Question of the Day - 25 October 2019

This one was a bit of a challenge to track down, as it's obviously proprietary information that the casinos don't want players to know about. But we managed to get the Inside scoop and here it is.

Since we’ve answered a few questions lately about the basics of player-rating systems, we won't repeat that information here. Suffice it to say that there are many different types. With almost all of these rating systems, however, supervisors have access to whatever information is in your rewards account. They can see your address, phone number, birthday, rewards number -- anything you might have have provided when you got your card. This is almost universal.

Some systems use software that extracts the information from your identification, so booth personnel don't have to input everything manually. In this case, floor people can see the photo on your ID.

Also common to almost all rating systems, except for the rare casino where they're not computerized, is the alert. These alerts, also known as flags, can be about just about anything.

They can be marketing notes, like comps or other offers that you’ve recently received.

They can be about credit, if you’re a marker player.

Floor people can see comments about your current credit line or any forms that might need to be completed.

Alerts or flags can also be about behavioral problems. If a player has an incident where he got too drunk and uppity with the dealer, other staff, or another guest, there will likely be an alert put in to monitor that guy's behavior.

The same goes for high-maintenance players. You know, the one who wants everything done for them and raises hell if it isn’t. 

Another thing the supervisor might see in this alert area, which we suspect to be the reason behind the question, is any confirmation, or even suspicion, of advantage play. The alert might instruct the supervisor to call surveillance for evaluation of your play or even to contact the shift manager immediately to back you off. Anything management wants the next floor person who watches a player to know can be communicated this way.

That’s not to say that these notes always pop up when the card is swiped in. The different rating systems have various places to put messages or alerts. They might get put in a place that doesn’t pop up when the card is swiped. The alert could be there, on the account, though it lies dormant until it's "discovered" by a supervisor with a little initiative.

Alerts can be damaging for sure, but they’re by no means the nail in your coffin. Of course, it’s better to avoid them altogether if possible -- and now that you know what they are, there's no reason you can't.