Game Protection 101
By David Atkins
This month I’d like to take a look at the very important issue of game protection—not because we are not good at it—because we are too good at it.
Once again, indulge me while I offer a war story.
Many years ago in a far off land, Sun City, South Africa to be exact, there was a game of roulette. In the early ‘80s, gaming was just beginning to take hold in South Africa, and Sol Kerzner’s fantastic creation of Sun City emerged as a jewel in the middle-of-nowhere to bring untold pleasures to a captive audience more than ready to feed their latent hedonism. It still does.
“Give me gambling, give me semi-naked dancers, give me soft-porn movies and I will empty my wallet in return” they cried, and Kerzner obliged, in spades. Along came a whole team of worldwide seasoned professionals to operate the casino and off we go, “Place Your Bets.”
Back to the roulette game. In those days, the game was dealt along Anglo/Franco lines and an odd rule, now mostly defunct, was in place. Whenever (single) zero appeared, all even chance bets were moved to the line between the layout and its perimeter as they went “en prison,” or “in prison” if you will. On the next spin, if those bets “won,” they were returned to their original status, if they lost, they lost. This has the same effect as “halving the even-chance bets” on a single zero game, which is the operative measure taken today.
If, at this point, you are thinking this is an awkward concept, imagine the dilemma of the average guest, likely new to the game.
Back at the roulette table, up comes zero and our dealer carefully moves the even chance bets accordingly announcing the bets “are in prison.” A player, seated directly in front of the Red/Black bets is seen to remove both bets and add them to his stack. The alarm is set off and the rightful owners of the “imprisoned” bets are fraught.
Our dealer immediately confronts the culprit saying, “Excuse me sir; those are not your bets!”
“I beg your pardon,” replies the accused. “I thought you said that was a present.”
The naiveté of the player beggars belief, but is, in fact, entirely credible. On your first gaming outing, why would it be so difficult to imagine the casino might offer the odd “present” to encourage the guests? Perhaps we should?
Sadly, we by default believe that the moment anybody steps through the door is the beginning of the case against them. This may be a product of Game Protection 101 on which, I contend, your frontline employees—the wrong people—have been too focused. I believe at the front line we should focus solely on Game Promotion 101.
Game Promotion 101 simply states that “Every player has the right to a fair game, operated in a safe, comfortable and professional manner with the emphasis on customer satisfaction and retention.”
So, how do we do that? Well, we re-examine our misguided belief that all players are thieves and vagabonds. We assume, instead, that most guests, particularly those who are new to us, are expecting a “present” rather than a prison term. We encourage them to believe that despite the insurmountable odds we offer, they have a fair chance of enjoying their pursuit of unearned income, which, of course, they do, albeit, in the short term.
Celebrate winners. Commiserate and encourage those less fortunate. Stop protecting your game from people who mostly need only protection from themselves. Eliminate the paranoia and “money-sweaters.” Keep those phone calls and alerts coming when a game or player goes on tilt, and then have your experts analyze the play while your front line employees concentrate on Game Promotion 101.
I should add that in the early ‘80s, the Sun City Casino fell victim to possibly the greatest insider scam of all time. It is unlikely to happen again. We’re wise to that now. Maybe too wise for the Average Joe who dare set foot in our casino. Give him a chance, think promotion before protection, think present before prison and before you know it, you’ll have a full house—Aces over Knaves.