TRAVEL
Feeling lucky? Gambling industry bets on boomers By Michael Murphy
W
alk into any Las Vegas casino during the breakfast buffet and you’ll find the longest lines are folks waiting to fill their bowls with oatmeal. Why? Because, according to the gambling industry’s most recent data, half of all adult visitors to casinos are aged 50 and older. Seniors are the fastest-growing population of gamblers. A recent poll found that 70 percent of seniors had gambled in the last year! Even more of a surprise was another recent study which discovered that the favorite social activity for people over 65 was gambling. It ranked higher than eating out, shopping, movies and golf. Of course, the casino industry is aware of this boomer betting bounce and is doing everything it can to encourage it. They’ve marketed incentive programs and clever advertising aimed at seniors whose IRAs, Social Security checks
22 | TRAVEL | JULY 2022 |
and grandchildren’s education funds are burning a hole in their pockets. Buffet discounts, free lunch coupons, drug discounts, scooters and wheelchairs, shuttle buses to and from retirement centers and friendly “We miss you” reminders make up some of the gambling industry’s
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PR ploys. It comes as no surprise, then, that there’s a strong senior influence on casinos’ live entertainment. It’s not just the omnipresent Elvis impersonators performing throughout the Vegas strip. There also seems to be a tribute band for every classic-rock act from Foreigner to Fleetwood Mac playing in the
IN SOME WAYS, CASINOS ARE LIKE DISNEYLAND FOR SENIORS. THEY OFFER ACTIVITIES LIKE MOVIES, BOWLING AND BINGO ALL UNDER ONE ROOF. lounges. And, yes, Wayne Newton is still performing in Vegas. However, if you want to see him, I suggest you hurry since his current show at the Tropicana has the rather ominous title “Once Before I Go.”
WHY GAMBLING? Why this upsurge in senior gambling? What is it that causes baby boomers to be so enthralled by a “Wonky Wabbits” slot machine that they’ll sit and stare at carrot and eggplant images spinning around
