Why Your Casino Offers are Going Downhill – Big Data Update
Here is something I wrote in my book More Frugal Gambler, published in 2003. This was in the chapter talking about the casino host system, a rant about using the term “player development.”
I HATE the term “player development.” I have visions of wild-eyed scientists in the casino basement, madly working with multi-colored fluids and rows and rows of test tubes, cooking up a potion to add to the casino’s free drinks that will turn a sensible thrifty deliberate conservative nickel-playing Iowa hog farmer into a reckless loud-mouthed out-of-control money-flinging red-eyed marathon high limit slot player.
Even more sinister, I see psychologists, advertising mavens, market researchers, and time-study experts sitting around a large boardroom table discussing how they can get gray-haired retirees to dig into that deep dark part of their wallet, take out the $20 stashed for emergencies, and try to hit that progressive jackpot that they know is “due.”
I can develop myself — my character, my physical body, my mind — all by myself, thank you. I don’t want to walk into a casino and feel I’m a subject in an experiment.
What happened to the warm word “host”? Having a host in a casino gives you the feeling that you’re coming into a place that’s personal, inviting, friendly, a place that’s — well — like home.
Fast-forward 14 years – and recently I see this seminar advertised for casino executives:
Finding the Unconscious Drivers of Customer Behavior:
An overview of neuroscience and other advanced marketing tools to understand your customers at the deepest level.
Are you struggling to find new insights about your core customer? Are you searching for more effective ways to attract your competitors’ customers? Or, perhaps you’re working on how to attract a whole new segment, like Millennials?
Ask yourself, do you really understand customers’ deepest needs and desires that are so vital to your company’s success?
If you answer no to this last question, you’re not alone. Most marketers still use obsolete models of consumer behavior and outdated research tools to try to understand their customers.
No longer are traditional tools like focus groups and web surveys enough. Advances in technology and the mind sciences have changed the marketing research landscape. We now have the opportunity to use more powerful tools based on neuroscience that truly get inside our customers’ minds.
I didn’t know how reasonable my fears really were in 2003!
One very knowledgeable gambler, who has many casino executive contacts, discussed this subject of “big data” with me, saying that the new way of casino marketing is very different from the “old-school” way that we long-time gamblers are used to. Data formerly was used as a tool to deepen the relationship with the customer; now it is used as a weapon. The one big theme today in casino management is that they are trying to predict future behavior instead of rewarding past action.
Examples abound. One large casino corporation just rolled out a companywide program where a computer is telling the hosts which players to call. The computer is now able to use all this big data to figure out who is most likely to be able to be convinced into making an extra trip or who would not be worth the host’s time in making a phone call. I have a friend who discovered this concept just recently. He started playing at a new casino, at a level that gave him contact with a host at similar-size casinos where he played. He wanted to talk to a host at this new casino so he asked at the players club desk whether he had been assigned to a host yet or, if not, could he be given the name of one. They said, not in a friendly way either, that “the computer would decide when he could contact a host.”
Are we casino gamblers doomed to be forever the victims of cold-hearted computers? Stay tuned and in my next blog I will discuss whether we can do anything about this disturbing trend.
George B: We have cruised from San Diego many times. We love to go a couple days early and stay at the Barona Casino and Resort. They usually comp my room and food when we stay there and gamble. It is about 40 minutes east of San Diego, but in a beautiful, peaceful area away from everything. It is close to the Wild Animal Park and close enough to drive in to SD and see the zoo, waterfront, and all the sights.
I believe that the change in Diamond Lounge status, will backfire on CET. Now the recently status matched cardholders, will not attempt to continue with Diamond. Founder’s Card too will suffer, as many will drop the card, as a direct result of this change. I see no reason to continue as a CET Total Rewards Diamond player, as their play is garbage and their properties of nothing great.
I am planning on possibility going on a Panama Canal cruise from San Diego and was considering flying into Vegas from Miami, just before the trip. Now, perhaps i should just skip it and spend more time in CA. There is more to life than gambling and I can just as easily, earn gaming comps at SEA!!
What in 2018, really is the point: the magic & wonder is gone. What really is left, I just can’t think of anything. There is a big world out there and more to life than CET!
We spend four months a year in Las Vegas. Parking fees, 2017 stayed off the strip. Off strip have a better pay off.
The increase in tier points required to access Diamond Lounges was inevitable, just a matter of when. Complaints by higher tier Diamond players, that lower tier Diamonds get the same access, have no doubt driven this in some part. Very un-classy of CET to spring this at the eleventh hour of the year.
What I learned at the rewards desk at Ceasar’s. For Diamond players with less than 25,000 Tier credits, you can still use the Diamond lounge but you will be charged $10.00 for each visit. Comp dollars can be used. I was told that Atlantic City charges everyone no matter what status or how many Tier credits you have.
I am right there with you Brenda! I was blown away when I received the email telling me that in order to remain a guest to any Diamond lounge you must reach 25,000 points. THIS IS OCTOBER and it must be done by DECEMBER 15th… REALLY!!!!
Thank you Jean for your thoughtful comments. It does seem that the casinos are now using precise methods to assure that they do not give out more comps than is absolutely necessary to draw in gamblers. And, to reduce benefits without total loss of the customer.
In the auto sales business, we are often told by the salesman, “what can we do to earn your business?” That used to be the way Las Vegas operated in the past. Now the question is “what is the minimum we need to give you to get you to stay and gamble at our properties?” A sad fact of life.
