7/1/2005
Although I’m on the outside of the casino business, that is, on the player’s side of the fence, I like to read about the inside of it. Some may quote the old adage about knowing your enemy, although I’ve always said I’m not fighting the casino; rather, I’m battling the casino edge. However, down through the years I’ve found that the more I know about the casino business, the more opportunities I can find to increase my own bottom line.
Below is an article written by my good friend Glenn Buxton, who’s been in the gaming business for more than 15 years. It was first published in the Global Gaming Business Weekly and clearly shows that casino executives aren’t perfect. This article might shed some light on the question of why some casino programs are so unorganized and so many policies puzzle the player.
WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE FANTASY FACTORY
By Glenn Buxton
The Dilbert-ization of Marketing
The cliché “we have met the enemy and they are us” often rings true when it comes to casino marketing. Not many people truly understand the comprehensive tasks involved in effective casino marketing, but everyone certainly has an opinion on what “they” think it should be.
Company politics, turf battles, and the ever-familiar “too many chiefs and not enough Indians” are a far greater challenge to both seasoned and newly anointed marketing department heads than getting profitable customers to the property.
Governmental policies; regulatory considerations; company politics; corporate, vendor, friend, and family influence; not giving the marketing department the authority it needs to make the proper decisions, but then holding it accountable for the micromanagement of non-departmental influences — at the end of the day these are the greatest obstacles an effective marketing-department head needs to overcome to navigate successfully throughout the increasingly Dilbert-infested waters surrounding today’s casino-marketing functions.
Following are the top ten truths about the gaming business that “they” don’t want you to know . . .
It’s a Very Stressful Business
Not only is it a 24-hour-day 7-day-a-week business, but mix in people drinking and gambling and all the ingredients for a volatile situation are complete. The intensity of the gambler’s emotions is often directed directly at the front-line employees. To throw a little salt in the wound, management then schedules employees for awkward shifts, sections, and days off, making breakdowns in the “fantasy factory” façade even more likely. This usually manifests in high turnover rates in the gaming business, as well as frequent absenteeism and malicious obedience, which usually shows up in secret shopper reports where you learn “you get what you inspect, not what you expect” from your staff. Clichés such as “while the cat’s away, the mice will play” and “out of sight, out of mind” are closer to statements of fact in most gaming establishments. Supervisors and managers will “smoke and joke” and abuse their power for their own benefit at every opportunity –- resulting in a trickle-down effect that the customer experiences as long lines, rude, slow, and apathetic service, improper staffing and scheduling.
Highest Incidence of Gambling
Gaming-business employees have the highest incidence of gambling of any group. Being around people gambling day after day makes casino employees think they can win too. This causes even more problems for both work morale and, after being out gambling and losing money, the temptation to steal from/scam/cheat their casino employer
Nepotism, Favoritism and Worse
Friends and relatives of those with the power to schedule shifts, pay, days/time off and on, promotions, etc. are often treated more favorably than the rank-and-file hard-working employees, who then quickly become demoralized, resulting in not only increased turnover, but even more difficulty in getting consistent good customer service
7/8/2005
Sheesh! My files are overflowing with e-mails from readers who have commented on past Frugal Friday columns. So here goes! (If you want to read old columns I refer to, go to www.lasvegasadvisor.com/frugalfridays-archive.cfm.)
Another Southwest Airline tip: “Did you know that with Southwest you can now check in online at 12:01 a.m. on the day of travel and if you don’t have access to a printer, you can reprint your boarding pass at the airport and still maintain your A boarding group?”
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On the topic of Balance in a Gambler’s Life, I received this post from a former Southern California gal who wrote about switching from the losing slots to knowledgeable VP when she moved to Las Vegas.
“July 2003 — Time to get serious!! Set up a $3,000 bankroll in a separate account for full-pay Deuces Wild. Have earned 27 comped nights, countless free meals, 3 or 4 tanks of gas, and approximately $100 in gift certificates to the mall and other stores. Hit 4 deuces countless times and just hit my third royal two weeks ago.
“I’ve lived here for 2 months as of today. Where am I now? At $2,707 of my original bankroll, with another $40 in cashback floating around town, as well as about $50 in comps. If I so wished, I could eat free for half my meals this month (assuming 3 meals per day). Las Vegas rocks!
“I don’t have time to participate in drawings or raffles. The above is merely by joining slot clubs, playing only VP, and sometimes going on multiple-point days. I go when I have time, but try to stay balanced with a life outside the casino that includes a full time job. It’s all about balance and discipline.”
[Our correspondent is too modest to mention this, but I happen to know that she’s a full-time teacher of hearing-impaired elementary students in a very poor part of town.]
