3/3/2006
The recent opening of Wynn casino provided a perfect occasion to try out some comp techniques that I’ve discussed over the years.
Brad and I wondered if Steve Wynn would market to locals, especially if they looked like they’d give some high play. So as soon as we heard of a good sign-up bonus (two meals at the wonderful buffet), I got my players card and we played our fingers to the bone, putting through $91,000 coin-in that same day. About a month later, the Wynn put in some better VP machines, so Brad signed up (getting two more free buffets) and we put through $36,000 on his card.
Then we sat back and waited. No Wynn goodies came to us in the mail and after two months I was getting restless. Still, I knew there’s often a lag between one’s play and resulting marketing offers.
Then Brad started getting offers for free play, four times a month. I wasn’t getting any mail, although I’d played first and much bigger to boot. So I finally cold-called a host (I didn’t have any recommendations from friends, which I usually look for in choosing a host) and told her that I heard there was a slot tournament coming up and I wondered if I qualified. The good ol’ Just Ask technique! She said I did and reserved a room for us. We stayed in it during the tournament, soaking up the luxury, when we weren’t playing in a tournament session or putting in play on the floor.
The next month I received a three-day room offer that included a large amount of free play. Brad received the same room offer, but with less free play. This made sense, because the daily average on my card was higher than on his. We often do this to compare the different offers we get.
The fine print for both offers stated that we must be a registered guest to receive the free play. I asked the host if that was a necessary requirement for locals. (We like their rooms, but they take a big amount out of your comp bank to cover them, and we prefer to use our comp money for taking our friends to eat there frequently.) She said she had to check with her boss, but called later and said they okayed the free play without the room stay.
Since that time we’ve both received free play four times a month. We “regulate” our play, depending on how much bounce-back they send us. When they send us each $1,200 a month, we play more than when they send us $400. I guess I’m hoping to get the message to them that the more they send, the more we’ll play. However, I find casinos very hard to train. Besides, most casinos up their bounce-back mailings at slower times for visitors, so when their hotel is well-booked, they don’t need to send out their juicer offers.
At this point you may be saying, “Well, you’re playing a lot higher than my bankroll can stand.”
Okay, you have a point there. But tune in next week, all you low rollers, when I’ll give you some strong evidence that you should never shun fancy Vegas Strip resorts just because you figure they cater only to high rollers.
3/9/2006
Last week I talked about the savvy comp techniques Brad and I used to try to get established at Wynn casino when it opened and perhaps snag some high-level marketing offers. We used the common practice anyone can use: Be nice and undemanding, but don’t be afraid to ask.
However, we did play at a higher level than is comfortable for most players. So does that mean that low rollers don’t have a chance for comps at the luxurious Vegas Strip resorts?
I submit the following posts from Internet gambling forums, just a sample of many I’ve read over the years, that support the fact that low rollers can go for the gold if they learn to be comp savvy.
“My wife and I will be staying at Wynn next week [in December]. We did get an offer in the mail last summer for a couple of free nights, the same one that a lot of other people got. On a whim, I called and asked to speak with a slot host. I explained we were not able to take advantage of the offer, but would be in LV in a couple weeks. She didn’t hesitate to offer three comped nights Sunday–Thursday. We took two.
“I mentioned they must have kept a database of customers from previous Wynn properties — Bellagio, TI, etc. — but she said the only customer list they had was from the Desert Inn. We were only there once and that was to get a slot card for our collection before they closed. I was surprised the slot host gave us comped rooms with no play history.”
Here’s another post on a forum, from my friend Scout’n Martin, who is very comp savvy:
“I can’t believe this one, folks – from Wynn!
2 Free Nights in our RESORT Rooms,
Sun.-Thurs. Nov. 20 to Dec. 15
“This is the best offer I’ve ever received for piddly penny video slots play – the only game I played this past summer to earn ‘a few points.’ I think I may have lost $20-$40 in doing so.
“Maybe the Queen of Comps can use this example:
Penny video slot points for comped rooms at Wynn.
Who’d have thought that would ever take place!”
