I knew that Harrah’s was on their way to spoiling what was probably the friendliest little casino on the Las Vegas Strip (O’Shea’s) when I was there last year, but this year confirmed it.

My husband has a conference he’s attended in Vegas for years now. It’s been at Caesar’s all but one year, and that’s where we’ve stayed. I liked O’Shea’s because it’s a small place, right across the street from Caesar’s. I could go there early in the morning, before my husband woke up, get a decent cup of coffee in a decent-size cup and play $5 minimum blackjack and talk to the dealers, all of whom I’ve found to be very friendly. The tables were all hand shuffled and they played pretty good rules on blackjack. Shoes were 6 deck, they played a couple of double deck tables and a couple of single deck tables. If you play early in the day, as I did, you could easily get a seat at one of the $5 tables. Later in the day, when it’s busier, they shut down to only one $5 table – but I was usually gone by then, anyway. They hit soft 17, but you could resplit aces and you can double down on any two cards (except, of course, aces).

Now – O’Shea’s and Caesar’s are both owned by Harrah’s. I don’t know how long Harrah’s has owned O’Shea’s, but if it’s been for a long time, then they left well enough alone until the last two years or so. And maybe the tanking economy inspired the ridiculous raping of customers that I’m seeing in Las Vegas this year. I can’t figure out why people are still flocking there, but I can tell you I was somewhat relieved when my husband said we probably won’t be going to this conference again. If I’m going to go to Vegas, I’m going to find the best deals – and Harrah’s properties aren’t it.

Let’s talk about Caesar’s itself for just a minute. The only deal they gave me was an upgrade to the Palace Tower at no additional charge, which was nice of them. I booked in one of the older towers because my husband wasn’t sure his company would reimburse him this year. But still – you’re talking at the conference price almost $200 a night. In a day and age when most hotels are offering free wireless internet, Caesar’s is charging a whopping $14.99/day for a wired connection to the internet, and $24.99/day for each wireless connection. Yes, you read that right – $24.99 per connection. If my husband and I had both wanted to wirelessly connect to the internet using our laptops, it would’ve cost nearly $50/day. I was glad to have my AT&T wireless air card because in the four days we were there, it would’ve cost me more for the wired connection at Caesar’s than I pay for a month of air card service. Suffice it to say that I’d never stay at Caesar’s if someone else wasn’t paying for it.

Last year, I didn’t play much at O’Shea’s because when I walked in, I saw that all the tables were paying 6:5 on blackjack. I don’t play games that pay 6:5 blackjack. I didn’t check out anything else, so I’m not sure if the changes I saw this year happened a year ago – and I just didn’t look close enough last year – or if they happened in the interim. But – given some time constraints I was working with, I was really hoping O’Shea’s would have something worth playing because I couldn’t really spend a lot of time tromping up and down the Strip. So I tried to look past the 6:5 blackjack to see if there was anything else that might compel me to sit down and play in spite of that.

What I found was actually pretty horrifying. And not just in terms of what a great place O’Shea’s used to be, but in terms of blackjack games in general.

First of all, in addition to the 6:5 on blackjack, they’ve gone from a 6-deck shoe to an 8-deck shoe. You can’t get even money if you have a blackjack and the dealer has an A showing. You’re no longer allowed to resplit aces. All the double deck games are gone – they have 8-deck shoe and single deck.

This is not a game worth playing.

I fully understand that casinos are in business to make money and we would all be fools if we acted as though they weren’t. But at some point, consumers (and players in a casino are consumers) have to draw a line and refuse to feed corporate greed. I’m no economist but it seems to me that when people are hanging on to their money tighter, you have to offer them better deals. Harrah’s seem convinced that the opposite is true – squeeze as much money out of the few(er) customers you have.

I’m not sure when I’ll make it to Vegas again, but I can assure you that I won’t be staying or playing at a Harrah’s property.