Hosts Taking Clients With Them

I just got an offer from the Casino MonteLago for 3 free nights at the neighboring Ritz-Carlton. Of course, while I was very excited at first, I lost my enthusiasm when I found out that the Ritz will be closing in May and that the Casino MonteLago's last day is going to be March 15th.

I have never been to the Casino MonteLago before or stayed at that particular Ritz-Carlton. Therefore, I can only assume that the host whose name appears on the bottom of the letter took my information with them when they left their last property. I actually can't recall ever meeting this host, so maybe they just stole the entire list of gamblers before they left?

Now, I don't mind getting free rooms to try out a new property, but my questions are as follows: Is this standard opperating procedure for hosts? Could it be that my gambling action profile has been sold through a third party? Don't casinos make their hosts or employees sign a non-compete clause when they leave?

It is standard procedure. Hosts generally take their player lists with them. It is an important asset to them moving up in the casino chain. I've had hosts move and invite me to stuff at their new property, which is fine with me. I've never had a totally cold invitation to anything or felt a casino (online casinos exempted) sold out my information.

I'm only hosted at Luxor in Las Vegas and I rarely call her because i prefer to play/stay at MB or Mirage (where my avg. bet doesn't warrant a dedicated host). That being said, I did get mailers from M and I've never set foot in there. Dad is a mid-high diamond with HET and will get stuff from Palms with no gaming history. My guess is some hosts "borrow" those lists. Another way players get recruited is through casinos on cruise lines. Hyatt Gaming (mainly riverboats and foreign casinos now) would also supply names to other casinos. In fact they once had an interest at Lake Las Vegas.

Most companies have such clauses. I.E. Salesmen aren't supposed to take their clientele with them. when you think about it, hosts aren't any different than salesmen.

But it does happen. And it's hard to discover and prosecute.


Back to the topic at hand...

My wife is a diamond at Harrah's. A couple years ago, she got an offer from Trump Marina. It came from her former host at Showboat. She recognized the name. And the letter included a comment about being my wife's host at his former position, although he didn't name the property.

So that was a case of a salesman stealing a client list.




On the other hand, two of the four Harrah's A.C. properties (Bally's and Caesar's) are (or were) in the middle of bitter contract talks with the dealers. More than once, we got mail from the union. I know they got our N&A the player's club list because it was addressed with the same misspelling as the stuff we get from Showboat.

Was the list sold to the union? I'd find it hard to believe the union would use a stolen list. THAT would be way too obvious...

The book "Whale Hunt in the Desert," about super-host Steve Cyr, makes it quite clear that hosts poach clients from other casinos whenever possible.

Interesting read.

Hosts are not ethical, and their profession is not honorable.

But then, the same thing could be said about all the folks who make their living milking the greed and stupidity of the gamblers flocking through the casino doors.

Quote:

Hosts are not ethical, and their profession is not honorable.

I'd have to respectfully disagree with that one. Hosts provide a service to both their client and casino. To their client they give attention and get them freebies they might not otherwise get. To the casino they send a better-than-average patron (hopefully) to help the bottom line of the stockholders. No one puts a gun to anyone's head to gamble and everyone involved is an adult.

And the host, naturally, charges the casino a fee for this service. After all, we are not communists.

I have to agree with AZDuffman. I absolutely love my host(s). Since I am going to gamble anyway, they are the ones who make sure that I am happy with my stay and take great care of me while I am there. If they are able to make some money off my action, that's good for them.

I am sure every profession have people who lack ethics and won't play by the rules, but the hosts at my level (distinctly low roller!!) probably aren't trying to poach anyone except by providing better service than the next host.

I had some problems with a host the last visit to Vegas (she actually told me--while I was playing at a table--that my level of play did not rate any further comps). I immediately cashed out and went to pay my incidentals rather than play any more...but I was peeved at how she approached me. When I wrote about this incident on another site, folks immediately responded with the names of hosts who they would refer me to.

I agree--the host provides a service. They help make our stay more enjoyable (well, most of the time!!) and take care of arrangements for us. As long as we are only gambling the intended budget and not chasing comps, I don't think there is an issue.

Do they need to go out and find more and better clients? Sure. Prospecting and selling is what it is all about!! You can't provide a service unless you find someone to provide it to and convince them they need it!!

I could talk about this topic all day. To keep it brief, I'll just say that you can switch hosts whenever you like. I would compare hosts to car salesmen, they don't have any compunction to steal each other customers. Hosts are not all the same, because they have conflicting interests between their players and the casino. It is my understanding they are compensated according to the theoretical loss of their players less the value of the comps they give out. If you are a skilled player, and the host knows it, then he or she has a decision to make. Look the other way, because if you win, it doesn't hurt them, or protect the casino, and be stingy with the comps. If I feel the I have the latter kind of host, I'll have no compunction to switch.

On another issue, hosts can't grant every request. Sometimes a player's play really doesn't warrant what they are asking for. I think the best way for the host to handle that is to say something like, "Based on your play, I can offer you dinner at the x restaurant instead. I'd love to give you a comp to the y restaurant, but we like to see an average bet of $z for that." In other words, try not to make the player feel badly, and offer him/her some information as to why he is being rebuffed.

I agree with the turning someone down in the RIGHT way. I don't feel bad I was turned down; my play was not as high is they wanted for further comps (they have increased what they are looking for, which seems kind of crazy the way the economy is, but that is what was stated). The issue with me only comes in the way they handle it. Talking to a player at a table, in front of others, is totally unacceptable. This is a private matter between the casino, host, and player.