Roll the Dice

There’s a restaurant (possibly more than one) that lets you roll a die after your meal.

Roll a 6? Your meal is free.

Let’s break that down.
Twelve groups of six come in, each spending $500. Two groups roll a 6. That’s $1,000 in comped meals on $6,000 of revenue—a 16.7% discount.

But here’s the twist: not all groups spend equally. If the winners are the biggest spenders, the discount creeps higher. Risky, right?

Now here’s the genius:
Instead of offering everyone a 16% discount, the restaurant offers someone a 100% discount—and turns it into an experience.

And it works.

Customers love the chance. They spend more—about 25% more—because who wants to win a free meal on the night they only ordered salad?

This little dice game isn’t just fun—it’s strategic psychology.

It made me rethink how we approach concessions and discounts in multifamily.

Why offer the same tired one month free move-in special to everyone when you can gamify the experience? Maybe 1 in 6 new residents wins 3 month’s free. Or a big rent credit. Or a year of free Netflix. People love the chance to win.

Same budget. Different experience. Bigger impact.

Thanks to the subscriber who sent me this story—it’s a great reminder that sometimes the most effective ideas are the ones that seem a little crazy at first.

Time to zag.

— Moshe