It is too bad that the primary victims of the changing business practice are senior citizens who really enjoy the Las Vegas experience and having fun gambling and eating at the various properties. Senior YAH days at the Boyd Properties are a great example of what seniors really enjoy and appreciate. The free gift for earning 300 points on various days are also a plus, even if you really don’t need the free item.
Take away these benefits and one asks, what’s the point of going to Las Vegas if it is no longer fun. Casino management should be asking their guests, “how can we make your stay more fun, and what can we do to earn your business?”
I am bewildered at the Harrah’s decision to require 25000 points for Diamond Lounge entry. They set 15,000 to reach Diamond and I have always had entry the next year at this level. Now when there are just over 60 days in the midst of theoliday season to earn the 6,000 or so points they have suddenly set as the new bar. It now seems much better idea to play at Boyd and Station properties!
Any thoughts on M Life? What I have noticed since T Mobile was built, you have to book thru Casino Marketing, not your Host. They pick and choose what days they will comp, before the host did not worry if it was a Friday night etc. The 3 to 4 time a year player is nothing to them!
Having watched the offers and benefits decline for a couple of decades, this will be my last year to gamble. I have no chance to obtain a card level that I am willing to risk more than what I currently take to the casino. I can only guess there are enough players willing to throw their money away to take my place. Every few years the casinos “upgrade” the number of points you need for a tier and it has finally gone past what I am willing to play. I am sure nobody is going to call and say come back, I will continue to receive “offers” after I leave, but once I burn through the last of my comps, I will find other places to spend my entertainment money. Of course I might leave sooner if I hit a run of royals at which point I will leave with my cash.
In response to gamblers trying to make the grade to becoming a “High Roller” and having a casino host contact you, here is my tip many of the casinos are linked to each other if you stay and gamble at one establishment trust me the others do know you have spent time there, you must always get a players card at every casino you visit this is a must and always use it when gambling, slot players are more easily tracked than table games, this is where your card is tracked via “Computer”. Most of the casinos track players per visit so if you your are a regular visitor like 4-6 times per year you are more likely to be contacted by a casino host based on your play. I also recommend signing up for some of the Casinos Apps, you can monitor your play on these apps as well and they may have some offers that you may be eligible for. So remember always use your players card this is the casinos tracking device for you! Happy Gambling and may the “Host” be with you!
I agree with you regarding LAS VEGAS. I disagree with you regarding Laughlin. Luckily, I don’t mind the drive. Laughlin is the way it used to be, except for the Riverside. They do employ this method.
I have never had any contact with a host in Vegas. I am an exclusive “Downtowner”, and my bankroll is 4k+ per trip. I make a pilgrimage 3-4 time a year. Apparently I am not big enough for “Big Data”.
* Hi Jean…, I enjoy your newsletters’, very much. They are always informative and a little sense of humor, too.. I have three questions: #1) “What does CZR Player mean ?” #2) “In one or more of your newsletters’.., you mention.., “attained the highest players-club level of 7 star. Can you explain what the different levels are and especially 7 star level ?” #3) “Do (casino management) rank a player by what he or she plays or the amount that they play (win or lose) and start at Level 1 ? Very interesting.. Looking forward to your reply.. Thank you.. Mike in Montana 🙂
Casinos are doing the equivalent of searching out the video poker machines with the best returns. Good gamblers choose their play based on future expected return, not past results.
Let’s face it: the casinos are getting better and better at determining what a customer is worth. The “frugal” gambler is worth very little to a casino. Not so long ago, you could play only games that produced a small loss–or even a player advantage–and get perks and goodies that were out of proportion (sometimes WAY out) to what you figured to lose. No more. Now, they have sophisticated metrics to determine whether they should woo you or ignore you. A new player used to be greeted with some pretty good offers after even modest play. Now, if that person plays only 99%+ VP, and doesn’t show any other activity (such as table games), then he isn’t worth the trouble of courting for a return visit–feh! He’s worth nothing to us!
Stuff like demographics gets factored in, too. You’re worth more if you’re from L.A. than if you’re from Twin Falls, Idaho; you’re worth more if you’re 45 than if you’re 65 or 25; you’re worth more if you’re single or have grown children than if you have children living with you. Hell, I bet they’ve figured out which blood types lose the most. Bottom line, you can no longer present yourself as a juicy morsel ready to be devoured by the casino unless you actually ARE a big loser (and you’ll have to be a chronic one, at that).
I love how the baldly stated objective is “to get inside our customers’ minds.” I always wanted to be a puppet when I grew up.
One thing that gamblers can do is walk away from casinos that don’t do business with customers in mind. If a casino employee told me, and impolitely at that, that I could only speak to a host if the computer said it was okay, I would never gamble another dime at that establishment ever again. Poor behavior should not be rewarded with further business.
Speaking of marketing programs. I just received an email from Caesars’ Entertainment announcing a change in the diamond level status for 2018. The new and “better” change requires each diamond player to earn 25,0000 Tier credits in 2017 in order to use the Diamond Lounge in 2018. Use to be 20,000 TC. For most retirees playing video poker, it hard to achieve the 20,000 level, now 25,000. Back to Jeans article, as she predicts; some will just dig into their purse’s or wallets and spend (lose) the money. Great marketing program, “makem pay up for the vegie plate in the Diamond Lounge”.