Question:
Am I hallucinating, or isn't software tracking players' quality of play already in use? I remember the Las Vegas Hilton (before the change to LVH)
was rumored to use it, and my host implied as much to me when she cut off my comps. I went from C-2 to "no thanks" in one visit, playing mostly the FPJOB 10-play
(with minimal play of the positive dollar plays in the sports book) that is still on the floor. When I expressed surprise that I was being cut off for playing the
same games I always played, and had lost on this trip and the previous trip, she replied: "You are playing the wrong games, and you are playing too well on
those games." I do not play flawlessly, even on JOB.
My answer:
Obviously, if you use a players' card, the casino knows not only your coin-in and what their "hold" is, but they can tell you that information by time of day and date - e.g. "you played from 2pm to 4pm on Friday, had $10,000 coin-in, and you lost $700". While it wouldn't take much software to put the bottom line on automatic, even without such software it's easy enough to calculate what percentage of coin-in is being lost or won by an individual player. Obviously, this is NOT an indication of skill, but of actual outcome - but in the long run, that may be all the data a casino wishes to use to decide if a player is worthy of comps / mailers / etc.
Certainly it is possible, I would think, for a computer to collect data on the play of every single hand and compare exact correct play to the player's actual play, but I do not know if this is being done. This is the data that would allow the casino to determine if a player has an edge against the house, or is playing skillfully enough to reduce the house edge substantially, or is playing poorly and giving the house more than is necessary for the particular machine and pay table -- and this could be calculated without worrying about actual outcome. This SHOULD be the data preferred by a casino, since it will allow them to reduce comps or bar a skilled player whose outcome does not support the skill being used, and it will allow them to continue to comp an unskilled player whose luck has made them a winner so far.
I have been barred by several casinos for card-counting while playing blackjack, and in over half the cases, I was losing when barred. At that time, the pit bosses rated the players based on average bet size, and in most cases also on an estimate of skill level, with the less skilled players being granted a higher level of comps. I was still able to qualify for comps before being identified as a card-counter, but once barred, I even had previously promised comps (such as a free room for a trip) taken away, although one casino very graciously did keep their word of a comped room even after barring me. But once a casino identifies you as a skillful player, no matter what the game and no matter how you're actually doing at the time, you are a less desirable player for them, and perhaps one that they would prefer did not play at all, hence the reduction / cessation of comps, and the barrings.
And of course, just the fact that one plays video poker instead of other slots is a red flag for most casinos. Most of them already have reduced the points earned for coin-in at video poker compared to other slots, and most have made video poker ineligible for point multiplier days. If (like myself, and unlike the pro's) you do not actively seek out unusual play opportunities and do not avoid playing in the absence of a player edge, the best you can hope for is to minimize the cost of playing and partially compensate that cost with comps and entertainment value; if the former is yanked, the latter is all you have left.
--BG
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