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Here’s a post from someone else on the same general subject:
“I enjoyed reading The Frugal Gambler long ago and have recommended it often since. But I’m curious about your perspective on advantage play versus work. This may even be interesting for a column. As a minister’s daughter, your approach emphasized values like honesty and frugality. But an advantage player doesn’t actually produce anything and instead merely transfers value from other people. Perhaps a poker pro keeps the game alive to provide recreation for amateur ‘fish.’ But blackjack and video poker players exploit casino weaknesses to enrich themselves at the expense of casino shareholders.
“It’s not immoral to play fair and win, especially since casinos are always begging people to play. But it seemed like you were pre-retirement when you started devoting serious time to video poker and advantage-play exploits. At one time you were playing dollar machines, so the EV was not astronomical. It was probably more flexible, but not better paying than a teaching job. Since Vegas had a terrible shortage of teachers, it seemed like a real shame to waste your talent playing video poker instead of educating children. Your clear books prove you are a great teacher!
“Of course, you have no obligation to teach, and many others have left the profession. To your credit you have shared your knowledge of video poker and enriched the lives of many recreational players. As a fellow educator, I wonder whether you considered the social impact of quitting teaching for advantage play? Maybe these decisions were unconnected. You might have family reasons for quitting work or moving to Vegas. Do you have any thoughts on the tradeoff between the social contribution through work and advantage play?”
My answer to this reader:
We only took vacation trips to Vegas from Indy when we were both still working. We didn’t play as much then as after we retired. We never really planned to get this involved in casino stuff. We were just looking for reasonable vacations. It sort of grew on us.
7/14/2005
About the positive side of gambling: “I understand the negative connotations associated with ‘gambling’; I hear the note of disapproval in the comments from friends when I admit to studying video poker books or confess I’m heading to Las Vegas yet again. It’s the same tone I hear from my doctor when I admit I like to have a glass of wine (or two…) with my dinner, but that’s another story.
“The point is that gambling can be tremendous recreational fun. My parents have become quite the gamblers. Because they live in Tennessee, they have to plan a trip to pursue their gambling, and as they’ve gotten older, the number of trips they’re taking has increased. I have other family members who see this as problematic. I, however, think it’s great they’ve found something to do in their ‘senior years’ that gives them great pleasure. It’s a heck of a lot better than sitting at home watching TV every day. And for them, I think they feel secure in the controlled environment of a casino. Let’s face it. You can take care of a lot of needs in one place when you’re in a casino — food, entertainment, and in many cases, a place to sleep and shop. All without expending a lot of effort.
“Obviously, gambling presents a problem for some people. But for others, it’s entertainment, pure and simple. And anything that provides a little fun and diversion in this scary day and age can’t be all bad.”
About TITO (ticket-in-ticket-out): “I’m still surprised (and a little annoyed) to see people bringing numerous tickets up to the cashier. The cashier then has to total them all up with a calculator or adding machine, then do the payout. Jeez, how long will it take for people to realize they can run them all through a machine and bring one ticket to the cashier?”
Responding to the “Dealing with the Heat” guest column (May 6), a friend whose husband worked in the tire business for 19 years wrote: “My husband was upset to see Brian recommending that people use those cans of flat-tire repair stuff. He said it can destroy your tires, and it’s extremely dangerous to the person to whom you ultimately bring the tire for repair. He said the better suggestion is just to be sure you have a good inflated spare tire.”
About personal safety for gamblers: “Be careful letting others see your address in casinos. One of the home invasions in Las Vegas happened on the same street as a local Las Vegas video poker player. Considering this was a gated street and the home invasion happened at 10:30 in the morning, no one is safe.
”There’s been a sizable increase in home invasions in Las Vegas in recent years. Maybe it’s happening due to the influx of population. Whatever the reason, these thugs are breaking in armed to the teeth. One way to keep a low profile is always refuse publicity shots or the posting of your name if you win a jackpot, prize or drawing in a casino. Even if it says in the rules that you must allow publicity, should you win still say no. Some years ago Gaming Today( back then it was called the Sports Form) posted the picture and name of a local couple who won a $68,000 slot jackpot. They were robbed at gunpoint in their home a couple of days later.”
More reader input next week!
7/22/2005
Still cleaning out my files. Here’s a message I got after my two-parter last February about how we love the casino bounce-back money we get in Las Vegas and how we don’t love the process of picking it up. (If you want to go back and read old columns, go to www.lasvegasadvisor.com/frugalfridays-archive.cfm.)
“Hi, Jean,
“I really enjoyed your last 2 columns on bounce-back cash, because I can relate. The problem of deciding whether or not to pick up bounce-back is not just one for Vegas locals. We have it, too, here in Illinois. We play at Harrah’s in Joliet, an hour’s drive from our home, depending on traffic. And we have no other reasons to go to Joliet (the grandkids live north, while Joliet is south, etc.).
