However, we were pretty well settled into our new apartment home thanks to a lot of family support – and hopefully feeling strong enough for those long flights. And we really wanted to attend the Blackjack Ball on Feb. 22, to which we had been invited as special guests.  I’ll talk more about that fascinating event in a later blog, but today I will talk about something that made that trip very tempting.  Maybe you can guess why?  It would be FREE!!!!!

We may have retired from frugal gambling but not from frugal thinking – and we still had a lot of comps left back in Vegas.  Everyone knows how I hate to let valuable benefits expire and go to waste!

I’ve written a lot of negative things about CZR down through the years, and the future seems to look bleak for educated players as it is being taken over by El Dorado.  But for the moment, we enjoyed a surprise new benefit that CZR just introduced late last year. (I wrote about this in a Nov. 21^st blog.)  Starting February 1^st, 2020, they added a $600 travel benefit to Las Vegas for Diamond-tier players who had climbed up to 75,000 tier credits from the base requirement of 15,000.  What was surprising about this advanced tier benefit was that it was based on your entire 2019 play.  This backdating let us include our only play in 2019, which was early in the year before our decision to cut play at CZR and several other properties.

You can read more about these advanced Diamond benefits here.  Unfortunately, the details are a bit vague.  For example, since it mentions a flight to Vegas, what substitute benefit would a Las Vegas resident have?  Perhaps one of those would share their personal experience about this in the “Comments.”  This benefit is not as good as the Diamond travel perks of several years ago – but to have a new benefit of any kind from CZR was a welcome surprise.

In addition to having free airfare for the trip back to Vegas, we had another surprise.  Although this new Diamond travel perk did not come with any room comp, our long-time NCM host, who knew our history of heavy play, obtained 5 free comped hotel nights for us although we hadn’t put in any play for almost a year.  True, it was at the Rio, a neglected CZR property that hasn’t seen upgrades for years – and probably won’t until the new owner decides what to do with it after CZR management ends in two years.  I think they are just glad to get warm bodies in the rooms and hope they will wander down to the casino and do some play. However, it was large – all suites there – and clean and we don’t need fancy digs – we’ve had enough of those for 35 years to satisfy any long-ago enthusiasm for luxury.

With the basic expenses covered, we spent 5 days roaming around Vegas “burning comps.” We turned as much of our benefits as we could into Free Play.  Then comp-only balance would cover all our snacks and meals, but there was still so much left.  So, we treated family and friends to meals and movies and shopping in casino gift shops – that last one an only-option choice trying my frugal soul with their jacked-up high prices.  We bought candy for our great-grandkids Easter baskets.   And when we couldn’t think of another thing to buy, we passed out gift cards that weren’t in our names so they could be used by others in the future.

We got the job done!

Updates on CZR News

A surprise for the lower tier level players:  Caesars Entertainment Corp. has announced that Gold tier rewards members can upgrade to the Platinum tier for a limited time “in celebration of the holiday season.” This upgrade includes free parking at all Caesars’ Las Vegas resorts, discounted rooms, the ability to transfer reward credits and other benefits.  You have to upgrade your Gold card by December 31, but your Platinum status and all the rewards it brings will be good through January 31, 2020.

I have found conflicting reports about this upgrade.  Some say it is just for Vegas locals and you have to appear in person at a Vegas Rewards Center to activate this upgrade.  I have not been able to find any information about this on an official CZR website. Perhaps someone from out of town has had personal experience with this promo and could give the details in the Comments below.

However, there is another short-term perk – verified – for all tier levels that IS limited to Nevada residents – a 2X Reward Credit Multiplier until December 31^st.  This is only available for Nevada residents that visit a Las Vegas Caesars Reward Center and present a valid NV driver’s license.

Note: There are a couple of on-going ways for some players to upgrade from Gold to Platinum (and score the free-parking benefit) without the necessary play they would ordinarily need to reach the higher tier level.  Active military and veterans can get a Platinum card by showing official verification documents at the players club.  And signing up for a CZR credit card will get anyone a Platinum card.

One other CZR happening you might have missed:  In July 2018 Caesars Entertainment bought Centaur Holdings, adding the Hoosier Park Racing and Casino in Anderson, Indiana, and Indiana Grand Racing and Casino in Shelbyville, Indiana.  Neither of these properties have a hotel, but some Seven Star players have been able to take their annual retreat there, with comped accommodations at a nearby motel. The other retreat benefits may be limited.  You would definitely need to check in advance the current situation and be aware there might be a lot of changes here – as well as elsewhere – when the Eldorado take-over is complete.

