8/1/2003
Recently, Brad and I played Multi Strike off and on for three days straight. I played more hours in those three days than I sometimes do in a whole month. The occasion was (a shock, I know) a vacation, one that we needed badly. We had just waved goodbye to the last of a month-long stream of visiting relatives, including our two lively 8- and 10-year-old grandchildren. We love them all and had a lot of fun, but our poor aging bodies can’t take such a sustained and intense pace as well as they used to. Plus, I’d finally been able to put behind me the most major stress I’ve experienced in a long time: the photo shoot for the cover of More Frugal Gambling. My daughter Angela and I literally shopped until we dropped for days, hunting for an outfit that would make me look young, thin, and beautiful. Talk about mission impossible!
So when a Strip tournament offer came that required a hotel stay, I turned my back on my computer. We put our van in the shop for some body work. And we checked ourselves into a casino fantasyland for a mind and body tune-up. And there to help us relax was Multi Strike. I hate playing in slot tournaments, but Brad likes to, so it worked out well. I could concentrate on Multi Strike until my eyeballs fell out and Brad would join me when he didn’t have tournament duties.
I won’t bore you with an hour-by-hour blow-by-blow, but here are some of the important details.
We were playing a JoB schedule, one we hadn’t played on Multi Strike before, on the $1 level. Ordinarily, we would have started on the quarter level while we were learning, but we needed to earn qualification points faster than this would have permitted. So the first few hours, we did as we usually do on a new game or one we haven’t played for a long time: Brad played while I sat beside him, referring often to a strategy chart. This learning process took longer than usual — switching between three modified charts depending on what line you are on and remembering to switch back to basic strategy every time we had a Free Ride or were on the top line. It required our intense and undivided concentration. If someone came up to talk to us, we soon learned that we had to stop playing completely.
We went through all sorts of streaks during the three days, a lot of them losing. You need a huge bankroll to ride this roller-coaster! But the high points that came occasionally kept us going: quads on the 3rd or 4th line for $500 or $1,000, a series of good hits on the top line, and a $4,000 royal on the bottom line (which we tried to appreciate without thinking of the $32,000 we would have scored if it’d been on the 4th line).
We ended up winning $3,400, but almost that whole amount was due to a fortunate accident. Brad had switched machines and neither of us noticed that when he put in some new bills, the game changed. So when he exclaimed after a few minutes, “I got four aces on the third line,” we were happy with our expected $500. However, the machine kept clicking up credits beyond 500, then locked up for a handpay of $3,225. Yes, unbeknownst to us, the machine had defaulted to Double Bonus when we put in more money. Once again, skill kept us going, so we were in a position to enjoy a visit by Lady Luck.
SPECIAL NOTICE
There will be a big Gamblers Jamboree in Tunica Nov. 14-16. I’ll be joining many gambling personalities in giving seminars that will cover all casino games. And here’s a frugal way to register. Mention that the Frugal Gambler sent you and you’ll get a 20% discount. There’s also a discount if two or more register together. Go to www.FrugalGambler.biz and click on the Tunica banner to read all the details of this information-packed three-day event.
While you’re at the Web site, you might want to click on Calendar, where we list book-signings and meets that are being scheduled in many places outside Las Vegas. Brad and I look forward to meeting old friends and making new ones at these events.
8/7/2003
From a recent press release: The vpFREE video poker Internet group announces the selection of Dan Paymar as the 2003 inductee into the vpFREE Video Poker Hall of Fame. Paymar’s books, articles and strategy cards have helped to educate players and popularize video poker.
Dan Paymar joins the five 2002 charter members, including Gary Catlin, the inventor of VP Tutor software; the late Lenny Frome, who was a video poker pioneer; Si Redd who introduced and marketed the first video poker machines in 1978; Stanford Wong, the blackjack and sports betting guru, who developed VPExactsoftware; and Dean Zamzow, who created WinPoker, which is a required resource for every serious video poker player.
Dan Paymar and the five charter inductees are honored on the Hall of Fame Web site at http://www.west-point.org/users/usma1955/20228/VP/HOF.html.
The vpFREE video poker group is a group of 2200 plus video poker enthusiasts who exchange video poker information via individual and Internet-based e-mail messages. The home page site for vpFREE is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE .
Future elections will be held annually to honor others who have made or continue to make significant contributions to the world of video poker.
—————–
Bill Burton has a new Web site where you can order his book, Get the Edge at Low-limit Texas Hold ‘Em: www.billburton.com.
Good poker advice: “”Look around the table. If you don’t see a sucker, get up, because you’re the sucker.””–Amarillo Slim, former WSOP champion.
Go to www.bankrate.com/nsc/news/auto/20030716a1.asp for some frugal tips on renting cars. I would add to the ones they have listed:
1. Book early and keep checking every few days; sometimes you can catch a lower rate and you can easily cancel the old reservation (since they don’t require an advance deposit or credit-card charge) and make a new one for the lower price.
