Paddock was reportedly able to use the Mandalay Bay freight elevator as a high-roller perk. It is unclear how Paddock used the elevator. However, when law enforcement officers entered his room after the shooting, they found 10 suitcases filled with guns.
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal
“If they want to hang a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door for four days, and anybody says it’s unusual, then we say to leave them alone," Mike Wootan, a retired casino manager, told USA Today. "We don’t want to go rattling their cages or make them feel uncomfortable."
Source: USA Today
Experts told USA Today that Paddock could have likely received perks such as rooms with better views, private check-in service, and an extra layer of privacy from hotel staff (Paddock reportedly had a "do not disturb" sign hung on his door for his four-day stay at Mandalay Bay).
Source: USA Today
The shooter, Stephen Paddock, was known as a high roller, sometimes gambling with more than $10,000 a day playing high-stakes video poker.
Source: NBC News
The perks enjoyed by high rollers have been cast in a darker light following the Las Vegas shooting.
Joël Robuchon's restaurant in the Mansion at MGM Grand is widely seen as the city's best restaurant. According to restaurant critic Jay Rayner, a meal at the restaurant — which typically costs roughly $600 per person — is a perk that MGM offers high-rollers for free.
Source: The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner
Many casinos have upscale restaurants located within the walls of casino-resorts.
Foxwoods would provide Varano and his friends food on the house — and that's just the start of the culinary benefits of gambling big.
Foxwoods Casino would send a limo to high roller Nick Varano's Boston home two or three times a month to drive him to the Connecticut casino. Varano told the Associated Press in 2006 that he would spend "a minimum of at least $1,000 to $10,000."
Even high-rollers who don't quite meet "whale" status typically play in private rooms, as well as receiving other perks reserved for people willing to wager more money than the average gambler.
High-rolling VIPs play with other VIPs at reserved tables, typically near the main floor, or, sometimes, in "more exclusive and restricted-access areas," according to Kelley.
Source: Business Insider
These penthouses and other hotel rooms are often discounted or comped by the casino if the gambler is known to bet big.
The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas spent millions of dollars redesigning its highest floors, turning them into 21 penthouse suites, completed earlier this year.
Source: Las Vegas Review Journal
Private concerts for high rollers are a classic ploy used by casinos to convince VIPs to visit more often.
Casinos offer known whales perks like free luxury cars, discounts on gambling losses, and even shopping funds — which are especially helpful if they have a spouse who is less interested in spending hours in a casino.
Whales can wager up to $5 million in one night — so casinos need to convince them to visit as much as possible.
Source: The Associated Press
While poker players play the leading role in most high-roller legends, baccarat is actually the game of choice for most whales, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch research analyst Shaun C. Kelley.
Source: Business Insider
The biggest high-rollers in the world of gambling are called "whales": people who regularly wager thousands or millions of dollars in a single night.
Source: Business Insider India