The State of Player Development & Hosting

Darren Withers: Hey everybody, and welcome to today’s presentation, The State of Player Development and Hosting. Hopefully we’re going to go a little bit over, if you have lots of questions. If you don’t, we’ll end right on time today. We do encourage questions, though, this is meant to be a dialogue. The whole reason we put this together is to bring you the best people in the industry on different subject matters, so today we have the very best we could find for the state of Player Development and hosting.

Please use the question and answer box. We disabled chat, it’s just difficult to manage with so many people on with us today, but you can use the Q&A window like a chat, and we’ll definitely check those out as we go. Ask questions, throw in comments, if you want to say something funny, by all means, we want to hear it. We’re also giving away a seven-night cruise to anywhere Margaritaville at Sea goes, so check out their website and get excited, because we’re going to pick two lucky winners from today’s presentation who showed up and said they could accept the prize, that’s also part of it.

With no further ado, we’re going to move right into our content. I’m your host, Darren Withers. You’ve probably heard from me a thousand times, so there’s no reason to go through my bio. I’m a strategist and consultant. I get to work with a lot of really fun tech vendors and a lot of great casino brands out in the marketplace on various scopes of work, so I love getting to learn, and this is really a passion project for me.

Let’s introduce today’s panelists. Joining us today, an old friend of mine, not old, just from long ago, Todd Simons, Senior Vice President of Casino Operations for the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Todd’s a senior gaming and hospitality executive with more than four decades of experience leading casino operations, business turnarounds, player development, marketing, CRM, and data-driven growth strategies. Born in the Bronx to blue-collar parents, and you can read a good book Todd wrote all about that. He began his Las Vegas career in arcade operations and rose through the ranks to hold senior leadership positions at many of the industry’s best-known properties, including Circus Circus, New York-New York, the original Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Planet Hollywood, Palms Casino Resort, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Viejas Casino and Resort, and Caesars Entertainment’s Laughlin properties.

In April 2026, Todd joined the Rio Hotel and Casino as Senior Vice President of Casino Operations, where he’s helping guide the property’s operational stabilization, casino repositioning, and long-term growth. His leadership approach combines regulatory discipline and operating fundamentals with business intelligence, customer analytics, thoughtful reinvestment, and clear accountability.

Throughout his career, Todd’s produced measurable turnaround results. At the Cosmopolitan, he served as Chief Gaming Officer during a transformation that moved EBITDA from a $26 million loss to $150 million in less than three years, culminating in the property’s $1.7 billion sale to Blackstone. He’s also led significant gaming revenue and margin improvements at Hard Rock, Palms, and Viejas.

Todd is the author of Out of the Bronx and Into the Boardroom, an account of resilience, ambition, reinvention, and the lessons learned from his rise from arcade manager to the executive suite. He lives in Las Vegas with his wife and is the father of three grown children.

Also joining us today, Michelle Reda, Principal Consultant and Executive Advisor. Michelle is a seasoned Las Vegas casino executive with over two decades of experience driving revenue growth, database optimization, and high-value player retention across some of the industry’s most prominent resort destinations. She started her career with Caesars Entertainment, where mastering the outside network in a branch office forged a foundation of impeccable communication before she rose to oversee independent agent and branch office networks, building an innate understanding of relationship-driven gaming.

She served as a former Chief Casino Officer at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, where she built the casino marketing program from the ground up for the resort’s full-scale strategic launch, as Corporate Senior Vice President at Red Rock Resorts, which deepened her local and regional market expertise, and as Vice President at Wynn and Encore Las Vegas, where her signature approach to deep personalization, relationship building, and meticulous attention to detail was truly developed. She’s led high-performing casino marketing organizations and domestic VIP networks.

Beyond high-level strategy, Michelle is renowned as an exceptional mentor to host teams, teaching them to recognize a guest’s true value, understand playing faces, and tailor deal points and unique experiences to each individual. She excels at listening closely to guest needs, finding smart compromises to retain business while protecting healthy margins, and leveraging special events and curated customer experiences as vital revenue drivers. Having structured everything from tier benefits to loyalty frameworks, Michelle combines deep expertise in casino credit structures, regulatory compliance, and relationship building to offer a distinct executive perspective on the intersection of data, human connection, and profitability in the modern gaming industry.

Also joining us, Aaron Harn, Vice President of Strategy, Marketing, and Player Development at Wild Rose Entertainment. Aaron is an esteemed expert in casino marketing, with extensive experience leveraging data-driven insights to optimize marketing strategies and enhance customer acquisition and retention. His proficiency in marketing analytics and database marketing has been pivotal in driving significant business growth and creating personalized loyalty programs. Aaron’s strategic mindset and leadership skill foster a collaborative environment, ensuring strong results in a competitive industry.

