You can snag discounts with your Stations Boarding Pass players card at two coffee shops:  Lucky Penny at the Palms and the Brass Fork at Palace Station.  Discounts, valid 24 hours a day 7 days a week, vary from 10% off with the lowest card, Preferred, and rise 10% for each level above that, ending at 50% for Chairman. Important to note is this promotion goes to the end of the year and is valid both with cash purchases and point redemptions. This discount perhaps is evidence that business had suffered at both places because of the perception that their prices seemed too high for “just a coffee shop,” even though they tried to promote it as more upscale than a “regular” one.  Many people – Brad especially included – want a reasonably-priced restaurant with familiar comfort food, “Don’t try to make it fancier or different; I am unimpressed with upscale.”

As with all promotions there are fine-print restrictions, many in this case:  Not valid on café specials, nor with My Generation ½-point dining, nor for alcohol. Must be 21 or older; dine in only.  Not valid on holidays or special events. (Whatever that latter exception means?)  Limit one offer per check, maximum of four guests per check. (This one is not clear; better check with the waiter before you order.)  Cannot be combined with any other offer. (This one could be a deal-breaker in some cases if that means you can’t use a coupon.) Management reserves all rights. (Of course they do, but lawyer-talk sounds so unfriendly.)

The Rampart has opened their newly-renovated buffet, with outdoor patio seating, an unusual casino buffet option.  There have been some favorable reviews, but as always – you can’t satisfy everyone – there have been complaints.  Although there are several specialty nights, some miss the deli night from the past.  Also, there is a downgrade for seniors.  The $5 buffet lunch on 50 Plus Party Tuesdays now requires first earning 100 points that day.

The Palms buffet still has unbelievably long lines because of the mass mailing of buffet coupons. One person commented on that report I put in my blog last week, giving one reason why the VIP line is always so long:

 The VIP line at Palms AYCE has gotten as long as the regular line due to all the “non-handicapped” who have figured out that they cannot be asked to show evidence of their “handicapped” status. The cashier can only ask if they are handicapped and as long as they reply that they are they are permitted to access the VIP line. Lately most patrons on the VIP line are not VIP cardholders but low-level players who figured out how to game the system. The cashiers say they are helpless to do anything.

 PLAYERS CLUB CHANGES AND DETAILS

(I use vpFREE for players club numbers, like below. Saves me a lot of math figuring!)

1. Downtown Grand: After a no-point period for video poker, you can now earn them but the return % is very small:

• $10 Coin-In = 1 Point on Video Poker
• 250 Points = $1 Free Play (0.04%)

2. Club Fortune in Henderson: In their new 4-tiered players club, members now earn both points and comps. They are running sign-up promotion in which new members that earn 50 base points on date of signup can play a kiosk wheel spin game for guaranteed free slot play.

• $2 Coin-In = 1 Point on Most Video Poker
• Free Play or Comps: 500 Points = $1 (0.10%)

—–

• $3 Coin-In = 1 Point on “Up to 100%” Machines
• Free Play or Comps: 500 Points = $1 (0.067%)

Points can also be redeemed for products and services from several local businesses.

3. Casino Royale: Slot and video poker players can get daily rebates of $20 in free slot play for every $100 in losses. (I got this info from Scot’s “Vegas Values” – a valuable weekly report every Sunday on both current and ongoing Vegas promotions.  He covers many casinos, including some of the smaller ones that perhaps don’t do as much publicity.)

And now for some probably not very useful but perhaps somewhat interesting information – at least perhaps for old-timers like me.  I recently saw an article, with pictures, about a Snakes-and-Ladders slot machine.  I don’t know how long this slot has been around, but I had never come across one in my casino wanderings.  However, seeing mention of it took me back some 70+ years ago.  Chutes and Ladders was one of the first board games I ever played, first with my mother, and it then occupied many hours of my childhood as I taught my sisters the minute they could grasp the gaming concept – so I would have someone with whom to compete.

It was many years later that I learned that Chutes and Ladders was the Americanized version of the ancient Indian game of Snakes-and-Ladders, teaching children a morality lesson about good and evil. Go here to read more about this subject – maybe it will make the slot machine version more interesting?

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!

