Business Commons^™

Identifying Opportunities To Inform And Inspire: Tribal Casino Employee Perceptions Of Tribal Self Sufficiency And Philanthropy, Sandra Sun-Ah Ponting Dr, Jess Ponting, Katherine Spilde

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

While the business case for employee engagement and satisfaction is well documented in the service profit chain and the cost savings of employee retention are easily quantified, the means to achieving these related goals in the casino industry is not well known. The pathway to employee engagement and satisfaction is even less well known in the tribal government gaming industry. This paper finds that employees in casinos that are owned by tribal governments in the United States find particular pride in sharing the tribal government’s self-sufficiency, community engagement, and philanthropic activities with casino guests, who often wonder “where the money …

How The Great Recession Affected Casino Staffing In Nevada Casinos, Toni Repetti

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

In service based industries, as revenue increases so does the need for employees to provide that service, but no known academic research has been conducted on what the most efficient level of that service should be for casinos. In Nevada casinos, significant results show that for each 1% increase in gaming revenue, casino employees increase 0.80%, salaries and wages increase 0.91%, and total payroll increases 0.95%. During fiscal years 2008 – 2010, what many consider the most significant recession to date for Nevada casinos, gaming divisions significantly decreased employees 11.6%, salaries and wages 8.7%, and total payroll 8.8% beyond that …

Play The Cards, Roll The Dice – The Integration Of Casinos Within Asian Tourism Destination Development Strategy, Glenn Mccartney

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

New Asian casino destinations continue to emerge and expand their gambling options. The historical rhetoric of being a panacea to economic and tourism woes continues to dominant decades later. Yet the excessive regulatory environments and taxation regimes by authorities on the casino industry are unlike those applied to other destination tourism products. Once the domain of the United States in the 1990s with entertainment capitals such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City, the proliferation of legalised casino gaming is now accentuated in Asia in destinations such as Macao, Korea, Singapore and the Philippines. As a tourism product, this article highlights …

Comparing Loyalty Program Tiering Strategies: An Investigation From The Gaming Industry, Myongjee Yoo, Ashok K. Singh

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Loyalty programs are popular marketing strategies developed for the purpose of attracting, maintaining, and enhancing customer relationships. Due to the explosive worldwide growth of, and increased competition within, the casino industry has compelled contemporary casino marketers to rely more heavily on loyalty programs to increase guest allegiance and the frequency of repeat visits from their customers. Despite the widespread usage of loyalty programs across various gaming businesses in Las Vegas, its effectiveness has not quite been validated. The purpose of this study is to examine customers’ behavioral loyalty within the Las Vegas gaming industry and examine the effectiveness of a …

Conjoining The Concepts Of Visitor Attitude And Place Image To Better Understand Casino Patrons' Behavioral Intentions, Suosheng Wang

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

The importance of visitor attitude and place image in understanding individual’s visit behavioral intention has both been emphasized in tourism literature. However, the two concepts seem to have been amalgamated; their distinctive and interactive roles are rarely discussed. To fill this gap, this study investigated visitor attitude from two different aspects in the context of casino gaming – one’s generic attitude versus specific attitude. A conjoined conceptual model based on the theories of planned behavior and place image is developed and empirically tested in the context of casinos in Central Indiana. The results indicate that ‘generic attitude,’ ‘specific attitude’ and …

Doubling Down On Goffman: A Commentary On Dmitri Shalin’S ‘Erving Goffman, Fateful Action, And The Las Vegas Gambling Scene’, James Cosgrave

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Erving Goffman “was not a sociologist of any particular area” (Scheff 2006: 20). He was, in fact, a sociologist of many areas: the interaction order, stigma, “total institutions,” gender, “forms of talk,” public behaviour – and gambling certainly belongs to the list. He may be better known for these other topics, but his contributions to the sociological analysis of gambling are canonical. Thus, another sociological hat can be worn. A unique, inventive social scientist, Goffman could pull off the donning of many such hats. Bucking the standard presentation of social scientific research in journal articles, Goffman was the “master of …

