Category Archives: Frugal Fridays

12/1/2005 Last month I wrote a couple of columns about gift cards. This week I want to talk about one of my favorites. You can have Starbucks –- I’ll take the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf any time. Why? For … Continue reading →

11/3/2005 Last week I started a trip report about our recent stay at Caesars Palace, participating in an invitational slot tournament. I promised the rest of the story for this week. First, the scam about which I dangled a few … Continue reading →

10/7/2005 Several weeks ago we talked about keeping safe after you win a large jackpot. I got some good feedback from you readers: “Occasionally a casino employee will refuse to pay you by check. Then what do you do?” –JS … Continue reading →

9/2/2005 Last week I wrote about frugality, including a quote from the “Cheapskate” about the word, in which she conjured up images of the homeless digging in dumpsters for food. The very next day I came across a related item … Continue reading →

8/4/2005 Math experts find it easy to figure what percentage a casino slot club gives as benefits. They start assigning x’s and y’s to unknown elements of an algebraic equation, then they take it from there. I don’t know about … Continue reading →

7/1/2005 Although I’m on the outside of the casino business, that is, on the player’s side of the fence, I like to read about the inside of it. Some may quote the old adage about knowing your enemy, although I’ve … Continue reading →

6/3/2005 TAKING MY OWN ADVICE “Just ask.” I keep all the material for each casino where we play in its own Ziplock bag — slot cards, coupons, information about hosts and comps, mailers, requirements for bounce-back, whatever. Although I try … Continue reading →

5/6/2005 The following is a guest column by Brian G. Summer in Las Vegas can be brutal — hard on your body, hard on your vehicle. And these days, having to drive all over the place to pick up bounce-back … Continue reading →

4/1/2005 Nope, we don’t quit at 2:30 p.m., even if we are now winners. 2:46 p.m. Brad is dealt 4-of-a-kind. “”It seems like I just can’t improve these hands.”” I remind him of something he already knows — that you … Continue reading →

3/4/2005 Last spring I wrote several ranting columns about too much gratuitous sex everywhere I look in Vegas — and now I feel myself getting wound up again. The Nevada Gaming Commission dismissed two of three counts of a complaint … Continue reading →