12/4/2003
How did I ever keep up before I had a computer and discovered the Internet? I learn so much by using online resources. Here are just a few samples of valuable information I’ve picked up recently on the cyber highway.
From the vpFree Forum
The following was written by a friend who is even more frugal than I am: “The Vegas city bus company CAT has a 24-hour pass, time-stamped from when you buy it from the driver, good for 24 hours on all CAT routes. For the cost of a little more than a mile in Las Vegas’ over-priced taxis ($2.70 flag drop + $1.80 mile + 20 cents waiting time, which is about every 33 seconds), you can travel on an unlimited basis for 24 hours for $5.” Go to www.rtc.co.clark.nv.us/cat.htm for more info.
Three Items from Viva Las Vegas Newsletter
* Nevada’s DUI-law presumption of impairment was recently reduced from 0.10 to 0.08. Be aware that the Las Vegas police conduct unannounced checkpoints.
* The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority moved its Visitors Center from Jean, NV, to Primm, NV, just beside the Fashion Outlet Mall.
* Jubilee Show All Access Backstage Walking Tour has restarted. An actual Jubilee performer will be your guide. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 2 p.m. Minimum age is 13. Price is $10 for one hour per person or $16.50 for two hours per person. Reservations or actual ticket purchases are at the Box Office in Bally’s. (Brad and I took this many years ago and he found it very fascinating, especially the difference in pay for showgirls who appear topless and those that don’t!)
Subscribe to billhere’s Viva Las Vegas free email newsletter at www.billhere.com.
From Fantini’s Morning Gaming Report
“Mandalay Resort Group says it will install software to track non-gaming spending by its customers, Reuters reported. Such a move is consistent with their transition from a casino company with resort amenities to a resort company with a casino. It is estimated that non-gaming revenue will grow to be 70 percent of the total at their flagship property Mandalay Bay.”
This fact amazes me — just like the one that says the main purpose of the trip to Las Vegas for a majority of visitors is something other than gambling. I bet Bugsy is turning over in his grave!
From the Las Vegas Sun
A new reason to spend more time in a casino! An article in an online edition of the Las Vegas Sun about Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs), which are now in use in most Las Vegas casinos and hotels. These are battery-operated machines that deliver an electric shock to resuscitate people who have suffered cardiac arrests. People who have cardiac arrests in casinos have an advantage over having one at home, because surveillance employees see the episode on security cameras and can dispatch security guards very quickly. Read the whole article at http://tinyurl.com/okzd.
Of Hearts and Brad and Me
Speaking of heart attacks, many people have asked how Brad is doing since his in March. I’m grateful daily for the fact that he’s doing fine. Maybe he has slowed down a little, probably from the beta blocker he takes, but this has been a good thing really, since it has made me more conscious that I need to slow down a bit too.
Want to make a wager on whether or not I’ll be able to do it?
12/11/2003
Remember the item from last week’s FF, about defibrillators in casinos? Little did I know when I wrote those words that there’d be one in our casino hotel room a few days later!
Thanksgiving week we were taking a busman’s holiday to Reno, staying at the Reno Hilton. As I also reported in last week’s column, Brad was feeling great. He was taking his medications regularly: blood thinner, beta-blocker, and cholesterol-lowering pills. We’d pretty much forgotten the scare of the March heart attack and I didn’t stop breathing every time he “looked funny.”
Then, the day before Thanksgiving, after breakfast, Brad said he wasn’t feeling very well and told me to go ahead to the Hilton high-limit room and the Five-Play NSUD VP machines we’d been playing. He’d go upstairs and lie down, then come down to the machines and join me after a nap. Knowing that he’s a professional napper and being the dutiful and obedient spouse that I am (don’t laugh), I did as he instructed. My machine was hot — I was dealt a dirty royal and I got four deuces on one line all in the first ten minutes — and I was up $1,600. But with all this luck, my mind was not on the game.
Suddenly, I did stop breathing. How dumb was this! I’d never known Brad to choose a nap over VP — at least not in the morning! I grabbed the first casino employee I saw, an executive in a suit, gave him my slot card, and told him to take care of my machine with all its credits. I raced through the casino. Realizing I didn’t have my room key with me, I grabbed a security guard on the way, telling him I was afraid my husband might be having heart problems. He made a quick detour into an office, then joined me at the elevator, carrying the defibrillator pack.
When we got to the room, Brad was in bed with that awful gray face I hadn’t seen since last March, but he weakly told us he was okay. By this time there were four security guards in the room — good thing we had a large suite. I said we better call our host and get a limo to take Brad to the hospital emergency room. (I’ve got to quit thinking that hosts are for everything.) That’s when the security guard informed us that an ambulance was already on its way. The words were barely out of his mouth when three EMTs were there with a monitor on Brad’s chest.
Well, to make a long story short, the ambulance took Brad to the hospital, with me riding shotgun, where he was quickly diagnosed as having atrial fibrillation (meaning his upper heart chambers were beating three times for every one of the lower chambers, instead of a nice steady back-and-forth beat). Twenty minutes after receiving a heart-regulating medication, Brad’s heartbeat returned to normal and he was allowed to go back to the hotel. And he was put on Digoxin, which has pretty much controlled the AFib.
After we got home from Reno, Brad had another cardiac episode, another trip to the emergency room and subsequently a three-day stay in the hospital for all kinds of heart tests. But he passed them all with flying colors and it was determined that he had a bacterial infection that had probably precipitated the second episode. That infection has been eradicated with antibiotics and we’re now back to our usual routine, albeit careful to keep a slightly more relaxed schedule.
