Las Vegas Casino Host Shares Secrets to Win More Comps (Best Tips & Advice)

Summary

In this exciting video, JacobslifeinVegas sits down with Nick Fava, the Director of Casino Marketing at Ellis Island, to uncover the best secrets and tips for getting more comps in Las Vegas casinos. This in-depth interview breaks down the roles and responsibilities of a casino host, how players can engage with hosts, and what benefits they can expect. Nick shares valuable insights into the nuanced world of casino reward systems, explaining how players can maximize their experience and the types of comps they can receive based on their gambling activity. Whether you're a seasoned gambler or a newcomer, discover how to navigate the casino scene for maximum benefits.

Highlights

• Casino hosts can enhance your casino experience, offering perks like restaurant bookings, event entries, and more. 🎉
• Getting a host requires reaching a certain level of gambling activity, but proactive communication can help too. 📞
• Hosts are valuable for navigating offers and maximizing enjoyment at any casino, not just in Vegas. 🏨
• Understanding theoretical value and play durations can help in receiving comps, regardless if you win or lose. 🎰
• Hosts can adjust experiences based on client needs — whether for family or individual travel preferences. 👨‍👩‍👧

Key Takeaways

• Understanding the role of a casino host can significantly enhance your casino experience. 🎲
• Building a good relationship with a casino host can lead to personalized and exclusive offers. 💌
• Players should be informed about their game preferences and gambling budgets to leverage comps effectively. 📊
• Comps are offered based on the time and money spent at the casino, not just losses. 📈
• It's possible to customize your casino experience if you're aware of your options and communicate with your host. 🤝

Overview

Meet Nick Fava, a casino marketing expert from Ellis Island with a rich background in the gaming industry. In this video, he details how his journey in casino marketing has equipped him with inside knowledge crucial for those seeking the best comp experiences in Vegas. From humble beginnings in the industry to his current directorial position, Nick has tips galore for maximizing casino perks.

The conversation delves into the heart of player-host dynamics, outlining how a casino host is not just a point of contact but a key to unlocking personalized casino experiences. From arranging dinners to coordinating exclusive experiences, a host personalizes your visit according to your preferences, ensuring your trip isn’t just enjoyable but unforgettable.

Understanding the math behind comps is essential for any serious casino-goer. The interview highlights how different games present different values and benefits. By discussing the theoretical nature of comps and casino expectations, Nick elucidates how players can make strategic decisions, whether they are seasoned gamblers or newbies, ensuring that each trip to the casino is both fun and rewarding.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Guest Introduction The chapter discusses the age-old debate between slot machines and table games in terms of which offers better rewards. It begins by touching on the varying opinions in the industry and among customers. The host then introduces the main topic of getting more rewards, better comps, and understanding how the casino system works in Las Vegas. The guest for this discussion is Nick Fava from Ellis Island, who is involved in casino marketing. His expertise is expected to provide listeners with valuable insights for their next trip to Las Vegas casinos.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Guest Background and Experience In this chapter titled 'Guest Background and Experience', the guest introduces themselves as the Director of Casino Marketing at Ellis Island. They have held several positions within the casino industry, ranging from a junior host to an executive host, and eventually to a player development manager, showcasing their extensive experience in the field. The guest is an alumnus of UNLV, having earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree from there. Despite formally being in the gaming industry for five years, they have had lifelong exposure to it through their family, who have been engaged in the hospitality sector for many years.
• 01:00 - 03:00: Role and Benefits of a Casino Host The chapter discusses the personal background and career journey of someone who has been legally working in the casino industry for five to six years. Born in Reno, Nevada, the individual has lived in various places, including Michigan, Ohio, Canada, and Florida, due to their father's hospitality jobs. Eventually, they moved back to Las Vegas to complete their education and pursue a career in the casino industry, leveraging Las Vegas as the casino capital of the world to make valuable connections.
• 03:00 - 07:00: Host and Player Relationship The chapter titled 'Host and Player Relationship' aims to dispel myths about casinos, gambling rewards, and comps. It highlights the nuances and differences between properties and operations, such as the grading of players and the operations within different casinos. The chapter starts with basic concepts before diving deeper into these topics, with input from various contributors.
• 07:00 - 10:00: Casino Comps and Player Value This chapter delves into the role of casino hosts, explaining their job functions, how players can get the attention of a host, and the various perks they offer to players. The discussion aims to demystify the role of hosts, addressing common fears and misconceptions about interacting with them within the casino environment.
• 10:00 - 14:00: Discretionary Comps and Player Expectations The chapter discusses the role of hosts in a player's gambling experience. It emphasizes that while players need to reach a certain level of gaming activity to receive a host, they can also seek out hosts independently. The host's responsibility is to ensure that players have the best possible trip, not only meeting but exceeding their expectations.
• 14:00 - 17:00: Table Minimums and Player Preferences The chapter discusses how establishments, particularly casinos and entertainment properties, enhance the experience for their guests beyond the basic offerings. Additional services may include making restaurant reservations, booking shows, and organizing events or nightlife entertainment. They might provide extra perks like complimentary play options, food, and beverages. VIP guests may receive invites to exclusive events such as slot or craps tournaments and major celebrations like New Year's Eve parties or sports events like the Super Bowl and March Madness.
