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Vegas News Briefs

I would like to encourage my readers to read the “Comments” that appear after I post a blog.  They often contain valuable information on promotions and other money-saving techniques, some that is news to me and perhaps also to many of you. For example, one of the comments on my last blog gave good details about a shuttle available for travel between Las Vegas and Laughlin.  Sometimes a spirited discussion will ensue among the commenters, and I sometimes answer questions that have come up from readers.  This sharing of helpful casino information reminds me of the phrase “It takes a village….”

It is easy to keep up without going back and forth between blogs and scrolling to the bottom of each one for possible comments.  When you are on my blog page, look for the section titled “Recent Comments” on the right side of the page and you can click on those you would like to read.   Not everyone reads my blogs or comments on them the day I post them.  But that list on the right side of the blog page will keep you up to date on current comments and those that may appear later.  (Other reasons to check on the right side of my blog page:  you can “Subscribe” so you will get an e-mail when I post a new blog, and you can also search in the “Archives” and find every Frugal Fridays and Frugal Vegas blog I have ever posted – from way back in April 2000!)

BRIEFS

The usual free slot tournament South Point runs on senior Mondays will not be held on Monday, March 19.  Also remember the all-day Monday $4 movie promo for seniors is “not valid on holidays or special events.”

Hooters Casino Hotel has opened the world’s largest Steak’n Shake location – and with a bar and slot machines to boot.  We old-time Midwesterners would never have believed those would ever be added to their juicy hamburgers or thick milkshakes!

Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino is the latest casino company to offer a room discount to active and veteran military, police, fire fighters, teachers, and other service personnel.  Also, their new players club will give all active and retired members of the United States Military Gold Tier status, with extra benefits.  As with all casinos and players clubs, you will need to check their websites for specific requirements to get extra benefits, and more importantly, you will need to check the limitations.  Many of these special programs have tons of fine print to wade through!

THE ZORKFEST

My March 4 blog gave you many of the details about this fun feast of frugal information to help you save money on travel expenses and casino visits.  (I like alliteration!)

I also gave you the link to complete details of the Zorkfest event which is sponsored by TravelZork, a website covering airlines, hotels, casinos, Vegas, and loyalty programs.  There you will find the pictures, bios, and subject material of the many experts who will be speaking, and details of event schedules and registration fees.

However, I am writing about it again because the deadline to take advantage of the lowest registration fee is coming up fast – in fact it is this coming Tuesday, March 20.  You will be able to register later, of course, but the cost will be higher.  And you know me – I like to be sure my readers are aware of the most frugal options!  I truly believe that many – even most – attendees will learn a few new frugal techniques that will save them more money in the future than they invest in the registration fees.  (And when you register, be sure to add the code zorklva for extra discounts!)

The seminar speakers are experts in a variety of travel and casino fields, and more subjects have been added to the wide range that were initially listed.  Here are some of them:

-Learn the Best Travel Award Redemptions

-Expert Tips to Book Travel and Credit Card Strategies

-Casino Comps, VIP Status and Offers

-Miles & Points – Tips and Tricks

-Family Travel and Cruise Promotions

As I said in the earlier blog, Brad and I will be there most of the time during this event, both before and after I speak, and we look forward to meeting new and long-time fellow frugalites.

A Vegas Frugal and Fun Travel Festival

Many of you are probably already familiar with the TravelZork website as a resource for tons of frugal hints to save you money on travel – covering airlines, hotels, casinos, Vegas, and loyalty programs.  Now they are sponsoring a “travel festival” in May where you can immerse yourself in 3 days of travel frugality at the ZorkFest at Treasure Island in Las Vegas.  Brad and I are happy to announce that we have been included in the group of experts who will be sharing their practical money-saving information for all aspects of travel.

For complete information about this fun and informative event go to ZorkFest. There you can scroll down and find schedules, pictures and bios of the speakers, preliminary session subjects, host hotel rates, and registration details.  Of course, I want to tell you about all the ways you can reduce the cost of this educational and entertaining event – talking about how to get more bang for your buck is what I do!

First, remember this valuable code:  zorklva.  This will give you discounts for many parts of the registration fees.  And second, remember this still-wise cliché – the early bird gets the worm.  The Super Early Discount rate available if you register before March 20, coupled with the LVA code, will be the best bargain.  But there are other discounts for add-ons and combo offers.

Then there are special LVA promotions. Use the code zorklvaroller for $25 off the High-Roller ticket, offer good until April 30.    And here is one Brad and I are excited about because we love to chat with our fans:

ZorkFest will provide three (3) Friday VIP dinner tickets to raffle off for LVA members. Potential winners will be any LVA member who buys a Zorkfest conference ticket (with the LVA code). Those three winners will sit with Anthony Curtis or Jean and Brad Scott at dinner Friday night.  If the winner of the LVA contest for dinner already has purchased a dinner (or High-Roller ticket which includes dinner) they will get a $100 Treasure Island Casino chip, at registration.  Those who purchase the dinner (or High Roller Ticket which includes dinner) will also get a chance to sit with AC or Jean and Brad Scott, on a first- come- first basis.

