Ever go to a high school dance where the dance floor was empty because nobody wanted to be the first one to dance? Finally, one brave couple strolls out, perhaps encouraged to do so by a chaperone or staff member, and before you know it the dance floor is full. You just witnessed “Priming”.
Casinos often employ what is known as Proposition or Shill players who are compensated by the casino to help prime poker tables. Without Proposition or Shill players, gamblers would walk into a casino, look around, and walk back out the door. However, the presence of casino-employed players at a table means new players don’t have to wait around to start playing, which translates to more revenue for the casino.
I give a lot of presentations for SCORE and the SBDC, and even though I encourage questions from my audience there is often a long time before someone musters the courage to raise the first question.Sometimes I encourage a co-presenter to ask the first question to prime the system. Often, once that first question is out of the way, the questions keep coming as the floodgates open.