• 17:00 - 21:00: Suites and Room Comps Criteria The chapter discusses the pivotal role of hosts in enhancing guest experiences at properties, particularly for players. It highlights how players can leverage hosts to personalize their stay, contrasting it with the more generic experience of booking a room online or using direct mail offers for comp nights and other perks.
• 21:00 - 25:00: Slots vs. Tables: Player Rewards The chapter discusses the differences in player rewards between slot machines and table games. It emphasizes the importance of players finding and working with a host to enhance their casino experience. While modern technology allows players to make reservations and manage other activities themselves, having a dedicated host can significantly enhance the hospitality and rewards they receive. A well-functioning player development department should proactively reach out to valuable players to ensure they have a great experience without needing to manage everything independently. Overall, the chapter highlights the vital role of hosts in elevating the player experience in casinos.
• 25:00 - 27:00: Additional Interview Topics and Conclusion The chapter discusses the role of hosts in the casino and hospitality industry, emphasizing the customization of visitor experiences to meet personal preferences. It explains that hosts operate not only in Las Vegas but also in various regional markets across the country, including places like Atlantic City. The chapter notes that most properties, even outside of major gambling destinations, employ hosts to cater to guests, although smaller properties might not have dedicated casino hosts.

Las Vegas Casino Host Shares Secrets to Win More Comps (Best Tips & Advice) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 what is better rewards slots or tables yeah industry and customer debate for many years right what What do you think uh well I mean I know it's going to depend on if you want to know how to get more rewards in Vegas casinos get better comps and just get a better overall understanding of how the casino system works in the Las Vegas area for your next trip then I've got a guest here I think you guys are really going to like guys this is Nick Fava from Ellis Island say hi ladies and gentlemen nice to meet you uh currently I run casino marketing
• 00:30 - 01:00 at Ellis Island i'm the director of casino marketing over there held various positions from junior host executive host player development manager all the way up in the casino side of the industry so I can't wait to share some great insight with you cool then you know quick background you're UNLB graduate yep yep bachelor's and masters both from UNLB go Rebels okay and how many years have you been in gaming now gaming for me has been formerly five years but my father family everybody's been involved in gaming for many years through the hospitality industry so I've always had exposure to it but I've only
• 01:00 - 01:30 been 21 for five six years right so only been able to legally work legally work in the industry for Seattle and where you originally from i moved around i was born in Reno upstate Nevada and then I lived in Michigan Ohio Canada Florida bounced around my father who was taking different hospitality jobs and then obviously me wanting to be in industry made sure I moved back to Las Vegas to finish my degrees get involved in industry make some good connections because this capital of the world exactly so I've got some questions here
• 01:30 - 02:00 there's some I came up with on my own some that you have contributed so thank you to everyone who contributed to this and we're going to touch on a variety of things here and see what we can do to help you know dispel some of the myths and some of the things that people hear about when it comes to casinos and gambling and getting rewards and comps because there's a lot of nuance and differences from property to property onrip versus offrip and even just within internal operations how different casinos choose to operate and grade players and that sort of thing so you know the very basic part we'll start
• 02:00 - 02:30 here with um good question I had from someone who just wanted to break it down to you know what is it that you do so what does a host do how does a player get a host and then you know what perks someone said what perks do you provide so you know what is your job how does someone get a host to approach them and then once you do like what is the benefit to the player yeah no great question Jacob so I know a lot of people are scared of host right especially when
• 02:30 - 03:00 they're in the beginning of their gambling career let's call it or when they aren't involved in industry and such that much but host can be your very best friend on property at any property that you're at right now you are going to have to hit a certain level of we call it gaming activity to receive a host but it doesn't mean that you can't seek one out or talk to them as well right so from a property standpoint the host is going to be responsible for making sure that you have the best trip possible and not only meeting your expectations but exceeding them right
• 03:00 - 03:30 and that could be through making restaurant reservations that could be uh booking shows and events and nightclub and entertainment and such for you that could be through offering additional offers such as free play food and beverage that sort of stuff it could be accompanying you throughout your entire night at the property could be bringing you to different events they could also invite you to VIP events such as slot tournaments or uh craps tournaments or big New Year's Eve parties Super Bowl March Madness all those good things so
• 03:30 - 04:00 once again they're going to become or be your best friend on property especially if you're a player that can really control that entire experience for you and add different things to it right to really make that special because before you have a host per se a lot of the experience is going to be based on what you do right you're going to book a room online let's say you're going to go to the property you might have got a direct mail offer for a comp night with some free plans and food and beverage you're going to go in enjoy yourself go to the
• 04:00 - 04:30 restaurants make all your own reservations do all these things yourself now there's a lot of qualified players that may be eligible for a host that don't have one right and that could be through um them needing to seek out a host themselves obviously obviously if they're doing their job a good player development department is going to seek out all of their good players you don't have to do all of that manual work on your own but yeah that host is going to be extremely pivotal in making sure that experience is great for people on
