Making the Most Of Data

Imagine having a farm and saying, “Boom, I now have an asset.”

Sure, you have land, but it’s not much of an asset unless you put crops on it.

Then it becomes an asset for your business.

That’s Andrew Cardno, chief technology officer and co-founder of Quick Custom Intelligence (QCI), on the importance of activating casino data.

Cardno of QCI and Noah Acres of Acres Manufacturing are sharing their experience in the field of data analytics, and explain how casinos can make the most of their “farmland,”according to Cardno’s analogy.

Out With the Old, In With the New

Historically, data from casino floors has resulted in the theoretical win or expected value of a given player. Both Acres and Cardno see that as an outdated approach.

“Theoretical win is a little bit erroneous and misleading,” says Acres. “If a player comes to your casino floor and wins right away, they haven’t shown you any propensity to spend anything, even though they’re able to run up a bunch of coin-in and inflate their theoretical rating.”

Acres Manufacturing uses a new metric called player budget to offset problems arising from outdated models. “For marketers, that’s the most important thing,” Acres says. “How much budget is a player pouring into the operation each day?”

Cardno agrees, and he thinks data can help casinos adjust to meet players on their level.

“Look at slot machines,” he says. “A player betting at the lowest (wager) isn’t the same as a player making the max bet for each spin. Expected value can be off by a factor of two, three, or higher. The fundamental metrics should be adjusted to take these things into account.”

That’s just one type of metric requiring a new approach. A whole lot can change in just a few years, and casinos have to stand on the cutting edge of data analytics to make the most of it.

Not Just A Casino Anymore

Cardno and QCI are all about data activation. This is the reason for his farm analogy. You have to plant crops for your farm to make money. You have to activate your data if you want to reap its benefits.

This is doubly true for casino resorts now, with emphasis on the “resorts” part of that phrase.

“Drive to a casino today. You see a hotel, a parking garage, five restaurants, a bowling alley, a concert venue… Hold on, this isn’t just a casino.”

The evolution of casino properties into full-on entertainment destinations necessitates a new approach to data. Operators can activate their data to create a win-win scenario. The player gets tailored benefits, and the casino gets more time and attention from said player.

“When someone is a hotel guest, you have to treat them appropriately,” Cardno says. “They’re probably going to want to eat something. Can you give them an offer at one of the property’s restaurants? It’s important to give them an integrated resort experience based on their profile.”

Just as casino properties become comprehensive in their offerings, so too must the data activation tools offered by companies like Acres Manufacturing and QCI. While each individual player profile is important, success comes from understanding the whole and working from a foundational understanding of a large group.

“A player profile contains various data points,” Acres says. “The day of the week or the time of day they want to play. Their player budget. What game are they most likely to play first? However, to be clear, it’s never a situation where an operator looks at hundreds or even thousands of individual player profiles. High-level strategy requires an automated system that funnels player data and categorizes them based on all the key metrics involved.”

Slotting In the Games

Casino games are moneymakers, and data can elevate their performance when deployed with the right technology and strategy.

Acres Manufacturing integrates its tech directly into slot data ports, and it can generate real-time findings to help casinos maximize the value of a player’s time on-site.

“We can see how many games a player plays in a typical session, how much time they have to play, and how much money they have to spend,” Acres says. “It’s a far cry from the days of tier programs and sending the same offer to every gold-level player, for example. When we know how much you’re willing to spend and how much time you have, we can optimize the experience for the casino and the player.”

Acres Manufacturing uses its Foundation technology to measure its core metrics in real time rather than using the historic “sessions” approach. Plus, Acres can interface directly with individual machines to reward players quickly.

“If you’re getting bad data in, you’ll get messy data out,” Acres says. “Turn that on its head. Let’s say a player is having a rough time at a game, 50 losing spins in a row. We could interrupt that losing experience in real time and send them a message, send a person over to talk to them, or maybe even initiate a bonus session to rescue their game play. If we’re only looking at session data after the fact, that’s not possible.”

