Las Vegas Casinos React to Slowdown With Deals and Perks

By Scott Roeben, on June 03 2025
3 min read 11 comments
Las Vegas

It’s shaping up to be a slower-than-typical summer in Las Vegas and that’s great news for visitors because casinos are rolling out deals and perks to cushion the anticipated drop in business.

Fontainebleau is enhancing its loyalty club, Resorts World is offering free parking, MGM Resorts is discounting all its shows, Plaza is offering “all inclusive” packages and even Ellis Island is slashing its menu prices in half, just for starters.

When there are fewer whales, the minnows get Champagne, or something.

Casinos are rolling out deals, rolling back fees and rediscovering the lost art of having to try.

Fontainebleau just announced changes to its players club to make it more player-friendly.

The biggest change is players will now earn points, called “Play Points,” for every $2.50 in slot coin-in. Previously, it took $5 in coin-in to earn a point, that’s double the earning power.

For every 5,000 Play Points earned on slots, Fontainebleau Rewards members get $20 in cash.

You can find out more details on the Fontainebleau Web site.

Resorts World recently announced parking will be free at the resort through the summer.

You remember free parking. Welcome to Bizarro Vegas, where free parking makes headlines.

Look for a cease and desist from Parker Brothers, Resorts World. They’re touchy. We got one years ago for a parody of their Monopoly cards. The images were featured in Yahoo Internet Life magazine, which was a thing at the time.

We find that talking about ourself makes every blog post more interesting. Actual results may vary.

We thought parking at Resorts World was already free for loyalty club members, but apparently we missed the paid parking memo.

The most important thing to remember about parking at Resorts World is to park in the right garage. One is far away from the casino, the other drops you into the middle of the action, such as it is.

If you wanted to hike, you should’ve gone to Red Rock.

As mentioned, MGM Resorts is girding for a slow summer with deep discounts on its entertainment offerings, including Cirque du Soleil. You may make the case MGM Resorts does this every summer, but that does not fit our narrative, so please move along.

Order: 1) Carrot Top. 2) “Fantasy.” 3) Everything else except David Copperfield (because he was BFFs with Jeffrey Epstein) and “One” (because of the pedophilia thing).

Plaza is once again offering a $125 all-inclusive package. All-inclusive packages are common in other vacation destinations, but in Vegas, not so much.

Plaza’s all-inclusive package features a breakfast, dinner, bottomless drinks and waived resort fees. Find out more on the Plaza Web site.

Even our go-to value-oriented casino, Ellis Island, has whipped up deals to draw guests.

On weekdays, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., it’s 50% off the full menu at the casino’s cafe and beloved Front Yard.

Play some, your dining credits will pay the balance.

We would prefer it if you not take advantage of the Ellis Island happy hour deal because we are there multiple times per week and it’s very annoying when we can’t find a seat at the video poker bar in the Front Yard. Go sit in the karaoke lounge. And close the door so we don’t have to listen to that god-awful screaming.

But back to the point of this story, should there actually be one: Things are sucking a smidge in Las Vegas and visitors are reaping the rewards.

Foreign visitors are bailing, nickel-and-diming is rampant, gambling is legal across the U.S. now and agave straws have a terrible mouth feel, so they aren’t much better than paper straws to be honest.

Agave straws are paper straws, just with better public relations. Total turtles saved: Zeroish.

It’s also worth nothing some casinos are making changes to their games, again, to make them more player-friendly.

Strat and Palms have moved from 6-to-5 to 3-to-2 in their blackjack games. It’s a financial hit, as the house doesn’t have as big an advantage, but the idea is to draw bodies during an increasingly challenging time for casinos. Strat even rolled out a bunch of summer deals.

The hope is more casinos on The Strip will follow suit.

The big casinos aren’t really in panic mode yet. They’re sort of in denial, actually. They’ve had it very good for a very long time (due to the post-pandemic bubble). They say convention business is strong and that takes some pressure off in the face of declining visitation and revenue.

Give it a minute.