Your view on multiple players club cards?

I can't be the only one who carries around 2-3 players club cards (in the casino that I'm walking through and plan on gambling) and then sit down next to someone who is playing without one and ask if they'd mind if I put my card in?

I went up over 5,000 points the other day at Gold Coast from some guy playing 0.50 JOB and hitting a machine faster than I've ever seen. I sat down next to him and was playing 0.25 BP as he was playing 0.50 JOB.

Anyone have any opinions on the ethics/morals of such actions?

I could care less about the points for comps, and more so for free room offers for the next two quarters.

I would never do that. There could be problems if the other person hits a jackpot.

I don't do that either. I am just not all that big on approaching strangers in a casino. Maybe i am just not sociable enough

Yes, that's my other reason for not doing it.

Taken to the extreme, this is called "seeding". When I was supervisor of the players club at Whiskey Pete's, the computer system kept track of how many cards were printed out for each individual account. There were a number of parties who constantly were asking for new cards and through surveillance and security we found out that these people were randomly putting their cards in machines hoping to accumulate large amounts of points. These accounts were then closed out and the guests banned from the casino.

Another thing to be careful of is redeeming free play when you do this. If the person next to you sees you put in your personal pin to redeem, they can walk away with your card and have access to everything on it.

Larry from Las Vegas, NV

I'm pretty bold and ballsy but I can't do it either..
although once I did ask the guy next to me at I.P- we were both playing 100-play pennies and he didn't bother using a card... he was from Russia and didn't speak much English- I barely speak much Russian (and poorly) but we were bonding over nice hits.

I only did it at one casino and it was due to noticing half the casino patrons were playing without a card.

I didn't go out of my way to hit up slot players or w/e, but I sat down next to someone where a machine I wanted to play was present anyways.

It is an advantage play for marketing offers, but I can sense the hesitancy of some. I know some people I've tried to make general talk with at VP or slots were very standoffish, but two people I ran into could honestly care less.

You asked. I love an ethical analysis.

On the face of it, maybe that practice is not ethical.
An ethical principle here is justice as fairness.

The casino plays fair by holding up its end of the contract:
When a player spends XXX, he earns ABCD.

You only played XX, which earns only ABC.
But you take the ABCD.
Are you holding up your end of the contract?
Is this fair?
In the business world, somebody might go to jail. LOL

BUT...
what about those [what otherwise would be] unclaimed points from the non card user's play?
He puts up the money.
And he puts it on your card; he knows he is; you asked his permission.
He won't also get the comp, so there's no double dipping.
And his play on your card makes it add up to XXX to earn the ABCD comp.
Does that make it OK? Does the casino care?
Does it hurt their bottom line?
Somebody may know the answers. I don't.

In ethics, what is ethical is not always legal, and what is legal is not always ethical.

Another consideration is whether the other player is being taken advantage of.
Does he know his play is benefiting someone else?
Does he know he could be earning comps if he used his own card?
People choose to not use cards for different reasons.
He frequents the casino, so it can be assummed he knows and chooses not to bother.

Would anyone else like to chime in here?
I've talked myself out of an opinion one way or the other! LOL

However, I would heed Larry's information carefully.

Larry, as I'm sure you're aware, a lot of the new systems have a provision to "time out" the card if not active. I'm guessing that this has had some negative impact to the seeding contingent.

Also, keep in mind that some people are cynical towards the casino's intention of using a players card and that they can somehow prevent people from winning by flipping off the magical pay switch. I'm not sure how prevalent that thinking is but you can be assured that there are some patrons who don't want a player's card in the machine simply because they believe that it will prevent them from winning.

Not sure I have the nerve to ask a stranger if I can piggy back on their play by using my card but so long as they allow it, I'm not sure what the issue is.

OTOH, bear in mind that if you have a few W-2G's and get win/loss statements from players clubs as support, this cuold potentially have a negative impact on tax implications.

Dan

I don't see an ethical difference between asking strangers to play on extra cards of yours or having family members all play on one account. It seems the same to me. If you're fine with spouse and kids playing towards one account, how can you be against multiple unrelated people playing on one account?