False Drop and Hold

Introduction | What is Drop? | Hold | Conclusion |

The first question, defining what drop actually consists of, is in fact not as simple as it might first appear.

In essence drop is the monies provided by patrons at a gaming table in exchange for gaming chips. The “monies” may be cash, coin, chip purchase vouchers or other cash equivalents. The problem is that what may be defined as cash equivalents varies from one casino to another. In some cases high denomination chips from another table may be included as drop. Credit markers may be treated in the same manner in casinos where credit betting is allowed. In other casinos chips may be bought at the Casino cashiers or from chip dispensing machines. For those Casinos using non negotiable chips programs, drop will include non-negotiable chip purchase vouchers.

Thus a comparison of drop between Casinos may be misleading if all internal procedural factors are not identical. For example if one were to say that Casino A had an average drop per table per day of $10,000 and Casino B had an average drop per table per day of $11,000 nothing could be concluded in any analysis unless it had also been determined that drop meant exactly the same thing for both Casino A and B.

Once it has been established we were comparing “apples with apples” then analysis could proceed. The same is true within a casino, where internal procedures might change over time. For the purpose of performance measurement and analysis it is best to retain and continue operating with whatever procedures exist with regard to cash handling at the gaming tables. This ensures consistency when comparing results.

Provided then that drop has been kept internally consistent over time or that when comparing different properties table games performance we have established that drop is treated identically or that differences have been isolated, it is possible to use drop as part of a simple analytical tool.