The Heart Attack Grill in the Neonopolis building was full of diners dressed in hospital gowns.  Although the couple had passed it before in former visits, it still amused but didn’t attract their business.  The old man commented, “I’ve had one heart attack – don’t need another! And that goes for riding the zipline too.”

However, close by, a new food outlet since their last downtown visit did attract their attention, a memory jolt-back to their days living in Indianapolis where they would often head to a White Castle restaurant for a late-night fast-food snack favorite.  Although there had been some food at the cocktail party, one can always eat a couple of these little sandwiches anytime, so they stopped in.  The man parked his walker beside a tall stool to enjoy a rest, while the lady stood in the long line to order.  When she got to the cashier, she ordered just like she had done for decades – “burgers,” – refusing to call them the fancy new name of “sliders.”  A White Castle is not a slider!

On they went down the street, stopping to enjoy some of the sidewalk entertainers performing in their assigned “circles.”  They were pleasantly surprised that they were, on the whole, in good taste, not the crude or skimpily dressed presentations they had had seen in past years – at least those they saw on their brief walk on just part of the street. The couples energy level was going down fast – and progress had come almost to a stand-still because they were running into a packed-in raucous crowd in front of the 3^rd Street stage where a very loud band performance was going on.  The man was muttering, “They call that noise music?”

“Should we duck into the D Casino and discuss what we want to do next?” asked the woman.

The man quickly agreed, “Anything to get out of this pandemonium.”

Resting at slot machine seats, the lady pulled out from her purse their LVA coupon books and found the D coupons:  “Two $25 matchplays.  Should we do these?”  It would involve finding a ramp for the man’s walker to get up to the raised players club to activate the offer, but he was re-gaining a little strength and said he was up to it.

Back down on the casino floor walking amongst the table games, they discussed whether to use the matchplays on roulette, where their loss on this one-shot play would be limited to $50.  If they chose blackjack, they could lose $50 if they lost both coupons – and even more if they had to double-down and/or split.  But as they were discussing this, they passed by a blackjack table where a jovial lone player noticed their indecision and gave a loud invitation as he pointed to sloppily scattered piles of green and black chips in front of him, “Come sit with me.  This is a lucky table.”

Now this couple had been looking for an uncrowded table.  When using a coupon for a one-time play, you don’t want a bunch of players ready to complain about your “holding up a game.”  But here was just one player and he wanted  company.  And you never know, a cheery inebriated player was just as apt to give you a lucky tip as a stone-cold sober grouch.  So, the couple sat down, each putting out $25 with the phantom $25 chip given to them at the players club.  Each was dealt a “9” and a “2” and the dealer turned up a “6” – that added risk they had discussed.   But there was no way they wouldn’t double down!

The woman whispered to the man, who had the bankroll in his pocket, “Get out a $100 bill.”  When the dealer gave him four green chips, the woman quickly grabbed them and added $50 to each hand.  Sometimes when you do this fast, the dealer will then give you a card right away.  Sad to say, this time it didn’t work. “Sorry, you can double only on your own money.”  Well, it never hurts to try when you don’t know the casino policy on this.

The disappointment didn’t last long, however.  She slapped a face card on each of the couple’s hands, and then pulled a face card and another “6” on her hand.  She smiled as she paid off, and the intoxicated cheerleader fellow player gave them both high-fives, laughing boisterously.

The couple didn’t really like this kind of hit and run, but while they were coloring up explained that they had to get back to their machines, that they really weren’t good at table games – perhaps only a partial truth.  But this excuse was good enough for a smile from the dealer after the man slid her a $5 tip as they were leaving.

Now it was time to proceed down Fremont, pressing through that concert mob – a pretty slow process with a walker although much of the friendly crowd was thoughtful to step aside and make way for the oldsters.  They wanted to get to the Four Queens, their old stomping grounds so many year ago.  Actually, back then the woman had been memorized with other VIP players with her name on the cement sidewalk in the front of the casino.  But fame is fleeting – and all those sidewalks have now been torn up for new more modern renovations.

Did the couple want to go in and look around, maybe use their two $10 free-play coupons? They looked at each other’s tired eyes. They were thinking about protecting that $150 profit from the D and $5 from the El Cortez.  Their muscles and bones were making a strong bid for a major rest.  And a nearby security guide was ready with directions for the nearby share-ride pickup area, in front of the entrance to the Binion’s garage, just a half a block up Casino Center Boulevard.  Some things never change – a few pedestrians were still taking their lives in their hands and crossing this traffic-heavy street against the light.

It was time for the ending of a perfect evening.  An unexpected $155 in their pocket.  And a big bright full Harvest Moon lighting the Uber ride back home as they snuggled in the back seat thinking of how they were still making happy Las Vegas memories.

Jean, I received an e-mail promotion from Total Rewards (CZR) that your readers might find interesting. If you’re an Emerald at Boyd, Total Rewards will upgrade you from Platinum to Diamond. I believe they will do it for other card holders from other properties, but I’m only high-tiered at Boyd’s.

