Some people have complained that I don’t cover enough casinos. Hey, Brad and I are getting old and are trying to act more like retired people and not have such a full calendar. So I tend to write more about the few where we play and/or the ones where we don’t play but still get mailers. (I am always amazed at the patience of casinos – some keep sending us offers for years after we stop play there!)
But if you want to know about promotions at a specific casino and I don’t mention it here – or even if I do but you want more details, I suggest you go to the Web site of those you might want to check out. Surprisingly, not all casinos are “with it” in this computer age. They don’t see the value of informing their customers about promotions – the old we-are-giving-a-party-but-we-don’t-want-anyone-to-come casino policy. And some just make a stab at it, but don’t seem to realize that people like to plan in advance so the Web site information contains old details. I want to know August promotions before August 5. I don’t want to see July promotions on August 1st!
However, many casinos are really on top of online things these days. I knew a week ago the El Cortez is serving Marie Callender’s Strawberry Pie on August 3rd. (I love their promotions – who else would have a White Castle Hamburger Day!) And their Web site lists a ton of interesting promotions, including a generous checking-cashing special that can be used by locals and visitors alike. Another example is Southpoint’s Web site, which has the details up for their August Cash Blast promotion.
Another good resource for Vegas promotions if you don’t get the hard copy of the Las Vegas Review-Journal is their online “Marketplace Ad and Coupon” section. You can search by categories, including “casinos” and many others that are not casino-related. Also a good resource for non-gambling Las Vegas happenings is at Vegas4Locals. The list there covers events right through the rest of the year.
PALMS
The “Play, Earn, and Win” promotion continues on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays , and again has the feature that allows you to combine your points over multiple days – and the one that generates very very long lines at the Promotion Center on Friday late afternoons and evenings. By the pictures in our mailer, it looks like at least one gift card is in the mix of “stuff” you can earn in August. (You can see the pictures at the link given just above when the ad appears in the newspaper.)
The usual mini earn-and-swipe promotion continues on Tuesdays. The on-going Senior Thursdays for 50+ also has an earn-and-swipe feature as well as mini-baccarat lessons, a mini-baccarat and blackjack tournament, discounts on food and movie tickets, and a free lounge show on August 15 at 3 p.m. And their weekly drawings continue on Fridays and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. with a “Grand Prize Mini Game” following each drawing. Again you can earn 5x drawing entries from 8 p.m. until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
TUSCANY
The buzz here recently has been about players cards being “deactivated.” This happened to us and some others we have talked to. When we went to the slot club for an explanation we were told we needed to talk to the new marketing director, Wendy Perez. She explained that they were having trouble with a person – or persons – using other people’s cards. She said one person had been downloading free play from 20 different cards and they were trying to “catch” that person. I’m not sure that this explanation tells the whole story – but it does indicate that they are going after people who play on and/or collect from multiple cards. So a word to the wise…… She did add that this was NOT a problem for spouses.
All’s well that ends well! We who had been “deactivated” but found to be “innocent” could keep our same cards, but we were asked to choose a new pin #. I must say I breathed a little better after this since we have a ton of comps we would hate to lose.
Ten times points continue on Mondays and Fridays. (If you like to play in the middle of the night, check at the slot club. They offer 5x points some – but not all – nights between midnight and 5 a.m.) Mystery Free Play days are on the 6th and 20th. There are four gift days this month, every Wednesday. No gift card or pulltab promotions this month. (We really miss those.) Instead there is a car-giveaway drawing promotion on Saturdays. We are not fans of drawings so will probably be cutting down on our play there until they have other kinds of promotions we like better.
ELLIS ISLAND
The free Bingo Bonanza continues Monday-Friday, as does the Wednesday drawing promotion.
They are rolling out a big football contest with signups beginning the first of August. First 200 players to sign up receive a T-shirt. The contest features weekly prizes as well as a grand prize. A dollar menu is offered during Sunday and Monday games: $1 hot dogs, $1 beer, and 5 wings for $2.
HARD ROCK
We aren’t playing at Hard Rock any more – we can’t play everywhere and they had downgraded their slot club point values. But we are being tempted to return by very robust mailers, with lots of multiple-point days and various food and gambling promotions. Players would have to judge for themselves whether these promotions could make up for the downgrades.
“COAST” PROPERTIES
Our Gold Coast August mailer was a major downgrade, with not even one multiplier day for video poker. I asked about this at the players club and they said it was due to the fact that they were replacing their carpet. Say what???? I notice there are no VP bonus days at the Orleans or Sam’s Town either. Are they replacing their carpets too? I think some slot club employees really want to be helpful and answer your questions even if they don’t really know the answers!
There will be monthly promotion blogs, I guess, as long as the casinos still have promotions and I am still able to sit at my desk and peck on computer keys.
Will you have a promo blog for September? I am headed there in the first week.
excellent blog I am a big fan of card counting,
blackjack, las vegas from Sweden
I would rather have LESS COMPS and looser slots! The Comps are secondary. I thought the goal was to WIN!!
Jean, your absolutely right! Us paying customers have the
right to chose and pick what casinos we visit for tournaments, shows, and dining! And if the casinos don’t
want to let us know whats going on in advance, so we
can plan ahead, Then to hell with them! When I plan a Vac.
I don’t go unless I have at least 3 tourns, shows, or
dinners to go to. I have plenty of other options to use!
Ron in Ca.
It used to be that August was a terrific promo month, as the infernal heat keeps people away for the most part, and the football season hasn’t started yet. Now, however, the pickin’s are pretty slim.
Possibly the best promo out there now is the Silverton earn 500 points on Tues/Wed and get a $20 comp. Silverton’s VP is garbage, but there’s still some 8/5 Bonus (whee!) left (much like Tuscany or the M, those are the only machines in the joint that are playable, and then only in conjunction with a promotion). As the LVA mentions, your EV is about -$4 on $500 worth of action, making your expected value $16. One mildly redeeming feature about 8/5 Bonus (or 9/6 JOB, if available) as a points-accumulation tool for promos is that you will rarely get stomped through the floor. If you, by contrast, were playing something like 9/6 Double Double Bonus, you could easily lose $100+ while running that $500 through–which would be a psychological blow and would probably add a bad taste to the “free” meal that you had thereby earned.
The above relates to a subject I’ve mentioned before–the volatility of promo-chasing. In certain situations, you might want to pick a game with an inherently lower EV than the nominally best game available, but having lower volatility. A “hit-and-run” promo wherein you have to put through a modest amount of coin-in would be a good example.
Likewise, if you’re playing to earn some kind of gift, you need to not only figure the EV of the amount of play needed (and these days, you’ll only be earning those gifts by playing -EV games), but the true value of the gift/prize (how much would you have paid for it?), as well as the opportunity cost (if it takes you an hour to go to the casino, play the required amount, and redeem the prize, could you have spent that hour doing something else as or more productive, including playing a +EV game instead?)