A framework to transition from “what happened” to “how can we make it happen.”

Ask any operator and they will tell you – with pride – that they have designed the best gaming floor for their guests. But: What is an optimal floor? Are there inefficiencies on the floor costing your casino a sub-par guest experience and more importantly what gaming decisions should you be prioritizing now - to improve future results? 

Having traveled to hundreds of casinos globally, it’s also interesting that no two gaming floors are alike, even within the same operator. 

Merchandising is a common term used in retail stores, and just as applicable to the casino gaming floor. It encompasses floor design, product offerings, layout, product mix, and marketing strategies. This is important to gaming operators looking to foster their brand, improve the guests' experience, compete with others, and ultimately drive profitability.

Casino gaming floor layouts are also complex. There are countless decisions an operator makes when designing and operating a casino floor. One of the decision categories is optimization or revenue/yield management. Some of these decisions are constrained based on floor space, regulation, labor availability, or budgets; these constraints often dictate capacity and product mix (slots, tables, ETGs). While other decisions are based on the operator's own philosophy, gut instincts, articles, and textbooks. 

Separately, there are hundreds of decisions being made hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly. What’s the open hour and pricing strategy for tables next month? How about ETGs? Which slot machines should we add next to the new high-traffic food court? Where should the new high-denom slot machines go? 

Each one of these optimization decisions has an implication on the overall guest experience and the revenue and profit potential from the gaming floor. 

Customer preferences also change and the floor is dynamic; operators have to learn to adapt quickly as correct decisions will result in a better experience and a more optimal floor.

In this post, we'll discuss a framework that focuses on your operation, and the transition from ‘what happened’ to’ ‘how can we make it happen’. 

Take a deep dive into the profit drivers (what happened)

Reporting is standard practice for all operators, albeit in various capacities. A deeper understanding of the profit drivers, however, will offer more insight into the business and troubleshoot changes in performance.

Focus on the decisions that will yield the highest return (how can we make it happen)

Reporting is great, and has its place, but doesn’t provide answers. We’re now in the era of prescriptive analytics - or - recommendation-driven analytics. What changes should we make today to improve future performance? 

Software can do more than just store and report data - it can be designed to recognize patterns, and crunch through billions of combinations and permutations to come up with specific answers that humans simply aren’t capable of. 

Measure results and adapt the underlying models.

The software can also be trained to measure results, learn from mistakes, improve assumptions and evolve underlying models.

Next steps: Organizational changes to make it happen 

Of course all operators want to harness the value from prescriptive analytics, but most don’t know how to get it right. They are constrained with time and resources.

Many operators don’t have analysts to support decision-making. The few that have analysts aren't equipped with the right software tools and end up spending too much time on reporting or “what happened” instead of “how can we make it happen”.

Despite being experts in the products that they ‘sell’, the best operators also know their decision-making limitations. So, how do you get it right?

1. Blend real-world experience with data expertise
2. Be willing to go against ‘gut-feel’ if the data supports it and adapt quickly
3. Adopt the right analytics software tools - ones that offer answers and real insights, not fancier reports and charts -  to supercharge operator and analyst productivity

This framework will allow operators to focus on the optimization decisions that will make the biggest difference to the most important customers, to the property, and to the profitability of the gaming floor. Ultimately, ensuring that the gaming floor is not costing them.

Prescriptive analytics goes beyond software and data analytics - it combines the strengths of operators and the right business partners to provide and support change management that drives better decisions and performance improvements. 

At Tangam, we are at the core of prescriptive analytics to transform how operators get the most out of their gaming floor, blending a wealth of knowledge in software development, data science, machine learning, visualization, and casino operations best practices. ‍