And Jonathan Eaton. Can’t thank him and his company, Synergy Information Solutions, enough for being our sponsor today. Jonathan is the CEO and founder of Synergy Information Solutions and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. For over 20 years, he’s led the company with a deep commitment to innovation, client trust, and helping casinos run smarter, safer, and more connected. Jonathan is a Harvard Business School alumnus and holds a certification in deep learning systems from MIT, and his experience in artificial intelligence brings both vision and technical rigor to Synergy’s mission. Prior to Synergy, Jonathan spent years leading casino IT teams, handling the ins and outs of casino infrastructure, technical systems, and software.

All right, I’m going to turn the mic over to Ken. Ken, tell us all about Synergy Information Solutions, and please introduce yourself.

Ken Kuwabara: Thank you so much, Darren. My name’s Ken, I’m a Senior Account Manager with Synergy Information Solutions. I’ve been in the casino industry pretty much my entire adult life, the better part of 17 years. I started my career with Caesars Entertainment as well, stayed on the corporate side for about eight years, and most recently was with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in Durant.

We’ve been in business, as you mentioned, for about 22 years. We’ve been embedded in helping casinos make smarter, more confident technology decisions, everything from infrastructure and security, and more recently, AI and player development tools. Our team has a little over half a century of experience between everybody, both front and back of house, and that’s what really helps us keep the technology and day-to-day operations sticky, from strategy and implementation, and most importantly, the technical support after the fact.

That’s actually how our solution, Pillars, came out of that. Our CEO spent years on the back of the house, like we mentioned, and saw up close what the casino host wanted and needed day to day. Sometimes, once things were implemented, it didn’t always come through, and that’s what pushed him to build a solution that was much more stable, more reliable, and genuinely simpler for hosts to use in their day-to-day operations.

Darren: Thanks, Ken. I’m looking forward to co-hosting this with you today, I think it’s going to be fun. Anything where I get to talk a little less is good for everybody.

So we’re going to take you through today’s agenda. What Player Development really is, moving beyond the idea of hosting as simply a sales function, and there are a lot of ideologies here, our speakers are going to tell you what they think. Old school versus new school, just a simplified way of saying there’s a tried-and-true, tested way of doing things, and now that we have technology, what has that turned the host into today? Data, technology, and AI, can’t get away from it, so we’re going to talk about it. Empowering the modern host, giving hosts the tools, training, authority, and time to actually develop players, because it is a relationship business. And then one player, one property experience, connecting hosts with marketing, operations, database, and compliance, I think Synergy probably knows a few things about that from the technology side. And finally, the Player Development Department of 2030. That’s the whole point of “the state of,” we’re halfway into the decade, we want to set the table from the last five years and look forward to 2030, and what hosting and Player Development really look like.

Before we do that, I want to reintroduce Todd Simons. Todd, you’d gotten out, and everybody comes back, and you’re proving my point. Why did you come back to gaming?

Todd Simons: That’s a good question, Darren. It wasn’t an easy decision, it was a decision I made after consulting with my family and gauging the pluses and minuses of doing it. But the primary driver was to work with a very good friend of mine, someone we’d always talked about, if an opportunity ever arose, working together and doing something special.

He had an opportunity to assume the President and General Manager position at the Rio, and I was involved from a very high level, just walking the property with him and assessing what I saw, confirming what he saw. But I had no intention of coming to work here at that time. You mentioned the book I wrote, and that was something I’d considered for ten years, and when I finally wrote it, it ignited a fire inside that made me think I still have one more in me to do. So when this opportunity came along, things just worked out, and after considering it and speaking with my family, I told them I’d be interested in coming on board, and things happened fairly quickly after that.

Darren: It’s a wonderful story, and I’m glad to have you back, honestly. I feel like the industry is lacking talent like yourself, so it’s creating new opportunities to beg people like you to come back into the chairs. I think at the end of the day, we need you.

Let’s start with you, my friend. We want to hear your opinion. Player Development isn’t just sales, so what is it? I think there are a lot of differing opinions, so tell us what you think it really is.

Todd: Sure. Player Development’s primary role is to provide a revenue vertical essential to the success of a casino operation. There are several verticals we rely on to drive bottom-line results, and relationship-based marketing is absolutely a key component of that. When you think about what role Player Development specifically has in the casino, there are two prongs to it. Some people don’t think it’s a sales position, but it absolutely is a sales position, and it’s a relationship position as well. The relationship is what drives the sales. In every operation I’ve been involved in, Player Development has a goal, there’s a revenue goal associated with it. How do you achieve that goal? Through sales. How do you get the sales? Through relationships.

The Player Development role has evolved over the course of time, and basically that evolution has occurred through technology, access to data, and being objective in how things are approached and measured. Objectivity is a very important part of Player Development, measuring results and making sure they conform to the necessary financial requirements to drive results for the property.

Darren: Agreed. You know, everybody’s a little bit of a salesperson no matter what they do, but it’s a different breed in Vegas and other places. Michelle, same question, if you can give us your ten-thousand-foot view of what Player Development really is, you’ve watched it evolve across multiple jurisdictions.

Michelle Reda: I’ll piggyback off what Todd said, because those are all very good points. I think people have to recognize you build those relationships in different ways. Working in the host office, on the casino floor, years ago we used pen and paper. Now, having tools like Synergy makes it a lot easier to track and plan your day.