“My husband and I have separate accounts at this casino and normally we each have about $35 in coupons when we go there. But recently, we somehow managed to amass a total between us of $155 — cashback from previous play, as well as bounce-back cash. For us quarter players, that’s a huge amount to have at any one time. Some of the coupons were good only on specified dates, but we found one date when all of them were good, and made the decision to go there that day. We wouldn’t have done this for $20 or $30, so we’ve thrown away many cash coupons we could not use.
“But since we have to drive so far, we don’t go unless we can clear a day when we don’t have to do ‘just-life’ things, as you call them. It takes planning and deciding how much bounce-back cash is worth it.
“Thanks for talking about this subject from the point of view of a Vegas local. Since we’ll be locals there one of these days, it helps to know ahead of time what it’s like.”
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Some time ago, I forget exactly when it was, I mentioned in one of my columns that Brad and I don’t consider ourselves high rollers, even though sometimes we play $25-$50 a hand, because we went up in denomination so slowly. A friend took me to task, writing:
“Yeah, me too. I have a little trouble accepting the fact that I’m a high roller, at least in the casinos’ eyes. I don’t ‘feel’ like one! But I’ve accepted the fact, and you should too!
“I accepted it when I went from quarters to dollars. And even when I played just quarters, I was playing ten hours a day, so I was never really a low roller. Plus the fact that I played mostly at lower level casinos where quarter players who play lots of hours are really high rollers!
“I consider penny/nickel players (single-line) plus quarter players who only play an hour at a time or less to be true low rollers. Of course, none of this is written in stone, but you can’t call someone who plays mostly dollars and higher to be low rollers. I might give you ‘mid rollers’ if you only play dollars for an hour or two at a time. And of course, a high roller at one property could easily be considered a mid roller at another.”
I wrote back: But Brad does play quarter deuces 6-7 times a month for several hours each time when he’s just messing around. That counts!
My friend wrote back: “Okay, fine. But even playing quarters for several hours at a time qualifies you as a mid roller. I’ll let you slide if you say you and Brad are mid/high-rollers. But even that’s a downside stretch!”
My final word: Okay, it’s a word game with no rules!!
7/28/2005
Between now and Aug. 31, you can donate your used cellular devices, with batteries and chargers, to the Body Shop at the Desert Passage at the Aladdin. Donations will be refurbished, recycled, or sold to help raise money in the fight against domestic violence. Call 733-7350 for more details.
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I love this item I read in Norm’s column (which I never miss), Vegas Confidential in the Review-Journal. He titles it, appropriately, “Money Management 101.”
“Celine Dion acknowledges she’s keeping tight purse strings on the gambling habits of her husband, Rene Angelil. Amid persistent buzz that Angelil has a gambling problem (one tabloid report claims he’s lost more than $10 million gambling), Dion admits she controls the spending by setting a daily allowance.
“Angelil, who has a high-roller reputation in LV, has to stick to her budget, she told Swedish journalists. ‘The best way is divide the money into equal amounts and put it in an envelope for each day of the week,’ she says, noting that she puts limits on herself as well, because of her compulsive shopping. ‘When the money is gone, we are not allowed to spend any more that day.” And when that happens, ‘He doesn’t get any money the next day,’ Dion said.””
Wow, for someone who is worth boo-koodul millions, I’m surprised she thinks about bankroll considerations. But then maybe she has read my money-management tips in Frugal I and Frugal II!
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From the Internet, about the $5 match-play coupon that comes with any meal purchased (or comped) in the great little Ellis Island coffee shop: “Recently, I’ve been hearing that they’ve been printing those on the placemats now, so you can now place your $5 bet with a coupon and a side of ketchup on top…! :)”
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Good-for-the-soul post from a frugal fan:
“Hi Jean:
“I have a confession of sorts. When I read The Frugal Gambler for the first time, I skimmed the coupon section and didn’t even read the ‘Bump’ chapter. I never bothered with coupons and figured I’d never be bumped off a flight since I live so close (Albuquerque).
“I joined LVA this year and decided to do a couple of coupon runs with the matchplays just to see what happened. So far, I’ve hit on 11 and lost on 4 for a nice net win. The best was being dealt a blackjack on the $25 matchplay! Now I’m hooked and always looking for coupons.
“Fast forward to last (Memorial Day) weekend. My partner and I came home with a bundle in flight vouchers! We went very last minute, paying full fare on SW. I read the bump chapter the night before we left. We were bumped from two flights, receiving almost twice what we paid originally. I say it’s truly a winning trip if you can get the airlines to pay off.””
Teacher assignment: Everyone go back and read those chapters you skipped –- you might make some extra money!!