——– 

“When to Walk” –  from 1999

Strictly Slots, among other periodicals and books [and now the Internet], is so full of detailed information about slot and video poker machines that I keep expecting people to have very complex questions for me — about random number generators or theoretical win percentages or some obscure video poker strategy. However, the question I’m asked most frequently is a simple one: How do I know when it is the right time to quit playing a particular machine?

Although it’s a basic query, the answer is not so straightforward. For years I’ve been compiling a list of answers to the question of “when to walk.” I find that they fall into three main categories: mathematical, common sensical, and emotional.

Although the following guidelines are more for the casual recreational player than the serious gambling student or  professional, many of these considerations are the same for both groups of players

Math Tells You to Walk

• when you’re playing a negative-expectation game (one in which the casino has the edge and over the long run you’re mathematically guaranteed to lose). Serious students of gambling and professionals, whose main interest is profit, will tell you to walk away from that kind of game even before you drop in a single coin. However, the goal of casual players is entertainment; they’re looking mainly at the fun factor. They want to play a variety of machines and they don’t want to learn complicated strategies. They’re hoping for the big win and are depending on luck. However, math can still be their ally. They can “walk” often, bouncing from machine to machine with wild abandon. The more time they spend changing machines instead of actually playing them, the less they will lose. The money they don’t lose is money won!
• when a promotion — one that made a bad or so-so play a good one — ends. We’ve played many negative-expectation games when a promotion transformed the casino edge into an advantage for the player. One example of this would be when a slot club offers triple points during Monday Night Football. However, when the triple-point session is over, we’re out of there faster than you can say, “From all of us here at ABC, goodnight.”

Common Sense Tells You to Walk

• when you’re hungry, tired, or need a bathroom break. When you haven’t eaten for a long time, your blood sugar drops and you can’t think clearly. When your eyes start to blur from staring too long at a video screen or spinning reels and when your shoulders, arms, and back start to burn from sitting too long in the same position, you will not make wise decisions. Interestingly, a hotel doctor in Vegas whose practice caters mostly to tourists tells me that one of the most common conditions he treats is urinary problems caused by people refusing to leave their machines often enough to answer the call of nature.
• when the environment is not pleasant, comfortable, or healthy. I often have to change machines when the air-conditioning is blasting Arctic air directly down on my already-aching neck and shoulders. Another typical “move” situation comes when the smoke from the cigarette of the person right beside me is drifting straight into my poor allergy-suffering sinuses. You may want to move if the seat is uncomfortable or your chatter-box neighbor is a whining pessimist or a constant complainer.
• when the machine you’re playing has a fuzzy or jumpy screen that gives you a headache, or the bill acceptor doesn’t work and you hate to feed coins, or there is a sticky video poker button that causes you to make mistakes on your card holding.
• when you’ve lost the money you budgeted for that particular gambling session. In this instance, walking means straight out of the casino, into your car, and out of the parking lot – or straight to your hotel room – or a quick casino exit out into the fresh air. There should be no side trips to the cage to cash a check or to the ATM machine to lay your hands on money that you had earmarked for other purposes.
• when your partner wants you to quit and join him or her in a non-gambling activity. I don’t have exact statistics on how many relationships break up in a casino, but I suspect there are many. Try to consider these “interruptions” as desirable breaks from the intensity of gambling. Besides, even gamblers need to stop and smell the roses.

Emotions Tell You to Walk

This consideration is much harder to pin down — temperamental factors do not worship at the altar of mathematics and are usually unconcerned about good sense. This is a very personal category. The following aren’t universal “reasons,” because they’re often unreasonable to other people. But it is often a good idea to walk

