How Casinos Offer Real Value to Players
These days, when I enter a casino, it’s almost exclusively to play poker. That said, every once in a while, the pull of a little extra gamble gets to me, and I’ll insert $20 into a video poker machine to try my luck or slap a $20 onto a roulette table to see if I can spin it up.
While I know that statistically speaking the casino will usually win those twenties, it’s the occasional hot run or lucky strike that tempts me to give the gamble another shot.
As I’ve learned over the years, the real value of a casino isn’t always measured in chips or cash. It can also be in the moments, connections, and memories you take away.
A Roulette Run to Remember
One of my favorite gambling stories happened a few years ago when I tried my luck at a roulette wheel. While walking through Harrah’s Las Vegas, I noticed a couple guys at the roulette table who clearly had a few beers in them, and they looked like they were having fun, each with about $200 in front of them.
I decided to join them and plunked $20 down, asking for “four nickels”. They festooned the table with all manner of inside and outside bets, probably wagering about $50 apiece, while I gingerly placed $5 on “Red”. I hit, and so did about half their bets.
To make a long story short, I kept on hitting, growing my stack about $5 or $10 at a time, until I had spun it up to $80, while they managed to hover around even. After about 45 minutes, the guys started egging me on, saying I should start betting on single numbers.
So, I spread five single dollars across five different numbers, while they each put a $5 chip on top of mine… and I hit! 27, baby! All three of us started yelling at the top of our lungs, like we had won thousands!
The three of us stayed at the table for another hour, and finally called it quits when it was clear our luck had run out. I cashed out for about $150 while they each walked away with about $400.
I’ve had tons of poker sessions where I’ve profited for more than $130, so it wasn’t the money that made that roulette session special for me. It was the laughter, the shouting, and frankly, the camaraderie that I experienced with those two slightly drunk guys at the table.
I’ll never forget how much fun I had together with them!
Casinos Are Entertainment, Not Just Gambling
Stories like the one I just told are pretty common among gamblers. I mean, who doesn’t love walking through a casino, saddling up to a table, making a couple new friends, and walking away a winner?
But what if the three of us had lost? Would I still remember that episode just as fondly? Truthfully? Well, yeah, pretty much.
Like I said, it wasn’t the money that made that story special, it was the camaraderie and the way I felt throughout my couple hours playing roulette.
While big scores may be what grabs headlines in poker, every serious player knows that they have to focus on the process (i.e., making the right decisions while playing) not the end result. So, too, with that roulette session, or in general with any sort of gambling you might do in a casino.
Robotically pushing a slot machine button itself isn’t what’s going to bring you any sort of joy. It’s the process that the slots take you through – will you be able to successfully trigger that bonus game that delivers a jackpot?
Or at a blackjack table, will you make the right decisions that lead to taking full advantage of a heater?
You remember the feeling, the energy, the adrenaline rush… even if the results don’t always come. In my mind, THAT’s what a casino gives you, the backdrop for a potentially sublime gambling experience.
Is the Casino Experience Still Worth the Money?
This is a bit of a tricky one to answer. On the one hand, yes, obviously. Anyone can walk into a casino and replicate the aforementioned types of experiences.
On the other hand, it seems like casinos are making it just a bit more difficult, as they slowly but surely tip the scales further in their favor to ensure your bankroll doesn’t last as long.
A couple decades ago, I remember reading tips that “you should always be on the lookout for 10/7 video poker machines” (that pay 10:1 for a full house and 7:1 for a flush). Those just don’t exist anymore, and 9/6 is basically the best you’ll find.
Similarly with roulette, it’s almost impossible to find tables that only have one green zero slot, instead of two or (shudders) three. And good luck finding any table games that offer less than $15 or $10 minimum bets.
When I used to take trips to Vegas as a kid, I remember my parents driving past all the big marquees in front of the casinos, which boasted that “our slots offer 97% payback!” Nowadays, that percentage is far closer to 90%.
As gamblers, we know that the house will always win. They won plenty “back in the day”, too. All that house win is what made them be able to construct those billion-dollar casinos in the first place.
But their lack of patience to shake us players loose from our bankrolls is on clear display. They’re giving us less and less bang for our buck. That’s no fun.
Casinos Going From Handshakes to Algorithms
Another thing I remember about traveling to Vegas as a kid is that my parents had a host. His name was Harry Sullivan. This was back in the early nineties, at the Mirage. It was the dawn of “kid-friendly Vegas.” My mother played quarter slots, and my Dad played spread-limit low-stakes stud poker.
