Grubby at PokerWorks

I was about to post this when I see Ken scooped me, but I thought I’d post anyway to reiterate how a giant casino corporation can do so many things wrong and still stay afloat.

And it’s all because we humans are weak and are victims to that dopamine released when gambling (that’s my personal excuse, anyway).

In 2005, commercial casinos across the U.S. had gross revenues of almost $30 billion. How much more could this have been if not for the Native American casinos, which reached almost $23 billion. And the Native Americans don’t have the added expense of theming, expensive real estate, and other accoutrements that go into a Las Vegas Strip casino.

If Harrah’s isn’t careful in their quest for increasing the bottom line (6:5 blackjack, raising comp requirements, decreasing Seven Star benefits, the crappy new custom WSOP decks and it still being in the shoddy Rio convention room), they could soon see a drastic downswing.

Maybe when they sold their company to private investors, they already see it coming.

It’d be fun if Harrah’s does decide to break up their casinos once they go private, and Kirk Kerkorian bids on Caesars Palace, the only Harrah’s casino on the west side of the Strip. Caesars is in between two MGM Mirage properties — Mirage and Bellagio, and Kerkorian is already trying to take Bellagio private.

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Quiet Lion posted recently about his two $240,000 video poker wins, and two weeks later Harrah’s banned him from playing in their casinos in Nevada, California, and Arizona.

He said they banned him because he’s been too lucky, and they don’t know how to profit off him.

No doubt Harrah’s also employs coolers, dealer changes, and lucky bunny feet to turn the luck back in their favor.

This makes no sense, and if you can figure it out, you too can become a Harrah’s executive.

Typically a win (or a loss) doesn’t mean as much to a casino as does how much time you play. The -EV games thrive on that house advantage. As small as it may be (video poker, 3:2 blackjack), the more you play, the more you’ll lose in the long run. The trick to winning at casino games is to leave on a win, something that I never practice.

That’s why casinos entice players to return with free rooms, food, shopping sprees, and airline and show tickets. If you’re a high roller with a personal host, the sky’s the limit, and that includes requests of a questionable legal nature.

Richard Brodie has probably been getting enough comps to offset the house advantage. If his private video poker machine is paying 96 percent, with comps he could be getting over a 100 percent return.

The normal way to combat this would be to decrease his comps, but instead Harrah’s decided to cut their losses and just prevent him and other high rollers from playing again.

Barring him from Harrah’s properties also means they won’t get his entertainment dollars.  I doubt Brodie would patronize Harrah’s restaurants or clubs or shows, and nowadays Strip casinos make just as much in nongaming.

This goes against the whole business model of a casino.

I’m sure MGM Mirage and Wynn would be more than happy to open their doors to these orphaned high rollers.

The other bizarre twist is Harrah’s has also banned Brodie from playing poker, including the World Series.

In poker, there’s no downside for the casino other than the people employed and space that could instead be used for a more profitable game like slot machines. As long as there are players, the casino makes money — in 2005, Nevada casinos generated $140.2 million from that rake, more than money won from sportsbooks.

Each time they prevent a player from playing, they lose part of that rake.

If it were me, I would welcome that ban if it meant I’m leaving as a winner — if I’m locked out of playing in a casino, I can’t give back any of my winnings.

What is Harrah’s thinking?

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 3rd, 2007 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.