Gaming and Casino Operations Management Commons^™

Payments Transaction Data From Online Casino Players And Online Sports Bettors, Kasra Ghaharian, Piyush Puranik, Brett Abarbanel, Kazem Taghva, Shane W. Kraus, Ashok Singh, Alan Feldman, Bo Bernhard

International Gaming Institute Faculty Research

Raw datasets were sourced from a U.S. based provider of digital gambling payments systems, who has demanded to remain anonymous. The raw datasets cover a time period of 6-years (2015-2021), representing over 300,000 customers and approximately 90 million transaction records. One of these raw datasets is a transaction log file representing customer payment transaction data across a variety of gambling merchants (e.g., online casinos, sportsbooks, and lottery providers). With this article we describe the transaction log file and provide two filtered subsets of the data. The subsets contain 1-year of customer payments transaction records for two gambling merchants: (1) a …

Covid-19 In Casinos: Analysis Of Covid-19 Contamination And Spread With Economic Impact Assessment, Anastasia (Stasi) D. Baran, Jason D. Fiege

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous disruption for casinos, with the virus causing various lengths of shutdowns, capacity restrictions, and social distancing strategies such as machine removals or section closures. Although most of the world has now eased off these measures, it is important to review lessons learned to understand, and better prepare for similar circumstances in the future. We present Monte Carlo slot floor simulation software customized to simulate players spreading COVID-19 on the slot floor. We simulate the amount of touch surface contamination; the number of potential surface contact exposure events per day, and a proximity exposures statistic …

The Critical But Overlooked Player Protection Tool: Self Care For Customer Facing Staff, Stacy Shaw, Jay Robinson

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

BACKGROUND

Like many things, the need for self-care for staff came to light because of the pandemic. Every day, Oregon Lottery staff would go out and deal with angry, frightened, confused, frustrated, and sometimes aggressive players and retailers. People struggling with all kinds of stress, acting out and exhibiting behaviors that might normally suggest the need for an RG conversation. We started to hear that the staff was feeling overwhelmed, burned out, powerless, unheard, unappreciated, unable to connect. We were asking them to promote RG during this difficult time - but we had not given them the tools they needed …

The Las Vegas Loyalty Battle Is Over. What’S Next?, Oliver Lovat

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

The strategic mission by Las Vegas casino operators to capture customer loyalty over the past decade has been a success. In 2021, 57% of visitors were generally loyal to a particular resort, compared to 32% in 2011. Only 7% of visitors were not a member of any rewards program in 2021, compared to 16% in 2011.

This has consequences for new market entrants who face a greater challenge to capture customers in a more mature, consolodated and strategic business environment.

Moreover, the drivers of loyalty remain different within the various customer segments, with the new generation of visitors responding less …

Payments Data In Gambling Research, Kasra Ghaharian, Mana Azizsoltani

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

A considerable body of gambling-related research has leveraged gamblers' behavioral tracking data to address a broad set of research questions. These data have typically comprised of gamblers' betting-related behaviors including, for example, the frequency and volume of betting. The analysis of gamblers' payment-related behavioral data is far less common, but provides a fruitful avenue gambling-related research.

In this presentation we discuss a selection of potential research opportunities that payments transaction data presents. We supplement this discussion with specific analyses that have been performed by our research group. We also discuss knowledge gaps and areas for future research.

The Locals Casino As A Social Network – Can An Interconnected Community Of Players Detect Differences In Hold?, Jason D. Fiege, Anastasia (Stasi) D. Baran

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract

It is difficult for individual players to detect differences in theoretical hold between slot machines without playing an unrealistically large number of games. This difficulty occurs because the fractional loss incurred by a player converges only slowly to the theoretical hold in the presence of volatility designed into slot pay tables. Nevertheless, many operators believe that players can detect changes in hold or differences compared to competition, especially in a locals casino market, and therefore resist increasing holds. Instead of investigating whether individual players can detect differences in hold, we ask whether a population of casino regulars who share …

The House Doesn't Always Win, Jennifer Owen

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

In June 2015, fourteen South Korean casino executives were arrested on charges of soliciting Chinese players to gamble in their casinos. This single event foreshadowed a seismic change in the Australian casino market that few would have anticipated. The events which unfolded led to the two largest casino operators in Australia being found unsuitable to operate their casinos, and unable to hold their licenses. Collectively, these two casino groups reported revenues of $5.0bn in 2019, accounting for 92% of the total Australian casino market.

