More than 100 gaming and technology executives attended the Gaming Technology
Summit, held at Station Casino's Green Valley Ranch, Las Vegas. Harrah's Entertainment
President Gary Loveman regaled attendees with stories about how technology has
played a pivotal role in turning around his gaming company's finances. Loveman
is also a Harvard academic, now turned casino business executive. He highlighted
his stint in the mid-1980s at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). "There
was certainly no connection between business technology investments and its improved
productivity and profitability because business leaders were unable to adapt technology
to their companies' day-today needs." But now, some two decades later, Loveman
is a devout convert.
Loveman joined Harrah's in 1998, and is now president & CEO. His team of
500 IT specialists have developed several tech-based initiatives that have improved
Harrah's. "The fuel to grow this business and differentiate it in terms
of greater return on invested capital is by building what we call 'capabilities'".
Such capabilities include Harrah's Total Rewards (28 million members) frequent
customer dbase, and new "Marketing at Slots," a player contact system
that allows casino bosses to monitor perks given to big gamblers, and Fast Cash
which is a new cashless machine program that offers real-time incentives to
customers based on their ongoing game play. Harrah's introduced a pilot program
in its East Chicago, Ind., casino, which intercepts gamblers on a losing streak.
Fast Cash is so timely it can detect a player's losses to the instant, offering
free meals, show tickets at key times of the day or even suggesting that a gambler
with poor luck could try playing something else. Loveman added: "Every
customer based on their gambling gets treated differently. This is highly controversial
and is different from the retail industry where customers are generally treated
the same regardless of what they spend in a store."
Carol O'Hare, executive director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling,
said: "Responsible gambling is a business philosophy that has to be part
of everything one does. It's not a department." Loveman insisted that Harrah's
have publicly committed to the promotion of responsible gaming. Our system can
also alert Harrah's employees to remove the problem customer from the casino.
Three years ago, Nevada passed legislation (AB 466) that would allow for "interactive
gaming," to include betting on sports events or games via "communications
technology" that would not be in violation of state or federal statutes.
The Internet, because of the Wire Act, is not a viable medium for the transmission
of bets.
Felix Rappaport, president and chief operating officer of New York-New York
hotel-casino told attendees that table games will never reach the popularity
or profitability of slot machines but more casino players are gravitating toward
blackjack, roulette and craps. "If you stand in the way of technology,
you are going to get steamrolled," he warned. The resurgence in the popularity
of poker and tournaments televised with celebrities like Matt Damon and Ben
Affleck playing, has opened the door for other casino table games. "Gambling
is today an acceptable form of entertainment. The Hard Rock and Palms Casinos
have proved that a hip young crowd is starting to play such games." He
expects table game and technology trends to continue as more players come from
generations that are comfortable with video games, PCs, laptops and IPODs. He
cited Las Vegas gaming equipment supplier Mikohn Gaming Corp., and Shuffle Master
Inc. as potential leaders in innovations. "Table watching systems can protect
games so that dealer misplays are minimized and cheating can be detected. Tracking
systems can develop reports that enable game supervisors to help dealers play
faster and more efficiently." Rappaport expected more advanced card shuffling
machines to speed play, roulette tables to attract attention and reduce dealer
errors and player cheating. New table game designs would enable craps players
to sit instead of stand. A new model of bill validator for use at table games
is also on the horizon. It is accepted that bill validators on slot machines
are now a virtual casino staple, just as coinless slots have won over players
despite some saying gamblers would never play them because they enjoy the clanking
of coins in a tray.
Panelists shared the view that good business intelligence is critical to improving
the bottom line for catering and restaurants. Paul Armstrong, exec VP of new
technology for MICROS Systems Inc., Columbia, Md., explained that F&B of
a resort property should be tied into the central customer database of the resort
so that restaurant staff can better serve customers and learn their preferences.
Panelist Scott Martiny, VP of product development for InfoGenesis, Santa Barbara,
Calif., said it is as critical for restaurant staff to know its customers as
it is for casinos to know theirs.
Keynoter Glenn Bonner, chief information officer of MGM MIRAGE, related how
his staff handle 220,000 computer help calls a year. Bonner said his department
monitor 222 computer applications operating on 17 hardware platforms and 21
operating systems. "Not only are our hotel systems in Las Vegas networked
together but they're also linked to the company's Detroit casino and its Beau
Rivage resort in Biloxi, Miss. The company has more than 10,000 desktop computers
and 2,000 point-of-sale terminals as well as 1,800 printers." He highlighted
the company's most unusual computerized system that tracks the movement of dolphins
in a habitat at The Mirage.