The Evolution Of The Concept Of Social Action: Parsons And Goffman, Philip Manning

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Goffman’s analysis of gambling is very important for our overall understanding of his work. This is because Goffman’s sociology is driven by both theoretical and ethnographic impulses, and his gambling project is the third of his three major ethnographic investigations. Goffman’s study of gambling is a key component in his sociology because it (a) develops a conceptual approach to the study of the interaction order, (b) extends Parsons’ and Merton’s analysis of social action and social control, and (c) links the microeconomic analysis of the social world that he associated with Thomas Schelling that has become the mainstay of the …

Can We Scale Up Goffman? From Vegas To The World Stage, Jeffrey J. Sallaz

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

It is an all-too-common lament among sociologists that Erving Goffman, though his writings remain widely read and respected today, failed to spawn an ongoing and cohesive research tradition. His idiosyncratic methods of data collection, the uniqueness of his biographical trajectory, and even his prickly personality have all been invoked to explain the lack of a distinctly Goffmanian school of research (Gamson 1985; Scheff, Phillips, and Kincaid 2006; Smith 2006; Shalin 2014). It is also the case that micro-oriented sociologies, such as symbolic interactionism and especially ethnomethodology, have been pushed to the margins of sociology as a consequence of the ascendency …

Goffman, Action, And Risk Society: Aesthetic Reflexivity In Late Modernity, Stephen Lyng

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

When I decided to write about edgework over twenty-five years ago, I had no idea that I had put myself on a pathway of sustained engagement with one of the most important sociologists of the twentieth century. As an academic sociologist in the early stages of my career, I felt that I had a good general understanding of Erving Goffman’s most important ideas and a proper appreciation of his unique contributions to my discipline. Although I had a certain affinity for Goffman’s brand of sociology, I deliberately avoided pressure from close friends and colleagues to become a “Goffmaniac,” the kind …

Las Vegas As A Symbol: Goffman And Competing Narratives Of Sin City, Michael Green

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Dmitri Shalin has demonstrated the importance of Erving Goffman to the field of sociology, and in this case to the sociology of Las Vegas as a gambling, resort, and urban center. But Goffman also was part of a trend, or more accurately what became a trend, and he played an important role in it. When Goffman came to Las Vegas in the late 1950s and early 1960s in connection with his field work as a downtown casino dealer, “the city of non-homes,” as he called it, was at a turning point in a variety of ways. When he published his …

Erving Goffman’S Las Vegas: From Jungle To Boardroom, David G. Schwartz

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Sociologist Erving Goffman’s presence in Las Vegas never yielded a definitive publication. Though it informed his work about action and interaction, his time in Las Vegas—both as a blackjack dealer and a player—remains one of the great what-ifs of gambling academia. This is regrettable, not only because the field would have benefited immeasurably from the analysis of a figure of Goffman’s talent and repute, but because Goffman was in Las Vegas exactly as the city’s casino business was undergoing its most significant shift, from small-scale, syndicate-owned ventures with links to former and current illegal enterprises elsewhere to massive, publicly-traded, mainstream-financed …

Erving Goffman, Fateful Action, And The Las Vegas Gambling Scene, Dmitri N. Shalin

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

This paper explores Erving Goffman’s research on gambling, the historical context within which he articulated his views on risk taking, and the contribution he made to our understanding of gambling as a stigmatized social activity. Drawing on the large database assembled in the Erving Goffman Archives, the article traces Goffman’s footprint in Las Vegas and shows the personal as well as scholarly dimensions of his interest in betting practices in entertainment venues and risk taking in society at large. The argument is made that the theory of fateful action presented in the seminal study “Where the Action Is” remains a …

A Brave New World Of Ambient Intelligence In The Casinos Of Macau: Reality Or Fiction?, Hugo Luz Dos Santos Mr.

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

The article scrutinizes the brave new world of ambient intelligence in the casinos of the Macau, Special Administrative Region of People´s Republic of China, chiefly in regards to the (candent) issue of privacy of the casino patrons.

