Slot players hold a high value for casinos, both online and offline, and are rewarded with various perks such as cash back, free play, meals, rooms, and other comps. These modern player rewards systems have evolved from the “slot clubs” that emerged in the early 1980s, with the 24K Club at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City being the first of its kind.
The Emergence of Loyalty Cards
To address the issue of estimating how much a slot player is playing, the Golden Nugget introduced a loyalty card. Since then, the amount of information gathered, the sophistication of player rating systems, and the diversity of comps have been growing continuously.
Video Poker Players vs. Slot Players
Video poker players are also valuable to casinos, but they receive significantly fewer comps compared to slot players. Rating systems often award slot players twice as many points per dollar played than video poker players, meaning slot players accumulate comps twice as fast. In some casinos, the difference is even greater – up to 10 times the comps for slot vs. video poker players. Furthermore, some casinos do not award comps at all on the highest-paying video poker games.
The disparity in rewards between slot and video poker players is due to the relative payback percentage of these games and the amount of profit the players are expected to generate for the casino.
Multiple Point Days and Casino Rewards
Casinos sometimes offer multiple point days, which can boost your comps and the effective payback of the game you play. If applied equally to video poker and slots, these multi-point days could potentially make some video poker games profitable for players, but not for slot games. For many years, video poker players have focused on multiple-points days to gain an advantage. This has led casinos to accumulate comps at different rates for slot and video poker play, and to offer different multiples on points.
Adjusting Rewards for Video Poker and Slot Players
Casinos adjust rewards on a couple of fronts. They might require $8 in play instead of $4 to earn a point on video poker, reducing the basic club return from 0.25 percent to 0.125 percent. They might also limit multiple points days to 2x or 3x on video poker while offering higher multipliers on slots. Additionally, they might offer greatly reduced or no comps on video poker games paying 99 percent or more.
By doing this, casino operators ensure that the greatest rewards go to the players who generate the most profit for the casino: the slot players. It also prevents turning marginally profitable video poker games into losing propositions for the operator. From an operator’s perspective, this approach is necessary, as it provides more comps to slot players than video poker players, as they are more valuable to the casino.
Conclusion
In summary, slot players are highly valued by casinos and are rewarded with a variety of comps and benefits. The evolution of player rewards systems, such as loyalty cards, has enabled casinos to gather more information on player habits and preferences, leading to more sophisticated rating systems and diverse comps. Although video poker players also receive rewards, the difference in comps between slot and video poker players reflects the higher profit generated by slot players for the casino. By adjusting rewards and offering multiple point days, casinos can maintain a balance between rewarding valuable players and ensuring profitability.