A Letter From Tropicana. Not the Orange Juice People.
Jun 26th, 2007 by Alex
I don’t gamble that often, so I was a bit suprised when I got a letter from the Assistant Vice President of Marketing of the Tropicana last week. Now I’m sure there’s a dozen Assistant VPs of Marketing at every major casino in Atlantic City, but this letter made me laugh.
“I’ve enclosed your latest Tropicana rewards statement including earnings from your last visit, along with my sincere appreciation for your loyalty and your consistent play.”
I’ve set foot on the Tropicana floor exactly twice. The first time I observed some of my friends at the roulette table. The second time — over a year later — I got myself a Diamond Club card and placed some money down on the craps tables, taking a brief break for dinner. Unless they identified me visually as a repeat “customer,” I’m not sure how that could be considered to be loyalty.
As far as consistency, the only thing consistent about me playing at the Tropicana is that I’ve taken away more than I’ve put in. Every time. There is none of the walking-away-even business. I don’t make stupid bets. I don’t take any credit for how the dice land either. The whole thing is entertainment for me; the key thing is that it’s an entertainment that I can walk away from at any point. All that being said I took home double what I put down on the table.
I realize the marketing folks just want to get me (and others like me) back in to let the odds work for them over time, but they’re wasting their time and postage on me. I got food poisoning from the El Cubano sandwich at one of their on-site restaurants, Cuba Libre. So even after the invitation to return, I doubt that I will.
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