ilani Leverages Gaming Analytics to Optimize the Player Experience — with insights and strategies powered by A.I.
Lou Spetrino, Vice President of Gaming and Player Development at ilani, is critical in shaping floor operations; including table games, slots, and sportsbook. With his leadership, an optimal guest experience is delivered with Gaming Analytics, the industry-leading A.I. technology.
The benefits of Gaming Analytics extend from optimizing floor design and improving player development to boosting employee morale and improving communications with the C-Suite.
Slot Operations and the Power of A.I.
Gaming Analytics has revolutionized ilani’s slot operations – enabling streamlined reporting, quick decision-making, and granular insights.
Reports that previously took hours or weeks, have been replaced with a click of a button. For ilani, this ‘click of a button’ replaced Tableau, Excel, a SDS (Slot Data System), the burdensome task of collecting data manually, and orchestrating a chorus of people when requesting a report. AI determines the dashboards that each user needs and automatically delivers it to their inbox.
Gaming Analytics makes what was once difficult – easy – resulting in ilani success stories. Highlights of the partnership benefits slot operations, including:
Enhanced Player Personalization: Gaming Analytics identifies specific games favored by top guests. Even though a game is underperforming, if it is preferred by a Top 200 guest, then Lou may opt to keep it. In such a scenario, Gaming Analytics helps ilani avoid a disappointed VIP player.
Zone Performance Optimization: With 2730 games at ilani, it was challenging to assess the performance of each zone. With Gaming Analytics slot recommendations and insights, ilani quickly identifies underperforming zones and makes adjustments accordingly.
Not only does the A.I. technology draw from ilani’s data – Gaming Analytics also pulls anonymous data from over 400 casinos nationwide through a partnership with Eilers & Krejcik. [read more about the partnership]
With industry-wide data, ilani is able to make decisions with the best available information.
High-Limit Section Optimizations: before Gaming Analytics, Lou estimated the high-limit slot area was approximately 80% occupancy during peak times. Gaming Analytics revealed the occupancy was only 62%, even on busy weekends. With guesswork removed, ilani optimized the high-limit slot room with fewer, but preferred games.
Designing the Casino Floor of the Future: with A.I.
Gaming Analytics optimizes gaming floor layout and helps select the best performing games, enhancing the guest experience and boosting profits. What does this mean?
Efficient Game Selection: With rich insights into player behavior, ilani was able to determine the number of games needed in specific areas, such as VIP rooms. In the earlier example, Lou used Gaming Analytics and determined that only 75 games were required in the high-limit room, based on player occupancy, volatility and similarity of games. Without the A.I. insights, the area would have been over-designed with 93 games.
Adapting to Guest Preferences: By pulling data from the top 200 slot players, Gaming Analytics allows operators to identify most popular themes and games as preferred by most valuable guests. Gaming Analytics identifies where players prefer to play: such as secluded VIP areas versus the main floor.
Efficiency and Time-Savings: Before Gaming Analytics, gathering data would involve numerous person-hours and require wading through complex Excel sheets and pivot tables. Now, this information is readily available with the click of a button. Plus, Gaming Analytics provides 100% accuracy compared to potential human error when done manually.
90-day performance warranty: Lou says an unanticipated benefit to Gaming Analytics is reminding him to evaluate new machines during the 90-day performance warranty.
Enhanced Player Development and Empowering the Host Team
Player development is a cornerstone to casino operations and critical to the bottom line. Traditionally, manual tracking was used to engage with high-value guests. This can be time-consuming, inefficient, and inaccurate.
Key features of Gaming Analytics and its Player Development technology:
The Gaming Analytics Mobile App: With Gaming Analytics, the host team easily accesses data and insights – in real-time – by using the Gaming Analytics mobile app. With instant access to player data and analytics, the Host team can make quicker and more informed decisions. These decisions can be made on the go, while efficiently tracking interactions with guests and performance metrics. This results in higher profits and an improved guest experience.
AI Powered Task Management: Hosts are provided with AI driven call lists and Gaming Analytics tracks and evaluates the results of these calls, ensuring consistent outreach to players. This feature is instrumental to Lou’s management of the Host team.