Moreover, this scientific article provides an overview about the secondary use of big data of the casino patrons for law enforcement purposes.

Becoming Respectable: A History Of Early Social Responsibility In The Las Vegas Casino Industry, Jessalynn R. Strauss

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Today’s gaming corporations actively engage with their communities by supporting nonprofit organizations and adopting environmentally friendly practices among other socially responsible actions. This research considers precursors to modern corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the gaming industry by examining the philanthropic activities of the casino owners in Las Vegas in the early days of its development. This historical look at early philanthropy in the gaming industry provides a contextual background for considering contemporary corporate social responsibility. While the gaming industry has clearly come a long way from its early ties to organized crime, an understanding of this context helps further discussion …

The Perceptions Of Macao Undergraduates Regarding Help Websites For Problem Gambling, Chang Boon Patrick Lee, Heng Tang, Wing Han Brenda Chan

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

This study conducted a web-surfing exercise and a questionnaire survey among a group of Macao undergraduate students regarding the websites that offered help with problem gambling. The results of this study found that most help websites in Macao and Hong Kong provided basic information-sharing service. The students indicated that they would choose their preferred help organization based on factors such as trust, familiarity, and the characteristics of the websites. They also gave comments/suggestions related to the publicity, design, contents, and focus of the websites. This study discussed the results and their implications for future research and practice.

A Checklist: Questions That New Gaming Jurisdictions Need To Consider In Adopting Gaming Laws And Regulations, Anthony Cabot

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Review Article: This checklist sets out the major items that should be considered in crafting a regulatory system.

Book Review: Chopsticks And Gambling, By Desmond Lam, Ph.D., Andrew Gustafson

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Book Review:

Desmond Lam. Chopsticks and Gambling. Transaction Publishers, 2014. 172pp. (Cloth) ISBN 978-4128-5393-4

Ecommerce Market Convergence In Action: Social Casinos And Real Money Gambling, Brett Abarbanel, Ardeshir Rahman

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

The social casino and real money gambling industries, including gambling at online and live venues (such as casino resorts), are quickly converging (H2 Gambling Capital & Odobo, 2013). Differences in demographics and gambling behaviors for different frequencies of social casino participation among real money online gamblers are examined to explore customer behaviors between the two markets. Frequency of play in social casino games varied depending on gender and education, similar to patterns in real money gambling. Players who participated more frequently in social casino games were also more likely to spend more time participating in real money online gambling, suggested …

Predicting Cross-Gaming Propensity Using E-Chaid Analysis, Eunju Suh, Matt Alhaery

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Cross-selling different types of games could provide an opportunity for casino operators to generate additional time and money spent on gaming from existing patrons. One way to identify the patrons who are likely to cross-play is mining individual players’ gaming data using predictive analytics. Hence, this study aims to predict casino patrons’ propensity to play both slots and table games, also known as cross-gaming, by applying a data-mining algorithm to patrons’ gaming data. The Exhaustive Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector (E-CHAID) method was employed to predict cross-gaming propensity. The E-CHAID models based on the gaming-related behavioral data produced actionable model accuracy …

The Process Of Applying For A License In A New Gaming Jurisdiction: Do’S And Don’Ts, Eugene Christiansen, Kimberly Copp

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

No abstract provided.

Licensing Vip-Room Contractors Or Gaming Promoters In Macao: The Status Quo And Improvement, Changbin Wang

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Relationship Between Race And Sports Book Wagering Activity And Daily Slot And Table Game Play, Anthony F. Lucas

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Using performance data from three Las Vegas hotel-casinos, time series regression models were employed to better understand the relationship between race and sports book wagering volumes, and slot and table game play. Variables representing both race and sports book wagering volumes failed to produce statistically significant effects in seven of twelve hypothesis tests, within models designed to explain the daily variation in slot and table game play. The results directly extend the work of Abarbanel, Lucas and Singh (2011) by examining the relationship between book wagering levels and table game play, and provide additional empirical tests of the Full Service …

Are Canadian First Nations Casinos Truly ‘A Sure Thing’? Appraising First Nations Casino In Ontario, Saskatchewan, And Alberta, 2006-2010, Yale D. Belanger Dr.