To me, one of the basic things in Player Development is truly developing the player. You develop the relationship, Todd mentioned the sales aspect, but you’re truly trying to capitalize on the market share and wallet share of that guest. If a customer is worth $5,000 a month, you’re looking to get them to $10,000. In a market like Las Vegas, you’ll often hear someone say, “I’ve been hosting that customer for 20 years, they used to be a $25,000 customer, now they’re a $100,000 customer.” You respectfully and responsibly develop the customer, the relationship, and the experience, throughout a trip, and it just continues to evolve.

Ken: Aaron, you come from a big regional market out in Iowa. Obviously the term Player Development can mean very different things depending on region versus destination. How does your definition change in that context?

Aaron Harn: I think my definition lines up fairly well with what Todd and Michelle said, but the difference for a regional operator is we don’t have as much transient traffic, nor do we have the same ability to develop a player in terms of growing their share of wallet the way a destination host might. That’s kind of limited by the nature of our customers, but our biggest focus is how do you keep that player loyal to us at the same level while trying to increment that trip for a lift in revenue, if possible. I think the biggest thing is lifetime value, and how do you keep them loyal to the brand.

The question is, what is the state of Player Development? For us as a regional operator, it’s really about what is not the role of Player Development, it’s not to be an ambassador or a hostess, it’s to develop those host-coded guests and maintain that loyalty, connection, and relationship. Same principles, just a slightly different approach.

Darren: Thanks, Aaron. I’ll kick this to Ken and Jonathan. Ken, you were a host, what was that like, and how do you guys define it?

Ken: From my most recent experience with Choctaw, the book I inherited was already fairly well developed, so we always hear the term “the usual suspects,” and they’re difficult to develop further, but they’re still a very important part of the foundation of your business. They’re there for a reason, and that term gets thrown around a lot, but it doesn’t necessarily mean their worth is low. The host has to decide whether that person is worth continuing to try to harvest a little more out of, or if it’s more of a maintenance plan.

Jonathan Eaton: I’ll add, you know, mentioning Pillars and Player Development, that relationship piece is obviously a pillar. I like to think the property also has a relationship with that player, and the host is a very important piece of that relationship, almost a liaison of the property. That’s where things get interesting around data and how hosts interact with it.

Darren: Yeah, it’s definitely changed the landscape. I asked Todd this, and maybe we’ll use it to transition, but I met Todd at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas, and I looked at it as, wow, how did that place make such an impression on me? I saw the host teams operate the way you’d think of Old Vegas, but in a more modern way, the experiences they created, the loyalty. Todd, can that ever be recreated?

Todd: Not in today’s environment. Back when I was at the Hard Rock, 2001 to 2007, that was the heyday for that property, there was really no competition to what we were capable of doing relative to the experiences and amenities we had. Part of the success was that the regulatory environment was much more conservative and less restrictive, and more importantly, there was private ownership, a single decision maker. Peter Morton and his creative genius were very much involved in a lot of what we developed, mostly experiential, whether celebrity-based, pool-party-based, or nightclub-based, Peter greenlit a lot of what we developed and executed on.

So when you think about whether it can be duplicated today, everybody’s in that game now, everybody has nightclubs, everybody’s doing amazing experiential events for players. It can’t be replicated, but some things can be duplicated. I’ll give you a recent example. I went to the Cosmopolitan two weeks ago and got invited up to the 70th floor, four mega-suites. They were having a VVIP event where all four suites were themed differently from one another. It was a cool experience, very VIP. It reminded me of when we took the top floor of the Hard Rock and created a pajama party, a little different, but theming out a floor for VVIP customers only. So, replicated? No. Duplicated in spirit? Sure.

Ken: From a relationship standpoint, I think some of those things can come very close. Especially in regional markets, it’s selling the relationship sometimes rather than the amenities, and I think Aaron might have something to say about that too, coming from a similar background.

Aaron: Yeah, as Todd was talking, I was thinking about what we’re doing right now, some focus groups where we’re talking about amenities. I was thinking about how you build a relationship and keep loyalty when you have one restaurant, one hotel with standard rooms, and 400 slot machines, that’s your whole list of amenities. That’s how important the relationship is in figuring out how to protect the behavior and understand what the guest is expecting every time, sometimes before they even know what they need to ask for. That’s why it’s critical to have the right talent in those roles, people who can see the fire before you start the lighter. When you don’t have all those amenities to stack up and offer, it comes down to the nuts and bolts of the relationship. It’s challenging in these rural markets.

Darren: That’s great insight. Everything’s different, tribal gaming is different from commercial, different markets, and you all have expertise across the board. Let’s talk to Michelle, since she does so much consulting right now and has been in various positions. Tell us a little about where data plays a role in a host’s life and Player Development in general. If we’re in the middle of this decade, where have we been, and where are we going when it comes to intelligence?

