It’s in every casino’s best interest to retain their customers for as long as possible, especially if they’re high-spenders. Due to this, customer loyalty and VIP programs were born that are very much the norm nowadays.
So how does the high life feel when you finally make your way into the ranks of the privileged ones and how to get there in the first place? That’s what we’ll be exploring today.
You’d think that a typical high-spender that manages to reach the VIP level at a casino would be a nerdy type who is obsessed with squeezing out every inch of advantage they can get to turn the odds in their favor, but no. In fact, the profile of an average casino high-spender more closely resembles an image of a wealthy businessman who has little regard for whether they win or lose – they are in for the entertainment of it all.
Since the typical formula for being promoted to VIP status resembles some variation of betting a high amount of money times the frequency of doing so, it’s not hard to imagine why such a profile would naturally fit the bill. And it takes even less effort to see why this is exactly the type of player any casino would be happy to have around. Yes, even to the point of going out of pocket to treat them to a nice dinner, exclusive invite-only event, or a luxury yacht cruise along the world’s most exotic destinations. This is true for both online as well as brick & mortar casinos alike.
Climbing to the VIP levels of a casino’s loyalty program is not something that can be done overnight, nor is it a binary matter of flipping the switch from 0 to 1. Think of it as progressing through a ladder-like system just like you would climb a corporate ladder, for example. Each milestone comes with extra perks, and usually, reaching the very first milestone tends to be much simpler than reaching for the top. In other words, the more loyalty one demonstrates, the more the casino will reward it.
For instance, it might start with simple things like getting free drinks or free tournament entry tickets. As you reach the lower middle stages, there might be a free t-shirt up for grabs and perhaps even a shiny new laptop once you move higher and higher towards that ever-elusive VIP rank. Once you’re there, which is bound to take quite a while of time and capital, the fun really begins. Finally managed to obtain the VIP status? Board the casino yacht, enjoy the highest-grade luxury accommodation, or meet a famous celebrity in person. Just make sure the high life doesn’t make you faint!
If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of carrying high denomination cash bills, no problem! If you’ve obtained the VIP status, the casino is likely to give you a credit line in a “play now and pay later” kind of fashion. Keep in mind the kind of loan you can get this way can easily reach into tens of millions. Oftentimes, while charging little to no interest to boot, with some casinos not even requiring you to settle your tab before you leave.
Want to reserve a baccarat area and choose the dealer you’ve laid your eyes on to be working the table? That, too, can be arranged if you’re among the ranks of the casino’s VIP guests. It gets even crazier. A typical casino guest might only be able to get the house edge down to the 1-2% territory by playing smartly and choosing the right games to play. VIP players, on the other hand, can bend the rules to a certain extent and bring the house edge down to fractions of a percent.
A typical casino game imposes a limit to how much and how little a player can bet. One of the reasons is to make certain strategies less effective, which includes the Martingale system and all of its variants. Do you think betting one thousand dollars is anything more than beer money to these high-spenders? Naturally, the rules need to be adjusted to fit their interest. If we’re talking about an online casino, it’s likely that weekly or daily deposit limits will get lifted for them.
It’s unlikely a high roller will be satisfied with a cap and a t-shirt as a prize, so the rewards need to be adjusted as well. Here is where we enter the luxury cruise territory and similar perks. However, they may still appreciate getting their complimentary drinks and a free meal of their choice. As it turns out, convenience never goes out of style, not even at VIP ranks.
Casinos treat their VIP players nicely because their business makes it worth their while, which is not offset by the fact they often need to pay astronomical fees to accommodate their expectations and needs. If it makes your head spin to imagine how much they spend on keeping them around, don’t even start to think about the amounts of money these high-spending player profiles bring in.
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