My parents gave my brothers and me a couple rolls of quarters apiece, and we hit the arcades either there or next door at Treasure Island. Those couple rolls of quarters lasted us for hours!
We traveled to Vegas 3-4 times a year. Sure, it was just a 4-hour drive from where we lived in Los Angeles, but it was the “total package” of what Vegas offered that convinced my parents to keep coming back over and over again.
We always had free room offers mailed to us. When we got there, we always had at least one comped breakfast voucher for the family. Mr. Sullivan always greeted my parents (and even my brothers and me!) by our first names.
Make no mistake about it, my parents were not high rollers. Sure, they gambled plenty, but not for copious amounts of money. But back then, the casinos saw to it that loyalty was rewarded. And for that reason, we quite literally never stayed anywhere else besides the Mirage and Treasure Island (both owned by Steve Wynn).
My parents were made to feel like megastars. I remember that we all got to see Siegfried and Roy as well as Mystere. I’m pretty sure those were comped show tickets.
And you know what? I’ll bet everything I have that the casinos still made plenty of coin off my parents at the end of the day. The casino industry’s move towards “big data” has, in my mind, completely crushed that human element.
Sure, hosts still exist, but only for the highest of high rollers. Comps are harder and harder to come by. Even when you get one, you’ll still pay resort fees or the taxes will be added to your total bill.
More and more technology gets employed to make the entire experience “touchless and seamless”, but when you no longer are forced to interact with an actual person to check in or out to your room, no longer hear actual coins dropping into a slot machine bucket when you win, and have the “pleasure” of being serviced by a virtual assistant on the phone instead of an actual customer service agent, you’ve lost the plot.
There’s a proliferation of digital roulette tables and the continued disappearance of smiling croupiers. From a business standpoint, the wins are obvious, but only if you look solely at the numbers.
By eliminating the personal touch, casinos send the message that “you’re not a valued casino customer, you’re just another data point passing through our system.”
Can Online Casinos Bring the Same Kind of Value?
I’ll always prefer the live casino experience to the online casino experience. There’s just something about physically being inside a casino that’ll always “do it” for me. The same goes for poker. I like being able to see my opponents across the felt, rather than their avatars on screen.
But I have to give credit where due, that the online casinos, oddly enough, at least seem to understand how customers want to be treated. The best online casinos will always have some sort of rewards program or loyalty scheme.
They’ll issue you bonuses on your deposits that you most certainly don’t have to be a high roller to qualify for.
As for customer service, sure, they also utilize virtual assistants, but for more pressing queries, you’ll always have a human answering you within a very short timespan, in pretty much any language you speak.
You’ve also got to give online casinos props for customer retention. They always seem to send you the right emails at the right times to pique your interest in “a special bonus offer” or “a freeroll tournament just for you”.
Sure, the land-based casinos send plenty of emails as well, but let me ask you what’s more enticing, dear reader: “discounted room rates, resort fee required” or “$50 in free play, keep what you win!”?
Perhaps it’s the fact that there are so many online casinos out there, that there’s just so much competition, which makes each one have to provide such a tempting and alluring offering to capture player interest.
Most land-based casinos only have a couple of competing venues nearby to compete against, and many exist as de facto monopolies on the local gambling scene, with the nearest competitor a couple of hours’ drive away.
And of course online casinos offer plenty of opportunity even to gamblers who only feel comfortable wagering for micro-stakes, whereas you’ll always need at least a couple hundred dollars at the very minimum to have a good time at a land-based casino.
That’s a built-in advantage that the online casinos know they have and do their utmost to take full benefit of.
Value Is What Brings People Back!
I’ll always be a live casino guy. And there will always be people who swear by online casinos. What we have in common is the appreciation of good value and good service.
The best online casinos are so rated because they deliver the best overall experience to players who are looking for a good time and to get the most from their bankrolls.
Players keep choosing those places to gamble online because they know they’re getting the largest, most comprehensive game offerings while also having the chance to score the biggest jackpots and have their money last the longest while chasing those winning dreams.
The casinos and poker rooms that I patronize these days as an adult are always those that provide me with the best experiences. I’ll walk in and dealers and floor staff will greet me by name.
I’m not a high roller, but I love interacting with people on the casino floor. When those interactions are positive, I’ll come back. When I know and see on people’s faces that my action and my loyalty is appreciated, why on earth would I go anyplace else?
The message to any gambler is clear: patronize the establishments where your action is appreciated. And the message to the establishments ought to be clear, too: if you’re not delivering that sort of value to your players, don’t expect them to keep on giving you their business.
