An unnamed casino has asked the Silver Strike Club for our input on how best to distribute a new $200 silver strike. The strike will be issued shortly, and the casino wants to do it in a way that will be as fair as possible and will avoid the ill will that surrounded some of the releases at casinos such as the Four Queens. They are planning to produce 200 of the strikes that will be obtained by trading in 20 of their current $10 strikes.

So here is your opportunity to provide input on how it should be done. Some ideas tossed around include those below, but in all cases, distribution would be limited to 1 per person:

- Just release them, no advance notice, no publicity, no nothing. Let word of mouth notify everyone. Issue them on a first-come, first served basis. In other words, pretty much the way it is done now in most casinos.
- Plan for and announce a specific release day and time and stick to it. People would line up to get one.
- Limit distribution to members of the Silver Strike Club.
- If you want one of the strikes, you would contact the casino (in person, by mail or e-mail) and request a certificate which entitles the holder, by name, to trade for 1 of the strikes. One certificate per person until all 200 certificates are gone. Each certificate holder is assured of getting a strike, even if they can’t get to the casino immediately.

There are obviously many more ways to do it. How would you like to see the release handled? Any of the ideas above? Some combination of them? Share your thoughts with us by e-mail to me or by posting them on this board.

Here is an example of a casino talking to its customers and asking for input. Since this is a behavior we would like to encourage, please give your answer some thought.

Doug Conley
2nd Vice President