Twelve executives are recruited for a job. Three get an interview. One gets hired. Which executive do you want to be? If it’s the one, read on—and actually heed this getting-hired advice. For the last eight years I have owned an executive recruiting company focused on gaming/casinos and high tech. My experience is that 80 percent of candidates don’t get the job offer simply because they don’t understand the interviewing and hiring process...
Every year the casino industry in North America loses millions of dollars to card counting. However, it’s not a group of college students who are doing it. It’s not a congregation of blackjack-playing Christians. Nor is it a collection of computer nerds using concealed blackjack computers. It’s actually an assortment of individuals who work inside the casino industry. They come in a number of shapes, sizes, genders and backgrounds, and are totally overlooked...
It might be ugly, but it’s true. At an average of 13 spins per minute, a $20 bill will be gone in less than five minutes for most people who play a slot machine. At most blackjack tables on the Strip, $20 gives you less than one minute of play to hit a 21.
Parents who like to make pit stops at casinos while on family vacations can now rest a little easier thanks to a company called Kids Quest. Here, kids are able to have safe, supervised fun while their parents enjoy the amenities at casino resorts like the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. More than a decade after its inception, the company decided to update its brand and image by undergoing a major renovation at their main Mohegan Sun location...
In the cash-rich environment of a casino, it is not enough to only secure assets physically; there is a need for multiple levels of security to ensure the safekeeping of those assets. With automated key control and asset management systems, casinos, poker rooms and other gaming facilities can maximize security of access-controlled spaces and minimize vulnerabilities, which could lead to a loss or a less secure environment.
When I visit casinos and see so many table games closed, I am troubled. A closed table game represents missed opportunities. The casino has committed the floor space to the game, but management fails to use it. Management often believes a closed game is the key to success because it represents a cost saving in labor. But in truth, a closed game represents an attempt to maximize return on payroll, not a maximization of profit.
In the mid-70s, the slot floor in Atlantic City looked like the picture below. Rows and rows of slot machines filled the casino floor and offered little in the way of product differentiation. When looking at a factory floor full of one-armed bandits, few would have realized how casinos would change over the next 40 years. These one-armed bandits took in coins and paid jackpots based on a limited paytable, because up until 1982...
Up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-B-A-select-start. Congratulations! You’ve just unlocked the Crystal Ball...CONTINUE to take a sneak peak at how the video game market is likely to shape the future of casino gaming. First, let me just say that I am what you would call a “gamer.” I remember standing in front of a Pac-Man™ arcade machine when I was 11 years old, at the height of the ‘80s arcade phenomenon, wondering to myself...
A couple of years ago, the table games manager of the Sahara Hotel and Casino, Steve Mann, decided to spread a four-table pit that offered $1 minimum blackjack games. Mann had been receiving pressure from upper management to develop more table games players, and their solution was to advertise blackjack games available for a wager of $1. Mann realized that $1 games would not make enough revenue to overcome direct table operational expenses.
The casino industry is on the verge of an extraordinary opportunity to benefit from emerging enterprise technologies that will allow operators to both manage customers’ expectations and analyze their behaviors far more rapidly and intelligently than ever before. The industry focus is leveled on enterprise-ready, cloud-based data centers, Internet gambling and mobile gaming solutions, but those aren’t the only opportunities.
