Cromwell Las Vegas Trying to Entice Downtown Crowd With Lower Table Minimums, New Sportsbook

Posted on: August 27, 2017, 10:00h. 

Last updated on: August 25, 2017, 07:33h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

The Cromwell Las Vegas is located in the middle of the Strip, snugged between Paris and the Flamingo across from the Bellagio and Caesars Palace.

The Cromwell Las Vegas
The Cromwell Las Vegas is known as an upscale casino boutique hotel, but it’s hoping to slightly change that reputation and become a low-stakes hangout, too. (Image: Erik Kabik/Associated Press)

Opened by Caesars Entertainment in 2014 as a luxury boutique hotel, the property’s casino floor is changing its marketing strategy and going after a more blue-collar patron.

In a blog post this week, The Cromwell announced lower table game minimum bets, as well as single-zero roulette, EZ baccarat, 100x odds on craps, and 3-2 blackjack payouts on double deck and shoe games.

The gaming news coincides with the official opening of the resort’s new sportsbook.

“Given that we only have 188 rooms, The Cromwell is a property that needs to rely on visitation from outside the building,” Cromwell General Manager Blake Segal told the Las Vegas Sun. “We find this to be a way to drive a person off the Las Vegas Strip and into the property. And for locals … they can come to the Las Vegas Strip and have a place to game as well.”

The Cromwell’s casino floor is also small in size, with total gaming area totaling just 40,000 square feet.

Downtown Stakes

No market in the Silver State is seeing gaming revenue increase more than Downtown Las Vegas. The Fremont Street area saw gains surge almost 11 percent during the last fiscal year, far and away outpacing the rest of Nevada, which collectively grew by 2.9 percent.

On the Strip, gaming win mimicked the statewide increase, with revenues up 2.9 percent. The glitzy resorts on S. Las Vegas Boulevard are certainly taking notice of the action up north, and The Cromwell is the first upscale floor to market towards the more blue-collar visitor.

Strip resorts like the Excalibur and Treasure Island are known for also offering low-stakes games, but those properties certainly don’t come with the high-end feel of The Cromwell.

While Caesars is inviting the more middle class gambler inside the boutique hotel, it’s still catering to the high roller. Along with announcing low minimums, The Cromwell revealed The Abbey, a new secluded high limit slot parlor.

Sportsbook Open

Just in time for sports betting’s busiest time of the year, the NFL season, The Cromwell unveiled its $1.3 million renovated sportsbook. An intimate space at just 1,525 square feet with seating for 50, the sports lounge comes with a 32-foot-long by nine-foot-tall LED video wall.

The Cromwell Sportsbook is also taking a page out of Downtown Las Vegas’ playbook when it comes to food and beverage. Though still more expensive than some downtown establishments, The Cromwell will offer 16-ounce canned domestic beer as cheap as $5 each during NFL games.

Downtown casinos have long enticed visitors with cheap eats and drinks. The El Cortez, for example, has been attracting “Middle America” and millennials with low table wagers and dirt-cheap drink specials.

While The Cromwell is marketing $13 el Jimador tequila cocktails and $17 Red Bull and Absolut vodka drinks, El Cortez has $5 Patron margaritas.