that the nickel machines were so profitable that action on them actually covered the entire expenses of the casino and every other slot and all the table game proceeds were pure profit.

One armed bandits are long gone now, and so are the cheap buffets. I’m no longer in the industry so I really don’t know where the most profits are generated, but having been to Vegas a few times in the past few years for concerts and shows, and not to gamble, my wallet says those overhead costs revenues are coming from food, lodging, and fees now to keep the gamble revenue pure profit.