4/6/2001
I just realized this is Frugal Fridays column # 54. Can it be possible that I’ve been talking to all of you every week for a whole year? Anniversaries seem to bring out the tendency to ruminate, but I really don’t have time to do that. However, I thought I might “celebrate” by answering some of the questions you all have had about the writing of this column.
Q: Do you ever run out of things to write about?
A: I just counted the notes in the hard-copy and computer files named Frugal Fridays. 329! Sometimes I never even get to my note files because so much is happening in Vegas in real time.
Q: Do you get tired of writing this column?
A: I have to stop writing this column at 2 in the morning! Yes, I get tired — but never tired of writing this column. It is my favorite writing task.
Q: Why don’t you write more basic information for the beginning gambler? Or, your column is too simple: Why don’t you give us experienced gamblers more advanced gambling and comp techniques?
A: I can’t write to fit every reader’s specific gambling situation every Friday. As it is, I always spill over the 500-word length that Anthony originally suggested. But hopefully, after a number of columns, I will have written something to help the slot player as well as the video poker player, something to interest both the beginning gambler and the seasoned pro. I try to touch on many different games, both machines and tables. I try to give information for the new Vegas tourist and for the local who has lived here for years. I address issues that interest the casual casino visitor looking purely for entertainment, as well as the intense gambler dedicated to the goal of making a profit.
Q: Why do you talk about your own experiences so much? Or, what is it really like being a gambler living in Vegas?
A: I love writing in what I call the diary or journal style, which I use in this column. There are plenty of other places where you can read articles about gambling in a more traditional journalistic style — shoot, I write them myself in Strictly Slots and Casino Player. But people seem to like proof that what an author writes about is not just all theory. That’s why I tell you about our life in Vegas, warts and all. You all know that we don’t gamble every day, that we have long losing streaks, that we make mistakes — in short that we are “regular” human beings who just happen to have video poker as their favorite hobby.
I plan to continue writing Frugal Fridays with the same purpose that I have had since column #1: to throw out umpteen helpful ideas that can be used in a casino. I hope that many of you will catch at least some of these ideas, making your casino visits more entertaining and more profitable.
Remember: To be a successful gambler, you never stop studying and learning.
4/13/2001
Bounce-Back Cash
The good free-credit coupons from the Venetian I told you about several weeks ago got me thinking about one of my favorite casino promotions — bounce-back cash. The name is self-explanatory: The casino uses a cash incentive to get you to “bounce back” through their doors. Let me tell you, it gets Brad and me into a casino faster than almost anything else.
In Vegas we locals call them our “welfare” checks. Brad and I together regularly get at least $1,000 a month, with hundreds more some months, depending on the irregular mailings of some casinos. The first of every month I spend a good chunk of time scheduling all of them on our calendar since most of them have a specified pickup time, ranging from one day only to a usual period of three to four days and sometimes all month. Most of the bounce-back checks in Vegas come from the locals casinos, and you can get them only if you have a local address. (This is why a lot of players from nearby states and/or who visit Vegas a couple of times a month get a mailbox here!) However, some casinos do send these coupons to out-of-towners, usually with a much longer period for picking up your cash.
Casinos have a sliding scale for the dollar amount, depending on your level of play. Sometimes one coupon is sent monthly; other times your monthly or “sometimes” mailing will have four to six coupons to use at specific periods over a month’s time. Most come with additional coupons for meal comps and many include coupons for free or reduced-rate show tickets and other casino activities and benefits, none of which reduces your regular cashback or comp bank.
These bounce-back cash coupons come out of the casino marketing department, which decides what criteria is fed into the computer that generates an electronic mailing list. You really have to search to find out what kind of play it takes to progress up the ladder and get increasingly better benefits. Sometimes you can get details by asking a supervisor at the slot club or talking with your host, but often the fastest way to get this information is to join an Internet bulletin board that discusses casinos and gambling. By this sharing of information, often a casino’s “secret formula” can become known. Skip’s VP List and Lodestone’s are my frequent haunts to get this sort of valuable information. (Go to www.vphomepage.com to subscribe.)
However, much of the time, who gets what coupon seems to be a deep dark secret in the bowels of casino marketing, and you have to “experiment” with different play amounts to detect a pattern. Recently Brad and I each got a bounce-back cash coupon from a casino — mine was a large one and Brad’s was a small one. You might assume that I had played a lot more at that casino than Brad had. Wrong! Actually I hadn’t played at that casino for many months. Explanation: Brad’s coupon was a reward for his recent play — mine was a “we-missed-you-and-want-you-to-come-back” coupon.
Next week I’ll talk about some of the best bounce-back cash opportunities in Vegas, with details to help you make money by being a “bouncer.”
A Brief
From the there-must-be-a-VP-god-for-hapless-players department, this incident was related by an Internet friend: “Saw a woman get dealt 3 queens, a six, and a jack. I guess she knew she should hold the 3 queens, but her son’s name must be Jack, so she decided to hold that too! She hit the fourth queen!”
4/20/2001
I know last week I promised you a list of good bounce-back cash casinos—but my computer is acting up and hiding things from me. So there will just be lots of briefs for a couple of weeks until I can get it fixed and am able to access my lost notes.
BRIEFS
The Las Vegas Hilton has revamped its cashback system and I give it an A+ for simplicity and generosity. Cashback is 1.1% for all denominations of slot machines and .55% for all video poker. This is the highest cashback offered for slots in Las Vegas; only the Golden Nugget downtown beats the video poker cashback with its .66%.
