If you are new to Player Development, then here are some of the words that you will hear being used:

Actual. You played for two hours on the $1 slots. You won $2500. Thus, your ​actual win or loss​ is $2500. The slot machines truly cannot control who wins and loses. They also cannot control by how much. Therefore, the Casino has no idea what your actual will be when you ‘make a trip’ and play.

Theo. The computer system can calculate your potential theoretical loss. It does this by analyzing how you played for those two hours on the $1 slots.

Your Theo is 15 which means that theoretically you will lose $15 every time you play. Or your Theo might be 250 which means theoretically you will lose $250 every time you play. ​

The casino uses this Theo number to decide what to send you as free offers. If your Theo is $15 then you should not get an offer for a free hotel room! To qualify for a Host, you probably need a 400+ Theo. However, this varies across Casinos depending on the type of players that they have.

ADT ​stands for Average Daily Theo. The computer system will typically look at how you have played over the last 30, 60, or 90 days. Your ADT is the total Theo for all of your trips. This total is divided by the number of days you played. It calculates your average.
Let’s assume you played on 3 days. On your first day, you had a Theo of 600. On your second day, you had a Theo of 400. On your third day, you had a Theo of 500. Hence, 600+500+400 = 1500/3 = 500. Your average, your ADT, is 500.

ADT is very important to the Player Development team. It provides an easy way to see how important the guest is. If the ADT changes significantly over a few months, the Host notices something happening with that player. This could be good or bad for the Casino.

Comp. A Casino Host can provide a player with a Comp (short for Complimentary). This includes food, drinks, hotel, spa, and even free play.

More and more casinos have opened across the United States. There is so much competition now. It is harder for each casino to make a lot of money. As a result, they have often cut back on Comps.

The casino may allow the Casino Host to issue comps. If so, there will be strict guidelines. These guidelines dictate what can and cannot be given. (These rules are sometimes called a Comp Matrix.)

Coded. A player that is coded to a Host in the Player Tracking System or a spreadsheet. There will typically be 300-400 players coded to each Host. (We are not advocating that many players, we are just making an observation on what we have seen.)

Active. The Active players are making regular enough Trips with a high-end ADT. For example, 450+ ADT and 12+ trips over the last six months.

These players have visited ‘recently’ which has a different definition by Property and Market. If your casino serves local players living within a two-hour drive, then ‘recently’ means a trip made in the last 3 months. A trip made in this time frame qualifies as ‘recently.’ You may also have some really high-end players who come in twice a year from a distant major city. They deserve VIP attention.

In Database Marketing, we take a longer view so ‘Active’ tends to mean ‘played in the last 12 months’. In Player Development, we focus on a small set of highly valuable players. These players should visit with above average frequency. Therefore, ‘Active’ may mean 3 months.

Inactive. A player that used to play with a high ADT and frequency of trips but has not visited ‘recently’. If the Player Development team can get these people back on property then that is called Reactivation.

At Risk. A player ‘at risk’ is an Active player that is almost Inactive! For example, if your criteria for Active is that they have played with six months. An Active player might be considered ‘at risk’ if they have not played for four months. You can focus the Player Development team on these at risk players by setting a Retention Goal. For example, “80% of Active coded players must play at least once a Quarter.”

Churn. “Are you busy generating new customers but losing your existing customers at the same rate?” If a Host acquires 20 new players, but allows 60 Active players to slip away because they are dissatisfied, the result is a net loss. The Host loses 40 valuable players. Read More.

Incliner and Decliner. We refer to a player as an Incliner if contribution is increasing because of increased trips, increased ADT, or both. Conversely, a player is Declining if they have few trips, lower ADT, or both.

Acquisition. A player is not currently coded to a Host. However, they are playing often enough and with enough Theo to be coded to a Host in the future. Many PD programs will monitor these players and assign a Host to reach out and develop them.

New. A player signed up within the last few days. They have played with a high enough Theo to suggest future value. These are sometimes referred to as Dibbed players. This means a Host has dibs on them. They are also called Ghosted because the Host is quietly monitoring the player.

Earned Benefit. In some Properties, being coded to a Host is considered a valuable benefit. A player can ‘earn’ this VIP Service as part of their Tier benefits in the loyalty program. A player earns an automatic code if their play is high enough. They will lose the code automatically if their play falls away.

Valuable. Does a valuable player have a 200+ ADT or a 600+ ADT? The definition of valuable varies by Property and Market. A valuable player to a casino on the Strip is playing at much higher stakes. In contrast, a valuable player in a casino in a rural area plays at lower stakes. But the 80:20 rule applies in both cases. Who are the 20% of players that are contributing 80% of revenue?

Profitable. If you want a lively discussion in your next team meeting then initiate this debate about who is most profitable?

• Kim who plays 20 days each month with a 100 ADT and receives a free buffet?
• Or, Beth plays twice a month with a 1000 ADT. She demands the penthouse and a dinner comp. She drinks all the Jack Daniels in the VIP room.

Their total Theo per month is the same. Kim’s expenses are less. Therefore, she is more profitable to the Casino. In most Properties, Beth will have a VIP Host because of his 500 ADT. Kim will not receive one with her 100 ADT. So many Properties use both ADT and total Theo as criteria for decisions in both Direct Mail and Player Development.

Retention. See Churn above.

Upside Down. A player that is ‘upside down’ is consuming more expenses than is warranted by their Theo. Let’s say the VP Marketing has set a maximum investment of 23% in players. A player is upside down if their total expenses for the month are $280. Their total Theo is $1000, making the investment 28% of Theo.

Net Theo (Total Theo – Total Expenses) is sometimes used in the Host Goals to measure value. The goal “Increase Net Theo from Active players by 10% over the same quarter last year” focuses on increasing Theo. It also ensures control on expenses.

Did you find what you were looking for? If not, please send us a suggestion on what to add. Do you strongly disagree with one of our definitions? Let us know! 

Thank you, Jackie.