Both are now operating under various forms of special supervision until it can be demonstrated that …

Analysis Of The Changing Behaviours Of Chinese Genz Towards Casino Tourism: Implications To The Asian Markets, Linqian Huang

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract

While the Chinese GenX spend largely in gambling activities during their visits to the destinations which are famous for their casino tourism industry, the GenY have shown less enthusiasm to be the high rollers. Regarding the Chinese GenZ, their spending behaviours in casino tourism will continue to exhibit changes and differences comparing to the GenX and GenY, especially for the non-gaming expenditure. Considering the potential purchasing power of GenZ, it is important for integrated resorts operators to understand the changing consumption behaviour of this new generation. For this, online questionnaire survey and analysis of narratives are employed to explore …

Regulating A Fantasy For A Billion: Playing On A Smartphone In India, Angshuman Hazarika

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

The fantasy gaming industry in India has moved forward at an unprecedented pace with limited oversight primarily based on 'self-regulation'. The absence of a clear regulatory mechanism for this industry has been highlighted in previous work, but no clear determination has been provided on how to deal with this issue. The current contribution seeks to provide a path ahead by suggesting that the government regulate the industry directly instead of an industry-operated self-regulatory framework which has had limited effectiveness till now. This suggestion has been made considering the significant size of the industry and the target demographic of the fantasy …

Horse Sense Or Horse Hype? Estimating The True Economic Impact Of Churchill Downs And The Kentucky Derby On The Louisville Metro Area, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

In trying to assess the true economic impact of the Kentucky Derby on the Louisville region (north central Kentucky and south central Indiana counties), one can find two different estimates appear in doing a quick search on the internet. Some sources, such as the Kentucky Derby Museum, indicate that the economic impact of the Derby is around $217 million (Kentucky Derby Museum 2023) but never mention a source or study for this conjecture. In doing some research, this amount is determined to come from a 2001 study by the marketing research firm Wilkerson and Associates (LaMarra 2001), and therefore this …

Kentucky Downs And The Mint—A Huge “Exporter” For Kentucky?, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Kentucky Downs is a thoroughbred racetrack located in Franklin, Kentucky near the Kentucky-Tennessee border and close to Interstate 65 which features European-style (all turf track) racing. (The Mint and Kentucky Downs n.d.). It is also part of an entertainment complex that features a gaming center called The Mint, which has over 1000 historical horse racing (HHR) machines, machines that are somewhat similar to but not exactly the same as casino slot machines (The Mint n.d.). The Mint has another location around 20-30 minutes away by car in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and combined these two operations have around 125 employees according …

Mergers In The Us Gambling And Horse Racing Industries: What It Means For Local Economic Development And Taxation, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, most sectors of the various gambling industries in the United States were showing signs of stagnation. Over the last few years, these industries have seen mergers between horse racing tracks, between horse racing tracks and casinos to form “racinos”, and between casino companies. Many gambling facilities and racetracks have closed and have been sold to developers to be used for other purposes. An industry “shakeout” is occurring, and there appears to be a trend toward greater industry concentration as consumers are showing less and less interest in gambling in general. This has been partially fueled …

The Economic Impact Of The Red Mile On The Lexington Metro Area, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The Red Mile Racetrack and Red Mile Gaming Center in Lexington, Kentucky have a harness racetrack, and the track has had a solid tradition for quality harness racing going back to its start in 1875 (Red Mile 2022). This paper examines what economic impact the racetrack and gaming center have on the Lexington metro area (Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Jessamine, Scott, and Woodford counties in Kentucky) on a yearly basis.

A Comparison Of The Economic Impact Of Horse Racing Tracks In Kentucky Versus Neighboring Indiana, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The Louisville metro area is one that spans two states—Kentucky and Indiana. Since the University of Louisville has many students and employees who come from the Hoosier State, it would be interesting to see how the two states compare when it comes to what has been labeled a “signature” industry for the Commonwealth of Kentucky—horse racing.

The Economic Impact Of Keeneland Race Course On The Lexington Metro Area With Projections For This Year’S Breeders Cup, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky has had a long tradition for quality horse racing going back to its inception in 1936 (Keeneland 2022). With the 2022 Breeders’ Cup World Championships coming to the race track this November, this paper examines what economic impact the race track has on the Lexington metro area (Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Jessamine, Scott, and Woodford counties in Kentucky) on an annual basis and how the 2022 Breeders’ Cup will boost the impact of the race track when compared to a typical year.

