The “Golden Rule” in casinos doesn’t have anything to do with being nice to your neighbor.  Their most important axiom is the ol’ Pareto Principle, or the 80-20 rule.

The casinos know that as much as they love when John and Suzy from Tulsa come for the weekend and lose $150 in the slots and buy the $7.99 buffet, John and Suzy aren’t paying for the Picassos in their lobbies and the shows in their theatres.

What’s paying for the luxury that keep John and Suzy coming are the Whales.Don’t think Whales or High Rollers are exclusive to that one glittering city in the desert (or the Indian reservation near you).   High Rollers are in every industry, including the theatre.

High Rollers are your premium ticket buyers.  High Rollers are your subscribers.  In the Off-Broadway world, High Rollers are your full price buyers.

Even though they may not represent 80% of our revenue, these people, who are willing to spend top-dollar plus, are people we need to pay attention to and respect.  More High Rollers means a higher profit margin.  So how do you get more of them?

Think about what Vegas does to take care of their High Rollers.

Now what do you do to take care of yours?  Do you greet them?  Do you give them free stuff?  Would you make a dinner reservation for them?

Watch your whales.  High Rollers keep the money “rolling on in.”

($10 iTunes gift certificate to the first person who posts a comment with the name of the musical that lyric is from.  No googleating – my sniglet that means cheating using Google).