I was extremely impressed with the casino’s quick reaction to a medical emergency. Everyone was very efficient and caring. And the executive to whom I handed off my machine full of credits saw that I got my money back safe and sound.
I hope none of you ever have a medical emergency while you’re in a casino. But I think you can be assured that if you do, you’ll get swift help by highly trained personnel.
12/18/2003
Thank you so much, everyone who e-mailed us words of encouragement after last week’s column about Brad’s medical “adventures.” It’s truly wonderful to have so many friends all over the country who are thinking of us. And Brad wants everyone to know that the crisis is over and he’s feeling much stronger now — so he says you can quit worrying about him!
I need to clean out my computer file of “Things to Write About in Frugal Fridays.” Sheesh, it says there are 269 items. I guess I’ll never run out of material — so there’s that excuse for quitting writing down the drain!
From a reader (and good friend): “I had over $1,200 in my Silverton comp account. After a dispute over points earned on a multi-point day, I didn’t play there for over two years. After all that time, I stopped by to inquire about my comps at the slot club. Told that my comps had “”expired”” due to lack of play for two years, I asked if there was any way that my comp account could be reinstated, since I planned on playing there again. A supervisor told me to go ahead and play, and that within one week my comp account would be reinstated. I played 50c 10/7 DB for about an hour, returned a week later, and my comp points were back in my account! So, as Jean Scott always says, ask! It can’t hurt, and it sometimes gets you an exception to the rules!” (Another excuse down the drain — some people do take my advice!)
From a letter from Caesars, spelling out new rules for the new Park Place consolidated cross-property Connection players card:
“… Starting in January 2004, Nevada State law requires us to maintain only single Connection Card accounts. The account you currently hold for both you and [spouse] will be split into two accounts…” (Do you suppose the members of the Nevada Legislature got tired of reading my constant badgering of casino customers to not have joint slot club accounts and took matters into their own hands? Naaaah…)
And just when I thought that there would soon be nothing new under the sun for me to say about casino comps, I learn that the Cannery is running a promotion that you can use your comp points for a $25 voucher toward a real Christmas tree at a local lot.
So all my threats to quit writing will probably never be carried out. There will probably be a half-written Frugal Friday’s column on my chest when I’m in my casket!
Now, here’s a Christmas joke I’ve had in my file for almost a year, from Joke du Jour. It’s a little out of date, I think, because of the strife in the Holy Land, but let’s pretend the whole world is at peace this week.
A religious couple was touring the Holy Land during the Christmas season and decided it would be meaningful for them to spend Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus.
Arriving there, they searched high and low for a room, but none was available at any price. Finally, they pulled up in front of the Sheraton-Bethlehem and the husband got out of the car, telling his wife: “”Stay here, sweetie. Let me see if I can do something for us.””
He approached the desk and the clerk told him there were no rooms. “”Sorry, sir. It’s Christmas Eve, our busiest time.””
No matter how much the man offered to pay, the clerk said he had nothing. Finally, the man told the clerk, “”I bet if I told you my name was Joseph, that the woman waiting in the car was called Mary, and that she had a newborn infant, you’d find us a room.””
“”Well,”” stammered the clerk, “”I — I suppose so.””
“”Okay,”” said the man. “”I guarantee you, they’re not coming tonight — so I’ll take their room.””
Happy holidays to all!
12/26/2003
I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season!
As you know by having read this column in the past, I try to tell it like it is. When a casino does something that I feel is sneaky, or unfair, or poorly executed, I pull no punches when I write about it. I’ve bitterly criticized the Orleans for treating many of us loyal customers like VIPs for years and years, then overnight cutting us off like we were pond scum — with no explanation whatsoever. Many casinos have changed their slot club or comps systems with no advance notice to their customers and/or no chance to redeem past benefits earned. Some casinos have heavily advertised a good customer promotion, then punished players who took advantage of it, cutting off their mailings or other benefits.
I’ve always said that casinos would be much better off if they were truthful and upfront with their customers, giving reasons for changing benefits, policies, or promotions. We might be disappointed when this happens — no one likes cuts in benefits in any business — but we like to be treated with respect and courtesy. And that means advance notice and clear explanations and fair implementation.
This week I want to share with you a letter that many of us recently received from the Las Vegas Stations Casinos (the related Fiestas sent a similar one). This is definitely not good-news correspondence for those of us who strive to play good video poker and look for full-pay machines. However, I was happy to receive a letter from a casino company that was clearly considering the feelings of its customers by alerting them in advance to a changeover in their comp system.
Here’s what the letter said:
“We’re making some changes and we want you to be the first to know. So, hurry into your number-one Station and play your favorite full-pay machine. Why? It’s your last chance to earn points at the current rate through December 31, 2003. We believe it’s important to communicate this information to you, our valued guest. Unlike other competitors who have taken full-pay games off the floor, Station Casinos and Fiestas are committed to offering the full-pay product that you, our guests, have told us you want. Unfortunately, in order for us to keep this committment, it is necessary for us to change the point structure to $2 = 1 point (like our competition). This change will occur on January 1, 2004. What does that mean? For every $2 played (coin-in), 1 Boarding Pass point will be earned. For your convenience, these machines will be clearly marked and the display will read:
“Boarding Pass points will be earned at a rate of $2 coin-in = 1 point on this machine.”
Though I don’t relish the change (cutting back on the slot club benefits of people who play full-pay video poker), I do applaud Station Casinos for warning us about it.