Good info, since this frugal trick is sometimes usable at other casinos than those mentioned above. If you have reached a high tier at any one casino, it pays to check at the players club at other casinos to see if they have a matching program. Although you probably won’t immediately get all the benefits of that higher tier at a new casino until you have put in the requisite play requirements, you will usually be able to enjoy some of the perks right away, i.e., VIP lines or discounted food comps.

We generally try to find a bar-top video blackjack machine to play our free play through once. It’s a much lower variance play than any VP game, and you can generally get a free drink in the process.

This won’t work for all players in all casinos, but might be an option you want to remember.

Q: Free play isn’t worth its full value because you usually have to play it through on a game that has an under-100% payback, am I not right?

A: You are right. So to keep the free play value as high as possible you look to play it through on the highest EV machine you can find. Playing it on slots will reduce its value significantly because of the high house edge there. So to keep more of it many will choose a VP game, looking for the highest EV paytable.  However, you will need to consider your bankroll so you might have to choose a lower-EV video poker choice at the lower denomination you can handle. And many consider volatility for short-term play and would choose a lower-EV game that has lower volatility – like 9/6 JoB (99.5%) – instead of, for example, NSUDs (99.7%), that is more volatile. However, players who look at gambling with a long-term view often choose the highest EV, knowing all those short-term plays blend together for the higher long-term results.

Q: Did I understand correctly from one of your previous blogs that if my wife and I each received free room offers from the same downtown casino/hotel it is possible for each of us to individually reserve a room and allow other family members (who did not receive the free room offer) to use the second room? This without risking our status with the casino/hotel?

A: As with almost all casino subjects, this answer must be qualified with a “usually.” You can usually do this with no problem, but you need to register at check-in for each room under the invited player’s name; you can add non-playing family names to the room as needed so they could be given keys. Then who sleeps where is a private matter. You definitely would need to do play under both names to continue getting invitations in both names. We do this all the time where we both play at high levels and have a long-term relationship with a host who can arrange for adjoining rooms. If you play at a lower level and are uncomfortable about this situation, you and your wife might want to check in at different times and thus avoid any questions. But in any case, you are not doing anything illegal or even unethical, and I have never heard of this being against any casino policy if you give enough play to cover the comps for each room.

I don’t believe in luck — I  believe in preparation. 

Bobby Knight, former Indiana basketball coach

A favorite quote of mine.

Because this was only the second time we had visited this casino, we weren’t very familiar with one of their ongoing promotions.  I had read a sign advertising a casino-wide jackpot called the Money Maker but hadn’t given it much thought.  We are “grinders” and don’t ever “expect” to hit these low-odds jackpots that are not directly connected to our video poker paytable, like for example, a royal flush would be.  However,  I did notice that when it hit, everyone who was playing with their slot card would get $25.

Well, the second evening of our visit, Brad and I were each playing a video poker machine, but on different banks,  and I noticed that I got a message on the card reader screen that I had just received a $25 bonus.  So I knew the jackpot had been hit somewhere in the casino.  I turned around to talk to Brad on a bank behind me and ask  if he got an extra $25.  Actually, he was pounding on his machine, complaining that it had frozen up.  Sometimes this happens when the glass door comes slightly ajar and he often has been able to “fix” it with a good beating.  He was pounding it so hard that I told him he better quit – he was going to break the glass and who knows how much we would be charged for that!

So he put on his Service light and we waited for a floor person.  When one came, he fiddled with the machine, asking Brad to put in his code number.  I did notice that the card reader screen said something about a lucky coin bonus – we figured that was the $25 – so we asked the floor person if maybe that machine wasn’t going to give Brad his $25 because we were both playing with his card and I had already received the bonus on my machine.  The guy said that probably was the problem but he couldn’t figure out how to get the machine “unfrozen.”  So he called for help – but the second floor person couldn’t find the problem either. 

However, soon several “suits”  started straggling over and looking at Brad’s machine.  One asked who had been playing that machine – because Brad was standing at my machine while we were talking about the “problem.”

Well, you know the end of the story.  Brad had hit the Money Maker jackpot. There were no bells or whistles and no indication of the amount.   Just a machine freeze!

The Money Maker jackpot starts at 25k and is guaranteed to hit by 50k.  Brad’s amount was$27,749.33.  Not the biggest amount we’ve ever hit, but probably the biggest totally unexpected surprise. 

It turned a losing trip into a winning one.  But the best part was how much fun we had during the hour or so verification process before Brad was finally paid.   He posed for official pictures with the oversized cardboard “fake” check.  And people from all over the casino came to congratulate him.  Usually when you hit a big jackpot, everyone is a big jealous.  But most of the players were very low rollers and that extra $25 that everyone got made Brad a very popular person!

However, one reader made money in an unusual way: 

Just got back from a 9- day visit out west.  As usual I had a great time   Thanx for telling us about your $10,000 at the Palm Casino.  We went there to look for your picture.   I wanted to tell you, I play the 25-cent VP games.  There for only a little while, held 2 on the outside, got the rest for a royal.   Just thought I would let you know, if it hadn’t been for your blog, I would not have gone there.

Hey, we will take accidental luck anytime!