Brad and I don’t play at any Station casinos at the present time, but I have been listening to the buzz about them among my friends and on the Internet forums. Many skilled players (including Bob Dancer) who had been playing there regularly are no longer receiving monthly mailers. This is especially true for those who play only the games with the highest EVs and/or for those who put in long hours pounding the best machines, particularly during promotions. 

And a recent surprising development is that most (all?) players who have been cut off from the monthly mailers have also been cut off from participating in the Wednesday Senior Day events, including 5x points. This is a particularly disturbing development – and some think unethical if not actually violating the Gaming Commission regulations about promotions – since there is no mention of this exclusion in the rules. 

Casinos have all sorts of “rights” – and I know times are hard for them – but I am wondering if they are considering the public reaction to many of their aggressive moves. 

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The M Casino bonus point schedule that I gave in yesterday’s entry is for everyone, not just for seniors. 

I was referring to an earlier entry when I asked for people to e-mail me with more senior promotions they come across that I didn’t mention earlier.   QueenofComps@cox.net

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We were at the M Casino today and our host gave us a  Multiplier Mania sheet that had just been printed with June and July bonus days – 7x points for slots, 2x points for video poker (full-pay VP machines excluded): 

June dates: every Saturday beginning the 13th, plus the 10th, 21st, and 24th 

July dates: 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28, and 29

With 1/2 price gas cards at South Point, that far end of the Strip is the June promotion hot spot in Vegas!

By the way, I gave the wrong e-mail address in the last entry.  It is QueenofComps@cox.net.  Send me more senior promotions when you find them.

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Triple digits coming this weekend – earlier than usual. Maybe thoughts about a winter holiday promotion will cool you off! 

All Las Vegas MGM Mirage properties are offering 2x Holiday Gift Points during June, July, and August. And to make it more convenient for you to plan to be in Vegas during this holiday shopping event (and you MUST redeem these gift points IN PERSON), they have extended the dates this year. You can shop anytime from November 28 through Dec. 13th. 

This event offers a wide array of products you can order with your Holiday Gift Points, but Brad and I like the Free Play option – we have left the accumulation years of our life and our family has been gifted so many casino comps that we prefer money to “things” in most cases. 

For more information, go to their players club site.

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The rest of April at the M Casino you can earn 3x points on slot machines and 2x on all video poker except the Optimum Play 100% games. Since single points are worth .3% to add to the EV of a video poker game, double points adding .6% will make some negative games a positive play.

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For many years now cruises have been a popular casino give-away. Some of these can be a benefit anyone could have if they earn a specified number of points during a specified period. Others can be “comps” given to a casino’s “best” customers, with the exact requirements unknown. 

However, if you can earn or are offered one of these “free” cruises, the definition of “free” is something you must investigate. Some include “everything,” including airfare to and from the casino city and the embarkation port, tips, ground transportation, port charges, government taxes and fees, and even on-board credit for such things as alcoholic drinks. On the other hand, some of these comped cruises don't cover any of these things and your “free” cruise might cost you more than it is worth to you. Or, you might be able to book a cruise at some online bargain rate that would be cheaper in the long run. 

Brad and I have been on 14 cruises since we met in 1984 and 5 of those, in the last 7 years, have been sponsored by casinos. It has varied considerably how much the casinos provided beyond the basic cruise cost, but one thing every experienced cruiser knows is that you better plan on extra expenses. There are shore excursions that sound so interesting, photographers at every turn who want to sell you expensive pictures, and daily specials on cute tropical drinks that look so refreshing.  

One frugal hint for cruisers: I just read in the newspaper today that ships make most of their profit through gambling and alcohol. It helps to be a non-drinker and able to shun the bad-payoff machines that are so common in shipboard casinos.

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I have often recommended Vegas4Locals as a Web site jam packed with resources for the frugal Vegas fan. Although much of their information will usually be helpful for out-of-towners, despite the local name, here is one of their freebies for the rodeo time coming up (December 4-13) that requires a local ID.   If you attend any of the Silverton events described below, you can get 2 free drinks just for showing local ID and mentioning Vegas4Locals. 

Silverton Casino Lodge serves as Wrangler National Finals
Rodeo (WNFR) party headquarters with nightly pre-parties, concerts and live viewing celebrations. 

Head to Shady Grove Lounge for nightly pre-parties and live viewing celebrations. Dec. 4 – 5 and Dec. 8 – 12, pre-parties will be held 3 – 5:30 p.m. followed by viewing bashes 6:30 – 9 p.m. On Dec. 6 – 7 and Dec. 13, pre-
parties will run 2 – 4:30 p.m. followed by live viewing parties 5:30 –8 p.m. 

