A new responsible-gaming approach aims to develop a player-casino relationship with frank advice on limiting player risk, while increasing the lifetime value to operators.
An essential element sounds simple: After a pre-determined number of games, beginning with one, players walk to another table or even another casino to assert their control over their gambling behavior. That concept, combined with a similar discipline for bet sizing, bankroll management, and other RG principles, forms the foundation of The Vegas Walk Method, which launched this year. Longtime casino fan and veteran technology executive Matthew Reynolds developed the patent-pending program, which he plans to display at the Global Gaming Expo this fall.
“The Vegas Walk Method sits at the intersection of psychology and applied probability,” Reynolds said from his London office. “But underpinning it all has to be this kind of philosophical rebooting” to encourage RG behavior before persistent lack of control overtakes a player. “Prevention is better than cure,” he continued. “If we’re able to reframe how things operate before crisis, things can be really different.”
Licensed casino operators provide a legal and tightly regulated product, while medical experts say biology, genetics, and family environment contribute to gambling disorders in some players. “If we accept that there isn’t a fault in the product and there isn’t a fault in the player, there’s no shame on either side,” Reynolds said. “The Vegas Walk Method is about healing (a gambler’s) relationship with the casino.”
Reflecting the program’s outreach to different audiences, Reynolds’s website includes a portal for players and another for operators and regulators. The players’ side features membership signup, a 600-plus-page book detailing the method and the gambling analytics behind various games, tools for tracking activity, and explanations of how casinos make money. The operator/regulator side emphasizes that casino implementation of The Vegas Walk Method works with existing player programs, IT, and staff without requiring new equipment.
Reynolds suggests that operators offer a lounge where players can practice the program’s recommended betting techniques or learn a new game, either with their own money or free-play chips. “Think airline lounge, not clinic,” Reynolds advised. “This is a nice space to be, as opposed to a desk with materials and signage. This is about doing stuff casinos are really good at, which is getting their arms around a player, making them feel welcome, making that journey complete.”
The Vegas Walk Method is designed to attract all types of players, not just those at risk. “No one’s really thought about taking a player with a low or medium (problem-gambling) risk and working more in partnership with them” to understand how casinos operate, Reynolds said. Operator participation will see increased player loyalty and lifetime value, in addition to the potential of limiting a property’s risk from problem-gambling litigation. Operators can offer The Vegas Walk Method as a “gambling-wellness” feature within their existing players app and they can make it available to employees as part of a benefits package.
Reynolds said The Vegas Walk Method sprang from his enjoyment of walking from casino to casino while visiting Las Vegas. He even worked out the optimum route for visiting all Las Vegas Strip casinos from Mandalay Bay to the Strat: roughly 16 miles, or seven hours, by zigzagging from one side of the Strip to the other.
He said The Vegas Walk Method approaches RG from a standpoint of “recovery and healing and trauma, as opposed to just trying to manage somebody in crisis.” The “ritualistic behavioral protocol” of walking away after a specified number and size of bets gives players the opportunity to control their gambling.
“In any form of recovery,” he said, “the best resource we have is ourselves.”