• when you reach your personal win/loss limit. There is no absolute mathematics rule here. But say you previously decided to change machines when you won $100. You win the $100 and you not only don’t quit, but you subsequently lose that $100. You’ve launched yourself into that “if-I’d-only” territory that is so internally disquieting. Quit when you win that $100 even if you just move to the next machine that looks exactly the same. You may lose the $100 at almost the same rate, but that internal broken record playing “if” in your head won’t drive you quite so crazy.
• when you’re losing AND it’s getting to you. A slot player on “tilt” is tempted to chase his losses by increasing the number of credits he plays per hand, becoming even more frustrated as he loses even faster. A video poker player may sacrifice the advantage of the “long-term” and deviate from the computer-prescribed strategy to hope for short-term success. Even pros and frequent players, who understand volatility and have learned how to take the ups and downs of gambling, will change machines if they get psyched out by a long losing streak that starts to affect accuracy and speed. A “fresh start” on a new machine gives video poker players a chance to take a break, stretch their bodies and rest their minds; feeling better emotionally, they’ll again be able to play faster with less likelihood of making errors. Slot players as well can benefit from a refreshing break before jumping back into the fray.
• when you’ve been up and down for a long period of playing time and finally get even or up a little. Being on a gambling roller coaster is an exhilarating but exhausting ride, and sometimes Brad and I choose to quit a session when we have finally achieved a small win. Sometimes leaving even, or even with a small loss, makes us feel like a big winner, especially if we’ve climbed out of a deep hole dug at the beginning of our play that day. I often say, “My nerves just cannot take another elevator ride to the basement today.”
• when you win a jackpot. However, this is not for the reason that most people give when they do so: “Now this machine won’t be due for another jackpot for a long time.” Remember, there is no little computer chip that tells the machine not to give a another jackpot right away. The machine has the same mathematical chance to give a jackpot on the next hand as a week later. However, there IS a valid psychological reason for many people to walk after a big win: It’s fun to CELEBRATE! Playing a slot or video poker machine always involves a considerable period of time filled with losing streaks — for the pro or the recreational gambler alike. The joy of winning is a universal human emotion. What we are all looking for is the jackpot! There is no bigger thrill for the machine player than a royal flush or the top-of-the chart payoff. Stop and savor the feeling. Go somewhere to eat with your partner and talk about every little detail that led up to this jackpot. Go shopping and splurge with a little of the jackpot money. Even if it’s not a large life-changing win, stop and take a little walk and smile at everyone to share your happiness.
• when you’re getting bored or you just aren’t having fun. The tiny group of pros who make their living at the casino machines may have to put in their eight or ten or twelve hours a day, seven days a week, whether they’re enjoying or hating every minute of it. But for the rest of us, gambling is entertainment. And when we aren’t having fun at our machine, we need to walk.

Just a preliminary observation from a quick look-over of our mailers from local casinos, it looks like there might be a “promotions war” brewing.   That is always good news for us players!   Maybe Boyd Gaming is trying to get customers to forget how they have gutted the basic players club program by offering a lot of multiple points for players who get the mailers.  That doesn’t help out-of-towners who don’t get mailers or anyone who is at the Ruby level since this latter group earns NO points until they can up their tier level to Sapphire.

On first look, it seems that Stations is trying to woo disgruntled Boyd players with lots of promotions, but you have to watch and not be fooled with all those multiple-point offers.  Many of them have the dreaded “up to” note – especially VP players who rarely get the top 6x but frequently 4x and occasionally 5x – this is for senior Wednesdays too.  Slot players who used to count on reducing their losses at least a little bit with 10x, sometimes now see that “up to 10x” and know that for those they will be getting a much lower multiplier most of the time.  Get out your magnifying glass and look at any bonus promotion and see if the fine print “up to” will getcha!

I will post any new revelations and dangers later when I recover from my vacation.  In the meantime, here are some photos from our family visit in Columbus and then the all-adult get-away at Harrah’s Cherokee.  Great-grandchildren Asher, 4, and Bowen, 18 months, are big TOY STORY fans and modeled their Halloween costumes for us, becoming Woody and Buzz Lightyear.  And the whole family is anxiously awaiting the November arrival of their little sister, Cooper Ruth.

Here is some information – very unorganized – I have in my notes about the new Boyd players club that I want to share before we leave.

1. When talking about credits, the term is spelled “tier.”  However, “tear credits” is being used as a sarcastic reference to how sad so many players feel, crying “tears.”

2.  Many reliable VP players who are tracking their play are agreeing that this is the “best estimate” of how VP players are earning tier credits, since it depends on what game you are playing:

99.73% NSUD requires $185 coin-in to earn one tier credit.

99.17% BP requires $60 coin-in per tier credit.