Yes Martin, even I was surprised at the news that many low rollers, some with very small play at Wynn when it first opened, were getting free room offers for such a luxurious resort.
Here are some things the Wynn examples in the last two columns confirm:
1. Watch for players club sign-up offers at new casinos.
2. New casinos are looking to fill their rooms and build up their databases fast, so play at one when it first opens and you’re likely to receive some offers.
3. Slow times, especially in December, often bring room offers for low rollers, even from the swankiest resort for minimal play.
4. Sometimes it pays to wait to join a slot club until they offer a juicy signing bonus, but if your main need is to get free comped rooms, the most productive technique, after choosing a core casino, is to join as many slot clubs as you can and then start putting on each a one-day minimal amount of play.
5. Be nice and just ask.
3/16/2006
When I started talking about comps six weeks ago, I didn’t think the subject would go on so long. My “Comp” file is fatter than I thought! Here are some miscellaneous items that will, with luck, completely empty it and end this series of columns, at least for the time being.
One way to get comps is through marketing offers. But one forum member discovered he hadn’t been getting any mail from one casino, because his account was marked “No Mail.” He didn’t know why it was that way, but was glad he found out and could correct the problem.
Another forum member wrote this caution: “This is not uncommon. I was told that No Mail is the default option in many slot club systems, so if you don’t get any mail after signing up (one to two months tops) or mail suddenly stops (perhaps when a new system is installed), call the club and ask them to check your account for mail preference.
“Unfortunately, setting some players’ accounts to No Mail is sometimes done deliberately by casino management. I know of cases at several casinos where advantage players (or those players that seemed too smart in the casino’s eyes) were removed from the mailing list so they’d no longer receive offers. Trying to discover in these cases why you no longer receive mail can be frustrating, as management is sometimes not forthcoming with the actual reason.
”Still, it’s always good to politely inquire, as in most cases it is an error or computer glitch.”
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Yes, to answer a frequent question I’m asked, you can change hosts if you don’t like the one you have. However, this can be an uncomfortable task and difficult if you’re in a casino that has a highly organized host department and each player is “coded” to a specific host. I talked at length about this in a chapter in More Frugal called “Divorcing Your Host.” One player solved her dilemma by calling her old host when she knew she would be off, then asking to speak to another host. She just continued to use that new host even though she was coded to another.
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In More Frugal Gambling I mentioned that sometimes casinos sponsor blood drives and give slot club point bonuses to people who donate. Recently I’ve seen some offering comped meals and T-shirts. I’ve talked about drugstore gift cards that we’ve earned at a casino and used for medical supplies and prescription co-pays. But I read on a forum that Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut offered a clinic giving flu and pneumonia shots and you could use your comp points to pay for them.
This poster wrote: “I can’t think of a better use of casino comp points for those in need of such a service. Does anyone know of another situation where you could use casino comps for health reasons? (Ok, OK, getting a comped brandy when you have a cold doesn’t count.)”
Email me if you’ve gotten an unusual comp, medically related or not. Even though this is the end of this comp series, I can write an update column anytime.
3/24/2006
This week a guest columnist (who wishes to remain anonymous) tells us everything we’ve wanted to know about the Turbo function we’ve seen on a VP machine, but were afraid to ask.
Fun at Fifty (and Hundred Play)!
There are many types of video poker players. Some play just for fun. Some play just to make money. Some are a combination of these: They play for profit, but want to have fun too!
I’m a “”combination”” player. Video poker has been profitable for me, but I wouldn’t play if I didn’t enjoy the game itself. I’ll be turning fifty this year, so that gave me the idea for a title for this piece.
Fifty Play and Hundred Play machines are lots of fun to play. One of the nice things about them is the “”Turbo”” button, at the lower left on the touch screen. When the Turbo isn’t lit (dark red), the hands fill in very slowly, Plink! Plink! Plink! It takes several long seconds to draw to a hand and you probably can’t play more than 100 hands per hour, with the Turbo off.