Michelle: Data is super important. From an old-school standpoint, there was a much smaller footprint, it was more personalized, you could walk the floor, look at someone’s play, and make decisions one-off. I don’t remember, 20 years ago, us talking about segmenting the database and separating table players from slot players. You just looked and said, okay, this was their theoretical, this is what they won or lost, and comped them accordingly.

Now, the business is very offer- and deal-driven, customers wait for that offer to come through, very heavy on free play. I’d say the customer is different, years ago loyalty meant something completely different. Customers are more loyal to their best deal and best offer now than to a property or a person. So you have to work harder, partner with your database marketing team, and make sure you’re checking exceptions before sending offers out, especially on the higher end, since those can come across as defensive if handled wrong. I’m also a huge advocate of playing faces and adjusting accordingly, because you can’t segment perfectly, you’re going to bucket people together.

Darren: That’s powerful. From the technology side, Jonathan, maybe you can give us insight into how that data is aggregated, given your background.

Jonathan: I think what’s really interesting is this idea of a divide between modern data intelligence and old-school host intelligence. Sometimes it feels like a huge wedge between those two things, but especially with AI and where we are with large language models, I don’t think that wedge needs to exist as much anymore. They need to be complementary, and that’s where technology needs to shine, there needs to be less friction between the host and their ability to add into the common, shared pool of information about a player, because there’s stuff in that relationship only the host is going to know. That’s the old-school intelligence, and it’s still incredibly relevant, and will remain relevant for a long time, into 2030 and beyond.

The real barrier to break through is that divide, and that’s where technology and data can make a huge difference. When you look at player segmentation, your executive hosts have very direct relationships with those players, how are those preferences being captured? Is it easy for hosts to capture them? And once captured, how do we look at that from a modern data intelligence perspective, weighing in what we’re seeing from the CRM, and get the right insights back to the host at the right time. That’s where modern technology can make a huge difference, and there are still a lot of gaps to fill.

Darren: Aaron, you’ve had the opportunity to build from scratch in your market. How are you looking at the tools out there, aggregating data starting with a small team?

Aaron: It’s interesting we’re talking about this, because from our focus groups we’ve learned that almost every player has figured out how to do the math. They know that if they don’t card in today but card in tomorrow, their offer or theo won’t get divided, they can predict their own value. So as we talk about data integrity, is it time for us as an industry to look at what that means for reinvestment? Are we using the right model, the right math? Game designs are changing faster than we can keep up with, and are the pay tables letting us drive reinvestment the way we think we’re doing it, because, as Michelle said, you can offend a player very easily with the wrong offer.

It’s becoming very challenging. Predictive analytics and instinct are more important than ever, because husbands and wives share cards, people card in and out because they don’t trust the process, they know they can raise their theo by timing it. All of that has to come into play, and this is where AI can help you build a more solid approach to reinvestment, if you really pressure-test your models.

Jonathan: I’ll add to that, the foundation of AI, there are really two things that have gotten us to this point where AI is becoming so powerful. One is processing power, NVIDIA and everyone else have solved that, we have very fast, very expensive hardware now. But the other is that the lifeblood of good AI is good data. From a PD perspective, everything Aaron just mentioned, the quality of the data we’re getting from the host, is incredibly important to the equation. When we know more about the player from that side, and bring that into the AI equation along with everything coming real-time from the CMS, that’s what leads to insights that can be very powerful.

Ken: Aaron, you just brought up a really good point that’s a point of contention for a lot of casinos, the free play question. I want to start with Todd and then come back to you. One of our audience members asked, how do you communicate with players who want free play every time they walk in the door, beyond the promotions they receive in the mail?

Todd: It’s a great question, and a very gray area. Michelle touched on this, you’ve got to play to faces. Some players absolutely deserve it, because the offer they receive doesn’t dictate the value they actually have for the casino, and based on what Aaron said, they understand the game, they know how to manipulate the numbers by carding in and out so offers don’t get divided. It’s definitely a gray area, and definitely a face game. The ones that deserve it, you give it to them without hesitation. The ones that don’t, that’s the finesse, how do you say no in a way they’ll accept without getting upset?

The same applies to any reinvestment with a player, you get someone who loses a chunk of money and wants a discount, an allowance, airfare, and then they come back three weeks later after winning and it’s like, what about that $50,000 I just gave you? It’s a finesse game, very gray, no black-and-white answer, and how you say no is where the relationship comes in. That’s the host’s responsibility, and we deal with it all the time.

Darren: Aaron, I’m sure you have opinions on this, I bet you hear similar demands.

Aaron: We do. With limited amenities, this is one of the biggest tools in our arsenal for Player Development, but it is a very gray, face-based area. What’s most critically important is developing the relationship to the point where you can tell your player plainly, I can’t do this for you today, or I can. If you start saying “today I’ll give you $100, but next time,” you’re never going to get out of that cycle. You need a solid enough relationship from the start that they understand we value their loyalty, but based on their play, here’s what I can and can’t do. Honesty is the best policy, if I can do it, I will, if I can’t, I’ll tell you, because I don’t want to create a spiral of upside-down reinvestment.

