Believe it when I tell you the minute a new game comes out - a table game or new slot - there are mechanics trying to figure out how to cheat it. Of all the cheating that goes on, about 60% is from the inside. To successfully build a successful slot machine, you need to compartmentalize the different departments. They'll be split into three or four departments; one sets up the reels and the works inside the wheels, followed by the bill acceptor and changers which include the very sensitive scales that can read the weight on each coin. Then there's the lock and electronics to be sure that no one can break into one of the side locks. Various different means to protect the machines include such devices as a spray that not only spray paint colors your hands different colors but the spray is so toxic that it burns enough so these guys can't run, like being sprayed with a colored skunk spray or a heat spray to burn the victim enough so they'll cry out in a casino. When slot machines are made they're gone over time after time by various different departments. Everything is departmentalized. One department is in charge with the design of the outside of the machine, another with the insides of the machines.

And if it seems the machines are getting tighter, well they are. It's not your imagination. The Gaming Commission has lowered the payout percentages down to 55% from what was considered too low at the old 65% bottom payout percentage. Which means many casinos will be tightening up their machines to an all-time low. There was recently a big gaming convention in Las Vegas where the new games are marched out, with not just the big companies represented but small companies with only a few workers trying to sell an idea. But it seems that either the ideas are nothing new or too "radical" for the conservative casino owners. Now let's face it, there's not much to look forward to in the next few years since it seems nobody is willing to take any chances. Years ago they started coming out with theme machines, like the Munster machine, the Elvis machine and so forth. The insides are mostly the same but the pictures and music are what sells them. And this is where slots are going: to theme machines.

Nothing new, it's been going in that direction for the last few years and nobody's either smart enough or has the balls to try something new. I remember when the video poker machines first came out and there was an old version on slot machines that would turn reels with cards on them and they would flip the cards over until five stopped. The payoffs were small and it wasn't considered a real slot machine so it never got any serious play, and that was before any video poker machines. They didn't do very well so when the person responsible for trying it in video put their money where their brain was it was almost instantly apparent that the success of the new technology would revolutionize an entire industry. But with the invention of the video game that was such an instant success, video poker, although slow in taking off went wild when they hit the bar top version. Now you could sit at the bar, get drunk and play poker at the same time, so taking slot machines and just changing the song it plays or the pictures on the pretty glass is saying how the industry is just out of ideas and yet there they go with the Beverly Hillbillies machines and the Hollywood Squares machines.

I wish I could tell them how wrong they are. Like I wrote in another column - that many casinos, the more expensive high end casinos - aren't going for themes, they're going for function as well as new modern looks. A disaster will be to build another little Italy or France or freakin' Tahiti or another roller coaster theme with water slides and so on. Las Vegas is realizing the theme idea is already dried up. That's why the Palms took off like it did. They didn't look for a theme, they looked for modern form, they sacrificed casino space for art.

But who did this first? When Steve Wynn designed the Mirage he didn't like the idea of a simple fountain in front surrounded by palm trees; no big deal. He left the white tiger enclosure design up to Siegfried and Roy and was delighted by the outcome. But one of his designers, who was a small time guy on the ladder, came up with the idea of small puffs of fire and smoke coming from the pool, which by now was a lake. Wynn spent private time looking at it again and again and called a board meeting and told everyone that there was not going to be just small puffs of flames and smoke, but he had already had drawn up the volcano we see today, and after a little tweaking the volcano we see today was born. The area where the beautiful atrium is was first designed for slots mixed with table games and a small lounge with over-priced exotic drinks.

But Elaine helped change that. She wanted a beautiful entrance, which is also an exit. It's the first thing you see walking in and the last thing you see walking out, so she didn't want people to just see slot machines and 21 tables as their first and last impression. And Elaine, I believe, is as inventive as Steve so she came up with the idea of a beautiful atrium, a huge glass ceiling with waterfalls and beautiful colored flowers with a bridge through the middle. Throw in a pina colada scent to make people feel relaxed, treat them all like VIPs, make every customer feel special and they'd be loyal customers forever…forever lasted about twelve years.

Then MGM walked in with cash in hand and the Wynn loyalists saw dollar signs and forced Steve to take a long vacation. But the strange thing is the MGM managers were so overwhelmed by the streamlined running of all Wynn's casinos that they realized they really over did it with the MGM. They thought bigger was always better in Vegas, but they were to learn a lesson, a very costly one. It's even rumored they would dump the MGM if someone would actually make an offer for the huge dinosaur.

Then the customers started to understand that it wasn't the neon lights or noises from the slot machines, it wasn't the screaming from the crap pit, it was the class the people wanted, they longed for people to treat them like they were "somebody". These people liked to go out dancing and see shows, but the big, soft bed with a flower and mints meant just as much. Throw in a good view of the strip and people would rather do without all the noise and distractions and sit in their spa suite at the Rio and enjoy a bottle of champagne. So the more studies they did the more they realized that "theme" is out, that modern style, class, great treatment, places like spas, comfortable pools, quiet dark restaurants and bars are where the hotels needed to go. But billions of dollars had already been spent. Take New York, New York. How could a place that was designed to look exactly like New York City not have that same theme forever?

