Casino Enterprise Management

In January’s issue of Casino Enterprise Management, I reviewed and discussed the different side bets that are available for use on blackjack tables. But what about the other table games? Can side bets be used on other games, such as craps, baccarat and poker-style games, to increase revenue and give players more added value to their gaming entertainment?

Last month we studied Configuration “A,” one of our fictitious video slot games. This game had a high hit frequency—87 percent. In order to achieve a configuration where the player wins almost nine out of every 10 games, the wins have to be small on average. Let’s move on to our second game configuration, Configuration "B," and see how it looks.

To counter the economy, many operators have been tightening their belts, but at Barona Resort & Casino, things are loosening up instead—and the resulting promotion is raising eyebrows and payouts alike. Read on to find out more about Barona's "Loose Troop" and how they've shaken up the slot floor at this highly rated resort.

Built into the hillside of the Sierra Nevada Foothills in El Dorado County, Calif., Red Hawk Casino is located off Highway 50 at exit 40, just east of Sacramento. Red Hawk Casino also has the largest casino parking structure in Northern California. This parking structure is patrolled and monitored by the casino’s security department 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

From ho-hum new titles to sheer sensory overload to bill validators that just won’t validate, many manufacturers seem to have forgotten the secret of successful slot gaming: keep the player playing. Learn how to avoid these common casino floor pitfalls and keep your property on the right track.

No rational person would question the value of regular doctor or dentist checkups; it is a truism that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Likewise, in public gaming jurisdictions, an agency (typically the auditor general) is charged with the periodic assessment of the performance of all regulatory bodies, and the results of these assessments are reported in a public forum, usually through legislative hearings.

After a detailed look at hit frequency and video slot games last month, we come to the heart of our discussion on meaningful hit frequency as we study the two game configurations mentioned last month and look at some PAR sheet snippets.

There are a number of areas that the live gaming casino executive needs to “tune-up” for the upcoming year. Although it’s projected that 2010 will provide the gaming industry with the first upward revenue trend in the last three years, only the more intelligent and live-game savvy executive will be able to make a respectable difference in the performance of his or her table games.

When it comes to player satisfaction, the more wins the better, right? Wrong. Player payout itself is not the only factor to consider in the player experience, and a bank of machines paying a 99 percent return to the player can sit idle while another bank returning only 87 percent can have lines of patrons waiting for an empty seat. Wilson lays the groundwork for meaningful volatility in this first in series on hit frequency.

From profitability to player popularity, there’s a lot to consider before ironing a side bet decal to your blackjack tabletop. Find out how to max your profits on this once-scoffed offering, while maneuvering through licensing rights, mathematics, regulatory approval and training. Zender also lists and explains some of the side bets that he has already seen in use in casinos today.