• 04:30 - 05:00 property making sure that their trip is catered to the ways that they want to experience it and that they're receiving the kind of engagement such that they want whenever they come to Las Vegas or and well let me get that straight for the record too who is host don't just reside in Las Vegas if you're a gambler that's in a regional market right you know the Midwest uh east side of the country you know Atlantic City whatever it may be there's host at most if not all properties now you might have some smaller properties that don't have a casino host they're still going to have
• 05:00 - 05:30 people that can take care of discretionary comps or different offers or promotions department or something per se but a host just isn't something that only resides in Las Vegas because many people see the glitz and glamour or movies with Casino Host and think "Oh they only do these huge on large scale events right and run you around for New Year's Eve and that stuff." But that's not always the case you can find Casino Host just about any property you go to whether if you're driving to your favorite casino in Oklahoma or you're coming to the win at Las Vegas yeah and
• 05:30 - 06:00 you know obviously you know Ellis Island is a family-owned property a smaller property here in Las Vegas you know but companies who've got casinos across different states and people who are traveling to different states you know the host in their home state could probably refer them to a host in another state they're going to go to one of their sister properties another state they can call and make a connection for them and say "Hey I have a player coming in please make sure you take care of them." And that sort of thing yeah 100% and some some companies even have regional host they'll call it where you have the same casino host throughout the entire company or entire region right
• 06:00 - 06:30 let's say you're a Caesar's player you know they'll have some regional host that'll be over every property in Las Vegas maybe some other regional property so you don't have to change you may have somebody else that takes care of you once you get on property because they're not going to travel the world with you unless you're a real big player but they'll make sure you're taking care of wherever you go you know one viewer brought this up I thought was interesting is they said they've had hosts approach them in the past but they shied away because they just didn't know how it works they're just like "Okay thanks for approaching me but I don't
• 06:30 - 07:00 know am I supposed to tip you do I pay you something uh you know what are even the boundaries of what a play like what's within the boundaries of what a player can even ask for?" Yeah no that's a that's a great question because especially in today's world people are always weary of scams right and in a city like Las Vegas there's people on the on the street you know slapping cards at you and trying to get you to sign up for time shares and things of that nature so if you're not used to right what a casino host does or have
• 07:00 - 07:30 experience with it then that would be an odd experience for most to start right but in that case I think that's a very valid point in question whereas if a casino host approached you 95% of the time it's solely because your gambling was at a level high enough to get their attention right so if somebody's approaching you saying "Hey it's nice to meet you my name is Nick Fava i'm a casino host at this property i'd love to buy a dinner." Well you should take advantage of that fully because they're
• 07:30 - 08:00 noticing your energy time and money that's gone through their property and they want to reward you for that right right and I can tell you even in my position I still do this on a daily basis right i'll go approach players on the floor hey so nice to meet you how can I help you today would you like to get dinner with us how long are you staying where are you staying can I have you back right and a lot of that's going to be personality type things if the if the host is approaching you know in the right way right if they're hospitable in that sense and we can't say that every
• 08:00 - 08:30 single one is going to be but you shouldn't be scared of them because they are coming to you because of the money that you're spending at that property you should feel good about that hey I've got the attention of a casino host in Las Vegas right now it's not to say you're going to start running them around as your personal slate to do any single thing that you want them to do right but you can definitely take advantage of that and then get yourself more educated hey thank you so much for approaching me i'd love to do dinner tonight just out of curiosity what else can I expect from my play you know how
• 08:30 - 09:00 what other benefits do you offer for VIP customers here do you guys do this this this hey I really enjoy going to the pool and having a room credit and I love this bottle of wine right is this possible the worst somebody can say is no or tell you how to get there right but now you've given yourself an avenue to first of all become more educated within whatever property you're playing at and the industry as a whole and start to get some extra perks for your play and then third of all giving yourself a resource to achieve the things that you want to achieve through your playing
• 09:00 - 09:30 gambling because my philosophy is you shouldn't you're putting the money out there anyway so you might as well get back what you can and then you know speaking to the part about you know doing what makes you happy on your trip or doing what fits you and suits you some people might think that if a casino host approaches them that they're now expected to gamble more or they're going to be pressured to try to play more money there right right cuz you you think of a casino where every game on the floor the casino has an advantage and people come they play for fun but they might think that okay this person's
• 09:30 - 10:00 now approaching me and they're just going to try to pressure me to spend more money but if you're someone who you're just happy to come once a quarter five to 10 grand is maybe your gambling budget and that's just all you want to do once a quarter for the rest of your life coming here to Vegas then you know you can stick within that and the casino will take care of you without you know you don't have to feel like you're trying to compete against all the biggest players and they expect you to become a whale necessarily 100% you know you bring up some very interesting points there and there's some varying thoughts on this in industry right i can
• 10:00 - 10:30 tell you how I lead my teams and how I've performed as a host uh through through my years of doing that job was transparency was always vital to my respect and alignment with customers right i would figure out hey what is your budget where are you comfortable right what do you want to spend on this trip what's your gambling budget and then we back into the type of experience we can provide from that what does that do first of all it allows the player to