Further, Acres aims to empower more specific use of slot data to better understand players. He would like to see more casinos leverage player preferences for specific features to cater future offers. Perhaps a player likes hold-and-spin bonuses; a personalized offer could guide them to a game with that feature and keep their session active for longer.

Cardno of QCI echoes the idea and emphasizes the importance of real-time data.

“We enliven the data,” he says. “A player development team on property can see up-to-the-minute data on what players are doing on the floor, along with all of their history across the different areas of the business. When you know everything about a player, you see the gaming floor through their lens. You can activate the data to work for them and for the casino.”

Cardno also mentions one key distinction all data companies and casinos should keep in mind.

“Go to a slot department, and they might tell you how much money the games are making. Go to a marketing department, and they’ll tell you how much money they’re making from players. An empty restaurant doesn’t make money, and neither does an idle slot machine.”

Data, then, can bridge the gap between slots and players by generating more productive play and rewarding players at the right time.

Data Powers Decisions and Security

Maximizing player value is, of course, top-of-mind for most casinos. But there are side benefits to a strong database that aren’t always the first thought.

There’s a saying among data heads, according to Cardno. “If you plan to start using data when it’s perfect, you’re never going to start using data.”

In other words, you can’t wait to have 100 percent of the information to make decisions. Data will constantly evolve and improve, especially when new technologies make it easier to collect and understand.

“When is your data good enough to make a decision that will help you be better than your competition?” Cardno asks. It’s a balancing act, and operators need to know when to pounce. Employing the right tools like those provided by QCI can be a big difference-maker.

Acres says data can streamline security and nip certain issues in the bud under the right circumstances.

“When you’re monitoring real-time data, you can see unusual patterns,” Acres says. “Even with the TITO system, for example. Maybe there is an unusually high number of aged TITO tickets that have been redeemed or there’s a single suspicious transaction worth flagging. We can protect the system and contain any breaches when we see those anomalies in real time.”

It seems like a no-brainer, but it’s not as simple as flipping a switch. Acres notes that the heavily regulated nature of the casino industry makes it difficult for new technology to break through and make an impact. But when operators see the benefits of said technology, they can champion it and make it the norm, eventually.

Speaking of “eventually,” data has a lot of interesting prospects in the next few years, and both Cardno and Acres have interesting takes on the future.

Data’s Future

The elephant in the room during any discussion even remotely related to tech is AI, and Cardno has his finger on its pulse.

“The advent of generative AI,” he says, “can only be likened to the beginning of the internet in terms of how big an impact it will have on our day-to-day lives. When AI first started to break through, it was hard to see why it was doing certain things. Generative models completely changed that, and we’re in the middle of a seismic explosion in tech. Everything has changed.”

It’s not just lip service. Cardno and QCI have gone all-in on generative technology internally. Jarvis is their chief operating officer, and it’s a generative intelligence.

“We’re using AI to help run our business and serve in an executive role,” Cardno says. “This is crazy to say. But it’s going to change everything.”

As for AI’s impact on QCI’s products, Cardno is a little more tight-lipped, but the company is hard at work on new solutions that make full use of the revolutionary technology.

While Cardno provides a wide-spanning view of data’s future, Acres keeps the focus more narrow.

“One thing we’re showing at G2E that will change how we deploy data is a personalized challenge. Say, for example, you deliver a challenge to a player that says, ‘If you hit a $50 pay, we will give you a $50 bonus.’”

Once such a challenge is active, it reverses the traditional free play loop. Instead of spending their first precious minutes at a casino using bonus play, a player is now starting off a session spending their own money in pursuit of a goal.

“It’s all personalized, too,” Acres continues. “The challenges are driven by an analysis of each player’s specific average bet size and types of games played.”

The era of personalized and real-time data is here, and the technology is ever-changing. Casinos can now make full use of their databases to maximize player value and drive more revenue.