Applying Operational Research to Casino Operations
If you’re unfamiliar with either topic, this page will provide some background on both, before going on to outline the benefits of OR in the casino operations industry. This is an area that has great potential but has hitherto not been covered in great detail. So, without further ado, lets dig in.
What is Operational Research?
To understand how Operational Research can benefit the casino industry, one must first have a grounding in what OR entails. Simply put, Operational Research is a subset of mathematical sciences, which applies a series of analytical methods to aid in decision making.
It uses statistical analysis, mathematical optimization and mathematical modelling to find solutions to complex decision-making processes. This makes operational research an invaluable tool in management systems and can be put to particular good use in casino operations management.
What is the Operational Research Society?
The Operational Research Society was born out of the conflict of the Second World War, when the British Armed Forces founded several branches of operational research sections to aid in the war effort. Similar sections would follow in the USA and Europe.
While its beginnings can be traced back to 1938, it was not until 1947 that the society proper was established. At that time, it was proposed under the name operational research club and was inaugurated in April of 1948. The club’s first quarterly publication became available in 1950.
Influential Operational Research Studies
To date, there have been a few operational research studies on the topics of gaming, sports betting and casinos. These have proven to be influential in this field, and it is our firm belief that further research into this area could prove beneficial for the industry at large.
One such key study is Kasra Christopher Ghaharian’s A Mathematical Approach for Optimizing the Casino Slot Floor: A Linear Programming Application (2010) which applied programming problem-solving to the optimization of slot machine usage in land-based casinos.
This study found that, not only could operational research techniques be well-applied to casino operations, covering many topics such as online casino bonuses, but that further research is needed due to the many variables involved on a casino floor. One such variable noted by the author, is the variety of slot machine categories, and the effect of changing the volumes of certain categories could have on the success of the casino slots section overall.
How Operational Research Can Benefit Casinos
There are a few ways in which operational research can benefit casinos and online casinos. This principle can be utilized with an aim towards greater utilization of existing games and titles or used to better discern which products could be made available in the future. This would enable companies to understand more fully how to offer the top services, putting their brands among the UK’s best live casino sites, or indeed among the premier options in general.
Aspects of the Casino Industry Where OR Is Helpful
The potential benefits of OR to the casino industry are manifold. There is scarcely an area of casino operation that would not benefit from the implementation of these research methodologies. We’ve identified the following as the most obvious aspects of the casino industry where OR is helpful:
- Casino traffic optimization
- Workplace management
- Customer satisfaction
- Product investment and acquisition
Naturally, there are many other areas besides, but we feel those outlined above are the starkest examples of how research could benefit the operation and management of land-based casinos. With so many markets continuing to open up worldwide, global casino operations would benefit greatly from this kind of research.
Online Casino Operational Research
While OR can be helpful across the casino industry at large, it is our belief that it could be of the most use in the online sphere. There is a great deal of data available in the online gaming industry, which can reveal to us matters of player preferences, habits and the popularity of certain games.
Utilizing this data through operational research principles could allow online casino management to better cater to their player base and get the most out of their current products. Unfortunately, to date, there has been little research in this particular field.
Differences Between Online and Land-Based Casinos
There are great differences between how online and land-based casinos operate, therefore differences in how OR can be applied to each should be expected. For example, when researching traffic, issues of accessibility are different between the two; does a customer have local access to a land-based casino, or do they have access to an internet connection.
In terms of workable data, online casinos have something of an advantage, as player counts and game popularity can be easier to track. Therefore, the workload of researching can differ wildly between the two forms of casinos.
The Current Problem Faced by the Industry – A Lack of Research
While a greater understanding of the benefits of OR is steadily coming to the fore, there is still insufficient research within the field to put to much use. If casinos are to gain a stronger foothold in terms of management and optimization moving forward, operational research into the industry is crucial.
Perhaps if greater incentive were given, a larger interest in this area of study would follow. Should casinos take it open themselves to seek out the services of researchers in order to strengthen their operation management, the situation could be improved upon.
Conclusion – Arguments for Increased Operational Research
There are many arguments to be made in favour of increased operational research in the field of online and land-based casinos. This page has presented just a small fraction of the examples and suggestions written elsewhere and should provide you with some basic understanding.
It is our hope that the advantages of this area of study will be recognized in the very near future, and that the casino industry will be equipped to reap the rewards of a scientific approach to casino operations. We also recommend that you visit the Operational Research Society website.
Frequently Asked Questions
We hope you found this page useful, and that you now understand the topic of operational research a bit better. If there’s anything that still seems unclear, feel free to consult our frequently asked questions and their corresponding answers below.
What is operations research with example?
Operations research is a field of study which uses mathematical problem-solving techniques to find solutions to complex decision-making processes. Studies are often quite lengthy, as they concern a great deal of data. As far as examples are concerned, you can read brief study overview.
What is the use of operational research?
Operational research has a broad variety of applications. In its most basic form, it is used to aid decision-making processes in complex systems. To learn more, we recommend that you read our overview of operational research.
What are operational research techniques?
There are many operational research techniques that may be utilized in problem-solving, but the most common are
What is operational research and its application?
Operational research is a field of study which uses mathematical techniques to find solutions to complex decision-making processes. For more detail, we recommend that you read our introduction to introduction to operational research.
How is operational research used in casinos?
To date, operational research in casinos is a very limited field. While we feel that there are many ways in which casinos can benefit from operational research, there is much room to grow. To learn how OR can benefit casinos, we recommend that you read our overview of potential advantages.