I haven’t seen a figure for DDB and lower-EV games, but the lower the EV of the game the less coin-in it will require to earn one tier credit. What can’t be figured by most people is whether the theoretical loss while playing lower-EV can be made up by the benefits they can use at the higher tier levels they can attain.  The math-savvy might be able to put a dollar value on some of these benefits and see whether they are worth more than their game losses, and a few might be very high bankrolled to try this.   But most players would go broke long before they are able to reach the new extremely high tier requirements.

3. Here is a warning for slot players and VP players:  Your journey to reach a certain tier level can be slowed down if you frequently pull your card or change machines or even change games within one machine.  The tier credit countdown stops whenever you do any one of those things, and then starts back at zero whenever you start back to play again.  This might not be such an important consideration for slot players since it takes only $5 in to earn one tier credit.  But as you can see from the above item, it would seriously affect the VP player.

4.  The double-tier credit multiplier for Ruby players is only good for September (unless they extend it but no word on that yet) and is limited to the first 100 tier credits you earn each day.  (Remember Ruby players can earn tier credits but NOT B-Connected points which are redeemable.  Since they earn no points, they can not earn multiple points, like the 11x on Young at Heart Wednesdays.)

5.  Some have commented that other Vegas local casinos probably are jumping for joy because they will get some – even a lot – of these disgusted Boyd players. I’m sure this is happening!    Rampart has wasted no time sticking it to the neighboring Suncoast.  Here is some text I read in their recent newspaper ad:

Don’t buy into all the buzz…we’re still the best player’s club on the Boulevard! Video poker players always know their point standings at our club.  At our club, 1 point =1 tier credit.  At the club down the street, 5 points = 1 tier credit.

6. And finally -PLEASE – I can’t tell you what you personally should do about all this.  These new changes will affect each player differently. A few casual players tell me that they don’t play enough to worry about all the details.  But many regular customers are saying they are going to cut down on their play and/or play only on multiplier days. Many are leaving and hunting other casinos where the benefits are better.  If you read the comments on my last 4 blogs, you would find good specific suggestions for this option. Just always remember that a wise player will look at a combination of factors, trying to get the best total EV of good games AND benefits.

If you want to voice your complains to me in person, you can find Brad and me at Harrah’s Cherokee September 27-29!

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.

I recently came across one for slot players that graphically explains how a slot machine works. Make sure you press the 360 degree button and move the graphic in and out with your mouse.  Maybe these pictures aren’t worth a thousand words but they are a great supplement to the long chapter in my new book, The Frugal Gambler Casino Guide, explaining all about playing slot machines.

I know you never mention The Slots, but I am no good at poker machines. We read your column, anyway.

This was a recent comment on one of my blogs. First, I want to thank you for being a loyal reader even though I have seemed to neglect your favorite casino game. Actually I have mentioned slot machines occasionally down through the years, referring to the times I have joined family members in playing them during purely “entertainment times.” And I have talked about playing slots as research for writing about them.

However, you might see Brad and me at a slot machine now and then these days, not only for the two above reasons, but for a rather new one. We are finding times when a promotion, like multiple-points, is almost as strong for a slot player than for one who plays video poker.  This gives us a chance to broaden our gambling reputation so we look more like an average casino customer looking for entertainment – which really is – believe it or not –  one important component of our casino play.

This new opportunity has been eye-opening to me because I could never understand why so many casino customers – the majority actually – find slots such a more attractive choice than all the other games, even those that have a smaller house edge to contend with. Now there are many reasons for this – slots are easy to play – no complicated rules or strategies to learn. They are not intimidating – like at a table game where other people might criticize your play. They offer the possibility of a big jackpot. But here is what I have personally found recently to be the overriding magnetism: SLOTS ARE FUN!

Now this is not what I experienced when I was researching slots many years ago, when reel machines ruled. Round and round they spin – that was boring.   But machine manufactures of today have been amazingly successful in making video slots SUPER FUN. Now when I pass a machine calling out buf…faaa…lo, I know that excitement is calling me. When I see a “Wonder Woman” game, I know that she is waiting to pop up and award me frequent colorful and interesting bonuses. And I know “Willy Wonka” won’t give me bonuses as frequently, but it is just so much fun to play to see what different scenarios come up on the big screen. I don’t ever watch “The Walking Dead” on TV – I hate zombie stories – but the loud and seat-shaking slot version keeps me intensely fascinated. I love to watch Brad play this – he jumps every time he gets a bonus and his seat gives him a “hit.”

