UNLV study finds low correlation between bonus money, casino visit spend

Saturday, June 29, 2024 12:12 PM
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  • Ziv Chen, Casino Reports

University of Las Vegas (UNLV) Hospitality Professor Anthony Lucas and Katherine A. Spilde, Ph.D. of San Diego State University have found that reducing free-play rewards had little impact on casino visitor numbers, or how much visitors spent gambling for real money. The authors explored their findings in the most recent edition of the UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal.

Lucas and Spilde studied visitor numbers at a tribal casino in Western California over several years. In Year One, 400 casino visitors were given $15 a week in free play. In Year Two, that group was split into four groups, with every group receiving a different free play amount in $5 increments from $0 to $15.