Casino Staff: Casino Hosts
To many, a Casino Host is the ultimate people person. He or she can be one of the main factors in getting patrons to come to a casino, to stay around, and to spend money.
In general terms, a Casino Host’s job is to get you to spend money at the casino, and make you happy to do it. In many casinos, the Pit Boss doubles as the Casino Host – besides being the Pit Boss, he or she is also in charge of the overall casino, and walks around, greeting guests, talking, etc. They may also hand out perks and comps to some of the more frequent players.
In fact, for many people, one of the perks to playing in a casino is the comps. You may get a pair of tickets to a concert, a free meal, free hotel room, or even flown out first class if you’re a big spender. The Casino Host is the person who has the authority to give you comps – part of their job is to watch the crowd of players and decide who should be offered comps.
Many players, especially those with money, will not come out and ask for a comp, so it’s a good idea for casinos to make someone responsible for offering them as shows of appreciation. Someone dropping one thousand dollars isn’t going to need two tickets to a show (as he or she can afford them easily.) What a comp does is to show appreciation to a patron for choosing their casino: “Please accept our lobster dinner for two because we appreciate you so much!” There’s also a psychological thrill with getting something for free that excites people. People remember the positive experience and will choose to continue playing at the comp-giving casino.
Of course, casino hosts can’t give comps to everyone. Because of this, a Casino Host has to be a good people person, and a good salesperson, too. The right tone of voice, facial expression, and diplomacy can turn a ‘no’ into a compromise that makes the customer happy. For example they may not get that free penthouse suite but… “You’re good people. I like you. How about two tickets to the ‘Cirque du Soleil’ show? Best show in town!”
There is another type of Casino Host that we should touch on as well – it’s the “Celebrity Greeter” type. Casinos will oftentimes hire celebrities and retired sports stars to act as quasi-Casino Hosts. We say “quasi” because they usually aren’t experienced enough to hand out comps and the like. They are merely there to “meet and greet”. Baseball legends Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were well-known Casino Hosts / Greeters in the 70’s and 80’s – high rollers would fly in from all over the world to rub shoulders with these former players (and baseball really didn’t like this, resulting in a bit of trouble for these two, and others.)
So, the next time you are in casino, try and spot the casino host – perhaps make it a point to get close to him or her, and maybe you’ll end up with a free meal (or an autograph!)