Jonathan: I’ll add, with more data and intelligence on the player, some of those interactions can be better informed. Is there more potential with this player that we can infer from a holistic understanding of them, based on the data we’ve gathered, and let that better inform the host’s judgment call.

Darren: Michelle, do you have anybody by name you’d like to call out that you’ve kicked out or told to take a hike?

Michelle: No, there’s no one I’d like to call out. I do agree it’s the transparency piece. Everyone’s touched on the finesse of saying no, or sometimes someone has a bad month, and if they come in on the first of the next month, you might say, you had a rough month, I’ll give you this, but explain why. As Aaron said, you don’t want to leave it open-ended so they come back every day asking. Transparency about the exception, explaining it, and if it’s a no, finessing that response with some factual backup helps. And if you can compromise and give them a little something, it usually makes them feel good, then you explain why and move on.

Darren: Let’s use that as a transition to talk about technology, Michelle, since you’re already talking. I have a quote here from you, that technology is amazing and speeds up the process, but you don’t think it changes how relationships are established and maintained. Tell us what technology is really doing to the host-player relationship.

Michelle: I don’t think technology hurts, I think it should be used as a tool. It can organize a host’s day, we’re talking about Synergy and CRM systems, it’s a great way to look at your customers and decide who to invite to an event. There are so many experiences now, whether it’s a hosted day or a ticketed event, technology is a great way to organize and execute your day. But I do think a customer expects that personal one-to-one touch, so using technology as a tool while maintaining personalization, reaching out by text or email, addressing people by name instead of a blanket greeting, always goes further. Technology absolutely organizes your day and makes your job more efficient day to day.

Darren: Why don’t we ask the tech guys? Jonathan?

Jonathan: I agree. Technology for the sake of technology is a terrible idea, it just adds unnecessary complexity. When you look at what a PD person is doing, especially at the higher end, it’s relationship building, so the basic question is, is the technology supporting the host in creating a better relationship with their players? That happens through good data, and it also happens by greatly reducing friction. I’m not a host, I’m kind of a nerd, but I’ve learned a lot from Ken, and one thing I know about hosts is they’re not always the best at putting information into systems. Reducing that friction is incredibly important, so it’s easy for hosts to put information in, maybe even want to, because they’re getting a feedback loop that helps them build a better relationship with their players. Now, especially with modern technology, those pieces are in place, we just have to make it work.

But the people part of this is still incredibly important. AI’s not replacing everybody today, maybe in 20 years, I don’t know, but it’s not replacing anyone today, and I’d argue the authenticity of that relationship will last a very long time regardless of where AI goes. No matter what, that relationship is important, and technology needs to support it.

Darren: Agreed. Todd, do hosts today look at these solutions and technology as their best friend, or are they afraid to dive in because they feel like they’ll lose power in their job?

Todd: There’s some hesitation still, unfortunately, driven by not wanting to share their book, being protective of what they believe is their greatest value in their role. Having said that, access to data in a consumable format for a casino host is invaluable. Using the tools that come standard with a CMS system isn’t enough, going into patron management and pulling up players one at a time, without being able to create filters and pull data on a bigger-picture level, is unfortunate for a host. I believe, because I’ve proven it, that data visualization is extremely important, as long as the tools being developed are drillable, so you can get down to a singular answer. When you provide that to a team, that’s when the power starts happening, that’s when results show and success becomes evident.

Darren: Aaron, in your markets, do you see hosts wanting more tech, more systems, or is there an aversion?

Aaron: A bit of an aversion. Sometimes the tech is so hard to interpret it becomes more of a challenge than it’s worth, and people turn away from it because they’re not sure what they’re even looking at. Our hosts are asking us to keep it simple, tell them their bandwidth, their reinvestment amounts, and send them on their way. Our hosts aren’t used to larger books, larger values, and all the variables out there, so honestly, I think our hosts are probably pretty scared of technology.

Darren: Let’s use that as a segue, the best technology gets the host back to hosting, but we have to measure, we need KPIs. Michelle, you’re probably in the best position to speak to how KPIs are created and tracked, and how that information gets to the C-suite.

Michelle: As a good department head, you look at what Todd mentioned earlier, production goals, and if a host is pacing and exceeding targets, I want to highlight they still might not have good follow-through, so you have to look at it all-encompassing. We want to use technology as tools and give measurable expectations to a host so they understand if they’re exceeding, falling short, or where they need coaching. When you have accurate information logged, it’s a great coaching opportunity, so I use that human aspect first, look at their goal, how they’re pacing, and go from there. I think making contact matters, sometimes a text, not always a call, staying in that human aspect while measuring and staying transparent, and making sure they’re booking special events.

Something great to do, when you invite customers to a tournament, look at their book and say, you have 40 qualifying customers, we expect a 10% conversion, and keep a friendly, competitive tracking within the department of who’s pacing well. Not everyone fits the same mold, I can think of a host who was phenomenal but was more of a “splinter” host, doing citywide events rather than in-house ones. You have to know your team, coach them, bring out their best, and use tools like this more as coaching, since success shows in the production anyway.