A New Way to Learn How to Gamble

The best way to attract new players to table games? Take away the gambling.  That’s the theory behind Casino Quest, a casino game education space set to open at the Fashion Show mall. Run by Casino Education Group, which operates the CEG Dealer School in Las Vegas, the space would allow guests to rent a table by the hour to compete against friends or learn how to play.

“There will be no money. You pay to access the space,” said Casino Quest CEO David Noll. “It’s going to be (for) people who are risk-averse. It’s going to be (for) people who want to learn the game.”

The space is set to have a mix of table games — one craps, one roulette, one baccarat and four blackjack — and will give students from the casino school Noll manages a chance to practice dealing to players in a real-world setting.

For the players, Casino Quest offers a casual venue where they can take their time learning a game without being under the watchful eyes of pit bosses or more experienced players. The student dealers will be able to ease new players into the game, teaching them rules and helping them along as they play.

This new experience is set to open tomorrow – Black Friday.  Who knew that you could go to the mall and learn how to play casino table games!

Holiday Giving Ideas

The Las Vegas Advisor Holiday Gift Catalogue is now online, chock-full of ideas for the casino lovers and gamblers on your gift list.  My contribution to this was spending a couple of hours autographing umpteen copies of my latest book.  If you want to order an autographed copy of The Frugal Gambler Casino Guide, click here.  Or, if you want to be more frugal, order it in your favorite eBook reader format.

Searching for Words

Am I impressed by this most expensive hotel room in the world?

I would be more impressed by the introduction of some 9/6 JoB VP in the casino downstairs from that room.

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Hope you all took the time to count the many blessings you have on this Thanksgiving Day – before you go out tomorrow and make your own personal Friday black by buying more than you can afford!

So, the only help I can give all of us CZR players is what seems to be fairly solid information that has been put out there in the news.  The name of the new merged company will be Caesars, and the players club will be Caesars Rewards (the recently-changed new name for the old Total Rewards club).   Eldorado players will be transferred over to the Caesars Reward players club.  The new company will be managed by Eldorado, and that worries many CZR players since the word around is that they are “tighter” with player benefits.

However, right now it seems, according to all the emails and snail-mail offers I am getting, that the club is operating pretty much in a business-as-usual fashion, with many of the same type of benefits we have been getting for years, albeit reducing in value like has been happening in casinos in general the last few years.  So, who knows what the future benefits will look like after the merger.

But there are some bright spots at the moment.  The daily tier-credit bonuses will continue as usual in 2020:

• Earn 500 tier credits and receive a 125 tier-credit bonus
• Earn 1,000 tier credits and receive a 1,000 tier-credit bonus
• Earn 2,500 tier credits and receive a 5,000 tier-credit bonus
• Earn 5,000 tier credits and receive a 10,000 tier-credit bonus

And here is a bonus tier benefit promotion that is going on the rest of 2019:

Earn Tier Credits® for 2020

Get ahead of the game and start earning towards your 2020 status! Register now and for every 500 Tier Credits earned between October 1 and December 31, 2019, we’ll award you a 100 Tier Credit bonus for 2020. (Maximum 20,000 bonus tier credits)

But remember you must go online to your account to register for this promotion.

To my surprise – and probably to many other players – they have added some new levels of Diamond status, with new benefits, above the basic Diamond tier level which you reach after earning 15,000 tier credits.

Diamond Plus:  If you reach 25,000 tier credits, you get unlimited complimentary access to Laurel Lounges.

Diamond Elite: If you reach 75,000 tier credits, you have a $600 airfare credit to fly to a  Las Vegas CZR casino.

This new positive upgrade to the tier system was just recently announced and the details are a bit sketchy on their website.  (Watch for the fine-print exceptions at the bottom of the page.)  But although those benefits kick in February 1, 2020, some are based on your 2019 play so there is time for you to accumulate more tier credits this year if you want to work to reach one of those new Diamond upper levels.