I am really enthusiastic about this event because it covers such a large range of subjects of interest to people who work at being thrifty.  Of course, my niche is frugal gambling, but we spent a lot of time over the years making our travel budget smaller – think of those many airplane bumps we chased –  so we would have a bigger bankroll when we got to the casino.   And we are really looking forward to chatting with many of our frugal readers, some we have met in person in the past but many have wished for such an opportunity as this May event will bring.  Hope to see you there!

GAMBLING INFO FROM THE INTERNET

I was recently interviewed on the popular “Cousin Vito” gambling podcast. This 40-minute chat covered wide-ranging topics, from our first casino visit 33 years ago right up through the recent publication of The Frugal Gambler Casino Guide. It was a fun-filled discussion with a lively and knowledgeable host, starting about 11 minutes into the podcast.  You can stream the interview on the website or here is a direct link to the MP3.

New Casino Offerings

Casinos are always looking for new ways to attract a younger generation of potential casino visitors.  Many of them would not interest me or most of the people of my age group.  Take the new free-roaming virtual reality arena in the MGM’s Level Up gaming lounge.  Fighting zombies is just not on my bucket list.

However some of the new concepts, particularly the new electronic versions of the old standard table games, do interest me.  I’ve been reading about the new “stadium-type” format for traditional casino games and have seen some smaller electronic versions of these, but really didn’t know many of the details.

Therefore, I was glad to see a very comprehensive discussion of stadium-blackjack, written by fellow gaming author Henry Tamburin, at the 888 Casino website.   This piece includes pictures, description of the set-up and how it is played, and explanation of the rules.

 

 

JULY CASINO PROMOTION NEWS

For the second month in a row Brad and I are leaving town around the first of the month, this time to visit family in Georgia. Thus I will cover just a few promotions now and will likely have more information to share when we return. But be sure to check out special holiday offers for the 4th of July. There are usually a number of multiple-point promotions that day; consult Scot’s list closer to that time.

The Westin

Max Casino at this casino is closing June 30.  Scot Krause’s article in “Gaming Today” gives all the details.

 

TUSCANY

The 20% senior discount moves to the Pub e65 for the whole month of July.

 

RAMPART

They are advertising that their newly-named senior “50 Plus PARTY Tuesdays” is “new and improved, offering more benefits.” See the details here.

 

SOUTH POINT

From a press release: Beginning Monday, July 3, South Point Hotel will introduce “Prime Time Mondays” for our Casino Club Card holders age 50 and older. Prime Time Mondays will offer a $5,000 Free Slot Tournament from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The tournament’s first place winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize and additional places will be rewarded with free play.  In addition, guests who pay with their points will receive half point dining all day at all restaurants (Primarily Prime Rib & Baja Miguel’s are closed on Monday) and half point bingo all day. Movies will also be offered at a discounted rate of just $4 all day (additional fee for 3D & XD). This promotion is not valid on holidays or during special bingo events.

 

PALMS

The last day for their buffet before they close it for major changes is July 30. The new 24-hour coffee shop, the Lucky Penny, will open to the public on Saturday morning, July 1. I saw it today as it was practicing a soft opening with invited guests. Fancy-dancy!

Watch for machines to disappear or be moved around as they continue to replace carpeting. Hopefully our favorite ones will re-appear and intact.

New parking passes are available at the players club. The old ones expired on June 30.

No plans to put in the check-cashing program available at other Station casinos until after the cage area is renovated. Proposed time for that to start is late summer.

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If you get to missing my gambling chatter here while we are on vacation, you can listen to me talk about gambling and casinos in a couple recent interviews:

  1. A podcast from the “House of Cards” radio show

 

  1. An American Casino Guide YouTube video

And if you want to read a funny little story about Brad, it is buried in the middle of a recent long Review-Journal article about casino chairs.  

 

Q+A

Q: I was wondering what ever happened to the Station Casinos plans to start an online gaming site similar to that of MGM’s My Vegas. If memory serves me correctly, you wrote about it several months ago, but I have yet to see any information on this project. Can you enlighten me with regards to their progress?

A: You must have missed reading my May 30th blog, “”June Casino Promotion.” There I announced the launch of this program and gave the link where you could sign up and get all the details. https://play.sclv.com/   They offer a signup bonus and run frequent promotions.

A related note: For those who don’t want to miss any of my blogs, it is easy to sign up to receive an email each time I post. Go to any previous blog page and you will see a “Subscribe” feature. There has been a bit of an issue recently with this, but it is now working well.

 

Q: Could you explain progressive video poker and the point that the game goes positive?

A: This is a complicated subject that needs much explanation to be really helpful to a video poker player. You can Google the subject and find many resources, including my book Frugal Video Poker, which has a whole chapter on the subject. And for those who like to play progressives, perhaps the most essential tool needed is my handy checkbook-size spiral-bound booklet, The Frugal Video Poker Scouting Guide. Not only does it contain 184 paytables for 37 of the most popular VP games in U.S. casinos and their expected return, something that will make your scouting easier for non-progressive games, but it gives the break-even progressive point for over 150 games, both for quarter and dollar machines.  You can order both of these here on this site at SHOPLVA.