2. Join the frequent-renter clubs at the companies you use. Most of these are free and they make check-in more convenient, with less standing in line. If the club you join lets you pick your own car at the lot, sometimes a tip to the attendant will allow you to choose an upgraded size without an extra charge.
From casinowire.com: Rich Cartiere, publisher of Wine Market Report, sums up local opposition to the construction of a casino by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria in Sonoma County.
“There is a snob factor working against what is being perceived as a garish casino at one of the entrances to California’s wine country. The wine industry views itself as representing a fine sin, as opposed to a run-of-the-mill sin represented by a casino.”” Hmmph! I’m a little insulted.
Speaking of wine. I’ve encouraged Brad, since his heart attack, to drink a glass of red wine several times a week, since this has been touted as a good thing for the heart. He never was a teetotaler, but seldom drank alcoholic beverages in the past. The other day when I was too busy to leave my computer, I sent him out to play VP at a casino where we needed to get some points to maintain our bounce-back level. I called out as he was leaving, “Don’t forget to have a glass of wine.”
He stopped and looked at me with a henpecked frown. “I bet I’m the only man in the world with a wife who forces him to go out and gamble and drink!”
8/14/2003
This week I got a letter from the Texas Station marketing department. The first sentence mentioned “exciting news and programs we would like to share with you!” (Their exclamation point, not mine, for a change!) Well, that immediately put me on my guard. I rarely enjoy new slot club programs and I’m even more rarely excited about casino changes, which are rarely good news for my pocketbook.
I read on about the restructuring of their Player Development program. I also find that term eminently distasteful. If I want something developed about me — my personality, my attitude, whatever — I want to do it myself, not have it done by some organization or company that just wants my money. What happened to the warm and fuzzy word “host”? I want a letter from my personal casino representative, who knows me, and probably likes me, because I’m a friendly non-demanding customer, not one from the director of marketing who knows me only by my players card number.
But I digress. The letter does go on to mention hosts, but in a shocking sentence: “We will no longer have individual hosts assigned to individual players.” Whoa there! No one who knows I like caffeine-free sugar-free soda in my room instead of a bottle of wine, and cheese and crackers instead of candy in my fruit basket? No one who asks how my beloved grandchildren are? No one who knows we aren’t very big on gourmet restaurants and I like to eat in a buffet so I can easier stick to a low-carb diet?
“We are rolling out our ‘Host on Duty’ program, which means that any one of our three Executive Casino Hosts will be happy to assist you in any arrangements you may need. We feel this is a better way to assist our most valuable guests. Attached is our Executive Casino Host Schedule for your convenience.” A chart follows.
Hmmm, I’ll have to think about this one. I know Texas Station is a locals casino with a comp-only (no cashback) slot club system. So most of the time, most of us will just go to the slot club or a kiosk for a comp or have our cards swiped in the restaurant or outlet we choose. Many players never saw a host before anyway, so they won’t even notice the change.
This might work for a Vegas locals casino, but I hope the concept isn’t the beginning of a trend. I, for one, would certainly miss the old system: an e-mail from my host when she hadn’t seen us for a while; a short chat when she looks us up at our machine; someone who knows never to call me before 11 a.m. even if she does bear good news about an upcoming juicy promotion or fancy-dancy VIP event to which we’re invited.
To me the word “host” means someone who welcomes people into his or her “home” and gives personal attention, not someone who represents an impersonal organization and dutifully scurries about to drum up loyalty to that organization.
Maybe I misunderstand the word.
8/21/2003
Continuing from last week with the subject of casino mail I could do without, just today I received this in a letter from a casino: “Recently your friends at Casino XXX mailed an invitation to you for a [future party with free room nights, yadda, yadda]. The invitation inadvertently stated ‘complimentary offer’ when it should have been ‘$99 complimentary dollars.’ To make your reservation for this event using your Comp Dollars, please contact Casino Marketing at (1-800-YOU-BLEWIT).”
I know casinos are run by human beings. I also know that human beings make mistakes. But this left a very bad taste in my mouth and a very negative feeling toward that casino. I think they should have bit the bullet and honored the offer as it was written. I have a strong feeling that the marketing department at this casino might have have been surprised at the number of low-level customers who would have been so thrilled with the free offer that they would’ve come and played more and become higher-level players.
But this next incident takes the cake. Brad and I and some of our friends recently received an invitation to a slot tournament at a new casino that recently opened just off the Strip. In big letters on the front it said: “FOR VIP’s ONLY (FREE).” Inside it had an entry form that included blanks to fill in for a room, free I assumed, since no rates were given. Brad and I decided to skip this tournament because of time constraints, so we didn’t bother calling the tournament hotline. A friend of ours who did call to book his entry in response to the invitation, however, heard, “Oops, you haven’t played enough to qualify. Sorry.” Our friend, a bit of a wag, commented in an e-mail on Skip’s VP Internet List, “I guess maybe it was too complicated to screen me out before they sent me the mailer saying I was VIP status to play.”
