Casino Enterprise Management

One year ago, the Nevada Gaming Control Board, challenged by Chairman Mark Lipparelli, began formally working on drafting regulations for interactive gaming. On Dec. 22, 2011, the Nevada Gaming Commission approved the regulations—the first United States gaming jurisdiction to do so. The move solidified Nevada’s position as a global gaming leader. The very next day, the DoJ issued a new legal opinion letter regarding the Wire Act.

As casino owners know, operating “the house” is expensive. Casinos are faced with enormous costs, including building new facilities, buying the latest gaming equipment and adding restaurants, shows and other expensive entertainment. But more than any other cost, the biggest expenditure that a casino makes on a daily basis is its workforce. Running a casino requires hiring hundreds, sometimes thousands, of employees.

This is the second article of the “Where’s the Money?” series that focuses on Jackpot Wharf, a mini casino area within Silverton Casino. This article will look into player displacement and clustering analysis of the player behavior. It will also introduce a new concept, preference filters, which are designed to highlight areas of preference for gaming product on the gaming floor.

Casinos are some of the most highly regulated enterprises within the business world. As stated in the National Gambling Impact Study Commission Report, they are considered to be a different type of business, requiring closer governmental oversight. According to the Commission Report, this is mostly due to risks that present themselves uniquely together in the casino industry. These risks are unfair games, crime and the impact on society.

Our industry makes every effort to collaborate with regulators at all levels in order to ensure the type of tough regulatory environment we understand is essential to the gaming industry’s existence. In order to stay on top of the rapidly evolving technology embraced by our industry, the AGA continues to discuss and review regulation. Recently, we have taken a number of new and important steps in this direction ...

This is part 7 of our 18-part series on “Where’s the Money.” This is part 1 of a two-part series on Jackpot Wharf. The second part will look into customer displacement and scientific control. This article digs deeper into the measurement of success of gaming mix optimization in the Jackpot Wharf area of the Silverton Casino in Las Vegas.

Internet gaming, or i-gaming, is the hot topic in the gaming community. Nearly every week, i-gaming is the subject of a report in popular media outlets. In recent months, major U.S.-based casino operators have announced strategic alliances with European i-gaming operators. Gaming equipment manufacturers have dedicated significant resources to i-gaming, ranging from developing online games to the acquisition of Internet-based businesses.

It has been the accepted driving principle behind successful gaming regulation that government could exercise social control by determining the legality or illegality of what occurs within its geographic borders. A license or similar consent to conduct gaming is a thing of value to be sought after, protected and respected. It is the license to conduct gaming activity that provides the player with the assurance of a fair game and security for their wager.

The three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed in 2011 between gambling regulators appear to be a first step toward a deeper cooperation between these authorities. The recent development of these MoUs, of which we know little more than the press releases announcing their signature, raises several questions about their motives, objectives and application.