The Las Vegas Advisor solicits “Questions of the Day” and some of the ones related to video poker are passed along to me. I answer, on average, one or two of these a month.
On February 9, there was a QOD about hitting a jackpot while using someone else’s slot club card.
One of the responses to my answer was: “I always ask the rewards desk first rather than ask forgiveness later.” While responses are encouraged, and in no way was this one out of line in any respect, the suggestion by the responder reminds me of something I would rarely do! It is so expensive to follow that methodology!
To be sure, when I played for large stakes where W2-Gs were likely and traded off playing hands with my then-mother-in-law, I would check in with the slot shift boss before we started playing. I would explain what our plans were (namely I’d be supervising the play, with my money, even if her fingers were on the buttons at the exact moment of the jackpot), and I wanted all W2-Gs in my name. So long as I was there, usually the slot shift boss had no problem with this.
But most people playing on somebody else’s card do not receive W2-Gs. Why open up a can of worms unnecessarily? Most slot club rules have words to the effect that you must not play using someone else’s card, but that rule is seldomly enforced except in cases where a player is discovered using multiple such cards.
If you go to the slot club, they will likely find the rules, read them, and tell you not to do it. And now there can be a record of you receiving a warning to this effect. But if you play on someone else’s card anyway without asking first, you’ll almost always get away with it. If you play the “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I won’t do it again” card at this point, usually there is no problem.
There are so many times at a casino where the casino has some sort of loophole or mistake in their rules, if you always go up to the club and ask — this gives them a chance to fix their mistake! As somebody who is looking for an edge in casinos, I don’t always want these mistakes fixed! Mistakes are where the profit is! I want to take advantage of these mistakes! Why spill the beans and cause yourself to lose a valuable opportunity‽
One example of this would be starting and ending times for promotions. If a casino ends one promotion at 3 a.m. but begins another at 12 a.m., there are three hours of overlap. Possibly unintended overlap. If you hit whatever you need to do to qualify for both promotions, now you turn your light on and have the discussion. Sometimes you win!
I wouldn’t do this for something worth ten dollars or less, but sometimes it can be worth thousands of dollars. Why not take a shot‽
Part of this is my own personality. I’m not worried about minor confrontations with employees, but many people are. You need to be sure of your ground and able to think fast on your feet. Not everybody is like that. For someone who wishes to avoid any sort of skirmish such as talking to a supervisor, by all means go and ask at the slot club first. Your life will be much calmer that way.
If I end up getting kicked out of a slot club or casino, I can promise that I’ll be sorry that opportunity is no longer available to me. But it won’t be traumatic. And it won’t be the first time!
That was my comment. It doesn’t work for everyone. For the more savvy player, like yourself, it isn’t necessary. But for some who aren’t that experienced I think it’s best to know ahead of time. There are no facts,only interpretation.
In 25 years of play as an active “recreational” player, I’ve hit a good number of w-2G jackpots while the card of another player is inserted. Predominantly that player was my wife (the last name on her card differs from mine, so that relationship may not be apparent). Occasionally, it’s been the card of a friend.
In that time, no attendant has ever questioned why another player’s card was inserted. All they insist upon is that whoever they believe was playing the machine is who they want to issue the w-2G to.
With jackpots hit by my wife and myself while playing on the other’s card, we’ve typically engaged in a quick seat swap in an effort to get the w2-G to be issued to the player who’s card was inserted (for record keeping, I prefer that tax form records largely match the play on who’s behalf the play was put in). This is seldom flagged (but occasionally a stickler attendant who sees the behavior will insist on issuing the form to the observed player.
When a friend’s card is involved, I usually just remove their card from the machine and hand my ID and my player card to the attendant when they arrive, without further comment. A w-2G in my name is typically returned with the handpay, again without any comment on the discrepancy.
