15 thoughts on “Five Hundy by Midnight 57: Way Too Much Talk About Hooters”

1. As somebody who considers South Dakota his home state, I do not know what to say. I left before the gambling explosion in the state (the place went to pot when the lotto came).

   However, Souix Falls??? You gotta be kidding me. I would at least wait to Deadwood, I would think that would have enough kitch to pull it off.

2. We saw the O’Shea’s leprechaun! My wife was afraid to take a picture of him… she said he looked like he would beat her up if she tried. He was an angry-looking little leprechaun.

3. South Dakota cannot be as bad as the Indian casinos in RI. I am betting the people must be at least somewhat polite. I visited Mohegan Sun, in Rhode Island, a couple of summers ago and I was sadly disappointed. We arrived after midnight and by the time we go to the bar we were horrifed to discover they stop serving alcohol at 1 am.

   My friends went off to play video poker and I headed to the sports book to play some late night races in Australia. It could not have been more Anit-Vegas. The staff laughed at me when I asked for racing forms and after a few minutes of waiting to place a bet a staff member came up to me while in line to to let me know no more bets would be accepted and the book was closing. The attitude and laughter of the staff was very very odd! So now I was left in a casino I couldn’t drink or bet on horses in.

   I met up with my friends and played some video poker and slots out of desperation. My friends started winning and we ended up getting carded twice while playing and once on the floor. We were all 25 + and 2 of us were in our late twenties and early 30s. After a while a theme emerged which I shared with everyone there. “This isn’t Vegas baby! It ain’t Vegas! That’s for sure!” I wrote a letter complaining to them about there operation and receivied an appology letter and promise to provide me with race forms and whatever I needed the next time I arrive.

   The place s-u-c-k-e-d and I just will not go back to it. I can’t speak for the Foxwoods casino because I have been turned off of RI casinos altogether.

4. Well, I can see why Steve D had such a bad time at Rhode Island casinos….that’s because Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods are in Connecticut, NOT Rhode Island. Bwahahahaha.

5. I like Foxwoods a lot. Obviously it doesn’t have the same atmosphere as one of the big Vegas hotels, but I’ve found that the casino is exceptionally well-run and the dealers and bosses were friendly.

6. Okay, here is the pun you should of used in the Phil Gordon segment rather than “crossing over” or “branching out” out into the mainstream. He was “busting out” of the poker-only endorsement arena into the mainstream.

   Bust. That, my friends, is the old ‘2-4-1’ poker AND boob pun.

7. I for one am appalled at the shameless exploitation of women at Hooters.

8. Like strip clubs, Hooters doesn’t exploit women. They merely degrade them. They do, however, exploit men.

9. On the Hooters topic, I was suprised there was nota shameless “having the nuts” pun.

10. There’s a joke in there about Tim not having the nuts to make that pun in front of Michele, but I won’t go near it.

11. I think we’re forgetting who the real victims are in this campaign of explotation. It’s the birds: the poor hapless owl who’s innocent hoot has been forever tarnished and now serves as a reminder of the waitress who hopefully leans over your table as she serves you; and, sadly of all, the wingless chickens, a sad byproduct of our twisted sports-bar society. They remain as flightless as the sad little penguins who have to watch people eat the Flamigo buffet each and everyday.

    I have decided to choose the high road on the subject of Tim’s nuts and all of the immature squirrel, salted-in-the-shell, and Mr.Peanut comments that would go along with it…the whole subject seems so distasteful.

    Tim? Could you post some pictures of the Hooters girls you meet on your trip?

12. Yup, Sparky is right. I was thinking of the stripclub trip in RI. Those Casinos are in CT. I couldn’t even recall where that bad experience took place. I was not the driver so I slept the whole trip there and woke up when we pulled into the casinos. I just knew I would never go back. There are some simple rules on the East Coast, fly over states like RI and CT and just land in Vegas or Cali.

13. The Foxy Lady in Pawtucket? That’s where Mo Vaughn used to hang out. My RI connections also rave about the buffet.

14. All kidding aside … the bigger question is if Hooters is in early trouble. This past week, they had rooms available in the late afternoon. For a hotel with the big nationwide push they had, very few rooms to sell (700), and the restaurant presence touting them (including phones in the restaurants where people can book a room) … that is not good.

    Then you have the factor that the recent LVA mentioned: The Hooters Girls they hired are cute, but cute does not cut it in Las Vegas. At the more hip casinos, one expects to see cocktail babes wearing not much more than a g-string … and their boobs pushed up so far in a bustier that their nipples are about to pop out and say “hello”.

    Hooters rules across the board specifically note that the girls’ shorts are to expose no cheek and even the more chesty girls aren’t exactly popping out of their tops.

    Then you have the clientele: Men. Mostly men. Not good. Men may go nuts gambling here and there, but women are the gamblers. They play the (very casino profitable) slots while men play the tables. Hooters table games are filled with men, but table games aren’t the big profit. (Think about it .. over the past decade .. casinos have ripped out pit areas to add slots). You need women playing those slots.

    Even on busy weekend nights … slot play at Hooters has been limited. NOT good.

    Then … you need walk in traffic. Women will walk in to see some of the spectacular things like the Bellagio flowers or the ceiling of Venetian. But women are not going to go out of their way to walk in a casino where the one and only draw is lots of cute, young girls running around in cute little outfits.

    Then … the design problems. Hooters is like a beach bar. What do we do at the beach? We drink and watch the scenery (whether it be the ocean or the hottie chick bartender). People are drinking in Hooters at the bars, but they aren’t playing video poker. Remember … this is a casino that needs gaming revenue.

    Also … they burned too much area on dining and drinking. There are always lines at the Hooters restaurant, but the coffee shop next door is usually empty. As is the martini bar. Huge waste of space for no little revenue. Look at them to push gaming (and the band) back into the martini bar and even dump part of the coffee shop.

    Nevada gaming requires a 24/7 coffee shop to be called a resort … but they will have to figure out how to get people eating there. Here’s a hell of an idea: How about bringing back the $4.95 prime rib the San Remo had? Hooters will soon learn the word “loss leader” … especially if the Trop actually closes for renovations (killing foot traffic to Hooters).

    The good news? Between an opening buzz that died way too soon, and the summer season of cheap room, 110 degree days (which don’t faze me … love the heat), and maybe the Trop shutting down part of all of what they are doing, Hooters will be hungry for business.

    Perhaps they will dig into the “Old Vegas” bag of tricks and cut room rates plus drink prices, start some food specials … get in some video poker that pays OK … and keep people in the building.

15. claudia says “how do you know that it wasn’t a real leprechaun?”

    hope you guys are having fun out there!

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