Touch the Turbo button, and the game comes to life! When in Turbo mode (bright red), the hands fill in very fast, maybe two seconds at Fifty Play and four seconds at Hundred Play. In Turbo mode, you can play more than 500 hands per hour at Fifty Play, and nearly 400 hph at Hundred Play. The hands fill in so fast that you can’t see it happening, so you might as well just watch the Hand Summary at the lower left (and lower right, if more than three types of hands are hit) of the screen.
Here’s the really good part about the Turbo button. You can change modes at any time — in the middle of a hand or even when the hands are actually filling in. Most “”serious”” players like to play with the Turbo lit all the time, so they can play more hands, and not wait for the hands to fill in very slowly. Personally, I play in Turbo mode well over 99% of the time.
However, in keeping with the “”fun”” theme of this article, let’s say you’re dealt four to the royal. This is a fun hand at Fifty Play and Hundred Play, because you have a really good chance to not only hit a royal, but to possibly hit several. So, when I’m dealt a RF4, I carefully hold the royal cards, then switch off the Turbo. Now, when I hit Draw, the hands fill in slowly (Plink! Plink! Plink!), so I can watch, thus savoring any royal(s) I might hit. Fun, fun, fun! Of course, you can also do the same thing when dealt three-of-a-kind, or four to the straight flush, or when dealt a kicker quad (Aces, 2s, 3s, 4s) at Double Double Bonus or Triple Double Bonus, so you can root in those kickers, one by one, on the draw.
At most video poker games, you’ve hit a good hand almost before you know it, and have little chance to savor the moment as it happens. At Fifty Play and Hundred Play, with the Turbo switched off, you can enjoy the good hits as they actually occur. Tons of fun!
Note from Jean: We like to do this too when playing Spin Poker.
3/31/2006
Editor’s Note: Jean is spending every feverish spare minute this week finishing her next book, the subject of which will be revealed shortly. So she’s taken a shortcut this week and submitted the following amusingly frugal story.
Recently, a thread on the vpFree forum discussed taking shortcuts in Las Vegas. Discussed was the danger of jaywalking mid-block across busy Valley View Blvd. where it runs between the Gold Coast and the Rio. Someone pointed out that, thanks to cuts in the fences on both sides of the interstate, you can live even more dangerously by walking from Caesars to the Rio across 10 lanes of traffic on I-15, rather than doing the smart thing and using the protected pedestrian sidewalk.
This brought back memories of the time Brad and I were much younger and more agile — and more foolishly frugal. The Flamingo ramps to and from I-15 weren’t finished yet and there wasn’t a good sidewalk from Caesars to the Rio. We were too frugal to take a cab and thought it “”adventurous”” and good exercise to walk from our Strip hotel (I forget which one) to the Gold Coast for some free ballroom dancing. We dressed up nice: I had on a full twirly skirt for dancing; Brad had on a sport coat. We did put on tennis shoes and had our dancing shoes in a bag.
After a short distance, we saw a way where it looked like we could cut through a construction area to get from Caesars to the Rio and it would be shorter and avoid the dangerous Flamingo traffic. So we started trekking though the part-concrete part-dirt trail. And we got pretty far before we were stopped in our tracks by what we hadn’t seen before in the dark. Although the roadway wasn’t completed, the freeway fencing was!
We were already exhausted and couldn’t bear to retrace our steps all the way back to take a more proper route. Plus, we were freezing to death because the wind had picked up. So, Brad tried to hoist me over that tall fence (I didn’t weigh as much then), but the first couple tries were not successful. My full skirt kept flying up over my head and Brad was so weak with laughter he could hardly sputter out his thought that it was a good thing it was dark and this area wasn’t lighted or there would have been a traffic jam on I-15 watching a pair of pink panties trying to jump the fence.
Finally, he got himself under control and gave me one final push that successfully got me to the other side. Then he threw the shoe bag over the fence and scaled it himself fairly easily.
When we eventually arrived at the Gold Coast, we had to sit out the whole first set to recover our breath. I can’t remember how we got back to our Strip hotel when the dance was over. Did we catch the free shuttle to the Barbary Coast? Did we break down and pay the taxi fare? Catch a ride with a friend? All I’m sure of is this: We didn’t walk back — the long way or the shortcut