8/3/2001
This week I’m providing information that will be of interest mainly to local Las Vegas residents. However, it just might prompt some out-of-towners who visit Vegas frequently to rent a Vegas mailbox in order to have the required local address for the valuable Coast property monthly mailed coupon sheets.
The Orleans is now on the same monthly coupon sheet schedule that the Gold Coast and Suncoast have been on for some time. (I still don’t know whether the Barbary Coast is on this same schedule; it seems to be more irregular.) Instead of being based on lifetime points as it was in the past, it’s now based on your play during the last three-month period. For example, the coupon sheet you received in August depended on your total play in April, May, and June. (Remember, there’s always a month delay for the “figuring.”) Your play in May, June, and July will determine your September coupon sheet and so forth all year.
I like this system, because you can be gone a couple of months, play during just one month per quarter, and keep up your level. Be aware, though, that many of the coupons, and always those for cash, are date specific for their use — although it is usually over a period of four to five days.
Here are the categories:
$1,800 total coin-in for quarters gets you the $5 bounce-back coupon and discounted meal and show tickets, usually 2-for-1.
$15,000 coin-in gets you the $10 bounce-back coupon and discounted meal and show tickets.
$30,000 coin-in gets you the $25 bounce-back coupon and better (completely free) meal and show ticket offers.
(All sheets give you the same gift of the month and sometimes contain miscellaneous offers on liquor shop, bowling, ice cream, or drinks, etc., with the best ones, of course, on the upper-level sheet.)
The categories confuse some people because, even though Coast property cashback is based on COIN-OUT, the amount needed for the various coupon sheet levels is based on COIN-IN. (Hey, I never said this wouldn’t be complicated!) So you can’t figure it merely by looking at your points. You need to add back your loss or subtract your win. Bonus points have no bearing on coin-in. So when you’re playing on double-point days, you must first divide by two your points earned and add your net loss, or subtract your net win, to figure your coin-in.
Even though bonus points don’t count toward the coupon-sheet requirements based on coin-in, it’s still to your advantage to play on bonus-point days, since you’ll be reducing your risk by getting more cashback for the required coin-in. For many months now, all three properties (and sometimes the Barbary Coast) have awarded double points on all major holidays.
A disclaimer: The above information was accurate the minute I wrote it, according to my personal experiences and talks with casino employees. However, casinos have a habit of changing policy frequently. So I guarantee nothing!
BRIEFS
From the Internet, a tip for low-roller advantage video poker players: Fiesta now has nickel 10-coin full-pay deuces wild. The machines are by the pizza place, about three banks toward the blackjack pit.
Watch for “Tax Refund” promotions — the casinos want that money! The Plaza is giving a meal discount based on the amount of your check. And I got this e-mail message from Terrible’s: Cash your IRS Refund Check at Terrible’s Hotel & Casino & Receive Double Cashback for your Points up to the Amount of your Check. Most casinos with on-going check-cashing promotions will cash this check and give the same “reward” as they do for a payroll check.
8/10/2001
I just had to try the new Scrabble slot machines. If you read The Frugal Gambler, you know that Scrabble is the game that always brought out the competitive spirit when my father, two sisters, and I got together down through the years. My preacher Dad, now 87, has finally retired from the ministry. His hearing is going and he complains about his forgetfulness. But his skill in Scrabble has not deteriorated; he beat all three of us girls in a blood-and-guts game this summer.
“I guess I don’t have Alzheimers yet,” he told his physician, “when I can still beat out a doctor, a lawyer, and a writer.”
So I knew a Scrabble slot machine had a tough sell to get my interest after such a long illustrious family history with the game. It was cute to see the tiles dance around and Brad and I would give great thought to what tiles to choose to make a word before we got three Xs. It was interesting for about five minutes — well, maybe 10. But there was no skill factor; only luck determined whether we won or lost.
I guess I wasn’t surprised, really; I knew that Scrabble with no skill involved would be only a faint shadow of those family knock-down-drag-out games. I like to play the new nickel nine-line video slots once in a while for just a relaxing pastime, but I think I’d better stick with Reel ‘Em In or Easy Street. They take me back to a simpler time — when I was satisfied to accept the luck of the color spinner for Shoots and Ladders.
BRIEFS
The Coast properties are no longer sending out bonus point “birthday cards” to their slot club members who have Las Vegas area addresses. However, if you play and earn just one point or more during your birthday month, the birthday bonuses will be added to your account automatically and will earn the same cashback as earned points. (These points would not count toward the quarterly requirement to get the monthly coupon sheets. Remember, last week I explained that these requirements are based on coin-in, not on points earned.)
One slot club employee did warn me that sometimes, because of a glitch, the computer doesn’t have birthday-date information on every member. She suggested that the next time you’re at the slot club, check to be sure the computer does show your birth date.