• 10:30 - 11:00 feel um safe right in their budget in what they brought to spend and feel comfortable what they're going to get on property second of all it allows me the host per se to say "Hey I know Player X is going to bring in $5,000 i can do this this this for him and u let's make it happen." Right now another piece of that being it is the host's responsibility to make sure that people are gambling within their means right there's a
• 11:00 - 11:30 notion out there in terms of problem gaming and things of that nature now a very low percentage of gamblers are problem gamblers but we always have our eye out for that and people that are doing the host job well will never pressure you to gamble outside of your means right now they may tell you if you want to reach out and say "Hey can I have tickets to the skybox this weekend to watch the Raider game?" I may tell a player "Hey you're not quite at that level yet if you wanted to bring this much and play this much I'm more than welcome or more than happy to see if I can get this experience for you but is
• 11:30 - 12:00 that comfortable for you?" Because I don't want to push you outside of your means or your gambling budget just to get this experience right now another thing I'll say which I tell people all the time right is if you're bringing that money as a gambling budget to Las Vegas or wherever you're going right and you're going to spend that anyways not necessarily lose but you're going to put that money in action we say then of course get all the comps possible you know talk to your host see what you can get out of it see what you're entitled
• 12:00 - 12:30 to in that sense but don't necessarily go and spend 10 times more money just to get this right because my philosophy as well is I'd rather create loyalty with a customer and have them back six times throughout the year right instead of coming in one time and losing $250,000 and saying "Nick I had a terrible time here i lost all my money i'm never coming back." Right and we see
• 12:30 - 13:00 that all the time and sometimes we can't control those things in terms of how a player plays or how they spend their money or what they do but the the mission being putting people in comfortable states where they are still going to enjoy their experience and have fun because if we can provide them with a fun experience and we create something that's above their expectations what do we get in return we get customer loyalty they want to come back they want to see us they enjoy themselves that's somebody that we have that'll come on property if they don't have that experience if they
• 13:00 - 13:30 gamble way outside of their means and don't have fun or if they get no perks for this or something was missing from uh their room that they've requested from their host right then in turn that damages that relationship so it's really up to us to manage those relationships and make sure our people are comfortable and happy because at the end of the day people are coming to Las Vegas or their other properties or they're gambling because they want to it's entertainment value right and it's up to us to make sure that they're compensated for that having fun for that that they're enjoying that experience and you've seen
• 13:30 - 14:00 also too over the years maybe someone when they're a newer gambler and you know they're just betting table minimums when they come in but you know over the years as their income grows they visit right they start betting and playing more but then you also over the years I'm sure you've seen those players like I mentioned earlier but they're like "Hey I come once a quarter i bring this much amount and that's it." casinos i mean especially you know bigger or smaller but the casinos they're going to have a array of customers so you know I just say that because whichever one you are you can be either one at the casino if you want to spend more of your time you can if you
• 14:00 - 14:30 just want to say "Hey this is my cap every year I go on my trips." I just leave it at that and you know they'll do what they can either way to try to try to help you out they're happy to have whoever's going to come and spend yeah yeah but you know you don't have to think that over the term of the years you're coming to Vegas that you have to try to like compete with the other whales and become like their next biggest player 100% yep that's completely correct and I'll do a little shameless plug here so at Ellis Island we have 10 times odds on the dice table three to two blackjack both go down to
• 14:30 - 15:00 $5 at the low end and I can't tell you how many customers I talk to on a daily basis hey Jacob what brought you in a property how'd you hear about us or I came to play your $5 dice table i'm like "Well you know your average bet was $300 right?" And they're like "Yeah but I like the option to go down i don't want to have to play $50 or $25 minimums i like the option to go down to 25." But to your point there's definitely different ways to get there and you want to gamble where you're comfortable you know so I have some players that'll come in they'll play $50 a hand let's say for
• 15:00 - 15:30 12 hours and that's what they like to do they like to sit at the blackjack table and enjoy themselves i have some that like to come in and play thousands of dollars a hand for two or three hours right and that's completely fine once again all about your experience and having your fun now keep in mind from a comp perspective right if you're what we call a hitandun type player if you're gonna come in and play big or take a big loss or big win and only play 30 minutes
• 15:30 - 16:00 on table games we're talking about specifically those type of players are harder for casino host and and properties to comp because you really establish comp value or value as a player in general based on how much you're betting the type of game you're playing and how long you play so I get people all the time that'll come in lose let's say $1,000 in 10 minutes on blackjack hey can I get a comp you know of course we're still going to give them a comp take care of the way we can but
• 16:00 - 16:30 they may come back the next day and win 2,000 in 10 minutes right from the casino it's all a math and time game over the long run they have an advantage on these games not to say people can't win they do every single day and that's why Las Vegas is such an attractive destination and gambling is growing all over the world right but you need to one of two ways put your money in action and give the casino a lot of time or you get your butt kicked we hope this one doesn't
• 16:30 - 17:00 happen right but you at least got to do one or the other to really establish comp value so we hope it's time and you're winning while you're doing it because that's another misconception that a lot of players have is if they win they can't get comped right oh yeah yeah you don't have to lose money yeah you don't have to lose money you know a lot of properties are comp what we call theoretical value i'm not going to get into all the nuts and bolts of that but that's basically in simple terms how long you play how much you played through whatever game you're playing and
