Casino operations

Optimize Room Occupancy to Maximize Casino Revenues

Managing a casino resort today is much more complicated than in the past.  Before, the primary emphasis was always on game security and preventing internal theft. Today, the emphasis is more on maximizing bottom line profitability.  Many casino operators have had to review their operating philosophies in many different areas in order to achieve this new objective.  With the help of various technological improvements in surveillance equipment, casinos have been able to reduce man power and payroll for the area of game security.  This reduction in payroll has obviously helped improve bottom line profits.

Along these same lines, an often overlooked area for helping to tweak bottom line profitability is an area that I refer to as optimization of room occupancy levels as well as the occupants themselves.  Here at xxxxxx Casino we find that it is important for us to balance the ratio of comp to cash room revenue.  Many people will argue that is better to fill the hotel with all casino customers and comp all of their room nights.  However, the problem is that many of these customers play in the casino using casino credit.  That means that their markers may not come due for 45 to 90 days or longer depending upon the gaming jurisdiction and regulations.  In the meantime, the casino still has to pay out huge cash disbursements each week to cover payroll, taxes, utilities, vendors, etc.  I don’t think your employees or your vendors would want to accept a partial cash payment and a partial comp dollar certificate or I.O.U. note if the casino did not have sufficient cash flow that week to cover all obligations.  Therefore, managing cash to comp ratios is an important function today in any large casino hotel operation. […]

By |February 20th, 2013|Casino Marketing, Casino optimization, Casino Profitability, Marketing|Comments Off on Optimize Room Occupancy to Maximize Casino Revenues

One Million Miles of Thanks to American Airlines

As a frequent flier who has conducted business in well over 100 different countries around the world I have had the pleasure and sometimes displeasure to fly on so many different airlines that I cannot even remember them all.  I have flown the Concorde, First Class, Business Class, Economy, Helicopters and even in the cockpit with the crew in an extra jump seat.  (No it wasn’t an American carrier.)  I do want to take a moment to thank American Airlines and to also wish them good luck and much success with their new merger with US Airways which is another great airline.  American Airlines has always been there when I needed them.  They offer great service which is not easy today as well as some really great staff within so many different departments. Keep up the great job.  I am looking forward to the new merger as well as the availability now of 336 destinations in 56 different countries. […]

By |February 14th, 2013|Miscellaneous, Uncategorised|Comments Off on One Million Miles of Thanks to American Airlines

When, Why and How to “Fire” a Customer

For those of you that continue to follow my series of articles on Casino Marketing, you have heard me over and over say that the casino business today is not about making money, it is about creating value.  I sincerely believe that because people are not stupid.  Human beings all are motivated by basically the same things.  Value is one of the top motivators when it comes to selection or shopping.  However, from the casino operator’s perspective, we do have to pay attention to bottom line profitability.  Creating “Value” will help to bring customers to your casino.  Managing that business properly to make a profit oftentimes involves a completely different set of criteria.

Nobody ever wants to lose business or lose customers.  However, not all business and not all customers are good for your casino’s overall well being.  For example, I don’t think anyone would ever dispute firing a customer or excluding a customer that is abusive to your staff.  We value our employees and want them to be treated fairly and appropriately by both fellow employees and by our customers.  We operate with a zero tolerance for any type of sexual, racial or physical abuse of our staff by customers as well as by fellow team members.  We also look very carefully at verbal abuse and warn customers that we do not appreciate nor tolerate inappropriate behavior directed at our staff.  We place customers on our exclusion list every week for such behavior.  They are given a formal warning that if they return to the property that we will consider it criminal trespass and that they will be arrested.  Once again, we view this seriously and we do arrest individuals who try to test our warnings and exclusion process.

There are also other times when a casino may want to end a relationship with a customer.  Ending a relationship sounds so much better than “firing” a customer but basically they are the same.  So, when does a casino want or need to fire a customer?  The answer is only after every method has been used to try to salvage the customer and the problem still exists.  Most of these problems are related to cheating or questionable behavior but some of them are also related to profitability.  Cheating is not always clear cut and conclusive.  Sometimes the player may make mistakes.  In those situations it is up to the Pit Boss to speak to the customer and explain what is considered to be appropriate and correct.  In other words, issue a warning.  We document all such warnings in our computer in the Comments Section of our Rating System.  This way we can track the patron to see if there is a pattern to their behavior. […]

By |February 7th, 2013|Casino Marketing, Marketing, Slot Marketing, Table Games|Comments Off on When, Why and How to “Fire” a Customer

Understanding or Confusion with Online Poker and Gaming

Casino operators rush to online poker, but confusion is everywhere.  After attending the 2012 G2E Conference in Las Vegas and speaking with many casino operators and casino executives about the future of online Poker and online Gaming, it was very obvious that many were thinking very seriously about how to get involved. It was also very obvious that most of them were confused and unsure as how to proceed. Many felt that if they did not get involved quickly in some capacity or other that they may miss out on perhaps one of the most important Internet business opportunities of a lifetime as well as the future growth and survival of their own casino companies. They were all acutely aware that the casino industry as well as their own operations were going to change in the future and that they needed to prepare now for that coming change or get left out in the cold.

Once again the most obvious characteristic from all of this was confusion. There was confusion from both the casino operators and also confusion from the online casino providers. It seemed that many of the new online providers did not take the time to understand the fact that they needed to be conscious of and aware of what the land-based casino operators and casino properties were really looking for.  This was even more obvious by the fact that many casino operators did not actually know themselves other than that they knew that they needed to be considering online gaming in one form or another.

Why is there such urgency among casino operators to carve out market share in either the online social gaming or online gambling spaces? According to a recent H2 Gambling Capital report, if US legalization of Internet gambling were to pass, it is projected to generate more than $14 billion in gross gaming revenue within a year, rising to $27 billion within five years.  That’s a real motivator for any casino operator to want to get involved in online real-money gambling, even if their state, or states in which they have properties, has not yet passed or isn’t even presently considering online gambling legislation. […]

By |February 1st, 2013|Casino Marketing, Casino Web Marketing, Marketing, Online Casino Marketing, Online Gaming, Online Poker, Play for Fun Poker, Uncategorised|Comments Off on Understanding or Confusion with Online Poker and Gaming

Angry Upset Players: What do you do?

How do you diffuse conflict when a player becomes upset or angry?  It sounds like a simple question but the answer can often be quite complicated.  It also does not matter whether the player is a table game player or a slot customer.  Conflict is conflict.  My office was located on the casino floor at Foxwoods Casino which is the largest casino in North America and had approximately 380 table games, 6,700 slot machines, 1,500 hotel rooms and 11,000 employees at the time that  I worked there.  We averaged 30,000 to 70,000 customers per day coming through our doors.

Therefore, I had a lot of “opportunity” to deal with angry upset customers.  I say “opportunity” because this allows us a chance to save or salvage an upset player that may go away angry and go to your competition on his or her next trip. Often times this is a “face to face” experience but sometimes it is over the telephone.   Never-the-less, an angry upset player is usually going to be confrontational and come at you with an “us versus them” attitude.  Therefore if you recognize this upfront and are prepared for it you still have a chance of salvaging the customer.

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By |October 5th, 2012|Casino Marketing, Marketing, Slot Marketing, Table Games, Uncategorised|Comments Off on Angry Upset Players: What do you do?