Would it be shallow of me to point out I never said it wasn't a viable option but rather that in my humble opinion that I was unconvinced we need a forum for every demographic on the planet? I said as much regarding recent TB votes on seniors, travelling with pets as well as a proposed solo travellers forum and so am saying it again becuase it is still my opinion.

I aplogize for the "shallow" reference (It truly wasn't meant to be taken personally ;) ), but in your humble opinion tcook052, is there no need for any new forums, or just a very specific model that should be followed with regard to the type of new forums introduced on FlyerTalk?

baccarat_king, are there other FT'ers who you know would support and participate in a gaming forum?

There is certainly strength in numbers so if you could convince any like-minded FT'ers to share their opinions here, it would be most helpful.

My reasons for gambling are two fold: (1) I like to gamble and win money (ha ha!)--besides the gambling aspects, playing in other destinations is an interesting experience; (2) to get to other destinations (generally) involves flying and this enables one to get special perks, if you do enough of it.
[For example, if you get 50,000 points in harrahs total rewards system, you can fly anywhere (they have a casino) in the continental us--this is NOT well publicized; while 50,000 sounds like a huge amount, with 8x, 15x, 25x (or more) multiplier days, the credits can grow fast.]
So I would lean more toward a forum which links travel AND gambling; it could serve as a place where interchange of special gambling and/or related travel promos are discussed.

That's what I thought, too. Personally, I think a non-Vegas gaming forum makes a lot of sense. How to get comped hotel nights, airfare, earning comps, tiers/status, etc. @:-)

As someone who enjoys combining some gambling when it coincides with my travels, weather it is cruise ship gambling, a trip to SIN or some Indian Casino in Oklahoma, I think the forum would be beneficial.

Yup, I'd definitely go for this.

Mike

I'd find it useful.

I would also appreciate such a forum. ^

Quite frankly, I'm not sure I see any downside to this at all.

I definitely see a viable niche for "Gambling Destinations Outside of Vegas".

I see gambling as a reason to travel similar to good restaurants or good shopping. Being an evil Californian, skiing and snowboarding don't really hold any allure to me; however, if my girlfriend gets a $100 tahoe lift ticket, and I get $100 to drink and gamble in the Tahoe hotel, we're both happy. I don't know the best places in Tahoe to gamble, and asking about it in the Las Vegas forum is a bit off-topic, but this question would be right at home in a new forum.

As others have mentioned, Harrahs and other player-dedication-reward cards offer airfare and hotel stays among their many benefits. Furthermore, at least in harrah's case, you can usually get more from visiting outside of Vegas since Vegas attracts people on its own.

With airfare getting more expensive every day, I am canceling my quarterly Vegas trip and exploring other options (gasp!) like Tahoe, Reno, or local Indian casinos. Whereas I never would've gambled in these places before, when the flight is costing twice as much as my partially-comped Vegas hotel, closer-to-home places start gaining a certain gleam.

Finally, and perhaps surprisingly, gambling no longer seems to be Vegas' main draw for the majority of people. Shopping, stage shows, concerts, fine dining, the open container policy...there's lots of good stuff.

Anyways, I am a relative FT newbie, so I hope my comment doesn't come across as "brian knows best" or as a complaint. It is just my two cents.

As an example of how gaming travelers are underserved, when was the last time the Aviator's Club (Paris) was discussed? Frankly, I don't recall ever seeing it mentioned here on FT. I really think there's a kind of Puritanical Christianity that influences the public arena as to what gets discussed which does not serve well those who wish to find answers to ALL their travel questions. I think a non-Vegas forum is overdue. All just my $0.02.

I support a "Gaming Destinations" forum. "Las Vegas" should be a subforum both of "West" and "Gaming Destinations."

The best reason for this is the changing FT demographic. More than perhaps any other BBS, FT has many members with discretionary money to spend and who like to live well. Heck, we have an entire forum devoted to Luxury Hotels. In the 1960s, frequent air travel was beyond the means of most people - what we now call frequent flyers were referred to as the "jet set." That era is about to return, if it is not already here. As fuel costs and fares increase, there will be fewer business travelers and mileage runners, and a greater proportion of frequent flyers will be people who are simply well-to-do.

Gaming destinations generally offer plush (if not truly luxurious) accommodations, gourmet food, headliner entertainment, etc. They can offer a taste of the good life to folks of modest means, either by their winning money in the casino, or their receiving "comps." If I stay at the 5* Wynn or Venetian the hotel rate I pay, if any, is far less expensive than a Luxury Hotel. Even if I had $500 to stay at the Ritz-Carlton, I'm sure I would feel out of place there. Maybe they would make me dress up for dinner. I bet the social life there is about as exciting as hangin' with Mr. & Mrs. Thurston Howell III. At a gaming table I can socialize with people from all over including bachelorettes, high rollers, low rollers, conventioneers, newlyweds, doctors, teachers, and retirees.

And we gamblers share the FT tradition of collecting and maximizing one's miles, points and other loyalty benefits: as BK points out most gaming companies offer loyalty programs; and hustling comps and attempting to get room upgrades for a proffered $20 bill has the same something-for-nothing allure as does entering contests and collecting pudding cups.

It seems to me that a gaming destinations forum would be qualititatively different to any other forum existing on FT, in that it would be the first board whose remit is defined by the purpose of travel (other than MR, but I am sure we can agree that MR is qualititatively different here due to its points and miles aspect). If that is OK, then why single out gaming out of all sorts of activities for which one might travel? Why not one forum on golf travel, skiing travel, snowboarding travel, etc... (add your favourite sports there), opera travel, architecture travel, art travel, line dancing travel, etc...

It seems to me that this would be opening a can of worms that we perhaps don't really need.

I'm in. Sounds like a winner.

That's just the point I'm making; there's always going to be a need for every new forum so where does it end? A forum for every demographic, special interest or subgroup? I know the current TB trend is to support, encourage and foster greater FT segmentation so that puts me in a minority of one that doesn't subscribe to this viewpoint but rather feels that greater segmentation runs the risk of a never ending parade of forum requests with a TB unable to say no due to it's unstated policy of always saying yes. While no doubt many would disagree I don't see a 500-channel FT universe as something to be embraced but rather avoided as IMHO what FT does best and has become known for is FFM/FFP/loyalty programs not special interest or demographic forums. Were you to lobby me for another forum specifically for casino or casino/hotel frequent guest loyalty programs as you've described you'd have my support but somewhere to talk gaming issues, sorry no.