A casino management system is the central software of a casino. It records every bet, every win and every player on the casino floor, and it runs the loyalty cards that reward regular players. It is often called a CMS. Every slot machine and every gaming table in the casino is connected to it.
The system has two halves. The first half counts the money. Each slot machine sends the system every bet, every win and every note or ticket it accepts. So the casino knows, for each machine and each hour, how much was played and how much the casino kept. The accounts team uses these figures to work out the casino's earnings and its taxes. Inspectors from the regulator use them to check that no money is missing.
The second half follows the players. A regular player carries a loyalty card, or a loyalty app on her phone. When she puts the card into a machine, the system records what she plays.
Here is a typical case. A player at a casino in Melbourne, in Australia, plays slot machines for three hours with her card in the machine. Her bets add up to A$1,500, because she bets the same money again after small wins. The machines keep 10% of the money played, on average. So the system works out that the casino can expect to keep A$150 from her play. This figure is called the theoretical win. Based on it, the system offers her a reward worth a small part of it, such as a A$30 meal voucher. Rewards of this kind are called comps, short for complimentary. Many casinos run them through separate loyalty programme software.
The other parts of the floor send their records to the same system. Table game management sends the bets made at the card tables. Cashless gaming wallets send each deposit and each transfer to a machine.
The same records help the casino follow the law. A player can ask to be barred from the casino, and the system then refuses her card. It can also alert staff when a player plays for many hours without a break. These duties are described in responsible gambling. Large cash payments must also be reported to the government. In Australia, any cash payment of A$10,000 or more is reported to AUSTRAC, the government's agency against money laundering. The system passes such payments, and unusual patterns of play, to AML transaction monitoring.
Most casino management systems are made by the same companies that make slot machines, and much of their software is built in India.