The casino business is one of the most lucrative in the entertainment world. Online and land-based casinos make billions of dollars yearly thanks to the frequent visits from dedicated casino visitors. If you’re one of those people who contribute to the yearly earnings of casino owners, keep up the good work. If you’ve been fortunate enough to hit the jackpot in the casino, there is a high chance that it would be difficult for you to stop gambling. However, if you intend to keep up with the winning streak, it is important to know that the casino will start keeping an eye on you after you win. They are going to keep track of you through your winnings and other activities for various reasons.
How Do Casinos Track You?
Almost every casino, landbased and online, offer loyalty and casino reward programs. These reward programs allow certain regular visitors in the casino to enjoy privileges. What many people don’t know is that casinos track members through these programs. They keep track of your gambling habits so that they can find out your preference and lure you into playing more and giving them more money. The information they take from you usually includes but isn’t limited to, how you play, how often you visit the casino, how often you play a particular game, the drinks you like and the amount of money you spend during each visit.
For land-based casinos, you will be allowed to use your loyalty cards to place bets in place of cash. Each time you use the card, the casino sees all your information and provides its services based on what you love. If you’re a big-time gambler, one of the people in the casino will walk up to you and lead you to your favorite gambling spot. While you’re waiting, a waiter or waitress will come with your favorite drinks. VIP treatment like these is used as incentives to make customers loyal to the casino because they feel fully satisfied with the services and don’t want to go back home.
For big casinos that are also attached to hotels, the offer gets even better as they give people in their loyalty reward program discounts to a hotel, good, drink, and any other thing that involves spending money. Instead of gambling for a few hours and going back home, you find yourself spending the night, weekend or even a whole week in the casino. Each time you spend money, you get points. The points give you more discounts and the cycle continues. Little by little, gambling becomes more than an occasional recreational activity and more of a hobby.
Should You Be Worried About Being Tracked By Casinos?
In this digital age where data can be compromised by a good hacker behind a computer, it’s easy to become distrustful of companies that track you through the information you fill during transactions. It is important to note that most of these casinos only use your information for marketing purposes and they do not store overly sensitive details. For example, while a casino may save details about your behavior, they will not save any information that can be used to track you to your home or business in the event of a data breach. However, most of these loyalty reward programs save credit card details of frequent gamblers. The casino may not do anything fraudulent with these details but there is no way to guarantee your card’s safety if their security is breached.
Apart from this, it’s also possible for a shady casino to sell your data to other marketers without your consent. This is why it is important to stick to gambling in reputable casinos only. Regarding your credit card details, you should consider using cash whenever you visit the casino. Apart from the fact that this will protect your details from compromise, it is also going to help you save money because the party will end when the cash runs out.
Apart from tracking your behavior, casinos also track you while you’re gambling using cameras on different levels. These cameras are meant to help the management identify fraudulent behavior, or any other nasty business going on in the building. They pay more attention to those who are on a winning streak to make sure that their winnings are legit. They also monitor employees who are unusually close to players to make sure that they are not tipping them off while serving them. Apart from the wall cameras, many machines in the casino have built-in cameras. These cameras aren’t just used to ensure security. They are also used to track the behavior of casino customers who may not be part of the elaborate loyalty reward programs and give them a good experience. However, they may not enjoy as many benefits as those who have loyalty reward cards.
Studies have revealed that more than 70% of people who visit the casino participate in loyalty reward programs. They enjoy these programs because of all the benefits including paying with their loyalty cards rather than coins. The information from these cards inputted into complex software that analyses it and helps clients to learn about their customers. This software analyses over 20,000 traits every second. In turn, they modify their services to meet the needs of their clients. They group their clients into groups based on the habits they share in the casino.
Casinos Will Track You When You Cheat?
Now you know that casinos track information about you, especially when you’re part of their loyalty reward program. We’ve talked about all the benefits you get as a customer when the casino keeps track of you. However, it is important to note that there are also many disadvantages attached to being tracked by a casino. We initially stated that being tracked by a casino night expose your sensitive information to a data breach. However, this isn’t the only bad part of it. If you’re a person that wants to cheat or looks suspicious, it may not be a good idea to join these loyalty reward programs because they will draw too much attention to you. The last thing you want to do is draw attention to yourself when your deeds are not clean.
If you are cut cheating in one casino, they will ban you from ever visiting the casino. Your picture and name would be added to the restricted list. In some cases, these casinos will share the information with other neighboring casinos and you’ll not be allowed to visit anyone in that region. Depending on the magnitude of your action, they may decide to involve the authorities and you’ll be made to suffer for your actions.
Bottom line
Casinos, either landbased or online, will always keep track of their customers for various reasons. It may be difficult for you to prevent them from storing your information but you can protect yourself by using only cash and not engaging in any funny behavior when you’re in the casino. No matter how tempting it is, you should try to avoid loyalty reward programs. If you must join, consider joining these programs only in reputable casinos.
Finally, no matter what you do, try as much as possible not to become addicted to gambling online or in a landbased casino. Gambling can cost you more than money. You will lose your relationship with your loved ones if you have a habit of gambling. So, make sure that you always gamble on your terms and not because you feel an uncontrollable urge to place a wager.