• 17:00 - 17:30 the type of game you're playing right some people come for a weekend and they break even some come on a weekend and they lose big some come on a weekend and they hit big over the weekend and and it's called gambling for a reason right some people win some people lose and a lot of players think "Oh I won i can't get anything." Well that's not true now if you if you come in day one and let's say Nick comps you three nights over Super Bowl puts together a really fun experience for you free play everything else and you're having a great time you come in day one and win $50,000 and in
• 17:30 - 18:00 10 minutes and don't play for the rest of your trip yeah that's not going to look too good and I'm probably going to have to charge you for the room and some other things that we put together for you right now if you come in day one and you play 12 16 hours over your trip and win $50,000 I say "Hey congratulations i love you take that money home have a good time but I'm still comping everything on the way out right because you put your money in action you gave the casino a shot right and that's all that they can ask for so don't get
• 18:00 - 18:30 misconstrued and think that just because you win you're not entitled to comps you're not entitled to different things because you most definitely are as long as you put in the time to get those offers right it can't just be a 10 five minute thing so I tell everybody make sure you give the time that's qualified right to to get those sorts of offers and good stuff and that's another good point that we can we can touch on that from an earlier question would be a conversation with a host can also look like hey how long do you need me to play what do you want my average bet to be
• 18:30 - 19:00 right what does that look like for you uh industry standard is going to be let's say you bring $5,000 with you a host would look for you to bet on table games 1 to2% of that whatever deposited or credit line amount for 4 hours a day so in that case it'd be 50 to $100 average bet for about 4 hours a day now if you come in and play 8 hours on day one you have all this stuff scheduled on day two and you don't play at all then you have you know day three come back play four hours of course that's fine right point being that's the amount of
• 19:00 - 19:30 time that the casino is deemed that gives them right the ample up value needed to comp you or offer you for that trip and there's nothing wrong with having that conversation with your host and it goes both ways from a slot perspective or a table perspective whereas tables will probably say "Hey I need this to be your average bet your time slots I need you to earn this many points or coin in this much money over your trip." Right win or lose we never want to tell players hey you got to lose $10,000 to do that because that's not
• 19:30 - 20:00 the case right but we'll tell you how much time and what I expect your play to be over that time period to meet the value of comps that you're receiving or that I would want to offer you so at a smaller property this may not be the case so much but you know this is kind of comes back to like etiquette and people getting to know a host or you know still being newer to having hosts approach them you know say maybe someone really likes the casino property they're at but they don't quite get along with the host they have you know because you know it's just a host comes up and they
• 20:00 - 20:30 don't get to choose who it is and you know these casinos have teams of host i mean would it be appropriate for them to say you know hey can I have another host or hey could I try like I like gambling here but could I possibly try working with someone else that's a great question and a lot of people are afraid to have that conversation right there and this is going to depend from company to company how they handle those situations and what that policy is like for them but from a player standpoint you should
• 20:30 - 21:00 always always be able to go and have that conversation and adjust your host if you're not meshing with that person right doesn't necessarily mean oh they're not giving me this so I don't like them right but it may be hey our personalities don't mesh you know we had a argument whatever it is I'd like to try somebody new that's a completely valid conversation to have that's completely valid response now a lot of that can be done you're not going to tell your host directly that's a not a nice conversation to have right hey I
• 21:00 - 21:30 don't like you can you switch me out right tap tap in the next guy please but um but usually you can reach out to uh promotion part player development department they'll be a player development manager or a player development director casino marketing director that'll be happy to have that conversation with you and switch that host coding they would say or give you somebody new to take care of you in that matter and make sure that first of all your experience is great because your experience as a customer is paramount to the property right and your own trips
• 21:30 - 22:00 and coming out to enjoy yourselves and have a good time so if they're not willing to do that that'd be a telltale sign in my mind that you may want to find someplace new to enjoy your time and then you know and if your host is not going to be there on property one day when you're coming and they should obviously be saying "Hey I won't be there but go ahead and ask for this person I'll let them know you're coming they're going to take care of the whole thing for you." Yep 100% uh I do that all the time with players and most hosts do if they're not going to be on property they'll let their people know hey I hope you enjoy your trip this is
• 22:00 - 22:30 set up for you this is set up for We have your dinner reservation at 7:30 p.m tomorrow i'll be gone throughout the weekend but if you need anything here's let's say VIP services agent that can take care of you here's other host that can take care of you here's other team member that can take care of just to make sure that that is a process for the player that's easy and that they know who to reach out to when they're on property when it comes to things like table minimums so you know Alice is known for having low table minimums right the offshore properties in general are going to have those lower $5 $10
• 22:30 - 23:00 crafts or um double zero roulette or blackjack or things like that but I mean even the $5 you know only a handful of places offer that so you know those places offer that they're unique in that regard and that their table minimums already lower as part of what makes them competitive but like what a host you know in general someone asked would they be able to impact table minimums you know as a customer say "Hey dude these table minimums are too high or where they'll take feedback from customers on things and say hey can you relay this to
