Jan
19
“You’re too good for us, sir!” I can remember the pit boss saying to me as he escorted me out of the Flamingo. Well, actually, that’s what other casinos said to me. At the Flamingo, the shift manager said something along the lines of “We reserve the right to refuse your action and we chose to do so at this time.” After that, the casino staff might’ve been one of the most hostile group of people I have seen as they barred me from the casino.
Contrast this to a nice casino in Reno, where the lady pit boss came up to me and told me, “Ahhh! Upstairs told me that you’re too good for us! I’m so sorry! I hope you enjoy our other games though!”
It occurs to me how ridiculous the game of blackjack is in general. From a casino customer’s perspective, the casino is offering a game. After much badgering, he sighs and agrees, “Fine, I’ll play your game. You’d better make it fun though!” Then, as he gets better at the game and wins, the casino cries, “No fair! You can’t do that! Now you have to leave!” Doesn’t that sound strange to you? Some guy just offered you a game, you played it, and now they’re crying foul!
Why would they do that? Wouldn’t the casino just offer a game that you can’t beat? Then there would be no card counters right?
Right! Except there would also be nobody else playing that game! You see, blackjack’s popularity is mostly because it is a beatable game! People hear that a bunch of card counters made a lot of money and flock to casinos to try to their hand at it. However, most aren’t good enough to actually do so and that’s why casinos make so much money off of the game.
Yet, the irony is that they need people spreading the word that it’s a beatable game! Otherwise, it wouldn’t be nearly as popular as it is now. And who would do that except a card counter who makes a big chunk of his money playing blackjack?
In this sense, the different types of casino customers are a lot like the different types of website visitors. Card counters are a lot like direct visitors. They use up a significant amount of resources (i.e. they win the casino’s money) and in turn refer people to casinos. They do this when they “brag” about their blackjack winnings, inspiring other people to try!
The people that they refer are like the referral traffic of websites. They hear that the game is beatable from a trusted source (the card counter) and come to the casino to give it a shot. As a result, they are probably more likely to lose more money than any other type of visitor since they’re so committed to trying to beat the casino. While a rare few might succeed, most will fail miserably.
Then, there’s the “search engine traffic”. These are people that just happen to come to Vegas/Reno/wherever via some sort of promotional mailing or just happened to walk past the casino while there. They are looking for a thrill and have a small fixed budget to spend on this entertainment. Once it’s complete, they leave. Some may become card counters and some may win and refer their friends, but the demographic is strikingly similar to people from search engines finding your website.
Lastly, there is the “social bookmarking traffic”. Maybe there’s a big fight at the casino or something, and everyone flocks there to give it a glimpse. Of course, most of them just stand there taking up space and don’t actually do a whole lot of gambling. However, there are so many people that the tables are full anyway. Additionally, they generate a buzz about the casino. People walking by would wonder where everyone was going and follow in for a look. Like digg traffic, their main goal is to check out what is going on and not to participate.
So how are these traffic types relevant to anything? Well, the whole marketing campaign is quite similar to that of a website. They can either rely on search engine traffic (people running around in front of the casino and walking in), or some sort of referral/direct traffic by focusing on good incentives (like player’s comps) and service.
The interesting thing about the Flamingo’s somewhat harsh treatment is that they basically kill off the direct visitors to their blackjack game. What card counter would go there to try their luck after hearing of the harsh treatment? That would mean no one to tell other people of the easiness of their blackjack games. No word of mouth = no referral traffic. Perhaps, it’s because it’s a strip (the main street in Vegas) casino and they have plenty of “search engine” traffic that they don’t really care!
We can see why a little town like Reno would have much nicer treatment of card counters. They want the card counters to stay around and spread the news of their hospitality. That’s because there just isn’t all that many people in Reno and they depend on the tourist traffic! In fact, they offer blackjack games with probably some of the best rules in the country. Why? Because they want to give people a chance! They understand that without people bragging about their winnings, referral traffic would die and Reno would just be a desolate little town.
Website traffic, real world traffic. Hey, a loyal consumer is a loyal consumer, whether it’s gambling or a website forum!
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