Selective Enforcement
- By Curtis Steuber
- Published 06/10/2008
- Gambling
- Unrated
Most casinos both live and online
casinos, post their rules somewhere. It best serves both the casino and the
players if everyone has access to the rules. When players know what is or is
not permitted it promotes fair play and a sense of order. Stability and
consistency are attributes every casino should strive for in order to develop a
solid player base. When the rules are posted and made known everyone should be
expected to follow them and conversely the casino should be expected to enforce
them. So do casinos really enforce all the rules for all the players?
In a utopian world where every
person did what they were supposed to, there would be no need. The players
would not need casino staff to step in because there would not be an issue
requiring their attention. Unfortunately this is an imperfect world with
imperfect rules. While it is nice to think everyone is subject to the sanctions
outlined it is not likely. Casinos are in the business of making money and the
fact of the matter is, their higher stakes clients bring a lot of business to
them. It is in their best economic interest to keep their best players happy.
If a few so called minor gambling rules are broken and no one complains the house may
look the other way. Even if there are complaints it is hard to figure out if
action is really taken against the high volume players. After all, a casino
would not want to advertise some punitive action against a well known player.
Scaring away other potential business is almost the same thing as a loss. For
brick and mortar casinos, including the Las Vegas casinos and the Atlantic City casinos, getting a high roller into the casino alone is a
difficult job, strictly enforcing the rules may depend on which rule is at
issue.
Online casinos may have it easier
when it comes to enforcing rules. It is easy and less combative when you can
take action against a player with just a few clicks of the mouse. However
if something is glaring and obvious it may be hard to ignore. Internet forums
are prone to gossip and every so often the gossip is actually true.
The next time you sit down to play
remember all rules are created equal, but not every player is considered equal.
I am not trying to discourage you from reporting any rule violations but the
reality is small time players are likely to attract less attention from casino
staff.
