Comps

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Nothing like getting rid of a 15-year-old desk and filing cabinets to bring back memories. Slot cards from casinos we haven’t entered for many many years, some of which don’t even exist anymore. Strategy charts from games we won’t ever play again. Win/loss records for our 30 years of gambling – a perfect example of the “long term.”

Thank goodness I have my Mom-you-don’t-need-to-keep-this daughter visiting me for a couple of weeks. She is a master organizer – wonder where she got that? – but a tough taskmaster when it comes to reigning in a squirrel.

And here is my favorite memory find, a 2003 receipt from the Palms Kids Quest. Grandkids Kaitlynn and Zachary were 9 and 10 and I had signed them up for “unlimited” comps at this child care center. They were already experienced comp hounds so had no problem running up the bill!

Kids Quest

 

Fast forward to today. Kaitlynn is in town visiting, along with her mom Angela – you know her as the Frugal Princess – co-author who helped me write More Frugal Gambling. And you might not be surprised to learn that since Kaitlynn has now turned 21, our plan for the day is a major coupon run.

A Trip Report

I probably rightly could have titled this “Using My Own Advice.” Sometimes people question whether the casino information I write about is actually usable in real-life situations. So I decided to report on a recent trip Brad and I took to Harrah’s Cherokee and how we put into practice a lot of the frugal hints and recommendations I have written about for years. (I will put those in red!)

First, some background about this trip. Granddaughter Kaitlynn was graduating from college and she liked the idea of celebrating with a family “adventure” rather than a party. Brad and I had taken her parents to the Harrah’s casino in Cherokee a few years before and she had heard us rave about this beautiful Smoky Mountain resort. So this outdoor adventure gal was thrilled when we decided to make this place headquarters for our family and some of Kaitlynn’s friends to celebrate her graduation. It would be the perfect place to use one of our Harrah’s Seven Stars tier annual trips.

A Too-Good Promotion

Most everyone knows I love comps, but recently I had a real problem with one that made me wish the comp wasn’t “so good.” It happened at the Steak ’n Shake located at the South Point Casino. If you are from the Midwest, you may know that this restaurant chain has many fans – and many of us transplanted Midwesterners were happy when they came to Vegas.

Recently Brad had a coupon for $150 food at any South Point restaurant so we invited four friends to join us at S&S. Of course we could have made a more gourmet choice but we were hungry for the good hamburgers and milkshakes S&S is famous for. I “ordered” everyone to order the most expensive things on the menu, to not hold back.

Q+A

Q:  Do you ever play live poker at casinos?

A: No – and not online either.  But we do know HOW to play live poker.

 

Q:  When can we hope for the release of the updated FRUGAL books?

A:  They are in to the editor – a big load off my shoulders.  I knew things had changed a lot – but I didn’t realize how time-consuming it would be to do the re-writes.  Publication due this summer, both in paperback and eBooks.

 

Q:  How do you use comps (rooms) for relatives?

Answers to Your Comment Questions

First a food comp opportunity:  You can earn a free buffet at Planet Hollywood or the Rio by earning 50 points (Reward Credits) in one day. (50 Points is $500 coin-in on most video poker or $250 coin-in for slots.) The promotion runs until December 31, 2015, and you can do it once per day.  (I’m not sure if you can do it at both casinos in one day or must choose just one of the two.)  After you earn your 50 Reward Credits, go to the Total Rewards desk for the voucher you can then take to the buffet cashier.

I like both of these buffets, and to get the most value out of this comp you might choose to use your voucher for the most expensive meal offered.  However, remember what I always say

The Search for Tranquility

Brad and I recently received cards in the mail from a locals casino notifying us that we could pick up our gifts of the week – tranquility fountains.   But they didn’t trick us this time.  I still remember our pursuit of tranquility many years ago!   After a search in the archives of Frugal Fridays, I found this story, written  May 21, 2004:

As locals, we get a lot of postcards from casinos, offering us what we usually refer to as “please-come-back stuff.” Sometimes it’s neat stuff we can use: a handy little tool kit for minor jobs around the house, a nice-looking picture frame/clock combo. However, most of it ends up in the “comp museum” set up in our garage: a suitcase set (so flimsy it wouldn’t survive airline luggage handlers for even one trip), T-shirts (to add to our growing stack that we don’t wear), a gardening set (which is no use to us in condo living), a car-tool set (which looks handy but our idea of car repair is the emergency number of our favorite mechanic). We make everyone who comes to visit us take something home from our garage (whether they want to or not), but the museum is like a bowl of spaghetti—the more you eat, the more it seems you have left.

Over-the-top Comps

Here’s a question I am asked over and over:  “What are some of the fantastic comps casinos have given you?”

Wow, after 31 years of working the casino comp system, that answer would probably take a whole book to answer – in fact, maybe I might write a book about this sometime – or at least a big section in the autobiographical tome I’ve been thinking about writing when I get too old and feeble to play video poker.  Although I am definitely heading to that condition, I am hoping it is pretty far down the road – so here are just a few examples that come to mind today.

As I have written and spoken about many times, when we first started visiting casinos, we were blackjack players and active in casino junkets which were popular at the time.  And those junkets provided some luxurious comps.  Here is one of my favorite photos of Brad, enjoying the luxury in our French-Provincial-styled hotel room in Monte Carlo – the real city, not the faux one on the Vegas Strip.

Tom-Monte Carlo

After a few years, because we were looking for more long-term Vegas stays in our retirement years rather than short-term casino visits, we left blackjack and the starting-to-fade fancy junket trips and turned to low-level video poker.

Details About myVEGAS

Once again I want to encourage readers of this blog to go back every few days or so and read the “Comments.” There is often very useful information there, adding to subjects I have discussed earlier.

A case in point is the subject of online social gaming I wrote about in a blog last week. I had mentioned that I didn’t participate in any of this and I didn’t know much about it.  Well, many of the readers here are active in this area and did share their experiences, especially with myVEGAS.   Mark, of www.markslasvegas.com, was one of the people who did give a lot of information in the “Comments.”  However, he gave even more details to me privately, so I am going to copy his e-mail here since many have expressed an interest to learn more about this:

Frugal “This and That” Information

I haven’t checked it out personally, but I am hearing from some players that they are earning a lot of MGM comps playing Mlife’s game on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MlifeRewards. You will have to check it out for yourself to see if it is worth your time. I heard one report that the offers aren’t the same for everyone – out-of-towners seem to score more than Vegas locals. You can get more information on this myVEGAS game on the Mark’s Las Vegas Web site for so much valuable casino information:

At this same Web site you can find the updated list for the free/discounted shows offered by Las Vegas Caesar properties. This June list includes some new offerings, including a pass for the new High Roller. Diamonds and Seven Stars get two free tickets per month; Platinums get a two-for-one discount –  http://markslasvegas.markanduss.com/total-rewards-free-shows-list/.

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Speaking of the High Roller, Brad and I did do this ride – but only because it came complimentary with a VIP party we attended.

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