And finally, here is a continuing valuable CZR perk I want to talk about because it is not heavily advertised or promoted:  the monthly Tier Benefit Shows for Caesars Rewards players in Las Vegas.  Diamond and Seven Stars players get 2 free tickets per calendar month. The shows are buy 1, get 1 free for Platinum players. Brooklyn Bowl shows are Diamond / Seven Star only.  The list of eligible shows varies slightly from month to month, and the best place to find the current offerings is either in person at any CZR players club desk in Vegas or online at Mark’s Las Vegas valuable site.  He updates the list at the first of each month, giving many details about this benefit, including how singles can get added value.  I especially recommend the show “Wow!” at the Rio.  Not as large as some, but a very well-done production.

So…as I have done hundreds of times over the years when one casino advantage opportunity disappeared, I sat down when we arrived at the casino and starting figuring what our next best move could be.  Fortunately, this would not be a hard decision for Brad and me this time.  We had already decided, especially after Brad’s recent medical problems, that we were going to phase ourselves out of CZR after this Cherokee trip.  So, we would just call it quits a little earlier.

However, since we were already in Cherokee, we would keep this Seven Star retreat reservation, a benefit we had already earned.  In the past, we had always been careful not to “burn our bridges,” giving at least a little play whenever we were taking advantage of a casino benefit.  However, this time we weren’t going to worry about our “reputation,” having decided we weren’t interested in having any future offers anyway.  We were not going to play at all!

It was relaxing – Steve and Angela and we just using our $500 folio for lots of good food and in the retail shops looking for educational toys for our three great-grandchildren.  We had a nice balance of accumulated Reward Credits that we could turn into cash, something we couldn’t do at other CZR properties.

We all four had a bunch of coupons good for free play, including $40 for taking advantage of their no-housekeeping program, those from monthly mailers, and about $1100 in airfare reimbursement.  Angela and Steve got lucky on the slots and hit a jackpot that almost doubled their free play amount.  Brad and I used ours on electronic blackjack and felt lucky that we got back the full free play amount. None of us were interested in doing recreational (non-advantage) play after we had run our free play through the required one time. We all decided we would rather use our money later for other entertainment choices.  It was going to be so much more fun to come home from a casino with a fatter wallet!

This Cherokee experience also did something really important for Brad and me – and it may explain to some who have questioned why we are retiring within the next few months. I’ve already detailed the health reason, which is very important.  But there is another – one about which Brad and I weren’t yet 100% sure.  Was this something we really wanted to do?

But when we got the news about the Cherokee downgrades, instead of feeling sad and disappointed as we have reacted in the past, we both felt…. well… RELIEVED.  We have 36 years of gloriously happy casino memories – but smart gambling is “work” as well as fun.  We are ready to stop working!

Here is a picture of Brad being transferred from the military hospital at Fort Benning to a civilian one in Columbus, the latter one having a better cardiac department.

Brad is still a little weak, but with strong meds kicking in and the help of a walker (and a wheelchair which is complimentary at the casino), he feels he is up to a short 4 ½-hour road trip from Columbus, GA to Harrah’s Cherokee, with Angela and me and tough ex-Ranger Steve as his “nursing assistants.”

This trip is my Harrah’s 7* retreat that we had to cancel for last weekend.  So, for those of you on property this weekend who might want to stop and chat, we will be on the casino floor or at the buffet or the Laurel Lounge (Formerly called the Diamond Lounge) on this Friday evening (20^th), off and on all day Saturday, and Sunday until early afternoon when we will be driving back to Columbus.

I don’t want to clutter up this blog with personal details but if you want to follow more of our “real life,” as opposed to our casino one, you can join us on my Jean Scott Facebook page for updated news.  I’ll be happy to friend you if you are not there already.

Now for some details for those who don’t know much about this beautiful Indian casino, managed by Harrah’s.  We have visited here once or twice a year for many years.  In my opinion it is located in one of the prettiest areas of the U.S, the Smoky Mountains.  (Tied with Lake Tahoe at the top of our casino favorites.) We especially like to visit in the fall to see the leaf-changing spectacular – something we miss in Las Vegas.  And it is always a good place to take the family, with many non-gambling options, like sightseeing, hiking, and fishing.  It also has our very favorite casino buffet, bar none.

Cherokee has many advantages for those in the Harrah’s 7* players club tier.  Unlimited comped movies.  Free Internet access for 5 devices.  Large selection of free beverages at check-in.  Opt out of daily housekeeping and get $20 free play per night stay.  A special set-aside room in the Laurel Lounge, with additional food selections.  And very valuable, you can get cash instead of free play when you cash in your Reward Credits.  If you are on your 7* retreat, you can use your $500 folio money in the many shops, not just for food and beverage.