Arizona Charlie’s (East and West) is planning to start giving cashback on August 20. I’ll give more details as I learn them.
More Vacation Village details to add to the July 14 report in this column: Don’t forget to check the Card of the Day before you start playing video poker. The bad news on the airfare spin is that the promo desk closes early now on weekdays, like 4 p.m.; the good news is that you can spin the wheel when you register instead of waiting for the “official spin time,” on the hour or half-hour as it used to be. And VV is the place to avoid at all costs on Friday afternoons/evenings due to their paycheck cashing promo.
This has got to be a joke, but I read it in the Review-Journal and not in the funnies section: “The company that publishes the Dummies books says it will introduce a line of idiot-proof slot machines sometime next year. A company spokesman says the slot machines for the gambling-challenged will be marketed to folks intimidated by multi-coin nine-line video slots.” The dumbed-down one-armed bandits will supply tips on how to win more money and players who reach bonus levels will get tips on everything from cooking to cruise vacations.
8/17/2001
Mark your calendars for the evenings of August 26 and 27, when the Travel Channel will be running shows about Las Vegas. There are two shows on the 26th. On the 27th is a Secrets special called something like “The Pro’s Guide to Las Vegas,” in which Brad and I appear. I’m not sure I like being in a show with a name like that — I hope they make the point that we’re just recreational, although skilled, video poker players. We don’t feel we’re pros! However, you’ll see me do a first on that show — hit a royal flush while the cameras are rolling.
BRIEFS
I read a great article (in a magazine for casino executives) by Bill DiBenedetto, Director of Quality Development at Foxwoods. He wrote that during a trip to a Southern casino region, he noticed three things and suggests that they be implemented in other casino jurisdictions: 1. “Employees should always say ‘Thank You’ and ‘You’re Welcome.” 2. “They should always put the word ‘Please’ into any request they make of a guest or each other.” 3. “They should say ‘Hello,’ ‘Good Morning,’ or use some other greeting when a guest approaches them.” I, too, wish these basic manners were more prevalent in Las Vegas.
From Billhere’s Viva Las Vegas, one of his readers talks about a casino he visited: “It’s a really funny place. I called out ‘Dollar tip!’ for the dealers to put a buck on the bet of their choice, and the stickman said, ‘Dollar on whatever hits.’ I laughed, but when I rolled an eleven, he called out ‘Eleven hit for the dealers! Thank you, sir.’
For those of you who fly to your gambling destination, here’s a sobering report from Peter Greenberg, NBC “”Today Show”” Travel Editor, that was reported in Casino Player: “While traveling on an airplane, it’s important to drink plenty of water — but only water you see coming out of sealed bottles. The holding tanks on most airplanes have bacteria counts that look like the bar scene from Star Wars. Just because a flight attendant is coming down the aisle with a tray of water-filled glasses doesn’t mean it came out of a bottle.”
What is a win? I have a friend who counts any money in his pocket after he gets home from a casino as a “win.” Some people talk about “winning” jackpots, even if they lost all of it, and more, back. I read in the newspaper recently that the golfer John Daly walked away from a slot machine with $630,000 on his recent wedding weekend. Cool way to celebrate! A few days later I read in the same newspaper a few more details — he’d started the weekend with about two million. I hope his new bride is like many people who don’t know the difference between gross win and net win.
“Although the casino’s edge is small, the problem with mini-baccarat is its speed. It’s not uncommon for a casino dealer to deal upward of 150 hands per hour. And since the casino has the edge, however small, on every bet you make, the more decisions per hour, the greater is your theoretical loss.”” Henry Tamburin, in Casino Player.
I love this quote from a stock analyst named Daniel Davila: “On average, based on win per day, a slot machine pays for itself in 100 days. For the rest of its useful life, it’s gravy. Basically, the longer you sit in front of one, the more you lose. Next to prostitution, it’s the world’s greatest business. There is no other business in the world where people budget money to lose to you.”
8/24/2001
Labor Day weekend will be here soon, and I’m reminded, seeing casino promotions planned for that time, what a good place Las Vegas is on a holiday. In fact, holidays can be downright frustratingly good; there are so many promotions that I always wish Brad and I could be in two or three places at once.
Actually, this Labor Day weekend the Venetian has helped us out with our indecision about where to play. They’re sending us (and 49 other couples who qualified) on a free seven-day Alaskan cruise, far away from good casino promotions—and far away from Vegas heat, which will be a welcome break. (I know it’s a rough life—but we try not to complain!)
For those of you who will be in town, here are some good sources for checking out the good promotions:
1. The Slot Club Promotion section right here on the LVA home page.
2. Scot’s Vegas Values at http://americancasinoguide.com/Promotions/VEGAS-VALUES.shtml
3. Player’s Edge by Compton/Dancer at http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/opinion/packages/columnists/.