In-Depth Performance Analysis: With Gaming Analytics, management is able to evaluate Host performance metrics over varying periods, such as quarter-over-quarter or month-over-month. This includes analyses of how Hosts maintain player relationships, develop new or revive inactive guest accounts. Furthermore, the A.I. can deeply dive into player behaviors – such has predicted player life time value, and predicted risk – improving player retention rates
Optimal Reinvestment Tracking: Gaming Analytics allows tracking of reinvestments made by each Host, per player, ensuring that investments made into guest relationships provide an optimal return.
Accuracy is Paramount: Lou emphasized the impeccable accuracy of Gaming Analytics, noting an audit from the finance department found the system’s data to match their records down to the penny. Such precision instills confidence in the tool and ensures consistent and reliable results.
Versatility: Whether assessing a Host’s performance, analyzing guest data, or determining guest origins, Gaming Analytics offers a comprehensive solution. The tool is invaluable for metrics like Player Churn, Player Lifetime Value, Reinvestment, Profit, Game Preferences, Average Daily Theoretical (ADT) and Average Daily Win (ADW), enabling a thorough understanding of guest behavior.
Gaming Analytics’ A.I. tools have revolutionized player development at ilani, making operations more efficient, improving the guest experience, allowing for more informed decision-making, and boosting profits.
The TOP 200 → VIP Engagement
Gaming Analytics simplifies the process of identifying the Top 200. Unlike previous systems like Tableau or Excel, Gaming Analytics uses machine-learning to identify the Top 200 players based on their predicted future value. Furthermore, A.I. technology enhances the guest experience by offering a gaming environment best tailored to player behavior. The result: guest satisfaction and loyalty.
Adaptation to Player Behavior: Gaming Analytics helps identify games that are popular with VIPs, but located outside the high-limit area. With this insight, these machines can be relocated to high limit or VIP areas. The result, ilani guests have shown appreciation for attentiveness and the convenience of having their favorite games in the VIP area.
Invaluable Feedback from VIP Players: ilani organizes events like VIP dinners and focus group sessions, emphasizing a two-way communication channel with their top players. The feedback during these sessions confirms the effectiveness of changes made based on insights from Gaming Analytics. VIPs have expressed gratitude for these changes, remarking on ilani’s attention to detail, making VIP players feel valued and appreciated.
Lou’s Favorite Reports
Lou says he cannot overstate the power of the Gaming Analytics platform and its ability to pull instant, highly accurate reports — which used to take days or weeks in some cases. He cites some of his favorite reports:
Quick snapshot: A daily report that compares the same day to the previous week, occupancy by hour, the number of new patrons, and the value of those who signed up, including the high-limit room. The daily snapshot includes host performance.
By theme, zone and manufacturer: comparing fair-share of the floor used to take hours or weeks – it was a lot of effort compiling different KPIs to look at by theme, by manufacturer, by bank, and by zone. Doing this report manually was a very complex process to pull the data and then put it into an Excel or pivot table. This process has been replaced with a click of a button, Lou says, “Now it’s a click of a button – every morning when I come to my office, this information is at my fingertips – ‘boom’ it comes up instantly, and it’s one of my favorite reports that I like to look at.”
Prior to adopting Gaming Analytics how does Lou describe the process of pulling reports?
“Painful”
Beyond Features and Benefits → Unrivaled Customer Support and Improved Job Satisfaction
Lou says an unanticipated benefit of implementing Gaming Analytics is improved job satisfaction and a morale boost.
In the past, he faced the laborious chore of coordinating multiple individuals to sift through mountains of data, and manually pulling reports. This task involved days – sometimes weeks – and required at least three people; it was nothing short of a “dreadful” experience.
The process was more than just time-consuming; it was mentally taxing and hindered Lou’s ability to make swift and strategic decisions.
With time savings thanks to A.I., Lou and his team can better engage with guests rather than being consumed by running manual reports.