A friend recently sent me this good hint, one which I didn’t know:

You can use Celebration “vouchers” for room service.  Before we used ours, I checked at the Rewards Center and was told that I could use the voucher for room service, but I needed to tell the room service people when I placed our order.  I did and it worked perfectly.

Perhaps this will work at other CZR properties?  You could check.

If you want more hints about this property and extra benefits, go to the Seven Star Insider,  where you will find tons of very detailed information about Cherokee and all other CZR properties.  Although this website zeroes in on 7* benefits, there is much information that would help lower-tier players maximize the value of their play.

The main drawback for many VP players is that there are not good paytables at the lower denominations.  The best ones are at the $5 machines.

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If Brad continues to gain his strength back, we plan to return to Vegas on September 28th – and I can be back here with more Las Vegas casino frugal information.

It’s not that I haven’t talked about food in previous writings.  I have given many frugal hints for getting good value for casino eats, like scheduling late buffet lunches, with their lower prices, that often spill into the availability of higher-level dinner selections.  But in this blog, I am going to talk about Brad’s and my personal eating habits, mainly because I get so many questions about this subject and realize many people have false ideas about our Vegas life.   They often compare it to their routine  when they come to town for a vacation and stay in a casino for several days.

Most Vegas locals eat about the same way they would if they lived in a non-casino town.  They do not eat in a casino every day but regularly cook meals at home.  However, like people everywhere, they do eat out frequently and, especially if they gamble at all, they often choose a casino restaurant where they play.  And even non-gamblers often look to casino eateries because of the wide choice of high-end and famous choices.  The picture changes a bit if you look at those local gamblers who are earning comps. Obviously, those people will be eating at the casino more often – how often depending on their comp level.

Brad and I did eat in casinos a lot after we moved to Vegas 20 years ago – even almost every day – because we were playing frequently and heavily and earning more comps than we could eat up!  We made a big effort to find friends and relatives to help us with this “task.” But we were never foodies and, even then, much preferred buffets, delis, and coffee shops over gourmet restaurants.  For years we would have hosts who would beg us to let them write us a comp for their top-level epicurean offerings – and they would just shake their head in disbelief when we turned it down.

Things are so much different these days.  First, all casinos have made significant cuts to their comp benefits.  This is true at every level – from the fanciest Strip properties down to the smallest local joints – hitting both visitors and locals. And, for us personally, we do not have the energy to play as much as we used to.  We go to a casino 3 or 4 days a week and are usually able to play only two-or-three-hour sessions.  Therefore, we do not have the flood of comps as in former days.  Believe it or not, my cleaning lady doesn’t just have to dust my stove; my return to some cooking after 35 years gives her some grease to remove!

But all that said, you will still see us eating in a casino fairly often.  You would never catch us eating one of these giant stacked-high-with-whatever “gourmet” hamburgers that seem so popular these days.  We aren’t big beef eaters in the first place, but we would always prefer a single-patty with cheese; Brad wants nothing added but pickle and onion and I would add just lettuce and tomato.  We like those at Steak’n Shake at South Point, combined with half-price milkshakes between 2-4 p.m.  We do hit other casino fast-food places occasionally.  Love the hot dogs at South Point and sometimes stop at the hot-dog cart or Subway at Gold Coast.  We like the sugar-free butter pecan ice cream at Java Vegas Coffee at the Gold Coast or at Kate’s Corner at South Point.  And we can grab a pizza slice at Little Tony’s near the sports book at Palace Station or have a great spaghetti meal to eat there or carry home.  (Stations run a senior special on Wednesdays with discounts on restaurants that vary from month to month.  Check these out on their website and watch for 50% off your favorite place to eat.)

We are a bit picky about buffets.  When we have comps, we take our out-of-town visitors to the widely publicized Caesars Palace Bacchanal over-the-top buffet, but we never choose that just for the two of us even if we have comps.  We aren’t big eaters and just don’t need so many “exotic” choices.  We like comfort food.  The Orleans and Gold Coast are good choices for us, especially their special weekend brunches.  We have mixed emotions about the new buffets at Palace Station and the Palms.  They both usually have sugar-free brownies and good soup selections so that keeps Brad from complaining too much about “weird food.”

