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I work at a casino resort hotel. We also have five restaurants on property. The hotel and resort are actually independent rather than run by any hotel brands you're familiar with and they're run by the casino (for which reason I have a gaming license, even though I work in the hotel). Sometimes, I get to listen to people who don't really understand how that works.
So, yeah, in the casino, we have a player rewards club, to track people's gambling. It's incredibly helpful demographic information, which is why we do it. As a bonus to you, it means the casino has a good idea what they can comp you because they know for sure how much you've spent in the casino.
I hear from people who are going to our restaurants that we should totally include our F&B revenue in with the player rewards club. I try not to laugh in their faces, but sometimes it's hard.
See, okay, the hotel and the spa and the restaurants, they're all here as lures to get you in the building where the ding-ding-ding noises will get you on the casino floor, where you will spend money. They generally speaking need only break even, although mostly I believe they do generally make a margin of profit.
But, yeah, the thing is, it's a tiny drop in the bucket against the casino. Okay, you spent $500 at our steakhouse? Wonderful! Out of that $500 a good percentage that went to the actual costs of operating the steakhouse so our takeaway was nothing like $500. Compare that to the people who drop $500 a night on the slot machines which is far purer profit, the slots have very few costs involved in running them. (Ps, those people aren't high rollers.)
I mean, it'd theoretically be possible to spend enough money with food and beverage to start mattering to our bottom line, but you'd basically be throwing a party every night at the steakhouse and in that case? The manager of the steakhouse is already taking spectacular care of you.
So, no, we won't ever be tracking F&B dollars with the rewards club. It's a drop in the bucket of our revenue and would be basically a waste of time.
Other things I hear: "I spend $10,000 a year at your casino! You should do X thing that's against your policy for me because of that!" I try not to giggle at them. $10,000? It's adorable that you think that's a lot of money for a casino! It's not. That's not even $1000/month that you're spending. Some of our high rollers' individual bets will run about that. Also, we don't break policy even for our high rollers!
Money becomes play money at a casino, even if you're not the one handling the absurd amounts of money that get processed. Numbers flat out stop meaning the buying power of that much money and just become numbers you keep track of stuff by. It's weird as hell to watch it happen in yourself. It is, at least, pretty much work-centric for me! I go home and my brain kicks back into normal sane world where, yes, $10,000 is a large damn sum of money.
But, yes, the short version is: casinos are not the real world. They are weird as hell, and definitely not in any way the real world. Bringing your expectations of the real world will just lead to culture clash!
So, yeah, in the casino, we have a player rewards club, to track people's gambling. It's incredibly helpful demographic information, which is why we do it. As a bonus to you, it means the casino has a good idea what they can comp you because they know for sure how much you've spent in the casino.
I hear from people who are going to our restaurants that we should totally include our F&B revenue in with the player rewards club. I try not to laugh in their faces, but sometimes it's hard.
See, okay, the hotel and the spa and the restaurants, they're all here as lures to get you in the building where the ding-ding-ding noises will get you on the casino floor, where you will spend money. They generally speaking need only break even, although mostly I believe they do generally make a margin of profit.
But, yeah, the thing is, it's a tiny drop in the bucket against the casino. Okay, you spent $500 at our steakhouse? Wonderful! Out of that $500 a good percentage that went to the actual costs of operating the steakhouse so our takeaway was nothing like $500. Compare that to the people who drop $500 a night on the slot machines which is far purer profit, the slots have very few costs involved in running them. (Ps, those people aren't high rollers.)
I mean, it'd theoretically be possible to spend enough money with food and beverage to start mattering to our bottom line, but you'd basically be throwing a party every night at the steakhouse and in that case? The manager of the steakhouse is already taking spectacular care of you.
So, no, we won't ever be tracking F&B dollars with the rewards club. It's a drop in the bucket of our revenue and would be basically a waste of time.
Other things I hear: "I spend $10,000 a year at your casino! You should do X thing that's against your policy for me because of that!" I try not to giggle at them. $10,000? It's adorable that you think that's a lot of money for a casino! It's not. That's not even $1000/month that you're spending. Some of our high rollers' individual bets will run about that. Also, we don't break policy even for our high rollers!
Money becomes play money at a casino, even if you're not the one handling the absurd amounts of money that get processed. Numbers flat out stop meaning the buying power of that much money and just become numbers you keep track of stuff by. It's weird as hell to watch it happen in yourself. It is, at least, pretty much work-centric for me! I go home and my brain kicks back into normal sane world where, yes, $10,000 is a large damn sum of money.
But, yes, the short version is: casinos are not the real world. They are weird as hell, and definitely not in any way the real world. Bringing your expectations of the real world will just lead to culture clash!