If you’ve never been to a casino before, you have an opportunity to make a great first impression, and with that a chance to be rewarded a bit more heavily than normal. If you’re a high enough player at other casinos, and the new casino is a direct competitor, you may even have a chance to get a great offer before you even step foot in the door.
Today, we’ll talk about why that first trip matters so much to casino operators, and therefore your comps, and how to make the most of it going into it.
Marketers Love Data
Anyone who spends time in the marketing division know that marketers love to get their hands on as much and as complete data as they can, as they can make better decisions about things. As a new player to a given casino or casino operator, they’ve got nothing on you, but boy do they want to know it. Among the things they’re curious about:
- What your bet level is
- How long you’ll play
- How much money you’re willing to put on the line
If these data points sound familiar, it’s because they’re the same data points they rely on for calculations like Average Daily Theoretical (ADT), which we talked about earlier in the week. Since over time casinos get a look at thousands and thousands of players (and some chains have tens of millions in their databases), within a couple of visits they can quickly get to know what type of player you are, look at what sort of offers have enticed players like you in the past, and target you quickly and efficiently.
But until they’ve got a couple of visits in their player tracking system, they’re not quite sure what to make of you. That’s why that first impression matters: They’ll get an initial look at your playing style and budget.
But since they need a couple of data points to be absolutely sure, the offers after the first visit tend to be stronger than what will follow. They’re called Teaser Offers and the idea is the marketing team will spend a bit more than average to get another look at your play. So, if your first impression is strong, they’ll not only give offers that are strong, but they’ll overcomp you a bit just to really encourage you to come back.
The other purpose is they hope you had a good time on the first visit, and may be willing to spend even more on the second visit (and some might with the stronger offers).
Accelerating the First Impression
If you are a strong player already, and have big offers from other competitors, especially having a host in a market like Vegas, you may be able to contact a host at a competitor with your offers and get them matched. It’s certainly happened for some players at places like the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas.
In those cases, the casino marketing team is confident that your play is at a certain level because you’re pulling certain offers for a competitor, and will take a chance to get you to bring that level of play to them by matching the offer. Of course, one other benefit is they then get real player data in the system.
Summary
It’s important to remember that in most cases the offers extended are based off your play history, so in a sense you’ve “earned” those comps. But you can goose them a bit by going in the first time with a plan to put in a strong showing. And finally, don’t be afraid to ask a casino you’re visiting for the first time to look at your other offers and see if they’ll match. They don’t know you until you introduce yourself, and if you don’t ask, you won’t get!
Have you ever received an offer by reaching out to a host? Do you aim to make your first impression at a new casino count? Share your stories in the comments below!
