"Are Player's Clubs our friends or foes?" asks John G. Brokopp. In his latest internet article, Brokopp argues that rather than a simple loyalty scheme, Player's clubs are inducements to gamble more.

For those who don't know, Player's clubs are a bit like an advanced version of a coffee shop loyalty scheme. Every time you make a purchase (in this case slot machine plays rather than lattes) you receive credit. The idea being that you begin collect these credits and become a regular customer. In the casino, Players are issued a card, which they insert into gaming machines before they play. The more they gamble, the more the rewards the casino dish out. Further, the casino can compile statistics on the activities of their slot players.

In his article Brokopp suggests that casinos are deliberately exploiting these clubs to encourage regular players to gamble more than they would usually do. Casinos use clubs, he argues, to control when and how much Gamblers play in their casino. For instance, a player may be tempted to gamble a few more dollars than budgeted in order to qualify for some bonus or other. Another player might intend to spend a few hours playing the slots after work on Thursday but is lured into the casino on Wednesday night as well, because the Player's Club has a special offer available on that night only. And so on.

I remember watching what in some ways was a quite tragic documentary about the gambling habits of the retired elderly in Australia. Many of the people featured were widowed and isolated. The local casino, open 24hrs a day, offered these pensioners somewhere to go and forget about their worries. And many would go in the middle of the night, to play the 'pokies' (video poker). This to me was a example of how not to treat a casino.

I'll accept that casinos can provide as much entertainment as income and that having a bet can be good fun. But just because you are having fun gambling, it doesn't mean that the casino, or the bookie, is your friend. Getting into the habit of regularly visiting casinos for entertainment will become a pretty expensive habit. Attempts made by casinos to become part of a persons lifestyle is understandable from a business point of view but morally dubious.

Let's be realistic, loyalty schemes work. I'll admit to going slightly out my way to get that 10th Coffee FREE in Caffenero. And if you treat Player's clubs as something to work for your advantage then you can only get a positive result from signing up. However, be mindful of what player's clubs, slot clubs, or whatever your favourite casino calls their version are there to do - get you in the casino gambling as much and as often as possible.