• 23:00 - 23:30 the management that we're getting lots of complaints or issues about this or just you know a lot of things that people have commonly in recent years complained about Las Vegas changing?" Yeah I think that's a two-prong question right so most of the time the host will only have influence on bringing the table minimums higher right okay so in that case you have a very big customer that wants to come in and bet 50,000 a hand but the table minimum is only 20,000 we may go as a host and say "Hey player X wants to bring in or wants to
• 23:30 - 24:00 bet this amount." And then you would talk about a deal perspective from the casino side and say "We want this player to deposit $500,000 upon arrival play this much throughout their trip and then we'd be willing to move that table minimum up for that player." Now all depends on the property that's all they're called that's not always going to be the case right some properties can only accept so much exposure in terms of table maximums so they're set that way is for a reason but you can always have that conversation to see if that's adjustable now from a player standpoint
• 24:00 - 24:30 looking to lower a table minimum because we all know that's a very hot topic in Las Vegas and I see it all the time especially at Ellis Island i have multiple players that come in and they love the low table minimum but to my point earlier they come and they end up playing much higher throughout their trip but they don't want to they wanted the option to go down to 5 10 $15 things of that nature and um in that case they should be taking all feedback that they would get from players and relaying that
• 24:30 - 25:00 to casino management to let them know hey we get this request a lot um is this going to be a possibility but they're not going to be the one that's going to be able to move a table minimum down or have that conversation to say "Hey can we get this down to $5?" It's not going to happen almost anywhere you go now on the flip side of that I know some players are iffy about this but a lot of electronic table games are now offered right that you can bet much lower minimums for instance Win just put a roll to win game in there and it has a
• 25:00 - 25:30 $5 minimum which you wouldn't expect from the win you know Ellis Island has a roll to win game as a $5 minimum as well as our live dice game and $5 blackjack and things of that nature so if you are open to playing some of those electronic options typically you can get in at much lower minimums on just about all of them from Bakar to roulette blackjack craps because uh they allow less exposure there's less labor cost and things of that nature to pay on
• 25:30 - 26:00 that game so it can afford to be a lower minimum on it now if you're not that type of player and you want to play low minimums and the casino that you currently go to that you're looking at doesn't offer that you can always search around on casino websites and things of that nature cuz most of them will have their table minimums uh posted on there in terms of hey blackjack's going to be $5 minimum this maximum uh crap's going to be this going to be this and you can find a property that more so aligns with your play style is what I would
• 26:00 - 26:30 recommend outside of asking a property to lower the minimums which is going to be a tough thing to do most of the time as those things are set in stone and kind of brings up another issue that I wanted to touch on through this conversation would be peak times raising table minimums now some properties have different views on this for instance at Ellis Island we never raise our table minimums it could be New Year's Eve and we're completely jam-packed and don't have a seat in the pit we'll still have a $5 blackjack table right could be
• 26:30 - 27:00 Super Bowl the whole crafts table's full right we're still going to have that low limit crafts table right some of the properties don't live by that notion they have different peak demand pricing we'll call it price being the average bets and such that are offered on the game so that may change now if that changes at the property once again they're typically not going to lower that but you are always welcome to ask right because I've seen multiple times where if you have a group of players and you're at a property and you fill the table you say "Hey we really want to
• 27:00 - 27:30 play $10 instead of 15." You talk to the pit boss say "Can we play 10 instead sometimes not going to say all the time they'll say "Yes no problem we'll take care of that for you." In the word of customer experience and because you have a full game they're playing right you can always have that conversation and I've also been at casinos too where you know supervisor goes looks on goes table's kind of full cuz I like this group and they'll just up the minimum that hopefully no one else comes out of the table and play i won't say where but I've seen the opposite end of that too where you know they'll just up the
• 27:30 - 28:00 minimum and that way hopefully you know it keeps the group that they have at the table going because they'll be grandfathered in yeah and then and then keep in mind as well when that happens it's not always for that reason sometimes they will raise a table minimum if somebody wants to play by themselves and they're a good player right or if they have like you said a good group on the table that's playing well and they don't want other people to come in that group may have a conversation you know hey Mr shift manager we really love our group here we
• 28:00 - 28:30 have three of three of us we're playing double your minimum we're playing the minimum right we're having a blast is there any chance that we get this game to ourselves so sometimes the metric they'll use to do that instead of saying "Hey this game is reserved is they'll raise a minimum just to ensure that if that group is going to be broken up that experience is going to be tampered," that it's for somebody that's worthwhile in terms of a higher average bet or something like that right when it comes to people's play you know what kind of average play or theoretical loss you know does someone need to start getting
• 28:30 - 29:00 like sweets comped them and stuff like that yeah that's a great question and it really is going to depend on the property you're at first and foremost they'll have different ranges in terms of how much you have to play to get specific room types and then it's also going to depend on the time that you're looking at if you're asking for a suite over New Year's Eve the criteria is going to be much different than a Monday Tuesday Wednesday in July right so keep in mind that when you're reaching out now a lot of times your direct mail offers are going to
