The myths and realities of casino hosts
In pop culture, Las Vegas casino hosts are almost as legendary as the players they sometimes serve, the uber-rich bettors known in gambling slang as “whales.”
But the biggest challenge casino hosts face isn’t getting finicky players to bet — it’s getting the support and understanding they need from management to do their job. That observation was one of the takeaways during a twoday conference on casino-host development last week at Bally’s Las Vegas.
Hosts are often seen as smooth-talking glad-handers dishing out show tickets and free penthouse suites. But the truth is, and should be, more prosaic: Casino hosts are, according to presenters at the conference, professional salespeople.
“When it comes to the competitive landscape in gaming, the general managers and gaming executives understand it’s an extremely competitive world out there,” said Steve Browne, president of Raving Service, a part of Raving Consulting, the company behind the conference. “But they didn’t grow up in the sales environment.”
Management often regards hosts as “huggers,” and perceives the job is simply to keep players happy, Browne said. “But selling to them was not a standard part of business, so we didn’t learn how to sell.”
This concept of the “hugger” comes, in part at least, from the history of the profession.
At the start of the conference, Dennis Conrad, president and chief strategist of Raving Consulting, provided a brief summary of the history of the casino host, starting with what