The message of this book is simple, says author Bill Friedman, "You can design a casino in very specific ways that will substantially increase or decrease player counts, and thus increase or decrease win and profitability."

Friedman admits he was amazed to find that casinos that most conform to specific design concepts always dominate competitors with weaker designs. In today's megaresort era, with so many pedestrians walking from one hotel/casino to another, designing a casino that will attract players and keep them playing longer - what Friedman calls "player appeal" - is essential to a casino's bottom line. Yet in Las Vegas, where 87 percent of tourists gamble an average of four hours a day, not one of the megaresorts on the famous Las Vegas Strip has managed to lure even 10 percent of its visitors to gamble in its casino areas, and some megaresorts proportion of players to visitors is even worse, as low as 2 to 3 percent.

To determine which casinos are most likely - or unlikely - to capture players from among its many visitors, Friedman analyzed physical design elements and financial and player count data, combined his own astute observation of gamblers' preferences, and condensed the information into thirteen winning and losing principles of casino design that directly correlate with high or low player counts.

Friedman compared interior design elements in the busiest casino areas to those in the slowest. He analyzed the positive and negative effects of architecture, layout, traffic flow, decor, lighting, and signage. Then, he compared nearby casinos that contended for the same market for all major Nevada casinos from 1931 until 1997.

Industry experts acknowledge that Friedman's factual research resulted in truly remarkable data. Casino performances were quantitatively analyzed using total casino win, slot win, number of slots, slot occupancy rate, and player counts. Friedman also developed two new forms of Analysis - the ratios of number of slots to hotel rooms and players to visitors - to assess and compare casinos' appeal to players.

This book serves as an armchair tour of almost every major casino in Nevada's history. The first half of the book explains both the winning and losing aspects of Friedman's thirteen design principles. In the last half, competitive positions and interior designs of eighty-one major Nevada casinos are described and evaluated, illustrated by 164 full-page color photographs showing important interior features.

Friedman has extended the field of interior design perception a quantum leap forward and made casino player preferences highly predictable. At a time when the cost of new casino construction and expansions is tallied in the hundreds of millions of dollars, this book provides an important tool that investors, gaming analysts, and management can use to assess the likely success of any casino venture.

CONTACT US

bill@friedmandesign.com

THE FRIEDMAN MANAGEMENT GROUP

Phone: +(775) 372-1271

P. O. Box 373, Amargosa Valley, Nevada 89020, USA

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