Las Vegas casinos are tightening their belts; it started with parking, with MGM Resorts International leading the way with its $90 million parking initiative announced in April last year. Now casino operators are taking a hard look at another perk that has lured gamblers for decades to complimentary drinks.
Thanks to a Las Vegas-based company, Ardent Progressive Systems & Games, drink monitoring systems could be the norm, not just in Las Vegas but in Vegas-style casinos all around the U.S. that offer gamblers complimentary drinks. (READ SO: NEVADA UNCLAIMED WINS COULD EVEN CASINOS PRODUCTION IN ONE QT)
The comp validations system consists of blue, green and red LED’s pointed at bartenders notifying them for comps. The “standard suggested operating procedures” for its complementary validation system are:
- - Blue Light On– Guest has inserted a total of $$ (bills/tickets) into the machine and is qualified for a complimentary beverage.
- - Blue Light Off– Guest has inserted less than $$ (bills/and tickets) into the machine and does not qualify for complimentary beverage.
- - Green Light On– Guest has achieved required minimum level of play and is qualified to received continued complimentary beverages up to $XX per beverage
- - Green Light Off– Guest has not achieved required minimum level of play and is not qualified for complimentary beverages.
- - Red Light On– Guest has achieved 10 times required minimum level of play and is qualified for premium beverages up to $XX per beverage.
- - Red Light on and Flashing– Guest has fallen out of qualification for complimentary beverages.
Already have been casinos operators who had tried and affirmed that “Our comp costs were reduced by 40% YOY using this product, it will save us over $1,000,000 annually at this location alone.”
The goal was, according to Alan Feldman, Executive Vice President at the Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts (MGM Resorts has installed this system in their casinos), to allow bar staff to be free from having to account for who was and wasn’t playing and instead focus on hospitality. “It gets rid of the people that want to hang around and play a quarter and try to basically, I don’t want to use the word scam, but basically take advantage of the system.”