• 29:00 - 29:30 automatically tell you what type of room you're getting and whether if it's a standard room a suite a corner suite whatever that property offers and remember all properties offer different types of rooms and they all call them different things most time they will have pictures on their website people to go check out if they want to know what type of room that they're looking at right but to your point there's really no finite way to say "Hey if you start playing $100 a day for this many hours right you're going to get a sweet offer cuz it's all dynamic." Now that's
• 29:30 - 30:00 another great conversation to always have with your host because it's going to be property specific at Ellis Island let's say if you're coming in over the weekend you may be a $100 better that plays for 5 hours a day right that would probably get you into a suite most of the time with us now barring any extenduating circumstances in terms of big festival weekends concerts conventions all that stuff now that criteria may change on
• 30:00 - 30:30 the weekday because on the weekdays typically it's easier to offer different room types right now kind of contradicting my earlier point where your room offer is going to have a specific thing on it whether it be standard room suite whatever it is now if you know you're coming during a low volume time you can always have a conversation as well and say "Hey I know I got offered a standard room but I'm coming on Monday Tuesday Wednesday is there any chance I can get upgraded to a suite?" And if that's of value to you
• 30:30 - 31:00 even if you wanted to take an upgrade and you weren't going to be completely comped typically you would get that at a discounted rate so they may say "Okay I can do it i can't fully comp you but it's going to be $75 a night with no resort fees right right you can get into the suite for a fraction of the price instead of going online and paying hundreds of dollars or whatever it may be for that date range that you're looking at but yeah it's it's tough to say in terms of what exactly gets you into a suite it's all going to depend on what property you're at what they expect
• 31:00 - 31:30 out of their players and how much those suites cost right in air quotes and also what games you're playing yeah what games you're playing of course so that's going to make a difference in terms of the value that you bring to a casino right once again game you're playing time uh how big your average bet is and all those and all those factors where on roulette for the same amount of time you're going to generate more let's put an example together if you're playing a
• 31:30 - 32:00 $100 average bet for 5 hours and you're playing on roulette and you're playing a $100 average bet for 5 hours you're playing on blackjack you're going to establish more theoretical value on roulette than you are on blackjack right now I'm not telling you to go play roulette instead of blackjack cuz you want to play whatever you find fun playing right but different games have different advantages to the casino which is how theoretical is derived for customers and such so keep in mind that
• 32:00 - 32:30 the play the game you're playing may have different value but at the end of the day I never want to tell players hey play this to do this i want to say what do you enjoy playing you enjoy playing blackjack okay cool now I'm going to tell you how to get there from a blackjack perspective that's really the job of the host not the player to say "Okay well I know if I play this game now I'm going to get this." Right you want to play what you want to play and you want to enjoy yourself and have that conversation whereas your host may say "Okay you're a blackjack player i need you to play $250 average bet for three hour or four hours a day over your 3-day
• 32:30 - 33:00 trip and I'm happy to put you in a suite i mean and earlier you mentioned sometimes a person you might have a player like "Hey I'll put you in a suite for your trip like that i really don't want a suit i just want a standard room you know I just take a standard room cuz I don't plan to be there very often like can you give me a little more free play?" Could that work the other way around or maybe it's like hey I'm bringing my wife and kids in these time you know can you put us in a suite and I'll take a little less free play or something like that um anything's possible right with some
• 33:00 - 33:30 things it's once again going to depend on the property because some are going to have the capability to remove offers and say "Okay yeah let's give you less." Some are going to be automatically given to the player upon arrival so you can't necessarily make adjustments there whereas the room type can be adjusted right you can say "Okay well I'm going to book you in a single king standard instead of a corner suite." And you can adjust that and obviously it's less cost to the to the property and and less of a comp that you're giving to that player
• 33:30 - 34:00 now from the free play perspective always possible not not the same exact transaction it's not easy to switch and say "Okay I'm going to give you less free play and do this cuz that may be an offer that's preassigned for you put on the kiosk or something like that." But always a good conversation to have just in terms of maximizing your offers and making sure that the things you find value in you're getting more of right and then you know we talked when we're talking comps and things like that a lot of it is essentially to use a a term that they use a lot in social media
• 34:00 - 34:30 algorithmic where you know it's going to be based on all these different factors for the offers you're getting but you know when it comes to like a discretionary comp you know like a host is on the casino floor how much you know discretion do they have to comp something for someone or you know what is you know process that they may be using to decide whether or not this like hey yeah I know you had a rough session say man let let me get you a dinner or something like that yeah that happens all the time still in Vegas now property
• 34:30 - 35:00 is going to be different in terms of the programs and what they put together some properties may have what they call a comp points program put together where you're acrewing points over the time that you play for those things that would be discretionary comps such as food and beverage such as merchandise purchases such as extra free play right and you're crewing that to use for that for those purposes now some properties may not have that put together they may be more discretionary compentrics some may use a mixture of both right i have a
• 35:00 - 35:30 lot of players that always relate that example that you're talking about kind of back to old Las Vegas man in old Vegas it was so nice you lose a few bucks in the pit they write you cough and you just go to dinner and enjoy yourself go to the buffet enjoy yeah yeah go to the buffet and have fun now that definitely still happens it just depends on where you are at Ellis Island we give a lot of discretionary comps still to players right hey thank you so much for coming in and that more so aligns with our philosophy as a company of kind of wanting to hold on to that