The Economic Impact Of Buying And Redeveloping Ellis Park By Churchill Downs, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Churchill Downs’ acquisition of Ellis Park Racing and Gaming in Henderson, Kentucky reflects the growing number of mergers across the US among racetracks, racetracks and casinos, and casinos with other casinos. Some years back, Ellis racetrack closed for one year due to declining profitability, yet after new ownership took over and a gaming center was added, it began a rebound in earnings (Courier and Press 2008). The $75 million that Churchill Downs plans to spend to transform Ellis Park (Schulz 2022) will have a much bigger impact than the construction, revamping, and expansion of park facilities. This is in addition …

How Much Of ‘Home Field Advantage’ Comes From The Fans? A Natural Experiment From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kevin Krieger, Justin L. Davis

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Home field advantage has been a commonly discussed and researched topic in sports. How much of this advantage is due to the home team’s supporters’ physical attendance at the game where they might encourage their team, intimidate the opponent, and influence game officials? We utilize the unique natural experiment of the COVID-19 pandemic and consider the case of American professional (NFL) and collegiate (NCAA) football to examine this question. We measure how typical spreads, relative to home teams, changed in the 2020 season compared to their historical levels, and we determine that roughly half of what football fans and analysts …

Estimating The Effect Of Poker Room Promotions On Player Traffic, Michael T. Paz, Mikhail M. Sher, B D. Mccullough, Shabnam Zarin

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

This paper examines the impact of poker room promotions on player traffic in casino-based poker rooms. Casinos regularly spend significant portions of their marketing budget on promotions, including free-play, item-based offers, complementary hotel rooms, and travel reimbursements (among others), in an effort to drive casino traffic. Poker room promotions, by contrast, are unique within the context of casino promotions because they are both player-funded and paid in cash. Despite these significant differences between poker room and other casino promotions, prior research has not provided empirical evidence on the effectiveness of poker room promotions. Using collected data on casino-based poker games …

Monetized Competitive Peer-To-Peer Skill-Based Game Play–An Introduction, Becky Harris, Bill Coley, Peter Gan, Anh-Vu Nguyen

International Gaming Institute Faculty Research

The COVID pandemic has changed the world in ways, both large and small, forever. One unexpected way the world changed was when live sports suddenly went dark and esports began experiencing attention from betting audiences that were suddenly starving for content.¹ Esports also received a second glance from gaming regulators. And, though not exactly suddenly (even though it felt like it), approvals for wagering on esports were granted in a variety of jurisdictions, most notably Colorado and Nevada.²

A subset of the larger esports environment, peer-to-peer (P2P) skill-based play is hardly a new concept. You can find it …

Open Science Practices In Gambling Research Publications (2016–2019): A Scoping Review, Eric R. Louderback, Sally M. Gainsbury, Robert M. Heirene, Karen Amichia, Alessandra Grossman, Bo J. Bernhard, Debi A. Laplante

International Gaming Institute Faculty Research

The replication crisis has stimulated researchers around the world to adopt open science research practices intended to reduce publication bias and improve research quality. Open science practices include study pre-registration, open data, open access, and avoiding methods that can lead to publication bias and low replication rates. Although gambling studies uses similar research methods as behavioral research fields that have struggled with replication, we know little about the uptake of open science research practices in gambling-focused research. We conducted a scoping review of 500 recent (1/1/2016–12/1/2019) studies focused on gambling and problem gambling to examine the use of open science …

The Economic Impact Of Horse Racing Tracks And Historical Horse Racing In Kentucky, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The Commonwealth of Kentucky currently has 5 thoroughbred racing tracks and 3 harness racing tracks (Mint Julep Louisville 2021). As Table 1 below shows[1], the industry employees roughly 6,000 people (direct jobs), and these jobs annually support another 1,500 jobs or so throughout the state. These 1,500 jobs are jobs that are provided by the suppliers to the horse race tracks (indirect jobs) and jobs that are created by the spending of the race track employees and the employees of suppliers on food, housing, transportation, and clothing by vendors and retailers throughout the state (induced jobs). The direct …

Unveiling Macau Gaming Inspectors: Functions, Conditions And Operations, Changbin Wang, Hong-Wai Ho

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Macau has seen the rapid development of casinos in the past two decades. Long-established regulatory control of the city’s gaming industry ensures compliance with the applicable regulations and standards. Among other regulators and staff, gaming inspectors are responsible for the first-line supervision of gaming operations across Macau casinos. This paper is the first attempt to review the casino regulatory inspection in Macau with a particular focus on the functions and practices of gaming inspectors stationed at casinos. Existing internal and external factors affecting the functions of gaming inspectors are identified and discussed in this paper. The authors of this paper …

Does Variable Wagering Affect The Ability Of Reel Slot Players To Detect Differences In Pars By Way Of Changes In Play Time?, Anthony F. Lucas, A.K. Singh

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

The aim of this study was to better understand the role of a slot machine’s house advantage (a.k.a. par) in the individual player’s gambling experience. On this issue, the results challenged the inveterate wisdom of the industry. A battery of simulations comparing outcomes produced on slot machines with different pars failed to produce significant differences in play time, i.e., spins per losing player. These simulations were the first to accommodate variable wagering behavior, as identified by player tracking data donated by a Nevada casino operator. The results inform operators and game makers alike as to the ability of gamblers to …