Now I well know the problem with slots. The negative EV (the house edge) will eventually put players in the loser category and sometimes very quickly. The fun factor can disappear very quickly if you are losing more money than you can afford. Players with small bankrolls know that they need to play minimum bets so they can extend their fun time. Hit those buttons with higher level bets and, yes, your bonuses may be more frequent  and jackpots  bigger but you will very likely go broke before you can gain this advantage! Even when Brad and I play a slot promotion, we plan very short-term play. Rarely would there be one good enough for long-term play like we do on video poker.

If you are a slot player, you will be happy to know that I have given you a whole long chapter in my new book The Frugal Gambler Casino Guide. As well as discussing the history and the various kinds of slot machines, in this chapter on slots I discuss techniques for losing less. I even recommend a book that might help cheer you up during your losing streaks, Cherry Picker – A Literate Look at Losing at Slots. Both this book and my new book can be ordered at ShopLVA.

So, slot players, don’t feel like red-headed stepchildren any longer!

The blog features two comprehensive game guides, on blackjack and slots, and numerous articles on many other games and gambling topics. Browse around it for interesting and helpful information.

Slot Machine Love

by John Grochowski

Some of my favorite slot machines in the video era were the tests of knowledge and skill Mikohn Gaming rolled out in the early 2000s. They weren’t for everyone, but those who liked them REALLY liked them. There was Battleship, where you could use a strategy to zero in on ships in the bonus event; Ripley’s Believe It or Not, where those whose heads are filled with trivia could build their bonuses; Yahtzee, where choosing which dice to reroll made a real difference in your reward; and more.

Mikohn is gone, bought out by Progressive Gaming which later sold its assets to International Gaming Technology. However, American Gaming Systems has picked up the ball for those of us who like our slots with a little quiz on the side. Last year, AGS introduced the It Pays to Know series, which has grown to three titles based on well-known franchises.

The newest is Family Feud, based on the long-running TV game show. The series started with Ripley’s Believe It or Not – and hooray for the new take on an old favorite – and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? They were developed by Olaf Vancura – the same exec who developed the Mikohn games. AGS brought Vancura onboard as vice president of game development in 2010, and he stayed until May of 2014 through the development of AGS’ Roadrunner gaming platform and the launch of the It Pays to Know series.

All are five-reel games configurable for penny, 2-cent or 5-cent play. Casino operators can set the maximum bet for either 250 or 400 coins. Play formats on the base games differ. Ripley’s has 27 paylines, but the Feud and 5th Grader all go four symbols deep on each reel and use a 1,024-ways-to-win scatter format. There are no traditional paylines. If a three-symbol match brings a payoff, their position doesn’t matter as long as you have at least one on each of the first three reels.

The It Pays to Know games include multi-level progressive jackpots, but the fun really is in the bonus events. In Family Feud, the Survey Says bonus plays like the larger portion of the TV show. You’re given a question and several possible answers. You need to guess which answers were given by participants in a survey. If you choose an answer that wasn’t given, you get a buzzer and a big red “X.” The object is to pick the answers that were given and collect bonus credits before you collect three Xes. There’s also a Fast Money bonus, and that plays like the TV show’s final round. You’re given five questions and six possible answers for each. You want to collect the highest-paying answer to each question.

Family Feud is a game of judging how other people would answer a survey. Ripley and 5th Grader are tests of knowledge. In 5th Grader, multiple-choice questions from the actual TV show are used, and correct answers help you advance grade levels to bigger bonuses. Just as in the show, you can use helps such as eliminating a possible answer or peeking at a virtual classmate’s answer. Trivia answers on the hundreds of questions on the Ripley game were verified by the Ripley’s Believe It or Not staff. During play, you can earn assists, such as a Re-Do feature that lets you guess again after a wrong answer.

It’s all good fun for the trivia inclined, and I, for one, am hoping It Pays to Know enjoys a strong run.

(Look for John Grochowski on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/7lzdt44) and Twitter (@GrochowskiJ).)