Recently we have found a new meal idea that appeals to us even though it involves gourmet restaurants which we eschew.  Going to the Cornerstone lounge at the Gold Coast during happy hour – 4-6 p.m. – has become one of our favorite activities.  We like the idea of sharing small plates which gives us variety even though we are light eaters.  Many steak houses and other upscale restaurants run these with very reasonable prices on both food and drinks in a relaxing comfortable but still “gourmet” atmosphere.  Check  out this frugal option at your favorite casino’s fine restaurants!

Obviously, we eat in other places than casinos.  We always eat breakfast at home – and always the same menu for many years:  Hot oats, with walnuts and flavored with dark chocolate mix, a daily coco extract supplement that has proven to reduce inflammation in the body.  We drink green tea and V8 juice – low sodium – and add fresh fruit, like bananas, oranges, or berries.

Lunch is light – sandwiches or soup.  If we are out and about, we might stop at a fast-food place.  Our favorites include Wendy burgers or chili, Mexican pizzas at Taco Bell, and hot pretzel sticks and  sugar-free Dilly Bars at the Dairy Queen.

If we are having dinner at home, it is often left-overs brought home from a casino or a Nutrisystem selection.  If I am cooking, it is usually a one-dish meal like stir-fry.

We try to eat healthy as much as possible wherever we are.  More fruits and vegetables.  Less sodium. Very little red meat – more chicken.  We take some vitamins and supplements.  Nothing different than if we lived in a non-casino atmosphere.  Brad doesn’t gain weight, but I am always trying to watch mine.  And that is a problem in Vegas – buffets can jeopardize any healthy diet unless you have strong self control!

Recently I heard from one reader who told about a good June promotion at the Vegas downtown Four Queens Casino.  Unfortunately, they don’t put details of their promos on their website, but you could have found them if you had regularly checked this Vegas Values one I highly recommend.   The Four Queens is not a fancy place, but a top choice if you are looking for reasonable room rates, with NO resort fee; some good restaurants, including the classic Hugo’s Cellar; a nice selection of good VP; and free parking for hotel guests and free validation parking for players and restaurant customers.  Here at the LVA website, it is one of their TOP TEN bargains – and very high on my frugal list.

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Q:  Jean, have you taken advantage of the Atlantis Resort trip that Caesars offers to customers in their 3 top tiers.  I hear things are pretty expensive down in the Bahamas.

A:  Brad and I haven’t done this trip and all I know about it is from the Caesars website.   But I did hear from a reader who was looking for frugal hints.

The most common tip I hear is to find a cab from a good company and pick up lots of groceries on the ride from the airport to store in the fridge. I also saw some tips on how to cook on the room iron, but I don’t think we will go that far…

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Q:  I’d like to get to the higher tier levels at Stations Casinos, like President or even Chairman, but I am losing too much money playing at the higher-level machines to get more points faster.  Any suggestions?

A:  I strongly discourage playing beyond your bankroll or comfort level just to achieve a higher tier level.  In almost all cases it would be cheaper to just pay for those higher-level benefits.  However, during your normal play you could choose to play on multiple-point days.  These extra points don’t up your tier score (which is based on “base” points) but you can redeem them for cash or free play which will cover some of your losses.  And here is one player suggestion on how to get to the higher tiers faster and have a vacation at the same time:

Your spending on rooms at Stations are 50X, cocktails at bars 30X, food at restaurants ranges between 10X at the cafe/buffet and 20X at steakhouses. That can add up fast. So, for every $100 you spend on rooms you earn 5000 base points. A nice $100 steak dinner, 3000 base points. That can get you to President quickly without putting a single dime in a machine. Use a staycation to boost your points and get some well-deserved rest.

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Q:  Hi, as an out of towner coming to Vegas in July/Aug, I was wondering what newspaper and day I would look to see if there were any Boyd dining coupons that you mentioned for that time. Thanks.

A:  There is now only one newspaper in town – since The Sun is now a section in the Review-Journal.  But I can’t answer your 2^nd question, since coupons flyers are slipped into the newspaper on no regular schedule.  In fact, I can’t count on checking casino ads on any particular day.  Most often they are in the front section of the newspaper on Sundays, particularly early in the month, but I never can depend on that.  And, as I have mentioned before, sometimes an ad with a new promotion will pop up mid-month!

If you want casino coupons, your best bet is to subscribe to the “Las Vegas Advisor” here at my blog home and you will get a whole book of coupons free.  You can also buy the American Casino Guide which has 182 coupons for casinos all over the U.S, including over 100 for Vegas.