I’m constantly shaking my head at the things casinos do!
Interesting historical facts about lotteries, from CasinoWire:
The first commercial lottery took place in the French town of L’Ecluse in 1420, with proceeds helping to pay for improvements to the town moat.”
A two-year study carried out by researcher Doron Herzog and financed by Mifal Hapayis (the Israeli National Lottery) follows the history of lotteries among the Jewish people from the days of the Bible until the establishment of the Jewish state. The study is published in the book One Fate, which contains documents, original lottery tickets, and other rare items from the 18th and 19th century. It reveals that the Israel has conducted lotteries since early times — starting with stories of the forefathers and continuing through the Israelis’ toils in the Sinai desert, settling the land of Israel, and up to the present. Even the plague of frogs in Egypt was determined by a lottery. Moses asked Pharaoh to decide on the day for removing the plague of frogs from Egypt. The Biblical scholar Tur-Sinai explains that Moses turned to Pharaoh saying, “”Cast a die and we shall find the day on which you want the frogs to be removed””.
Did you know that “”THE”” and “”IRS”” when put together spells “”THEIRS””?
”
8/29/2003 “I hear a lot of people say that they don’t like casinos that give points only for comps and none for cashback. The Palms is sometimes mentioned negatively in this respect. As everyone should know, I’m one of the biggest lovers of cashback, but we’ve found that the Palms comp points are as good as cashback, because we can use them for 1) many of the necessities of life, and 2) many of the luxuries of life we could not afford on our modest pension.
For some of you who don’t know what to do with all the points you have at the Palms, here’s some help, with suggestions on how to pump up the bill to use more points:
1. See movies. Go at night when the prices are higher than the matinees. Take all your friends or, if you don’t have any friends, make some by using your points for the tickets for strangers standing in line with you.
2. Load up on junk food at the movie concession stand. The prices are high.
3. Buy car-wash tokens for 1,200 points, at the slot club or at the gift shop, and distribute them as tips to anyone who does anything for you.
4. Slurp yummy drinks at the Coffee Bean, worth every penny of the high prices. (The fat-free and sugar-free Sunrise is my favorite drink, when I’m cheating on my low-carb diet.) Also buy nice gift baskets and coffee products there.
5. Treat yourself to an ice-cream creation at Ben and Jerry’s, also worth every penny.
6. Pay for your hotel bill if (God forbid) you didn’t play enough to get it
comped. Pay with points for rooms for your relatives so they don’t have to be under feet in your Las Vegas home when they come visit you. (And be assured that they WILL visit you more often when you move to Vegas.)
7. Eat at a gourmet restaurant and drink expensive wine with your dinner.
8. Eat at the food court and supersize everything.
9. Use in the salon for services and all kinds of hair and skin products, makeup, etc.
10. Use in the spa for massages and other pampering services and neat little gifts in their small retail area. Doing nice things for your body is never a waste of points or money.
11. Use in the regular gift shop for clothes, cigarettes, and sundries, and at the smaller Stuff gift shop adjacent to the Steak House, which sell swimsuits and sexy apparel. (It’s an aptly named store — since I’d literally have to stuff myself into any article of clothing I bought there.)
12. Stash your kids or grandkids in Kids Quest and let them have unlimited snacks. You’d be surprised how many points you can use up even if the time limit for one day is 5.5 hours. My grandchildren have tested this one
and will vouch for it. The record for bailing them out from one session is $97.
13. Drink at the bars and buy rounds for everyone around you.
14. Buy gift certificates for your own future use or for highly appreciated gifts for hosts, friends, and family:
A. In the gift shop, you can buy certificates that can be used in the
buffet, coffee shop, Gardunos, Little Buddha, for hotel bills, and for
gift-shop purchases.
B. The Stuff store doesn’t sell gift certificates per se, but they do sell gift cards, good at that same store, the Nine Steak House, Rain nightclub, and the Ghost Bar. The gift cards are sold in denominations from $50 to $200. These are even better than gift certificates, as you can use a partial amount on one of them, and the balance will remain on the card for future use.
C. Buy gift certificates in the Spa that can be used for products and services.
D. Buy gift certificates in the AMP Hair Salon for products and services.
Places you can pay directly with points, without going to the slot club first to get a comp voucher: Ben and Jerry’s and Regina’s Pizza (both in the Food Court); all non-food court restaurants (Alize, Nine, Garduno’s, Little Buddha, buffet, coffee shop); both gift shops; all casino bars; the spa and the hair salon. All other places you must first go to the slot club o