So, given this experience, I’ve come to treat such occasions as “no big deal”. However, I acknowledge that when a significant promotion is involved, or some other factor has prompted me to play on someone else’s card, it’s important to be circumspect in how one handles a handpay. I don’t want to give the slightest impression that there’s anything amiss going on. If questioned, I’m going to be as truthful as is feasible/reasonable under the situation (I may, on occasion, be stretching rules but I try to avoid any activity that might be deemed as an actual violation).
I frequently use my mom’s card and she uses mine. I have hit jackpots multiple times while using her card. Every time but one, I remembered to tell the slot attendant that it wasn’t my card it was Mom’s. None of those times did the attendant mention my play with her card, and since they didn’t ask I didn’t offer an excuse or reason. The W2G’s were issued to me, correctly, with my name. The jackpots were paid just as if I was using my card. While I understand the slot club may have rules against this and I may eventually run into the attendant who says something, I will also be “asking for forgiveness, not permission”. I will also not suffer too much hassle from them, as I’m a local and can take my play elsewhere.
When the state of Missouri first legalized casinos they were riverboats and did two hour excursions on the state’s large rivers, the Mississippi and Missouri. Gamblers were limited to only $500 per two hour sailing and had to purchase token to use in machines. Later when ticket in/ticket out became available, machines accepted cash but only if a valid slot card was inserted and only if the slot card account had used less than $500 during the current “sailing”. The boats no longer left dockside but the two hour $500 limit remained. Using a slot card other than your own or using multiple cards to get around the $500 limit was a big no-no and would get the gambler and casino in big trouble.
Fortunately those limitations have gone away and Missouri casinos are like most other casinos in the US, walk in and gamble much as you want. My wife and I regularly play on each other’s card and account.
I think it’s a different matter if someone is using a players card of a friend who is attending the play and sitting next to the player or if the player is actually “gaming the system” by using a whole bunch of players card and squeezing out some extra profit by using them and raking in some free play bonus or whatever. I think that’s what the casinos are trying to limitate as this play would be unfair, unlawful, and in a way, not actually ethical.
I have seen crazy stuff at some places in Vegas during multiplayer days. People with 10 or more players cards in their shirt pocket switching them regularly. It was obvious what they were doing and this play can only be done by “smart locals” with different accounts of people that agreed someone else using their card for that special purpose. In the long run this won’t work out as surveillance people have all the tools to figure out what’s going on and once this guy gets caught it’s only a matter of time until he/she will be excluded from all promotions.
I would not try to make a living using other people’s players cards just to hustle out that extra free play or have the casino send extra mailers/fliers/invitations to people that were not actually playing. Sooner or later this business model will fail and the player may have lost some great places to go to and gamble.
From Switzerland
Boris
Darren:
Without minimizing your experience, there are casinos that make a big deal about playing with someone else’s card. If you’ve avoided them so far, good for you. But they are out there and violations can cause trouble.
You mentioned promotions — and yes, that can be the times casinos are the most particular about this. Especially the sort of promotion where you “play xxxxx in coin-in and earn an additional yyy in free play.”
Bob
Has anybody of you ask himself what’s these built-in cameras at many kiosks is all about? So, once you swipe your card in order to activate your multiplier, the casino has your actual photo. At least that’s my guess. Station Casinos used to have many promotions, including weekend-games, that had to be played directly at the kiosk. IT’s not only about activating a multiplier, but also to execute other transactions. I would think it’s a bit hard to have a customer explain why he/she is using a different players card hours later when hitting a taxeable Royal and saying that you were not aware of the fact that you haven’t played with your own card inserted. I would definetely stay away from such activities, although to some people this extra free play means extra money.
From Switzerland
Boris
Boris:
It is perfectly legal to place your thumb over the camera at the kiosk when you are using it. It is also perfectly legal for the casino to decide they do not want your business if you do this.
I believe a small local in socal, Casino Pauma, banned two ladies for using each others cards.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-san-marcos-woman-gets-jackpot-money-remains-banned-2010aug16-story.html