An Innovative Approach To Understanding Employers' Commitment To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion, Becky Harris

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Diversity, equity, and Inclusion in the workforce have been topics of discussion in corporate America for years. In an effort to better understand employers’ commitment to hiring a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce, and to collect robust data for analysis, the Nevada Legislature authorized the University Nevada, Las Vegas to launch a survey of Nevada employers concerning their workforce composition, employee representation at the frontline, supervisory, managerial and executive levels, employee benefit packages, and attrition rates. Every Nevada employer, including for-profit, non-profit and educational institutions are invited to participate. A link to the survey is provided in the article …

Gambling Opinions And Participation In Kentucky Versus The Other 49 States, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Much has been written in the Kentucky press over the last few years about how the state is falling behind other states due to Kentucky’s absence of traditional casinos, sports gambling on the NFL, NCAA, etc., and other gambling forms. A major topic has been the potential tax revenues that would be collected if some forms of gambling are legalized in the state. Yet not much has been written about how Kentucky citizens differ from or are similar to citizens in other states with respect to opinions about gambling morality, gambling and spending preferences, and gambling policy. State laws are …

The Role Of Government Delegates In Macau Casino Gaming Concessionaires – Evolution And Prospective, Pedro Cortés

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Macau Government announced in the consultation document for the amendment of Law No. 16/2001 (Macau Gaming Law) – whose public discussion ended on October 29, 2021 – that it intends to introduce Government Delegates into the casino gaming concessionaires.

According to the consultation document, the appointment of government delegates will extend the Government direct supervisory powers over the casino gaming concessionaires and ensure that public interest is given precedence, as well as will be a form of proper guaranteeing compliance and fulfillment of the duties and obligations of the casino gaming concessionaires.

Such a system has existed in Macau since …

Association Between Casino Resort Employee Department And Responsible Gambling Program Perceptions: A Three-Year Follow-Up Study, Brett Abarbanel, Tiange Xu, Shane Kraus, Heather Gray, Eric Louderback, Debi Laplante, Bo Bernhard

Psychology Faculty Research

This study presents results from a third wave of data collection of a longitudinal project investigating implementation of an RG program, GameSense, at MGM Resorts International (MGM), and how casino employees perceive responsible gambling (RG) efforts. Survey data at three time periods – Year 1 (baseline, N = 2,192), Year 2 (one-year follow-up, N = 852) and Year 3 (two-year follow-up, N = 1,114) – measured MGM employees’ (1) perceptions of RG program effectiveness, (2) gambling misconceptions, and (3) perceived company support. We conducted a one-way MANCOVA on Year 3 data, with gambling industry tenure as the covariate, and a …

A Peer Feedback Process To Improve Assistant Nurse Manager Job Satisfaction, Juanita A. Jularbal-Walton

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Problem

Healthcare organizations offer different methods of training for emerging and newly hired Assistant Nurse Managers (ANM). Without sufficient orientation to what the role requires, new ANMs receive many requests without adequate guidance on how to respond to patient, staff, and leadership requests. This experience creates unhealthy work environments with low job satisfaction and high turnover rates.

Context

Peer feedback provides an opportunity to reflect on the purpose of the Assistant Nurse Manager role. With sufficient orientation and peer feedback, front-line assistant nurse managers develop competency and role satisfaction, as evidenced by reduced turnover and improved retention.

Intervention

This project …

Shaping Success For Mobile Applications Of Integrated Resorts, Krista Larsen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As smartphones have become indispensable in society, it has become critical for integrated resorts to develop mobile applications ("apps") that serve as a marketing tool and an enhancement in the customer's travel journey. This research reviews the features of existing mobile travel apps, in addition to areas of opportunity for future innovations regarding this platform. Based on this research, this study recommends best practices for an integrated resort's mobile app. The findings of this study can be leveraged as a resource when developing and maintaining mobile apps within the hospitality industry to provide an optimal guest experience throughout the entire …

Utilizing Gamification To Enhance Customer Engagement And Loytalty In The Hospitality Industry, Xiaoting He

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Gamification involves the engagement of game elements and designs in non-game contexts. There is a need to increase the effectiveness of the conventional loyalty program, and implementing gamification has become a popular concept. Gamified hotel loyalty programs differentiate hotels from their rivals by increasing customer engagement and, ultimately, customer loyalty. Despite prior research on the effectiveness and functions of gamification, under what conditions gamification can enhance enagement lacks further investigation. This study draws on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to develop a framework linking gamification elements with users' psychological needs, where customer engagement is enhanced when the game elements successfully satisfy …