There has been a trend to down grade comps & offers to video poker
players, a segment of the customer base which has been considered unprofitable or
break-even.
As a person who has worked in for-profit corporations for most of his
career, this is a reasonable move to maintain profitability.
What doesn't make sense is the lack of any attempt to retain this segment
of the customer base by converting them into a profitability ranking
somewhere in between the break-even table games & the slot players.
With a shrinking market, expanding room inventory, declining disposable
income for all population segments (especially the younger) and an economy
which has caused major trauma on most budgets, you would think that some one
would come up with the not-so-new idea of how to retain & convert the
present customer list into a higher-margin category. What I'm seeing is a
follow-the-sheep reaction of firming up margins by identifying the lowest margin
games & scaring away a customer base that is already pre-disposed to
gambling & traveling to those destinations that offer it.
Unless you were around during the Great Depression & still working, these
times that we're in now are unprecedented & require innovative thinking to
survive. You've got the customer list with our phone numbers & email
addresses, so why don't you find out what we would be willing to come in & lose
money for?
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