 

Q: In your last blog, you steered us to an article by John Grochowski on the 888casino.com site. Looking around the site I realized it offered online gambling but I could not access that feature. Why not?

A: I should have given more details about that site. The 888 live casino is a popular online casino site in Europe that enables users to play against live dealers just like a land casino, but it is only available and legal for US real-money play in New Jersey, where you have to be physically present within the boundaries of that state. People in other states will not be able to gain access to that section of the site, but there is much helpful information in the sections open to everyone anywhere.

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And now for a rhetorical question Brad and I discussed recently, while shopping for a special light bulb in the electrical aisle of Home Depot: Should we buy a “regular” one or pay a lot extra for the LED one that is marked as lasting for 22 years. What is the frugal answer for a couple who is 78 and 85?

INTERNET RESOURCES

(I am re-sending this blog since many readers have noted that they no longer get an e-mail notice when a new blog is up, as it should if you have subscribed.  There have been some technical problems, but hopefully they have been resolved.)

I have been gambling in casino with successful results for 33 years. Do I no longer need to read about this activity to continue being successful? Do I “know it all” by now?

The short and sweet answer to those questions: I spend just as much time researching and studying now as I did back when I first started. In fact, perhaps more! Although there is more information available now with the ever-expanding Internet, a wise gambler needs so much more to cope with a much more challenging casino environment.

Of course, I myself continue to add to this Internet flood of information available to gamblers. My latest contribution has been added to the very extensive American Casino Guide YouTube video series. In this interview, I talk about my new book, The Frugal Gambler Casino Guide, and the new focus I have in helping recreational players lose less and thus stretch their bankroll for longer casino entertainment time.

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Here are some interesting gambling articles I have read recently

EXAMPLES

Okay, it’s time I got around to giving the examples I promised earlier in the month, providing  some help in figuring out the EV (expected theoretical value)  of video poker plays. If you are an old hand at these math calculations, you won’t be interested in this. However, if you are a new player who wants/needs some techniques to help you lose less, these examples might be just what the VP doctor ordered. There is another group who might also welcome this information: long-time experienced players who had gotten used to finding good plays back in the golden era of VP before the recession. So many positive opportunities were available that they didn’t worry so much about EV. They could choose the one that was closest to where they lived, or was on their favorite game, or gave the extra players club benefits they liked – and be assured they were playing with an edge over the casino.

As I often say – that was then and this is now. Choosing good VP plays is much harder work now; and, especially if you are in an area with a choice of casinos, figuring and comparing EVs  is a must-have skill if you want to lose less and possibly pull out a long-term win. One important note: there are non-math factors that might be considered when you are choosing a VP play. But a wise player might want to first look at the math and then decide on the importance of personal-choice factors.

Here is the “formula”:

Another Players Club Changes – Wynn/Encore

Here is the official press release:

LAS VEGAS— (Sept. 22, 2011) – In an ongoing effort to reward the resort’s loyal guests, Wynn Las Vegas and Encore have launched enhancements to the Red Card loyalty program. Red Card provides members extraordinary benefits for unmatched experiences exclusive to Wynn Resorts.  Beginning Tuesday, September 20, guests were able to earn points, free credit and comps faster than before.  The credits may be redeemed for services and amenities available at two world class resorts with the ease and usability of just one card.

Going to the Dogs in Vegas

I’m not really an animal lover, but Brad is enough of one to make up for my deficiency in this area.  And I am softening somewhat in this department in my “old age,” finding  a lttle crippled poodle  “nephew dog” named Curly stealing my heart in spite of myself! 

So here is a news item for animal lovers who can’t bear to leave their dogs at home when they visit Las Vegas.  I found this tidbit in the excellent monthly newsletter put out by the Seven Star Insider.  (Here is a note from the editor:  While this newsletter was originally designed exclusively for Seven Stars members, there is useful information for anyone who has a Total Rewards® player’s card and/or plays/stays at a Harrah’s property.)

Coping with Casino Changes

People keep asking us where we play these days now that so many casinos have either downgraded their video poker inventory and/or reduced their comp and slot club benefits.  I usually don’t like to mention specific casinos where we play because they might not fit your goals, your bankroll, or your location.  Some of the plays we do in Vegas are profitable only if you can go pick up the free play that is available several times a week.  Others offer denominations that are either too low for your financial goals or too high for your bankroll.

Brad and I are definitely slowing down because of our declining  energy levels – so we aren’t as concerned about the reduction of good plays that someone younger and/or healthier might be.  And we have always had adequate income from other sources so video poker has never been a financial necessity for us.  It is just a hobby that we have made  profitable by working hard at it.  This extra money has provided the “gravy” in our lifestyle and enabled us to help our families enjoy some luxuries that they otherwise couldn’t have afforded on their own. But most of all  it has provided us with more years of  fun than we could ever have imagined.

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