Listening back, I sound a little tipsy. It’s true, we did record this one a lot later in the day than usual… but I swear I wasn’t drunk. I may have rambled a little though. Sorry.
This time on the show:
– The Trippies, 2014
– Nevada Numbers
– Atlantic City Numbers
– Wynn Suitability
– The LINQ
– What’s Up for 2014
and more. Leave comments here on the site!
** Sure Bets **
Chuck – Porcupine Tree – Steven Wilson “In Absentia” “Fear of a Blank Planet”
Dr. Dave – Disney “Rocking Ever After”
Hunter – Command-C for iOS
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Chuck,
Your explanation of the Trippies selection process was very thorough, insightful, and above all helpful. Thank you.
Referencing your discussion of Atlantic City gaming results I have a hypothesis that I would like to run by the panel.
At a typical resort hotel in Hawaii or Bali or wherever two guests staying in identical rooms are about equally profitable. They will pay the same amount for the room and about the same for food and drink.
Not so at a resort casino. The profitability of the customer varies greatly based upon his gambling drop. Thirty years ago casinos did not really know who were their most profitable customers.
The casinos would know some really high roller but they would probably not realize that Charlie from Chicago who came a couple times a year and dropped an average of 5K a trip while Bob from Denver came to hit the five dollar prime rib specials, the cheap shows and play nothing but $2 blackjack (those were the days).
Now, with the customer card programs the casinos know who the profitable customers and in the face of competition will comp the hell of the profitable customers like Chicago Charlie. The new market entrant will largely attract the unprofitable customers like Denver Bob because of a lack of good customer data. The new entrant get stuck with the unprofitable customers like me.
We have seen the Revel and Gold Nugget in Atlantic City and the Cosmopolitan open to abysmal casino results. Which leads me to believe that the existing entrants in the industry have built a formidable barrier to entry and that we sadly we now have an oligopoly of the existing large casino companies. The Kirk Kerkorians, the Sheldon Adelman’s and other great entrepreneurs are a thing of the past.
@motoman Thank you! After 9 years of swimming in the Trippies data, trends become apparent yet the decisions are more elusive. I’m always surprised by the readers poll results.
@bob data mining requires miners and data, something newer independent properties don’t need or can’t buy, hence the cross marketing contracts between X casino and Y signature collection of properties.
The ‘big data’ mining advantage as held by the megagloms like Caesars and MGM are at least 15 orders of magnitude greater – an ocean to a drop… but all that information means nothing if the response to it is glacial. Perhaps the boutique owner has the advantage here… but unfortunately Revel & Cosmopolitan aren’t built to boutique scale… heads in the beds (food & water) is their primary concern.
The casino owner who can analyze, discern and respond to massive data nimbly and effectively will revolutionize the industry. Perhaps this explains the majesty and power of the rhinoceros.