Darren: Jonathan, how are you helping your customers track KPIs, and do you help them create the KPIs they’re tracking?

Jonathan: One major aspect here, measuring impact is obviously important, but follow-through is where things tend to break down. We go buy a new tool or software, install it, and six months later hosts aren’t using it, it’s basically shelfware. My recommendation for everybody, whatever PD solution you get, is to have clear outcomes you’re trying to establish before you get the solution, and that provider needs to be there for you at the beginning and continually afterward, because adoption and follow-through are where I see projects fail over and over, especially in PD, it can be like herding cats sometimes, no offense intended, that’s just what people tell me.

There’s a lot of friction, you have to get people on board to follow through, and make sure measurable outcomes are actually being achieved, and if they’re not, there has to be an adjustment, based on what’s happening three or six months after onboarding any technology. That’s where a lot of things fail, we get into a cycle of “I need the solution,” bring it in, consider it done, and leadership’s eyes move to the next thing they need to fix. You can’t forget about the investment, the people, and the outcomes, you have to keep coming back to make sure they’re actually being achieved.

Darren: Great insights, you’re knee-deep in this every day across a lot of different markets and clients. I want to ask Todd, since you brought this up, social media influencing has become a big part of the job. Is that expected, part of the job description, or more of a hope?

Todd: I wouldn’t say it’s part of the job description, but it’s certainly an integral part of a Player Development strategy. One of the things that changed dramatically over the seven and a half years I was out of the business is the importance and impact social media influencers now have in the gaming space. When I first got back, I was told about a huge event coming up with slot influencers, and I wanted nothing to do with them, I thought they were like advantage players. I pushed the responsibility over to marketing.

As time went on, I did some research, saw huge potential, scheduled meetings with some of them, and the results were dramatic. They’re not outbounding other than posts on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube, they’re not making phone calls, though they do send emails, but they have a captive, loyal audience, and when they bring people to your property, there’s no question whether they’ll spend money, they game. It’s a whole different vertical in the Player Development game, and a very important one that we’ve embraced.

Darren: If you get the right host, it’s basically free advertising.

Todd: Some of them, yes, but I’m not advocating going out and capturing every influencer, some of them you don’t want to be associated with. But there are some who treat it like a real, structured business and are committed to delivering what they promise.

Darren: Michelle, same question, is this becoming more of a requirement or still a nice-to-have?

Michelle: I think it’s a nice-to-have, and what Todd just said is important, not everybody’s good, not everybody’s good for the property. You have to figure out what’s in it for both sides, it’s not a one-way street. You have to be honest about what you’re trying to gain, and whether that influencer is willing to do what you need. It’s definitely a partnership.

Todd: Absolutely, and some influencers just aren’t good for the industry.

Michelle: Understood, yes.

Darren: We’re going to stay a little extra, you’ve all been gracious enough to allow that, but I want to move us into some more content since we still have to get to AI. Hosts own the relationship, the property delivers the experience. Aaron, or anyone, talk about how a casino host owns that relationship and keeps it aligned with the property, honestly.

Todd: You have to pay attention to it, that’s the bottom line. Like anything in the operation, you have to make sure things are measurable and that you’re getting the results you expect. With everything we do in a casino, if there aren’t goals, and they’re not measurable, the effort becomes just an ad hoc approach. Structure is very important, and measurable results relative to your goals are paramount to success, at least they have been for me.

Darren: I asked everybody this question, what if a host takes your data? Todd was nice enough to say, who cares? And that’s true, you can’t stop somebody from having a deep relationship when that’s literally what you told them their job was. Jonathan, what have you seen in the markets you view from your side of the business?

Jonathan: At the high end, on the executive host side, you’re not going to stop that relationship, they’re going to see each other, exchange personal cell numbers. You can try to put technology overlays on this with IT to prevent data exfiltration, but you’re not going to stop two people from meeting at a coffee bar somewhere. What’s really important is the property’s relationship with the host, and what technology can do to remove friction between the host and the property to better service the guest. Going back to old school versus new school, if we have more information about the player that’s shared back with the property, a symbiotic relationship can form between host and property. If it’s a well-performing host, they don’t want to leave, because the property is also part of that relationship and is helping the host. Ripping that away is like ripping Venom out of Spider-Man, it’s really hard to do.

Darren: Ouch. Aaron, let’s talk about compliance, how is that being worked into host teams? Iowa’s a pretty tough state.

Aaron: Iowa’s got some big regs, but it’s a little less strict when it comes to discretionary reinvestment. As long as hosts are delivering on guest expectations and meeting their needs, we’re generally fine, I don’t have much negative to say about compliance on the Player Development relationship side, we get more stuck on compliance around promotions and events. But the Player Development team has access to all the player data and behaviors, a lot of personal information, and we take that very seriously.

Darren: In the interest of time, let’s move to AI. From player database to enterprise intelligence, everybody wants to talk about AI. Michelle, what are you seeing in the implementation of AI across gaming enterprises, and how will it affect host teams over the next five years?

