Casinos view cellphone photos through a fuzzy lens

Wednesday, April 27, 2016 1:11 PM
  • Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming

“Pulling out a camera on some people is like pulling out a loaded gun,” our newspaper’s photographer told me two decades ago. The location? We were covering a county fair.

So I totally understand the reactions of some patrons to cameras at a casino. They don’t want their loved ones to know they are gamblers. Or, worse, they fear being robbed because they may be (thought to be) carrying more cash than most people.

Casino officials, whose top priority is to give the best possible service to those sitting at their tables and slot machines, have a history of being protective when it comes to cameras. But this is 2016: everyone has a camera on their cell phone. And that camera gets used far more times than in the days of film – it’s convenient and costs nothing, unlike film. (You also can argue that we’ve become a more vain society.)

All of which means casinos are puzzling over their now-unenforceable rule against photography. The culture has shifted at casinos, just as it has for concerts (which used to ban photos) and for law enforcement officers (who need to be careful how they apprehend a suspect, because somebody could have their iPhone taking video).

There’s also the marketing angle. TV, radio, and newspaper ads are no longer the sole (or even best) means of getting the word out that Lucky’s Casino is a great place to rake in the cash. Word-of-mouth (Facebook and Twitter, for example) is much more personal, and who can put a price tag on seeing a friend smiling in front of a huge slot jackpot? “It has absolutely changed,” says Anthony Curtis, publisher of The Las Vegas Advisor. “Photos have gone from absolutely forbidden to something casinos might want to encourage.”

Curtis points to casinos along the Las Vegas strip and downtown that now have photo machines for patrons to send images of themselves to share with their friends via social media. Hey, if casino guests want to market your business on your behalf, who are you to stop them?

But regional casinos, such as those in the Midwest and the mid-South, can face jurisdictional rules against photography. At best, they have to train guests that some photo backgrounds are off-limits. Fortunately, it’s a pretty safe presumption that most amateur photographers understand the common courtesy of not including bystanders who are or might be camera-shy.

The biggest concern for casinos is security, especially near the cage, which can be viewed as a casino’s nerve center. Is that photographer really just a naïve tourist, or is that guest scouting for security leaks? How does the security staff balance customer satisfaction with protecting the house?

So casinos, like everywhere, else, need to evolve as technology changes. Old standards are being questioned, current givens are being challenged. With that in mind, here are my guidelines:

  • Explain your rules not only to your security staff, but also to anyone who walks the floor. Nothing is more frustrating – to staff and guests – than inconsistency.
  • Whatever policies you have, you should keep them low-key. You don’t need large signs saying “no photos”, or notices everywhere saying “we now welcome photos.” Either one is like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
  • Encourage guests to be civil and respectful of others. This should be relatively easy: casinos are already adept at balancing the rights of that obnoxious blackjack player and the people who want to play in peace. The same goes for dealing with those who want to share every moment of their lives on social media. Just make sure to politely walk them away from the cage.