• 35:30 - 36:00 old Vegas hospitality right now not to say that we don't offer the other structures with point structures and being able to use those for different things such as free play food and beverage and things like that now at an MGM that may look very different in terms of how you get a discretionary comp or maybe much higher standards to get a discretionary comp now I would say once again depending on the property that you're at you know you lose a couple hundred bucks right you're can always ask some of the larger properties
• 36:00 - 36:30 may not be willing to give you a discretionary comp after a couple hundred bucks some of the smaller properties you know I may say "Okay yeah you lost $500 now I'm going to buy you a dinner let's take care of you." Now properties all have different metrics and things that they use typically it's a percentage of loss or theoretical that they're willing to comp you and it's going to be looked at from a holistic lens what is this guest already redeemed have they already got food comps today from the kiosk have they already redeemed free play from their direct
• 36:30 - 37:00 mail offers have they already got this now if they've redeemed all that and player X still has $75 available in his comp bucket or an unused right then that maybe it'll be used as a discretionary comp so I wouldn't use from a player standpoint discretionary comp in terms of something you ask for try to try to get every single time you go somewhere but I think it's more so longer sessions or things that are a little bit more outside of the normal or something that
• 37:00 - 37:30 you may have taken a little bit more of a big loss than you usually do and in that case you know hey I kind of got my butt kicked today or hey I played for a while today or or hey it's a special occasion you know I come in all the time is there any chance I can do dinner and most player development professionals are always happy to see what they can do in that kind of realm to make sure that you feel good you're valued and you're taken care of now it's not going to be something that Jacob walks in every day and the first thing he does "Hey can I get a comp for dinner hey can I get a comp dinner hey can I get a comp dinner?" I be that player yeah yeah you
• 37:30 - 38:00 don't want You don't want to be that player right but um but uh but yeah you know you get the point what is better rewards slots or tables yeah yeah that's a great question and it's a I industry and customer debate for many years right especially now as more slot machines are coming onto casino floors of places so what what do you think uh well I mean I know it's going to depend on well the table game depends on the table game but I mean now slot machines those penny slots man often times have like 10% hole
• 38:00 - 38:30 or even higher sometimes for the casino where you know blackjack does not you're right you're playing double zero lets with 5.3% so I mean you know in terms of the math the hold is often times higher for the casino they might love everybody to be sitting down at you know Buffalo and Dragon Link all day and just coin in that money but no you're a smart guy but once again I'll preface that
• 38:30 - 39:00 question with first of all play whatever you want to play right it's not always about going and getting the very best offers possible or maximizing this first of all you want to figure out what you enjoy as a player where you want to spend your time and money and what you have fun with whether that's table games slot machines sports betting horse races these variety of different gambling atmospheres that uh we provide now in this city in this country right but it's it's once again not a black and white answer depends on how much you're going
• 39:00 - 39:30 to play what you want to do and and how much money you plan to put through now slots your value is going to be determined it's uh to your point the math on it right from a theoretical perspective is going to be a little bit more in favor of the casino for most games not all of them you have different things you know three card pokers and things like that that are going to be or carnival games that are going to be vastly different from the from the advantage on a blackjack game let's say but in that case yes you can establish that amount of value now in table games
• 39:30 - 40:00 depends on how you play you could play a if you're $5,000 a hand average better right are you gonna have more value created than somebody that's playing $5 a spin on Dragon Link right right you know of course that players they're playing for four or five hours they're going to generate more value for the casino than the $5 bet on Dragon Link so there's there's no numbers and you can't compare it apples to apples because you know a $5 bet on blackjack we all know is not the same as
• 40:00 - 40:30 a $5 bet on the slot machine you could probably spin the button on Dragon Link 10 times before a decision's finished on this right so you're doing five times you know 10 times more uh bets on your Dragon Link machine now if you're looking at it purely from that perspective where if you say "Hey I want to bet $5 no matter what i'm going to play $5 Blackjack i'm going to play $5 slot machines," you're going to generate more value on a five playing $5 per bet per spin on a slot machine than you would playing $5 per hand on a blackjack game but once again not apples to apples
• 40:30 - 41:00 because there's different time amounts in terms of the decision-making process right how that's going to how that's going to continue right and how many things you can do in a certain time period so play what you want enjoy gambling the way you want to do it right and if you have questions on getting more value out of your play that's definitely something that you can have a conversation about to access the full 90-minute interview just scan the QR code on your screen or click the link below to join the Insiders Club today some of the extra topics covered include
• 41:00 - 41:30 how a casino's ownership affects the comps you get hidden benefits casinos don't advertise to the public and how casinos grade their hosts plus you'll get immediate access to exclusive Vegas deals like up to $500 in free slot play 15% off your first order of show tickets as well as discounts on food and drinks so you get more value for your dollar we also track slot machine payback percentages resort fees parking fees and casino table minimums to help you budget for your next trip and we created a
• 41:30 - 42:00 community forum where longtime Vegas visitors share their experiences and advice to help you prepare for your visit use the link below or the QR code on screen and I'll see you there i'm Jacob and this is my life in Vegas [Music]