WNFR after-parties every evening at 10 p.m. inside Silverton Casino Lodge's 13,000 square-foot entertainment pavilion will feature mechanical bull riding, DJ spun music and cash prizes. Each night, partygoers with a WNFR event ticket will have a chance to win a $10,000 cash grand prize or one of ten nightly $1,000 cash prizes. Fans must be 21 years or older to attend.

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The current 4 Queens promotion got us downtown to play for the first time in years. In fact, it had been so long since we had played at the 4 Queens that we had to establish a new slot club account even though we had played and stayed there many many times back before we bought our Las Vegas condo in 1999. 

This is a “ladder” promotion since you earn benefits at different play levels as you proceed to the top one. Although you can stop and collect your benefits at any level, we each opted to go to the top. This required earning 2000 points, which is $16,000 coin-in on most (but not all) VP machines. (If you play slots it would be only $10,000 coin-in.) 

We each collected $450 after we finished playing: $50 in Shell gas cards, $360 in bonus free play, and $40 in cashback. We also collected on the $10 Free Play coupon we got in our POV from the LVA. This is a great bonus, almost 3%. 

We maximized our total return for this promotion by playing $1 10/7 Double Bonus (100.17%). Quarter players can squeeze out a little more EV by playing the same game, but one with a progressive. There is also a $1 Progressive with this same game, but the jackpot wasn’t very high when we were there and it would probably never be high enough to overcome the disadvantage of having to put over twice as much ($20 instead of $8) coin-in to earn a point. 

There are other good VP games, like 9/6 JoB, with slightly lower EVs that with this bonus can make a positive play. Remember, doing a play that is over 100%, even well over like this one, does not guarantee a winning outcome short term. Actually we lost a couple of hundred dollars on this play because we didn’t hit enough quads or a royal to pull out a win. But we  each lost $450 less than if we had played without these bonuses. And I imagine we may get some future offers from the 4 Queens that will help us make up this loss. And we don’t expect each casino to make up its own losses. We’ll have winning sessions there or in other casinos that, if 17 years of past VP experience is a good indicator, will see that we are winners by the end of the year.  

You can do this promotion playing blackjack. See slot club for requirements for this option. You can do this promo only once, but you can spread your play out over several days if you wish. The promotion ends August 31st. 

We also earned another “bonus” the day we played there. For years we had been craving the bean soup and cornbread we used to enjoy so much at Binions. So we walked over there and sat at the Deli bar, just like old times, and ordered up that favorite special of ours. Pinto was the bean-of-the-day and the thick soup still is loaded with big chunks of ham and served with a big hunk of warm cornbread. And just like old times, there was more food than we could finish. And yes, we actually paid REAL MONEY since we had no comps built up there. Brad said the $12 tab that covered the bill and the tip was a “bonus” because we enjoyed that meal more than any comped Strip gourmet meal where the tip would have been many times that amount.

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I just can’t let this subject go as long as explanations are needed. Although we were told that 6x bonus points yesterday (Friday) at Palace Station were for everyone, again the casino had not done its usual preparation for this promo. Ordinarily you could go to a kiosk and that offer would be there for you to click on and get the bonus automatically. Evidently only the people who got the card about this promo could do that. However, experienced players went to the players club desk where they were cheerfully given the bonus manually. 

Another time where double-checking information paid off dividends! 

In today’s newspaper there was an ad for 6x points at Sunset and Boulder Stations today (Saturday). This offer should be available to everyone at the casino kiosks. But if it is not, go to the players club and have the bonus points added manually.

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I hope this is the last time I have to talk about Station coupons, at least until July is gone. This gets pretty boring to a lot of readers, especially those who want details that you can depend on or they are not interested. 

Well, people who want dependable details might not want to make special trips to use these coupons. By the number of private e-mails I have received, player experiences have been all over the board. Some have been able to use the matchplay coupons every day; some have been refused at certain Station casinos. Your experience with the coupons might differ depending on what shift you use them or what pit boss makes the decision. Or, it might make a difference if you have the original coupon from the magazine or an online printed copy. 

I was told I could use the 5x points coupon just one time per month; someone else has been able to use one several times, in the same casino. Some have been able to use that coupon in two different casinos on the same day. 

So YMMV – your mileage may vary – is the final warning! 

One piece of news you might not have heard, and it is verified. There is 6x points at Palace Station this Friday, the 25th, for everyone, locals and out-of- towners. I don't know, however, if some machines are excluded. Better check at the club before you start playing. 

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