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

To date a dearth of data has made it difficult to evaluate the success of First Nations casinos in Canada. This paper remedies the situation by presenting a three-province overview (Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta) of existing First Nations gaming models. The goal is to highlight the exigencies of each provincial gaming model and to develop a better understanding of what works best for First Nations leaders interested in expanding current operations, and for those seeking entry into the gaming market.

Social And Economic Changes On American Indian Reservations In California: An Examination Of Twenty Years Of Tribal Government Gaming, Randall Akee, Katherine Spilde Phd, Jonathan B. Taylor

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

No abstract provided.

What Happened To Atlantic City’S Gaming Volume?, Toni Repetti, Soyeon Jung

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Atlantic City casinos were hit by the 2007-2009 recession and the addition of legalized gaming in Pennsylvania at about the same time. Results of this study show the opening of the first three Pennsylvania casinos significantly decreased slot coin-in in Atlantic City while the legalization of table games and the opening of the fourth casino significantly decreased table games drop. After taking this into account, the recession had no significant effect on Atlantic City casino volume. To counteract decreased volumes, casino management needs to understand how much gaming volume they are losing to competition and how much to the recession.

Integrating Organisational Change Management And Customer Relationship Management In A Casino, Charlie Chi Cong Mai, Chad Perry, Erwin Loh

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

This research aims to solve the problem: how can casinos manage organizational change programs, and internal and external customer relationship management (CRM) programs? To find a solution, it uses two stages of qualitative methods: convergent interviewing and case research about four departments of a casino in Australia. After a thorough data analysis of documents and interview data, 12 themes were identified and they led to the development of a model of how organizational change management and CRM can be integrated to improve initiatives in organisations such as casinos. The model has seven core elements: vision, key challenge, objective, measure, strategy, …

What Every U.S. Casino And Card Club Must Know About Compliance With The Office Of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) Regulations, Leonard C. Senia

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

No abstract provided.

Eyes On Casino Gaming In China: Residents' Attitudes Toward Casino Gaming Development In Sanya City, A Pre-Casino Establishment Analysis, Omar Moufakkir, Dallen Timothy

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

While Macau offers world class casinos, casino gaming is not legalized in Mainland China. Current media reports, however, indicate a growing interest by the Chinese government in establishing casinos in the Hainan Province. This study assesses the perceptions of residents about potential gaming development in their community. Resident attitude surveys have been used by planners and policymakers in order to gain local support for tourism projects and initiatives. A series of hypotheses were tested. In particular, the study evaluates the difference in perception between tourism workers and non-tourism workers, residents who live in the city center where the casino development …

Gravity Models And Casino Gaming: A Review, Critique, And Modification, Clyde W. Barrow, David R. Borges

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Gravity models have been widely used in expanded gaming debates to persuade investors that proposed casinos will be financially successful and to persuade state and local government officials, as well as a skeptical public, of the economic and fiscal benefits of casino gaming. However, most people involved in the decision-making process understand very little about the internal mechanics of these models and how they generate financial forecasts, estimates of customer visits, and projections of new job creation. In fact, the gravity models used in market feasibility studies for the casino industry are proprietary models that remain closely guarded secrets of …

Diffusion And Learning: Twenty Years Of Sports Betting Culture In Finland, Matias Karekallas, Pauliina Raento, Taina Renkonen

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

How did people learn to bet on sports and how did a sports betting culture develop in Finland? How has this setting evolved over space and time? The answers contribute to the growing understanding of learning, socialization, and contextualization in the study of gambling and may inspire service providers, regulators, and harm preventers alike. We argue that broad structural patterns and micro-cultural processes should be investigated jointly and qualitative information should complement quantitative monitoring of human behavior. We approach the spread of sports betting to, and within Finland, from the perspective of innovation diffusion. We rely on this theory’s space- …