New Monitoring System Will Tell Casinos How You Play : Gaming: ‘Pit Boss’ records wagers, winnings and much more. People who sign up to use cash cards have a good chance of being monitored.

CHICAGO — Casino gamblers beware. The pit boss may be watching more closely than you think.

Casino Data Systems Inc. plans to start marketing a new electronic system, called Pit Boss, that keeps track of each bet and winnings on table games.

In true Orwellian spirit, the new system, due early next year, is considered the most detailed yet in its ability to track bettors’ wagers and other activity.

The system keeps a historical record of each wager, the time it was made, theoretical win value and a host of other information.

“It starts to scare people when you tell them exactly what they’ve been doing--what their last bet was and when they made it,” said Stephanie Maddocks, director of research and development for Las Vegas-based Casino Data.

The company already has a similar system in place to track betting on slot machines when gamblers use cash cards instead of coins.

Other companies, such as International Gaming Technology and Bally Entertainment Corp., also make tracking systems, but none compile the kind of detailed information Pit Boss does, Casino Data Systems officials say.

Casino Data Systems’ programs generate player profiles that include the player’s name, nickname, times and games played and wagers made. The reports also include the player’s address and phone numbers, date of birth, Social Security number and anniversary dates. In addition, records indicate what type of games a customer tends to play and calculates the theoretical win based on average bets, times played, game speed, and player skill level for each game type.

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How do you know if you’re being electronically monitored?

If you sign up for a cash card instead of using cash to gamble, there’s a good chance your every move is being tracked, according to Maddocks. You are, in effect, voluntarily enrolling by using a card, she said.

At Grand Casino Inc.’s properties, the customer fills out a survey to get the card. The survey also asks for other information about the player, including hobbies and music preferences, for example, said Thomas Brosig, executive vice president of Minneapolis-based Grand Casinos, which has properties in Las Vegas and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

The information, he said, is for marketing purposes only.

“I know it might look funny from the outside looking in, but people are very comfortable with it,” Brosig said of the tracking systems. “No one has to put their names in, but they do it because they understand we’ve committed never to sell our lists and because they want to be marketed to.”

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Grand Casinos’ customers are inclined to participate because they stand to win free tickets and coupons, he said. For example, if the casino books a jazz artist, it may send tickets to all of its customers who indicated an interest in jazz, he said.

Argosy Gaming Co. President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Norton said information generated by player tracking is one of the best marketing tools a casino has.

By tracking players “we know if this is a nickel player, a quarter player, a dollar player; we know if he plays for 40 minutes or a couple of hours,” Norton said.

Grand Casinos’ Brosig said his company will give customers their profiles upon request, but will not provide other information that may be used to support claims of gambling losses.

“If they want it for the IRS, we won’t do it,” he said. “Otherwise we’d get 3 million requests every April 14.”