When everyone has elite status

10 November 2018

By Eric Rosenthal

During the last few months, new casinos opening up have offered tier match and even tier upgrades around the country. In the Northeast alone, we have seen Ocean Resort, Hard Rock Atlantic City and MGM Springfield open with very generous programs. In response, the two largest players, Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts, offered tier matching programs of their own. While I firmly believe players should extract as much value as possible for their gambling dollar, there needs to be some acceptance of short term bumps in the road.

Adding thousands of players with unearned elite status has strained the service levels for hosts, at players' lounges, VIP check-in, and even loyalty club desks. The simple fact is that when everyone has elite status, nobody really does. Larger numbers of people are vying for the attention typically given to the relative few. This is creating hard feelings with players and having the opposite effect than was intended and desired. I’m regularly seeing and hearing complaints from gamblers feeling entitled to better service due to their status.

When there are a glut of elites pulling from the loyalty program, casinos tend to just focus on the larger or real players. They realize they are giving away some tier-based benefits to the masses, but more than ever will scrutinize play to determine how other discretionary resources should be allocated. It is justifiable from a business sense, but turns mid-range players away because they may be used to better service at their current house.

My unsolicited advice is to walk in with an understanding of your value to the casino.

Action provided and theoretical losses derived will mean so much more than the color of one’s player's card. Expecting top-tier service, only because you have a top-tier card, is a recipe for disappointment. Outside of tier-based guarantees the color of one’s card actually means very little no matter how much marketing dollars are spent to say otherwise.

When establishing a relationship at a new property, I try to find out what level of play is expected for the level of treatment that I expect in return. Know going in if this relationship can be a win-win. Both the house and host will need to be happy with your perceived value as a player for continued requests to be honored.

On many occasions I have determined that what they ask was too high for my perceived value of their property, program or even casino floor. It’s a completely subjective decision, but having the information will keep the player from being disappointed. Few things are worse in a casino than taking a large loss and not feeling like there was anything to show for it.

Enjoy yourself, extract as much value as you can, and know up front what is a reasonable expectation in return for your play.