The local mailers at the Four Queens for September and October included some hotel room nights accompanied by food/beverage credit. My offer came with $75 worth of such credit and Bonnie’s offer came with $50. You could not get that credit unless you also checked into a hotel room.
We weren’t having any visitors and prefer our own bed at home to those at the Four Queens, but we do enjoy eating at Hugo’s Cellar, where the two of us can easily go through $125 in a single meal. So, we both got rooms for the same night, played a fairly significant amount (because we didn’t want to get dinged for picking up a nice complimentary with no play), and made a reservation at Hugo’s.
The maître d’ recognized us and said he’d work with us on splitting the check so we could get the most value out of the comps. But we still had to charge actual items on each check, so one entrée and a glass of wine went on one check and the other entrée went on the other. (There were only three items so the number of ways the bill could be split was small.) It was slightly complicated to figure out because food, not alcohol, gets a 20% discount if you belong to Club 55 (I think Sexy Seniors is a better name for the club, but they didn’t ask my opinion), and the tax doesn’t disappear if you charge it to the room. That meant the $50 comp was only worth $46 or so, pre-tax.
Since I knew the rules, I worked out how the two checks were to be split before we ordered. This is second nature to me. When we’re at a comped meal for, say, $100, and Bonnie asks me what I’m having, I tell her to make up her own mind and then I’ll order something in order to get the most value out of the comp. Sometimes it means we take food home, but that’s fine with us. It just doesn’t happen that for a $100 comp we order $43 worth and say, “Keep the change.” Almost always, we manage to spend at least $95 from such a comp.
When I explained to the waiter what we wanted on which check, he suggested we let him work it out so as to benefit us the most. I told him I was comfortable with my own math and had already figured it out. He seemed a bit miffed that we didn’t let him do it, but he didn’t make a big deal about it. Hugo’s has impeccable service and a waiter starting an argument with a diner would be extremely unusual, but it did appear that he wished we’d let him do the math problem.
There are some arithmetically-competent waiters who could have come up with the same split I did (which I’m positive was optimal). But they’d have to know all the promotions and the policy of the hotel for whether the tax would come off in this situation. Many waiters would have created one bill for what Bonnie consumed, and the rest for me. That would have made one bill about $30 and the other one $90. That was definitely not what we wanted. So, I just did it myself.
Some players, as well as waiters, are either not particularly good at math, or perhaps just don’t want to be bothered with it, so they would sometimes end up paying more in this situation. It’s not a large amount, but over time, it adds up. Money not spent counts just as much as money won. To me it’s not hard and this time I could do it in my head. And a calculator is on my cell phone in case it’s more complicated.
Another food comp incident recently happened to a friend of mine who has given me permission to share it with you.
He had a $10 food coupon at one of the Arizona Charlie’s. It was on a Thursday when seniors get a 20% discount on food at the Sourdough Cafe. He wanted a $12 sandwich, to go, which involved a 50¢ surcharge. Okay. That adds up to $12.50. With a 20% discount it comes out to $10 even, which was the size of his comp. No problem.
When he went to pay, he was told he owed 10¢. He didn’t understand. He was positive that 20% of $12.50 was $2.50 so his comp should cover everything. A manager was called, who wisely said that he didn’t want someone’s day ruined over 10¢, so everything ended up copacetic.
He told me about it as a curiosity. The puzzle is solved once you notice that 10¢ is 20% of 50¢, so obviously the discount doesn’t apply to the to-go surcharge. I suggested that if he was planning on doing the same thing in the future that he should take a dime with him. Getting a manager involved weekly for a lousy 10¢ will kill any chance for a favorable ruling on a bigger matter down the road.
The Four Queens has some pretty good restaurants, especially Hugo’s. The bar at Chicago Brewing is a great place to people watch.
And no resort fee.
And you can tan at the rooftop pool at Binion’s (no hot tub up there, but great photo ops).
Almost forgot, Magnolia’s is a great spot for a big breakfast.
Almost forgot, the last time I stayed at Four Queens, I booked a cheapo room, but the darn thing had a coffee pot and a REFRIGERATOR.
Livin’ the dream!!
The rooms are fine at 4Queens for me. I just sleep and shower anyway. They also have a few 10/7 DB and 9/7 at bars. Magnolia’s is okay as well. I feel I am eating less as I age anyway.
You say that you both booked rooms but did you stay in them?
I think the reason for the $ .10 cents due at Arizona Charlies is that the computer cash register does not give a 20% discount on the $ .50cent surcharge.
My guess is that this story reaches beyond video poker: it is not just about selecting the best machine and coupling that choice with the juciest promotions. Each part of the story exhibited some tricky accounting acrobatics. In the first case, Bob knew the rules and optimized with that constraint. In the second, a bothersome (and undisclosed) stricture presented a problem involving a forecast. In both cases, an incentive involving factors other than video poker play was discussed.
A tough problem indeed for the friend. Is gaining ten cents now worth the risk of possibly losing more later? One could also argue Bob’s problem was tough: is the problem bigger than solving for “x” with rules that are not necessarily static? It seems the calculus involves more than merely reading off the answer, and one must ask if convolutions like those mentioned in the article are integral to finding a feasible solution within the problem domain.
Phoebe: We sort of stayed in the rooms a little. Bonnie doesn’t drive any more — the 4Q is 15 miles away from our home — and I wanted to play on both cards to keep the offers coming. So Bonnie waited in one of the rooms (listening to an audiobook tape) while I played. We’re doing the same thing next week for October, and this time we’re inviting a third person — Bonnie’s daughter — who will drive Bonnie home afterwards while I play. We’ll easily surpass the $125 this time — but that’s not a problem. Comps are earned quickly there and my play that night will easily make up for what we spend on her daughter — and then some.
Jay: Thank you, I think. Do you really talk that way in real life or are you just showing off?
You fellas tell us fellas that you play for thousands and thousands of dollars each and every day. And now your telling us guys that you guys fight over a 5 dollars difference in a bill or tip to the server. Wow, I gotta stay tuned to this blog. Might learn how to rip off the Salvation Army during the holidays.
James,
You are missing the point of the post. The same thinking is involved whether the difference is a dime or $50. You are correct, a dime isn’t worth the trouble. But getting in the habit of maximizing your comps is worth the trouble. Sometimes, a fairly simple action results in a significant savings.
Bob mentioned no sales tax if you charge it to your room. Only 7% or so, but if you pick up for dinner for 4 and spend $500 in comps, I’d rather have the $35 in my pocket than the state of Nevada.
The process is what is important.
Hugo’s is my favorite eating establishment in the world, I average one trip a year there and am greeted like a friend every single time. I have sent dozens of people there, nobody ever gives me grief, they are just professional at what they do. What sets them apart is the service, drinks, and all around value, you get a full meal for a single and reasonable price… We had our wedding dinner there 30 years ago.
The Four Queens has always been our favorite. They do what they do very well, and they don’t try to be something they’re not. My favorite game there is the $.25 DDB with the progressives on all of the quads. There’s something primal about hitting four aces with a kicker when the progressive is way up there, knowing that you’ve just crushed the hopes and dreams of your fellow players!
Maybe I’m missing something but I think you made it too complicated. We eat at Hugo’s almost every month and always have a room credit. When the check arrives, we ask them to sign $75 to the room and use our comp for the rest. On one occasion we had guests with us so we had both rooms reserved. They allowed us to sign $75 to each room and then used our comp for the remainder of the check. Hugo’s has been one of our favorite restaurants for many years.