Michelle: I think hosts and Player Development teams are somewhat scared of AI, wondering if it’s going to replace them. I think there’s real hesitation, but it can be a good tool, and it’s only as good a tool as you allow it to be. I put together a glossary of terms we use in Player Development, and someone said, why don’t you just ask AI? And I said, what would you even ask it if you don’t know the terms yourself? We have to move slowly and understand there’s still value in the knowledge we already have, and sharing that knowledge with AI can absolutely enhance what you’re trying to do, put together a deal, solve a problem, but the knowledge starts with the individual. Working in tandem with AI, instead of treating it as a complete threat, I find it helpful, I’ll ask it questions, or write things out myself, but I still want to think for myself. I hope we all agree we don’t want AI doing our jobs.

Darren: Todd, my lawyer told me AI can nullify client privilege, get me in trouble if I upload the wrong document based on NDAs I’ve signed. How do you wrangle everybody in the organization around this while it’s still the Wild West?

Todd: It’s a scary space, because the regulatory environment is essentially non-existent when it comes to AI, though there’s been a lot of news recently about regulation and putting barriers around some of the functionality. Specific to what I’ve been exposed to since getting back in the game, our entire call center runs on AI here, and a function of that is Player Development outbounding. It’s pretty slick, you’d never know a computer was calling you, because it has all the information and is fully definable based on whatever criteria you want for player selection. We haven’t implemented it yet, it’s still in beta, but it’s powerful. It’s not taking the place of a host, because we’re not letting it call hosted players, it’s calling players who haven’t been attached to a host yet, or whose visit frequency isn’t high enough to warrant a host call. Definitely a scary space.

Darren: Jonathan, you’re close to this.

Jonathan: I could talk a whole hour on this, but I’ll be brief. At the low end of segmentation, there are great tools now to service and extend your relationship with those players, text-to-speech and speech-to-text are fast and pretty slick, and that’s going to keep getting better. I haven’t seen many full-scale implementations yet, mostly piloting.

At the high end, on the executive side, AI lets you have more of a dossier on your player, more real-time intelligence, like, your player just walked in, we haven’t seen him in two weeks, here’s what we know about his drink preferences, should we send someone to bring him his jacket and Coke? That’s developing now and will keep growing to support the host over time. Predictive analytics are getting more advanced, and that’s more on the database marketing side, but those insights come downstream to the PD team.

There’s also a really important angle around problem gambling, that’s a whole other hour of conversation, but AI can surface certain insights when a player may be tipping into problem gambling, informing the host, and what they do with it is up to the property and host.

On data sovereignty, big picture, regulation and data sovereignty matter a lot, especially with tribes, you have to be careful what you’re putting into ChatGPT and what you’re not. There are tools where you can run AI completely on-premises at your property, so the data never leaves the environment. If you want to ask something like, “Tony’s coming in today, can you give me a brief look at his play, his preferences, and some advice on how to interact with him,” you can do that with everything living entirely on-prem. That technology exists today, and I’ll plug Synergy, that’s one of the things we do.

Darren: Good plug. Aaron, are you dipping a toe into the AI pool?

Aaron: Yeah, we are, and I think there’s huge value there, especially for us as a small property with a small team, what can we use AI for to expand our reach? Things like, “I wish I had time to do this but I don’t,” that’s a great use case for AI. But you need to trust the people using it, and make sure guardrails are in place. One thing I’ve noticed with AI, in this Wild West phase, is that people generate reports and data from it without even digesting what’s coming out. My question is always, what are you learning from this? Are you just using it to polish something? You need to understand what you’re asking the tool to do, and take the time to read the results.

Jonathan: I’ll jump in on that too, to me, the most powerful force on Earth today is somebody experienced and high-aptitude, coupled with a really good AI. Not taking what they call “AI slop” and just copying and pasting it back in, or blindly following what it says, you have to digest it and ask it questions if you don’t understand something. Someone mentioned “FaceTime” earlier, a PD term I’d never heard before, just ask AI what it means, no ego involved, it’ll give you the context to help.

Aaron: You’re not going to win any points for using AI if you don’t know how to use it.

Michelle: Right.

Darren: It’s only as good as what you put into it.

Ken: We have some questions, if we have time, we can go a couple extra minutes. First one: most hosts constantly go after their low-hanging fruit, the usual suspects who always show up. What have been some of the most successful efforts targeting potential defectors and decliners?

Michelle: I’d say events, specific promotions targeting those segments of the business. Of course there are super loyal customers you wouldn’t want to leave out, but when you take the time to do a dinner, a promotion, something focused directly on those declining customers, you usually get a response and can find out if there’s a reason for the decline, sometimes out of everyone’s control, but often you can turn it around by focusing on those specific segments.

Aaron: I was thinking along the same lines, I’m a root-cause guy, why are they a one-tripper? That’s hard to figure out since they’ve only been in once, but something was broken, or something didn’t come across right for their brand. It’s a good reminder that we need to be on point all the time, because you never know when you’ll make the wrong impression and create a one-tripper.

