It's a good time to be a casino regular.

With tribal resorts in the Sacramento region challenged by a flattened economy for gambling, casino patrons are feeling the love of a marketing push to keep them playing their favorite slot machines and table games.

Casinos are renewing courtships with repeat customers and wooing gamblers to sign up for special rewards club programs. They're showering favored guests – from small but steady bettors to high rollers – with toaster ovens, buffet visits, Elvis commemoratives, limousine service, and special admission to drawings for cars, trucks and cash.

Promotions are creative and competitive as casinos seek to protect profits by focusing on customers most likely to bring repeat business.

No longer are they assuming that regulars such as John Ligouri, an El Dorado Hills resident who plays the slots at Jackson Rancheria, will simply keep coming.

Playing in his distinctive cowboy hat, Ligouri wagers $500 to $700 on slots at least twice a week, for hours at a time. That has earned him the Jackson casino's prime "Dreamcatcher's Elite" rewards card and a bounty of freebies.

As motivation to continue wagering at Jackson, he gets two $100 free slot play coupons a week. Along with his wife, Karen, a mid-tier rewards card holder, Ligouri has gotten gifts of free jewelry, San Francisco 49ers beer steins, complimentary stays in the Tuscan Suite of the Rancheria hotel and show tickets for Merle Haggard, Wayne Newton and Sha Na Na.

They also have been recruited with offers of free slots play and top rewards card status by the new Red Hawk Casino in Shingle Springs.

So far, they've stayed loyal to Jackson, where John once hit two $2,700 slot winners in one day and another time hit a $4,000 winner. "We're only going to tell you about the good days," he mused.

Catering to every whim

To ensure good days for the casinos, executive hosts, such as Greg Ebner at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, cater to customer whims with renewed vigor. That means chasing down a pack of smokes for someone who doesn't want to step away from his favorite slot machine and lining up limos and tickets to get the most treasured gamblers to see Bruce Springsteen at Arco Arena.

"I try not to say 'no' to anything," said Ebner. So he delivers fine cigars to the home of one high-end gambler. And he checks his computer to see which slots or table-top rewards card members are playing so that he can greet them personally.

Among those he dotes on is Maria Allison. The Roseville real estate broker holds a Thunder Valley "President" level rewards card for accumulating 200,000 points in six months. That means she bet the equivalent of $200,000, including winning and losing bets and bonus credits for free slot play.

"I gamble because of Greg," Allison said. "He is my friend."

Promising free play and gifts, casino promotions aim to sign up thousands of patrons for perks-earning membership cards – "Dreamcatcher" at Jackson, "Thunder Club" at Thunder Valley, "Rewards Club" at Red Hawk and "Cache Club" at the Cache Creek Casino in Yolo County. As members' wagering goes up, so does the loot they get.

"As the competition tries to retain their base and we have to grow our base, the rewards card is the central way of doing that," said Heidi Hamers, vice president of marketing at Red Hawk. "That's the loyalty factor. That's building equity."

The cards also enable casinos to glean information on gamblers' preferences – from casino games to meals – so they can be targeted with promotions to match their tastes.

"We track the play, that's no secret," said Cean Burgeson, communications manager for the Cache Creek Casino Resort. "We determine who the best players are and who has been coming here for a while. We try to hit everybody with some kind of offer."

Clubs target top gamblers

After opening in December, Red Hawk made a concerted push to entice top gamblers from other resorts.

Dale Burke of Fair Oaks accepted Red Hawk's offer of its top "Elite" card and maximum discounts, meals and free slot play coupons. Getting the card because of his play at Thunder Valley and Reno casinos, Burke declared himself a Red Hawk convert.

Call The Bee's Peter Hecht, (916) 326-5539.