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Not a question, but a comment.  A couple blogs ago I mentioned a July 4^th promotion coming up at South Point.  I had given the details (which are still correct) but stated these differed from past multiple-point days.  Scot Krause, who is always on the ball about promotions, said this one had always had the same details.  I think my 80-year-old brain may be getting a little tired!!!! 

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I hope readers here regularly go to another part of my blog home – the popular QOD (“Question of the Day”).  That’s another place to get your burning questions answered – and sometimes the QOD guru asks for my input. As sometimes happens with all casino information, there are a lot of details and, in trying to summarize in a brief manner, we might miss some of them that would make the answer more complete.  That happened in a recent answer to a question about “crazy VP paytables.”  We mentioned my “Frugal Video Poker Scouting Guide” as a great resource to find the EV of almost 200 of the most common VP paytables.  I – and many other knowledgeable students of the game – won’t ever go to a casino without this small booklet in a purse or pocket.  But it should be mentioned that this booklet is not the only resource you need.  You might occasionally run into an unusual or rare “crazy” schedule that doesn’t appear in the “Scouting Guide.”  Then you need a second important resource – a software program that allows you to modify paytables AND, very importantly, provides a strategy chart so you can play any schedule accurately.

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Down through the years I have tried to answer all of the questions players ask me, whether these questions are posed in the “Comments” at the end of each blog, in private e-mails, or in person.  Sometimes my answers will come to you in an individual e-mail or on an Internet forum.  And occasionally you will find answers in the QOD or in a blog like today’s!

Case in point this month, Boyd Gaming did not put their multiple-point information in the newspaper until June 2.  This is important especially for those who do not get monthly mailers.  Sometimes there are multiple-point days mentioned in our monthly mailers, but I can’t publish that information until a newspaper ad or marquee message confirms which days are for the general public and not just for those that get a mailer.

Another example is the Stations, which did not announce Palms multiple- point days until a June 3 newspaper ad.  And I almost missed that piece of information because it was added at the very bottom of a full-page ad for another promotion.

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This June might be called Coupon Month. Casinos might not be too interested in giving us better gambling opportunities, but they sure want to be sure we don’t go hungry.  Meal coupons, especially 2-for-1 buffets abound.  Boyd is including them in newspaper inserts for The Orleans and Gold Coast, and I have seen some for Sam’s Town in the past.

And the Station are going all out – with seemingly anyone who plays (or played in the past?) at any level receiving a super-fat coupon book mailed to their address.  Most of the coupons are for food, but there are some match plays and discounts for bingo, bowling, and arcades.  You always need to check the details on casino coupons, but this Stations coupon book is one that you better make a special effort to study.   Each coupon is dated – for June, July, or August.  The coupons at the front of the book can be used in more than one casino – but read carefully because each coupon covers just a few specified casinos.  After this front “general” section, there are color-coded sections for individual casinos.  One great thing is that none of the coupons are specific to a particular player (even though the books were addressed to specific names) so you can give away or trade at will.  It’s just that to redeem a coupon, you have to put your Boarding Pass# in the space provided.  So, if you want to share with a friend who isn’t a players club member, he/she would have to sign up and get a card before using the coupon. (Good marketing move, Stations, to recruit some new members!!!)

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Another food note, thanks to the Seven Stars Insider: Without notice, the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace has stopped serving king crab legs to Diamond and Seven Stars cardholders.  (Since I am not a seafood fan, I didn’t know this ever was a benefit!)

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And now for “the beyond” in my title.    Much to my surprise I received this majorly advanced news from a South Point Casino press release.  Not only was I surprised how early I was hearing this, but I was pleased to have bonus points on a holiday, something that hasn’t happened at this casino for a long time.  And the 3^rd surprise was a promotion that differentiated between slots and video poker, something I don’t remember ever being done at South Point.  Sounds like a schedule borrowed from Boyd Gaming!

Double Points on Video Poker – Thursday, July 4

South Point Club members who play video poker machines will receive double the points on Thursday, July 4. Players who earn 1,000 base points in video poker will earn $6.

Five Times the Points on Reel Machines – Thursday, July 4

South Point Club members will earn five times the points on slots and video reel machines on Thursday, July 4. Players who receive 1,000 base points in reel play will receive $15.

10 Times Points on Penny Reel Machines – Thursday, July 4

In celebration of the holiday, South Point Club members will earn 10 times the points on Thursday, July 4 on penny reel machines. Players who receive 1,000 base points on penny reel machines will receive $30.