Ken: I’ll add, to close it out, from a host perspective, sometimes the most important thing you can do is simply ask. It’s okay to fall on the sword and say, “it was unfortunate you fell through the cracks, I apologize, I’d love to get this relationship back on track,” or just calling and saying, “we noticed you haven’t been in a while, what’s going on?” That simple, personal outreach can often rehash the relationship.

Darren, do we have time for one more question?

Darren: Yeah, I’d say so, and then we’ll close out.

Ken: Last question: what’s the biggest operational or technical hurdle keeping your casino hosts off the floor and away from VIPs?

Darren: We’ll go to Todd.

Todd: I think it’s being tied to a desk to get access to data. If you can give hosts mobility to look up players and spend more time on the floor, then they’re accessible. But that technology doesn’t exist for most operations. If you can give them mobility, they won’t be stuck at the desk, because they want to be on the floor meeting new players and taking care of existing ones.

Darren: Aaron, final thought on that?

Aaron: I was thinking mobile tech as well, but also, in my markets, our hosts get pulled in a million different directions. “Hey, the person doing the drawing got called in today, can you cover?” Those are the things that pull regional hosts away, and we have to break that behavior.

Michelle: I agree with Aaron, I immediately thought of regional markets and how hosts wear multiple hats. It’s okay to assist, but sometimes it’s more than assisting, and then it’s not fair, they don’t get to focus on their actual job.

Darren: That’s it, we’ve gone so far over, and I appreciate our speakers for that, I’m sure they have real jobs, unlike me, I just sit here all day. A couple of quick announcements. Synergy Information Solutions will be at G2E, booth 4013. Ken, anything special you’re doing at the show?

Ken: We’ll be showcasing our Pillars Host PRM and our Pillars Local AI. Jonathan alluded earlier to keeping AI data on-prem, we’ll have both of those there. We’ll also be hosting an after-hours event Tuesday, I’ll send the link out to everybody. If you’re not into the club scene and want somewhere a little quieter, with some handcrafted cocktails, we’ll be doing that, more information to come.

Darren: Very cool. We also have a webinar coming up on the state of hotel guest experience and booking, next Thursday, September 24th, QR code on the screen. By show of hands, who’s going to be at G2E? Todd, Aaron, Ken, Michelle?

Michelle: Yes.

Darren: Everybody’s going to be at G2E, so hunt them down and find them, you can catch up with those guys at Synergy’s get-together. There’s also a Diamond Spotlight party honoring the villas at Caesars Palace and the Yaamava’ Resort and Casino for achieving their Five Diamond designations. And we’re giving away that seven-night cruise to the Bahamas and Western Caribbean from Margaritaville at Sea, you can bring three people per cabin, so if you want to jam into a cabin with your family for seven nights, we’ll be reaching out to the winner.

Thank you to Synergy Information Solutions, Ken and Jonathan, for making this free and letting us talk about Player Development, it’s been really fun. Thank you to our speakers, Todd, Michelle, and Aaron, for giving up your time to share your insights.

Let’s close out, starting with Michelle, Todd, and Aaron, then we’ll let Synergy close us out. Todd, any last-minute advice for anyone managing Player Development or working in the casino industry?

Todd: Make sure you have measurable goals and create accountability. Don’t try to operate from the office, be in touch with your team, be part of your Player Development team, and meet the players. Build a relationship with the players your hosts are taking care of.

Darren: Besides hiring Michelle, what other advice do you have?

Michelle: I agree, there’s such a human element to what we do. Have policies, procedures, and guidelines, but be open. Hosts are often nervous when they come to present something to you, maybe asking for an exception, so always maintain that human element, whether hosting or managing, and try to reach a compromise. Sometimes you won’t be able to, but be open-minded, understand we operate somewhat in a gray area, and try to see each side while always looking out for the best interest of the property, and following the rules, regulations, and compliance, that goes without saying.

Darren: Aaron, final thought?

Aaron: Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Realize times are changing, guest demographics are changing, people are getting younger, and what’s always worked doesn’t mean it’ll always work. Don’t be afraid to try new things.

Darren: Jonathan, why don’t you say our final word.

Jonathan: I’ll just say thank you so much, Darren, thank you to the NV Strategies team, thank you to the panelists, really appreciate it. Looking forward to seeing everybody at G2E.

Darren: Ken?

Ken: As a former Player Development person, I’d say work on your craft. If you’re afraid of AI and think it’s going to take over your job, you’re probably right. But if you’re confident in what you do and don’t think it will, you’re probably also right. There’s one thing you really can’t replace, and that’s a player’s desire to connect with their host. If you’re good at that, it’s very hard to be replaced.

Darren: Thanks, everybody, we really appreciate you coming out and sitting with us for an hour and twenty minutes, I know it’s a long time out of your day. Stay tuned for more next week, and thanks to our speakers and to Synergy, appreciate everybody’s time. We’ll talk soon.

Michelle: Thank you.

Jonathan: Bye, everybody.

Todd: Fair enough. Bye-bye.