How does a player’s behaviour and engagement in the game affect your bottom line?

How does a player’s behaviour and luck affect your bottom line?  

If players are engaged and given more entertainment value, does their participation behaviour change? 

Does the perception of luck drive different player activity? 

Are there ways to affect their playing behaviour and activity, by or presenting non-linear bets in more effective and attractive ways? 

If you improve player engagement, and their entertainment and enjoyment in any game or event, will this lead to better customer satisfaction and repeat patronage? All of these should go towards improving your bottom line. We all know it’s less expensive and lot more effective to have repeat customers than new ones.  

By deploying a more dynamic customer interface at the table (display or trend board) that highlights or encourages different betting opportunities, you could affect the behaviour of table game players in a positive way.  

And I don’t just mean positive for the house – a Win/Win solution always works best. 

Take Baccarat. In its pure form, it’s a simple game with a very linear pay table (Player, Banker etc.), so the house edge or hold % is extremely low, (1.36% for player and 1.17% for banker). This can either be rewarding or boring depending on your bankroll and skill – If you think skill can affect this game.

Players may sometimes behave in ways that may be perceived as a skill.  

As research suggests: 

Gambling is a major form of entertainment among Chinese populations. According to the play theory, the need to play is derived from a basic human drive and gambling provides a chance for humans to fulfil such need (Aasved, 2003). 

Many researchers postulate that Chinese gamblers believe that their luck and skills can help them to win (Ozorio & Fang, 2004). According to Ladouceur and Walker (1996), many gamblers often behave as if they can control the outcome of gambling events.  

 So, the question still remains: how important is your player behavior when playing? Do they perceive runs of Luck as Skill, and can you influence their behavior that create Win/Win outcomes? 

 It’s a well known fact that big VIP baccarat players can gain advantages over the house, especially if their pockets are deep enough, given the linear pay-table of the traditional game. But what if you can present more Non-Linear play options without altering the simple game form in any way? 

Slot Manufacturers have been doing this for years. Gone are the days when slots had one pay line and a simple 3-in-a-row match to win. (Most slot players would consider those games way too old school and boring.) 

We all know that adding second screen games, features, bonus games and even progressive jackpots add to the excitement and fun in slot games – and, in turn, the play rates and profits.   

Moving from spinning reels to video and adding attention grabbing graphics, screens and content was all important factors to the growth in the sector and both sides accepted this as greater entertainment. Now, that sounds like a Win/Win. 

So, if it worked on slots, why wouldn’t it work on tables? 

Is there a difference for two players or were slot players simply presented with more options, and adapted to them in the ways they play?   

 By offering more play options that improved their outcome chance, we in-fact improved the player satisfaction in the game, and possibly educated them on their skill level. Then, by adding more content and excitement in the graphics, we gave them more entertainment with more celebrations than a simple school yard bell.  

Is it any wonder in mature gaming markets why slot play outperforms the tables market – and the slot player is more engaged? 

In essence, if we can encourage a wider betting spectrum by offering non-linear bet options to the standard game of, say, Baccarat, and then add unique graphical features on the table or screens to keep the players thrilled, we could positively improve their engagement.  

 In some way, some casinos do parts of this; side bets on Baccarat have been printed on the cloths for decades but, after observing their poor participation in most markets, one may only assume they may have lacked good marketing. 

 Maybe if we improve the marketing and add more celebratory feelings at the table for the non-linear payouts, or highlight “near miss” opportunities, the player may be more motivated to play them. When their luck pays off, the player gets to feel luckier and eventually, they’ll feel like they have more control of the outcomes (or maybe they believe they were more skilful). 

Another myth is that Players will often say that they choose a table based on the luck, yet there is no real basis for this decision. But what if there was? Can we imitate the feeling of luck and reward? 

Maybe there is some truth to the research from Ladouceur and Walker (1996), who said many gamblers often behave as if they can control the outcome of gambling events.  

Walker (1992) also postulates that gambling is exciting, and some individuals gamble to increase emotional arousal. Interestingly, players that got under-aroused or bored often suffered more loss. The latter neither promotes player engagement or enjoyment, and is certainly no Win/Win outcome. 

No one can deny that players that “Stay Longer”, “Play Longer”. 

 At IDX, we are working on ways to improve player engagement and enjoyment – thus keeping your players enjoying their play for longer. 

Our X-Trend dynamic trend board fits to any game and any table (replacing your tired and sometimes-boring score board BSB), and it’s showing promising signs that we are heading in the right direction. 

A part of our intelligent suite of smart products for tables is X-Trend, which can be fitted to any table with or without intelligent shoes. We have even added a host of back-office features usually seen on slots, like ‘last game recall’ and a host of statistical features to help with managing your games and operations on the floor. It is maybe one small step for tables but it’s a giant leap for table management and player satisfaction.  

Did we mention its totally customisable and flexible too? Casino managers can change screen layouts and features at the touch of a screen in the back-office interface, even when players are mid-game – without losing game history.  

We give you tools to attract new incremental revenue from player groups you may not be attracting with your current offering. And give your regulars more ways to get engaged and rewarded. 

X-Trend is your ultimate dynamic customer interface and marketing display tool.

Contact us today for more information or a live demonstration of a free trial on your floor to test out how we can move the needle on your operations. 

About the Author: Peter Johns 

About the Author: Peter Johns is an accomplished gaming executive with over 30 years in senior management and operations. Focusing on delivering customer centric products that add value and make a difference.

REF 

(Aasved. 2003) Aasved, M. (2003). The sociology of gambling. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher.   

Ladouceur and Walker (1996), Ladouceur, R. & Walker, M. (1996). A cognitive perspective on gambling. In P. Salkovskis, Ed. Trends in cognitive and behavioural therapies, (pp. 89-120). New York: John Wiley and Sons.  

 Lam, D. (2007). An Observation Study of Chinese Baccarat Players. UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal, 11(2). Retrieved from https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/grrj/vol11/iss2/5 

Ozorio & Fang. 2004) Ozorio, B., & Fong, D. K. C. (2004). Chinese casino gambling behaviors: Risk taking in casinos vs. investments. UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal, 8(2), 27-38. 

Walker (1992). Walker, M. B. ( 1992). The psychology of gambling, Oxford: Pergamon Press.