As I have mentioned in past blogs, we are planning to phase out our play at CZR, but it is a slower process than we expected.  They keep sending us good offers!  First, we had a monster offer in April from Harrah’s Tahoe.  And then we got a good offer if we checked into a Vegas Caesar property in May or June.

We hadn’t stayed or played locally for several years, so decided to choose the Cromwell, an old haunt of ours back when it was called the Barbary Coast.  We did have a room there once when it was first bought by CZR and renamed the Cromwell, and I had written how the rooms reminded us of a stately old library that was the scene of an English murder mystery – dark, with heavy old furnishings.  That was still our impression when we walked in our room this time, much the same historical romantic mysterious atmosphere of that old Barbary Coast.

We had chosen the Cromwell over other local CZR properties because it is easy in- and-out self-parking and you didn’t have to walk a mile to check-in and then to your room.  Brad and I are both having trouble walking long distances these days, a major change in our lives from when we would take long power walks up and down the Strip.  However, we had forgotten that going through and between casinos is always a longer distance that one expects.  So, our plan to walk down to Harrah’s for dinner and a show became a stop-and-go experience as we would grab an empty slot machine chair for a rest period every so often!

We enjoyed a return to Harrah’s buffet, one that we had visited many times in the past but not recently.  Not as fancy as some, but with a large selection of food we liked – as Brad remarks when we visit some of the new buffets and restaurants around town, “No weird food.”  The only lack for me was no-sugar-added ice cream, but they did have other SF desserts.

We rarely take advantage of shows in Vegas these days, even when we could have them comped.  After 35+ years we have seen most of the on-going big productions, and many of the new shows feature modern music that is not to our tastes.  We miss our “oldies” music, with so many of the stars we loved passing on.  But sometimes a “tribute” show can bring back some happy memories of by-gone days, and so we used the monthly free-show Seven Star benefit to go see the new Harrah’s show called “Heartbreak Hotel.”

I hate to review a show really, because it is like trying to recommend a restaurant.  So many different tastes!  But I really enjoyed this tribute to Elvis.  It was high energy with a live band of six guys and 3 gal singers – all very talented!  It concentrated first on Elvis’ early life, with biographical narrative and photos on 4 huge LED walls in-between the performances of his early hits, then covering many of his most well-known songs.  Here is a review that gives more details about the performance.

I talked earlier about the old-fashion atmosphere we liked about the Cromwell room.  So why am I writing this blog tonight from home when we are checked into the Cromwell.  Well, it’s hard to explain.  Maybe it’s because we are old – or maybe just jaded?  We have enjoyed staying in fancy casino hotels for 35 years.  But with this offer we could do just “down the street” we decided to skip the packing and lugging the CPAP machine. Just go for the day and do the little bit of play we needed to do, eat, and see a show.  Mess up the bed and gather up all the nice toiletries, and then return home to sleep in our own bed.

Some of you might understand.

Last week I had told you that a juicy promotional offer had changed our mind, at least temporarily, about stopping play at CZR properties.  So, we decided to do this offer, albeit with some trepidation since it involved higher denominations that are no longer available for our usual play.  No matter how good a percentage advantage, in the short term, results can be very negative – and going back to our regular positive but lower-denomination play can be a long discouraging journey to eventual long-term success.  However, we were fortunate to end up on the up side of this short-term result range and came home with a nice profit.

But there were other benefits beyond financial ones – friendship and camaraderie. It seemed like the old days, when we would see many of our player friends whenever there was a tournament or drawing or special casino promotion.  We chatted with old friends and made new ones, including some of those whom I had previously known only through this blog or internet forums.  It is always good to finally connect a face with a name!  We even met an elderly gambling gentleman that was two years older than Brad and, like him, still going strong – and found that we shared the common interest of faithfully watching the Lawrence Welk Show reruns on PBS.

Now back in Vegas, we can enjoy more good video poker opportunities in April than we have had here for a while. Stations have taken leave of their “up to” mystery multipliers and now have guaranteed their 10x/6x points: Fiesta casinos have multiplier days on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday; the rest of the Station properties (including the Palms) have them every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I love when casinos start competing.  Gold Coast has gone wild and is offering 11x points every day Sundays through Thursdays for the rest of April.  South Point is running a good earn-a-buffet offer.

Check Scot’s Bonus Point List  for multiple-point days at other casinos, including some on Easter, April 21.