Comments on: A Danger in Casino Promotions

By: Steve Kallis

Steve Kallis — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 14:36:27 +0000

Of course they want you to gamble back your winnings BUT use self control. The few times I have won big I take half of it and put it aside and play only with the other half. I have even gone so far as going to a bank and mailing a cashiers check home.

Nothing worst than winning big and then going home a loser.

By: Virginia Vega

Virginia Vega — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 17:33:17 +0000

Boy,,,you hit the nail right on the head!!..Been there done that….!!!

By: Dan Sowards

Dan Sowards — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:51:34 +0000

Jean, I believe you’ve overlooked one other approach, which substantiates what the blogger may have been insinuating, and that is, most all “offers” are intended to GET YOU BACK IN THE CASINO! I’ll give you a specific example, which could have turned out much differently….which it did for many:

A number of years ago I won an evening drawing at H….’s” in March, which gave me on entry into a May drawing for one of three prizes – a Hummer, a trip to Australia, or $5,000 cash. It appeared that only three people per day would be entered, so the odds appeared great. Only 270 or so entries. The wife does not like Vegas, but I talked her into going. When we arrived, we realized that the “hopper” was chock full of entries. The casino had opened up the entries to one for every “x” amount of points a player had accululated during those three months! The wife was furious, but we filled out 67 entries by hand and put them in the hopper. That evening, with my wife still poopooing the whole thing, my name was the first drawn. I ended up winning the $5,000 cash. She cried for an hour. HOWEVER, the bottom line is, everyone of us was lured back to this casino in the hopes of being a winner in the drawing. But we all, know that we would be gambling and in many cases losing, all the while we were there, whether or not we won anything in the drawing. So, the casino, I’m certain, got their investment back many times over, from the looses the customers experienced while hoping they would be a winner.

By: Kevin Lewis

Kevin Lewis — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 07:06:17 +0000

Actually, the hidden cost of ANY promotion is opportunity cost. When you play a promotion, its actual worth is its net value minus the value (to you) of the time spent to take advantage of it. A promotion that gave you $50 just for sticking your head in the door still wouldn’t be worth $50–it would be worth $50 minus gas minus wear and tear on your car minus the value of your time. And if it takes one hour of play? Net value, even less. Suppose that one hour of play must be on -EV machines? Less yet.
A seemingly lucrative promotion can actually be a losing play if you factor in “overhead”; even if you would only hypothetically compensate yourself at minimum wage for your time, the net effect could still easily be -EV, as anyone who has driven across town and stood in line at a slot club in order to jump on a promo can attest.
The guy who posted on VpFree wasn’t wrong when he opined that casino promotions are intended to make gamblers lose more. But then, +EV players aren’t gamblers, so the fact that such players turn the tables on the casinos and make casinos’ promtions net money losers is neither here not there.