Attention all closet Double Double Bonus players: You can now play DDB in the open without trying to avoid the disapproving stares of all your advantage-player friends. The Regent has put in a brand new version, 10/6 instead of the previous best of 9/6. This new version will put you just a smidgen over 100%. The Regent gives .25% cashback, and your best bet is to go on Tuesdays this month when they’re giving double points. A warning: This game takes twice the bankroll of Double Bonus and has a slightly lower return.
Late-breaking (and shocking) news: Harrahs, the Rio, the Riviera, and the Frontier have tacked on a $3-a-night surcharge to their room rates to cover the surge in electricity rates. Watch for other casinos to follow suit.
I’m waiting for a week or so to go back to the Orleans. The switchover to the same system found at the Suncoast and Gold Coast is not going smoothly. First, you MUST get new cards—the old ones won’t work—and the lines are out the kazoo. What’s worse, a major computer crash is causing a delay in redeeming any points. When the system is back up and working, you can keep your old comp points to use for meal comps, OR you can take a 20% reduction and collect them in cash. The latter is a good deal for us, since we have more food comps all over town than our waistlines can stand.
Say it ain’t so: At Terrible’s last week Brad and I earned our points for each of our $5 coupons for gas, but we never got to the slot club to get the certificates! The two times we tried the lines were so long that we would have had to wait 30-45 minutes. We decided our time could be spent in more valuable gambling activities. So, Terrible’s, we’re going to visit you once a week to use our $25 matchplays. We’ll drive a bit out of our way for a $24-EV quick stop, but we won’t be playing any of your video poker machines, even though you have some good schedules, until you solve the problems of your overwhelming success.
Don’t bring the kiddies. If you want to see a topless show in a casino in Vegas, but can’t stay awake past 8 p.m., go to the Flamingo any day but Sunday at 2 or 4 p.m. Bottoms Up is a slightly risque mini-production show of music and comedy and a first for bare breasts in Vegas afternoon casino entertainment. Only $12.95.
Do take the kiddies — and right away: The marshmallow factory in Henderson will close sometime in June 2001. First goes the potato chip factory, then the cranberry plant, and now my grandchildren’s favorite factory tour. The only good ones left are the Ethel M Chocolate Factory, where you get a free candy sample, and the Ron Lee’s World of Clowns — no samples, but it does have a merry-go-round ($1). The only other merry-go-round in town that I know of is in the Belz Outlet Shopping Mall south on the Strip past Mandalay Bay.
In the get-a-life news, from a gambling e-newsletter: “[Name deleted to protect the guilty] will offer goldfish racing live on the Internet via streaming video. There will be two races of six fish every day. Six different colored fish line up at one end of an aquarium behind a barrier and are released to swim freely. The first fish under the bridge at the other end of the tank is the winner. Each fish will start the racing season with 5-1 odds.
As the season progresses, a form guide will b
4/27/2001
Best Hint for the Week: Never give up on a casino completely. I’m getting reports right and left of good casino changes. Boulder Station, which hasn’t had full-pay deuces for years, just put them in. The Regent took out most of their good VP at one time; now they can’t get good machines back in fast enough. Several months ago I heard that Bellagio had taken almost all video poker players off their list for mailed offers; now I hear about VP players getting all sorts of generous offers of free-play credits. The Aladdin opened with dismal VP; soon they had to put in the better-paying 9/6 machines. You might’ve avoided Station Casinos because they didn’t offer cashback for their slot club points; now the bounce-back cash program puts them on a par, or even higher, than many casinos that do give cashback. Silverton did away with cashback, but they’re running some terrific promotions, giving same-as-cash-in-your-pocket gift certificates that are quick to earn and end up being the highest non-cashback “cash” percentage in town.
Sure, some casinos are cutting benefits. Sure, good video poker machines on the dollar-and-higher levels are disappearing too fast. Sure, some casinos are excluding any machine that might be good from their bonus-point promotions. But Brad and I are finding more good opportunities than we have time to take advantage of.
My advice: Don’t become “married” to one casino; Vegas is the place to flirt with them all!
BRIEFS
Club Mandalay has discontinued the promotion in which they gave 3x points for new members earning their first 200 points. However, I heard one report of someone using the “Just Ask” technique and got the extra points anyway.
Don’t panic! It was a false rumor that the full-pay deuces at the Trop had been removed. The $1 9/6 WERE removed, but the deuces are still there — for now. The few scattered ones are in deteriorating condition.
I’ve been working on the comp section in Frugal 2 — it turns out to be a fat one — and have asked some of the Internet forums I’m on for input about comps for casino attractions. One member said he has received mailed room offers that included the shark exhibit at Mandalay Bay, the Star Trek ride at the Hilton, and the King Tut exhibit at Luxor. Others have said that they’ve gotten comps from their host for the gondola ride and wax museum at the Venetian — but they must be requested in advance, as there’s special paperwork involved. Many have gotten ride comps from their host at NY-NY and at the Primm resorts on the California border. We have received comps for the movies at Buffalo Bill’s. Again, the key is “ask nicely.”
A Casino that Went the Extra Mile: A friend of mine was playing VP at the Four Queens. Evidently, when he was finished playing, he walked away from the machine, absently-mindedly leaving $250 worth of dollar coins in the tray. Hey, the tray is silver; the coins are silver. I can see myself doing this, but then I can plead old age! Anyway, when he got home a few days later, he had a phone call from the Four Queens, wanting to verify his address. They had checked the “eye in the sky” and the slot club system (good thing he was playing with his card), established it was he who left the money, and wanted to send him a check for $250! All I can say is that my friend is VERY lucky; I just turn around to talk to someone at the Four Queens and there’s a shabbily dressed person waiting to see if I’ll forget to scoop up my coins!”