I got a lot of questions after my September 7th blog entry, most of them about the subject of casinos using daily average to determine what rewards and offers to send you in the mail. Here is a sample: 

How do we, the players, know if our play is based on daily average? Will the players club disclose that information? What about a host?  

Do you by any chance have a list of casinos in Vegas that use daily average? It would sure help us to know. 

I wish that there were simple answers to these questions, but there aren’t. I’m forced back, as I am so often, to my old standby statement, “It depends on the casino.” And in this matter, I must also answer, “And it’s not easy to find out. 

Occasionally, you can find out at the slot club as you can at the South Point Casino. Ask them what the requirements are for the various mailers they send out (to locals only) and they will give you the figures that you can write down and tell you what the qualification period is. (See my September 2 blog entry for more details.) This is one casino that does not use daily average; you can play as much or as little in any one day of the month. Only your monthly total counts. 

However, the front-line slot club personnel usually are not privy to marketing department policies and details. But it is worth a try to ask to speak to a slot club supervisor, who can occasionally be knowledgeable and helpful. 

What about hosts? Sometimes they can enlighten you and sometimes they just shake their heads and say that marketing is as much a mystery to them as to you! 

One of the ways I find out about puzzling casino policies is to peruse gambling forums, particularly vpFREE and/or one of its regional forums. Lots of people reporting on their experiences sometimes give one enough information to put the puzzle together. 

I do have some specific information,   Harrah’s – they do worship the God of Daily Average but they have lots of more minor gods, including Theo. I study them constantly and still can’t exactly figure out why they do anything! 

It used to be true, in Vegas, that Strip casinos mostly used daily (or trip) average – and that is still the way it is. Locals casinos almost always used monthly or quarterly totals. However, that is changing. The Stations seem to be tinkering with their system and sometimes (always?) include daily average as a factor. The Palms has always used daily average – a major frustration for me and many locals who want to go in and play more often. But if we can’t play big on some day, we just don’t play at all there. We will go to another locals joint where we don’t have to worry about ruining our daily average. 

A rule of thumb I use if I don’t know for sure whether daily average is a factor in a particular casino: I assume it is and try to give as much play as I can in as few days as possible. When I want to establish myself in a new casino, I play big one day and try not to be tripped on any other days. Then I have a high average whether that is important or not. 

So no, I can’t put a list of casino here to help you. I wish I could but the way casinos change, it would be out of date before I finished typing it!

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