Excalibur can't change their theme, and so on. It was also learned that people were getting tired of huge mega-resorts. Places like the MGM were becoming a turn off. The first impression is the size, which is overwhelming, but once people had seen it for a few years they've learned to look past all the lights and glitz and see nothing but a huge hotel with a huge casino that was just too much to tackle for most people so they stuck to just walking through. After being totally tired from all the walking, seeing the same thing end to end, slots and table games, there was nothing new here. So the gaming areas are getting darker and quieter, more intimate with less glass, chrome and lights.

The first designer of the new Aladdin warned them that the area was so big and the ceiling too high that they should lower the ceilings by adding another intimate floor, and with 12 feet per floor they had plenty of room. They would make it more intimate with couches and fireplaces. So how does romantic tie in with gambling? First it's true that when people are romantic they tend to stick together, the guys love to show off by spending money. They tend to play later, like after 2am. They don't get mad when they lose if they're in love.

Steve Wynn even had parts of his new hotel changed to make it more intimate. No matter how much he loved the Bellagio, he realizes it's just too much at once, so you'll see some nice surprises at Wynn Las Vegas (If you're curious, everyone I've talked to is still amazed someone would name a luxury hotel with his own name, they think it's absurd and egotistical. IT'S STEVE WYNN, HELLO!!) The long walks will be broken up with small sitting areas, small sitting areas next to smaller waterfalls and streams with small tables. As well as the classy restaurants, bars and I'm sure they'll have a night club and at $2.6 billion dollars, don't go looking for the $2 hot dogs or 99 cent shrimp cocktails. An average drink will cost $7-$15. But remember Wynn has made a success of every hotel he's come in contact with.

With the successes of the smaller hotels that could still keep costs reasonable may well be the way to go in the future. The rush to put up huge hotels and then follow with big expansion projects like the Rio just couldn't stop; they followed up with parking garages and towers and more casino space. The original idea of just a medium-sizedf hotel with a nice casino and mini-suites was a big hit at first, but after all the expansions they've lost the charm they once had. The first word out of everyone's mouth was "I want to check out the Rio". Now people avoid the hotel at all costs.

Soon the Palms will most likely make the same mistake. They'll expand; they'll build more casinos, more restaurants, and more retail shops, more of what everyone is getting sick of. People that have been coming to Vegas for a number of years are almost burned out on our town because we've turned from a Saturday night with the guys in jeans and a shirt into a formal party, black tie only. But everyone wants to get back into their jeans and have fun again. So they're going to places like the Orleans, the Fiesta, Terrible Herbst's hotel is jammed, as are Sam's Town and Arizona Charlies. All the smaller, less expensive, more reasonable hotels where a guy can put on a t-shirt and jeans and play on a $5 table all night long are doing great. Most offer cheap drinks and cheap food so the players can spend more time doing what they want rather than what they can afford.

At the same time, the Strip casinos are constantly raising their table minimums from $5 years ago to almost all $15 minimums now. Big hotels like Caesars, Bellagio, Venetian, cannot be enjoyed anymore due to the prices of everything being out of reach for most people visiting Las Vegas. These days, those hotels are for looking only.

I recently spent some time at the Venetian visiting with an old friend that's on the floor there. As we talked, I noticed all the tables were mostly $25, some were $15.

"Yeah, we had some $10 tables on the weekdays, but now maybe if it's slow we'll put up a ten dollar sign on one or two tables."

But I also noticed many players would play a few hands, if they lost they got frustrated and would try another game, instead of hanging in there. This went on constantly for the hour or so I was there. I walked to the retail stores and when I returned I only noticed a couple of players still playing the same tables. The turnover in the blackjack pit should be a little alarming to the management. Just the fact that putting a $10 table would set up a mad rush to play and if they put a $5 sign up they'd actually have a lot of play, but as my friend said in honesty, "We really don't want any five dollar players, not even ten dollar players who are just five dollar players playing over their heads."

"What do you think $15 and $25 players are? They're just five dollar players playing waaaay over their heads," I remarked.

But another thing I noticed is that they weren't laughing or smiling and having fun like they do when they're playing where they're really comfortable on a $5 table. So they go to the off-strip hotels to stay and play and leave the expensive rooms to the chumps that think staying at Caesars Palace is like an invitation to the White House, except the rooms all look the same and the president is some guy that lives in Beverly Hills.

We all like to dress up and play rich, but the truth is that Las Vegas CAN play rich, they can afford to build the huge hotels and huge casinos, but they're not living in the same world as the rest of us. What they see as beauty and art we see as another monstrosity fitting into the puzzle. Places that are left on the Strip that are still reasonable will soon be gobbled up with more mega-resorts and more expansions. The little Holiday Inn Boardwalk will soon be demised for expansions. Places like the Stardust, Westward Ho, The Riviera and all the middle and small hotels will also go the way of the small dinosaurs eaten by the bigger dinosaurs, and although people like to look at big dinosaurs, they're not very warm and welcoming.

When we go to the zoo we love the elephants but we don't want to live with one, we want our little animals to live with. So now everyone walks the strip to look in awe, but at night we return to our small casino to relax and play a little $3 or $5 blackjack or craps, to have our $6.95 buffet and our $3 breakfast, and that's just fine with us. Like the saying goes: "If you build it, they will come…to look."

-Ken Pearlman