4. Also look closely at the ads in the local newspapers, where casinos often advertise their last-minute promotions. If bingo is your game, many bingo rooms give out special holiday bonuses, like little gifts, and I see these advertised often in the local paper.
I hate to write negative things about specific casinos, especially about casinos where we like to play! But lately, a couple have really blown it. For example, the Orleans decided to change the criteria for its monthly mailings, to bring it in line with those of the Gold Coast and Suncoast. Now, this is a good idea, since I hear through the casino grapevine that Coast Casinos is looking forward to a time when all the properties will be linked in some way—perhaps one card to be used at all properties a la Station’s Boarding Pass and/or a use of comps at any Coast property no matter where the points are earned.
However, the timing of the policy change was pretty bad. When did we hear about the new policy? The first of August when our mailers came. Why not send a letter a couple of months in advance to all Orleans customers informing us of the change, so we could organize our playing time to meet the new requirements. We play a lot at the Orleans, usually much more than the requirements for a $25 cash coupon and other high-tier benefits. Brad and I have been getting this same mailer almost since the Orleans opened—nearly five years ago. Suddenly, I get the second-level tier mailer, with only a $10 cash coupon and other lower-tier benefits. No explanation. We’d missed a couple months of play while we were back in Indiana this summer, but I thought we’d still managed to play enough in one month out of the quarter this mailer was based on.
What do I do when I think a casino has made a mistake? I go and talk to my host. She explained that the requirements are no longer based on lifetime points and quarterly play, but on quarterly play alone, with the requirements higher than before. Hey, a reduction of $15 for one or two months won’t send me to the poorhouse. But I did feel put out, because I wasn’t told in advance—or I would have made an effort to put in the just a bit more play I needed before we left for Indiana.
Will I quit playing at the Orleans? No. It’s the closest casino to our home and we like to play there. They have the VP games we like to play in a very cheery atmosphere, with a very good slot club. However, I’ve heard more than a few people say that they went and collected their cashback—and will now wait for the Palms to open to become their home casino. I don’t think that’s what the Orleans wants!
But the discontent at the Orleans is a small matter compared to the storm that Arizona Charlie’s stirred up when, without any warning, they decreased the value of slot club points already earned under a previously printed schedule, one that had been in effect for a year or longer. In fact, someone reported that a notice was put up at the East ca
8/31/2001
I have to write this early. By the time you read it, Brad and I will be far away from the heat of Las Vegas in the cool clean Alaskan air on a ship in Glacier Bay. But I am really excited that I have good news for you — after the “spanking” I had to give some casinos last week.
Arizona Charlie’s heard all our cries of pain and disappointment over the retroactive changes in their slot club and revised its policies in a way that will make most members happy again. You can again redeem all points earned before Aug. 20 at the same rate you could before — 500 points = $1 in gift cards for Macy’s, Dillards, and Service Merchandise, for gas vouchers at specified stations, and at the travel agency. They’re not putting a daily limit on this, but would appreciate “reasonable” requests so they don’t run out of them too fast and other customers have to wait until they’re re-ordered. This special redemption period goes through October 31st, when these vendors will no longer be available.
Another option for “old” points until December 24 is redeeming them for cash. You probably wouldn’t do this unless you absolutely can’t think of a thing you need to buy at any kind of store, since it takes 2,500 points to get $1. For points earned SINCE Aug. 20 you can redeem them for cash at a rate of 1,000 points = $1 (.1%) OR get $1 in comps for 500 points (.2%).
Another option for old AND newly earned points is a redemption program running through November 30, just in time for early holiday shopping. For 750 points equaling $1, you can get cards/certificates for Wal-mart, Target, and Home Depot. Depending on what you buy and whether you get it on sale, this option could sometimes be a better percentage play for old points than the one for previous vendors. There will be a limit on this redemption option of $300 per day in order to keep on hand a good selection each day for everyone to choose from.
Charlie’s has also set new specific time periods during which points remain available for redemption. All old points will be assigned an Aug. 20 begin date — that is, as if you earned them all on Aug. 20, 2001. They, and all future points, will be redeemable for 12 months from the date earned, after which they expire.
This has been one of the best examples of the value of taking complaints to casino management, something Jeffrey Compton and I have been advocating for years. Your one complaint may seem small and insignificant to you, but you don’t know how many other people will be making a similar one. There’s power in numbers! And surprisingly enough, many casino executives take seriously even a small number of customer complaints — often even one customer suggestion.
Keep in mind, though, that there are good ways to make your views known to casino management — and bad ones. Threats and harsh accusations are never as effective as calm reasoning. Losing your temper and screaming just makes you look like a madman out of control. If you make the complaint in person, keep your voice at a normal pitch, and explain your problem in a friendly tone. If you write a letter or e-mail, be brief and to the point — casino executives don’t have time to read rambling epistles — but in a polite and gracious manner.
Remember the cliche: Honey draws more flies than vinegar.”