Gaming Analytics Customer Support
Lou, with 30+ years of industry experience, says that the CEO and Founder of Gaming Analytics, Kiran Brahmandam, offers “One of a Kind” attention to service. Lou notes that it’s extremely rare for a vendor to maintain personal, prompt, and effective customer relations — and it’s even rarer when this attention comes directly from the CEO. He highlights the following aspects of Gaming Analytics customer support:
Customer Service: For Kiran and the Gaming Analytics team, exceptional customer service is second nature, as it’s deeply ingrained in the very DNA of the company. Their dedication to excellence in this area is unparalleled in the industry.
Customization and responsiveness: Kiran and his team are responsive to the specific needs of ilani. The support team develops custom solutions such as Host incentive programs.
Promptness and Personal Touch: Lou underscores after 30+ years in the industry, Gaming Analytics’ commitment to customer satisfaction is like none other. For example, as a gesture of goodwill, and over and beyond the exceptional Gaming Analytics support team, Kiran provides his personal contact information. Lou says this level of commitment by a CEO is noteworthy, stating he is amazed when Kiran answers his calls and replies to emails within an hour. Lou states such immediacy and care for the end-user, by a CEO in particular, is unparalleled.
Rapid Turnaround: Whenever a support ticket is submitted to Gaming Analytics, it is typically resolved by the end of the day.
ilani’s President: Gaming Analytics Improves Casino Operations
Kara Fox, President of ilani, is highly impressed with Gaming Analytics. Whenever a question arises or a data-driven insight is needed, instantaneous results amaze her. Including, obtaining instant reports insights that used to take days, and the ability to set up individualized dashboards that deliver insights per users’ preferences.
Lou highlights additional benefits when using Gaming Analytics:
Customization & User-Friendliness: Whether one prefers looking at “coin in per unit per day” or “handle pulls and utilization per game,” the system caters to all, making it increasingly popular amongst staff.
Elimination of Bottlenecks: Previously, multiple report requests created a backlog, delaying insights and decision making. This bottleneck has disappeared thanks to Gaming Analytics, and replaced with smooth operations and timely data-driven decisions.
ilani, Washington: A Premier Gaming Destination
Nestled in the heart of Washington, ilani stands as a beacon of entertainment and gaming excellence. As a premier destination for locals and tourists, ilani offers a diverse range of gaming experiences, highlighted by its impressive collection of 2,730 slot machines. The vast array of slots, combined with table games and other entertainment options, ensures that every visitor finds something tailored to their tastes. Beyond gaming, the casino is renowned for its top-notch amenities, dining venues, and events, making it not just a place to play but a holistic entertainment hub. With its commitment to providing unparalleled experiences, ilani solidifies its reputation as one of Washington’s leading gaming destinations.
Case Study Overview:
Rapid Access to Data: What once took up to days or weeks, is achieved in seconds.
Profit Optimization: With immediate data, the team made swift changes, improving zone configurations, and boosting revenue.
Enhanced Efficiency: No more bottlenecks. The streamlined process means Lou and his team can focus on what matters, driving results and the guest experience.
Customer Support: For Gaming Analytics, exceptional customer support is fundamental to good business. Operators state our support team leads the industry with its personalization, attentiveness, quick response times, and willingness to do whatever is necessary to make your A.I. experience exceed all expectations.
Simplicity Meets Power: With a user-friendly interface, Gaming Analytics offers complex KPIs without a learning curve.
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About ilani
Located on the Cowlitz Reservation in Ridgefield, Washington, ilani, developed by the Cowlitz Tribe and Salishan-Mohegan, a partnership that includes Mohegan Sun, one of the world’s foremost gaming and entertainment developers and operators, is the Pacific Northwest’s premier gaming, dining, entertainment and meeting destination. With nearly 400,000 total square feet, ilani includes 100,000 square feet of gaming space with nearly 3,000 slots and 75 gaming tables; 15 different restaurants, bars, and retail outlets; and a 2,500-seat meeting and entertainment venue hosting nationally recognized performances.
About Gaming Analytics
Gaming Analytics, Inc. is a leader in artificial intelligence for the gaming industry, providing the simplicity of a search engine with the power of machine learning. Founded in 2017, Gaming Analytics is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
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