I was just ruminating about the recent takeover of Caesar's by Harrah's (and the ongoing problems I'm still having with Harrah's screwing up my Connection Card account AND my prior Total Rewards account in the process), and I can't help but feel that the "Harrahization" of Vegas is destroying the Vegas experience of old.

I have been going to Vegas on a regular basis for about 25 years now, so maybe I'm just resistant to change. But:

- The customer base. On my most recent visit, I had my feet run over in the Aladdin by a harried Mom pushing a stroller. The ratio of babies/kids to gamblers seems to continue to grow, despite the supposed trend back toward adults. A walk down the center strip was wall-to-wall kids.

- The gambling. Harrah's seems intent on destroying the gambling experience by packing their casinos with slots, gimmicky games, and other low-payoff propositions (like 6/5 blackjack -- did they invent this abomination?) It seems inevitable that Harrah's will accelerate this trend at their new Caesar's properties.

- The service. Harrah's is big on "standardization" and "automation". What this really means is IT systems that don't work, everything done on a shoestring, a woeful lack of humans to fix things, and little to no flexibility in dealing with customers on a personal level. I can't even begin to describe the hurdles they thrown at me to fix their conversion screw-ups. And their attitude -- including at the "new & improved" Total Rewards desk inside Paris on my recent visit -- seems to be "We're Harrah's and we don't care."

I guess it's time for something new, but I think "the Harrah's way" is like a virus that can't be stopped.

I say, bring back the Mob.