For a serious and loyal player, they’ll arrange higher withdrawal limits, usually up to $10,000. Of course, this is a common casino tactic that tries to lure players to bet again and give back part of their previous winnings. When you become a VIP, entry-level players usually receive their cash within 48 to 72 hours. You don’t have to be a losing player to receive significant cashbacks as a VIP; you just need to be a high roller and wager significant amounts monthly.
Entry and mid-level VIP hosts generally operate during business hours. Comparable programs at this level are closer to 10 to 12 percent. All of those players will get the perks we mentioned, because it goes with their VIP status, but there are ways to get even more if you are able to utilize the relationship with them to the fullest. Casino VIP hosts might bend rules slightly for the biggest whales in order to keep them at a casino, but VIP status doesn’t save you from serious rule breaches. But there are certain things you might think they can do, but they actually don’t. Giving you tickets for some events, organizing travels, and offering other experiences is a form of cashback to players.
"These days, there’s quite a bit of demand and insistence and entitlement on the part of players," said Brennan, who noted that Prime Sports has taken a firm stance against bonuses in favor of offering reduced juice on main markets. We don’t have anywhere near the number of players that FanDuel and DraftKings or the two casino companies BetMGM and Caesars do. "There’s a lot of people who just play high stakes," said Brennan. "And now, you know, that’s when I don’t want to say an executive is going to tell an RG person, ‘Let it go,’ but there might be more conversations and RG has to have a really cut-and-dried case for closing an account." "It also hurts the team, and then you’re speaking to the executives who may ask, ‘Hey, why was casino handle down a million this month? "If you’re a host and you lose two or three players in a month, assuming they’re bigger players, that could really hurt you," Earle said.
The higher the loyalty level, the better the VIP perks, free spins and bonuses will be. So if it is happening, I don’t know that it’s happening at the scale that it needs to happen." If operators do not change course and find a better balance of consumer protection, compliance, and commercial interests — more consideration for lifetime value rather than the next quarter’s net revenue — the clampdown will be coming. For the operators that rely on VIPs and VIP programs to juice their handle and revenue, more lawmakers and regulators will take notice. It may be that they desire more anonymity, want to bet on credit, don’t want to pay taxes on winnings, don’t want to participate in any financial checks, or simply that they like their bookie. "If you’re a small startup operator or trying to make a name for yourself, the last thing you want is someone that could swing your books a couple of hundred thousand dollars in an hour.
Back in the day at DraftKings, when it was a much smaller company, people might DM Jason Robins to say, ‘my host stinks’ or something, and that’s how they might get involved. So a new hire would be expected to go after their people right away, in addition to receiving some "organic" leads, or patrons who have already signed up with the sportsbook and may be labeled a potential VIP. I would say the average would probably be like two to three weeks and you’re gonna start interacting," often shadowing more experienced hosts during a training period.
VIP gamblers may also get a chance to take part in VIP tournaments, where they can win more free spins. High-value players normally get large batches of bonus spins that they can use on the best slot games. If the operator perceives you as a valuable player, they will do whatever it takes to encourage you to stay around and continue playing.
"I think operators like to keep the bonusing (reinvestment given back to the player) between the 15 and 25 percent range, although you’ll have outliers," said Earle. "But suddenly if there’s a bunch, let’s just say it’s five or six people that are playing a million dollars a month, those things add up," Earle explained. "Encouraging play is definitely a small part of it, and what it should be is that you’re encouraging play from people who you know have the wallet to accommodate that," Borgida said. Speaking about some of the VIP programs at smaller operators, Earle said the amount of oversight on communications between hosts and VIPs is pretty limited. If coming from a competitor or brick-and-mortar casino, part of the selling point to these firms is that you have a book of clients, whether it’s 10 players or 1,000.
"I don’t think the RG teams have a goal of, say, ‘we must shut down 25 VIP accounts a month.’ But their goal is to shut down accounts where there’s RG concerns, or at least get on the phone with some of these players where there might be concerns. "I think it’s interesting when the VIP goals cut directly against the RG responsible gambling goals," said Borgida. And that point, the VIP host would basically stop communication with the customer, or at least keep it very surface level. So if I were to put a percentage on it, I’d say 10 to 15 percent is like you’re trying to encourage play and the other 85 percent is you’re just trying to maintain that relationship and give them the best experience possible."