Turning whales away

Some casinos chase high rollers, which can be risky–a lucky weekend for them can turn into a quarterly loss, something that shareholders hate to see. The Hard Rock casino (right down the street on Harmon Ave.), apparently burned once too many times by lucky whales, or mega-high rollers, has decided to stop catering to the capricious gamblers. From the LV Sun:

The latest case in point is the Hard Rock, which says it will no longer accept high-roller action from gamblers with million-dollar credit lines who have the potential to lose — or win — millions from the casino.

“That’s not really our core business,” Kevin Kelley, Hard Rock president, said. “We don’t have enough of those customers, nor do we have the type of amenities to handle those types of customers.”

Only a few players make the list of top-tier gamblers in Las Vegas, often called “whales.” For smaller casinos like the Hard Rock, even one player can mean the difference between a quarterly profit and a loss.

In the fourth quarter of 2002, for example, Hard Rock earnings took a hit after one player walked away with $3 million.

Plenty of players and potential customers have credit lines in the $10,000 to $250,000 range and will continue to be welcomed at the Hard Rock, Kelley said.

Las Vegas SUN: Hard Rock takes action to stem unpredictable high-roller wins

I’ve always wondered how much money one would have to make in a year to enjoy a $250,000 credit limit, or to be able to lose tens of thousands gambling and chalk it up to entertainment.

The rest of the article has some interesting stuff on how different casinos cater to high rollers. It’s not stuff I’ve seen in print too much, so I would definitely check it out.